Your PEEK Into The Day: 5 Stories That Deserve The Front Page

The Fact: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS, has now been renamed Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, or PMOS. Professor Helena Teede of Monash University, a leading endocrinologist, spearheaded the effort after spending decades researching the condition. The name change process was published in The Lancet. The change is the result of 50 patient and professional organisations, including the Endocrine Society, gathering more than 22,000 survey responses and conducting multiple international workshops. 

The Context: PMOS affects 1 in 8 women globally, which is over 170 million people. For decades, PCOS directed clinical attention entirely toward ovaries and cysts, which was called a grossly narrow and simplified definition. While PCOS was historically misunderstood only as a “cyst disease”, research now confirms there is no actual increase in abnormal ovarian cysts in the condition. Rather, hormonal fluctuations, metabolic disruption, impacts on weight, mental health, and skin were the symptoms that were chronically underappreciated. The misplaced name contributed directly to missed diagnoses and inadequate treatment. PMOS, by contrast, names the condition for what it actually is, i.e., a complex, long-term endocrine and metabolic disorder, covering a broader list of symptoms.

The Peek Insight: It took fourteen years just to give an appropriate name to a disease that affects one in eight women on the planet. Medical science has historically been built around the male body as the default, and women's health conditions have consistently been underfunded, under-researched, and, as this case shows, quite literally, been misnamed. PCOS was first described in 1935. Nearly ninety years later, there is still no definitive cure, and managing the disease is the only option. Millions of women are forced to rely on alternative ways like birth control, metformin, and lifestyle changes, while most of them are not designed specifically for this condition. With that context, the renaming is meaningful progress, but it also lays bare an uncomfortable truth - a condition affecting hundreds of millions of women worldwide remained medically marginalised for nearly a century.

The Fact: A poem shared by government school teacher Faizan Ansari on his WhatsApp Status led to an FIR against him in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul. Ansari, who was a contractual teacher at a Primary School, had allegedly uploaded a 2-minute-21-second recitation of the poem Be-haya during a mushaira. Following the post, Sachin Rai, District President of the Madhya Pradesh State Employees' Association, lodged a complaint under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. He alleged that the poem was derogatory towards women and inappropriate for a teacher to share online. Ansari's phone was confiscated, and he was allegedly tortured at the police station. But the MP High Court has now quashed the case against him, noting that the poem is a “satirical and thought-provoking commentary on the issue of human rights violations against women.”

The Context: The piece shared by Ansari is written by Shoaib Kaini, and it’s a satirical critique of the kind of entitlement an average South Asian man feels he has on the body and identity of a woman. While it might sound misogynistic at the outset, it’s actually the opposite. Noting that, the court said that the poem shared by Ansari is a sarcastic take on human rights, abuse of women in Pakistan or any other country, and it does not target any specific religion or community. The court further asserted that the grounds for this police complaint did not have any material that could point to an intent to spread hatred or communal hostility, as alleged in the FIR. Reportedly, there were even threats to Faizan Ansari’s life after his details were leaked due to the FIR.

The Peek Insight: Instances like these are no longer subtle, especially in BJP-ruled states. Just a month ago, in Madhya Pradesh again, a government school teacher was suspended for mimicking PM Modi in a satire on LPG prices. Last year, cartoonist Hemant Malviya was booked for “promoting enmity” after he shared on the Covid-19 vaccination drive featuring PM Modi. In Andhra Pradesh, two comedians were recently detained over making allegedly defamatory jokes about Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and his family. Such headlines raise the question of where we’re headed as a society. Are we headed towards a culture so insecure and intolerant that even satire, poetry, and literature are treated as threats? A society where citizens and those in power are waiting to weaponize outrage against those they dislike, with the machinery of the state ready to validate that outrage?

The Fact: Two Dalit brothers were allegedly attacked by members of the groom's family at a wedding function in Uttarakhand's Haldwani. One of the brothers, named Shubham, sustained a spinal fracture and is currently admitted to the hospital, while the other, Umesh, suffered a head injury. Both of them were hired to operate the DJ at the ceremony and were allegedly beaten over drinking water from a pot. ceremony. A police complaint has been registered, but no FIR has been filed as the police are still probing the matter.

The Context: As per reports, the fight started when a relative of the brothers attempted to drink water from a pot at the venue. The relative, Rakesh Arya, was then targeted by the groom's family, who allegedly slapped him. Later, when Shubham went to confront the groom's family, he was cornered and beaten up by several men who also allegedly hurled casteist slurs at him. The same fate followed for Umesh when he arrived at the spot. Umesh said that the family hit him with a rod while claiming that his brother Shubham had hit one of their family members. Umesh added that the assault was so brutal that it seemed like he was taking his “last breath”, The Indian Express reported. Following the incident, locals and the family of the brothers protested in front of the police station, and the family has sought a complaint under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The Peek Insight: Incidents like these continue to expose how easily caste-based brutality is triggered over the smallest and most ordinary acts, even in 21st-century India. There have been cases of Dalit men being assaulted merely for sporting a moustache and a beard in Gujarat. There have also been repeated reports across the country of victims being publicly humiliated and forced to lick the feet of dominant-caste individuals. But what makes these incidents even more disturbing is how normalised they have become in some parts of a country that is aiming to become a “developed nation”. The police response in such cases also raises questions. Despite serious allegations in the Uttarakhand case, an FIR had not been immediately registered, while we see law enforcement agencies acting swiftly when it comes to booking people for jokes, satires, and social media commentary. According to NCRB 2024 data, India recorded 55,698 cases of crimes against SCs and STs, but the conviction rate is lower than even 50% in states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan. Ultimately, the issue is not about one assault in some far-off village. It is about whether our claims of social progress truly extend to those who live on the periphery of society.

The Fact: US President Donald Trump arrived in China for high-stakes talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping, marking the first US Presidential visit to Beijing in nearly a decade. Accompanying Trump aboard Air Force One were several prominent business leaders, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. While the presence of top US business leaders signals that trade and economic negotiations between the two superpowers are expected to dominate the visit, the ongoing Iran conflict is also likely to emerge as a major point of discussion between the two rival superpowers.

The Context: The US is expected to seek Beijing's influence to arrive at a logical conclusion over the ongoing US-Iran war. China is one of Iran's most crucial economic partners, with estimates suggesting that Beijing purchases over 80% of the Islamic Republic's oil exports. The visit comes as negotiations between the US, Iran, and Israel to end the war remain stalled. Last week, Iran once again demanded that the US recognize its sovereignty over the crucial Strait of Hormuz, but the US President deemed the proposal as "totally unacceptable." Notably, Iran later signalled to enrich its Uranium stockpile to 90% weapons-grade purity if it comes under fresh attack. It has also expanded the strategic definition of the Strait of Hormuz to gain greater geopolitical leverage. None of this, in other words, looks good for the United States.

The Peek Insight: Donald Trump’s visit to China, though planned much before the war began, reflects how limited Washington’s options may now be in dealing with the ongoing Iran conflict. Shortly after beginning his second term, Trump imposed a massive 125% tariff on Beijing, later reducing it to 47%. A few days back, he shared a racist post about China and India on his Truth Social, which called the two countries “hell-holes” and their immigrants “gangsters with laptops”. Yet today, he is seeking cooperation from that very country and openly calling for it to “open up” so that the two nations can “work their magic.” This shows how China’s role in the current geopolitical landscape has become increasingly important, without it directly being involved in it.

The Fact: Air India has announced it will reduce or temporarily suspend flights on certain routes to North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia between June and August 2026. The airline cited continued airspace restrictions and record-high jet fuel prices as the major reasons behind the move. Among the major suspensions are Delhi-Chicago, Delhi-Newark, Mumbai-New York (JFK), Delhi-Shanghai, Chennai-Singapore, Mumbai-Dhaka, and Delhi-Malé. Despite these cuts, the airline says it will still operate over 1,200 international flights a month.

The Context: Around 250 weekly international flights have been cut, as per the reports. This announcement comes two weeks after the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which includes airlines like Air India, IndiGo, and Spicejet, wrote to the Civil Aviation Ministry warning that the industry is "on the verge of closing down." Fuel costs have surged from the traditional 30-40% of operational expenditure to a staggering 55-60%. Brent Crude has climbed over $110 per barrel, pushing air turbine fuel (ATF) costs. Airlines had already attempted fare hikes, but outgoing Air India CEO Campbell Wilson acknowledged that passenger demand is too fragile to absorb further increases. The FIA had urgently sought a temporary suspension of the government’s 11% excise duty on domestic ATF, a reinstatement of the "crack band" pricing mechanism to stabilise costs, and a reduction of VAT at major airports. 

The Peek Insight:
An entire industry representing millions of daily passengers sent an SOS two weeks ago, and the government has not yet intervened or even released a statement. While the root cause of the current crisis is oil price hikes due to the West Asia conflict, airlines have sought government intervention to reduce the high tax rates in the aviation industry, even calling for bringing aviation fuel under GST. With no intervention, carriers are now grounding routes, cutting connectivity, and passing the cost onto travellers. According to reports, airlines are suffering losses to the tune of tens of thousands of crores as ticket price hikes are not able to keep up with jet fuel price increases. With no relief in sight, more airlines might be pushed to cut flights like Air India, and the lesser supply could push prices further up for consumers.

And finally,

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