A King-sized Problem
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Sanity Break #1
Coming soon: A hybrid live action of Tom & Jerry that revolves around… a fabulous Indian wedding? Hmm.
Headlines that matter
THE 737 MAX FLIES AGAIN Boeing’s flagship aircraft has been grounded for 20 months after two catastrophic crashes in Indonesia and then Ethiopia—where all passengers on board died. A great scandal ensued, raising serious questions about the safety of its design. US authorities have now . But it will be a while before the plane can fly again. They still have to approve new pilot training protocols, and the planes have to be fitted with updated software and wiring. What about India? The government study the US decision and then take its call. THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE * France has the two million-mark as infections across Europe hit more than 15 million. France now has the fourth-highest tally in the world after the US (11.2 million), India (8.8 million) and Brazil (5.8 million). * US authorities have the first at-home Covid test and it can be self-administered by anyone over the age of 14: “The test involves swabbing the inside of the nose, placing the swab in a vial and swirling it before putting the vial in a ‘test unit.’” Results in 30 minutes. * A NASA model that the lockdown has resulted in a 20% global reduction in nitrogen dioxide. * Mid-stage trials of Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine show that a speedy immune response—but produces fewer antibodies than patients who recover from the disease. * The Delhi government the cap on the number of wedding guests from 200 to 50 because… it will do absolutely nothing to stop the spread but will create a great guest list tamasha among the soon-to-be-wed? * But there will be no such limit on the hundreds of runners who will participate in the in the city—in the midst of severe pollution and rising cases. Medical experts say “it is totally irresponsible to hold a marathon and give people a false sense of security.” * offers a perfectly sane—and most likely impossible—guide to Covid safety during holiday season. * Pfizer’s late stage data is now complete, and it shows that its vaccine was 95% with no serious side effects—and 94% effective in above 65. And that is very big news! * Some economists are so excited by two big vaccine breakthroughs—Moderna and Pfizer—that they are predicting the US will have in six months. That’s quite remarkable given this is what the spread looks like : INDIA IS ‘GREENER’ THAN THE REST A new global report shows that India is the only member of the G20 club—which includes the world’s leading economies—is on track to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change. The agreement aims to limit global warming to 2°C—and requires signatories to restrict emissions to meet that goal. Falling way behind: China which has been deemed ‘highly insufficient'. The US and Russia are ‘critically insufficient’, while the EU is merely ‘insufficient’. () Not so green: The government of Rajasthan which is urgently seeking clearance to ‘denotify’ a big swathe of Bharatpur’s Band Baretha wildlife sanctuary. The likely but fiercely denied reason: It wants to permit mining for a pink sandstone that will be used to construct the Ram Mandir. Mining has been illegal in the sanctuary since 2016. () TWO DESIS DESTINED FOR BIDEN CABINET There is already great speculation over who will make the cut in a future Joe Biden administration. The two Indian American names : Former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy who may become Secretary of Health and Human Services. Also: Stanford University Professor Arun Majumdar for the post of Secretary of Energy. has more on the Biden cabinet—though it doesn’t rate either as frontrunners. MAKE ROOM FOR TWITTER SPACES Twitter has two big announcements. One: the global launch of its Fleets tool that’s already available in India. Two: a limited rollout of Audio Spaces, a voice chatroom where a bunch of people can just get together and : > “Voice tweets allow people to share their thoughts, but we imagined a live audio space to communicate with one other person or > small groups… A space that feels very safe and intimate. We've used the metaphor of a well-hosted dinner party. You don't need > to know everyone at the party to have a good time, but everyone should feel comfortable to sit at the table.” So a ‘dinner party’ with people we know only on Twitter? Otherwise, we can already do this on a WhatsApp group call. Also: why? OUR BRAIN MIRRORS THE UNIVERSE An astrophysicist and a neurosurgeon compared the network of neuronal cells in the human brain with the cosmic network of galaxies—and found that they are in the way they are organised: > “The human brain functions thanks to its wide neuronal network that is deemed to contain approximately 69 billion neurons. On > the other hand, the observable universe is composed of a cosmic web of at least 100 billion galaxies. Within both systems, only > 30% of their masses are composed of galaxies and neurons. Within both systems, galaxies and neurons arrange themselves in long > filaments or nodes between the filaments. Finally, within both systems, 70% of the distribution of mass or energy is composed of > components playing an apparently passive role: water in the brain and dark energy in the observable Universe.” There’s plenty here for scientists, philosophers and spiritualists to chew on. LONELY PLANET SWITCHES IT UP Every year, the world’s best known travel guide assembles a hot new list of travel destinations. But the pandemic forced a change in direction and—happily—perspective. As their editor puts it: > “As our world came to a full stop this year, we looked in the mirror to reflect on how we can best empower our readers to travel > responsibly and become agents of positive change. And we realized that to reimagine travel post-2020, we needed to reinvent > ourselves first.” The result is a that spotlights diversity, community and sustainability—and each one of them is a winner. Be sure to bookmark it as this too shall one day pass… In related diversity news: New Zealand Police have a hijab into their official uniform to encourage more Muslim women to join. And new recruit Constable Zeena Ali will become the first officer to wear it. In equally good news: Kolkata now has the “world’s first tram library for children” and it looks like this! has more details. WALKER TAKES A VERY LONG WALK A big cat nicknamed ‘’ completed the by a tiger ever recorded in India: > "Fitted with a radio collar, he travelled some 3,000 km (1,864 miles) through seven districts in Maharashtra and the > neighbouring state of Telangana over nine months before 'settling down' in another sanctuary in Maharashtra in March." His new home includes leopards, blue bull, wild boar, peafowl and spotted deer—but sadly no other tigers, and therefore no potential mates. Wildlife officials are contemplating the unprecedented move of introducing a female tiger—but that will bring fresh complications if they breed in the available space. Also lonely: The last remaining in Kenya. Two of his family members were killed in March. And officials have now fitted him with a GPS tracker to keep him safe. White giraffes suffer from a rare genetic condition called leucism—which leads to the loss of skin pigmentation. But he is very pretty as you can see here:
Sanity Break #2
Ok, this isn’t an upbeat kind of sanity break. But animated video on domestic violence—set to ‘A Smile to Remember’, a poem by Charles Bukowski—is an absolute must-watch.
Feel Good Place
The best way to enjoy a breakfast martini. Behold, stealth ninja cat… or maybe not. A well-defined word. Theory meets practice.
Reading Habit
READING HABIT EDITOR’S NOTE Last year, asked: Is Manu Chandra arguably India's best chef? Answer: yes. But the overachieving genius behind a string of ground-breaking restaurants—Olive Beach, Monkey Bar, Fatty Bao, Toast & Tonic, Cantan—is also a serious book nerd, and therefore, the perfect candidate for our Book Addict’s Quiz. What is your most powerful childhood memory of a book? ‘’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. My mother used to read it out slowly and rather theatrically to us as kids. Explaining parts of the epic poem which we may not have grasped easily. Bits of it, and its characters remain with me to this day. <While the rest of us plebes wax nostalgic over Enid Blyton…> What line of literature or poetry do you quote ad nauseam? “Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing leave behind us Footprints in the sands of time” AND “Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labour and to wait.” Both are from ‘A Psalm of Life’ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. <This explains the over-achieving thing then....> What book do you regret re-reading? ‘’ by Roald Dahl—because the mental imagery that it sparked in me as a child was more vivid than reading it as a grown up. <Yes, even nostalgia isn’t what it used to be...!> An author you adored as a child and have not thought about in years? , probably. He was almost mandatory reading in an animal-loving household—and also probably why as a family we’ve always been kind and helpful to all creatures great and small. <How can you forget Gerald Durell?> What book would you gift to your worst enemy? ‘’ if my enemy is intelligent. The writing style and cheap smut should drive anyone crazy. <You know this… how?> I would love to see a movie/series adaptation of __ starring __ as __ by Arthur C Clarke starring Gary Oldman as Commander Norton. <Ooh, unexpected and unusual!> A book review that was better than the book? I don’t usually read book reviews, but one in the New York Times spurred me to buy a book during lockdown. The by Jennifer Senior was better than JD Vance’s … though it does put a lot of what is happening in the US into context. <Ah yes, apologies for American rednecks tend not to age well now that one of them is in the White House> What book do you pretend to have read? Wendy Doniger’s ‘’. I’ve tried a few times, but my recall with names is so bad that I forget what the preceding chapters were about. It’s very hard to follow it out of context. <Hmm, who do you hang out with that you have to pretend to have read Doniger…> What is the first “forbidden” book you read in secret? ‘’, I think. It was wrapped and kept at home. All copies had disappeared [due to the ban] and it was something no one spoke of openly. I was probably too young to get what the brouhaha was all about. <No smut??? Hope you’re ashamed of yourself> What book/author still counts as guilty pleasure? Honestly, I don’t really go back to the same books that much. Because there’s just so much new ground to cover. But if it had to be someone. I’d go back to re-reading all the Arthur C Clarke’s and Isaac Asimovs of my school/early college years. Science fiction and fantasy fiction have always fascinated me. <Like we said… book nerd> Send us a photo of your tsundoku pile <120/100 just for Scarlett Thomas! Finally, something a little light!> Thank you for playing, Manu! FYI, vouching from personal experience, every Manu Chandra restaurant comes with a 100% guarantee of a very safe and very delicious meal. The best way to enjoy a breakfast martini. Behold, stealth ninja cat… or maybe not. A well-defined word. Theory meets practice.
