Burning Down the House
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Sanity Break #1
“Today, more than anything, life needs hope,” says TED Fellow Yana Buhrer Tavanier, who put together an awesome that commissioned art from 50 artists around the world. See the rest of the . Also: you are free to download, print or share any of them.
Headlines that matter
TECH WARS WITH CHINA : The government has banned 47 other Chinese apps which were identical to already blocked apps like TikTok, Alibaba’s UC Browser. For example: Zili, which was the second-largest alternative to TikTok. The government is also mulling a ban on 200-plus other Chinese apps, including PubG. : The video-sharing app Triller which had 30 million downloads within 24 hours in India after TikTok was banned. The company—backed by Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, and Eminem, is now in talks “with a very large company with many arms” to enter the Indian market in December. Hmm, who could this possibly be... : Huawei Technologies—now banned from all government-owned telecommunications carriers—has laid off more than half its staff in India—and cut its India revenue target for 2020 by up to 50%. : Americans in 27 states reported receiving strange packets of seeds in pouches and envelopes with Chinese lettering and the words ‘China Post.’ These are likely an e-commerce scam—where a company will send unsolicited products to a person, and then post a glowing Amazon review in their name as a certified buyer. Officials are urging people not to plant the seeds—just in case they are some bizarre invasive species. : China is taking advantage of the pandemic-triggered meltdown in the media industry around the world. Sevanti Ninan in The Telegraph explains how Beijing has been using its financial clout to buy sponsored content, invest in media companies and hire journalists around the world. THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC: THE VIRUS RETURNS There are now over in the world, and 646,000 have died. More importantly, the virus is back in Hong Kong, Japan and Australia—which recorded its highest number of deaths (10) in a day. And the Aussie numbers despite a two-week lockdown in Melbourne. Spain—which is recording 900-plus cases each day—still insists that the country is safe, and to come on over. In related news: The WHO insists that travel bans forever: “...It is going to be almost impossible for individual countries to keep their borders shut for the foreseeable future. Economies have to open up, people have to work, trade has to resume.” An Unlock must-read: explains why all this power scrubbing and cleaning by stores, theatres etc is pointless. The reason: The virus primarily spreads through close encounters with other humans and not surfaces. Not looking to Unlock: Google which its WFH option for employees until July 2021. Latest Covid innovation: , “where you can order a burger and beer from your car, while performers dance with masks on behind a barricade.” THE INDIAN PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE * India’s total is set to hit the in 10 days, and its numbers are growing at the in the world. * explains why Covid-19 could become a mass-extinction event for small and medium sized companies. Anywhere between 30‒40% of them may go under if the pandemic drags on. * reports on the hunt for blood plasma in Assam—where the government is offering a variety of carrots to potential donors, including government jobs and housing. * Serum Institute is under fire because its founder Cyrus Poonawalla that the company will keep aside a special quota of vaccines for Parsis. The company now any such plan. * Planes in India are flying nearly empty—with only 1.9 million passengers in June (that’s compared to 12 million in the same month last year). explains where you can fly, and how much it will cost. In related news: Indigo just another round of pay cuts. * Also feeling the pain: Swiggy 350 employees—but the company promises this is the last round of layoffs for now. * Feeling optimistic: Movie theatre owners. They are getting ready to reopen in August. details the feverish Covid-safe preparations underway. In amusing Covid-related news: reports on bio-bubbles being readied for IPL players in UAE. “Tricky issues” being discussed: whether wives, girlfriends and children will self-isolate with the players, as well. Also, hotels: > “Look every franchise won’t be able to match up to say Mumbai Indians, who will undoubtedly have the best set-up in these trying > times. They have private jets, can even take doctors from their super speciality hospital, rent out a five-star hotel. Others > need to check out what’s best for them. Maybe a beach resort.” There are bio-bubbles and Nita-Bhabhi bio-bubbles. ‘A SUITABLE BOY’ RECEIVED UNSUITABLE REVIEWS The first episode of Vikram Seth’s glorious novel finally aired in the UK. And it appears to have proved every bit as unpromising as the trailer. and The Independent do their best to be tactful about the first BBC period drama with an all-South Asian cast. But the real problem is the Brit behind the scenes: writer Andrew Davies who has penned a “very British” version of India and Indians. politely writes: > “For all its good intentions, this is still an orange-filtered fantasy version of India, where the characters speak English with > the same mannered Indian accents and nobody can do anything without a sitar twanging.” But Indian reviewers are happily less restrained by political correctness. This is Raja Sen in : > “The show feels like an amateurish stage play, a high school-quality musical minus the music… Not far removed from Apu of The > Simpsons, here we have a cast of mostly talented Indian actors trying, bafflingly, to sound browner. The cadences are > unforgivable as characters try to add weird Hindi-esque lilts to English sentences. In this day and age, for Indian actors to > take a Peter Sellers approach for an adaptation of an Indian masterpiece is utterly confounding. Is it the BBC’s revenge on > Indians for writing better English?” Is there a greater delight than a scathingly well-written review? No. WOMEN EXECS ARE MORE PROFITABLE A new study of listed companies in London uncovered some interesting data. The so-not-surprising bit: “In the largest 100 London-listed companies, the total number of female chief executives is the same as the number of bosses named Peter - six.” Also: 15% have no female executives at all. Well, that’s bad luck for them because the study also found this: “Listed firms where at least one-third of the bosses are women have a profit margin more than 10 times greater than those without.” Earth to investors: All-male boardrooms make less money. ()
Sanity Break #2
This is a data analysis of the physical descriptions of male and female bodies in literature. It’s exactly the kind of thing to be savoured and widely shared. (h/t Founding member Insiyah Rangwala)
Smart & Curious
LIST OF INTRIGUING THINGS redesigned the chocolate chip—the kind you find in cookies. It is no longer a shapeless blob but “a square, faceted pyramid, kind of like a flattened diamond. Two edges are thick, and two exceedingly thin, for even more textural pleasure.” was developed by three women engineers—and it deploys advanced radar and motion sensor technology to track a baby’s breathing rate and pattern. It is now being used to monitor Covid-19 patients in Bangalore. has a thin matrix screen, and you can control what it displays—drawings, custom text—via an app or even voice commands. looks like this, brought to you by the Hubble Space Telescope. Sooo pretty it almost looks Face-Tuned.
Feel Good Place
IN PRAISE OF FIERCE WOMEN was a 19th century courtesan painted by Ghulam Ali Khan. She also knew how to rock a pair of pants! ? Check. Posse of BFFs? Check. Hookah at hand? Check. This is how you pick a husband, Sima Auntie! and cigarettes… (We do not advocate smoking, rather admiring cigarettes from a safe distance)
