Eye of the Beholder
SANITY BREAK This is for… Nah, we’re not going to ruin this one for you. We leave you to enjoy the thrill of discovery.
HEADLINES THAT MATTER A BITTER ANNIVERSARY FOR HONG KONG July 1 marks the day Britain handed Hong Kong over to China 23 years ago. And the day is traditionally marked by symbolic protests—which have now been declared illegal under a new national security law imposed by China. Yesterday, thousands of the city’s residents came out to protest in defiance of the law. And ten of them have been arrested under its provisions. One of them for holding up a flag that symbolises Hong Kong's independence. And another 370 were detained for participating in illegal assemblies, disorderly conduct and possession of offensive weapons. has details, clips and images from the protests. reports on the UK's offer of citizenship to three million HK residents born before 1997. explains the sweeping national security law that applies to anyone from Hong Kong living anywhere in the world. A QUICK CHINA UPDATE Chinese companies will soon from bidding on highway projects and investing in medium or small businesses. The US too is readying of economic sanctions on China—supposedly due to its human rights abuses. An unexpected casualty of the trade wars: the search engine DuckDuckGo—which too has in India for unknown reasons. One possible reason: It offers total privacy of all user browsing data. PUTIN MAY BE PREZ UNTIL 2036 A national referendum has overwhelmingly approved a flurry of constitutional amendments—one of which removes the current 12-year term limit of the presidency. Vladimir Putin—who has already been in power as either President or PM for 20 years—is now free to run for reelection for up to two more terms. () THE INDIAN PANDEMIC: AN UPDATE * Total number of cases: 604,641. Total number of deaths: 17,834. Total number of recoveries: 359,859. * Karnataka reported on Wednesday—breaching the 16,000 mark. The vast majority are in Bangalore. explains why Bangalore’s hospital admissions process is a gigantic mess. * Mumbai has , prohibiting the gathering of large numbers of people in the city. And there's a night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am. Non-essential activities are only permitted within a 2 km range of a person’s residence. * A Bihar wedding turned into a . The groom—who died within two days—infected over 15 guests, setting off a trail of many others. Total number traced to one shaadi: 100+. * The government has finally put an end to resident association raj in Gurgaon. The latest guidelines them to impose any additional restrictions on building residents—beyond those specified by the Home Ministry. * In May, the government announced that desperate migrant workers without ration cards will receive free food. The data shows that they received of the 800,000 metric tonnes of grains that were allocated. What happened: 26 states and Union Territories claimed 100% of their allocation, but failed to distribute them to the workers. URBAN UNEMPLOYMENT IS A BIG WORRY Rural unemployment has declined quickly in recent months—bouncing back to pre-lockdown levels. But the job recovery in urban India has been sluggish. A key data point on salaried jobs is in with a leading economist: > “The real concentration of job losses is in those who are less than 30 years of age and salaried jobs. This means that the young > cohort that came in to look for jobs in 2019 lost their jobs in early 2020. Now, this cohort is going to compete with the cohort > that comes to the labour market in 2020 (when they hit the market in August-September, or even around now). But there are no > jobs then, as the economy is not going to recover by then. So, in 2021, you will have three cohorts competing for jobs.” Rohan Venkataramakrishnan does an excellent job of connecting these and other dots . CISCO SUED IN CALIFORNIA FOR CASTE DISCRIMINATION California state has filed a lawsuit alleging that Cisco discriminated against a Dalit employee—a senior engineer employed in San Jose. The person was allegedly harassed by two upper caste managers—Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella—who are also named in the suit. When he complained, the harassment escalated, and—here’s —“Cisco determined caste discrimination was not illegal.” reports: > “According to the lawsuit, the engineer was allegedly ‘expected to accept a caste hierarchy within the workplace where [he] held > the lowest status within the team and, as a result, received less pay, fewer opportunities, and other inferior terms and > conditions of employment.’ When the engineer opposed the treatment, they allegedly ‘retaliated against him’ by reducing his role > on the team, isolating him from colleagues and giving him assignments that were ‘impossible to complete under the > circumstances,’ the lawsuit claimed.” Point to note: a 2018 survey of South Asians in the US found that 67% of Dalits reported being treated unfairly at their workplaces. RANCHI AUTHOR WINS COMMONWEALTH PRIZE 29-year-old Kritika Pandey the £5,000 Commonwealth short story prize.’The Great Indian Tee and Snakes’ is about a Hindu girl who falls in love with a Muslim boy, which inevitably ends in tragedy. You can read the story in . PRIYANKA GANDHI SERVED EVICTION ORDERS She has been asked to empty her Lutyens bungalow by August 1 by the government. The reason: She no longer has Z+ security which entitled her to a secure sarkaari house. She plans to move to Lucknow. ()
SANITY BREAK This beautiful created by Animator Sofja Umarik pays tribute to the many virtues of being an introvert.
SMART & CURIOUS A LIST OF INTRIGUING THINGS sleep facing down because their heads are too heavy to hold upright. having a moment thanks to the virus. And this lampshade version is the hottest restaurant design at the moment. has the story. also having a moment because the virus stays active on it for only 24 hours. Vikram Dhawan designed these inexpensive and recyclable beds, and they’ve already been installed in a Delhi care centre. takes celebrities—present and dead—and gives them extreme cosmetic surgery procedures to make them ‘perfect’. The most popular handle . We have to say the -as-super-botoxed-babe is pretty darn funny. A LIST OF GOOD READS * has a fascinating profile of Cyanide Mohan—a former primary school teacher who killed 20 women. * This is a thoughtful reminder on the cruelty of viral clips that allows us to humiliate ordinary people with our smart-phone. * has an important ground report from Maharashtra—where the digital divide is becoming a ‘digital partition’. The rush to move classes online leaves poor children stranded with Whatsapp classes on smartphones their parents can ill-afford. * profiles Hasina Kharbhih, the woman who has rescued 72,000 women and children trafficked across India, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal—and created the globally touted ‘Meghalaya Model’. * : Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Forum explains why the legal order banning the 59 Chinese apps is highly problematic.
LIFE ADVISORY A LIST OF GOOD FACE-MASK ADVICE Now that you’re increasingly out and about—and wearing a mask for increasing periods of time—here are three valuable guides. Getting comfortable: The reality is that there is nothing fun about strapping layers of material on your face—even if it is the right thing to do. has highly practical advice on how to make your mask more comfortable. Dealing with zits: Maskne is a real thing—and it pops up on all the places where the mask rubs against your face. offers a very useful guide to fighting it. Equally useful: This guide that teaches you how to care for your skin when you have to wear a mask for long stretches. Makeup protocol: Given the risk of Maskne, less is truly more right now. puts together the best facts for those who still want to dabble in a bit of face paint. offers a sensible overview (without annoying product pitches) on how to create a look—even when half your face is covered.
THE FEEL GOOD PLACE : This clip has more nail-biting suspense than your average Hollywood thriller. a rather novel approach during his final exam in sheep-herding. We don’t think he made the cut, but 15/10 for creativity and joy. : This gentleman doing the best Sridevi tribute performance ever.
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