A Needle-less Problem
Is a poem when you “hear the heartbeat of a stone?” Or is it “when you are in love and have the sky in your mouth?” We loved everything about ‘This Is a Poem That Heals Fish’—the gorgeous illustrations, the whimsical yet wise text, and Maria Popova’s . It’s sure to make you smile on a Monday morning.
A TRAGIC SHOOTING IN BENGAL Four people were gunned down by security forces at a polling booth in Sitalkuchi, Cooch Behar. All four are Muslims, residents of the poor neighbourhood and are Trinamool supporters. The tragedy has turned into an ugly political brawl. Here’s a brief explainer of what happened: First, some background: 77,000 central force personnel and 35,000 state police have been deployed in Bengal to ensure peaceful voting. This includes the CISF, a central armed police force that reports to the Union home ministry—which is typically used to guard airports and industrial areas. CISF soldiers opened fire at a polling booth in Sitalkuchi—resulting in the death of the four men. This bit everyone agrees on—but there are two starkly of the circumstances that led to the killings. Account #1: This is what the local residents say: > “Around 10 am, a group of 20 to 25 central force personnel who had not been posted at the booth arrived and began beating up > people, many of whom had gathered to vote. They did not spare even a 15-year-old boy, Mrinal Haque, who had come to watch the > voting process from a distance… When the boy got injured, people started protesting. The forces carried out another baton-charge > and then suddenly started firing. I was waiting in the queue to vote, but I ran for my life after hearing the gunshots.” Point to note: Here’s why they think it happened: “This booth had 950 voters, of whom more than 750 are Muslim. It’s clear that the central forces targeted this booth to prevent us voting for Trinamul.” Account #2: This is the official account of the incident: > “A local boy, Mrinal Haque, fell sick in the morning. Sector officers attended to the boy and even offered to take him to > hospital. But soon a rumour spread that the forces had beaten the boy up… Villagers then arrived with sticks and cooking > utensils and attacked the booth, the presiding officer and a woman polling official. The EVM was damaged too.” In the ensuing chaos, the CISF arrived to offer backup—then fired in the open air to deter the mob. When that failed: “Faced with no other alternative, to save their lives and government property like EVM and other polling materials, the CISF personnel opened fire.” What Mrinal Haque says: He was playing on the road with friends near the polling booth. They started to scatter at the sight of CISF forces who arrived in a vehicle. But they caught up : > “They chased and stopped me and began asking me questions in Hindi. I think they could not comprehend what I was saying and hit > me with a baton on my waist and spine and I fell on the ground, vomiting” According to his parents, as news spread of his beating, an angry mob confronted the CISF men. FYI, the boy is seriously injured, and the family to pay for his treatment. The political brawl: Meanwhile, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee the killings a ‘genocide’—while Home Minister Amit Shah condemned the “instigated attack” on central security forces. BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh called the men who died “dushtu chhele” (naughty boys)—, “Aar jodi barabari korey, Sitalkuchitey dekhechhen ki hoyechhe. Jaygaye jaygaye Sitalkuchi hobey” (If they cross the limits, you’ve seen what happened in Sitalkuchi. There will be a Sitalkuchi everywhere). In other election-related news: Twitter was ablaze over the weekend with leaked audio excerpts from a Clubhouse conversation with Prashant Kishor—Trinamool’s chief campaign advisor. He appears to acknowledge the personal popularity of the PM, and stuff like this: “The entire political ecosystem, be it Congress, the Left or Didi's, they all made efforts to get the Muslim vote. For the first time Hindus feel they're being considered too.” He also said that the BJP will not cross 100 seats. This is mostly a storm in the Twitter-teacup, but if you care, has the details. MORE MASS DEATHS IN MYANMAR Security forces killed at least 82 people in a single day in the town of Bago. Protest organisers say: "It is like genocide. They are shooting at every shadow." The total death toll is now 701 (read our on the protests). The US ambassador to the UN called for “concrete action,” : > “I say categorically, we cannot—we simply cannot—allow the military to destabilize the region once again through its unrelenting > campaign of violence, their campaign of repression, and especially—especially—against the backdrop of an unprecedented global > pandemic.” THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE * Delhi added 10,000-plus new cases in one day for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. CM Arvind Kejriwal has to impose a total lockdown if hospitals become overwhelmed. Meanwhile, migrant workers are already to avoid a repeat of last year’s catastrophe. * Maharashtra is over whether to impose a two-week total lockdown. Other solutions being considered: shutting down districts where the healthcare system is breaking down and imposing massive fines on Covid violators. * And in Gujarat, crematoriums with bodies—but the government admits to only 49 deaths across the state on Saturday. Yet, crematoriums in Surat are receiving 110 bodies a day—up from 30 two weeks ago. * A new study out of Israel suggests that the South African variant can “break through” the protection offered by the Pfizer vaccine. But it is still unclear how much of the efficacy is lost. has more. * In a rare move, Chinese health authorities that their domestic vaccines “don’t have very high rates of protection.” And solutions may have to include mixing different vaccines and/or adjusting the dosage, interval times etc. * The government has of the Covid treatment drug Remdesivir in the midst of a severe shortage. * A town in Canada is now the of the Brazil variant outside Brazil—with 877 confirmed cases. Here’s the mystery: none of the first confirmed cases ever travelled outside Canada. * Here’s a moving story out of Brazil: Nurses are filled with hot water to the hands of patients in the isolation ward—called the ‘hands of God’—to mimic human touch. See it below: MIND CONTROL, MONKEYS AND VIDEO GAMES The Elon Musk-owned startup of a macaque monkey playing a game using only its mind. Why this matters: According , people with severe disabilities can operate their phones, and when pushed further: > “Later versions will be able to shunt signals from Neuralinks in brain to Neuralinks in body motor/sensory neuron clusters, thus > enabling, for example, paraplegics to walk again.” Of course, as points out, such scientific breakthroughs are usually published in peer-reviewed journals, not via YouTube videos. We leave Neuralink to explain how this astonishing feat was achieved: Also showing great potential: An experimental combination of chemo and immunotherapy drugs that could revolutionise the way we treat brain cancer. Brain tumours are able to evade detection by the immune system, and therefore treatments often fail. These drugs essentially ‘uncloak’ these tumours so that they can be attacked and eliminated. explains. TIGERS SAVED FROM URANIUM MINES Plans to drill boreholes in search of yellowcake—a uranium ore—in the Ambrabad Tiger Reserve in Telangana have been shelved. The project was approved in 2019 despite stiff opposition from environmental groups—which however led the Telangana government and state wildlife board to consistently reject the project for the last two years. Union government authorities have finally given up trying to push the project through. () A BIG WIN IN HORSE-RACING Rachael Blackmore is now the first female jockey to become Britain’s Grand National horse racing champion. She is only the 20th woman to compete in a race that began in 1839—and women were only allowed to compete starting in 1975. She said: “I don’t feel male or female right now. I don’t even feel human. This is just unbelievable.” () A 3000-YEAR OLD ‘GOLDEN CITY’ Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of the largest ancient city in Egypt—in a find being touted as the biggest, since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. The excavations started in 2020 in Luxor: > “Within weeks, to the team’s great surprise, formations of mud bricks began to appear in all directions. What they unearthed was > the site of a large city in a good condition of preservation, with almost complete walls, and with rooms filled with tools of > daily life.” Also uncovered since: “several neighbourhoods… including a bakery complete with ovens and storage pottery, as well as administrative and residential districts.” has more. See the city in the below: IS THIS $450 MILLION PAINTING A ‘FAKE’? This is the story of a painting called ‘’. It was bought in 2005 for just $1,175 by a New York art dealer. But several experts authenticated it as the work of Leonardo da Vinci—and this depiction of Jesus was soon dubbed the ‘male Mona Lisa’. In 2017, it sold at a Christie’s auction for a whopping $450 million, making it the world’s most expensive painting. The buyer: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But now a claims that it was likely produced in one of da Vinci's workshops, and he only 'contributed' to the work. OTOH, the insists it has accessed confidential Louvre documents confirming its prestigious pedigree. Well, it’s a pretty nice painting, da Vinci or not.
This features a pitch-perfect tabla sequence by Nitin Sawhney taken from ‘The Conference.’ Listen to the brilliant original .
A LIST OF GOOD READS * has an excellent guide on how to store your sex toys—which is important if you don’t want to catch a nasty infection. * has a report on why it’s a nightmare to be a pet owner in Bangalore. * Sumana Roy has a lovely essay in on resisting the pressure to be “productive.” * has a hilarious riff on the profile photos of ‘that Tinder guy’. * has a delightful riff on the crushing power of ‘crushes’. * pens a beautiful piece on ‘haphephobia’—the fear of being physically touched, and the importance of touch for all human beings. * has a must-read profile of Katalin Kariko—the 66-year old who is one of the unsung heroes of vaccine development. * profiles India’s ‘mango man’—who cultivated a tree that produced fruit with 300 flavours. * has a fascinating piece on why gratitude is a communal, shared emotion not a personal wellness practice. * has a fun read on the Bengalis’ love for the #Fekuda—the man who spins tall tales.
: Face art X Bollywood = . : The president of Turkmenistan went on a bike ride. Just a plain old bike ride, that’s all. : Everyone’s doing that Rasputin dance , but we love this one best.
A lively look back at our pehla election of 1951. We’ve come a long way.
Read More
Scientists are trying to alter the evolutionary course of animals—so they can survive it.
Read More
The BJP is expending astonishing amounts of energy on Tamil Nadu this election season—and it’s all about 2029.
Read More
Early-onset cancer has been steadily rising but scientists have no clue why this is happening.
Read More