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Friday February 5 2021

Another Great Uprising

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Sanity Break #1

Contrary to what its title may suggest, ‘’ by Erlend Øye & La Comitiva is light-hearted and will put an instant smile on your face. (h/t subscriber Samriddhi Jaiswal)

Sanity Break #1

Headlines that matter

GRETA THUNBERG’S TWEET SPAWNS INVESTIGATION The young climate change activist tweeted out ‘toolkit’ to mobilise a global movement to support the protesting farmers—and then deleted her tweet. Now that Google document has become the focus of a police investigation.The reason: The government insists it reveals a Khalistani conspiracy to “promote enmity between groups”—including plans for Republic Day:   > “The intention of its creators appears to be to create disharmony among social, religious and cultural groups and encourage > disaffection and ill-will against the Government of India. It also aims at waging social, cultural and economic war against > India.”   Times of India has more details and . On the lighter side, the big brouhaha offered excellent inspiration to :   Speaking of foreign ‘intervention’: The US State Department finally weighed in on the protests—and took a carefully . It recognised “that peaceful protests are a hallmark of any thriving democracy”—and that “unhindered access to information, including the internet, is fundamental to the freedom of expression.” But it also welcomed “steps that would improve the efficiency of India’s markets and attract greater private sector investment.” And yet many … hmm.   A mea culpa to certain foreigners: Tennis star Maria Sharapova received an unexpected flood of Malayali love. The reason: Many of them had trolled the tennis star in 2014 when she claimed not to know who Sachin Tendulkar was. Now, many of the ‘trolls’ are very sorry for their actions—and want Sharapova to know it. The reason for their remorse: Sachin’s copy/paste PR tweet on the farmer protests. has this very silly story. Speaking of Sachin, Deccan Herald trolled him in its .   Meanwhile, in India:  * Opposition MPs from crossing the border at Ghazipur to meet the protesters—which seems odd and wrong.   * Twitter a number of Kangana Ranaut’s tweets. At least one of them referred to Rohit Sharma as a “dhobi ka kutta.” * Freelance journalist Mandeep Punia is out of jail about his experience—which included being “continually beaten” by the police. * Some UP jurisdictions are now mahapanchayats—which have become ground zero for farmer mobilisation. * No one says the police’s job is easy, but this may constitute ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment… at the hand of : THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE  * India took to administer 4 million vaccine doses. We did it in 18 days compared to the United States’ 20. Even so, we may be three months behind on our plan to vaccinate 300 million by August. * Some patients in India are developing a rare life-threatening black fungal infection called Mucormycosis—which occurs in people with weak immune systems: “The infection is so aggressive that it spreads faster than cancer. In 15 days, it can spread from your mouth to eyes and within a month to the brain.” has more. * Despite no evidence of its effectiveness—and open skepticism expressed by the WHO—Indian authorities still 111.6 million hydroxychloroquine or HCQ pills as part of its Covid-19 relief programme. * A related good read: decodes the various efficacy rates of the different vaccines.   CALL FOR AN OLYMPICS BOYCOTT More than 180 organisations—representing Tibetans, Uighurs and residents of Hong Kong—have called on governments to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 because of human rights abuses against ethnic minorities. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already rejected any such move. A member said: "The Games are not Chinese Games, the Games are the IOC Games. The decision on hosting is not made with a view to signalling approval of a government policy." ()   Also not looking good: Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori who at a meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee:   > "If we increase the number of female board members, we have to make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat, they have > difficulty finishing, which is annoying… We have about seven women at the organising committee but everyone understands their > place."   The committee currently has five women members. Mori has since apologized, in some part due to the women in his own family:    > "Last night, my wife gave me a thorough scolding. She said: 'You've said something bad again, haven't you? I'm going to have to > suffer again because you've antagonised women.’... This morning, my daughter and granddaughter scolded me as well."   THE CONGRESS PARTY IS LOSING DONORS This is hardly a surprise. According to a report submitted by the party, it received only Rs 1.4 billion (139 crore) in contributions in 2019-20—which was down from the Rs 1.5 billion (146 crore) the year before. What caught our eye in this story:   > “One of the party’s biggest donors in 2018-19, Tatas backed Progressive Electoral Trust, kept away from contributing to the > party in the election year. The trust was the biggest donor to BJP in 2018-19, contributing Rs 356 crore of its Rs 800 crore. It > gave the Congress Rs 55 crore the same year.”   THREE INTRIGUING DISCOVERIES One: Archaeologists have uncovered a 2,000-year-old mummy in Egypt with a : “Crafted out of gold foil, the tongue-shaped amulet was likely placed in the deceased’s mouth to ensure they’d be able to speak in the afterlife.” And it looks like this:   Two: Scientists have stumbled upon the world’s in Madagascar: “The new miniscule lizard is a species of chameleon named Brookesia nana, and is so small its entire body can fit on a fingertip.” And it looks like this:   Three: Scientists have discovered a new in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico—but they are already on the brink of disappearing. There are only 100 of the newly named Rice’s whales: “They are the most endangered, or nearly the most endangered, baleen whales in US waters.”   TWO INTERESTING STUDIES  One: Eating too much fat and sugar in childhood can alter your microbiome for life—even if you learn to eat healthier later in life. The study was the first to show a significant decrease in the total number and diversity of gut bacteria in mice fed an unhealthy diet when young. has more.   Two: Researchers studied the language used in Reddit posts on r/BreakUps and found two things. One, impending breakups can be identified up to three months before they actually occur. Two, it takes at least six months to get over one. ()   FOETAL MUSIC, ANYONE? American toddler, Luca Yupanqui, is getting ready for her musical debut: the release of the world’s first album made from sounds inside the womb. No, we have no more to say. has all the details. And we’ve dug up a YouTube music vid for you. Our job is done:  

Another Great Uprising

Sanity Break #2

Netflix just dropped the trailer for the Bollywood adaptation of the bestseller ‘’ starring Parineeti Chopra, Aditi Rao Hydari and Kirti Kulhari. Reminder: there is already a starring Emily Blunt and Alison Janney. At the time, described it as “just so-so, but taken as 112 minutes of upscale psychodramatic confessional bad-behavior porn, it generates a voyeuristic zing that’s sure to carry audiences along.” We assume the desi version won’t be taking that route lol!

Sanity Break #2

Weekend advisory

SO YOU WANT TO WATCH SOMETHING... This 2017 Indo-Bangla movie has stellar performances by both Irrfan Khan and Nusrat Imrose Tisha that centers on infidelity. According to , Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s direction allows for “subtleties and shades of meaning with realistic detachment that never slips into melodrama.” You can check out review for more. Available to watch on Netflix today!   If trippy sci-fi dramas are your jam, then you are really going to enjoy this edge-of-the-seat thriller starring Owen Wilson as a man who discovers that he has been living in a computer simulation all along. Also recommended if you are a fan of director Mike Cahill of the 'Another Earth' fame. calls it a “puzzle-game of a film” that raises intellectual questions while describes it as a “mind-bending” love story. It drops on Amazon Prime today.   This Taiwanese flick marks writer/director Joseph Chen-chieh Hsu’s much awaited directorial debut. When her estranged womaniser husband dies, the stubborn matriarch has to navigate a familial minefield with her three adult daughters. says the movie may not break new ground but recommends it as a “celebration of the hard-fought emotional battles faced by women of all ages.” It drops on Netflix today.   A LIST OF GOOD READS * has a wonderfully written piece about the history of the earth—to put in context the climate change catastrophe we face. A taste: “All of recorded human history—at only a few thousand years, a mere eyeblink in geologic time—has played out in perhaps the most stable climate window of the past 650,000 years. We have been shielded from the climate’s violence by our short civilizational memory, and our remarkably good fortune.” * We were delighted to learn about Zarina—an adventurous Bengali woman who was once an international hat model (?!)—thanks to , despite the weak research🤷🏽‍♀️. We hope it will serve as inspiration for a better writer to do justice to what seems to be a fascinating life.  * We love this piece in on the spiritual lessons offered by the classic movie ‘Groundhog Day’—which pretty much summed up our pandemic lives. * did an excellent investigative piece on the murkiest side of Bangladeshi politics. The title ‘The gangster, the general and the prime minister of Bangladesh’ totally delivers on its promise. * Jonathan Jacob Meijer, a Dutch musician, spawned more than 175 children as a sperm donor. looks at the unacknowledged hazards of having hundreds of half-siblings in a tiny country—who may well meet, fall in love/lust and even have babies together. * ‘The tyranny of passwords—is it time for a rethink?’ had us madly nodding our heads in agreement all the way through. * Bloomberg News (via ) has an excellent analysis of how climate change and poor city planning left Chennai—one of the world’s wettest cities—grappling with a water crisis.

Weekend Advisory

Feel Good Place

When you’re watching TV and go WTF?????   Let’s make a whisk-ey… a how-to vid for the will-never-cook lot!   Napoleon? Rod Stewart?   We’re all going on a summer holiday…   Hmm. We wonder what’s wrong with this pregnancy test ad…  

Feel good place

archivetitle dog ic

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