Divorce-Gates

Sanity Break #1

As you all know, we have a terrible weakness for wildlife photos. So bear with us while we share this wondrous photo of a seal—amusingly titled ‘The Magician’—that made us laugh out loud. It only placed third in the mammals category, but it is our favourite among the winners of the German Society for Nature Photography awards. The other gorgeous images are over at —including the overall winner of a swallow that is breathtakingly pretty!

Headlines that matter

HIGH DRAMA OVER TRINAMOOL ARRESTS The Bengal election may have ended, but the political drama goes on and on and on. The arrests: Two ministers, one MLA and the ex-mayor of Calcutta have been arrested on charges of bribery. The so-called Narada case dates back to 2014—when Narada News conducted a , and caught Trinamool leaders taking bribes: > “A journalist from Delhi came to Kolkata, posed as a businessman planning to invest in Bengal, gave wads of cash to seven > Trinamool MPs, four ministers, one MLA and a police officer as bribe and taped the entire operation. The so-called ‘Narada > tapes’ were released just before the 2016 assembly elections in the state.” The Central Bureau of Investigation has now arrested four of them. The missing: Conspicuously off the list of arrests: all the Trinamool leaders who have since defected to the BJP. As the journalist Mathew Samuel, who conducted the sting, told : > “I met Suvendu Adhikari in his office and gave him Rs. 5 lakh. This tape was also submitted to the CBI and forensically verified > to be correct. I met Mukul Roy who did not accept cash directly but told me to give money to Mirza (suspended IPS officer > arrested in the Narada case in 2019). I gave Mirza Rs 15 lakh and there are recorded conversations that prove that Mirza took > the money for Mukul Roy… Why the names of Roy and Adhikari do not appear in the chargesheet or the list of sanctions for > prosecution given by the Governor is a mystery to me. Frankly, it is shocking because you cannot cherry-pick who you arrest and > who you don’t, based on the same evidence.” According to , CBI officials sought permission to prosecute Adhikari from the Lok Sabha Speaker (a BJP man), but are yet to receive it. As for Mamata: Meanwhile, a very angry Chief Minister at the CBI office for six hours daring the agency to arrest her: “The way they have been arrested without due procedure, CBI will have to arrest me also." Less than impressed with that reasoning: The Calcutta High Court order granted to the four leaders. has more details on the arrests. has a must-read interview with Samuel. has a good read on what the CBI has on Roy and Adhikari. THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE WAR: THE LATEST UPDATE Israeli airstrikes continue to pound Gaza— the Hamas' tunnel system, and nine residences allegedly belonging to its commanders. The death toll: in Gaza and 12 in Israel. Efforts to mediate a truce have stalled for a number of reasons. According to analysts: > “Local reports suggest Hamas has been offering some kind of ceasefire for several days, only to be rebuffed by Israel, which > clearly wants to inflict as much damage as it can... These episodes follow a familiar pattern: Israel presses home its undoubted > military advantage until the international outcry over civilian casualties, and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, > demand that the operation end. In Israel's estimation, we have not reached that point yet.” Do read that last line again. , OTOH, spoke to sources in Hamas who point to two specific sticking points. One: Israel wants Hamas to declare a ceasefire first. Two: Hamas says any truce must include an end to Israel's “provocations” at the Al Aqsa Mosque and a resolution of the Sheikh Jarrah evictions (which we explained ). Meanwhile at the UN: An emergency Security Council meeting was held to address the escalating war. And India took a stance that was surprisingly sympathetic to Palestine, with our permanent representative : “In conclusion, I reiterate India’s strong support to the just Palestinian cause and its unwavering commitment to the two-state solution.” has a very good analysis of the Indian position. FYI: The US has been repeatedly to put out a joint statement—which is why none of the meetings have resulted in action. Also: There have been protests around the world to show solidarity with the civilians being killed in Gaza. has photos. THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A LONGISH UPDATE First, the numbers: India added new cases and 4,329 deaths. We are only of the United States overall tally. India’s top Covid expert has this to say on the trajectory of the second wave: > “Although the curve seems to have flattened out, do realise that it has flattened out at a very high plateau… and we have to be > very, very careful not to let it go any further but to bend it down… > > > > The virus is still circulating, it is still infecting, there are still a lot of susceptible people, so possibly that’s one > explanation of why we are seeing such a wide plateau, and that also tells you that the other side of the peak is not going to be > an easy climbdown. It is possibly going to be a more prolonged, long-drawn-out process running possibly into July, may be even > into August.” Meanwhile, mathematical models offer . The IIT one predicts that daily numbers will decline below 100K by June 2, and below 10,000 by July 7. IISc researchers expect them to dip below 100K by May 26. About those deaths: In the second half of 2020—and long before the second wave—a in Odisha accounted for twice as many deaths as the entire state. So undercounting may not be a new thing. In Uttarakhand, previously undisclosed deaths are in bulk—adding 135 such deaths recently. The Indian Medical Association it has lost 244 doctors just in the second wave. Bihar is at #1 with 69 deaths. Covid treatment: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) blood plasma therapy as a recommended treatment. This is after multiple trials have found no benefit from it. About those vaccines: The WHO wealthier countries to delay vaccinating children, and donate those vaccines to poorer nations instead. More so since India’s second wave has hit these nations especially hard. Serum Institute its commitments to the global Covax alliance—aimed at vaccinating low-income countries. It has made zero shipments since exports out of India were suspended in March. Unicef is now asking G7 and EU nations to share their doses instead. Covid fraud: The Delhi police have finally arrested —who is accused of selling oxygen concentrators on the black market (which we explained ). He has been sent for in police custody. The police, however, have given a to Indian Youth Congress leader BV Srinivas, saying they have not found any evidence of fraud with regard to his volunteer campaign. Speaking of fraud, reports on a booming global industry of fake vaccine and Covid test certificates. Elsewhere in the world: is fighting its biggest outbreak to date—a record 335 new cases. The outbreak first began among airline pilots but has since spread within the community. Also worried: , where prison clusters are to blame for rising cases. In , however, 17 unlinked cases have been tied to the ‘double mutant’ variant that originated from India. Also this: The World Economic Forum has its scheduled annual meeting—which was to be held in Singapore. Related good reads: looks at whether horizontal grooves on your nails are proof that you’ve had Covid. Shah Alam Khan in has an excellent piece on how the second wave has changed our relationship with death. On the lighter side: A Bengali man slung his lockdown pass around his neck: a sign that read ‘Going to buy sweets’. Here’s what happened when a policeman confronted him. FYI: his pot belly makes just perfect! CYCLONE TAUKTAE: AN UPDATE The eye of the cyclone hit the Gujarat coast at midnight, but had already been relocated to safety. No casualties have been reported as yet. The storm knocked out the electricity and crippled internet connectivity. In Maharashtra, died in the Konkan region. And the storm , leaving it looking like this: Point to note: The number of storms rising out of the Arabian sea points (as usual) to : > “The rapid warming of the Arabian Sea is leading to not just more cyclones but also more extreme rain events...Due to these warm > ocean conditions it is seen that the cyclone intensifies from a weak cyclone to an extremely severe cyclone rapidly.” LONG WORKING HOURS CAN KILL YOU A WHO global study—the first of its kind—reveals that 745,000 people died in 2016 from stroke and heart disease due to long hours of work: > “The research found that working 55 hours or more a week was associated with a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk > of dying from heart disease, compared with a working week of 35 to 40 hours. The study… also showed almost three quarters of > those that died as a result of working long hours were middle-aged or older men.” But pay close attention, young people: “Often, the deaths occurred much later in life, sometimes decades later, than the long hours were worked.” So being a workaholic is bad for your health irrespective of age. () DON’T FEED THE TWITTER TROLLS It is very, very tempting to correct someone on social media when they get a fact wrong. Don’t. That’s the advice of a new MIT study—which shows that doing so just makes the person more obnoxious: > “Basically, the new thinking is that correcting fake news, disinformation, and horrible tweets at all is bad and makes > everything worse. This is a ‘perverse downstream consequence for debunking’... The core takeaway is that ‘being corrected by > another user for posting false political news increases subsequent sharing of low quality, partisan, and toxic content.’" has more on this counter-intuitive finding. DEMOLITION DERBY IN DELHI Until now, everyone has been getting worked up over the sight of dug up roads to clear the way for the Central Vista project. But the cause for true anguish lies ahead. Soon to be demolished are : the National Museum, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), and National Archives Annexe. Others on the ‘tear down’ list: lots of ministerial bhavans, including Shastri, Krishi, Vigyan etc. The total area to be razed down: 4,58,820 square metres. The big worry: how the priceless objects will be protected when they are moved and stored. Meanwhile at the courts: The case to stop the project on the grounds that it poses a Covid hazard is playing out in the Delhi High Court—which heard very heated arguments yesterday. The lawyer appearing for the petitioners : “We were afraid that their dereliction was going to lead to an Auschwitz on the gardens of Delhi.” : “Central Vista should no longer be called ‘Central Vista’, it should now be called the Central fortress of death.” Hmm, maybe we need a rule about Holocaust analogies...

Sanity Break #2

The swimwear line Summersalt is leaning into body positivity to sell its wares. The campaign is taglined ‘Every Body is a Summersalt Body’, and features Elon Musk’s 73-year old mom, Maye, toxic shock syndrome survivor and double amputee Lauren Wasser, and many others. has an excellent collection of the inspiring images. The is above.

Smart & Curious

A LIST OF INTRIGUING THINGS One: This 180-foot-tall chalk figure—called Cerne Abbas Giant—dates back to somewhere between 700 and 1100 A.D. It is one of the largest—and naughtiest(!)—of these English landmarks which early Britons created by digging trenches into the hillside and filling them with chalk. magazine has more on its history and latest research into its age. Two: This is the visualised on a map of the world. Three: is a purple-pink 15.81 carat diamond, and could fetch up to a record-breaking $38 million when it goes up for auction next week. Four: The ultimate pandemic artist: Alison Luntz who basically photoshops herself into photos to make it look as though she is traveling the world. Here’s the photoshop: And here’s the real thing: profiles Luntz and her work.