Going Crypto!

Sanity Break #1

There’s a lot of corporate noise around International Women’s Day—and a lot of it trades in the usual celebratory cliches. Paytm instead offered this powerful that reveals the immensity of the gender gap—and sends a vitally important message about financial literacy and independence. Yeah, Paytm did good!

Headlines that matter

MYANMAR PROTESTS RAGE ON * In a , the military raided the offices of a prominent newspaper—and forcibly occupied a number of hospitals. * Despite that—and the use of stun grenades and heavy artillery—tens of thousands came out in protest as it spread across the country. * Worker unions have called for nationwide strike aimed at causing the “full, extended shutdown” of the economy. * Hundreds of students in a neighbourhood in Yangon, blocked in by the military and police—and local embassies called on the military to let them go home. * accessed two internal documents that reveal the EU's plans to impose sanctions. The plan: to target companies "generating revenue for, or providing financial support to, the Myanmar Armed Forces." * Need more context? Read our on the coup and the uprising against it. A FLURRY OF OTT CANCELLATIONS Yup, just as many expected, some of our favourite shows will not be coming back thanks to the new digital content rules issued by the government (explained ). Amazon Prime has cancelled the upcoming season of ‘Paatal Lok’. Currently stalled: a Vishal Bhardwaj series based on the Kandahar hijack. Indefinitely postponed: Disney+Hotstar’s ‘Kamathipura’ based on the red-light district in Mumbai. The reason: > “‘All platforms are asking creators to be extremely cautious at the moment and basically avoid depicting (social and political) > realities’ said one of the two people cited above, who is a filmmaker working on a web show. These are companies running > businesses and they cannot afford to have one product lead to the demise of the broader entity, he said… Most content producers > worked with legal firms to identify problematic aspects of content for about three years, but they are now going through scripts > with a toothcomb.” Fate uncertain: while sources claim that Family Man has been nixed as well, Amazon insists it will be rolled out during the summer as planned. GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER AMBANI CASE The Home Ministry has transferred the case—involving an explosive-laden SUV—to the National Intelligence Agency, thereby taking it away from the Maharashtra government. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray called the decision “fishy”—and insisted that the Mumbai police will continue to investigate the car and the related murder of Mansukh Hiran (explained ). () MACKENZIE SCOTT MARRIES AGAIN! And this time, one of the world’s richest women said ‘I don’t’ to fellow super-billionaires out there. Her second spouse is a school teacher who teaches chemistry. Her ex Jeff Bezos said: “Dan is such a great guy, and I am happy and excited for the both of them.” Point to note: Scott has donated over $4 billion to charities in recent months. had the original scoop. has a photo. THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE * The vaccination rollout is gathering pace with nearly receiving the jab on Monday. But there is a class divide with the wealthy lining up, while the poor stay away. One big problem: The emphasis on online registration. has more. * Speaking of divides, Israel has finally started innoculating . * Researchers have detected evidence that the three most worrisome variants—UK, South Africa and Brazil—appear to be converging through genetic mutations towards : “They’re likely headed towards changing into a version that shares the best features of each of the three variants.” * Vaccitech—co-founded by two Oxford scientists—created the key technology underpinning AstraZeneca vaccine, which uses a modified chimpanzee cold virus to trigger immunity. Vaccitech is getting ready for an IPO. : Oxford University that owns 10% of the company, and is at best ambivalent about startups and commercial profit. MENOPAUSE IN HIDING Over a third of the women surveyed in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and South Africa at the workplace. And a significant number felt there was a stigma attached to this natural biological process. This sense of embarrassment is even stronger in women who are on the younger side: > “The survey found those who experienced symptoms before they were 45 were most likely to say that they were too embarrassed to > ask for support in the workplace. Of those in the UK, 63% of adults under the age of 44 said they had shied away from asking for > help, while across all ages the figure was 43%. The figures were similar in the four other countries.” INDIANS BEHAVING VERY BADLY An Air France flight from Delhi to Paris had to make an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria due to the “disruptive and threatening behaviour” of an Indian man. As you can see in the , for some reason, the Prime Minister played a starring role: “Modi, my brother Modi...Modi, Modi… Modi is calling, come here.” He has been detained for 72 hours in Sofia, and the prosecutor says “the man began to act up soon after take-off, quarrelling with other passengers, assaulting a flight attendant and pummeling the cockpit’s door.” If convicted of endangering flight safety, he faces up to 10 years in prison. () BEHOLD THE IMMORTAL BACTERIA! Scientists retrieved sediment from the bottom of the ocean floor which contained 100 million-year-old bacterial cells. When they fed the bacteria, they quickly multiplied—doubling every day and increasing their numbers up to 10,000-fold within 68 days. Why this is astonishing: > “It’s worth pausing to consider the meaning of these results. In this experiment, cells awoke and multiplied that settled to the > bottom when pterosaurs and plesiosaurs drifted overhead. Four geologic periods had ground by, but these microbes, protected from > radiation and cosmic rays by a thick coat of ocean and sediment, quietly persisted. And now, when offered a bite, they awoke and > carried on as if nothing unusual had happened.” has this amazing story. TWO LOVELY ARTISTIC THINGS Swan lake! A Russian ballerina—dressed in full costume in -15°C weather—performed scenes from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake on the frozen Gulf of Finland. She the construction of a port at a popular beach—and “she hopes her performance will save real swans which nest in the bay." below: Beyonce medley! Beyoncé has released an a cappella medley of songs in memory of Lyric Chanel—a 13-year-old girl who died on March 5 after a two-year struggle with brain cancer. has the story. Listen to it :

Sanity Break #2

The trailer for ‘’ starring Rana Daggubati is just… wild! There’s really no other word for it. The trilingual movie—releasing in theatres on March 26 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu—is nothing like that sweet 1971 movie of the same name, which it acknowledges as an inside joke (wait for it!). Not sure if the flick is any good, but its heart is clearly in the right place.

Smart & Curious

A LIST OF INTRIGUING THINGS One: Masayoshi Matsumoto’s balloon art is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Check out an entire gallery and read more about him or follow Matsumoto on . Two: This is the Kansas City Public Library in Missouri. Yes, that’s the building. More amazing photos over . (h/t subscriber Sowmya Swaminathan) Three: There’s hula-hooping… and then there’s bum hula hooping? That’s the Guinness world record holder for the most number of bum hoops in three minutes. Also, the hottest trend in fitness right now: . Is nothing sacred? Four: Here’s a throwback Tuesday ad for all Pears soap lovers. The text reads: > “The first step towards lightening the White Man’s Burden is through teaching the virtues of cleanliness. Pears’ Soap is a > potent factor in brightening the dark corners of the earth as civilisation advances, while amongst the cultured of all nations > it holds the highest place—it is the ideal toilet soap.” See the ad in its full glory, and learn more about its racist historical context . Five: This is more alarming than intriguing: DIY microchip implant kits—which you can inject or insert with a scalpel in the comfort of your own home. has more on this extreme (and stupid?) form of biohacking. Oh and some come with LED lights so you can look like this: