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Thursday January 7 2021

Insurrection

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Sanity Break #1

Coronavirus + Brexit nationalist = . We have nothing more to add to this one. You can thank us later.

Sanity Break #1

Headlines that matter

Trigger warning: The item below includes descriptions of violent sexual assault.   YET ANOTHER BRUTAL KILLING IN BADAUN * The district when two Dalit teenagers were gang-raped and hung from a tree—which in turn inspired the movie Article 15.  * This time around, a 42-year old woman has suffered the same fate as Nirbhaya —gang-raped and violated with an iron rod. Her rib and leg were broken.  * The suspects: Baba Satya Narayan who presided over the local ashram, his driver and a disciple.  * The three accused off at her home after the assault—claiming she had fallen into a well. She was bleeding profusely, and died soon after ( claim she was already dead).  * The police refused to file a complaint until the post-mortem was conducted— despite painfully evident injuries—giving the accused 24 hours to flee.  * The Baba’s cronies have now been arrested, but he is still absconding. The local SHO (station house officer) has been suspended for “insensitivity” and “delaying the due process.” * and have the most details on this story.   A BIG WIN FOR BIDEN IN GEORGIA When Donald Trump took office in 2016, Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House. Yesterday, they lost it all, including two critical Senate races in Georgia. By gaining these two seats, the votes in the upper house are split 50-50—with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaker.    Why these two victories matter very much: Republicans cannot block Biden from pushing through most parts of his legislative agenda—or trying to undo the damage wreaked by Trump. An added nice touch: One of the winners, Raphael Warnock, made history as the first ever Black senator from Georgia. has a good overview of the two races. has more on Warnock’s win. In other US news: Air traffic controllers in New York City heard a digitized voice with a chilling message: “We are flying a plane into the Capitol on Wednesday. Soleimani will be avenged." Wednesday marked the death anniversary of Qassem Soleimani—who was an Iranian general assassinated by a US drone strike last year. No one expects another 9/11 but controlling aviation frequencies can be dangerous as it can affect instructions sent to pilots. () DO WE HAVE HERD IMMUNITY YET? The daily number of new cases below 20,000 for several weeks. And all the so-called hot spots—Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai—are reporting fewer and fewer cases. The only outlier: Kerala. This is especially striking since social distancing appears to have mostly collapsed—thanks to festival gatherings, farmer protests and election rallies. That said, virologists :   > "Herd immunity is not a national concept. It’s applicable to communities and clusters. Some (communities) may have achieved it, > others not. Remember (also) that people move in and out of clusters and that there will continue to be spikes in cases."   In vaccine-related news: The WHO isn’t impressed with the UK’s decision to delay administering the required second dose of the Pfizer vaccine by up to three months. The reason: “[I]t is important to note that there is very little empiric data from the trials that underpin this type of recommendation.” More so, since Pfizer itself said bluntly: “There is no data to demonstrate that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days.” Sigh! ()   Speaking of the WHO: China has denied entry to WHO’s team which was en route to investigate the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing had agreed to the probe after months of negotiations. Now, it claims that details of the visit are still being hammered out. has more.   Speaking of vaccines: The Indian government isn’t keen on protecting vaccine manufacturers from liability in potential lawsuits. A government official told :   > “During the usual vaccination drive, it is the responsibility of the company to provide protection in case of any untoward > incident. While we are of the view that we should follow the same policy, a final decision will be taken once the agreements are > signed with the vaccine makers.”   This is in contrast with the US and UK etc.—which have agreed to shoulder at least part of the responsibility to ensure a speedy rollout. Point to remember: The government hasn’t actually purchased any vaccine, and is still negotiating terms with Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech.  Related read: offers an excellent deep dive into who will pick up the tab if the vaccinations trigger unexpected side effects during the mass campaign.   WHATSAPP HAS A NEW PRIVACY POLICY If you’ve been on the app lately, you might have received an alarming message that asks you to accept its new terms of service—or else lose access to the app by February 8. you are signing up for if you say okay: * For starters, your messages are still encrypted and the company says it does not store your messages—except in cases a text hasn’t been delivered. It stores media forwards temporarily to make it more efficient to forward. * But everything else is fair game. What you do on WhatsApp—including sharing contacts—when you do it etc will be diligently tracked. * WhatsApp is collecting your location information at all times—whether you choose to share it with the app or not: “Even if you do not use our location-related features, we use IP addresses and other information like phone number area codes to estimate your general location (e.g., city and country).” * Businesses you interact with on WhatsApp can share any user information they want with third parties, including Facebook (unless they promise not to in their privacy policy)—i.e. say hello to Jio! * Whatever WhatsApp knows about you, so does every other Facebook company. Translation: everything you do on WhatsApp will be used to target you for ads on every FB platform.   EARTH IS SPINNING FASTER In 2020, our planet took less time on average to complete a single rotation on its axis. In fact, July 19 was 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than the full 24 hours—the shortest since records began. In fact, the 28 fastest days in history occurred last year. This is a slight problem since Earth has been slowing down in recent decades. In fact, international timekeepers have added a ‘leap second’ 27 times to keep our clocks consistent. Now, for the very first time, we may have to deduct a leap second instead in 2021. ()   KIM & KANYE ARE SPLITTING UP Or so claim all the tabloids. Kimmie isn’t wearing her wedding ring, and the two spent the holidays apart. Her people :   > “The source added that while Kim has done much in the past to protect and help Kanye deal with his mental health struggles, ‘Now > this divorce is happening because Kim has grown up a lot. She is serious about taking the bar exam and becoming a lawyer, she is > serious about her prison reform campaign. Meanwhile Kanye is talking about running for president and saying other crazy s–t, and > she’s just had enough of it.’”   His people say: Kanye loathes the Kardashians, and finds their reality show “unbearable.” Yup, that’s definitely grounds for divorce. Coming up next: A potentially over assets.   CRICKET NEWS FROM DOWN UNDER One: A conman duped at least 200 fans into paying $550 (Australian) each to meet the Indian cricket team at a Michelin-rated Indian restaurant—promising amazing food, beer, wine and soft drink, fantastic interviews and Q&A’s.” According to the owners, he has since been caught thanks to team members who alerted the restaurant about the scam. has more on this odd story.   Two: Remember Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya got in trouble for shopping mask-less at a baby store? The owner has now come out with a of the two men:   > “At that stage, there were no restrictions in New South Wales. We wanted to give them gifts but they wanted to pay for > everything… Our staff was not allowed to touch them and shake hands with them. Even though there were no restrictions at the > time, they were very much keeping their distance.”   A NEW TWIST ON EARBUDS Until now—thanks mainly to Apple—we’ve been encouraged to jam the damn things right into our ears. Bose has finally put an end to the madness. Its pricey $200 Sport Open Earbuds are designed to sit right above the ear canal (far more comfortable for many of us). They are meant primarily for outdoor athletes since they do not cancel out ambient noise, i.e. you can hear traffic, nature or other sounds in your surroundings. Also, the design is way cooler and more secure than the AirPods. has more. No info yet on when they will be available in India.   DWARF GIRAFFES ARE A SURPRISE The first one was spotted in 2015 in Uganda, and three years later, another was discovered in Namibia. That’s when researchers decided to take a closer look and reached a surprising conclusion: Giraffes suffer from dwarfism. These two are between 8-9 feet tall—with long necks that make it look like someone has put a giraffe’s head and neck on a horse’s body (See photos ).  Why this matters: “Although it has been known to occur in humans and domestic animals like dogs, cows and pigs, dwarfism is rarely observed among wild animals and this is the first time it has been found in giraffes." has more.   KASHMIR IS VERY, VERY COLD The state is currently under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan'—a harsh 40-day period during the winter when the temperature drops precipitously, and snowfall swamps the state. Flight operations to and from Srinagar suspended for the third consecutive day because the airport looks :   OTOH, snow can also serve other useful purposes—for protest graffiti (if you don’t know what this is about, read report here)  

Insurrection

Sanity Break #2

This dropped on January 1, but ICYMI you missed this bit of fabulousness (or forgot all about it): Harry Styles + Phoebe Waller-Bridge + argyle sweaters + bling. Oh yeah, it’s a for his latest single ‘Treat People With Kindness’, but that’s entirely besides the point given all the eye candy.

Sanity Break #2

Feel Good Place

: Panda vs Snowman.   This is a slow-motion firework show that lasted… well over 150 years! Also: a doomed super-massive star 7,500 light-years away that went through a “Great Eruption” in the 1840s. We just like it because it’s pretty.   : “Hrithik Roshan playing football.”  

Feel good place

Reading Habit

READING HABIT EDITOR'S NOTE I am so very delighted to introduce you to Anushree Kaushal, our very own books editor! An editor at Penguin Random House India for over five years, she quit her job to “do something entirely different,” as she puts it. And we’re glad that adding her considerable talent to the splainer team is part of her new life plan. We leave it to Anushree to take it from here. Hello readers, and welcome to Reading Habit, your bookish friend and guide through this tentatively hopeful year!    This week, I have put together a list for a cool 2021 reading challenge. I’m seeing fewer new year resolutions in 2021 than I’ve ever seen before, and I can’t say I’m surprised. If you are in the mood for something less structured than our list, may I suggest reading as much, as widely and as diversely as possible be one of your resolutions? I also have a list of new and upcoming book releases.    But before we begin, here is a handy, comprehensive literary calendar from , full of some of the biggest bookish events and releases occurring throughout the year.    On to the books now. Keep reading, and support your local bookstores!   A 2021 READING CHALLENGE Here is my personal take on the very cool  for this year: two themes per month. If you prefer or need a lighter reading list, feel free to pick the option that appeals to you most.   January Longlisted for the JCB Prize:  * by Jahnavi Barua * by Ashoke Mukhopadhyay, tr. by Arunava Sinha Author from Eastern Europe:  * by Svetlana Alexievich (Belarus) * by Olga Tokarczuk (Poland)   February  About incarceration: * by Bryan Stevenson * by Mohamedou Ould Slahi Cookbook by a woman of colour: * by Sonal Ved * by Chrissy Teigen   March Protagonist older than 50: * by Emma Healey * by Jonas Jonasson South American author in translation: * by  Sofía Segovia, tr. by Simon Bruni (Mexico) * by Isabel Allende, tr. by Magda Bogin (Chile)   April Reread a favourite: * by Kate Atkinson * by Ian McEwan Memoir by an Indigenous Woman: * by Joy Harjo * by Terese Mailhot   May By a Neurodivergent author: * by Helen Hoang * by Jen Wilde  Crime novel or thriller in translation: * by Henning Mankell (Swedish) * by Hideo Yokoyama (Japanese)   June About the natural world: * by Pranay Lal * by Robert Macfarlane  Young adult novel by a Latinx author: * by Erika L Sánchez * by Elizabeth Acevedo   July Poetry collection by a black woman: * : Thoughts for Boundless Living by Morgan Harper Nichols * by DaMaris B Hill Biracial protagonist: * by Jenny Han * by Rainbow Rowell   August Muslim middle grade novel: * by Aisha Saeed * by Hena Khan A queer love story: * by Alexis Hall * by Meryl Wilsner   September About a woman in politics: * by Kamala Harris * by Condoleezza Rice Rural Setting: * by Louise Erdrich * by Jason Reynolds   October Cover designed by a woman: * by Rachel Kushner (UK, design by Suzanne Dean) * by Brit Bennett (US, design by Helen Yentus) Arab author in translation: * by Alaa al-Aswany (tr. Russell Harris) * by Naguib Mahfouz (tr. William Maynard Hutchins and Olive E. Kenny)   November By a Trans author: * by Janet Mock * by Kacen Callender Fantasy novel by an Asian author: * by Tanaz Bhathena * by R F Kuang   December Non-fiction focused on social justice: * by Robin DiAngelo * by Mikki Kendall Short story collection by a Caribbean author: * by Edwidge Danticat * by Ivelisse Rodriguez   A LIST OF NEW RELEASES Fiction: * by Angie Thomas: One of the most highly anticipated releases of the year, the author of returns to Garden Heights with the story of Maverick Carter, Starr’s father, set 17 years before the events of the bestselling phenomenon. * by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni: An exquisite tale of love, bravery and betrayal from the bestselling author of , this is the story of Jindan Kaur, the youngest—and last—queen of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.  * by Keerthik Sasidharan: An extraordinary retelling of the Mahabharata war, the book takes the points of view of Bhishma, Draupadi and Arjuna to tell a familiar story in an entirely new light. The first in a trilogy, it is magnificently unique, highly readable and teaches you something new on every page. * by Max Porter: The highly innovative author of and turns his attention to the final days of a great painter, converting his final thoughts into paintings.  * by Rachel Hawkins: Everything Hawkins does is immensely enjoyable, and this delicious, noir twist on Jane Eyre promises to be a sharp, addictive psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Ruth Fare and Lucy Foley.   Non-fiction: * by George Saunders: For the last twenty years, the Booker–winner has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. Through this collection of seven essays paired with short stories from Russian greats, Saunders teaches us about the very real human connection one can make through reading and writing.  * by Harsh Mander: One of the most conscientious and thought-provoking voices writing today, Mander brings us the stories of the least privileged of us, from the homeless to the migrant workers. He combines hard data with on-the-ground reporting to highlight the gravity of the humanitarian crisis that India is in the midst of today. * by Sonia Faleiro: In this astounding, revelatory work of investigative journalism, Faleiro tells the real story behind the tragic deaths of two teenage girls and an epidemic of violence against women.  * by Yashaswini Chandra: Drawing a remarkable connection between Indian history, mythology, art, literature, folklore and popular belief through horses, this debut takes us on an astonishing journey across India and beyond, using an equine vantage point to write a new history of the region and its society, politics and people.  * by Sathnam Sanghera: An illuminating new take on British history, showing how much of the modern Britain one knows and understands is rooted in its imperial past, an aspect which today somehow goes unnoticed. : Panda vs Snowman.   This is a slow-motion firework show that lasted… well over 150 years! Also: a doomed super-massive star 7,500 light-years away that went through a “Great Eruption” in the 1840s. We just like it because it’s pretty.   : “Hrithik Roshan playing football.”  

Reading Habit

archivetitle dog ic

Show No Evil

March 28 2024

What you can watch online is likely to shrink dramatically in the coming years.

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Dance of Self-Destruction

March 27 2024

Why did Netflix and other OTT platforms in India slide so rapidly down the greasy pole of self-censorship?

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No Proof Required

March 26 2024

The unprecedented arrest of Arvind Kejriwal reveals the high price of an anti-corruption law that may keep him in jail.

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Devil Comes To Moscow

March 25 2024

The attack in Moscow is a reminder that ISIS is not dead and making sure it is not forgotten.

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