We Have Reservations!
The robots made by are both terrifying and adorable. Case in point: They now know how to dance! Above is the where Atlas, Spot and Handle groove to ‘Do You Love Me?’. But if you prefer a good Tollywood mash-up, we have two courtesy unknown South Indian fans: and even more awesomely . Enjoy!
A BLOODY DAY IN MYANMAR At least 38 people were killed as Myanmar’s security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in multiple towns and cities. Brutal footage of the police attacking medics, killing unarmed protesters, using rods to beat civilians has shocked the world. and have the most details. For more context, read our . You can see the below: One such case: is 19-year old Angel, also known as Kyal Sin, who was shot in the head. The slogan on her T-shirt—which said ‘Everything will be OK’—has turned into a rallying cry for protesters. has a profile of Angel. has more on women leading the protests. You can see her in the black tee in taken just before she was shot: The military: however remains defiant in the face of international pressure. When a UN official its deputy chief that it was likely to face strong measures from some countries: > “The answer was: ‘We are used to sanctions, and we survived’... When I also warned they will go into isolation, the answer was: > ‘We have to learn to walk with only few friends’.” Meanwhile, in India: 20 people from Myanmar have crossed the border into Mizoram seeking refuge. According to , “some of those who sought refuge were security personnel and they had escaped because of their inability to follow certain instructions.” A STRANGE GOVERNMENT REPORT ON MEDIA A committee of high-ranking ministers—created to fine-tune the “government communication”—has put together a ‘toolkit’ that includes a number of eyebrow-raising suggestions. : * “We should track 50 negative and 50 positive influencers.” * “We should have a strategy to neutralise the people who are writing against the Government without facts and set false narratives / spread fake news.” * “A list of media personnel and prominent persons, who are pro our line of thought—both nationally and globally, should be prepared. Few eminent academicians, Vice Chancellors, retired Indian Foreign Service officers etc should be identified who can write our achievements and project our viewpoint.” * Getting even creepier: One of the long-term agreed strategies includes “coordination with schools of journalism as present students are the future journalists.” Need more? has this other bit: > “Nitin Gokhale, who was formerly with NDTV and Tehelka, and is now close to the national security advisor Ajit Doval, suggested > that any such process must begin by colour-coding journalists. ‘Green – fence sitters; Black – against; and White – who support. > We should support and promote favourable journalists’.” If you have the patience, you can read the 97-page report . In related news: The government has that streaming platforms will not have to register themselves—just fill out a form to share information (so that they can be colour coded too?). More worryingly: In a bail hearing for Amazon Prime India’s content chief, the Supreme Court adjourned its decision—saying it “wanted to consider Ms. Purohit’s case in the light of the new guidelines notified by the government.” Point to note: The new rules may not be constitutional, or apply to OTT platforms under the IT Act. Also this: Purohit is merely asking for anticipatory bail against the 10 FIRs issued against her in connection to ‘Tandav’. To make things worse, the Court appears to think OTT platforms currently include pornographic content. () THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE * A new Indian Institute of Science study shows that the virus is than ever. Note: This is based on samples taken from Indian patients. * The WHO decided an interim report on its investigation into the origins of the virus—prompting even more criticism of its ‘soft on China’ approach. * Great apes at San Diego Zoo became the to receive the vaccine. * Qantas is launching ‘’ for bored travellers. Basically, you request a seat, show up at the airport and the airline will whisk you away to an unknown destination. And you won’t know where you’re headed until you land. * has the story of a plastic surgeon who logged on to his Zoom-enabled court hearing—while he was in the middle of a surgery! * Last not least: Here’s an to ‘mask origami’—i.e. How to tuck and fold that disposable mask to make it fit properly. A BOMB HOAX AT THE TAJ The monument was temporarily shut down when a man called in a false bomb threat. The police have since found : > “We traced the caller to the Nakhi area of Firozabad and identified him as Vimal Kumar Singh, age 30. Police teams are > interrogating him and trying to find out why he made the hoax call. Initial reports suggest that he is not of sound mind and is > under the treatment of a psychiatrist.” BEST PLACES TO LIVE In India: Among the big cities, Bangalore is at the top of the government’s newly released ease of living index—followed by Pune, Ahmedabad and Chennai. The worst cities with a population more than a million: Bareilly, Dhanbad and Srinagar. In cities with less than a million residents, Shimla is king. has the full list. Around the world: A global survey—taken in the midst of the pandemic—found that Canada is now seen as the most desirable destination for employees looking to relocate. The US is still #2, followed by Australia. New entrants in the top ten list: Singapore and New Zealand. has more. HOT ECONOMISTS DO BETTER A survey of the top economics departments in the United States shows that more attractive economists are also more likely to get a nice corporate job after finishing their PhDs. > “The impact of looks didn’t fade even after they entered the job market, as more attractive individuals were found to be more > productive at research on the job. Among students who continued in academia after a PhD, the attractive ones were more likely to > be placed in top-ranked institutions and have a superior publication record.” Point to note: “The authors note that the impact of attractiveness that they found was not just statistically significant, but substantial in magnitude.” We have no words. () THE WORLD’S FIRST SEMI-AUTONOMOUS CAR Honda is getting ready to sell what is called a level-3 autonomous car for $103K in Japan. What level 3 means: > “It is the world's first vehicle to hit the market that allows the driver to engage in different tasks such as reading and > watching TV when the car is in certain conditions such as congested traffic on expressways.” In other words, it’s great in traffic jams where speeds are below 30 km/hr—where the car takes control of acceleration, braking and steering—but the driver needs to take full control once the speeds exceed 50 km. () THREE VERY COOL THINGS A lost painting: by Amrita Sher-Gil has been recently discovered and is expected to fetch up to $2.8 million in an upcoming auction. Titled ‘Portrait of Denyse’, it depicts one of Sher-Gil’s friends and art critic Denyse Proutaux. has the backstory on the painting. And it looks : A Murakami tee: Haruki Murakami and UNIQLO have for a line of t-shirts inspired by the author’s novels and his radio program. We love this one inspired by ‘Kafka on the Shore’. The great cat rescue: Thai navy sailors braved deep waters to save four ginger cats trapped on a burning ship on the Andaman sea. has the story. Awesome
This rap song ‘’ is a protest anthem taking on the communist regime in Cuba—and it's gone viral (probably because it’s excellent earworm as well!). The funniest bit: The government has responded with its own rap number ‘’. offers more context on this musical feud.
SO YOU WANNA WATCH SOMETHING... Five ambitious, working women from very different backgrounds fight to make it in the Maximum City. Director Alankrita Shrivastava says, “Bombay Begums is a story about Indian women that I hope women in India, and across the world will connect with… It’s the story of their daily hustle, the story of their dreams—sometimes buried, sometimes fulfilled.” has a delightful interview with the women who play the Bombay Begums: Pooja Bhatt, Shahana Goswani, Amruta Subhash, Aadhya Anand and Plabita Borthakur. You can catch it on Netflix on March 8—which not coincidentally is International Women’s Day. This is the kind of sequel that makes you think either a) Hollywood studio execs have run out of imagination or b) they are total geniuses. And the creators of this very belated follow up to an iconic movie know it. In an , Eddie Murphy bonds with Arsenio Hall over a shared disdain for sequels: “If something is good, why ruin it?” Or you could improve on it… we hope? You can watch it on Amazon Prime today. PS: If it’s any consolation, the costumes promise to be as ‘Black Panther’. : describes this series as a “whiplash-inducing three-parter” on the 1985 Salt Lake City bombings. Don’t know anything about them? Don’t worry. What’s not to like about a “real-life Catch Me If You Can meets The Da Vinci Code, with fantasy action sequences inspired by Pablo Escobar and featuring the Toyota MR2?” Director Gitanjali Rao’s film has a plot that sounds a little cliched to most of us. A dancer at an illegal nightclub plans to sell herself into marriage in Dubai for the sake of her younger sister Tara and her disabled grandfather. Bring on the glycerine tears, right? Wrong. According to rave reviews in , and , there is way more to this gorgeously animated movie than the cliches you expect—whether of the Bollywood or Disney kind. A LIST OF GOOD READS * has an entertaining read on ‘Caligula’—a big budget movie with big stars like Helen Mirren, Malcolm McDowell, and Peter O'Toole—which turned out so bad that Roger Ebert called it “sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash.” * has a great piece on Tamil sangams abroad rallying to save the department of Indology and Tamil Studies in Cologne University. * Rama Lakshmi in offers a thoughtful take on the internal struggle within museums—which are altars to both national pride and history. * Most stories are about the poor vs the rich, but this long read offers an engaging account of a war between the merely well-off and the obscenely wealthy at a golf club. There are many layers to this story. * This is : Samhita Arni and Taran Khan share personal experiences and stories from their time spent in Kabul. This is a rare break from listening to the multitude of travel narratives of white people. * Why are we the formerly-colonised so obsessed with speaking ‘proper’ English? Sameira Nasrin Ahsan offers a thoughtful take in the . * Old but still very good: William Dalrymple in writes of a bygone India which “was a confident exporter of its own civilisation in all its forms.” * looks at evidence as to whether ultra-processed food is making all of us fat.
Everyone and their mother has been using My Heritage to create Harry Potter-esque portraits that move. This one of the famous Delhi courtesan Malaguire is our favourite! A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do... to score that win! We totally ❤️ the ‘’. TIME’s new international cover.
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