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Sanity Break #1
As you may have heard, a volcano in Iceland erupted after more than 700 years. Happily, no one was hurt. Scientists even found time to on the hot lava while doing very important scientific work. And now we have one more reason to sit back and enjoy this natural wonder: breathtaking taken by Bjorn Steinbekk. Also watch: this 15-second that shows him flying his drone right into the eruption!
Headlines that matter
MYANMAR PROTESTS: AN IMPORTANT UPDATE A seven-year old child was shot and killed by security forces during a house raid. Here’s her sister’s of how it happened: > “‘They kicked the door to open it,’ 25-year old May Thu Sumaya said. ‘When the door was open, they asked my father whether there > were any other people in the house. When he said no, they accused him of lying and began searching the house,’ she said. That > was the moment when Khin Myo Chit ran over to their father to sit on his lap. ‘Then they shot and hit her.’” Khin Myo Chit is the youngest known victim of the military crackdown. In protest: people have called for a “” urging people to shutter their businesses and stay home—so as to entirely shut down cities across the country. An online meme posted to publicise the action silence “the loudest scream.” The unofficial (and difficult to confirm) death toll so far: 275. An unexpected release: The military has released 628 prisoners—most of whom were so arrested for protesting in early March. It is the first conciliatory move made by the generals in charge. () THE AMBANI CASE: THE LATEST UPDATE For starters, the prime suspect—Sachin Waze—has now been charged under a stringent anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). And the murder of Mansukh Hiran has been transferred to a special National Investigation Agency court. The police : > “It is immaterial that the explosives were placed near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence. The terror act is against the > community as a whole,” the officer said. The sections invoked can attract life imprisonment.” Point to note: suspects do not have the same rights as a normal arrestee. A person can be kept for extended periods of time without being produced in court—and without trial. Also: bail is next to impossible. ICYMI you missed the details, read our latest explainer on the case . Meanwhile, at the Supreme Court: Param Bir Singh—the former Mumbai police commissioner transferred out by the Shiv Sena government—petitioned the Supreme Court to order a CBI probe into state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. The Court has told him to take the matter up with the Bombay High Court—noting that while the charges of corruption against Deshmukh were serious, these charges were made only after the two men had a falling out. () Meanwhile, in Mumbai: The new commissioner, Hemant Nagrale, has embraced spring-cleaning—and transferred 86 cops, including 65 from Vaze’s Crime Intelligence Unit. () Speaking of the Supreme Court: Our next Chief Justice of India will be NV Ramana who will take charge in April. profiles his career. WHATSAPP FACES ANTITRUST PROBE The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has launched a probe into WhatsApp’s new privacy policy— it has violated competition laws “through its exploitative and exclusionary conduct ... in the garb of policy update.” Also this: WhatsApp shares user data in a way that is “neither fully transparent nor based on voluntary and specific user consent.” As you may remember, the updated privacy policy (explained ) caused a public uproar back in January—and the company hastily postponed the deadline to accept the new terms to May 15. But nothing’s changed other than that—you will still lose access to the messaging service if you fail to do so. () KERALA NUNS HARASSED IN UP Two nuns—accompanied by two novices (nuns-in-training)—boarded a train from Delhi to Rourkela in Odisha. Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad—BJP’s student wing—hopped on board and confronted them. They accused the nuns of abducting the two young women to forcibly convert them. The nuns were forced off the train, taken into custody—but the police investigation failed to reveal any ‘conversion’ plot. Amit Shah has : “I want to assure the people of Kerala that the culprits behind this incident will be brought to justice at the earliest.” He was addressing an election rally in the state. See for all the clips of the incident. () Speaking of Kerala: Blackboard Radio is an edtech company that promises to teach kids between the classes of 1-9 to “speak English as fluently as Shashi Tharoor.” The Congress MP was not amused, and to “take legal action to stop the misuse of my name & image for commercial purposes.” See the ad below: THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE * Indian health authorities confirmed what a consortium of experts had flagged last week—i.e we have a unique ‘only in India’ variant that carries a double mutation (we explained this at length ). And yes, it is more infectious, and could reinfect people who have already had Covid. But we still have no evidence that it is linked to the surge. and have more. * In a big blow to the rest of the world, India has exports of the Oxford vaccine—due to worries of a second wave at home. * has tested positive and is under home quarantine. * You will now need Covid-negative certs in Maharashtra—or undergo a rapid test to get in. The problem: the rule is being enforced on security guards who have to shell out Rs 250 a day for testing just to do their job. Watch a justifiably angry clip . * Indigo has Rs 10.3 billion (1030 crore) or 99.5% of the money they owed customers for tickets that were cancelled during the lockdown. H&M IS IN TROUBLE IN CHINA The Swedish apparel company is being trolled by Weibo users calling for a boycott. It has also been blocked on China’s biggest ecommerce websites, and has lost its most prominent Chinese brand ambassadors. The reason: A year ago, the company said it had stopped sourcing its cotton from Xinjiang—out of concern for the human rights of Uighurs being used as slave labour there. And that statement has suddenly resurfaced to become a lightning rod. H&M has declined to comment on the backlash. ( A LIFE-SAVING SALIVA TEST A new study has identified a way to use saliva to diagnose concussions with 94% accuracy—which is a huge breakthrough for athletes of all kinds and ages. But the participants were male rugby players. Therefore, its results cannot be extrapolated for use among women who suffer symptoms that are “more severe and more prolonged”— and creating a similar test will require a separate study. has more on how this test works. WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE HONEY According to the Guiness Book of World Records, Centauri honey is the priciest of its kind, selling for Rs 8.6 lakh per kg. What makes it so precious: It is harvested once a year from a cave in Turkey that is 2,500 metres above sea level. Apparently, it is dark in colour and tastes bitter. But hey, is pretty! () Speaking of sweet stuff: A new analysis of all published research on artificial sweeteners shows that they do not help you lose weight—and may even help add on some pounds. explains why. TWO ART-FOR-GOOD THINGS One: Banksy’s painting ‘Game Changer’—created to honour nurses as superheroes—sold for a record-breaking £16.75 million ($23.1 million) at a Christie’s auction. Proceeds from Banksy’s most expensive artwork will be donated to health organizations and charities across the country. See it below. () Two: The world’s largest canvas painting was sold for $62 million—and its proceeds will go to a variety of UN organisations dedicated to child welfare. Sacha Jafri’s ‘’ measures over 17,000 feet—the size of four NBA basketball courts! ()
Sanity Break #2
We had a total lark checking out of the 20 weirdest inventions from the past 20 years. The above is a promo for , a set of cat ears that measures brain waves and allows them to react to your moods. Of course, it’s Japanese! The list—with handy YouTube vids—includes all sorts, from an instant bra dryer to fish skin bikinis, selfie toasters and a baby mop—that uses your crawl-everywhere bachha to clean the floor!
Feel Good Place
Baby otter! Enuf said. Post-vaccination greeting! One of Prince’s many hidden talents.
Reading Habit
READING HABIT BOOK EDITOR’S NOTE Hi all, I know everyone wants to be out and about right now before it gets excruciatingly hot. But with the coronavirus cases on the rise right now, I’d recommend we all sit inside in the comfort of our homes and read as much as we possibly can. And we’re in luck, ‘cause there are a number of amazing new books out this month. Happy reading, and stay safe! FICTION by Helen Oyeyemi: The award-winning, magical author of ‘’ (which blew my mind) tells the tale of newly-committed couple Otto and Xavier in this inventive novel, and the mysterious, life-altering train journey they embark on. The train reveals an array of astonishing sights and experiences, people and ideas, and makes the couple see each other—and the world—as they’ve never seen before. by Priyanka Champaneri: This one is hugely exciting. Set in Banaras, it introduces us to Pramesh, the manager of a “death hostel”, a place the dying come to spend their last days before they can be cremated, ending their cycle of reincarnation and attaining a “good death”. But when a body reaches Pramesh’s hostel which looks uncannily like him, his entire life is upended, along with the system at his hostel, as the dying mysteriously continue to live, and Pramesh is confronted by his own ideas of death, rebirth, and redemption. Wowza! by Kazuo Ishiguro: What more can I say about Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro that ‘’ hasn’t already? His latest is an exploration of the meaning of that ol’ thing, love, from an unusual lens—that of an “Artificial Friend” Klara, highly observational, who from her perch in the store watches the behaviour of the store’s visitors and hopes that one day someone will pick her to be their friend. Wild. by Ranjit Hoskote: He is poet extraordinaire and a respected art critic, and this dazzling collection of poems is designed to move and evoke and reaffirm poetry as something much above and beyond “the buzz of data”. For an in-depth look at some of the poems in this gorgeous volume, here is a loving review in . selected and edited by Niaz Zaman: This year marks fifty years of Bangladesh, and this carefully curated volume brings together the finest short fiction from the country, since before it became a sovereign nation. Containing stories by stalwarts Kazi Nazrul Islam, Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Shawkat Ali, Hasan Azizul Huq and more, these timeless tales paint an extraordinary picture of a land and its people. NON-FICTION by Urvashi Bahuguna: This collection of essays on recognizing a mental illness and navigating the decisions and consequences that come with it is intensely personal, deeply honest and stunningly written. She talks about everything unflinchingly but with the utmost care, traversing her interpersonal relationships and her connections with art, literature, popular culture and more, at the same time grounding everything in solid research. A necessary book for our times. by Nikesh Shukla: This one is heart-breaking. Written as a love-letter to his late mother and his two daughters, Nikesh examines themes of racism, feminism, parenting and what we mean by the word “home” through this memoir, attempting to answer the million-dollar question: How do you find hope and joy in this racist, sexist, climate-doomed world? by Rohini S. Rajagopal: Another memoir that broke my heart and gave me hope at the same time. Rohini and her husband decide to seek infertility treatment three years into their marriage. But nothing could have prepared them for the invasive, deeply uncomfortable nature of it, the financial and emotional strain they’ll have to endure as a married couple, and the shame and inadequacy Rohini would feel as a woman unable to conceive naturally. All of this and more is dealt with in this memoir with grace and courage, as the author throws some much-needed light on a seldom discussed issue in India. by Shrabani Basu: Colour me sold already. When George Edalji, a successful barrister and son of Shahpur Edalji—a Parsi convert to Christianity and the first Indian to have a parish in England—is wrongly convicted for mutilating horses and sending threatening letters to the vicarage, he loses his faith in the justice system. After a brief stint in prison but his conviction still hanging over his head, he turns to the one man he believes will be best-suited to clear his name—the creator of the world’s greatest detective, Arthur Conan Doyle. Not only is this tale beguiling, Basu is also an excellent storyteller, and she manages to elucidate the notion of being a foreigner in a country built on empire admirably. by Priya Atwal: As the Mughal empire seemed to be winding down in India, others rose to fill the power vacuum that was created. Among them were the Sikhs of Punjab, most importantly the dynasty of the legendary Maharajah Ranjit Singh, whose Sikh empire stretched throughout north-western India into Afghanistan and Tibet. Atwal takes a nuanced stance with this narrative as she chooses to explore this long-lost kingdom through perspectives that go beyond its founding father. Set in a time of global tumult and empires clashing, this is a terrific, informative read. QUICK FIXES, AKA A FEW VARIED RECOMMENDATIONS What I’m reading: I’m currently in the middle of this little-known mystery called ‘’ by Margaret Frazer. When the “lusty, blaspheming dowager” (hell yeah!) Lady Ermentrude visits her niece at a convent where the latter is a nun-in-training, it causes quite a stir. But before she could make any more trouble, she is murdered (*claps enthusiastically*). It is super-atmospheric, especially because it’s set in 1431 and the author manages to evoke that time effectively. The fact that another nun sets about solving the crime makes it even more delicious. A childhood fave: ‘’ by Blue Balliett made me feel like I was in a National Treasure-esque scavenger hunt, working towards solving a mystery centred around Vermeer’s paintings. Reading this book was enthralling, where the kid protagonists were made to feel like they could decipher clues to a crime which has stumped even the FBI. To make things even better, there were full-page black-and-white illustrations interspersed through the book, and each artwork had a little frog drawn into them that the reader had to find. It was everything little detective-me had ever wished for. Book-adjacent rec of the week: I stumbled across this gem of a newsletter called ‘’, which has book recommendations for a variety of situations. It’s got you covered for everything, including something as straightforward as , to . I love it. Underrated author of the week: is an award-winning comic creator who writes (and draws) about her life delightfully. Her adorable son, Palindrome (a cool internet code name), and her cat, Rhino, make regular appearances in her works. She has written a pregnancy and childbirth memoir called ‘’, a childhood memoir about growing up with a chef for a mother in ‘’, and continues to write/draw about her life in both fiction and non-fiction formats. I follow her on and and she is an excellent storyteller everywhere. Bookish adaptation to watch out for: I wanted to be smacked in the face with some pure comfort and nostalgia, and on Netflix more than delivered. It is based on a written by Ann M. Martin about a group of pre-teens who start a local babysitting service. The show is updated and modernized in all the right ways, and the issues it deals with transcend the age group it depicts. The strong friendships, the pains of growing up and navigating complicated familial relationships is done so well, it is enough to make a grown woman (me) cry. Note: Reading Habit is curated by our books editor Anushree Kaushal. Want to send along recommendations, feedback or just say hi? Email her at Baby otter! Enuf said. Post-vaccination greeting! One of Prince’s many hidden talents.
