The end of Huffington Post India
Huffington Post was recently bought out by one US company, BuzzFeed, from another US company, Verizon—which now has resulted in the instant death of Huffington Post India. The reason: new foreign investment rules that impose all sorts of restrictions on Indian digital news companies. The rules require the following:
- Foreign investment is less than 26%—and must be approved in advance by the government.
- The CEO or equivalent (read: founder) is an Indian citizen.
- The majority of directors on the board are Indian citizens.
- Any employment of a foreign citizen must be reported in advance and approved by the government.
The upshot: Huffington Post India Private Limited was incorporated as a subsidiary of a foreign company—and had to be shut down. Though BuzzFeed could have done it with more notice and grace than it showed (see here).
The irony: As The Wire points out BuzzFeed also had other options:
“Ironically, while the Modi government’s new rules target companies, nothing prevents HuffPost’s new owners from running an Indian edition on the existing HuffPost.in URL directly as a venture of the parent company and hiring journalists in India to produce news content. Since there would be no India-based company involved, there would be no FDI rules to follow...
When it comes to digital media, however, a foreign owned company can publish a news website from offshore and have it accessed by Indians regardless of what India’s FDI rules say.”
Also read: NewsLaundry’s behind-the-scenes report on how this went down.
Scotland makes menstruation history
The nation’s Parliament voted to make all menstrual period-related products free, becoming the first nation in the world to do so. Monica Lennon, Scottish lawmaker who introduced the draft bill said: “Our prize is the opportunity to consign period poverty to history. In these dark times, we can bring light and hope to the world this evening.” This is also what Indian women—who have one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in the world—really need as opposed to relying on well-meaning activists like ‘Pad man’. (New York Times)
The great pandemic: A quick update
- Despite the surge in cases in the US, tens of millions of Americans are projected to travel for Thanksgiving. Back in October, experts predicted that overall travel would fall “at least 10%” compared to last year—to about 50 million people.
- India reported 44,376 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours—with Delhi posting the highest state tally with 6,224 new cases.
- Due to the rising number of cases, the Union government has now allowed states to impose local restrictions, such as night curfew. But they cannot impose any lockdown outside containment zones without its permission.
- Safe or unsafe? Bloomberg crunched data and ranked the ‘covid resilience’ of the world’s largest economies. New Zealand and Japan are at the top of the list, while European nations like the UK and France are right at the bottom.
- How do you know Christmas is round the corner in 2020? When you have vids of chocolate santas in marzipan masks, of course!
China is at it again!
New satellite images show that Beijing is once again causing trouble—this time on a thin strip of land that borders Bhutan and India:
"There has clearly been significant construction activity this year all along the Torsa River valley area with extensive road-building/construction activity underway as well as new military storage bunkers being built in China near the Doklam area.”
A newly constructed village is inside Bhutanese territory—though it has been denied by the government. Why this matters: This is close to a critical area:
"By an advance of just 130 kilometers (80 miles), the Chinese military could cut off Bhutan, west Bengal and the north-eastern states of India. About 50 million people in north-east India would be separated from the country."
CNN has more details.
Two data points that matter
One: India has the highest bribery rate in Asia at 39% and highest number of people (46%) who used personal connections to access public services. Close behind us, Cambodia at 37%. The lowest: Japan and Maldives at 2%. And yet 63% of Indians feel the government is doing a good job of battling corruption. (Times of India)
Two: An Indian Express analysis shows that Muslims are not being fairly represented in government cabinets across the country—and it is not limited to BJP-ruled states. Ten states—which account for 80% of the Muslim population—have only 16 Muslim ministers. Point to note: Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Gujarat was the only state among these that didn't have a Muslim minister—and together they had 34 ministers.
Nivar loses steam
The “very severe cyclonic storm” Nivar has weakened into a “severe cyclonic storm” -- but dumped plenty of rain on Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (see below). NDTV has the details.
Twitter brings back the blue tick
First, the company insisted it was going to do away with the verified badge—which had become the equivalent of a Delhi Gymkhana membership among the Twitterati. And yet it inexplicably remained—without any stated policy of who got one and who did not. The reason: CEO Jack Dorsey was apparently focusing “on protecting the integrity of the public conversation around critical moments like the 2020 US election." Or more likely: Figuring out the point at which his out-of-control beard crossed the line from cool to crazy.
Now, Twitter has announced it will embrace the check mark anew in early 2021—and also take away that precious emblem from those who don’t deserve it. Mint has more details on who qualifies.
Also changing: The rules of calling a mobile number from a landline. You will have to add a ‘0’ as a prefix starting January 1. (Indian Express)
The link between hunger and loneliness
There’s a sound scientific reason we literally ‘hunger’ for social interaction. A new study found that the exact same part of our brain responds when we are deprived of food and of human contact. The lead researcher says:
"’[This study] provides empirical support for the idea that loneliness acts as a signal—just like hunger—that signals to an individual that something is lacking and that it needs to take action to repair that”
Also this: “As such, the study suggests that social interaction isn't just comforting or fun, but it's a human need. Logically, when we're isolated, human brains seek to remedy feelings of loneliness.” (The Smithsonian)
Meghan reveals a painful loss
In a New York Times op-ed, the Duchess of Sussex revealed that she suffered a miscarraige when her son Archie was still a baby.
“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.
Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal.”
It’s also the reason why she broke down when a reporter asked her ‘Are you okay?’. A question she riffs on to issue a call for compassion and connection.
India’s Oscar bid: Jallikattu
Lijo Jose Pellissery's Malayalam film is our official entry for the 2021 Foreign Language award. It tells the story of a village intent on hunting a massive buffalo that has escaped from a slaughterhouse. It is based on a short story titled ‘Maoist’ by S Hareesh—who recently won the JCB Prize for Literature for his novel ‘Moustache’. Read a Film Companion review. See trailer below:
In other happy entertainment news: BTS is now the first K-pop group to ever receive a Grammy Award nomination—in this case for "Dynamite" which debuted at #1 on Billboards chart. Check out their joyous reaction to the news here. Variety has the full list of nominees.
In less inspiring news: Amazon dropped a trailer for its original movie ‘Durgamati’. It is a remake of a Telugu horror-thriller—and it quite frankly looks like OTT shite. Making us hopeful: the lead is the very talented Bhumi Pednekar. Then again, it is produced by Akshay Kumar who recently gave us the awful ‘Laxmii’ the Bomb-less wonder that bombed. In any case, it drops December 11.