A smear campaign against farmers
Over the weekend, government ministers launched a full-court campaign to tar the protests as driven by Naxals, Pakistani plants and Khalistanis. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad promised “stern action” against the “tukde tukde gang,” while another minister Piyush Goyal spoke of Maoist elements. And TV coverage—based on “intelligence inputs”—looked kinda like this:
The farmers: have dismissed efforts to label and divide the movement. The Telegraph has their response. While protesters from Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and several other states staged a sit-in on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway—when they were blocked from going to Delhi. Rajasthan farmers brought their cows along for the ride (see below). Another 10,000 farmers are expected to join the protests at the Delhi border.:
A quick round up of the rest:
- The farmers’ demand for a legally guaranteed minimum support price has found an unexpected supporter: The RSS (We explained what guaranteed MSP means here).
- The Indian Railways did its bit for the government’s PR campaign. The IRCTC sent out nearly 20 million emails with a 47-page booklet—which details 13 decisions PM Modi has taken to benefit the Sikh community.
- Indian military veterans are camping at the Delhi border, waiting to return 5,000 gallantry medals. They plan to collect a total of 25,000 over the next couple of days.
- Meanwhile, 188 farmers in Punjab have committed suicide over the last 200-plus days—which is when the farm laws were first proposed. Point to note: The data is sourced from the unions.
- Indian law students have a new hobby: petitioning the Supreme Court on hot-button issues. On the heels of petitions filed against Kunal Kamra and Rachita Tanja, another wannabe lawyer has moved the court seeking immediate removal of the protesters—citing Shaheen Bagh as a precedent. And because lakhs of farmers will meekly move because the Chief Justice says so?
- A related read: The Telegraph explains why at least two of the three farm laws may be held unconstitutional. For a counterview: Read Vivek Dehejia who argues that this is Modi’s ‘Margaret Thatcher’ moment in Mint.
- Sunday Express captures the core crisis that has driven farmers to desperation: falling crop prices. Or better yet, watch this clip of farmers in Bihar talk about their predicament. They also explain why they aren’t protesting.
Workers riot at iPhone factory
More than 1,000 workers in Karnataka went on a rampage—smashing windows and burning cars—at an iPhone manufacturing plant owned by the Taiwanese company Wistron. The reason: They haven’t been paid their full wages for months:
“We were hired as contract workers with a monthly salary of about Rs 16,000. But I was paid only Rs 11,000 last month. They always cite vague reasons like wrong punching (attendance) to cut our salaries”
And while promised an eight-hour shift, the workers were forced to work 12 hours instead:
“We have been made to work even on our festivals with the promise of overtime allowances. But once the work is done, our managers refuse to pay for the overtime and ask us to take a compensatory off.”
The government condemned the “wanton” violence, but promised the workers’ concerns will be addressed. Wistron has filed a police complaint alleging that it has suffered Rs 4.37 billion in losses.
Also in trouble: Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani who has been arrested by the Mumbai police in connection to the fake ratings case (explained here). He has been remanded to police custody for two days. Indian Express has more details.
A ‘love jihad’ tragedy in UP
Rashid Jahan was arrested in Uttar Pradesh when he and his wife Muskan attempted to register their five-month marriage. The Bajrang Dal surrounded the couple, Rashid and his brother were arrested, and a pregnant Muskan was sent to a shelter home. She called her mother-in-law to say that she had bled profusely and lost the baby. UP officials acknowledge that Muskan has been admitted to a hospital, but insist, “her pregnancy is intact.” The Telegraph UK is the only source that has this story—but registration is required.
The great pandemic: A quick update
- AstraZeneca and the Russian government-run Gamaleya institute are planning to test a hybrid version of their vaccines—Oxford and Sputnik V, respectively. They will start human trials to test a one-dose combination that may prove more effective than either one alone. FYI: Both Oxford and Sputnik are holding human trials in India.
- The first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine rolled out in trucks today—marking a historic milestone.
- Germany will go into a hard lockdown over Christmas in response to record levels of cases.
- The World Health Organisation has been accused of conspiring to cover up a report that shows it botched the initial response to the pandemic. The reason: Italy’s pandemic plan had not been updated since 2006 and hence, the initial response from hospitals was “improvised, chaotic and creative.” Why does WHO care: WHO’s assistant director general Ranieri Guerra was in charge of this aspect of Italy’s planning between 2014 and late 2017.
- Also caught covering up: Disney, which was photoshopping face-masks onto the photos of maskless guests taking rides at Disney World—the kind you can buy after you get off a rollercoaster etc. As per the rules, all visitors have to wear a mask except when eating or drinking. But many took them off during the rides—and were free to scream and spread.
- Times of India explains why Tamil Nadu may get more vaccine doses than, say, Bihar. The short answer: greater number of older people, and those with comorbidities.
- Indian Express reports on the stress faced by Indian cricket players in the quarantine bubble in Australia.
- Washington Post acquired a military-grade camera to record how exhaled breath spreads an airborne virus. Definitely worth a watch!
Two surprising new studies
One: Earth’s greatest disasters—the kind that decimate entire species—are typically triggered by asteroid collisions. That would seem like random bad luck, right? Wrong. A new study shows that such “widespread die-offs” follow a cycle of about 27 million years. The reason: The solar system passes through the crowded part of our Milky Way galaxy about every 30 million years. During those times, comet showers become highly likely—and our orbit puts us right in their path. It’s kinda like sauntering across a jam-packed Indian road. The good news: we still have another 20 million years. (USA Today)
Two: Researchers spent 52 hours watching popular children’s programmes—including movies like ‘The Secret Life of Pets’, ‘Despicable Me 2’, ‘Finding Dory’, and shows like ‘Sofia the First’, ‘Peppa Pig’ etc. They found that children are averagely exposed to nearly nine examples of physical pain. The bad news: 79% of such moments involved violence or serious to moderate injuries. Even worse news:
“The researchers report a universal lack of empathy to a character in pain. Of the painful incidents, 75% were witnessed by others and in 41% of cases, characters did not seem especially responsive. Empathy was measured by whether the characters showed concern (by helping, making vocal remarks giving advice) or indifference (turned away from or ignoring the sufferer).”
Three unhappy bits of gender news
One: An Iranian teenager has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her crime: posting distorted images of herself on Instagram—using makeup and Photoshop (see an example below). She was charged with corruption of young people and disrespect for the Islamic Republic. (The Guardian)
Two: Musician FKA twigs has filed charges against actor Shia LaBeouf, accusing him of “relentless abuse,” including sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. She is the second former girlfriend to do so. LaBeouf blames his behaviour on his PTSD and alcoholism, but also denies the allegations are true—and insists he owes the women “the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done.” 🤮 (New York Times)
Three: Wall Street Journal thought it fit to publish an op-ed by Joseph Epstein on Jill Biden which read:
"Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the 'Dr.' before your name? 'Dr. Jill Biden' sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title 'Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students' Needs.”
He went on to advise her to quit her job: "Forget the small thrill of being Dr. Jill, and settle for the larger thrill of living for the next four years in the best public housing in the world as First Lady Jill Biden." Vox has more on the instant backlash. FYI: Epstein only has an honorary doctorate.
Ambani tops yet another fat cat list
Yes, Mukesh-bhai is the richest sports owner in the world. Wait, isn’t Mumbai Indians owned by Nita-Bhabhi? In any case, he is followed by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who owns the NBA team LA Clippers, and Zara founder Armancio Ortega, and owner of the Spanish football team Deportivo La Coruna. Point to note: When Forbes drew up the same list in April, Steve Ballmer was #1. The pandemic has been very kind to Mukesh-bhai’s net worth. (Sun)
A $300,000 painting is trashed, literally
German police retrieved a very pricey Surrealist painting by French artist Yves Tanguy from a trash can at Düsseldorf Airport. A businessman accidentally left it behind at the check-in counter, and it ended up in the recycling bin—where it was traced after an extensive police-led search. (CNN)
Say hello to America’s fastest dog!
Rescue puppy Phelan—a delightful oatmeal-hued mish-mash of greyhound, borzoi, and Scottish deerhound—completed a 100-yard dash in 6.346 seconds (at a speed of 32.3 miles per hour). She is now the official champion of the Fastest Dog USA competition. National Geographic has the story.
