IMF chief accused of boosting China
The World Bank typically issues the ‘Doing Business’ report—which ranks countries based on their regulatory and legal environments, ease of business startups and other business climate measures. And a country’s ranking is a big deal. In the 2018 report, China’s ranking jumped up by seven places to #78. This sudden improvement sparked an internal investigation into whether senior officials had tampered with the methodology to make China look good. The final report names then-Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva as applying “undue pressure” on staff to get it done:
“Georgieva visited the home of a ‘Doing Business’ manager to retrieve a hard copy of the final report that reflected changes that boosted China’s ranking, and thanked the employee for helping ‘resolve the problem.’”
What makes this even more scandalous: Georgieva is currently the chief of the International Monetary Fund. FYI: The World Bank has decided to discontinue the ‘Doing Business’ report. Reuters has more details.
Yet another raid on an activist
Our tireless Enforcement Directorate struck yet another blow for justice—this time raiding the home and offices of human rights activist Harsh Mander. And officials seem to have waited until he left for Germany for a fellowship—striking just hours after he boarded the plane. The reason: ED cites an FIR filed by the Delhi Police—triggered in turn by a complaint by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). It alleges financial irregularities at two children homes run by Mander. But oddly, the Delhi wing of the commission contradicted the NCPCR—and the FIR doesn’t mention Mander. (The Telegraph)
A worrying exit at Outlook
Editor-in-chief Ruben Banerjee was apparently sacked within hours of sending an email to his staff asking for a story on “Abba Jaan & Adityanath” for the weekly’s cover story. The reason: “disciplinary issues.” The CEO insists the two events are not connected:
“The issue here was the digital journey of the organisation. I wanted young, ‘rushy’ people for our digital platform. But he had different opinions. He thought I was undermining him, but this wasn’t the case.”
The Print has more on this messy exit. This older NewsLaundry piece has more on the pressure on Bannerjee.
Two worrying virus-related stories
One: The latest Ebola outbreak in Guinea was triggered by someone who carried a dormant strain for five years! Why this is worrying: This means the virus can lurk in the population in almost suspended animation—without circulating or undergoing mutations—only to resurface years later. Ars Technica explains the big picture.
Two: Six children have died in recent days from yet another mystery illness in Bengal. And hundreds have been hospitalised with a viral infection. Right now, no one knows why. (The Hindu)
China is erasing its movie stars
Zhao Wei was once the biggest star in the country—directing award-winning films, selling blockbuster pop singles, and with 86 million fans on Weibo. But now she has been completely erased from the internet—at least the kind accessed by the Chinese:
“Searches for her name on the country’s biggest video-streaming sites come up blank. Her projects, including the wildly popular TV series ‘My Fair Princess,’ have been removed. Anyone looking up her acclaimed film ‘So Young’ on China’s equivalent of Wikipedia wouldn’t know she was the director; the field now reads ‘——.’”
And she is not alone. As Wall Street Journal notes, in a ruthless crusade against celebrity culture, Beijing has been ‘disappearing’ a number of celebrities:
“In an unprecedented campaign launched last month, the party banned the ranking of celebrities by name on social-media platforms, ordered traditional broadcasters and streaming platforms to ban artists who don’t meet political or moral standards, and effectively banned the children of pop stars from appearing in entertainment shows.”
A list of influential people
Time magazine released its annual line-up of the 100 most influential people in the world. The Indians who made the cut: Adar Poonawalla, Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee. Check out the entire list here. Of course, there was the usual Twitter kerfuffle over the list, especially this cover featuring Harry & Megan:
On to the next big list: Rolling Stones has released a revised list of the 500 greatest songs of all time—after 17 years! So there’s more hip hop, Latin pop and other good stuff this time around. More than half the songs here—254 in all—weren’t present on the old list, including a third of the Top 100. But the number one slot still went to a classic: Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’—which knocked the previous #1 Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ down to #4. You can check out the entire list here.
Also being honoured: Children’s toys. The National Toy Hall of Fame in the US announced a list of finalists poised to enter its hallowed premises. They include Cabbage Patch Kids, games such as Battleship and Risk, but also eternal favourites—the piñata and playground sand! (Associated Press)
Three exciting discoveries of art
One: Paleontologists have uncovered a delightful example of very ancient art—likely drawn by a 7 and 12 year old. Discovered in Tibet, they date back to around 169,000-226,000 years ago. And it is made up of hand and feet prints, pressed into the rock. Below is a 3-D scan of what it looks like:
But is this really art? Experts say:
“It is the composition, which is deliberate, the fact the traces were not made by normal locomotion, and the care taken so that one trace does not overlap the next, all of which shows deliberate care… Symbolic behaviors such as language, religion, and art must have simpler manifestations early in the human story—so if you’re looking for the earliest art, don’t go looking for the Mona Lisa or you’ll likely be disappointed.”
Two: A series of camel sculptures carved into rock were first discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2018. Researchers have now concluded that they are 7000-8000 years old—making them the oldest large-scale animal reliefs in the world. BBC News has more on this intriguing find.
Three: The Van Gogh Museum announced the discovery of a drawing by the master—titled ‘Study for Worn Out’. Until now, it had been lying in a private collection—and will now be put on public display for the very first time. BBC News has more. See the painting below:
A pretty fly named RuPaul!
Scientists have named a newly discovered species of soldier flies Opaluma rupaul—after the most fabulous drag queen in the world. The scientist who made the discovery offered this reason:
“I was watching a lot of RuPaul’s Drag Race while examining the species and I know it would challenge RuPaul on the runway serving fierce looks. It has a costume of shiny metallic rainbow colours, and it has legs for days. I think once (Ru) sees the fly she’ll realise it’s quite fierce and hopefully appreciate the name.”
Just look at the resemblance! (The Guardian)
No, activism isn’t a reality show
‘The Activist’ was supposed to be a ‘woke’ version of ‘The Apprentice’: six activists “compete in missions, media stunts, digital campaigns and community events aimed at garnering the attention of the world’s most powerful decision-makers, demanding action now.” And it boasted a star-studded line up of judges including Usher and our very own Priyanka Chopra. Yes, it’s every bit as absurd as it sounds. Inevitably, there was a severe backlash from real-person activists who declared:
“Measuring the success of activism by engagement and social metrics is inherently wrong. I have seen campaigns do incredible, powerful work that isn’t quantifiable by how many retweets it got. And I have seen apparently incredibly popular things on social media fizzle and not take hold, never affect change. This is the same silly notion that if somehow we only get enough signatures on a Change.org petition that something will happen. Newsflash: that’s not how the world works…”
So the show has been suspended and sent back to the drawing table for a reboot. PC issued a suitably chastened apology. And enjoy this TikTok send-up of Priyanka as a judge on the show before it was canned. Now, this we would binge-watch! (Hollywood Reporter.)
What real activism looks like: Reuters has a lovely story of a teacher who has turned walls into blackboards in a remote, tribal village in West Bengal. Concerned by school shutdowns during the pandemic, Deep Narayan Nayak decided to turn the dusty roads into a classroom:
“Nayak teaches everything from popular nursery rhymes to the importance of masks and hand-washing to about 60 students and is popularly known as the ‘Teacher of the Street’ to the grateful villagers.”
Watch the report below:
