Greta Thunberg’s tweet spawns investigation
The young climate change activist tweeted out ‘toolkit’ to mobilise a global movement to support the protesting farmers—and then deleted her tweet. Now that Google document has become the focus of a police investigation.The reason: The government insists it reveals a Khalistani conspiracy to “promote enmity between groups”—including plans for Republic Day:
“The intention of its creators appears to be to create disharmony among social, religious and cultural groups and encourage disaffection and ill-will against the Government of India. It also aims at waging social, cultural and economic war against India.”
Times of India has more details here and here. On the lighter side, the big brouhaha offered excellent inspiration to Ranvir Shorey:
Speaking of foreign ‘intervention’: The US State Department finally weighed in on the protests—and took a carefully calibrated stance. It recognised “that peaceful protests are a hallmark of any thriving democracy”—and that “unhindered access to information, including the internet, is fundamental to the freedom of expression.” But it also welcomed “steps that would improve the efficiency of India’s markets and attract greater private sector investment.” And yet many headlines read like this… hmm.
A mea culpa to certain foreigners: Tennis star Maria Sharapova received an unexpected flood of Malayali love. The reason: Many of them had trolled the tennis star in 2014 when she claimed not to know who Sachin Tendulkar was. Now, many of the ‘trolls’ are very sorry for their actions—and want Sharapova to know it. The reason for their remorse: Sachin’s copy/paste PR tweet on the farmer protests. The Hindu has this very silly story. Speaking of Sachin, Deccan Herald trolled him in its signature fashion.
Meanwhile, in India:
- Opposition MPs were stopped from crossing the border at Ghazipur to meet the protesters—which seems odd and wrong.
- Twitter deleted a number of Kangana Ranaut’s tweets. At least one of them referred to Rohit Sharma as a “dhobi ka kutta.”
- Freelance journalist Mandeep Punia is out of jail and talking about his experience—which included being “continually beaten” by the police.
- Some UP jurisdictions are now trying to ban mahapanchayats—which have become ground zero for farmer mobilisation.
- No one says the police’s job is easy, but this may constitute ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment… at the hand of Delhi artists:
The great pandemic: a quick update
- India took the least time to administer 4 million vaccine doses. We did it in 18 days compared to the United States’ 20. Even so, we may be three months behind on our plan to vaccinate 300 million by August.
- Some patients in India are developing a rare life-threatening black fungal infection called Mucormycosis—which occurs in people with weak immune systems: “The infection is so aggressive that it spreads faster than cancer. In 15 days, it can spread from your mouth to eyes and within a month to the brain.” The News Minute has more.
- Despite no evidence of its effectiveness—and open skepticism expressed by the WHO—Indian authorities still distributed 111.6 million hydroxychloroquine or HCQ pills as part of its Covid-19 relief programme.
- A related good read: Mint decodes the various efficacy rates of the different vaccines.
Call for an Olympics boycott
More than 180 organisations—representing Tibetans, Uighurs and residents of Hong Kong—have called on governments to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 because of human rights abuses against ethnic minorities. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already rejected any such move. A member said: "The Games are not Chinese Games, the Games are the IOC Games. The decision on hosting is not made with a view to signalling approval of a government policy." (BBC News)
Also not looking good: Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori who said this at a meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee:
"If we increase the number of female board members, we have to make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying… We have about seven women at the organising committee but everyone understands their place."
The committee currently has five women members. Mori has since apologized, in some part due to the women in his own family:
"Last night, my wife gave me a thorough scolding. She said: 'You've said something bad again, haven't you? I'm going to have to suffer again because you've antagonised women.’... This morning, my daughter and granddaughter scolded me as well."
The Congress party is losing donors
This is hardly a surprise. According to a report submitted by the party, it received only Rs 1.4 billion (139 crore) in contributions in 2019-20—which was down from the Rs 1.5 billion (146 crore) the year before. What caught our eye in this Economic Times story:
“One of the party’s biggest donors in 2018-19, Tatas backed Progressive Electoral Trust, kept away from contributing to the party in the election year. The trust was the biggest donor to BJP in 2018-19, contributing Rs 356 crore of its Rs 800 crore. It gave the Congress Rs 55 crore the same year.”
Three intriguing discoveries
One: Archaeologists have uncovered a 2,000-year-old mummy in Egypt with a golden tongue: “Crafted out of gold foil, the tongue-shaped amulet was likely placed in the deceased’s mouth to ensure they’d be able to speak in the afterlife.” And it looks like this:
Two: Scientists have stumbled upon the world’s tiniest reptile in Madagascar: “The new miniscule lizard is a species of chameleon named Brookesia nana, and is so small its entire body can fit on a fingertip.” And it looks like this:
Three: Scientists have discovered a new species of whale in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico—but they are already on the brink of disappearing. There are only 100 of the newly named Rice’s whales: “They are the most endangered, or nearly the most endangered, baleen whales in US waters.”
Two interesting studies
One: Eating too much fat and sugar in childhood can alter your microbiome for life—even if you learn to eat healthier later in life. The study was the first to show a significant decrease in the total number and diversity of gut bacteria in mice fed an unhealthy diet when young. Mint Lounge has more.
Two: Researchers studied the language used in Reddit posts on r/BreakUps and found two things. One, impending breakups can be identified up to three months before they actually occur. Two, it takes at least six months to get over one. (Inverse)
Foetal music, anyone?
American toddler, Luca Yupanqui, is getting ready for her musical debut: the release of the world’s first album made from sounds inside the womb. No, we have no more to say. The Guardian has all the details. And we’ve dug up a YouTube music vid for you. Our job is done:
