Myanmar uprising: The latest update
New charges: Deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has now been charged with violating the official secrets law—the most serious allegation so far as it carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years. Until now, she’d been charged with fairly minor crimes such as illegally importing six handheld radios, breaching coronavirus protocols, etc.
The death toll: is now 538—with 141 killed by security forces on one day, i.e. Saturday. But protesters continue to take to the streets—as activists burned copies of the Constitution, which was framed by the military to preserve its power.
Civil war? Fighting intensified between the military and militia groups, and is growing bloodier by the day. UN officials briefing the Security Council warned that “the whole country is on the verge of spiralling into a failed state”—and urged it to consider “potentially significant action” to reverse the course of events as “a bloodbath is imminent.” Point to note: This is unlikely to happen as China and/or Russia will veto any such action.
A tragedy in India: A convoy of officials in Assam are getting ready to deport a 14-year old Rohingya girl—the first to be sent back since the coup. And this despite her request to be sent to Bangladesh—where her family members are living in a refugee camp. Also see: Myanmar refugees being sent back at the Manipur border:
The great vaccine rollout: A quick update
- Pfizer released new data that shows that their vaccine remains “highly effective” for six months after the second dose. Companies plan to monitor recipients for two years after they receive their jabs. Why this matters: Some vaccines, as the one for measles, provide lifelong immunity while others for the flu etc. need to be given every year.
- India has deferred its emergency approval of Sputnik V due to insufficient data: “They have to provide more information about its safety and immunogenicity as some data is currently missing”
- But that isn’t stopping the makers of Sputnik V from offering doses of the vaccine to Russians who follow them on Twitter. They insist this is “not an April Fools' Day joke.” See bizarrely cheery advert below:
An ugly face-off in Nandigram
Yesterday, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee went to inspect a polling booth in Nandigram—the constituency from where she is running for election. And it quickly turned into an ugly situation, leaving her stuck inside for two hours. She eventually had to be rescued by a huge contingent of police—after she called Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Election Commission, the police and administrative officials.
The reason: Nandigram is ground zero for communal polarisation in Bengal. And this particular booth is in the middle of two bitterly opposed Muslim and Hindu-dominated neighbourhoods. And both came out in big numbers to confront one another over rumours of vote rigging.
Point to note: Twenty six percent of the 2.57 lakh voters in Nandigram are minorities, including 68,000 Muslims. Banerjee’s opponent Suvendu Adhikari has repeatedly underlined the “70:30” formula – dog-whistling the approximate Hindu to Muslim ratio, implying that the 70% can out-vote the 30%.
Speaking of ugly hate: On Monday, a 65-year old Filipina woman was brutally attacked on a street in New York. The clip of the stomach-wrenching crime—captured on a street cam—went viral. And now, the police have identified and arrested the suspect who—get this—was out on parole after serving time for killing his mother with a kitchen knife. (New York Times)
Google’s got a new scanner
Stack uses your phone camera to scan documents—which is pretty standard. Here’s what’s really cool: It reads the information on the document to automatically organise them into folders named receipts, vehicle, house, IDs etc. You can also search for text within your scans. It’s only available in the US on Android, but a global rollout can’t be far behind. (Mashable)
Fish oil isn’t good for you
It is commonly taken as a supplement to reduce the risk of heart disease, improve gut health, and add vitamin D to your diet. But new research suggests that fish oil capsules only work if you have a specific gene. For others, taking them is a total waste, and for many, it can actually increase the risk of heart disease. (Eat This)
Four April Fool’s Day things
One: Velveeta launched a range of luxury skincare products—because nothing says glowing skin like processed cheese lol! Also: excellent parody of every beauty ad ever.
Two: CEO Bhavish Aggarwal tweeted an ad for Ola AirPro—the "world's first and only fully autonomous electric flying car.” The tagline: Ab har family bharegi udaan. Mint has more if you don’t want to watch the 2-plus minute ad below.
Three: Keventers did good with their very green and very fake bhang-flavoured milkshake.
Four: Teletubbies were totally on-trend and launched a new cryptocurrency called ‘TubbyCoin’ that uses the “power of HugTech” to allow folks to exchange TubbyCoin ‘BigHugs!’ tokens.
For more of such April Fool’s amusement, check out Business Insider’s list.
The world’s most expensive vegetable
A farmer in Bihar is growing hop shoots that cost a whopping Rs 1 lakh per kilo. These are the green tips of the hop plant—whose flowers are also used to make beer. New Indian Express profiles the farmer. The Guardian explains why these perfectly normal-looking veggies cost so much. In case you’re curious about their taste: “The leaves take on a kale-like quality, with a faint tang of Chinese leaves like Choi Sim and there’s a nutty quality to the stems.” And they look just as underwhelming:
SpaceX gets a big-ass window
On Tuesday, SpaceX unveiled the coolest ‘window seats’ in the world. The latest version of its spacecraft Crew Dragon Capsule will include a glass dome on its nose cone. The dome will give its passengers a 360° panoramic view—which will either fill you with wonder at God’s creation or (if you’re like us) make you instantly throw up! The Verge has the details. It looks like this.
Two intriguing historical finds
One: A 121-year-old chocolate—still wrapped in its original packaging—was found in Norfolk, England. It was one of a batch of 100,000 tins commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1900—and intended for British soldiers fighting the Boer War in South Africa. Experts said: “Although it no longer looks appetising and is well past its use-by date—you wouldn't want it as your Easter treat—it is still complete and a remarkable find.” BBC News has photos of the rather gross-looking chocolate inside. Also, the tin looks like this.
Two: A handful of Arabic coins were discovered in an orchard in Rhode Island—and they solved a centuries-old mystery of a missing pirate, and uncovered a link to a Mughal king. Captain Henry Every was the world’s most wanted criminal back in 1695. The reason:
“On 7 September 1695, the pirate ship Fancy, commanded by Every, ambushed and captured the Ganj-i-Sawai, a royal vessel owned by the Indian emperor Aurangzeb, then one of the world’s most powerful men. Onboard were not only the worshippers returning from their pilgrimage but tens of millions of dollars’ worth of gold and silver.
What followed was one of the most lucrative and heinous robberies of all time. Historical accounts say Every’s band tortured and killed the men onboard the Indian ship and raped the women before escaping to the Bahamas.”
King William III of England put a huge bounty on his head, and everyone was looking for Every, who was never found. Now—thanks to these coins—we know he escaped to America, and presumably lived a happy, prosperous life. Sometimes, crime does pay. (The Guardian)
