An anti-Muslim rally in Delhi
A Delhi BJP leader organised a protest march titled ‘Colonial Laws & Make Uniform Laws’ at Jantar Mantar. The alleged aim: to call for a uniform civil code. But the rally turned into a call to kill disobedient Muslims instead—as attendees chanted slogans such as:
- “Jab mulle kaate jayenge, Ram-Ram chillayenge” (When the Muslims are slaughtered, they will scream ‘Ram, Ram’).
- “Band karo, band karo, mulle ka vyapar band karo” (Shut down, shut down, shut down Muslims’ businesses).
- “Hindustan mein rehna hoga, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ kehna hoga” (If you want to live in India, you have to chant, ‘Jai Shri Ram’).
The police insist that permission was not granted to hold any such rally, and they have filed an FIR. The BJP organiser Ashwini Upadhyay denied any connection to the chanting—saying: “I neither know the people seen in the video nor have I met any of them, nor were they invited.” The police have identified four men, and one of them has been detained. You can see a clip from the protest here, and a brave journalist stand up to the mob below. (The Print)
Amazon scrambles for cover
The Supreme Court dealt a big blow to Amazon and Flipkart by rejecting their plea to block antitrust probes into their ecommerce practices. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered an investigation into the companies for allegedly promoting favoured sellers over others—and other violations that stifle competition. Both companies have since promised to fully cooperate with the probe.
Immediate fallout: Amazon’s biggest seller Cloudtail plans to shut shop. A joint venture between Amazon and Narayana Murthy-owned Catamaran Ventures, it has long been the target of antitrust attention. One reason: Amazon owns a 24% stake in it—which is now a big no-no as per the revised ecommerce rules. An unnamed source told Mint:
“Both Amazon India and Catamaran have thought it is fit to exit the JV, considering the near expiry of the term. There is no longer an anchor seller needed as e-commerce has gained popularity from various individual small sellers. Further, with the changing regulatory environment and with e-commerce operating guidelines changing, it looks like both parties have thought dissolving the entity is the best route.”
A Pakistani child arrested for blasphemy
An eight-year-old Hindu boy is being held in protective police custody—and is now the youngest person ever to be charged with blasphemy in the country. His alleged crime: deliberately urinating on a carpet in the library of a madrassa—where religious books are kept. He was first released on bail but that incited a Muslim crowd to attack a temple. His family is in hiding, and most Hindus have fled the area. Prime minister Imran Khan has condemned the mob attack—and promised to restore the temple. Meanwhile, our external affairs ministry summoned a Pakistani diplomat to lodge a protest and demand the safety of Hindu families. A member of the child’s family says:
“He is not even aware of such blasphemy issues and he has been falsely indulged in these matters. He still doesn’t understand what his crime was and why he was kept in jail for a week.”
A Covid test for variants
Scientists have developed a new test that can correctly identify the variant you have been infected with. All you have to do is spit. It is built with 3D printed components and costs as little as $2 (approx Rs 144) per device. So far it can successfully identify the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants—and doctors are working on Delta variant detection. The best bit: “Should any new variants emerge, the team could turn around a specific test for the strain in just two weeks.” (BBC Focus)
The world’s smallest baby
Kwek Yu Xuan was just 212 grams (7.47 oz) when she was born in Singapore—and measured 24cm long. That’s about the weight of an apple! And she was delivered four months early via C-section at just under 25 weeks—far short of the average 40. The happy news: She is now a healthy 6.3 kg (14 pounds). See her below (BBC News)
Speaking of babies: Parents in Japan are sending bags of rice to relatives who are unable to visit them due to the pandemic. The amount of rice is exactly the same weight as the newborn babies:
“The bags come in a wide range of designs, with some shaped like a baby wrapped in a blanket so that relatives can feel as though they are hugging the new arrival while looking at a picture of their face, which is attached to the front.”
TBH, they look really cute—as you can see below. (The Guardian)
A big fight for period leave
Women teachers in Uttar Pradesh have launched a campaign seeking three days of menstrual leave each month. Leading the fight: Uttar Pradesh Mahila Shikshak Sangh—an association of female teachers in the state that represents more than 200,000 teaching staff working in the 168,000 government-run schools. Why this matters:
“It's well known that menstruating women need rest as many experience physical discomfort and emotional agony and travelling 30-60kms to reach schools in remote rural areas can be especially taxing… In some areas, unserviced by regular public transport, they have to hitch a ride, sometimes travel the last mile on tractors or bullock carts."
The other big problem: filthy, unusable toilets. BBC News has more.
Wanted: Four people to live on ‘Mars’
NASA is looking for four volunteers to live in conditions similar to the red planet—within a 3D-printed 1,700-square-foot module inside the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The aim: To figure out the physical and mental challenges humans will face on Mars:
“The paid volunteers will be given tasks such as simulated spacewalks, use of virtual reality and scientific research. While it may seem fun to see what being on Mars is like, it'll come with its challenges, such as dealing with equipment failure as well as limited communication to the outside world and resources.”
Time to cancel ‘curry’?
South Asian (NRI) food bloggers are furious over the use of the word ‘curry’ to describe any dish made on the subcontinent. The reason: The overly broad use is a symptom of colonialism:
“There's a saying that the food in India changes every 100 km and yet we're still using this umbrella term popularised by white people who couldn't be bothered to learn the actual names of our dishes.”
Inevitably, we now have South Asia experts telling Western journalists stuff like: “The word curry does not exist in any South Asian language to my knowledge.” Sky News has more on that theory if you’re interested. To us, this sounds a lot like an Indian Twitter argument over biryani… but then we’re jaded like that.
