Government vs Twitter: The latest update
Last week, Twitter was named in an FIR filed in relation to a video that showed an elderly Muslim man being beaten up in Ghaziabad (we explained this case here). The FIR accused The Wire and a number of journalists who tweeted out the video for “giving a communal colour” to the incident. And Twitter was in trouble for refusing to delete their tweets. Then the Ghaziabad police summoned the Managing Director of Twitter India—who has since agreed to appear via a video call. And now the company has bowed to pressure and restricted 50 tweets linked to the video. They have not been deleted, but cannot be viewed in India. A good related read: Quint on how hate crimes often result in multiple versions of the ‘truth’.
In other big tech news: An ITV investigation reveals that Amazon is destroying unsold goods worth millions of pounds in the UK. They include: “Smart TVs, laptops, drones, hairdryers, top of the range headphones, computer drives, books galore, thousands of sealed face masks—all sorted into boxes marked ‘destroy’.” The reason:
“Many vendors choose to house their products in Amazon’s vast warehouses. But the longer the goods remain unsold, the more a company is charged to store them. It is eventually cheaper to dispose of the goods, especially stock from overseas, than to continue storing the stock.”
Of course, these in turn generate enormous amounts of waste when they end up in the landfill—instead of a charitable organisation where they could do some good. The ITV story is a must read. Also watch a clip of the stomach-turning destruction below:
The first trans athlete at Olympics
Kiwi super-heavyweight lifter Laurel Hubbard will become the first trans athlete to compete at an Olympics game. She used to compete on the men’s side before she transitioned in 2013. The games guidelines allow trans athletes to participate as a woman if their testosterone levels are below 10 nanomoles per litre for at least 12 months before their first competition. Of course, there are those who are upset at her inclusion, arguing “the guidelines do little to mitigate the biological advantages of people who have gone through puberty as males, including bone and muscle density.” Others say the process of transition decreases that advantage, and there will always be physical differences between athletes. (Al Jazeera)
In other Olympics-related news: Despite warnings from health experts, up to 10,000 people will be allowed to attend the summer games—as long as the total doesn’t exceed 50% of the venue’s capacity, and they are masked and do not shout. Foreign visitors are still banned. (BBC News)
Also unhappy with the Olympics: India. The Japanese government has imposed extra-strict rules for athletes from Covid-hit nations like India, UK and Pakistan. They have to be tested everyday for a week before they leave for Japan—and will not be allowed to come into contact with other teams for three days after they arrive. This means they lose three crucial days of training—which is rough since they will arrive five days before the first competition. Also this: all Indian athletes will be vaccinated in advance. (NDTV)
Tamil Nadu’s kickass economic council
The state has set up a new council to offer economic policy advice to Chief Minister MK Stalin. And its members are all rockstar economists—some of whom fell out of favour with the union government. They include Nobel laureate Esther Duflo; former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan; former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian; welfare economist Jean Dreze; and former Economic Advisor to the PM S Narayan. Ok, colour us impressed! Of course, Stalin will need all the help he can get since the state is Rs 5 trillion (5 lakh crore) in debt—and he made all sorts of social welfare promises during the election campaign. (Indian Express)
Princess Latifa surfaces in Spain
The daughter of the ruler of Dubai was abducted off the coast of Goa when she tried to flee the royal family in 2018 (the entire saga explained here). And for years until May this year, no one has seen her in public. In February, BBC News aired smuggled clips of the princess claiming she is being held prisoner at a villa. And in April, the UN demanded ‘proof of life’ evidence from the UAE. Then in May, her friend posted two photos of the princess at a mall in Dubai. Now, she’s popped up on Insta again—this time on a holiday in Spain—or at least the airport in Madrid—with the very same friend. Hmm. (The Guardian)
Two interesting studies
One: New research shows households that recently held a birthday party reported a far higher number of Covid cases than those who did not host a celebration. Why this matters: it suggests any kind of social gathering—even with known relatives and friends—is bad for your health during a pandemic. A good reminder as we embrace ‘the unlock’. (The Telegraph)
Two: New data shows that WhatsApp (34%) remains the most popular platform for Indians—followed by Facebook (32%) and YouTube (31%). The least popular: Twitter at 12%. Also: 85% of Indians use WhatsApp everyday. Unsurprisingly—given the digital divide—educated, affluent and upper caste men constitute the majority of users. (Indian Express)
The cause of a ‘broken heart’
A new study has now found that people who suffer from high long-term stress are more vulnerable to takotsubo cardiomyopathy aka ‘broken heart syndrome’—a condition characterised by a weakening of the heart’s main pumping chamber. It looks and sounds like a heart attack and is often confused for one. The heart wall stops moving and that triggers heart failure. And it occurs in response to sudden or severe shock—say, the loss of a loved one. What we still don’t know: how to diagnose takotsubo in patients before it happens. (The Guardian)
Tasmanian devils: A wildlife tragedy
The road to wildlife hell is paved with good intentions. Back in 2012, 28 pairs of the endangered carnivores were shipped to a small Australian island. The aim: to boost their population. While the wild devils have thrived, they have decimated the entire population of 3,000 pairs of little penguins who had a breeding ground on the island—and other bird species who nest there. Experts say this is an example of badly thought-out conservation efforts:
“Every time humans have deliberately or accidentally introduced mammals to oceanic islands, there’s always been the same outcome...a catastrophic impact on one or more bird species.”
The two Jeff Bezos petitions
The Amazon CEO is not a popular man. Tens of thousands of people have signed a Change.org petition titled ‘Do not allow Jeff Bezos to return to Earth’. This is presumably to prevent him from returning from his first space flight on his company Blue Origin’s shuttle—scheduled for July 20. The petition reads: "Billionaires should not exist...on Earth, or in space, but should they decide the latter they should stay there." It had nearly 70,000 signatures when we published. No one seems to have shared the nobody-likes-you memo with Bezos who recently said: “If you see the Earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It's one Earth.” Well, its people certainly seem to be uniting around one cause. (NPR)
The other petition: is even more amusing, and it makes a simple demand: “We want Jeff Bezos to buy and eat the Mona Lisa.” And it offers this compelling reason: “Nobody has eaten the Mona Lisa and we feel Jeff Bezos needs to take a stand and make this happen.” Lol! But it has only 11,950 signatures so far. On the upside, an art expert notes: “You might get indigestion, but there is nothing stopping you under U.S. law from eating the Mona Lisa if you own it”—which sadly Bezos does not. (New York Times)
In our gratitude jar…
A big shout out to our founding members Gautam John, Anish Malpani, Dipika Kalra, Sunil R Shetty, George Thomas, Amit Dalmia, Akshay Ratan, Radhika Misra, Amarjit Singh and Piya Dasgupta! Your support makes us stronger and our future brighter.
