Farmer protests: The latest developments

State of play: PM Modi says the government is ready to suspend the farm laws—already suspended by the Supreme Court?—and is just a “phone call” away, eager to resume talks. Farm leaders say they will not pick up the phone until the government creates a “conducive atmosphere” for negotiations. Not helping the atmosphere: security forces have started constructing concrete walls to cut off all access to the protest sites. Also blocked: water, food and internet. The Telegraph has that story. Also taking precautions: farmers who have set up their own security teams to protect themselves.

All about Ghazipur: After UP leader Rakesh Tikait burst into tears—and single-handedly turned the momentum for a demoralised movement—all eyes are on the Ghazipur protest site. And on the Tikait stronghold, Western Uttar Pradesh—which witnessed the Muzaffarnagar riots that killed 42 Muslims in 2013. The reason: Tikaits worked in tandem to incite communal violence, but seem to have changed their mind. Also this: UP elections are around the corner, and BJP (read: Yogi Adityanath) cannot win the state without holding on to its votes in the region. Caravan has an excellent, clear-eyed take on Rakesh Tikait. The Telegraph explains why a UP-led farm protest is a problem for the BJP. Nakul Singh Sawhney—who made the documentary ‘Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai’—explains why he is optimistic in this Facebook post.

Swelling ranks: The numbers continue to rise across all three protest sites: Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur. Punjab panchayats have issued a diktat demanding every household send at least one male to the borders—or pay a fine. Meanwhile, Tikait’s appeal has brought hundreds of women farmers to Ghazipur—many of them protesting for the very first time. Indian Express has that story. The mood on the ground is summed up by this quote: “If the police crack down on us, whether it’s night or morning, we won’t leave, we will die here (praan tyaag dene hain).”

Targeting the media: Meanwhile, the crackdown on journalists continued. The latest big name to be charged: The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan for tweeting out a reported story on the death of Navneet Singh. The police claim that he died during the R-Day violence when his tractor overturned. But his family insists he was shot. The Wire has details of the autopsy report—and a video documenting injuries to the body (at the bottom of the story).

Also Mandeep Punia: The freelance journalist was on assignment for Caravan at the Singhu border—when he was dragged away by the police. See clip below:

For more than 12 hours, no one knew of his whereabouts—or that of another reporter Dharmendra Singh who later set free. But Punia has been sent to 14 days of judicial custody, and is charged with “obstructing public servants from discharging duty, causing hurt to public servants while discharging duty and endangering human life.” As of now, he appears to be unbowed and defiant. See the photo of him being taken into court:

It’s unclear as to what evidence the police have against Punia (Indian Express has more on their view). His supporters say he is being punished for his investigation into the clashes on the Singhu site—which, he claims, reveal that the angry “locals” attacking the farmers were actually BJP party members. You can see the longer 15-minute video here.

Also worth watching: His wife’s interview where she is very calm and logical in her defense of Punia. Plus: this funny remix of a Republic TV anchor reporting on the protests.

What’s next: Union leaders plan to launch an investigation to find 100 farmers who are still missing since Republic Day. They are also setting up a legal fund to help those arrested—including journalists like Punia.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been arrested

Myanmar may be on the brink of a military coup once again. The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party claims that the country’s top leaders have been arrested early morning. This is after NLD won the latest election in November—but the military claimed that the vote was rigged. All mobile and internet networks are down, and domestic flights have been suspended. BBC News has more details. New York Times offers more context.

The great pandemic: a quick update

• There’s yet more confirmation that people who have previously contracted Covid can be reinfected with the South African variant. What this means: the mutations help the virus overcome antibodies triggered by the previous infection.
• The Indian cricket board will throw open stadiums for the very first time. Fans can attend the third test match between India and England from February 24-28 at the renovated stadium in Motera.
• The United Arab Emirates is in the midst of a massive surge of cases—4000/day which, given its population, would be the equivalent of 5.4 million/day in India. The reason: The government relaxed all pandemic restrictions other than the use of face masks in public—and let in a massive influx of tourists over New Year’s eve who partied on yachts and bars. Many of them returned to their home countries, carrying the infection with them. Now, many have slapped a travel ban on UAE. USA Today has more.
• Serum Institute has asked for permission to trial a second Covid vaccine called Novavax, which has been developed in the US. It was found to be 89.3% effective in a UK trial.

In happier Dubai-related news: For the first time in its history, the UAE is throwing open the doors to citizenship for select foreigners—like "investors, specialised talents and professionals including scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors and their families.” Unlike India, they will be allowed to hold dual citizenship. Point to note: Expats account for 80% of its population. Of course, most of them are labourers who help run the economy—and will not be eligible for any such privilege. (Bloomberg)

Iranian hand in Delhi blast?

On Friday, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off a few metres away from the Israeli embassy in Delhi. The government is now looking at 150 Iranians who entered India in January. The reason: A letter addressed to Israeli ambassador Ron Malka, which was recovered from the blast site:

“It recalled two ‘Iranian martyrs’ Qasim Soleimani and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who were killed in January and November, respectively, of 2020. The letter, written in English, was addressed to ‘The Terrorist, Devil of Terrorist Nation Ron Malka’ and was written by someone who identified himself as Sarallah India Hezbollah.”

Strange new rules for academic webinars

The Ministry of External Affairs has a new requirement: all ministries, agencies, government funded universities etc. must take permission before hosting a virtual conference that includes foreign speakers—especially if they involve topics “clearly related to India’s internal matters.” The phrase is so vague that it can include pretty much any subject under the sun. Also: The guideline also says these will be subject to “appropriate level of scrutiny to identify the nature and sensitivity of data or content of the presentations or the information to be shared by an Indian delegation.” Whatever “appropriate” means.

Until now, this was only required of in-person conferences hosted in India. But the extension to digital seminars makes it far more intrusive—especially since the organisers are required to submit the links for the event: 

“Academics said it was not possible for the government to have people attending or rec­ording all physical conferenc­es, so the regulations had less bite. Virtual conferences, ho­wever, can be easily monitored live and again scrutinised later.”

A fascinating study on our genetic ancestry

A new study out of Purdue University shows that Indians’ have a very unique genetic history—compared to the rest of the world. Typically, people who share the same ancestry also share the same geography. As Big Think explains: 

“When we think about our ancestors, our minds tend to wander to geography. We introduce our progenitors by noting they were Norwegian, Brazilian, Indonesian, or members of an American Native tribe. Personal genetic tests, such as those offered by Ancestry and 23andMe, offer customers a travel log of their lineages' global journeys. And some of our more obvious phenotypic markers, such as hair and skin color, evolved in relationship with the lands our ancestors called home.”

But this is not true of Indians—as doctoral student Aritra Bose discovered when he tried to apply European models to the subcontinent. And the attempt to resolve that problem led to a fascinating discovery:

“The researchers found that people who speak the same language were much more likely to be closely related, regardless of where they lived on the subcontinent. For example, their analysis showed that Indo-European and Dravidian speakers shared genetic drift with Europeans, while Tibeto-Burman speaking tribes shared it with East Asians.”

Also a big factor: caste! Because it is far more likely to determine who we marry, have children with etc. than geography. Big Think lays out the findings in detail. (h/t subscriber Harini Calamur)

Arnab’s forensic audit woes

As part of its TRP scam case against Republic TV (explained here), Mumbai police has submitted a forensic audit of the company’s finances. The allegation: “roundtripping.” Here’s how it allegedly worked: 

• Asianet—owned by BJP Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar—was the channel’s biggest investor when it launched in 2016. 
• Three years later, it sold 30,000 of these shares to a number of investors—including Republic TV’s parent company.
• The allegation: Of the Rs 20 crore used to buy back Republic TV’s shares, Rs 2.18 crore was transferred to Arnab’s personal account.
• He then transferred that money to the parent company, and it was used to purchase the shares. 
• Of course, Republic strenuously refutes the charges.
• What’s more fascinating: The other big hitters who have plowed tons of money into Republic. 
• For example: The Rs 18 crore used to buy back the shares was borrowed from DSP Mutual Fund—which has links to Tata, Godrej, Mahindra, Indiabulls, BSE Limited etc.
• The NewsLaundry investigation—which has lots of granular detail—is a fascinating must-read.

Ikea’s climate change initiative

The company’s green investment fund has bought 10,840 acres of forest land—which is home to more than 350 plant and wildlife species—in the United States. This is part of Ikea’s effort to offset its carbon footprint. The fund has also planted close to 7 million seedlings in countries all over the world. (CNN)

Also trying to do her bit: Priyanka Chopra, who has launched her first line of products—a “completely vegan, eco-friendly and super affordable” line of haircare called Anomaly. Also: The bottles are made from 100 pc plastic trash from our oceans and landfills. (Mint)

A four-year old NRI genius

South Asian Brit Dayaal Kaur has become one of the youngest members of Mensa thanks to her insanely high IQ score—which is 145 and puts her in the “very gifted or highly advanced” category. Her life ambition: to become an astronaut and have a stable full of horses. Also, the lol line in this story: “Ms. Dayaal has been celebrating her big achievement with her father, one-year-old sister Kalyaan and solicitor mother Rajvinder Kaur as she has worked out that she is a ‘genius now.’” 😂 (The Hindu)

Two very funny things

One: Naaz Patel—who heads an NGO called Avesta Foundation—was terribly offended by the Myntra logo. Because in her eyes, it looks like a woman with her legs spread apart. According to the police complaint:

“‘The overall placement of the colour scheme’ of the letter ‘M’ in the logo was ‘obscene to the eyes of any person of normal prudence’... and a ‘deliberate placement of the color scheme’ to ‘depict a woman's vagina and such is again highlighted with the colour scheme of depicting her legs spread out in a suggestive manner’”.

Myntra—likely shocked into submission—caved and has decided to replace the logo (which looks like this). No, that’s not the funny bit. What was hilarious: the excellent lists of equally “offensive” logos that quickly made the rounds. Like this one—which includes a priceless image of Tesco Buttermilk lol!

Two: Ok, so Kangana Ranaut is set to play Indira Gandhi in an untitled political drama—which will apparently cover both Operation Bluestar and the Emergency (translation: it’s unlikely to be flattering). But here’s the funny bit: She then proudly shared images from a past photoshoot where she’d dressed up as IG. Well, it looked like this:

Of course, many unflattering parallels were drawn, but this one is our favourite