The biggest controversies of the year, and Indian Spider-man | #83
Also, history of The Ashes 🏆
Hello
“Passion is inversely proportional to the amount of real information available," says the Benford’s Law of Controversy. Now doesn’t that put things into perspective. It’s an understatement to say 2021 had its fair share of controversies. This week’s newsletter is the third in our ‘Best of 2021’ series, and today we talk about some of the biggest controversies in the country.
Things we learnt this week 🤓
Farm Laws - The 3 draconian farm laws have finally been repealed by the Indian government after a year-long protest by farmers that began in September, 2020. The protest witnessed support even from international personalities like Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, Lilly Singh and Meena Harris. Even with some instances of brute force employed to squash the movement, this was still one of the largest democratic, non violent protests in history. It was a maize. Nope? Ok.
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) - Another instance of the Indian administration suffering from a colonial hangover is the AFSPA instated in 1958. The British introduced the Act to counter the Quit India Movement in 1942. The Act grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in "disturbed areas". The act has come under scrutiny after the Indian Army’s para Commandos shot 14 civilians in Nagaland's Mon district, in December. People have been demanding to repeal the act for years and after the latest incident even Conrad Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, joined in.
The Sabyasachi Mangalsutra - Designer Sabyasachi created a modern advertisement to promote his Royal Bengal Mangalsutra 1.2. He received a lot of flak for hurting cultural and religious sentiments by using relatively intimate pictures in the ad. He was threatened with legal action and the ads were withdrawn. Judge for yourselves
PC: EastMojo Pegasus Controversy - Earlier this year, Amnesty International, along with several media outlets across the world released a report on how Pegasus, a spyware developed by NSO Group, (an Israeli surveillance firm) was used to hack the phones of hundreds of individuals, including Indians. This included two serving ministers, three Opposition leaders, one constitutional authority, several journalists and business persons. Apparently they mostly found only WhatsApp forwards.
IWTK Recommendations 💌
The real story behind the oldest rivalry in cricket.
An Indian version of Spiderman? Sign us up!
Quiz Alert 🔎
We have not one but TWO quizzes this weekend!
First, If you have wondered how ‘muscle’ got its name from Latin for small mice, don’t miss the words and etymology quiz hosted by the one of our favourite quiz masters Kushan Patel, joined by Berty Ashley and Rachel Lopez.
Second, join the ‘Kyun and A’ Great India Quiz with Kumar Varun. Tickets are absolutely FREE and everybody is welcome! The top 6 scorers from the prelims round face off in the Finals on Sunday, 12th December on Clubhouse. Prizes worth Rs 8000 to be won.
Share this newsletter on WhatsApp
Stay hydrated
❤️ IWTK