Week #15 Articles {February 22, '21}

The Bulletin Buzz
Feb 22, 2021
9 min read

Articles Written By Ananya Nayar ,Misaki Tomiyama and others Website edited by Misaki Tomiyama

Articles for this week-

World News-

Mars Landing
Africa’s Financial Problems and Covid Vaccine Cost
Trump impeachment trial verdict
Texas Storms and power

India News-

China & India Border Clash Casualties
Ensuing the Uttarakhand Flash Floods
Mumbai Activists Arrested

Other Articles-

This Week’s Topic- What is the aromantic spectrum?
This Week in History
This Day Signifies- Did you know? February 21 was International Mother Language Day!
Fast Fashion
What's Happening in Yemen?

Mars landing

Article Written by Misaki Tomiyama

The American Space Agency has safely landed its Perseverance rover in Jezero- a deep crater in Mars.

Many think that Jezero held a giant lake billions of years ago. The rover was designed to search for signs of life, and it will spend the next couple of years searching the crater, looking for evidence of past life, since there is a high possibility of life in areas with water. The rover will also collect rock and soil samples and return them to earth, as well as researching Mars, in scope for space colonization.

The Perseverance rover launched on 30 July 2020, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Since then, it has travelled 292.5 million-miles from Earth and landed at 3:55 p.m. ET Thursday. When the touchdown was confirmed, the NASA team cheered, and Ken Williford, deputy project scientist claimed"It was a dream come true."

On Twitter, NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover- @NASAPersevere has commented “Hello, world. My first look at my forever home.” President Biden has also tweeted and congratulated this feat, "Congratulations to NASA and everyone whose hard work made Perseverance's historic landing possible. Today proved once again that with the power of science and American ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility."

Africa’s Financial Problems and Covid Vaccine Cost

Article Written By Ananya Nayar

Countries around the world are recently learning what others paid for the vaccines. Uncovered by a majority of media and news, people have now discovered that the same Covid vaccine is being bought for different prices by different countries. The South African government revealed that the 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca CoronaVirus Vaccine developed by Oxford had been purchased for $5.25 per shot for the health workers. This price is almost three times the amount that countries in the European Union have been paying- only $2.15.

The South African deputy director of general health said that the reasoning behind giving high-income countries lower prices was that they have invested in the research and development, hence the discount.’

Due to this, South Africa (being a lower-income country than countries in the EU) had to cancel their plans for vaccinating 40 million of their 58.5 million population since they can only afford to order vaccines for 10 million. So far, only 25 people from Africa’s 1.3 billion population have been inoculated.

Kenan Malik quoted ‘Coronavirus vaccines offer the world hope- unless you live in Africa.’

Furthermore, there’s also been a problem with vaccine hoarding. The Guardian said that the richest countries have ordered more than 4 billion doses, often paying extra to jump the queue.’

Meaning only 16% of the world’s population has obtained more than 60% of the world’s vaccines. For example, Canada ordered ample doses to immunise their whole population five times.

In a map that the BBC posted this week, it is evident that developing countries around the world have immunised fewer people than countries that are financially stable/developed.

Trump impeachment trial verdict

Article Written By Misaki Tomiyama

Trump’s impeachment trial has concluded, only after 5 days it has begun, and made it the shortest impeachment trial in American history. It was concluded that Donald Trump was not guilty of inciting the US Capitol riots last month.

Trump was impeached and charged with "incitement of insurrection" after the storming of the congress. The final result of the impeachment was 57-43, a two-thirds majority is required for the prosecution, so it was 10 votes short.

Texas Storms and power

Article Written By Misaki Tomiyama

After a huge storm in Texas caused a widespread blackout and left 100 million Americans’ homes without electricity. Because of a power outage, many Texans were without electricity, and heat, and had to cope with the frigid temperatures. On top of this, millions of more Texans also discovered they had dry pipes, and lacked water supply as well. There was a lack of food, in households and grocery stores.

Not only did the storm affect households, but ut it also hindered the government’s process of delivering covid vaccines.

Many homes had their power restored by Saturday, but many were still without electricity. There were around 60 confirmed fatalities. The main cause of most of the deaths was hypothermia (a medical emergency when your body loses heat faster than it can produce heat) and the poisonous carbon monoxide gasses emitted by vehicles after a series of house fires and car crashes.

You can help the people suffering in Texas by giving donations to the Houston Food Bank. Donation Link

China & India Border Clash Casualties

Article Written By Ananya Nayar

For the past several months, China and India have been in the dispute against their territory and the McMahon Line, which marks the border between the two countries. A few days ago, China revealed the deaths that occurred during the clashes.

The Chinese media announced that soldiers died after fighting “foreign troops that crossed our border.” In 2020, India disclosed that 20 soldiers’ lives had been lost, yet the Chinese government did not give any details to the media.

A news outlet from Beijing named the "heroic" Chinese soldiers who gave their "youth, blood and even life" to the region.

However, a couple of months ago, both countries stated that they were withdrawing and disengaging from the conflict to discuss the issue strategically and safely.

Ensuing the Uttarakhand Flash Floods

Article Written By Ananya Nayar

Following up on our last week’s article about the floods that occurred in North India on February 7th due to a glacier rock, the casualties and damage have been revealed. (Visit last week's articles)

The Rishi-Ganga power project plant and hydropower project have been destroyed, and 62 were found lifeless- the majority trapped in tunnels.

Mumbai Activists Arrested

Article By Ananya Nayar

Earlier last week, the Mumbai police arrested two young activists for sharing information about the farmer protests. They were charged for allegedly 'inciting communal hatred between communities.’ She was arrested and lawyers were informed to be present in court for her hearing, but five hours later the police changed their mind after questioning her.

Ms Harshali Podtar had previously been charged for participating in political protests and commenting on the government schemes.

During this pandemic, the Mahastran police have filed many cases against activists and reporters, especially journalists who criticised their handling of the pandemic.

Disha Ravi, a 21-year-old activist was also arrested on the bases of editing a ‘toolkit’ created by Greta Thunberg that conspired against the government’s new agricultural laws that led to the farmer protests. Ravi was arrested for three days, and 5 days after the arrest, Greta Thunberg tweeted about human rights. The police continued to say that Disha Ravi will receive further questioning after Shantanu Mukul and Nikita Jacob (her co-accused for also editing the toolkit) join the interrogation.

This Week’s Topic- The Aromantic Spectrum

By Rudransh Ahuja

What is the aromantic spectrum?

The aromantic spectrum is a type of romantic orientation that describes people whose feeling of romance is disconnected from the normal expectation from society, often due to feeling little to no romantic attraction, or sometimes being repulsed by romance or uninterested in romantic relationships

What is aromatic spectrum awareness week?

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week (ASAW) is a yearly, international event meant to spread awareness and acceptance of aromantic spectrum identities and the issues of aromatic faces, as well as making more people aware of our existence while celebrating it.

What does romantic attraction feel like?

People have described the feeling as near-obsessive and which leads them to think less objectively about the person. It’s typically referred to as a crush or infatuation. It usually also includes wishing or imagining having a romantic relationship with that person, regardless if one decides to try and act on that wish or not. The majority of aromantic people don’t know what it feels like firsthand.

Can aromantics love?

This depends - being aromantic doesn’t determine a person’s ability to feel love. The majority of aromantic people don’t experience romantic attraction and don’t fall in love. On the aromantic spectrum, some aromantic people feel romantic attraction (be it rarely or any other non-normative way) and can experience romantic love.

There are different kinds of love, familial love, friendship, partnership, love for pets, love for nature, etc. and many aromantics experience love that is not romantic. Some aromantics do not feel any form of love, though it shouldn’t be suggested that they do not experience any sort of caring or emotion at all.

How do I know if I'm aromantic?

Everyone discovers that they’re aromantic in different ways. It’s many times done through comparing to peers, reflecting on what romance is in your culture and whether that makes sense to you personally, or is something they want to participate in. Here is a list of some common aro experiences that might help you figure out if you’re aromantic:

Some aromantic people don’t want to find a romantic partner, don’t feel enthusiastic about the idea, makeup excuses for why they aren’t looking for a romantic partner, and/or feel like it’s something they’re being forced into.
Some aromantic people want to find a romantic partner but aren’t interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with any person that they meet. They also may reject opportunities to enter into romantic relationships.
Some aromantic people feel uncomfortable in romantic relationships with people they generally liked, feeling as their romantic partner loves them more than they love that partner. Romantic actions don’t come naturally to some aromantic people; those actions may feel like a script to act out to make their partner happy.
Some aromantic people have never fallen in love and they don’t find the idea that they could be exciting.
Some aromantic people wish they had fallen in love or had a crush, but it doesn’t happen.
Some aromantic people have fallen in love or had crushes, but it occurred rarely or under specific circumstances.
Some aromantic people are confused as to why other people are so preoccupied with romance.
Some aromantic people assume that other people are making up and/or exaggerating romantic attraction and their infatuations.
Some aromantic people aren’t able to tell whether their affection for a person who they like is platonic or romantic.
Some aromantic people may want to go on dates with friends and aren’t able to tell if that means their feelings are romantic or not.
Some aromantic people consciously choose who to have a crush on instead of it happening spontaneously, or lie about having a crush when asked.
Some aromantic people don’t notice others flirting with them or that their behaviour is perceived as flirtatious by others.
Some aromantic people are surprised when they hear about people getting together, be it in real life or fiction. To them, those people just met or don’t know each other well.
Some aromantic people feel very uncomfortable when someone tells them they’re in love with them or have a crush on them. This may include feeling anxiety, dread, guilt, panic, or as though a responsibility has been put upon them.
Some aromantic people may develop a romantic interest in someone only when they tell them they’re in love with them or have a crush on them.
For some aromantic people, the thought of romance must be prompted. They may see romance in the media, have relatives ask if they’re seeing someone, or have their friends discuss their dating lives for this line of thinking to occur. They may think about romance briefly and forget about it again.

If you’re questioning, there are a few more resources, where aromantics talk about the signs of their aromanticism:

More “you might be aromantic if…” statements (archived) also check out: http://www.arospecweek.org/

This Week in History

Article By Ananya Nayar

On February 14th it was Valentine’s day, also the day that St. Valentine was assassinated. St. Valentine was a Roman holy priest, and he was executed on this date in 270 A.D. Valentine’s day is about celebrating those who you love, and St. Valentine in a way did so. Claudius the Cruel, a Roman emperor, realised that many men were unwilling to join the army because they felt they needed to be there for their wives and family. Claudius attempted to build and maintain a strong military force at this time- and he banned all marriages and engagements in the city to prevent the issue. St. Valentine was then beheaded because the Emperor noticed that he began to illegally perform ceremonious marriages and engagements for the couples in Rome. St. Valentine had defied Claudius after understanding the injustice of the new law and paid the price.’

Did you know? February 21 was International Mother Language Day!

Article By Misaki Tomiyama

International Mother Language Day is celebrated each year on 21 February to promote cultural and linguistic diversity. The theme for this year’s International Mother Language Day is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society,”.

So, how did International Mother Language Day start?

It was the initiative of Bangladesh to start celebrating Mother Language Day, and it was approved by UNESCO in 1999 and has been celebrated since 2000.

Schools usually have activities to celebrate this international day.