Week #51 {14-28 February '22}
- The Bulletin Buzz
- Feb 28, 2022
- 11 min read
Articles By Ananya Nayar, Mahin Puri, and Misaki Tomiyama
Articles:
Kid's Articles
Other Articles
Russia and Ukraine- The History
By Misaki Tomiyama
4 days ago, something the world has feared occurred. Russia has invaded Ukraine, and the war between Ukraine and Russia is in the news every day. In this article, we’ll explain the history behind the relations between Russia and Ukraine, and the events that led up to the invasion, right from 1945.
Around 1945, after World War II, there was a confrontational composition, between the communist countries led by Russia and capitalist countries led by the United States- this was the so-called Cold War state. The Cold War was an international confrontational structure that does not fight directly but uses economic, diplomacy, information, etc. as a means to fight.
Simply speaking, the ideology of the communist was the state manages the property of the people. It is an equal social system in which everyone shares capital and property. Wherein the capitalists’ ideology was that the people manage the property of the people, so their values and ideologies were completely different. It is a system in which individuals and companies can own property by getting paid for the amount of work they do.
Slowly over time, the Soviet Union increased its influence over the Eastern European countries, which were liberated from Germany. However, the United States stopped the expansion of Soviet influence by providing economic assistance to war-torn European countries. This resulted in the creation of the Western capitalist countries and the eastern communist countries’ hostilities.
The success of the Communist Party's Czechoslovak coup in February 1948 allowed the Soviet-led communist camp. At that time, the Soviet Union was also developing nuclear weapons as well.
In 1948, at his request, the Treaty of Brussels was signed in five countries to counter the armed invasion of the communists. This led to the creation of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty organisation), formed in a total of 12 countries, including the U.S. and Canada.
To become a stronger power, in 1955, the Soviet Union signed the Warsaw Pact. However, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, as the Soviet economy couldn't stand communism. Along with this, the pact also collapsed. Furthermore, in 1999, countries that were members of the Warsaw Pact, such as Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, joined NATO, which created a crisis for Russia.
The civil war arose in Yugoslavia in the mid-1990s. The rise of democratic forces due to the collapse of the Soviet Union created a lot of crises for Russia. Around this time, NATO bombs Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia and Russia have a strong historical connection, so tension arises again.
2022 Ukraine's move to join NATO just accelerated matters and created a lot of tension between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has a strong connection with Russia and the Soviet Union. When Ukraine became an independent country in 1991, it was and sought a neutral country that was not a member of NATO.
Ukraine is geographically the "last bastion" for NATO for Russia. If this becomes a member of NATO, Russia will always be frightened by the threat of NATO. That threat has led to this Ukraine-Russia problem.
On February 25, Russia approached Ukraine for a ceasefire negotiation to tell them to surrender, and if Ukraine surrenders, Russia will establish a pro-Russian government and prevent Ukraine from entering NATO.
However, Ukraine declares "capital defence". It seems as though Ukraine is prepared to fight Russia thoroughly.
According to Vladimir Putin, Russia's purpose is not to destroy Ukraine but to prevent NATO accession. Repeatedly, Putin has announced to the world that they have no intention to fight Ukraine. Despite this, on the 21st of this month, Russia went against their word and launched an attack on Ukraine.
The Ghost of Kyiv- The Ukrainian Hero
By Mahin Puri
During wars, inspiring stories that showcase bravery are a key motivation to those who seem to have lost hope, and so the tale of a Ukrainian fighter jet had shot down six enemy planes in his Mig-29 jet seems to have taken the locals by storm, and given the unknown pilot an almost cult status, with the people of the country.
After the news surfaced, many of the country’s soldiers, and locals, seemed to regain hope for their country’s peace. The famed pilot is already being considered a legend amongst the locals and has gained the movie worthy nickname of “the Ghost of Kyiv” while being further praised as the first European “ace” since the second world war. Moreover, the official Twitter page of the Ukrainian government has implied that the pilot has shot down a total of ten enemy planes since the beginning of the war, which is double the amount a pilot needs for gaining the title of “ace.”
Although there is no full confirmation of the pilot shooting down six of Russia’s planes, the story of “the Ghost of Kyiv” boosts the morale of the Ukrainian people, and lift their mood during these traumatic times, where nobody knows what could happen next, in this terrifying invasion of their country.
Karnataka’s Hijab Ban and Reactions
Article by Ananya Nayar
Muslim women in South India are currently protesting the oppressive state policy in Karnataka that permits schools to ban girls from wearing a Hijab- a religious head covering part of the Islamic faith that allows women to retain their morals and freedom of choice.
Students and women all over the country and even different parts of the world are participating in voicing their opinions against this discriminatory ban. The protest says it infringes on their right to education and religious freedom in India, where secularism is expressed in the constitution.
Where is this hatred and discrimination coming from? Most anti-Muslim sentiment has been rising in India for a while, and critics say this is under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has chosen to repeatedly ignore or not act against suppressive incidents and cases in the country. For instance, in the past months, many Muslim women had appeared on unsanctioned apps for ‘auctions without their consent, and many nationalist leaders have publicly asked for Muslims to be killed on several occasions.
The PM has debated that his policies benefit all Indians, but the BJP party will be going through elections again this year in several states, and political critics say the hijab debate could jeopardise the chances of winning elections.
This past week, protests condemning the suppression continued as they have been since early January when a government-run in women’s college in Udupi barred Muslim students from wearing the hijab in classrooms as it was ‘not part of the school uniform.’ Furthermore, similar policies were implemented in other colleges soon after, ignoring the fact that up to 15% of the population in those states are Muslim. Even despite objections, the BJP-run Karnataka answered that all students must follow the dress codes set, and argued that a ban on hijabs did not violate any constitutional rights. However, this seriously impacts chances of getting an education for many young girls, because for them ‘it is beyond a symbol of Islam; it is a vessel of our self-respect.’
Ganesh Karnik, a BJP member of the Karnataka state legislature further said that “school is not the place where you have to insist on your priorities or your choices with regard to your faith, a school is a place where children from different communities, different faiths come together.”
Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner who advocated girls’ education said that “refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists- for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women.”
Kids Corner: Why is learning a new language important?
Article by Mahin Puri
When learning a new language, it is alright to be apprehensive, and struggle to understand new words, new vocabulary and in general understanding, a whole new way to speak isn't always easy, however, many things learning a new language can help you with. In addition to all of that, should you choose to learn another language, you would gain versatility in conversation and overall be a more global-minded person too.
Although there are many benefits to learning a language, one of the most important reasons to learn a language is that it helps you to improve your memory. By providing your brain with stimulation and teaching you new grammar and vocabulary, your mind can train itself to make connections with things, and use these connections in different situations, overall helping you remember better, and learn better.
Alongside this, while learning a new language, you can enhance your abilities, and learn to multitask. Managing time and being able to multitask are two great abilities, and when you learn different languages, you also start to think in different languages, and while switching in between these languages, your ability to multitask improves, and with it, your time management, as you would be better at multitasking.
What's more, when learning a new language, you can improve your academic performance, either in school, college, o anywhere you learn, learning a language helps with academics. When immersing yourself in a language, you understand the basics, communicate at the basic level and then advance. While learning these basics, you will begin to make connections between the language you speak and the language you learn, overall helping you improve vocabulary and thinking skills, which in turn develop to improve your academics,
In short, learning a new language can be difficult, and hard. But, it's never too late to try learning something new, and improving yourself, and your skills. Learning a language has many benefits, and being bilingual or knowing more than one language, in general, is very helpful in life in many different ways, so even if it's tiring, confusing and hard, you should make an effort to learn a new language, because the benefits outweigh the hard work it takes to learn one.
Kid’s Corner: Why are there only 28 days in February?
By Misaki Tomiyama
On the Gregorian calendar, February has 28 days, and the rest of the months either have 30 or 31 days. Have you ever wondered why there are only 28 days in February and why the days of the months are so inconsistent?
Why did people even invent calendars in the first place? Romulus, who is said to be the founder and first king of Rome, faced several problems organising the festivals, feasts, military ceremonies and religious celebrations he had, and he needed a calendar to organise all of them. Ancient astronomers already knew the total number of days from one solstice to another. As a result, Rome and many other cultures worked off a lunar calendar.
The Gregorian calendar was a calendar introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. This is the calendar we all use today. The first Roman calendar was what inspired the Gregorian calendar, but it was different, it had 10 months instead of 12. These months began in March, and ended in December, having either 30 or 31 days.
Numa Pompilius, one of the Roman kings, added two months, January and February to the calendar, to fully sync the calendar with the lunar year, and this is why we have 12 months in a year. The original calendar had 6 months of 31 days, and 4 months of 30, adding up to a total of 304 days in a year. At that time, even numbers were unlucky, so the king subtracted one day from all of the days of the month with an even number, making it 29 days instead of 30. The lunar year had 355 days, so there were 56 more days remaining to add on the calendar after the reforms were made- which meant that one of the months had to have an even number of days after January and February were placed, so Numa chose to make February the unlucky month to have even number of days, since it was also the month to host Roman rituals to honour the dead.
There was a lot of confusion with Numa’s calendar, however, so when Caesar came into power in 46 BC, he threw away Numa’s calendar and started using the solar calendar instead. Caesar moved January and February to the beginning of the year and added a total of 10 days to different months to achieve 365 days in total.
Extending the topic- why do we have a leap year? A tropical year (time the sun takes to completely revolve around the sun) is slightly longer than 365 days, and we have 29 days in February every 4 years to make up for the short days combined.
Kids Corner: The BMW ‘Chameleon’ Car
Article by Ananya Nayar
We’ve heard of chameleons and frogs changing colour as camouflage from predators, but have you ever heard of a car changing colours like that? Well, the latest BMW ‘Chameleon’ or BMW iX Flow was unveiled last month in Las Vegas and is the world’s first colour-changing car.
The exterior, with simply one click of a button, can digitally transition between white, grey and black.
The body of the car is laminated with electrophoretic film with microcapsules each the diameter of a human hair- 25.4 μm or 0.0254 mm. This E link display technology is similar to what’s found on the Amazon Kindle, which replicates a book page. Each capsule in the car is assigned, or charged with one of the pigments colours, which becomes visible/lit when the energy is applied. The phone app technology sends these electrical impulses to either white, black or both capsules to form the ideal colour.
Stella Clarke, BMW’s engineer, began this process by converting 3D shapes of the car into 2D panels that would match the car’s contours exactly.
Now, you don’t need to ponder over what colour is the best buy. What’s more about this feature is that it can also be very practical. For instance, white exteriors on a warmer day reduce the air conditioning requirements, and black surfaces absorb light and can keep the car warmer during colder weather.
Currently, the vehicle is too expensive for the market, but this system could be revolutionary and it opens up a world of possibilities for customisation, not just in cars, but everywhere.
Why Do We… ‘Get Taller In The Morning.’
Article by Ananya Nayar
It may come as a surprise, but a person’s height varies throughout the day. A person is tallest in the morning upon waking up and they gradually lose height throughout the day.
The fascinating science behind it is as we through the day, the cartilage in our knees and spine compresses and causes our height to slightly fluctuate. However, when we are sleeping the cartilage has a chance to rest and returns to its normal size. In the morning, we’re a shocking 1cm taller than we are at night, and it’s unnoticeable!
Did you know that the same phenomenon occurs in space- to astronauts? For them, the change is more drastic because as they’re living without gravity for months and sometimes years, the cartilage has ample time to relax and let them ‘grow’ up to inches during their visits into space.
Book & Movie Reviews
Book(s) of the Week- Shades of Magic Series
Reviewed by Mahin Puri
The shades of magic series is a story revolving mainly around Kell and Delilah, two strangers who happen to fatefully meet, during Kell’s visit to Grey London. In the series, there are parallel worlds, each with their amount of myth, magic and mystery, and the way the characters in the story are set real their adventures come alive. The main setting of the story is in the different Londons, Grey London, with no magic, Red with some magic and a peaceful balance between magic and reality, White London where magic is at odds with the world and finally Black London, which is long forgotten to the commoners, where magic has taken hold of everything.
The story is set around Kell, who is a smuggler, an ambassador and one of the last Antari (a magician with the power to travel between worlds) and Delilah Bard, a cutpurse from Grey London, and their adventures. Overall, the story is well written, and the characters are fresh and original, and in general very well-developed. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new, fun and looking to get immersed in a new fantasy world.
Rating out of 5 Stars- 4/5
Age Recommendation- 13+
Movie of the Week- Cruella
Reviewed by Ananya Nayar
Our favourite childhood movie- ‘101 Dalmatians’ villain is back and better than before. Cruella, the devilish, greedy, murderous, narcissistic antagonist has her movie. Here, Disney explores her past and what goes on in this intriguing character's head and how she ended up as she is. I loved this movie because it allows the audience to sympathise with Cruella, yet some of her sins are unforgivable. It gives a new perspective on her and her life, and it’s quite tragic. This story strays from the 101 Dalmatians dognapping plot and follows Cruella’s (or Estella’s) childhood, her losses and betrayals, her fascinating talent and unique characteristics and how she eventually went to the dark side.
The overall portrayal of her character with the soundtrack, costume, casting and camera work was incredible and it certainly was a very well produced film.
It evokes admiration, fear, pity, disgust all in one with this gripping story.
Rating out of 5 Stars- 5/5
Age Recommendation- 9+
Comments