anurag

... where morality is often enforced through extreme measures including mob lynching.

Yes, if you look at how things have unfolded since the T@lib@n took power, most decisions are now based on sharia law. All reports show that they’re worried about people using the internet to access p0rn which they see as an immoral act. This actually a larger pattern in the Global South ...

The double tick on WhatsApp is because he connected to a government office’s open Wi-Fi, which is running at 2G speed (in kbps).

The shutdown has reached my state as well. My cousin in our village in Bihar texted today that he couldn’t send his internship email due to no internet and will have to wait until he returns to college next week.

Graph from NetBlocks showing the network connectivity in Afghanistan, from September 25, 2025, to September 29, 2025. The y-axis represents normalized connectivity, ranging from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis represents the dates. The green line representing Afghanistan's connectivity remains stable at around 100% throughout most of the time period, with a sharp drop on the after of September 29. The minimum and current connectivity levels are indicated as 1% and 1%, respectively. The chart has a dark background with a red circle highlighting the decline at the end of the period.

⚠️ Update: #Afghanistan is now in the midst of a total internet blackout as Taliban authorities move to implement morality measures, with multiple networks disconnected through the morning in a stepwise manner; telephone services are currently also impacted

Internet blackout hits Afghanistan as Taliban enforce morality crackdown It’s the first time Afghanistan has experienced a shutdown of this kind since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

Internet blackout hits Afghanistan as Taliban enforce morality crackdown.

www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/i...

I came across this new the other day about leaked playlists from some famous folks. It’s called the Panama Playlist.: panamaplaylists.com

Now the government will decide what you’ll eat on India’s Independence Day (Aug 15).

www.tribuneindia.com/news/asadudd...

It will be super interesting to see how BRICS responds to Trump’s tariffs.

Arundhati Roy to Noorani, J&K Home Dept bans publication of 25 books on Kashmir: ‘Propagating secessionism’ The books include political commentaries and historical accounts such as The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 by noted constitutional expert Noorani, Kashmir at the Crossroads and Contested Lands by Sumantra...

Two of the books I am using in my PhD dissertation: A Dismantled State (Harper Collins India) and Colonizing Kashmir (Stanford Press) today - were banned today by Indian authorities.

indianexpress.com/article/indi...

"A U.S.-India trade agreement is about more than commerce. It is about security," notes CSIS Chair on India and Emerging Asia Economics expert Richard Rossow.

Learn more about how new tariffs may endanger U.S.-India trust: www.csis.org/analysis/aft...

Government of India bans 25 OTT platforms over obscene content. This is part of its ongoing effort to regulate digital streaming services in the name of morality.

www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/g...

BJP Brings in ‘Security’ Law That Could Silence Dissent in Maharashtra CM Fadnavis calls it a move against “Urban Naxals,” but activists say the MSPS Bill targets protests, punishes civil disobedience, and echoes Emergency-era repression.

The Indian state of Maharashtra, with Mumbai as its capital, has passed a new law that criminalizes peaceful protest.

frontline.thehindu.com/politics/mah...

Maharashtra saw at least one farmer die by suicide every 3 hours in first quarter of 2025 In Maharashtra, the alarming rate of farmer suicides has captured attention, with one farmer taking their life every three hours in the first quarter of 2025. State rehabilitation minister Makrand Pat...

767 farmer suicide in the first three month of 2025 in Maharashtra. Reason: rising debt and low income.

www.downtoearth.org.in/agriculture/...

Iran threatens to flog Elon Musk's Starlink users Iran's parliament votes to ban Starlink, deepening digital control amid a crackdown on suspected spies and rising geopolitical tensions.

I get the concerns and all that but no flogging pls.

www.newsweek.com/iran-ban-sta...

BBC to launch new Generative AI pilots to support news production

So that the voices calling to defund public broadcasters can become louder and louder??

BBC to launch new Generative AI pilots to support news production.

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

This is super helpful for first time attendee. I had no idea about top paper panel. Thank you.

‘Can an algorithm understand the weight of a glance between two people?’: Wong Kar Wai on In the Mood for Love at 25 – a new interview A story on Letterboxd.

"AI can replicate, but can it yearn?Can an algorithm understand the weight of a glance between two people who can’t express their feelings?"

I loved reading this interview with Wong Kar Wai, the director of one of my all-time favorite films- In the Mood for Love.

letterboxd.com/bfi/story/ca...

This is India's state-run public broadcaster, DD News, operated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, spreading misinformation by airing a four-year-old video from Israel as footage of an Indian air defense system amid India Pakistan conflict.

www.altnews.in/aaj-tak-ndtv...

The Cult Of The American Lawn | NOEMA Manicured grass yards are ecological dead zones. So why are they being forced on people by their neighbors and homeowner associations?

A pristine-freshly-mowed lawn in North America holds the same spiritual value as a Hindu temple in an Indian residential society.

The Cult Of The American Lawn www.noemamag.com/the-cult-of-...

What a beautiful read on @theatlantic.com about the “islands of competence”. When children fall short, many parents’ instinct is to take away something they love. That’s the wrong impulse. It article struck a deep chord and going to stay with me for a long time. Thankyou @yair-rosenberg.bsky.social

My article examines Starlink’s expansion into one of the world’s largest telecommunications markets and calls for a shift away from techno-optimist hype toward a more grounded understanding of the legal and sovereign challenges posed by foreign control over the Indian airwaves.

Indian authorities have banned Pakistani YouTube content on the name of national security following growing tensions between the two nations.

bsky.app/profile/rese...

India is the only place where red tape is often tied after the ribbon is cut. An internet shutdown was imposed in Kashmir on April 23, 2025, before any official orders were issued. The orders came a day later and were made public two days after the shutdown had already ended. [Source: SFLC]

Prairie Crocus: One of the first plants to bloom in spring. Also an early source of nectar for bees when very few other flowers are available.

"Amazon <i>Wale Bhaiyya</i>" vs Canada Post: Indian Woman's Viral Post A video in which an Indian woman showed the difference between Amazon's return policies in India and Canada has gone viral.

That’s why brown folks living outside India complain about basic things like having to go to the post office to return an Amazon package or not liking Canadian winters because they have to shovel snow. They’ve had someone do everything for them their whole lives.

www.ndtv.com/india-news/w...

If you have money, the level of comfort (for me its exploitation) you can access in India is unimaginable. Now domestic help can be ordered through an app which raises serious concerns about labor exploitation.

Paywall free link: archive.ph/puyo5

AI changed my surname. That’s how I found out how caste-coded it is My misnaming was not an accident — it was indicative of the kind of machine I am interacting with—a machine trained with caste-biased data

Super interesting read. When AI assumes all Indians in 'academia and research settings' are upper caste.

indianexpress.com/article/opin...