Bridge of Bones

Indian. He/Him. Living by Loving. All posts are queued. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

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Bananas are packed full of essential nutrients for generating energy during a match, according to Lauren Stribley, in-house dietitian at Sports Dietitians Australia. They contain carbohydrates for energy, fibre to help absorb nutrients, and minerals such as magnesium and potassium to help keep muscle cramps at bay. "Fuelling is really important during competition, not just to fuel your muscles but also to power your brain in terms of concentration and decision making," Ms Stribley said. "Bananas do tick a lot of boxes in terms of nutrition, which is why they're a popular choice with athletes. As sports dietitians, we tend to go for the food first options," Ms Stribley said. "Bananas are low GI — low glycaemic index — which means they'll provide you with a longer lasting energy.”

Fiona Broom, ‘Australian Open tennis players fuelled by 200kg of bananas a day’, ABC

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There are more than 1,000 types of bananas in the world, but just one — the Cavendish — dominates global markets. About 50 billion tonnes of Cavendish bananas are grown worldwide each year, including almost all bananas eaten in Australia and supplied to the United States and Europe.

Fiona Broom, ‘Australian Open tennis players fuelled by 200kg of bananas a day’, ABC

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Cricket can break boundaries, so we want to keep hopes alive - we want to play and educate. There is one cricket ground in Afghanistan. The men's team came from nothing, they fought hard to be where they are today. I'm proud, but for us it is heartbreaking. It all comes down to the ICC, they have to recognise us as a team because we have a right to play too.

Firooza Amiri, Afghanistan cricketer

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Cricket Australia have done more for us than the ICC have. They have always pushed to keep hope alive for us. We've sent many messages asking for help because we've sacrificed so much to be here. We came to a new country as young people and we expected the ICC to do much more for us but they did nothing and we haven't heard from them since we have been here.

Firooza Amiri, Afghanistan cricketer

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ASK also said it had recorded 21 extrajudicial killings in 2024, a trademark tactic used by security forces during Hasina's leadership, when hundreds of her political opponents disappeared. Twelve killings happened after Hasina was deposed. "We cannot say the human rights situation has improved", said Noor Khan Liton, adviser to HRSS, and a member of the government-appointed commission examining enforced disappearances. All three groups also condemned the brutal crackdown by security forces under Hasina's command, killing hundreds of people, in a failed bid to crush the student-led uprising. Sara Hossain, a human rights activist and Supreme Court advocate, said Bangladesh urgently needs a commission to "steer the process of ensuring justice" for those wounded by the crackdown under Hasina's tenure.

‘Bangladesh saw surge of mob killings in 2024, reflects growing intolerance: Rights groups’, New Indian Express

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Mob killings in Bangladesh surged after the August revolution last year that toppled the iron-fisted rule of ex-leader Sheikh Hasina, three rights groups said Wednesday. Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a leading Bangladeshi human rights organisation, said it had recorded at least 128 people killed by mobs in 2024. Of those, 96 took place from August onwards, meaning roughly three-quarters of the killings occurred after Hasina fled the country. "Lynchings and mob beatings reflect the growing intolerance and radicalism in society," said senior ASK member Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir. Two other human rights organisations reported similar numbers; around three times more than the average of the previous five years. The Manabadhikar Songskriti Foundation said it had documented 146 people killed by mobs in 2024, while the Human Rights Support Society recorded 173 deaths. While the reasons for the mob killings were not given, revenge attacks surged after Hasina's fall, targeting members of her former ruling Awami League party.

‘Bangladesh saw surge of mob killings in 2024, reflects growing intolerance: Rights groups’, New Indian Express

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Over the last two decades, countries have increasingly introduced warning labels to inform consumers about the health risks of alcohol. The World Health Organization's Global Status Report for Alcohol and Health in 2018 said 47 member states mandated health and safety warnings on alcohol, up from 31 in 2014. Ireland is the first country in the world to mandate a warning linking any level of alcohol consumption to cancer. From 2026, it will be a legal requirement for all bottles of alcohol in the Republic of Ireland to carry a label. South Korea also requires cancer-specific warnings on alcohol.

Brajesh Upadhyay, ‘US top doctor calls for cancer warnings on alcohol’, BBC

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Investigations by two foremost US government agencies in September this year concluded that Israel has been interfering with aid works in Gaza by deliberately blocking essential supplies, killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine. Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has so far killed over 45,300 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children. The offensive has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times.

‘Israel kills 38 Palestinians in 24 hours as three babies freeze to death in Gaza tents amid blockade’, New Indian Express

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According to multiple reports, Israel has been deliberately preventing food, water, medicine and other essentials from entering into Gaza. It has also repeatedly attacked aid convoys and civilians gathered to collect whatever aid that manages to pass through the borders. The U.N. has declared a famine in parts of Gaza. An independent panel of aid experts found that nearly half of the Palestinians in the enclave are struggling with hunger. Many go days without eating. Palestinian authorities say dozens of children have starved to death.

‘Israel kills 38 Palestinians in 24 hours as three babies freeze to death in Gaza tents amid blockade’, New Indian Express

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The debate on the Constitution in the parliament has now brought the clash of cultures out into the open. No Congress leader earlier could show both Ambedkar's present Constitution, which gives equal rights to all citizens, irrespective of caste and gender and Manu's Constitution that RSS and Hindu Mahasabha leaders like Golwalkar and Savarkar held worthy to be adopted, at least in parts, after the British left, in two hands to tell the country that the RSS/BJP actually want Manu's Constitution to come back. Rahul Gandhi did that. Hence the anger of Amit Shah broke out and he told the house that Ambedkar is not God and his Constitution is not divine law. This stems from the belief that Manu dharma is the divine law, though he did not say that openly.

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, ‘Behind the attempt to de-spiritualise Ambedkar now’, New Indian Express

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Amit Shah’s spiritual reference to Ambedkar, God and Heaven must be understood in the background of the tension between two slogans being used across the country — Jai Bhim, Jai Sriram. These two slogans represent two different world views about God of Equality and God of Inequality on earth and in heaven. A visible conflict is spreading into the social layers of India. Ambedkarites across the country chanting Jai Bhim, and RSS/BJP forces chanting Jai Sriram. The Indian Shudra/Dalit/Adivasi masses did not understand the politics of heaven before the present Constitution came into existence. But now they understand. Amit Shah is referring to the heaven of Manu dharma with a force called Yama dharma to implement that dharma to maintain graded caste-based inequality in heaven too. Ambedkar burnt down that heaven and constructed a new heaven of equality of all humans, where caste stands annihilated.

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, ‘Behind the attempt to de-spiritualise Ambedkar now’, New Indian Express

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The RSS and its ideological leadership working in BJP and other wings have two strategies — one to keep the Sanatana Dharma completely intact and second to garner votes from the Dalit/OBC/Adivasi forces, who are the victims of that Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana Dharma in ancient and medieval India was nothing but Varna Dharma. They want votes for coming to power in Delhi and in the states and at the same time Ambedkarism must be in check. However, the educated forces among the oppressed castes understand this twofold strategy of the RSS now to some degree.

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, ‘Behind the attempt to de-spiritualise Ambedkar now’, New Indian Express

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“My brother and I got our suits stitched from the same fabric store,” said Mody. “[The salesperson] quoted a higher price for my suit. He said, ‘We’ll need more fabric for your suit.’ That’s when I felt like maybe I should lose weight, just for economic reasons if nothing else.” The debate around charging more for plus-sized clothing – dubbed “fat tax” – has been hotly contested for a while now. Retailers have argued that using more fabric and, in the case of Indian bridal wear, often more embroidery or embellishments, hike up the costs. The other side, however, says that if smaller-sized people aren’t getting discounts, plus-sized folks shouldn’t have to pay a surplus because it’s cruel to single out a body type.

Navin Noronha, ‘We’re a Plus-Sized Couple. Here’s What Love, Life, and Sex are Like For Us.’, Vice

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Fat-shaming – the act of criticising or drawing attention to someone’s weight, body type or eating habits – is pretty much a universal problem. Fatphobia is built into our day-to-day lives – the clothes we wear, the healthcare we receive, the TV shows we watch. Still, if there is one occasion in India where this nasty version of bullying shows up in all its glory, it’s the wedding day. Fat-shaming brides is disturbingly common in India. An Indian doctor who advocates sexual health, went viral for pulling up a fashion brand for its discriminatory behaviour. She’d written about how the staff “looked at me up and down and asked, ‘oh you are getting married?’ as if I’m inherently unmarriageable.”

Navin Noronha, ‘We’re a Plus-Sized Couple. Here’s What Love, Life, and Sex are Like For Us.’, Vice

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From my own experience, I know that even when you do find love as a plus-sized person, it sometimes takes a lot of unlearning to fully accept yourself in the relationship. “I had major body issues, and I grew up with a sense of not belonging,” said Mody, who said that he would see his friends who were out on dates all the time, and would feel that he was undateable. “If a woman approached me for a coffee or a date, I used to think it’s too good to be true.” It took him a while to realise that when someone loves you, they don’t care about the superficial things.

Navin Noronha, ‘We’re a Plus-Sized Couple. Here’s What Love, Life, and Sex are Like For Us.’, Vice

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Parvathy is struggling to establish her own identity and existence since the death of her husband. She has been strong-armed out of her family home so a new block of high-rise apartments can be constructed on the land where she currently lives. With all paperwork in her deceased husband’s name, Parvathy has no legal way to prove that the house she’s currently living in actually belongs to her, and is on the verge of becoming homeless. “Class is a privilege reserved for the privileged,” boasts the tagline of the builders ready to demolish Parvathy’s home. Kapadia articulates an uncomfortable truth: that the economic success story of Modi’s India—with industrialists Adani and Ambani as its self-proclaimed poster boys—is built upon the displacement and disenfranchisement of thousands of underprivileged, routinely exploited undocumented migrant workers like Parvathy.

Virat Nehru, ‘Review: ‘All We Imagine as Light’ is a Stunning Tale of Intimacy as Dissent’, Rough Cut

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The biggest triumph of All We Imagine as Light is how it frames the search for intimacy, particularly for women, as an act of dissent in contemporary India. Prabha needs closure after her husband abandoned her and left for Germany shortly after their arranged marriage. There are hints of a blossoming romance with a doctor at the hospital, but she’s so unsure of herself and her needs that even the possibility of exploring her own desires terrifies her. She’s also touch-starved, to the point that when a rice cooker arrives on her doorstep, presumably sent by her estranged husband, she finds a private corner and engulfs it in a tight embrace, imagining it as a hug from him. This moment closely resembles a scene in Sandhya Suri’s film Santosh (2024)—another Indian feature at this year’s MIFF—where a widow hugs the police uniform of her husband slain in action, craving his presence when he’s no longer around. Both films—Kapadia’s and Suri’s—explore how women carry unrealised, repressed anger by virtue of having to operate in a world that doesn’t understand their needs and desires.

Virat Nehru, ‘Review: ‘All We Imagine as Light’ is a Stunning Tale of Intimacy as Dissent’, Rough Cut