Tag: africa (last 300)
Mixology
(New Yorker) In ’85, 50 Indian S. Africans changed their census category to colored. Some who back intersex runner Caster Semenya see strict gender categories as analogous to apartheid.
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(Hindu) Preston on his diaspora photobook: Gujaratis in Durban created bunny chow, a loaf of white bread with a hole filled with potato or bean curry. It seems to have been an adapted tiffin carrier.
The pencil test
(Wiki) Sandra Laing, subject of ‘Skin,’ is a dark-skinned white Afrikaner born to apartheid supporters. The S. African gov’t classified her as white, then black, then white based on her skin and hair.
Funf rupien
(Wikimedia Pic) 5 rupie note from German East Africa, 1905. The Indian rupee was the dominant currency along the E. African coast from 1850-1900, equivalent to the Indian rupee and subdivided into 64 Pesa. GEA is now Rwanda, Burundi. [via]
Jinxed merger collapses again
(NYT) An Airtel-MTN merger collapsed again, this time over dual-listing prohibition by India and S. Africa’s desire to keep control over the wireless co.
The Siddis
District 6
(Wiki) ‘District 9’ was inspired by the land grab of D6 from Malays brought by the Dutch E. India Co., and a small # of Indians, Africans, whites. (ht: Ennis)
Colonialism Redux
(TO Globe) The colors are different but the land grab continues in Africa. The public seems more aware though. A South Korean company was forced to quit a $6B land deal in Madagascar. India, China and the UAE are all wanting in.
India sends cricket riches to S. Africa
(NYT Apr. 17) It was thanks to the IPL that the England and Wales Cricket Board, fearful of losing its best players, dashed into an ill-considered partnership with entrepreneur Allen Stanford, since charged with fraud in the U.S.
Mandela, Tutu to boycott over Dalai visa
(WaPo) After South Africa denied the Dalai Lama a visa, saying it was worried about protests before the ’10 World Cup, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela said they would probably boycott the peace summit.
Desai’s lineage
(USA Today) Desai’s parents both working in NC’s Research Triangle. His mother (S. African desi) is a biochemist; his father does software. Desai graduated last year in political sci and American studies and studies folklore.
South Africa chooses sports over peace
(WSJ) S. Africa banned the Dalai Lama from a peace conference until after the ’10 World Cup over fears that Tibet protests would overshadow the event.
The importance of being vetted
(Iol) A South African political party just discovered one of its Parliament nominees, birth name Shan Mohangi, had killed his teenage girlfriend in Ireland decades ago and burned her remains in his employer’s restaurant while a med student.
Desai’s S. African connection
(Wiki) Anoop Desai’s mother is a biochemist; his father designs software. Desai’s father was born in India, and his mother, also of Indian descent, was born in South Africa.
L’Afrique, c’est enorme
Racist freakshow
(WaPo) Tarsem Singh’s ‘The Fall’ featured a former slave named Otta Benga as one of its larger-than-life heroes. The real-life Ota Benga was an African pygmy displayed in a monkey cage at an American zoo.
S. Africans for Obama
(ToL) Feizel Mamdoo, my brother-in-law, texted me from Johannesburg about Obama’s victory: ‘You’d think South Africa was voting! There are all night election parties here.’ [via]
Ranbaxy probe extended to Africa
(Google) Federal prosecutors alleged Ranbaxy routinely lied to the FDA about the formulation of its generic drugs and sold weak or adulterated HIV drugs to AIDS patients in Africa.
Shah the Q of Gates aggies
(Metrobostonnews) Dr. Rajiv Shah heads the Gates Foundation’s new agricultural program. They funded AGRA, a NGO which developed a sweet potato with beta carotene to stave off blindness, and rice which doesn’t require paddies.
India plays nice in Africa
(Economist) Indian hires African locals, while China importing its own. India opens universities to Africans. There’s a large Indian diaspora. Africa’s relationship with India is more egalitarian than with China.