Hot News Mix: Indians Have a Lot of Crazy Theories About the Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight

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A Roundup of India’s outrageous theories about the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. Every swami, pundit, expert, and journalist seems to have their own take on what happened to Flight MH370, which has now been missing for 14 days. In this roundup, Scroll.in highlights Subramanian Swamy’s tweets about his theory that the plane was hijacked, as well as Ramachandra Guruji hypnotizing two people on television as they “imagine themselves on the plane” and theorize (and poorly act out/dramatize) what could have happened to the plane. [Scroll.in]

India Convicts 4 Men in Mumbai Gang Rape Case. Four men involved in the gang rape of a photojournalist in Mumbai in August 2013 were found guilty of gang rape, unnatural sex, and descruction of evidence. The victim’s male friend was also severely beaten. They will be sentenced on Friday, while a fifth man involved is set to be tried separately in juvenile court. [Time]

Aasif Mandvi to receive AALDEF Award. Lovable comedian and actor Aasif Mandvi will recieve the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s “Justice in Action” Award at the organization’s annual gala next week. The foundation cites Aasif’s commitment to bringing light to and fighting against the racial injustices and stereotypes for people of color in its decision to honor him. Former award recipients include Fareed Zakaria, Mira Nair, and Salman Rushdie among many others. [India West]

Culinary Pilgrimage To Punjab. Writer Shivani Vora wrote an incredible piece in The New York Times this week about her recent trip to various dhabas in Amritsar. With vivid imagery and descriptions of the food that leaves my own mouth watering, Vora delicately weaves in stories and history of the foods, ingredients, and cooks she comes upon through her journey. [NYT]

Virgin Atlantic Wants to Reward Your Filmi-ness! As a part of its “Feel Like a Star” promotion, Virgin Atlantic is offering special discounts to passengers whose first names match one of the 12 most famous filmi names. (This only sounded crazy until I realized my own name is on the list… Score!) If your first name is Karan, Simran, Anthony, Tina, Vijay, Pooja, Arjun, Priya, Rahul, Kiran, Rohit or Sonia, you can get 5 percent off Economy and 10 percent off Premium Economy tickets booked between March 18 and April 17, for travel up to July 31. The real question here is who chose these names, and where are PREM and NISHA?! [IBN]

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Priya Arora is a graduate student at New York University, studying human development and social intervention with a research focus on mental health in LGBTQ youths. Born and raised in California, Priya has found a home in New York, and hopes to go on to become a mental health counselor. Follow her on Twitter at @thepriyaarora.

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