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Monday April 19 2021

Clash of the Kuttis

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Sanity Break #1

This Bhima Jewellery ad’s tagline is —and it very much is ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ (h/t founding member Darshita Goyal).

Sanity Break #1

Headlines that matter

THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A QUICK UPDATE  First, the numbers: We added 2,75,196 new cases, and recorded 1,620 deaths—which as we noted before is a woeful undercount since most cases are not being tagged as Covid-related. has more on what is happening in places like Gujarat. FYI, our —the percentage of daily tests that turn up positive—has soared from 8% to 16.7% in just 12 days. Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan all have positivity rates above 20%. State to watch: which is #3 in the number of cases, and is running out of room in its mortuaries. Meanwhile, here is a of a Muslim burial ground in Delhi which is also running out of space.   A dire shortage of oxygen: A number of states have sent an SOS to the union government asking for immediate oxygen supplies. The Commerce Minister’s : “State governments should keep demand under control”—adding, “containing Covid spread is the responsibility of state governments and they should fulfil this responsibility.” Not controlling its demand: , which is facing a severe shortage, especially Thane where the daily requirement has jumped from 6 metric tonnes to 21 metric tonnes.    What the government is doing: of oxygen and diverting it to hospitals. Also helping: The Ambanis who have diverted of oxygen from their Jamnagar facility in an attempt to help meet the need. has more on the logistical challenges of ramping up oxygen supply overnight. reports on the terrible government planning that led to this mess. Shockingly terrible: Local BJP officials who stopped a tanker with 30 tonnes of oxygen when it arrived in Indore… to :   Meanwhile in UP: More than are lining up for a single hospital bed. The story that shocked social media: of a veteran journalist in Lucknow who died without getting any medical help—not even a Covid test. : UP labs that are refusing to collect samples on instructions from the administration. explains why our death counts will get worse thanks to the state of our healthcare system.   Meanwhile at the Kumbh: The Prime Minister finally to the heads of the akhadas and asked them to keep the Mela “symbolic.” The top seers promptly called it a day. And the Mela site is now as most of the akhadas have left. See? That’s all it took! Not learning the obvious lesson: Kerala whose health minister declared that it will to cancel Thrissur Pooram.   Speaking of Covid utsavs: Rahul Gandhi has all political rallies, while Mamata Banerjee has nixed the . But the PM is still going strong. At a rally in Asansol, he : “In all directions I see huge crowds of people... have witnessed such a rally for the first time.” 🤦🏽‍♀️   A useful Covid tipsheet: put out very simple and clear advice on what to do at each stage of Covid:   “Pragmatic tips for managing Covid-19 at home, in settings when hospital or medical care is not accessible: * Early COVID: * Get home oxygen probe (pulse oximeter) * Rest, hydration, analgesia (paracetamol) * Wear a mask if able to protect family members, open windows, and get family members to wear a mask * If Oxygen saturation > 92% * Paracetamol for fevers and aches * Hydration with water * Inhaled budesonide (steroid) 2 puffs twice a day until symptoms resolve * If Oxygen saturation is < 92% (seek hospital care, if possible) * Home oxygen if available (use lowest amount to keep saturations > 92%) * Dexamethasone (steroid) 6mg orally daily for 10 days * Keep checking oxygen saturations and urgently seek hospital care, if saturations < 85% or homes oxygen needs are above 4L/minute * Hydration and paracetamol for fevers * Not for all, but in rare cases of secondary pneumonia, augmentin (or equivalent antibiotic)   Note: These treatments are not effective: Azithromycin, Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine, convalescent plasma, Vitamin D, lopinavir-ritonavir   **Remdesivir may shorten duration of symptoms, but has not been shown to lower mortality, and should only be given with physician supervision in patients with low oxygen saturations. There is no benefit in patients with normal oxygen saturations.”   Editor’s note: Dr Pai is a highly respected and trusted epidemiologist and doctor. That said, if you have Covid or suspect you maybe infected, please consult a doctor ASAP! This is not meant to be a substitute for medical consultation.   About Covaxin: has an exclusive report on why Brazil of the Bharat Biotech vaccine. The main reason: “These problems included insufficient measures to ensure that the SARS-COV-2 virus was completely killed and that the vaccine was free of microbial contamination.” That’s pretty darn scary! Also worrying: Mumbai’s Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Co. has a contract to manufacture Covaxin—which will take since that’s how long it takes to set up a biosafety level 3 facility. But the government wants it to roll out vaccines within six months. Finally, some black humour: As reward for having made it all the way through this difficult update. Shahed Amanullah out along with this quip: “The trench is Covid. The sheep is us.” We’re sorry, not sorry.   CHINA REFUSES TO LEAVE Having pulled back its troops at Lake Pangong, Beijing is now simply refusing to step back at two other points of the Ladakh border: Gogra and Hot Springs:   > "A highly placed source, involved in decision-making all of 2020, told The Sunday Express that at Patrolling Point 15 and PP-17A > in Hot Springs and Gogra Post, the Chinese 'had agreed earlier' to pull back troops but 'later refused to vacate'. In the recent > talks, according to the source, China said India 'should be happy with what has been achieved'." has more details. We laid out the different points of incursion along the border , and explained why China crossed the border .   A COVID JHAGDA IN MAHARASHTRA The shortage of an antiviral drug—Remdesivir—used to treat Covid became the flashpoint in an in Maharashtra. As usual, the Mumbai police were involved:   * Late Saturday night, the Mumbai-based director of Bruck Pharma Pvt Ltd was summoned by the police for questioning. The reason: The police had “specific information” that the company was holding 60,000 remdesivir injections in stock in the city. * Then ex-CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis burst into the police station, and he scolded police officials for “unnecessarily harassing” the man, and sought an explanation for the questioning. * Turns out, the BJP was negotiating with Bruck Pharma to buy Rs 4.75 crore. This is odd as drugs are not sold directly to individuals or political parties.  * In any case, Fadnavis says he had all the necessary “permissions” from the union government to cut this deal—and he planned to hand them over to CM Thackeray for distribution. * But his political rivals aren’t impressed: “The real question is, can any BJP leader without any permission from the state government, local authorities or police, procure lakhs of lifesaving drugs?” * In the end, everyone went home, including the Bruck Pharma employee. But the lesson of this story: Our netas will use any excuse to play politics. * A related good read: interview with Dr Lancelot Pinto who explains why doctors are overprescribing Remdesivir—which, contrary to popular belief, does not save lives. So there’s that.   A BIG FOOTBALL BROUHAHA Europe’s top teams—Real Madrid,  Barcelona, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus and A.C. Milan—plan to establish a brand new league. And they plan to add three more highly-ranked founding members: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris St-Germain. Why this is a very big deal:    > “The new superleague model would… [strip] the Champions League of its most attractive and most successful teams and effectively > walling off the richest clubs in their own closed competition—and allowing them to split the billions of dollars in annual > revenue among themselves.”   Also: It will destroy domestic leagues and smaller clubs. The has this exclusive.   REUTERS MAKES GENDER HISTORY Alessandra Galloni will become the news agency’s first woman editor in its 170-year history. And she comes with an impressive resume: “She received degrees from Harvard University and the London School of Economics. She returned to Reuters in 2013 following about 13 years at The Wall Street Journal, where she specialized in economics and business coverage as a reporter and editor in London, Paris and Rome.” ()   A GIANT HAUL OF GIANT CLAMS The Philippines has seized 200 tonnes of illegally harvested giant clam shells worth an eye-watering $25 million. They included the ‘Tridacna gigas’ which is the world’s largest clam and is considered an endangered species. Why this matters: As governments around the world have cracked down on elephant ivory smuggling, clams have become the substitute of choice. But killing clams also destroys the entire marine ecosystem they support—including algae that feed fish eaten by humans. As one expert :   > “Taking the giant clams from their natural habitat is a form of intergenerational crime. It will permanently affect the marine > ecosystem and future generations will be deprived of the benefits accruing from it.”   A VOLCANIC PROBLEM IN THE CARRIBEAN La Soufrière volcano on the island of St. Vincent exploded after remaining dormant since 1979. Nearly 16,000 people were forced to evacuate after it shot up a column of ash 20,000 feet into the air on Friday. Scientists warn that eruptions could continue for days—or even weeks. The good news: There have been no casualties. has a gallery of photos. has more details. You can see the astonishing plume of ash below:   THE INCREDIBLE INDIAN ANTS Scientists have long known that female ants shrink their brains in order to produce eggs—since it helps conserve energy. But they’ve made a new discovery about the Indian Jumping Ant or ‘Harpegnathos saltator’: They can both shrink and regrow their brains. When these female ants were taken away from their colony, they re-grew their brains—recovering the lost 19% of their cells. to us:   > “It tells us that brains are a lot more plastic and have a lot more abilities to change back and forth between their size than > we knew. And ants, their brains have some shared traits with humans, believe it or not. So now we're looking at digging into > some of the genetic and other neural mechanisms that are underlying these brain changes.”   Here’s what this native-to-India ant looks like:    In other India-related animal news: Scientists have identified of bat in Meghalaya: ‘Eudiscopus denticulus’, which is India’s first bamboo-dwelling bat with sticky “disk-like pads in the thumb and bright orange colouration.” The special pads allow it to cling to smooth bamboo canes. Also: it looks like this:    ICYMI: PRINCE PHILLIP’S FUNERAL offers a blow-by-blow account. If you prefer a video version, this 5-minute round-up from is the best:  

Clash of the Kuttis

Sanity Break #2

Here’s something to kick off your Monday with exactly the right energy: The Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra performing Leonard Bernstein’s ‘’ from ‘Westside Story’—conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. The laughter and joy is infectious!

Sanity Break #2

Smart & Curious

A LIST OF GOOD READS * offers a philatelic timeline of Dr Ambedkar’s legacy—using postage stamps to show how he has been viewed at different times in our history. * Also in : a perceptive read on how reading in English becomes an aspirational act that asserts class status—whether we Indians want it or not. * Thomas Abraham in explains how poor government planning led to the vaccine shortage.  * What is ‘disenfranchised grief’? writes on the loss of our no-name relationships—be it your chai wala or your auto bhaiya—due to the pandemic. * explains why Khloé Kardashian has to stop whining and step up and take responsibility for the pressure on her to look perfect.  * Also in Buzzfeed News: A lovely slice of romance fiction by Bolu Babalola from her anthology titled ‘’. * offers a brilliant read on the history of the Ku Klux Klan at Harvard University.  * offers a very good essay on Disney’s ‘gay’ villains. * offers a controversial argument: The US military is owning up to UFOs because it doesn’t want to admit to being spied on by foreign drones. * has a deep dive into ‘brain fog’—caused by the monotony and stress of pandemic life.  * Also in : A fun read on Dubai’s rise as the influencer capital of the world.  * says Gen Z has a bad case of ‘main character syndrome’—the feeling that you’re the star in the movie version of your life. * Steel Authority of India (SAIL) sacked its employees and made a whole lot of money. has an illuminating piece on just how Indian companies thrived during the pandemic—at the expense of its workers.

Smart & Curious

Feel Good Place

Boba tea tastes excellent if you spit at the exact right moment while making it. If you’re bored of those overdone ‘domino-effect’ videos, this one's for you.   A very fine dance-off.  

Feel good place

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