Prophecies of Whom?

Sanity Break #1

Ok, what can we say 🤷🏻‍♀️. The Mallus are on a roll! Here’s another awesome on social distancing—which you can enjoy fully on this Friday morning thanks to splainer founding member Alan Kuriappan.

Headlines that matter

THE GREAT PANDEMIC: A LONGISH UPDATE First, the numbers: We added and 3,443 fatalities yesterday. We now account for one in four daily Covid deaths in the world. We have lost 2.08 lakh Indians to the disease so far. We now account for 38% of all cases—the ever reached by a country during this pandemic. How bad is it? The US government has issued telling its citizens to leave India as soon as it is safe to do so. Also read: An excellent report on tier 2 cities like Kota, Allahabad, Bhagalpur which are grappling with the second wave crisis. About that Covid data: Over 200 scientists and researchers have issued an urging the Prime Minister to release clinical data: * We have not been able to effectively manage the pandemic because epidemiological data is either not being properly collected by the government—or is not being shared. * Point to remember: The Indian Council of Medical Research has data on each and every one of 18.3 million people who’ve tested positive so far. But it doesn’t share that information either with other government agencies or the research community. * Among the questions this data could answer: “how many people have tested positive twice over the past year, whether spikes in test positivity in a locality correlate with the start of an outbreak, and whether someone had tested positive after two vaccine doses.” About those deaths: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan that India’s fatality rate (number of cases that result in death) is “the lowest in the world” at 1.1%. This is technically not true since Turkey, Qatar, UAE etc. have than us. And it is grossly untrue if the intent is to imply that the number of deaths is no cause for concern. Btw, the same minister that our fatality rates were dropping three weeks ago—when it stood at 1.28%. Reality check: spiraling deaths will make up a small percentage of total cases—when that number is shooting up by 3.5-plus lakhs a day. A related good read: interview with Dr Prabhat Jha who lays out our flawed and inaccurate system of recording deaths. FYI, this is the of Time magazine: Also less-than-accurate: Doordarshan News which is busy whitewashing the pandemic. Example: On April 24, 25 and 28, there was no mention of people desperately searching for beds, oxygen and antiviral drugs. How bad is it ? notes: > “Over the weekend, a ticker on DD News told viewers that 27 people had died in a Covid hospital in Iraq’s Baghdad because of a > fire. But there was not a single mention of the 25 people who died in a Delhi hospital due to low oxygen pressure on Friday > night.” About that vaccine shortage: Almost every state has that they will not be able to inoculate the 18-44 age group—due to a shortage of vaccines. Even BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have thrown in the towel. Also feeling the pinch: which has shut down its vaccination drive for three days. In related news: Bharat Biotech has its purchase price for state governments from Rs 600 to Rs 400. About that variant: Here are two good reads on the subject. has a deep dive on the double mutant Indian variant—which actually has 13 mutations not two. looks at whether one or more variants (including the UK one) are driving the second wave. Finally speaking out: The first big Bollywood/Hollywood star: Priyanka Chopra, who the global community to come to the aid of India. She has also started a fundraiser in partnership with . And yes, she even mentioned cremations. Watch below: A social media tamasha: On Wednesday, Facebook temporarily blocked the hashtag #ResignModi because “some content in those posts goes against our Community Standards”—and “not because the Indian government asked us to.” It then reversed the decision within three hours, calling it a “mistake.” () Covidiot alert! Two men have been caught —for Rs 10,000!—to desperate people in search of oxygen cylinders. Also: Two YouTubers from Indonesia because of a prank video—where they entered a grocery store wearing a fake painted-on mask. The country has strict facemask laws according to which people are fined on the first offence, while foreigners can be deported for their second offence. Watch their below: Good samaritan alert! has the wonderful story of Shahnawaz Shahalam Sheikh who sold his SUV to buy oxygen cylinders for people. A good Covid resource: This sorts through hundreds of tweets to find the information you need—be it oxygen cylinders, beds or concentrators in your city. It’s a lifesaver for those who are desperately looking for leads on social media (h/t founding member Shalini Dayanidhi). On the lighter side: This is a hilarious made-for-India ‘remix’ of a famous clip starring also known as the “.” It is way funnier and more scathing than the Hitler meme we featured yesterday (h/t founding member Amruta Ghanekar). A MYSTERIOUS ‘ENERGY ATTACK’ Since 2016, the US has been grappling with incidents where its diplomatic personnel in Cuba, Russia and China have suffered unexplained symptoms—"ear popping, vertigo, pounding headaches and nausea, sometimes accompanied by an unidentified ‘piercing directional noise’.” Now, there are reports of similar domestic attacks—one of which occured on the lawns of the White House—and they are being probed by the Pentagon. No one knows the cause but one government study pointed the finger at —beams of which are directed from a nearby location. Point to note: There were of similar attacks on Indian soldiers at the Ladakh border. And China (along with Russia) is one of the prime suspects for the US incidents. () AZIM PREMJI IS A VERY GOOD MAN The Wipro founder is the most generous man in India—donating 10x more than Mukesh Ambani, who comes in at #3. At #2: Shiv Nadar. Ninety of the biggest philanthropists in India have cumulatively donated Rs 93.24 billion (9,324 crore). Of that, Premji gave Rs 79.04 billion (7,904 crore)—including Rs 11.25 billion (1,125 crore) for Covid relief. To put it in perspective: In 2020, he gave away ! has more details on the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List. Focused on other priorities: Porsche-loving Indians. While most of the country was limping through a lockdown, economic uncertainty and job worries, some of us were out car-shopping with a vengeance. The country sales figures show that Porsche India had its best sales quarter in seven years between January and March—when it sold at least one car per week. That’s a 52% jump from the same period last year. The best selling model: the Macan SUV with a base price of Rs 70 lakhs. () WE’RE LOSING OUR GLACIERS According to a investigation, 10% of our mountain glacier ice will melt by 2050. And irrespective of what we do from here on out, we are doomed to lose 80% of this ice—because it has been “locked in by the global heating caused by humans in recent years.” Here’s what a tenth of our glaciers adds up to: > “The loss will be equivalent to more than 13,200 cubic kilometres of water—enough to fill Lake Superior, or more than 10 million > Wembley Stadiums—with knock on effects on highly populated river deltas, wildlife habitats and sea levels… This is equivalent to > melting almost five Olympic swimming pools of ice every second over the next 30 years.” MICROSOFT’S GOT NEW FONTS The stodgy Office software is all ready to shake things up with a new default font. Good old Calibri is out, and we now have five new contenders: Tenorite, Bierstadt, Skeena, Seaford, and Grandview. You can vote for your favourite on . Our vote goes to Skeena—only because of its very silly name. Below is what it looks like, and you can check out the rest on Microsoft’s . ALL HAIL PADDINGTON 2! The sequel to the cuddly bear movie has dethroned ‘Citizen Kane’ as the top-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes. This week, the legendary Hollywood classic slipped from a perfect 100% to a 99% due to an 80-year-old review from the titled: ‘Citizen Kane’ Fails to Impress Critic as Greatest Ever Filmed’. This leaves Paddington 2 as the only film with a perfect score (really?). has more on this shocker. Meanwhile over at Instagram: The frogmouth has been crowned the most instagrammable bird by a pair of German scientists—who meticulously researched the most popular bird-related posts. This is a bit of a surprise since frogmouths are “grumpy-looking nocturnal birds, native to Southeast Asia and Australia, [and] are strange to look at. Some look disheveled. Others, downright reptilian.” For : has more on the other winners and losers. TWO VENOMOUS ANIMAL THINGS A pumpkin toadlet: Scientists have discovered a tiny frog, Brachycephalus rotenbergae or the “pumpkin toadlet”—a name earned because of their colour “like a hearty, delicious pumpkin soup. Or an orange soda.” It is slightly bigger than your thumbnail, super bright, very cute-looking and highly poisonous. has more on the discovery. Also, it looks like this: A very black spider: The has an almost metallic looking, shiny black body and resembles “a small tarantula without the hair”—and it has been declared a new species. They are mildly venomous and fairly harmless: “Even though they appear menacing, they are very shy and are reluctant to bite. Someone would have to roughly handle one to make it feel defensive to elicit a bite.” Also, they look like this (yikes):

Sanity Break #2

Human portraits are always powerful. We get an uncanny feeling of looking right inside someone else’s lives, even souls. These are two of the winners of the LensCulture Portrait awards 2021. One is an intensive care unit nurse—photographed at the end of a 12-hour shift at the height of the pandemic in Italy. The other—titled ‘Paradise Island’—is an image of a woman from Tuvalu, a tiny nation whose two of nine islands are almost under water due to rising sea levels. has the rest.

Weekend advisory

SO YOU WANNA WATCH SOMETHING… : Exec Produced by Alfonso Cuarón, this is a treat for Hindustani music lovers. Director Chaitanya Tamhane’s film traces the journey of an aspiring vocalist as he prepares for a competition—haunted by his father’s failures and self-doubt. calls it “an engrossing experience, delicately constructing Sharad’s character in understated tones to create a complex picture of a man’s inner struggle toward the kind of artistic fulfillment few of us will ever experience.” Watch it on Netflix today! : The world is overrun by a robot apocalypse and it’s up to the dysfunctional Mitchell family to save the world—with a dog in tow. Produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller—known for ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’—the film reflects the same “frantic, anything-goes nature.” loves the movie, especially Olivia Colman as an evil Siri. Streaming on Netflix today. : This is a Polish young adult drama about a computer science student who wants to make an app that will help maximise the female orgasm. Natalia along with her best friend, Paulina and dorm mate, Monika embark on a sexy, comedic journey to, er, self-fulfillment. While there aren’t any reviews yet, the trailer certainly looks fun! Available on Netflix. A LIST OF GOOD READS * dives into the world of cutting edge contraception—looking at the future of condoms. And it certainly looks bright! * Also in : A look at the hottest superfood, guaraná, a Brazilian fruit highly prized for its medicinal and stimulant properties. * has an illuminating guide to Covid apps and passes used around the world to verify people’s vaccinated status—and is likely where the rest of us are headed as well. * “She thought he was an artistic genius. He wanted to ‘dip her ass in gold.’” traces the tumultuous journey of Kim and Kanye’s relationship—and its seemingly inevitable end. * A very interesting read: A parenthood clarity therapist explains how she helps people decide whether they want to have children in * has a juicy read on the “continental rift” between the royal princes, William and Harry. * pays excellent tribute to the “unique brand of animated anarchy and sardonic irreverence” of ‘Shrek’. * has a long read on the focus on “pelvic floor revolution”—a popular wellness trend that brings welcome focus on a much neglected part of the female anatomy.