headlines that matter
First, the crazy numbers
- India rising: With 9,987 new cases and a Covid total of 276,146, India is poised to overtake the UK. We will soon become the fourth worst-affected nation in the world. We already shot past Italy and Spain in less than 24 hours.
- On Tuesday, the number of cases in Mumbai shot past Wuhan. What’s really worrying: Our numbers are rising at the fastest rate among the top five.
- Delhi rising: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced that the capital will have over 500,000 Covid-19 cases by the end of July—which in turn will require 80,000 beds.
- This is in line with other predictions that Delhi and Mumbai will witness peaks between July and September—with the death tally reaching anywhere between 9,000-28,000 in Delhi, and 6,000-19,000 in Mumbai.
- The number of people testing positive has also been escalating since May—see this scary chart.
- In happier news, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal tested negative for coronavirus. BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, OTOH, was not as lucky.
- Also: This useful and wise column explains why now is the critical time to stay alert and—when possible—stay home.
Hong Kong remains defiant!
Thousands of protestors gathered in central Hong Kong to mark the anniversary of last year’s one-million rally—and in defiance of the government ban of all large gatherings. Why this matters: Under Beijing pressure, the government just passed a strict national security law. It’s aim: to end Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous status. This marks the first significant resurgence of the protest movement since the onset of the pandemic. (The Guardian)
Fleets have landed!
Twitter has unrolled its newest feature in India. Called ‘Fleets’, these are, in essence, disappearing tweets. You can share anything you want—messages, photos, videos etc—and all of it will disappear within 24 hours. The catch: No one can RT, reply or like your Fleet. And they do not show up on your TL, but can be viewed by tapping on your profile. (Mint)
The latest Covid gyaan is here
A shocking China claim: A Harvard study shows that the virus may have been circulating in the country as early as August 2019. The findings are based on satellite data on hospital parking lots—which shows a 67% spike in the number of cars from the year before. The study also crunched related data on internet searches, according to its lead authors:
“The data is actually especially compelling because we saw increases in people searching for gastrointestinal disease—diarrhea—which were increasing at a level that we hadn't seen at all, historically, and we now know now that gastrointestinal symptoms are a really important marker for Covid."
A Chinese spokesperson called the study “outrageously absurd.”
Lower risk for Covid: DNA testing company 23andMe looked at 750,000 samples, and found that type O individuals are between 9-18% less likely to test positive. Also less likely to be infected: smokers. They are 23% less likely to be infected—or to require intensive care or die (for a change).
The little Indian spy company that could
BellTroX InfoTech Services is a Delhi-based IT company that operates from a small room above a chai shop. It has been hired by its clients to spy on more than 10,000 email accounts for the past seven years. Why this is an astonishing story: Their targets include government officials in Europe, judges in South Africa, politicians in Mexico, and well-known investors in the United States including private equity giant KKR—which recently bought a stake in Jio, btw. The company is now under investigation by US officials. Reuters has all the details.
IBM says no to facial recognition:
IBM will no longer offer general purpose facial recognition or analysis software—according to its CEO Arvind Krishna. The company will also no longer develop or research the technology. The reason:
“IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any [facial recognition] technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values...”