Bad Apples

Friday December 18 2020

Earthquake triggers panic in NCR

An earthquake of magnitude 4.2 hit Rajasthan's Alwar at 11:46 pm last night, and the tremors were felt in Delhi-NCR. Since April, Delhi-NCR has recorded more than 20 quakes of low and medium intensity. Also this:

“The Delhi-NCR region is very peculiar with regard to seismic activities. It has several faultlines that generate earthquakes, but it also feels the impact of quakes that are epicentred as far as the Hindukush mountains in Afghanistan and even in Nepal.”

Point to note: A member of the splainer team lives in Alwar, and didn’t even realise there was an earthquake—while the other in Delhi immediately messaged: “My bed is shaking!” Lol!

Farmer protests: A quick update

The Supreme Court made it clear it would not “interfere with the protest” and that “at this stage the farmers’ protest should be allowed to continue without impediment”.
OTOH, the government turned down the Court’s request to put the three farm laws on hold until its committee hears all parties.
Interestingly, Chief Justice Bobde specifically name-checked P Sainath—who is an authority on rural issues including poverty—as a potential member of the committee.
The government has now written an earnest letter to the farmers reiterating its offer.
Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, six farm leaders were asked to submit personal bonds of Rs 50 lakh—which they will lose if they “incite” farmers to protest. The government says the amount is a clerical error—it should read Rs 50,000. Point to note: This is the same tactic used previously to bully Muslim leaders into ending the anti-CAA protests.
But it doesn’t appear to be working. Heads of all 15 khap panchayats in western Uttar Pradesh are marching towards Delhi, collecting farmers in their wake.

The great pandemic: A quick update

The Indian government will have to spend $1.8 billion on COVID-19 vaccines in the first phase to inoculate 300 million people. And this is with support from the WHO-led global vaccine-sharing scheme. Therefore, GAVI—an alliance of governments, drug companies, charities and international organisations—is recommending a donor-funded plan of $1.3 billion to secure 190-250 million doses. Or we could just skip that Central Vista project.
France's President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive, and will now self-isolate for seven days.
One health care worker at a Alaska hospital developed a severe allergic reaction to the Pfizer vaccine. Others have also experienced similar reactions, but this woman had no previous history of allergies—so it’s a bigger deal.
India has long had a problem with antimicrobial resistance—caused by the overuse of antibiotics. But the pandemic is making it worse: “All kinds of antibiotics are being prescribed left, right and centre… The problem of antimicrobial resistance is going to escalate post-Covid.”
A Lancet report shows that pregnant women were excluded from three-quarters of Covid treatment trials. This is shocking since pregnant women are in far greater need of safe and effective therapies. Also this: “Strikingly, three-quarters of COVID-19 trials reviewed specifically excluded expectant mothers, even though they were investigating medications and vitamins that already have a relatively favourable safety profile during pregnancy, or that are already used in pregnant women.” 😡
Indians are frantically googling vaccine-related information… to make a quick buck on the stock market. All crisis is opportunity. Quartz has this story.
The Pfizer vials are supposed to hold five doses, but pharmacists have found they have enough for a sixth or even a seventh dose. The extra bit is usually added by manufacturers to protect against spillage. But it will now be used to expand the US’ limited supply by up to 40%!
Children are feeling really anxious about the pandemic, and it’s showing up in their letters to Santa—which have been published by the US Postal service. See one heartbreaking example below. PS: a number of these requests have been ‘adopted’ by secret donors. CNN has more.

The first person to die of air pollution…

Is a 9-year-old in the UK. Back in 2013, she suffered an asthma attack, and subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest in the hospital. A London coroner announced the cause of her death this week: exposure to excessive amounts of air pollution. This landmark decision will make Ella Kissi-Debrah the first person in the world to have air pollution listed as the cause of death on her death certificate. (Mic)

Trump’s Twitter drama

No, this isn’t about one of the US president’s deranged tweets, but about his account— which was hacked back in October. The incident has been confirmed by Dutch authorities who say Victor Gevers—an “ethical hacker” broke into @realDonaldTrump by guessing the US president’s password. And that password was… ‘maga2020!’ The most likely new password: ‘stolenelection’. (The Guardian)

Speaking of tech: Voice/video call option on WhatsApp’s Web is coming soon to your laptop. Hmm, is this Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt to kill Zoom? Indian Express has more.

New to Google India: You can now view search results in many more languages—including Tamil, Telugu, Bangla and Marathi. These results will show up even if you type in your query in English. FYI: We’re not sure how convenient this is. We already struggle to find relevant English-language news stories, and it doesn’t help when so many of the results are in Hindi. TechCrunch has more on Google’s plans to integrate regional language options into its range of products.

New in the offline world: Ikea’s Navi Mumbai mega-store which opens today. The company will set up smaller establishment in the city centre next year. FYI: The 5.3 lakh square foot store offers the largest ever section for children in an Ikea store. (Mint)

A big crackdown on Delhi call centres

The police have arrested 54 employees of a call centre in Delhi. They are charged with defrauding more than 4,500 people of $14 million. According to the police:

“They disclosed that they would contact Americans in the US and other countries impersonating as officials from government agencies such as the social security administration, the drug enforcement administration (DEA), and the US Marshal Service. They would inform the targeted persons that their bank accounts and other assets are being frozen as their details have been found at a crime scene.”

And then blackmail them into transferring them money. Hindustan Times has more.

Astonishing research on body image

New research shows that some smells make us feel thinner and lighter, while other smells do the opposite. And that’s because of how our brain responds to sensory stimulus:

“[L]emon is associated with thin silhouettes, spiky shapes and high-pitched sounds while vanilla is associated with thick silhouettes, rounded shapes and low-pitched sounds. This could help account for the different body image perceptions when exposed to a range of nasal stimuli."

And this extends to sound as well. Big Think has more.

China reveals plastic pollution challenge

China is the world's largest producer of plastic waste—and has introduced a series of bans on several types of non-degradable single-use plastics. As a result, Chinese factories have ramped up the production of biodegradable plastic, which has increased 12-fold in just 12 months. But now it faces a new problem: these plastics need specific treatment in order to break down, and China just doesn’t have enough facilities. Without them, these plastics do as much harm as the normal kind—ending up in landfills, rivers and oceans. Moral of this story: Simply switching the kind of plastic we use isn’t going to solve the problem. (BBC News)

Martian ambitions in Ladakh

Researchers are working to set up a Mars research station in the Tso-Kar region by middle of next year. Why Ladakh: The high altitude and extreme environment is similar to what existed on the red planet two billion years ago: “Tso-Kar is actually close to different types of Mars expedition sites, all within the distance of a few hours. These are hot springs, glaciers, permafrost and saline lakes." ( Mint Lounge)

The ‘Tandav’ teaser is here

The political drama stars Saif as an ambitious neta and is penned by Gaurav Solanki best known for ‘Article 15’. What caught our attention: the voiceover that declares: “Is desh mein jo pradhan mantri hai, wohi raja hai” (In this country, the prime minister is king). The Amazon Prime series drops January 15—unless, of course, some law student sues to stop it first.