headlines that matter
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First, the India numbers
- Latest number of cases: 320,922—after a record single-day jump of 11,929.
- Total number of deaths: 9,195—we added 311 to that number on Sunday.
- States that have reported the biggest 24-hour jump: Maharashtra (1,764), Tamil Nadu (597), Delhi (530), Uttar Pradesh (216), and Andhra Pradesh (193).
- The bad news: A government study predicts that we will not hit our peak until October. The previous prediction: mid-July.
- Also: by the third week of September, we will not have adequate beds, ventilators etc. to meet our needs.
The virus returns to China
After two virus-free months, Beijing is facing a sudden spike in cases. The reason: an outbreak traced to the city’s largest wholesale food market. Authorities have found 42 symptomatic cases since Thursday—and another 48 asymptomatic cases linked to the market. The market and its neighbouring areas have been shut down, and all group gatherings have been banned. And the city is now on a “wartime emergency” footing to stem the spread.
Kiwi sports fans have a blast
Over 20,000 fans celebrated the return to normal life and professional rugby over the weekend. New Zealand declared itself virus-free last week. The sports minister said: “It's a world first and it’s a payoff for all the hard work of five million New Zealanders.” See photos here.
In related sports news: the Indian cricket board is plotting the return of IPL—but with zero fans in the stadium. The currently favoured venue:
“If you imagine a city like Mumbai, which has four quality grounds and a fifth nearby in Pune, every side can have their own team hotel. We can explore if rooms need to be next to each other to ensure spacing between players…personalised towels, water bottles.”
Images and videos from the protests
Rightwing types in London decided to protest against the protests against cop violence… by punching cops!
In great need of protection from protesters: Winston Churchill. He is in such peril that his grand-daughter says his statue may have to be moved to a museum (of horrors, perhaps).
Also in need of protection: Wall Street’s mighty bull.
A white woman cop meets a little black girl, and this happened:
The Covid effect: the India edition
- Raymond has fired hundreds of employees—many of whom have dedicated decades to the company—and in the worst way possible. Somesh Jha’s must-read Business Standard story is here. If you don’t have a subscription, check out his Twitter thread.
- H1-B workers are in peril—thanks to Donald Trump who is planning to suspend all employment-based visas. Numbers to note: The US issues 65,000 H-1B visas each year plus 20,000 advanced degree H-1B visas. Of these, 70% are Indians.
- A Mumbai union of domestic workers wants employers to take a Covid test. This is in response to resident associations insisting on the same from household help.
- Realtors are redoing apartment layouts to make them more spacious and well-ventilated. Also in the blueprint is a separate small room for WFH: “We are replicating office environments at home. So basic infrastructure like electrical points, WiFi and broadband connectivity, air conditioning, power back-up and privacy, which are a given in an office, will all be available to our customers at home.”
The great parotta, paratha, barota debate
Karnataka authorities sparked off a great food debate by ruling that a parotta—not to be confused with the North Indian paratha—will be subject to a 18% GST tax. And that sparked great outrage, leading to a hasty clarification: Only frozen parottas will face such punishment, while the fresh kind will be subject to a normal 5% tax—similar to the humble roti. Indian Express explains the heated history of the tax battle over labeling—which has included existential debates over whether a Fryum is indeed a papad.
A kinder, more sensitive Oscars
The very-white Academy is scrambling to create new guidelines and processes to ensure a ‘more inclusive’ Oscars. There’s a lot of big words here, but here’s the TLDR: Movies submitted for the Oscars will be subject to a ‘diversity and inclusion’ audit by a to-be-created task force. Point to note: none of this affects the 2020 awards.
Nidhi Razdan bids adieu to TV
The anchor is leaving NDTV after a 21-year stint at the organisation. Her new gig: Associate professor at Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences. (Scroll)
Attack of the monster bats!
Mega-bats are terrorising Pakistani villagers and their mango orchards.
“The megabats are seen clinging to branches of trees. They have larger eyes and stronger sense of smell than microbats, but have smaller ears because they don’t echolocate. The rare megabats with wingspans of more than 4-5 feet and weighing 2.5 to 3.5 kilogram each speedily eat premature mangoes in dark times and the mammals cause huge financial losses in millions of rupees to the growers.”
Wingspans of 4-5 feet!!