Farmer protests: A quick update
One: Farmers have rejected the government’s proposal to set up a five-member committee to look into their concerns about the farm laws. They are sticking to their core demand: a full repeal of the laws. The next round of negotiations will be held on Thursday to try and break the deadlock. Meanwhile, the farmers will continue their dharna on Delhi’s borders. Also: several prominent athletes—including Padma Shri and Arjuna honorees—have returned their awards in support of the farmers’ cause.
Related read: Indian Express explains the reason why the farmers are in a strong position to stay firm: the kharif harvest is over, and they have already planted their rabi crops. So time is on their side.
Two: Shaheen Bagh legend Bilkis Dadi was all excited to lend her support to the farmers on the border. See: the vid she took on her way there. Sadly, the police wouldn’t let her join the protest, and led her politely away (photo here). Later, police officials said:
“Yesterday also some persons from outside tried to come here and they were not at all welcome. In fact, there was a small incident of manhandling also. Being a senior citizen lady, and in concern of security only, she was requested to go back.”
Three: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to speak on behalf of the protesting farmers—likely to appease his Canadian-Sikh constituency (watch him here). His show of concern was poorly received. The most polite of the lot was the Indian government’s reaction:
“Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to internal affairs of a democratic country. It is also best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes”
A good related watch: Farmers talk to NewsLaundry about the national media—and are both feisty and perceptive.
The great pandemic: a quick update
- The government has finally spoken up on the Chennai participant who developed serious neurological symptoms after participating in phase 3 trial for the Oxford vaccine (explained here). Officials said that the ‘adverse event’ has been properly investigated, and is not related to the vaccine. Therefore the trial was not suspended. Point to note: The government also distanced itself from Serum Institute’s threat to sue the participant for Rs 100 crore.
- In related news: Serum Institute says its India trials will continue to test the two full-dose versions of the Oxford vaccine—even though AstraZeneca’s data shows that it is far less effective than the one half + one full protocol (explained here). The reason: changing the dose at this stage could delay the trials. Also this: “When it is one common dose it becomes very easy [to distribute]. Whether it is the first dose, or second it is the same vaccine, same dose.”
- Internal documents leaked to CNN show that China’s real numbers were higher than those publicly disclosed—especially early in the pandemic. What they reveal: Not deliberate lying but incompetence and political expediency.
- New research has uncovered Covid cases in the US as early as December. Until now, the first officially reported case was on January 19. Why this matters: “The revelations in the paper by researchers from the CDC reinforce the growing understanding that the coronavirus was silently circulating worldwide earlier than known, and could re-ignite debate over the origins of the pandemic.”
- A newly published study out of Canada shows that over 1/3rd of children with Covid are asymptomatic. The researchers also found that cough, runny nose and sore throat were three of the most common symptoms among children—which is of zero help to parents.
- Add Formula One superstar Lewis Hamilton to the celebrity tally. He will miss the Grand Prix in Bahrain.
Three big biz deals:
Slack: has been bought by Salesforce for a whopping $27.7 billion—ending its efforts to remain an independent tech startup. The reason: rising competition from Microsoft Teams. As one securities analyst notes:
“Slack has had massive success, but ultimately it was running into a brick wall, and that brick wall was Microsoft… In terms of [attracting new enterprise clients], it was tougher and tougher going up against the 800 pound gorilla in Redmond.”
Quartz explains why tech startups have a hard time taking on the big guys.
BigBasket: is gearing up to sell an 80% stake to the Tata group for around $1.3 billion. Tata group is likely to buy out existing investors such as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The bigger aim: to take on Mukesh-bhai:
“Tata’s strategy appears to be to establish a beachhead in India’s e-commerce market amid a surge in online sales because of covid. For the founders of BigBasket, having Tata in control will give it the necessary firepower to take on Reliance Industries Ltd, which aims to shake up the e-commerce market with deep discounts just as it did in telecom.”
Wendy’s: is coming to India. But it won’t be making a grand entry as a restaurant chain. It is partnering with Rebel foods’ network of cloud kitchens, and will offer a delivery-only menu—which includes local faves like chicken chili, masala fries, and bun tikki. Yes, this is the same deal referenced in the Sunak explainer above—except it only mentions the Indian subsidiary of IMM, Sierra Nevada. (Economic Times)
Spotify’s top 2020 list is here
The global top three most streamed artists are Bad Bunny, Drake, and J Balvin. In India: Arijit Singh, Tanishk Bagchi, and Neha Kakkar (exactly the same as last year). The most streamed songs: ‘Shayad' from ‘Love Aaj Kal’, followed by Trevor Daniel's 'Falling' and 'Ghungroo' from ‘War’—and two of those aren’t even from this year. The number one streamed song around the world: The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights'. NDTV has the India list. Mashable has the global list plus handy links to all the songs (just in case you wanna check some of them out).
Airlines have a creepy-crawly problem
Wasps in Australia have found the best place to build a super-speedy nest: the pitot tube—a hollow instrument on the outside of the plane that indicates how fast it is travelling. So when they don’t work, the controls automatically switch to ‘manual’, forcing pilots to take over. And that can sometimes be dangerous:
For instance, Birgenair flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic in February 1996, killing 189 passengers and crew. The accident report said that the "probable cause" of the pitot tube blockage was "mud and/or debris from a small insect" that entered while the aircraft was on the ground.
This doesn’t mean wasps are airplane-slayers. But aviation experts say it is more important than ever to eliminate the tiny but highly determined insect from runways. (CNN)
In related news: This was the scene at Kolkata airport when a swarm of bees took a fancy to a Vistara aircraft.
