The great pandemic: A quick update
A maha mess over vaccines: Maharashtra’s Health Minister warned that the state will run out of vaccines in three days. The warning in turn drew an enraged response from the Union Health Minister who said: “The lackadaisical attitude of the Maharashtra government has singularly bogged down the entire country’s efforts to fight the virus… Allegations of vaccine shortage are utterly baseless.” Because what we really need in the midst of a second wave is a Centre-State jhagda? Meanwhile, everyone is shocked by this video of eight bodies of Covid victims being cremated on a single pyre. The Hindu has that story.
Oxford vaccine doubts: South Korea has suspended the rollout of the Oxford vaccine due to concerns over blood clots. The UK government issued a new advisory with data: 79 cases developed clots out of the 20 million people vaccinated, of which 19 have died. Three of them are under 30, and two-thirds of the clots occurred in women (yikes!). As a “course correction,” the government will offer an alternative vaccine to people under the age of 30. Our question: Er, what about the women? We ask since the leading European health agency’s data also shows that most of the cases occurred in women under 60.
Covid and your brain: A new Lancet study shows that people diagnosed with Covid in the past six months are more likely to develop depression, dementia, psychosis and stroke. A third of those who got Covid went on to develop or have a relapse of a psychological or neurological condition. The most common are anxiety or mood disorders caused by stress, while strokes etc are caused by the virus’ effects on the brain. BBC News has more.
New mask rules: The Delhi High Court has issued a ruling making it mandatory to wear a mask even if you are the sole occupant of a car. The logic: your car is “public property.” (Indian Express)
A far bigger problem: The Kumbh mela which is taking place in the midst of a second wave. Business Standard reports that at a government meeting, a senior official said: "If the government does not decide to end Kumbh before the stipulated time, it may become a COVID-19 'super spreader’.” (duh!) But the government has no plans to shut it down. Its new policy: “The government is forming a team that will appeal to all with the help of sadhus and religious leaders to ensure pilgrims, who are visiting the Kumbh, wear masks and follow social distancing.” Yup, that should work!
Also ineffective: night curfews, which is now being imposed in 6 states. But these don’t really do anything to curb the spread—and instead hurt restaurants and other businesses. According to one expert: “The only purpose I can think they serve is to give a break to police and those in allied jobs, who are in charge of enforcing Covid-19 appropriate behaviour in the day.” Quartz has more on this.
Meanwhile, in Brazil: The country recorded 4,000 deaths in a single day—taking the overall toll to 337,000. Experts warn:
"Brazil now... is a threat to the entire effort of the international community to control the pandemic… If Brazil is not under control, then the planet is not going to be safe, because we are brewing new variants every week... and they are going to cross borders.”
On a lighter note: Rapper Will.i.am has teamed up with Honeywell to launch a $299 XUPERMASK with “Bluetooth connectivity, LED day glow lights, noise canceling audio and microphone capabilities, seven hours of battery life and a magnetic earbud docking system.” Also, it looks like something out of a sci-fi dystopia:
An Ambani case update
The prime accused, Sachin Vaze, submitted a letter to the special National Intelligence Agency court. In it he accuses various Maharashtra ministers of corruption—including Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Transport Minister Anil Parab and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. He says each of them—on separate occasions—asked him to variously shake down contractors, gutka sellers, bars and restaurants for money. The court refused to accept the letter. Indian Express has more.
Forbes’ filthy rich list
The magazine put out its annual list of billionaires—which has 660 additional entries this year, taking the total to 2,755. Also: We added 1 new billionaire every 17 hours, during the pandemic, no less! And the newcomers include Tyler Perry, Kim Kardarshian and Kanye West. The #1 and #2 spots are occupied by Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. The billionaire capital of the world: Beijing with 100 fat cats, and it narrowly beat New York City for the top ranking.
The filthy rich Indians: Mukesh Ambani is once again Asia’s richest person with $84.5 billion—after losing out to AliBaba’s Jack Ma last year. The second richest Indian: Gautam Adani, followed by Shiv Nadar. Point to note: The top three added a staggering $100 billion to their wealth last year. Forbes has more on the India list.
A new LinkedIn scam
This online peril is called ‘spear phishing’—where the hackers post fake job openings: “Victim receives an email that leads them to a fake website infected with malware allowing the hacker to install malware or steal data from the victim’s computer.” What makes it even sneakier: They lure you into clicking on a zip file with a job offer that is customised to the job title you use on your profile. (The Hindu)
Olympics in new China row
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave a uniform contract for the Tokyo Summer Olympics and the Beijing Winter Olympics to a Chinese textiles company that openly advertises its use of Xinjiang cotton. Why this matters: Uighur and other ethnic minorities are used as slave labour in detention camps in the region. Human rights activists are up in arms. The IOC says the company gave them a certificate of origin which indicates the cotton came from outside China. Also: "Given the diverse participation in the Olympic Games, the IOC must remain neutral on all global political issues.” (Axios)
Meanwhile, in China: Television channels are blurring out logos of global brands that have expressed concerns about Xinjiang. We’re not kidding! They are earnestly scrubbing all offending t-shirts, sneakers etc., and the results look like this:
A beauty pageant uproar
The finale of ‘Mrs Sri Lanka’ turned into an ugly mess when the winner Pushpika De Silva was publicly and immediately stripped of her crown on stage. Last year’s Mrs Sri Lanka, Caroline Jurie, ripped it off her head—and placed it on the head of the runner up, announcing that De Silva had been disqualified. The reason: She is divorced. De Silva burst into tears, and stormed off stage. The good news: the contest organisers plan to return the crown to De Silva. BBC News has more details. See the moment below at the 1:15 mark:
In related news: Lucy Maino who was crowned Miss Papua New Guinea in 2019 was stripped of her title because she shared a video of her twerking on TikTok 🙄. The Guardian has the story. See the offending video below:
A few wondrous things
One: This Bronze Age slab of rock may be the oldest map of Europe. It was first discovered in 1900 in France, but no one understood the significance of the etchings until now. The 4,000-year old stone depicts a small region in France. The Independent has the story, but Daily Mail has far better infographics and photos. See it below:
Two: Astronomers have discovered a huge and mysterious structure shaped like jellyfish in space. Dubbed USS Jellyfish, it is spread across one million-plus light years, and is made of plasma. It is like nothing ever been observed before. What’s truly amazing: “It is indeed exceptionally old, at more than two billion years, and by luck it's remained highly undisturbed over that time.” Vice has the nerdy details. See it below:
Three: Hyundai entered the Guinness Book of World Records with a spectacular drone show—which launched the most unmanned aerial vehicles airborne simultaneously. The event marked the introduction of its luxury vehicle in China. See it below: