The great pandemic: A quick update
- Numbers are up in Maharashtra—which crossed 4,000-plus daily cases for the first time in 39 days. Experts are blaming the “full unlocking” and the resumption of local trains. Others point their finger at increased socialising (family dos plus weddings) and vacation travel.
- One effect of growing Covid complacency: Indians are shopping, and retail sales are surging! Bloomberg News has that story.
- Given the above, here’s a good reminder: A chief scientist at the WHO warned that people are becoming reinfected with new strains of the virus.
- The WHO team that went to China to investigate the origins of the virus found that there were “over a dozen” strains in circulation in Wuhan by December 2019. What this means: "As there was already genetic diversity... it is likely that the virus was circulating for a while longer than that month alone."
- The largest study of real-world data from Israel shows that there has been a 94% drop in symptomatic cases and a 92% drop in serious cases after people received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
- Is the coronavirus beautiful? Yes, if it is a glass sculpture that is one million times larger than the real thing. A UK artist created this artwork to commemorate the vaccination of 10 million people in the country.
White House worries about Meena
Nope, the Biden folks aren’t concerned as much about her farmer protest tweets as the extent to which she has “meshed her personal brand” with Kamala Harris' ascendant political career. She has leveraged her relationship with her aunt for splashy media appearances, and more importantly used her aunt’s likeness and quotes to sell books and clothes—which is forbidden by the White House’s strict ethics rules. Also a problem: Her decision to jump on a private plane of a campaign donor to attend the inauguration:
“There is increasing concern that the personal branding endeavors will bring the vice president unwanted scrutiny now that her stature is at a new high. ‘Some things can’t be undone,’ said the White House official, who would only speak anonymously to discuss one of the most sensitive and personal issues in the Biden-Harris White House. ‘That being said: Behavior needs to change.’”
Los Angeles Times has this exclusive.
In other celebrity news: Harry and Meghan are having a baby—a fact that was announced on Insta by the photographer who took this photo below. Yes, the Queen is delighted. And if you care: Diana revealed she was pregnant with Harry on the very same day in 1984, which is not a coincidence.
Unhappy news for women's cricket
While we’re all caught up in the exciting India vs England series in Chepauk, Indian women’s cricket suffered a new blow. The scheduled ODI and T20 series with South Africa may be canceled because the Kerala Cricket Association says it can’t host the matches. The reason: stadium authorities in Thiruvananthapuram have given the ground out for an army recruitment rally—without informing the KCA. Hopes now rest on the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Point to note: team that has not played international cricket in over 11 months. (Scroll)
In happier news for women: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has become the first woman and first African director-general of the World Trade Organization. She is an economist and former finance minister of Nigeria. (CNN)
JNU activists head back to court
Former student president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others have been summoned by a Delhi court—where they will be tried on sedition charges filed back in 2016. They were accused of raising anti-national slogans at a meeting to mark the hanging of Afzal Guru. The stalled case is finally moving forward thanks to the ruling AAP party which has given the required sanction for prosecution. (Indian Express)
Byju’s goes shopping
India’s biggest online learning startup is set to buy its rival Toppr in a $150 million deal. This is after it shelled out $300 million to acquire the controversial White Hat Jr—which teaches coding to kids—and $1 billion for the brick and mortar test prep company Aakash Educational Services. Now, the biggest players in the game have come down to three: Byju’s, Unacademy and Vedantu. (Mint)
New trolling rules for CAs
Two top accounting organisations—Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) and Institute of Company Secretaries (ICSI)—have warned its members not to troll government officials on social media, or send them “inappropriate emails.” The advisory said:
"Some of them have written to Ministry of Corporate Affairs and higher forums...some of the posts are highly objectionable which have potential to create social and communal disharmony, threatening peace, tranquillity and may disrupt the security of the nation."
Two language things
One: Do you use 😂 emoji in your text messages? Yes? Let us be the first to inform you that you are dreadfully uncool and likely (god forbid!) old! Also out of favour, the ROFL staple: 🤣. When asked about that one, a Gen Z woman “visibly grimaced,” saying: "I don't like that one. "My mom doesn't even use it." If you’re worried about staying on trend, please note:
"For many Gen Z-ers, the 💀 emoji has become a popular replacement for conveying laughter. It's the visual version of the slang phrase "I'm dead" or "I'm dying," which signifies something is very funny. Other acceptable alternatives: the 😭 emoji (officially called "Loudly Crying Face"), or just writing "lol" (laughing out loud) or "lmao" (laughing my, well, you probably know the rest)."
Two: Similar to Hindi, many nouns in German are either masculine or feminine. Example: A male doctor is 'ein Arzt' while a female doctor is 'eine Ärztin'. But in sentences such as: 'I am going to the doctors' or 'Where is the doctor?', German-speakers use the masculine form of the noun. Now, Duden—which is the German equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary—has scrapped masculine forms off 12,000 words—mostly used to describe professions and job titles. And it’s sparking a big and angry debate. Read more over at Times UK (paywall) or Daily Mail.
