High drama over Trinamool arrests
The Bengal election may have ended, but the political drama goes on and on and on.
The arrests: Two ministers, one MLA and the ex-mayor of Calcutta have been arrested on charges of bribery. The so-called Narada case dates back to 2014—when Narada News conducted a secret sting operation, and caught Trinamool leaders taking bribes:
“A journalist from Delhi came to Kolkata, posed as a businessman planning to invest in Bengal, gave wads of cash to seven Trinamool MPs, four ministers, one MLA and a police officer as bribe and taped the entire operation. The so-called ‘Narada tapes’ were released just before the 2016 assembly elections in the state.”
The Central Bureau of Investigation has now arrested four of them.
The missing: Conspicuously off the list of arrests: all the Trinamool leaders who have since defected to the BJP. As the journalist Mathew Samuel, who conducted the sting, told Outlook magazine:
“I met Suvendu Adhikari in his office and gave him Rs. 5 lakh. This tape was also submitted to the CBI and forensically verified to be correct. I met Mukul Roy who did not accept cash directly but told me to give money to Mirza (suspended IPS officer arrested in the Narada case in 2019). I gave Mirza Rs 15 lakh and there are recorded conversations that prove that Mirza took the money for Mukul Roy… Why the names of Roy and Adhikari do not appear in the chargesheet or the list of sanctions for prosecution given by the Governor is a mystery to me. Frankly, it is shocking because you cannot cherry-pick who you arrest and who you don’t, based on the same evidence.”
According to The Telegraph, CBI officials sought permission to prosecute Adhikari from the Lok Sabha Speaker (a BJP man), but are yet to receive it.
As for Mamata: Meanwhile, a very angry Chief Minister camped out at the CBI office for six hours daring the agency to arrest her: “The way they have been arrested without due procedure, CBI will have to arrest me also." Less than impressed with that reasoning: The Calcutta High Court stayed the interim bail order granted to the four leaders. The Telegraph has more details on the arrests. Outlook has a must-read interview with Samuel. Indian Express has a good read on what the CBI has on Roy and Adhikari.
The Israel-Palestine war: The latest update
Israeli airstrikes continue to pound Gaza—targeting the Hamas' tunnel system, and nine residences allegedly belonging to its commanders. The death toll: 212 in Gaza and 12 in Israel. Efforts to mediate a truce have stalled for a number of reasons. According to BBC News analysts:
“Local reports suggest Hamas has been offering some kind of ceasefire for several days, only to be rebuffed by Israel, which clearly wants to inflict as much damage as it can... These episodes follow a familiar pattern: Israel presses home its undoubted military advantage until the international outcry over civilian casualties, and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, demand that the operation end. In Israel's estimation, we have not reached that point yet.”
Do read that last line again. CNN, OTOH, spoke to sources in Hamas who point to two specific sticking points. One: Israel wants Hamas to declare a ceasefire first. Two: Hamas says any truce must include an end to Israel's “provocations” at the Al Aqsa Mosque and a resolution of the Sheikh Jarrah evictions (which we explained here).
Meanwhile at the UN: An emergency Security Council meeting was held to address the escalating war. And India took a stance that was surprisingly sympathetic to Palestine, with our permanent representative saying: “In conclusion, I reiterate India’s strong support to the just Palestinian cause and its unwavering commitment to the two-state solution.” The Hindu has a very good analysis of the Indian position. FYI: The US has been repeatedly blocking attempts to put out a joint statement—which is why none of the meetings have resulted in action. Also: There have been protests around the world to show solidarity with the civilians being killed in Gaza. BuzzFeed News has photos.
The great pandemic: A longish update
First, the numbers: India added 263,533 new cases and 4,329 deaths. We are only 8 million short of the United States overall tally. India’s top Covid expert Dr Shahid Jameel has this to say on the trajectory of the second wave:
“Although the curve seems to have flattened out, do realise that it has flattened out at a very high plateau… and we have to be very, very careful not to let it go any further but to bend it down…
The virus is still circulating, it is still infecting, there are still a lot of susceptible people, so possibly that’s one explanation of why we are seeing such a wide plateau, and that also tells you that the other side of the peak is not going to be an easy climbdown. It is possibly going to be a more prolonged, long-drawn-out process running possibly into July, may be even into August.”
Meanwhile, mathematical models offer varying projections. The IIT one predicts that daily numbers will decline below 100K by June 2, and below 10,000 by July 7. IISc researchers expect them to dip below 100K by May 26.
About those deaths: In the second half of 2020—and long before the second wave—a single crematorium in Odisha accounted for twice as many deaths as the entire state. So undercounting may not be a new thing. In Uttarakhand, previously undisclosed deaths are being reported in bulk—adding 135 such deaths recently. The Indian Medical Association reports it has lost 244 doctors just in the second wave. Bihar is at #1 with 69 deaths.
Covid treatment: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has dropped blood plasma therapy as a recommended treatment. This is after multiple trials have found no benefit from it.
About those vaccines: The WHO urged wealthier countries to delay vaccinating children, and donate those vaccines to poorer nations instead. More so since India’s second wave has hit these nations especially hard. Serum Institute has not met its commitments to the global Covax alliance—aimed at vaccinating low-income countries. It has made zero shipments since exports out of India were suspended in March. Unicef is now asking G7 and EU nations to share their doses instead.
Covid fraud: The Delhi police have finally arrested Navneet Kalra—who is accused of selling oxygen concentrators on the black market (which we explained here). He has been sent for three days in police custody. The police, however, have given a clean chit to Indian Youth Congress leader BV Srinivas, saying they have not found any evidence of fraud with regard to his volunteer campaign. Speaking of fraud, The Guardian reports on a booming global industry of fake vaccine and Covid test certificates.
Elsewhere in the world: Taiwan is fighting its biggest outbreak to date—a record 335 new cases. The outbreak first began among airline pilots but has since spread within the community. Also worried: Thailand, where prison clusters are to blame for rising cases. In Singapore, however, 17 unlinked cases have been tied to the ‘double mutant’ variant that originated from India. Also this: The World Economic Forum has called off its scheduled annual meeting—which was to be held in Singapore.
Related good reads: Washington Post looks at whether horizontal grooves on your nails are proof that you’ve had Covid. Shah Alam Khan in The Wire has an excellent piece on how the second wave has changed our relationship with death.
On the lighter side: A Bengali man slung his lockdown pass around his neck: a sign that read ‘Going to buy sweets’. Here’s what happened when a policeman confronted him. FYI: his pot belly makes this clip just perfect!
Cyclone Tauktae: an update
The eye of the cyclone hit the Gujarat coast at midnight, but 200,000 people had already been relocated to safety. No casualties have been reported as yet. The storm knocked out the electricity in Goa and crippled internet connectivity. In Maharashtra, six people died in the Konkan region. And the storm battered Mumbai, leaving it looking like this:
Point to note: The number of storms rising out of the Arabian sea points (as usual) to global warming:
“The rapid warming of the Arabian Sea is leading to not just more cyclones but also more extreme rain events...Due to these warm ocean conditions it is seen that the cyclone intensifies from a weak cyclone to an extremely severe cyclone rapidly.”
Long working hours can kill you
A WHO global study—the first of its kind—reveals that 745,000 people died in 2016 from stroke and heart disease due to long hours of work:
“The research found that working 55 hours or more a week was associated with a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from heart disease, compared with a working week of 35 to 40 hours. The study… also showed almost three quarters of those that died as a result of working long hours were middle-aged or older men.”
But pay close attention, young people: “Often, the deaths occurred much later in life, sometimes decades later, than the long hours were worked.” So being a workaholic is bad for your health irrespective of age. (BBC News)
Don’t feed the Twitter trolls
It is very, very tempting to correct someone on social media when they get a fact wrong. Don’t. That’s the advice of a new MIT study—which shows that doing so just makes the person more obnoxious:
“Basically, the new thinking is that correcting fake news, disinformation, and horrible tweets at all is bad and makes everything worse. This is a ‘perverse downstream consequence for debunking’... The core takeaway is that ‘being corrected by another user for posting false political news increases subsequent sharing of low quality, partisan, and toxic content.’"
Vice has more on this counter-intuitive finding.
Demolition derby in Delhi
Until now, everyone has been getting worked up over the sight of dug up roads to clear the way for the Central Vista project. But the cause for true anguish lies ahead. Soon to be demolished are three iconic buildings: the National Museum, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), and National Archives Annexe. Others on the ‘tear down’ list: lots of ministerial bhavans, including Shastri, Krishi, Vigyan etc. The total area to be razed down: 4,58,820 square metres. The big worry: how the priceless objects will be protected when they are moved and stored.
Meanwhile at the courts: The case to stop the project on the grounds that it poses a Covid hazard is playing out in the Delhi High Court—which heard very heated arguments yesterday. The lawyer appearing for the petitioners said: “We were afraid that their dereliction was going to lead to an Auschwitz on the gardens of Delhi.” Also this: “Central Vista should no longer be called ‘Central Vista’, it should now be called the Central fortress of death.” Hmm, maybe we need a rule about Holocaust analogies...
