Amazon under fire for bribery
A whistleblower inside Amazon has alleged that money allocated for legal fees have been diverted to bribe Indian officials. The complaint specifically points its finger at fees paid to Vikas Chopra—an independent advocate in Delhi hired as outside counsel. An internal investigation is now focusing on Chopra and the company’s in-house lawyer Rahul Sundaram. Meanwhile, unnamed government officials have jumped on the bandwagon to attack Amazon:
“Amazon has been spending more than Rs 8,500 crore in legal fees. It's time to think where all it is going. The whole system seems to work on bribes and that is not the best of business practices.”
FYI: that big fat number appears to have appeared out of thin air—without any sourcing. PTI wire copy repeats the claim using these terms: “Sources aware of the firm’s public account filings said six entities of Amazon… paid Rs 3,420 crore in India during 2018-19 and Rs 5,126 crore during 2019-20 towards legal fees.” But traders associations—which view Amazon as a bully and a serious threat—have seized on that amount to cry foul:
“The whopping amount spent under legal professional fees clearly shows how Amazon and its subsidiaries are misusing their financial muscles to bribe and manipulate Indian government officials.”
‘Havana syndrome’ in New Delhi
US diplomats and intelligence officials around the world have been plagued by a mysterious illness—which may or may not be a result of ‘microwave’ attacks (we explained this syndrome here). Now, a similar case has been reported in Delhi. The unidentified official was traveling with CIA Director William Burns during a trip to India this month. The CIA refused to confirm the incident but said:
“We've strengthened efforts to determine the origins of the incidents, including assembling a team of our very best experts — bringing an intensity and expertise to this issue akin to our efforts to find [Osama] bin Laden.”
Book that ticket to Amreeka!
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that it considers a person “fully vaccinated” against coronavirus if they have received any FDA-authorised jab or any vaccine that has been authorised by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is excellent news for Indians since Covishield is on the WHO-approved list—and this means double jabbed folks can travel freely to the United States. No such luck for those who opted for Covaxin. (NDTV)
As for the UK: According to The Print, the government doesn’t have a problem with Covishield—but with the certification process on the CoWin portal. This is as per an unnamed Indian “source.” Meanwhile, our Foreign Secretary has confirmed that New Delhi will take “reciprocal measures” if the UK doesn’t reverse itself on Covishield.
A huge drug haul in Gujarat
Law enforcement officials have seized 3,000kg of heroin originating from Afghanistan—valued at Rs 150 billion (15,000 crore). It may be the largest such consignment confiscated in the world. Much political hay was made of the haul—especially the fact that it was found in two shipping containers at an Adani port. This in turn forced the company to say:
“We sincerely hope that this statement will put to rest the motivated, malicious and false propaganda being run on social media against the Adani Group… We have no policing authority over the containers or the millions of tonnes of cargo that pass through the terminals in Mundra or any of our ports.”
And of course, the fact that it happened in the BJP bastion of Gujarat didn’t escape the notice of Opposition leaders 🙄:
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is from Gujarat, home minister Amit Shah is from Gujarat. How come the Gujarat coast has become the most preferred route to smuggle in drugs? This consignment was meant for Andhra Pradesh, which also has ports. India has a huge coastline. Why was this sent to Gujarat?”
Two tech upgrades
One: Google has announced an excellent improvement to Google Meet. You will no longer have to worry about looking like a shadowy bhoot because you have a lamp or sunlight behind you. Now the camera will automatically detect when you appear underexposed, and enhance the brightness to improve your visibility. (Mashable)
Two: Apple just rolled out iOS 15 which offers a bunch of improvements and new features. For example, SharePlay allows you to share your screen on FaceTime. With LiveText, you can point your camera at printed or handwritten text and numbers, and then copy, select, look up, translate, or share it. CNN has more details. Mashable lists the five best changes.
Two key mental health studies
One: According to a new report, more than 41 million people living with dementia worldwide have not been diagnosed. And in some countries, the number of undiagnosed patients is as high as 90%. Why this matters: this means millions of patients are going without any care. The biggest obstacles to diagnosis: diagnostic tests are expensive, and often inaccessible plus a deep-seated cultural stigma. (The Guardian)
Two: A new study finds that a new workplace hire with anxiety, depression or high levels of stress are likely to transmit these feelings to their co-workers—increasing the incidence of such issues by 6.32% (which seems a small number?). Also this: mental health issues can also spread between companies: “[W]hen a previous workplace had a high incidence rate of depression, anxiety and stress, an employee who left for a new job often transmitted negative feelings to their new workplace.” The study looked at 250,000 employees at 17,000 Danish firms between 1996 and 2015. (Wall Street Journal)
Pandas can get too much “space”
Most environmental research emphasises the loss of habitat—and the need to give species more room to thrive. But a new study suggests that pandas don’t thrive when they get too much of a good thing. According to its results, only 80% of the pandas’ environment should be an ideal habitat—with, for example, bamboo trees. When it goes beyond that number, animals don’t spread out in search of food—which in term affects the diversity of their gene pool. Implications for other animals:
“Most large carnivores live in increasingly fragmented landscapes. It may well be that the messy nature of their interface with human endeavour induces more animals to disperse or travel further, and might result in greater genetic connectivity and enhanced population persistence.”
Oldest twins in the world!
The Guinness World Records have certified Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama as the world’s oldest living identical twins. They were born on September 5, 1913 and their exact age: 107 years and 300 days. The previous record holders were also Japanese twin sisters—as is the oldest living person on record: 118-year-old Kane Tanaka. Must be the saké, right? (BBC News)
Three very expensive things
One: The first edition of Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ has sold for a record-breaking $1.17 million. That’s a world record for the highest price paid for a printed work by a woman. The previous record was held by the first edition of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’—which sold in 2008 for just £150,000 ($205,038 at the current rate). This “exceptionally rare” edition is among the first 500 copies printed in 1818—and is the first to be auctioned since 1985. (The Guardian)
Two: A mining company and diamond manufacturer have unveiled a massive uncut diamond. The 1,175 carat monster is the third largest ever to be discovered—and it is one of three 1000-carat plus diamonds extracted from the Karowe Mine in Botswana in recent years. The manufacturer hasn’t decided whether to keep it uncut. To be fair, right now, it just looks like a lump of rock. (Reuters)
Three: Fashion house Balenciaga is in trouble over a $1,190 pair of sweatpants. No, the problem isn’t the price tag but the design: “The Trompe L’Oeil pants feature a built-in pair of boxer shorts peeking out from the waistband, mimicking a style popularised by hip hop musicians.” And many are calling it racist: “Black men being discriminated against and devalued for sagging pants and Balenciaga is profiting off the style. Crazy how it’s ghetto until they put a price on it.” Check it out below:
Dine with Data: All about Mentza 🧏
Editor’s Note: Here is DWD’s weekly installment of one cool, innovative or just plain quirky startup from around the world.
Company: Mentza 🧏
About: After the numerous social audio apps we’ve seen from all over the globe, comes an Indian one.
Mentza is a Clubhouse-like platform, but takes things a notch higher by packing it with a number of features that enhance the social experience.
You can not only start rooms to discuss your interests, but also record, snip an audio piece you like to build your library, DM other listeners, and even text chat in the audio room simultaneously.
Food For Thought: Mentza wants to be the social-audio Linkedin. It has started by enabling people to build an audio portfolio on their profiles, highlighting their best moments on the platform. While most Clubhouse clones are creator-oriented, Mentza is career-oriented. 📈
DWD Take: The entire pull of audio platforms over textual ones is the added intimacy that they provide. Mentza might end up creating a more close-knit Linkedin that's built on voices, or it might end up as another Clubhouse competitor. We’re keeping our ears open for this one!
About DWD: Dine With Data🍴sends you a short summary of one new startup every day, delivered straight to your WhatsApp inbox!