The great pandemic: A quick update
- Indian experts say there are early signs of Omicron circulating within the community, but it is going unnoticed: “People with asymptomatic infections are unlikely to come for testing. Many fully vaccinated people may not show symptoms.”
- France has banned all unessential travel from the UK—which reported 88,376 new cases, a second consecutive record daily tally.
- A series of new studies on Omicron confirm that booster shots offer a strong defence against serious disease. But we should expect breakthrough infections among the vaccinated—and those who were infected by older variants.
- A Hong Kong study shows that Omicron can multiply 70 times faster than the Delta in bronchial tissue—found in the main tubes from the windpipe to the lungs. But it replicates 10 times slower in lung tissue—which could explain why it doesn’t cause serious respiratory disease.
- A South African doctor outlined initial symptoms specific to Omicron: fatigue, night sweats, scratchy throat, dry cough and mild muscle aches. She notes that no one has reported losing taste or smell.
- Apple has postponed bringing back its workers to a “yet to be determined” date—and is giving its employees $1,000 to buy equipment for their home offices.
- The Australian cricket team has a new skipper—Steve Smith—after Pat Cummins was quarantined for being exposed to an infected person.
- Anti-vax hysteria has hit a new high in Germany—where police foiled a plot to assassinate the state premier (kinda like a CM) of Saxony.
Crypto bill has been postponed
Contrary to all the buzz, the government has kicked the crypto can down the road. The new bill (explained here) will not be taken up in the current session of parliament. It will likely be taken up during the budget session in March. This offers at least temporary respite for all the crypto investors and biz owners—who fear a total ban. (Hindu Business Line)
‘Worst fashion wage theft’ in Karnataka
An international labour rights watchdog revealed that more than 400,000 garment workers in Karnataka have been denied the legal minimum wage since April last year. They work in factories that make apparel for the likes of Nike, Zara and H&M. The estimated amount of unpaid wages is around £41 million (around $54.7 million). One worker said: “Throughout this year I have only fed my family rice and chutney sauce.”
What’s shocking is the paltry amount that these factory owners are refusing to pay:
“The annual cost of living increase to the minimum wage, the ‘variable dearness allowance’ (VDA), was increased to Rs 417 (£4.10) a month in April 2020. The WRC said that as this supplement for low-paid workers, which amounts to 16p a day, had gone unpaid for 20 months, each employee had been underpaid by Rs 8,351 (£83).”
When confronted with the data, the big brands said they expect local suppliers to comply with the law—and will be very upset at them if they don’t. In other words, they passed the buck—which is a truly ironic phrase in this context. (The Guardian)
TikTok improves its algorithm
The social media platform plans to protect the mental health of its users by avoiding pushing too much content from a certain topic, such as “extreme dieting, sadness or breakups.” Users can now pick words or hashtags associated with content that they don't wish to see. This is in response to all the bad press for the app’s ‘For You’ feed—which was serving up a barrage of content on sex and drugs to youngsters. Why this matters: Where TikTok goes, Insta usually follows. (Wall Street Journal via Mint)
A row over gender-neutral uniforms
A government school in Kerala introduced gender-neutral uniforms—which have triggered immediate protests from Muslim groups:
“Alleging that it was an infringement on the students’ personal freedom, they said it would ‘outrage the modesty of women’. The members pointed out that shirts and trousers were ‘boys’ dress’ and the effort was to forcibly impose ‘liberal ideas’ on students.”
The school and state ministers say the move is aimed at promoting gender equality. And the parents seem mostly on board. Indian Express has quotes from delighted students. The Hindu has more on the controversy.
Bruce Springsteen sells his songs
The Boss has sold his entire music catalogue to Sony for an estimated $550 million—making it “the biggest transaction ever struck for a single artist’s body of work.” Sony will acquire the rights to not only Springsteen's music, but also his entire body of work as a songwriter. Get ready to hear ‘Born to Run’ on the next motorbike commercial. (New York Times)
Also a big sale: The personal computer of Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales went on sale—along with an NFT of the platform’s first edit which read ‘Hello World!’. The going price: the Strawberry iMac raked in $187,500, while the NFT went for $750,000. Yes, the NFT sold for way more than the actual computer—which also looks way cooler. (The Hindu)
Birds top the music charts
An album made up entirely of the tweets and squawks has debuted in the top five of Australia’s music charts. The album—titled ‘Songs of Disappearance’ and features bird songs from 53 of Australia’s most endangered species—has beaten Abba and The Weeknd. You can listen to the chartbusters below. (BBC News)
Also in Australia: A bizarre bouncy castle mishap has killed five children. The castle lifted 33 feet into the air due to a strong gust of wind. The children were aged between 10 to 11 years of age. Ugh. (Associated Press)
Five things to see
One: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa arrived at the International Space Station bearing a special gift—a delivery from UberEats. The khana delivered: “dishes including boiled mackerel in miso, beef bowl cooked in sweet sauce, simmered chicken with bamboo shoots, and braised pork.” (Cnet)
Two: A 500-year-old globe—which features sea monsters, ships and a depiction of Triton, a Greek god of the sea—will soon be the oldest ever to go on auction. The initial bidding price: £20,000-30,000—though the actual sale price is likely to soar far higher for this “priceless artefact.” Tap to zoom. (CNN)
Three: The newspaper Mint decided to hold its annual banking conclave—which featured many an “eminent speaker,” but not one of them was a woman. The poster looked like this:
Eminent women in the startup and corporate world expressed immediate and justified outrage. The result: women were hastily added to the ‘manel’ and the editor issued an apology—insisting the newspaper had invited several women speakers, who all declined.
Four: Tiger Woods and his 12-year-old son Charlie have more than just genes in common. The PGA put out a video highlighting just how much they resemble one another. Here is Woods watching the video—and the expression on his face is priceless. This is making the rounds because Woods is finally making a comeback to professional golf after a terrible accident—and will be appearing with Charlie at his first tournament. (People)
Five: If you don’t like creepy crawlies, look away immediately. Australian scientists have discovered a millipede that actually has 1,000 legs. Contrary to their misleading name, they typically top out at 750. This one has a total of 1,306 legs along its 3.78 inch body—making it the “leggiest animal on the planet.” (Gizmodo)