The great pandemic: A quick update
- Scientists claim to have discovered a “stealth” version of Omicron—which lacks one particular mutation that makes it easy to detect in standard Covid tests. It has been spotted in South Africa, Australia and Canada. (The Guardian)
- An analysis of patient records in South Africa indicates that the variant is linked to a smaller proportion of deaths—and most patients have not required supplemental oxygen. But these are still early days. (The Hindu)
- A new study has found that combining a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield) with a second dose of Moderna triggers levels of neutralising antibodies that are 17 times higher than two doses of AstraZeneca. (The Guardian)
- Here’s more evidence that face masks are the best protection against Covid. Latest research shows that wearing one lowers the risk of infection by up to 225 times compared to just social distancing. (Daily Mail)
Nagaland killings: The latest update
Different versions of the Army operation—which resulted in the death of six civilians (explained here)—have now emerged. News18 has a story based on “top sources” which implies that the villagers were involved with protecting the insurgents—who were tipped off and put civilians into the vehicle. A survivor of the attack, however, tells Indian Express: “We were not signalled to stop. They killed us directly. We were not trying to flee…we were just in the vehicle”—which contradicts the Home Minister's claim in Parliament that they tried to flee when asked to halt.
Also this: the Nagaland police report points to the fact that the Army commandos tried to cover up: “[T]he Special Force personnel were ‘trying to hide’ the six bodies by ‘wrapping and loading them in another pickup truck, apparently with the intention of taking’ them to ‘their base camp’. “
The fallout: The state cabinet has passed a resolution formally asking the union government to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act—and the ongoing Hornbill Festival has been cancelled. (The Telegraph)
A dismal inequality report
The World Inequality Report shows that billionaires now account for over 3.5% of global household wealth this year—as opposed to 2% in early 2020—confirming once again that the super-wealthy have thrived during the pandemic. And India is not looking good: We are described as a “poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite”, where the top 10% holds 57% of the total national income—while the bottom 50% have only 13%. Also, the next time you want to call yourself ‘middle class’:
“India’s middle class is relatively poor with an average wealth of only Rs 723,930 or 29.5% of the total national income, as compared with the top 10% and 1% who own 65% (Rs 6,354,070) and 33% (Rs 32,449,360), respectively.”
Indian Express has more details on India, while Reuters looks at the global report.
Government cedes to farmers
The government has agreed to most of the demands put forward by the unions. On the key demand for a minimum support price, it has proposed setting up a committee to figure out the details. And it has promised to withdraw all cases against the farmers once the protests are officially called off. The unions have asked for “clarifications” and will take a call this afternoon. The Telegraph and Indian Express have more details.
Hindutva attack on school kids
On Monday, Bajrang Dal activists and locals attacked a Christian missionary school in Madhya Pradesh—while students were trying to take their exams inside. There is now footage of that attack. ICYMI we did a Big Story on the rising tide of anti-Christian hate. (NDTV)
Very good news about Viagra
A new study shows that popping those blue pills can lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease—and offer a possible treatment. Important caveat: These are only preliminary results. As one medical expert says: “In the field of Alzheimer's disease research, we have been excited by many drugs over the years, only to have our hopes dashed in clinical trials.” But if it does work, we’re wondering what the listed side-effects will be lol! (BBC News)
Europe ups its startup game
According to a new report, the US remains the startup epicentre of the world—with 1,178 unicorns, of which 384 were added this year. But surprisingly, Europe is beating out China—which added 26 tech companies with valuations above $1 billion (unicorns), bringing its total to 300. European nations added 98 to reach a total of 321. And venture funding is booming—hitting $110 billion, which is nearly the same total as all of Asia. (Wall Street Journal via Mint)
In less happy biz news: Former Tesla employees are raising the alarm over its autopilot technology—and engineering decisions taken by Elon Musk that may make it unsafe. New York Times has that exclusive.
Swiss approve a suicide capsule
Switzerland has okayed the use of a 3D-printed pod called the Sarco capsule—which are to be used in physician-assisted suicides. How the pod works:
“The capsule is sitting on a piece of equipment that will flood the interior with nitrogen, rapidly reducing the oxygen level to 1% from 21% in about 30 seconds. The person will feel a little disoriented and may feel slightly euphoric before they lose consciousness. Death takes place through hypoxia and hypocapnia, oxygen and carbon dioxide deprivation, respectively. There is no panic, no choking feeling.”
Also: It can be activated by the person from the inside—and is portable. How you feel about this depends on how you feel about euthanasia, in general. See how it works below. (Gizmodo)
A Middle East ban on 'West Side Story'
Steven Spielberg’s movie has been banned in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. The problem: The character called Anybodys, who is transgender and portrayed by non-binary actor Iris Menas. This is hardly the first such instance. Most recently, ‘Eternals’ was pulled from release due to the inclusion of Marvel’s first openly same-sex couple. (Variety)
Speaking about the UAE: There’s very good news for its residents. The government has now instituted a 4.5-day work week. Folks can skip out of the office on Friday afternoon—and they can also opt to work from home. The reason for the change: to boost productivity and improve work-life balance. Also, now that Sunday is no longer a working day, the UAE is on the same weekday schedule as the rest of the world. (Gulf News)
Drake drops out of the Grammys
The singer has withdrawn ‘Certified Lover Boy’ and ‘Way 2 Sexy’ from consideration. They were nominated in the best rap album and best rap performance categories, respectively. He hasn’t offered a reason for the decision, but he criticised the award show last year for not honouring Weeknd, saying the Grammys need to be replaced with “something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.” (Variety)
A feminist ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’
The dystopian novel is told from the point of view of its male protagonist, Winston Smith—who begins a secret affair with Julia. The new version will retell the story from his lover’s perspective—and has been approved by George Orwell’s estate. This is part of a bigger trend toward reworking classics to include female voices and characters. For example: Jeet Thayil’s ‘Names of the Women’, which tells the stories of 15 women whose lives overlapped with Jesus. (The Guardian)
Duolingo’s surprising findings
The language learning app released results of a survey that shows why people are motivated to learn a new language. The number one factor cited by 70% of respondents: TV shows such as ‘Money Heist’ (Spanish), 37%; ‘Squid Game’ (Korean), 28%; ‘Emily in Paris’ (French), 20%; ‘Dark’ (German), 16%; and ‘Lupin’ (French), 16%. (FastCompany)
China’s most popular meme
The phrase “tang ping”—which means ‘lying flat’—is the most popular meme in China. It isn’t a patriotic slogan—and President Xi doesn’t like it one bit. The phrase instead captures the longing of young Chinese to opt out of the relentless drive to succeed: “not overworking, being content with more attainable achievements and allowing time to unwind.” (Quartz)
Dine With Data: All about Stumble 🔍
Editor’s note: Here is DWD’s weekly installment of one cool, innovative or just plain quirky startup from around the world.
Company: Stumble 🔍
About: From cold brew coffee to wool sneakers, homegrown D2C brands in India are offering everything for consumers. But where do we find them? 🤷🏻♂️
Food For Thought: Stumble is a search engine for Indian D2C brands exclusively. To test the platform, we entered search queries spanning cookie dough to condoms to furniture—and we found a D2C brand for each of them!
DWD Take: While consumers have an obvious benefit from such a platform, we believe that brands will also use it to get past traditional online marketing traps which are massive money-burners. Also, anything that increases the discoverability of small brands has our full support! 🤝
About DWD: Dine With Data🍴 sends you a short summary on one new startup every day, delivered straight to your Whatsapp inbox!
