Pegasus project: The latest update

If you need more context on Pegasus, be sure to check out our explainers here and here. 

One: The Supreme Court is getting ready to hear a bunch of petitions demanding an investigation into the use of the snooping software. The latest was filed by senior journalists like N Ram, Director of The Hindu Group and Sashi Kumar of Asianet. Other petitioners include Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas and advocate ML Sharma. (The Hindu)

Two: The company that sells Pegasus, NSO has now “temporarily blocked” a number of its customers (i.e. governments) from using its technology while the company investigates its misuse. But we don’t know which countries have been blocked. This is likely in response to increasing public pressure on the company—and on the Israeli government which has to approve the export license for Pegasus. NPR has more.

Mizoram vs Assam: The latest update

After a violent clash on the border—which made national headlines and left six Assam policemen dead—the two states seemed unwilling to back down (we explained the clash here). They both filed FIRs against each other—with Mizoram actually naming Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma in one of them. But there are finally signs of a thaw, the Mizo government has withdrawn the FIR against Sarma. And after talks mediated by Home Minister Amit Shah, the two have “agreed to resolve the Mizoram-Assam border issue amicably through meaningful dialogue.” 

The Centre’s bright idea: While the union government has ruled out a “neutral probe” to assign blame for the clash, Shah has come up with a high-tech solution to resolve the border disagreement: the North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC) has been asked to map and demarcate the boundary using satellite imaging. The hope: 

“Since there will be scientific methods in the demarcation of borders, there will [be] little scope for discrepancy and there shall be better acceptability of the boundary solutions by the States.” 

Sounds lovely except the problem isn’t that the border is fuzzy or badly defined. The problem is that there are two different lines—one drawn in 1875 which Mizoram recognizes, and another drawn in 1933 that Assam insists upon. And no amount of satellite imagery can resolve that stalemate. (The Hindu)

The great pandemic: A quick update

One: First, the numbers—which are going up again, thanks mainly to Kerala (that anomaly explained here). For the first time in 12 weeks, India has recorded a 7.56% rise on weekly new cases. We went from 2.66 lakh new cases between July 19-26 to 2.86 lakh cases between July 26-August 1. And daily new cases have surged past 40K for the fifth day in a row. Meanwhile, Karnataka suddenly clamped down on visitors from other states—insisting on a RT-PCR test, and refusing to accept vaccine certificates. The Hindu has more on the chaos on the state’s borders. (Times of India)

Two: The top US health authority—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—has laid out a fairly grim view of the Delta variant in an internal document. It concludes that the variant is “more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox.” Also this: “Infection with the Delta variant produces virus amounts in the airways that are tenfold higher than what is seen in people infected with the Alpha (UK) variant.” (New York Times)

Three: There is an app for anti-vaxxers looking for love called Unjected—created after mainstream dating apps like Tinder and Bumble decided to encourage users to get vaccinated. On Unjected, you can find more than a date: “[I]f a business is looking for an unvaccinated employee they can post that listing there or if someone is looking for an unvaccinated doctor they can find them on the app.” Too bad, it just got booted off Apple’s App Store—but it is still available on Google. (Gizmodo)

The death of Danish Siddiqui

There is now clear evidence that the Reuters photographer’s body was mutilated while in custody of the Taliban—who held onto the body for hours before handing it over to Red Cross:

“One Indian official said that the body had nearly a dozen bullet wounds and that there were tire marks on Mr. Siddiqui’s face and chest… His face was unrecognizable, said the official, who added that he could not determine exactly what had been done to the body.”

A Taliban spokesman denied any wrongdoing, saying that they are under orders to treat bodies with respect—but photos of Siddiqui right after he was killed show that his body was intact at that time. (New York Times via Indian Express)

Ben Stokes takes a break

The English cricketer is taking an “indefinite break from all cricket” to focus on his mental health—and has pulled out of the upcoming test series against India. Likely pressure points: Way too much time away from the family in the bio-secure bubble and the death of his father in 2020. The England Cricket Board spoke up in support of his decision, saying, “Ben has shown tremendous courage to open up about his feelings and wellbeing.” He will be replaced by Craig Overton in the series. (ESPN)

A big clampdown celeb influencers

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is furious at celebrities for not clearly tagging their brand promotions. For example: 

“On 27 July, cricket captain Virat Kohli’s social media post praised Lovely Professional University (LPU) after 11 of its students made the Indian squad for the Tokyo Olympics. The post failed to use the paid partnership tag.”

Also in trouble: actor Jacqueline Fernandez who posted a picture of herself on Instagram holding a bottle of Tresemme shampoo and conditioner—and failed to disclose that she is doing so as an ambassador for the brand. The council is now promising “stricter” government action against offenders. (Mint)

The space station did “cartwheels”

The International Space Station began to tilt and tumble when a docking Russian space module lost control of its thrusters. A flight director said: “We proceeded to do headstands and cartwheels. Olympic judges would be proud.” Now, NASA is playing down the incident, “insisting the crew was never in any danger during a roughly 45 minute period when the space station lost attitude control.” But then again, they are living in a space station—so the risks are kinda built-in. Quartz has more details on the incident.

Sleeping isn’t good enough

A new study shows that simply getting more sleep won’t improve productivity or well-being. It tracked the sleep patterns of 452 lower-income workers in Chennai:

“The participants, who worked flexible data entry jobs, then increased their nightly sleep from about 5.5 hours to roughly six hours through a mix of encouragement and financial incentives. The 30-minute boost did none of the things you would expect. It had no impact on productivity, earnings, decision making, blood pressure, or sense of well-being.”

The reason: they experienced frequent interruptions and the overall quality of sleep was poor. The one thing that does help: A daytime nap. (Fast Company)

Scarlett Johansson vs Disney

The actor has sued the company for simultaneously releasing her movie ‘Black Widow’ in theatres and Disney+:

“Ms. Johansson’s suit said that Disney had promised that “Black Widow” would receive an exclusive release in theaters for approximately 90 to 120 days and that her compensation — based largely on bonuses tied to ticket sales — was gutted as a result of the hybrid release. Simultaneous availability on Disney+, where subscribers could watch the film instantly (and have permanent access to it) for a $30 surcharge, 'dramatically decreased box office revenue'.”

This is the first big salvo in the brewing war between actors and studios over who gets paid what, when a movie is streamed instead of screened. Hollywood Reporter has a good read on why Johansson is unlikely to win this lawsuit. 

Best cities for students

A new study looked at university towns around the world, and found that the top five are: London, Munich, Seoul, Tokyo, and Berlin. The top US city to make the list was Boston, which took the #9 spot. Australia ranked higher with Melbourne coming in at #6 and Sydney at #8. (Travel+Leisure)

Animals in unlikely places

Sharks in the backyard: In parts of Florida, people have canals that run through their neighbourhoods—and they are currently packed with bonnethead, black tip, nurse, and lemon sharks. The reason: The coastline has been overwhelmed with toxic algae—which is turning the ocean water red, depleting oxygen levels and increasing the concentration of toxins. Six hundred tonnes of dead fish have piled up on the beaches. The sharks can survive the “red tide” but are fleeing the ocean waters in distress. (Vice)

Pangolin in Noida: A scaly anteater was spotted wandering on the road, and later rescued by the police, and turned over to the forest department. Pangolins are on the endangered list, and often illegally trafficked. A single pangolin can fetch up to Rs 2-3 crore. See the poor rescued beast below. (Indian Express)