The great pandemic: A quick update

• On April 14, India added 199,376 new cases and 1,037 deaths. Maharashtra accounted for 33% of the new cases as well as the highest number of deaths. It took the US 21 days to jump from 100,000 to 200,000 daily cases. It took us only 10 days.
• We also administered 3,139,063 vaccines yesterday. But a new government task force says we’ve fallen short of our monthly target of 150 million doses by nearly 50%
• The 10th class CBSE board exams have been cancelled, and the 12th class ones have been postponed—and will be held at a date to be decided later. But as Indian Express reports, a lot of people are still unhappy.
• Delhi is going from bad to worse, reporting 17,282 new cases—and it is dealing with a severe shortage of ICU beds. New plan: convert hotels and banquet halls.
• Also suffering: Bihar, where all its hospitals are filled to the brim. Worse, many of its district hospitals are not equipped to offer care to severe cases. A good related read: Mint on how the second wave has exposed gaping holes in our healthcare system.
• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has Covid—which we assume surprises no one.
• The double mutant variant (explained here) has been found in 61% of the samples tested in Maharashtra—establishing that it has now become dominant. That’s up from 15-20% on March 24. Is it now okay to blame the surge on the variant? Great related read: Scroll on how the government played down the new variant to avoid panic—and why it backfired.
• The massive discrepancy between the official death count and the numbers at crematoriums is fueling a huge fight between the Gujarat government and the local media.
• South Africa has suspended its rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine thanks to fears about blood clots. This is especially disastrous for SA since it first had to nix AstraZeneca vaccine due to worries that it offers minimal protection against the South African variant. A reality check from Vice: women run a higher risk of developing blood clots from birth control pills than the J&J vaccine.
• Denmark became the first country to completely stop administering the AstraZeneca vaccine.
• Al Jazeera has a great read on vaccine tourism—where people go to other nations to get their jabs.

The big Suez aftermath: It’s a mess!

Ever Given has now been impounded thanks to a giant jhagda between Egyptian authorities and the ship’s owners Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. Cairo wants the costs of the salvage and loss of transit fees—for the period Ever Given blocked traffic. How much Ever Given’s owners have been ordered to pay by an Egyptian court: $900 million. Also stuck: All the 18,000 container boxes on board containing consumer products, industrial parts and other goods bound for Europe. Also: Shoei Kisen wants owners of those goods to share in the costs of freeing the ship. 

Flipkart to own Cleartrip

The e-commerce company is getting ready to acquire the travel booking site in a distress sale—and it marks a move to expand into a whole new area for Flipkart. Also, it will bring Walmart muscle to the fight ahead against the likes of MakeMyTrip, Yatra and Booking.com. Why Cleartrip was in great distress: It earns more than 80% of its revenue from airline bookings—which isn’t good given the pandemic. (Times of India)

Speaking of e-commerce giants: Amazon is organising an Indian summit called ‘Smbhav’ to encourage small businesses. Indian trader groups are planning their own counter-programming: a summit titled ‘Asmbhav’. (Reuters)

In other biz news: Tesla has a Chinese rival. Xpeng Motors has launched a self-driving car called P5—and it will cost less than the cheapest Tesla. CNBC has more details. Also, it looks kinda cool:

Also feeling good: The crypto exchange Coinbase which had a blockbuster IPO—and its market valuation briefly soared past $100 billion on its debut. (CNBC)

Two things about kids

One: A three-month baby boy has three penises—which makes him the first ever reported case of human triphallia. The two extra appendages were growing out of his perineum—the area between the genitals and the anus. Neither had a urethra (for urine) and both were removed. The good news: the baby is doing well with no report of complications. (Yahoo News)

Two: In case we needed scientists to confirm it, a new Harvard study shows that spanking affects children’s mental health and development as much as more severe forms of physical punishment. It also led to anxiety, depression, behaviour problems, and other mental wellness issues. Moral of this study: There is no such thing as ‘mild’ corporal punishment where kids are concerned. (Mint)

A good related read: BloombergQuint on how Mukesh Ambani is turning the 261-year-old kid’s toy store Hamleys into a powerhouse.

Award-winning air cabins!

This is one of the winners of the Crystal Cabin awards—which honour the best designs of how we might hang out on a flight in the future. This version below is called a ‘coffee house cabin’ that looks more like a conference room. CNBC has the others—which are mercifully far less reminiscent of cube culture.

Speaking of air travel: The annual passport rankings are out. And most of the results are unsurprising. Japan once again has the most powerful passport in the world—the kind that gets you across most borders—193, to be exact, followed by Singapore (192), Germany and South Korea (both 191). At the bottom of the list: Afghanistan, followed by Iraq and Syria. (Traveller)

One hilarious fashion thing

This one is going to get funny, but you have to wait for it. Harrods had to stop selling New York label Judith Leiber’s Ganesh-inspired clutch—which sold for an eye-watering £6,340. In fact, the company has withdrawn the clutch entirely. The reason: outrage of angry and offended Hindus and ‘woke’ South Asians. The director of the Hindu Council said: 

“It raises a serious question, why doesn’t a world-renowned brand do proper research on religion and faith to find out what [its products] mean to the people who are following that faith. It’s cultural and religious appropriation.”

Ok here is what the bag looks like:

And here’s the funny bit, Exhibit A:

And here’s the even more hilarious bit, Exhibit B: