The great pandemic: A quick update
- First the numbers: India added 91,870 cases and 3,413 deaths on Thursday.
- Our fatality numbers are wildly gyrating as various states—including Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttarakhand—add previously unreported deaths. The Telegraph has more on why Bihar reported a 72% hike in its death toll thanks to a High Court order. FYI: despite the corrections, the new numbers are likely still a gross undercount.
- Dear Bangalore people: Karnataka has extended the lockdown until June 21 in 11 districts, but your fair city will gradually reopen starting June 14. Indian Express has details.
- Speaking of lockdowns, The News Minute has a deeply reported story on their impact on the restaurant industry.
- Health authorities in the UK have warned that a “substantial third wave” is likely—which jeopardises plans to completely unlock the country on June 21. Something for us to remember as we celebrate the reopening of our cities.
- An Indian Express analysis shows that big companies account for the vast number of vaccinations in the big cities: “The service economy hubs of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Noida, and Chennai, had conducted approximately 20.36 lakh vaccinations at the workplace — which was more than 12% of the total vaccinations carried out in India’s top seven metros.”
- The Group of Seven Nations (G7) will donate a minimum of one billion doses worldwide.
- The McDonald’s X BTS meal launched in Indonesia triggered a customer stampede, and multiple outlets had to shut down due to Covid fears.
Three points of data
One: Data from the Election Commission shows that the BJP received the largest number of corporate and individual donations—for the seventh consecutive year! In 2019-20 it received Rs 7.5 billion (750 crore) which is 5X the amount received by Congress, which only collected Rs 1.39 billion (139 crore). BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s Jupiter Capital, the ITC Group, and real estate companies Macrotech Developers (earlier known as Lodha Developers) and BG Shirke Construction Technology were among the saffron party’s biggest donors. (Indian Express)
Two: New national data for 2019-20 shows that the number of women in higher education has spiked by 18% over the past five years. Women have closed the gender gap in enrollments for Bachelor of Commerce degrees. They constitute the majority in BA (52.9%) and BSc (52.3%) programmes. But men continue to dominate more prestigious academic institutions, and lucrative degrees like MBA, BTech and Bachelor of Engineering. (Times of India)
Three: A new AI study looked at dialogues from 100 of the biggest commercial hits from each of the seven decades from 1950 to 2020. The authors then looked at how cultural biases have evolved over the decades. One heartening finding:
"In the 1950s and 60s, 74% of babies born in films were boys - in the 2000s, that number had come down to 54%. It was a huge jump, but the gender ratio was still skewed.”
There is also more language indicating defiance of traditional practices like dowry. What has remained unchanged: our obsession with fair skin. (BBC News)
The world’s longest undersea cable
Google announced its plan to build a very long cable called ‘Firmina’—which “will run from the East Coast of the United States to Las Toninas, Argentina, with additional landings in Praia Grande, Brazil, and Punta del Este, Uruguay.” The aim: To improve internet connectivity and access to Google services in South America. (Reuters)
Say hello to Mount Recyclemore
Ahead of the G7 summit, an artist has created a twist on Mt Rushmore—which features the faces of US presidents. This one is made of electronic waste and shows the mugs of the G7 leaders—Boris Johnson, Yoshihide Suga, Emmanuel Macron etc. The aim: to raise awareness of the impact of e-waste. See the kinda demonic photo below:
Israel makes one kind of history
The country became the first in the world to ban the sale of fur for use in the fashion industry. The Environmental Protection Minister said:
“The fur industry causes the deaths of hundreds of millions of animals worldwide, and inflicts indescribable cruelty and suffering… Using the skin and fur of wildlife for the fashion industry is immoral and is certainly unnecessary.”
That would be awesome except Times of Israel notes the ban is somewhat toothless since it allows the government to “continue issuing permits if the pelts are to be used for ‘religion, religious tradition, scientific research, education or teaching.’”
‘Dry scooping’ is a thing
Did you know that the hottest trend on social media is consuming raw protein powder without mixing it with any liquid—a practice that often leads to heart attacks! Why are foolish people doing this:
“This fad is similar to the ephedrine craze for weight loss that is now banned. The intent behind dry scooping is to allow the performance-enhancing supplements pre-workout to enter the bloodstream faster than the typical pre-workout drink.”
The Hill has more on why this is certifiably stupid.
Who’re you calling Lilibet?
Can the royal family drama get more absurd? Harry & Meghan named their daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. ‘Lilibet’ is the Queen’s nickname given to her in her childhood. BBC News insists that the couple did not take the Queen’s permission to bestow this honour. Even more weirdly, H&M have now accused BBC News of libel. So now everyone is warring over a newborn’s name.
Speaking of babies: This may well be a Guinness World Record. A South African woman had 10 kids or ‘decuplets’—seven boys and three girls. Umm, they already have a pair of six year old twins. The father said: “I am happy. I am emotional. I can't talk much." Well, we’d be speechless as well. BBC News has the story and the photo of the expectant mother.
Also a miracle: A groundbreaking trial in Indonesia infected mosquitos with “miraculous” bacteria that reduced their ability to spread dengue by 77%. Five million mosquito eggs infected with Wolbachia—a bacteria that does not harm the mosquito but “it camps out in the same parts of its body that the dengue virus needs to get into.” If this works, then this solution can also work for chikungunya, Zika and other mossi-borne diseases. (BBC News)
Two wandering animals
One: A dog was rescued after wandering for over a week across Arctic ice. But she was rescued by an icebreaker ship that stumbled across her. CNN has the story. Excellent rescue video is below.
Two: A gray whale swam halfway across the world—the longest distance ever recorded by a marine vertebrate. The distance: 16,700 miles from the North Pacific Ocean all the way to Namibia. That’s way more than the last record-holder: a leatherback turtle that travelled 12,774 miles. Also: this is the first recorded instance of a gray whale in the Southern Hemisphere. (National Geographic)
A parting gift
Socialism will marry Mamata on June 15—in the presence of Communism and Leninism. Yup, that’s a real wedding invite sent out by a family in Salem, Tamil Nadu. The explanation for this unintentionally hilarious occasion: The father of the groom is the district secretary of the Communist Party of India and so devoted to the cause that he named his sons Socialism, Leninism and Communism:
“In 1991, when the Soviet Union broke up, reports were published that communism had come to an end. My wife was pregnant and I was determined to name my first child Communism if it was a son. Communism will not die until the human race exists. Hence, my first son was named so. My second son was named Leninism in memory of Lenin. Communism has to be established for socialism to take shape...”
The name of his grandson: Marxism lol! (The Hindu)
A good cause for you
Subscriber Aarathi Ganesan sent in this fundraiser for Maknoon Wani, a Kashmiri student and journalist who has been accepted at the Oxford Internet Institute for a one year M.Sc. It is an opportunity of a lifetime, as Aarathi says, and we have an opportunity to help someone change their life’s trajectory. The cost is Rs 40 lakhs. Please help if you can over at Milaap.org.
In our gratitude jar…
We want to thank our wonderful founding members who have been there for us: Kruthika Ravi Kumar, Capt Loveleen Mann, Komal Jain, Ajay Perumal, Nidhi Ramachandran, Samarth Bansal, Abhijith Balakrishnan, Tanya Khosla and Lakshmi Gopal.
