The great pandemic: A long update
First, the numbers: We added 3,62,723 cases and 3,306 deaths—and the total number of fatalities crossed the 200,000 mark. Also this: India surpassed Brazil’s average number of new deaths to become the country with the most daily fatalities. The deaths include more than 100 journalists: “Away from the din of social media, they [local journalists] strive to get us the truth while being vulnerable to ‘punishment’ by state governments and no access to legal protection or healthcare.”
A related big picture read: The Telegraph on the rush to offer us global aid shows how much better prepared other countries are compared to us—i.e they actually have stocks to dip into.
Looking ahead: A University of Washington model predicts one million deaths in India by August—and says that the number of cases is being undercounted by 58X. This thread has all the alarming data. Related must read: Narayana Health founder Dr Devi Shetty warns of an imminent severe shortage of healthcare workers—and what we can do about it.
Undercounting deaths: At least 1,158 deaths are missing from Delhi’s official data. The reason: It doesn’t include those who die in home quarantine—which are filed under ‘suspected deaths’. Also read: CNN on the many reasons our Covid data is mostly fiction.
Speaking of deaths: Scroll has a must-read ground report from Uttar Pradesh villages where people are “dropping dead like flies”—without being tested or proper care. The Print reports on a village which recorded “over a dozen deaths” in a 15 day period due to “fever and cough.” These losses won’t be counted either.
Meanwhile at the US embassy: Covid cases in India include diplomatic staff—of whom 100 have tested positive and two have died. One reason: the employees had not been vaccinated unlike others at consulates even in places like Kabul. CNN has more. Speaking of Americans in India: New York Times’ bureau chief Jeffrey Gettleman wrote an emotional essay on what it’s like to live in Delhi right now.
Oxygen shortage:
- Delhi announced plans to import 18 tankers from Thailand and 21 ready-to-use oxygen plants from France. The goal: to have 44 oxygen plants in place—including those installed by the union government.
- Already in trouble: the plan to set up a 100-bed dedicated facility for High Court judges and employees at the Ashoka hotel. The High Court judges said: "When people aren't getting beds, you are passing such orders? Is it to appease us? You can't create special facility like this. We never asked for it."
- The Telegraph reports on a couple who travelled 850km from Ayodhya to Chinsurah in Bengal in an ambulance to get a hospital bed.
- Very useful: This thread explains exactly what you need to do to get medical help for a loved one—including how to best use online platforms, resources and leads.
- Steaming ahead: As expected, the Supreme Court has greenlit the reopening of Vedanta’s Sterlite copper plant in Tamil Nadu. It was shut down in 2018 due to serious environmental and health concerns. But now the company says it will use the plant to produce medical oxygen. All crisis is opportunity.
- Two good reads. Indian Express explains why the shortage is created not by the lack of supplies but the broken logistics of transportation. The Hindu charts the desperate search for medical care across the country.
Also steaming ahead: The Central Vista project, despite a devastating second wave and a lockdown in Delhi. The reason: The union government has categorised the construction as an essential service.
Meanwhile in Uttar Pradesh: Police have charged a young man for seeking oxygen for his ailing grandfather. His friend tagged a Wire reporter who then amplified the appeal—getting a prompt response from Amethi MP Smriti Irani. Now, the grandfather eventually died. But the police have decided to charge his grandson for the “criminal offence” of “spreading rumours.” The reason: the grandfather died of heart complications and was not a Covid patient—which of course doesn’t mean he didn’t need a cylinder. The Wire has more on this story.
Also in UP: At least 36 school teachers have died—ten days after they completed election duties during the ongoing Panchayat elections. The Telegraph has that story. And the Allahabad High Court has decided to step in and issue a series of directives to get the madness under control—including a notice to the UP election commission asking why it failed to enforce pandemic protocols.
As for elections: Labeled by the Madras High Court as possible “murderers”, a chastised Election Commission has issued a preemptive ban on all victory processions when results are announced on May 2. Not in the least bit affected: the BJP in Telangana which held this political rally in Warangal. The official BJP handle that happily shared the photos has since deleted the tweet.
Meanwhile in Australia: The government has banned all flights from India until May 5. And an Australian leader says the country has a real problem with people arriving from India. They land with Covid-negative certificates but often test positive soon after. He said:
“If there are tests that are inaccurate or a bit dodgy being produced so that people get on flights, that is impinging the integrity of the system and that is why we are suffering these problems.”
To end on a good note: Jack Butcher is selling an NFT artwork titled ‘Oxygen’, and all proceeds will go to a Covid relief fund in India (h/t subscriber Aarathi Ganesan):
We loved this clip of a couple getting hitched in full PPE gear—because the groom’s tested positive:
We love this mural from Melbourne celebrating health workers—and it rings truer than ever right now:
Casteist bully at IIT Kharagpur
Videos of online classes at the prestigious engineering school have outed associate professor Seema Singh as a vicious serial abuser of lower caste students. She is tasked with teaching a preparatory English class—which is meant to prepare SC, ST and OBC students and those with physical disabilities for IIT admission next year. The teacher of this class holds absolute power: if she fails the student then s/he will not be allotted a seat at an IIT. So it’s no wonder, she tells the students:
“Nothing on earth can prevent me from doing that to you. Go to the Ministry of Woman and Child Development, go to the Ministry of SC/ST and Minorities, nothing will prevent me from doing what I have to do to you. Is it clear? Hello, bloody bastards, is it clear? I will call you what you deserved to be called.”
You can watch videos of the abuse here, here and here. She has since apologised for her behaviour—blaming it on the fact that she has tested positive for Covid. The Wire has an excellent report—including analysis of the kind of language Singh uses to humiliate her students.
A postscript to the submarine tragedy
An Indonesian navy submarine went missing during a training exercise—and was later found in pieces. The 53 aboard were all declared dead. Now, a new video shows the crew singing just weeks before they went underwater. The title ‘Till We Meet Again’—a farewell song that is now being seen as prophetic. New York Times has the story on the social media storm sparked by the video. The Guardian has photos of the wreckage—and also the clip below.
Controversial human cell research
Scientists are injecting human stem cells into animal embryos—think rats, pigs, cows—to create ‘chimeras’, which may one day be used to grow and harvest human organs. Recently, researchers created the first ever human-monkey chimeras which survived for 19 days. And now bioethicists are sounding the alarm about the use of primates closely related to humans:
“It does show that the human stem cells tend to migrate far and wide through the monkey embryo… That is what leads to the theoretical concern: There is a chance that in an uncontrolled way it may lead to a mixing of human cells that may result in human cells developing in the brain or the heart or from head to toe across the body.”
Basically, we now have the technology to “radically humanize the biology of laboratory animals”—and many aren’t sure that’s such a good thing. (Wall Street Journal)
Three special things to behold!
Very special shoes: These Nike Air Yeezy 1 sneakers—worn by Kanye West during a 2008 performance—sold for an insane $1.8 million dollars at a Sotheby’s auction. To make things more insane, they were bought by a RARES—a sneaker investing platform (?!)—which now plans to sell shares in this pair of shoes. Those will only cost you between $15-$25. Business Insider has the story. Also, the shoes look like this:
A very special photo: The mighty drone Ingenuity took the first ever colour photo of Mars, and it looks like this:
A very special house: A Chennai startup unveiled India’s second 3D printed house—which is a single-storey 600 sq. ft home with one bedroom, hall and kitchen. News18 has more details. Also, It looks like this:
Point to note: The first 3D printed house was unveiled in December 2020 by Larsen & Toubro—and it looks seriously lame in comparison.
Dine With Data: All About Habbit Health 💯
Editor’s Note: Here is DWD’s weekly installment of one cool, innovative or just plain quirky startup from around the world.
Company: Habbit Health 💯
About: Founded in November 2019, Habbit is a daily nutrition startup. Its products don't seek to alter your lifestyle to make it healthy, and instead work by replacing parts of your already existing life to increase nutrition.
The two founders have interesting histories. Dhruv Bhushan is a serial entrepreneur, and Dev Kabir Malik is a brand expert, having been in-charge of Bira's brand efforts since its inception. 🍻
In August 20, the company announced an undisclosed pre-seed funding from AngelList, 3one4Capital, Better Capital and a few others.
Food for Thought: The company started by launching three products this February. A low-cal ice cream, single-serve protein packs, and a super shake. The brand is not just targeting India, but wants to build a global presence and the branding resembles that choice. 🌍
DWD Take: Healthy food is a massively competitive market, but Habbit seems to have an equally ambitious roadmap planned. Their early debuts look impressive, and we'll wait to see how successful they are in providing daily nutrition to us!
About DWD: Dine With Data🍴 sends you a short summary on one new startup every day, delivered straight to your WhatsApp inbox!
