IMF’s rosy prediction for India
The International Monetary Fund expects the Indian economy to grow at a rate of 12.5% in the 2021/22 fiscal year—the highest projected growth rate for any country for this year. Also: the estimate has jumped by 1% since its earlier forecast in January. The big but: IMF also “cautioned that the forecast hasn’t factored in the severe downside risks arising from the country’s ongoing second wave of covid-19.” (Mint)
The great pandemic: A quick update
First, the numbers: India added 1,15,249 new cases on Tuesday—the highest in the world. The government has warned that the next four weeks will be critical in stopping this uncontrolled spread. Although its numbers are relatively low—5,100—Delhi has imposed a strict night curfew. If you are a Dilli-wala, Indian Express has a guide to the new rules.
A warning: Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the World Health Organisation, says opting for a full lockdown to contain the second wave is a bad idea: “The consequences are terrible.”
Also a bad idea: hygiene theatre. The Centers for Disease Control in the US now says that elaborate sanitisation protocols to prevent infection is overrated:
“‘It is possible for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects (fomites), but the risk is generally considered to be low,’ the new CDC guidance says, estimating that the chance of contracting the coronavirus through surface transmission is lower than 1 in 10,000.”
Translation: Your mask offers far greater protection than that hand sanitiser.
As for the variant: The double mutant variant (explained here) blamed for the surge in India has popped up in California’s Bay Area. But no one is sure what this means. Yahoo News has more.
As for the vaccine: Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawala says his company needs Rs 30 billion (3,000 crore) to ramp up vaccine production—“to build our capacity so we can support our nation in light of Covid surge.” He also said that vaccine manufacturers have “sacrificed” millions of dollars in profits to serve the country. We leave it to you to read between the lines. FYI: experts say there are many other ways to boost vaccine availability in the country (without doubling down on Serum), Mint has their suggestions.
Speaking of the Oxford vaccine: AstraZeneca has halted trials on children while UK health authorities investigate whether the vaccine does indeed trigger blood clots in adults. Meanwhile, a senior official at the leading EU health agency said this: “In my opinion we can now say it, it is clear that there is an association with the vaccine. However, we still do not know what causes this reaction.”
Speaking of children: New research shows that vaccinating adults offers protection to the kids around them. (Reuters)
Meanwhile in Mumbai: A Mid-Day investigation shows that international arrivals at the airport are dodging institutional quarantine by bribing airport officials. The shocking low going price: Rs 10,000-12,000. Mid-Day has all the details of this elaborate scam. Also, since we’re on the subject of Mumbai, Katrina Kaif has Covid and is self-isolating.
On the other extreme: A man in the Philippines who broke curfew rules was made to do 300 squats—and died later of exhaustion. BBC News has that story.
Far more worthy of punishment: This Covid jerk who had a meltdown because the security guard wouldn’t let his kid take the lift without a face mask. Once the offensive video went viral, he offered an apology.
The royal rebellion is over
Former crown prince of Jordan, Hamzah bin Hussein, was placed under house arrest for conspiring to destabilise the country. He then released a video criticising the government for suppressing dissent. The prince has now signed a letter that essentially reads like a surrender note:
“I place myself in the hands of his majesty the king... I will remain committed to the constitution of the dear Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and I will always be of help and support to his majesty the king and his crown prince.”
BBC News has more on this story.
CRED is now a unicorn
The credit card payment app raised $215 million in its latest round—pushing its valuation from $790-805 million to $2.2 billion. It is now the sixth unicorn in 2021 after Meesho, Digit, Innovaccer, Infra.Market and NBFC firm Five Star Business Finance. Entrackr has more details.
A shocking attack on a Sai Baba idol
A group of Hindu rightwing men entered a temple in South Delhi and demolished the Sai Baba idol—calling him a ‘mullah’. The temple authorities have not acknowledged the attack, and say that the idol was removed because it was “broken.” It has since been replaced by an idol of Ganesh. The man who led the demolition has “distanced himself” from the incident but his mentor—a temple priest from Ghaziabad—says:
“Sai Baba was a pindari lootera (lawless raider). His name was Chand Khan. He was a jihadi. It is the madness of our Hindus that he is now in our temples.”
Scroll has more details on this exclusive—and the Hindutva campaign against Sai Baba. Video is below:
Hot Cocoa is good for you
Cocoa, green tea and certain fruits are rich with something called flavanols. A new study found that this substance has an immediate positive effect on the thin membrane of cells that line the heart and blood vessels—helping them function better in moments of high stress. This, in turn, can help prevent events like heart attacks, strokes etc. that are triggered by mental anxiety. Why this matters: if you can’t control your stress levels, you can at least eat or drink foods that help your body cope with it better. (EatThis)
Four noteworthy sightings
One: NASA released a photo of a ‘rainbow’ on Mars taken by its rover Perseverance. Turns out it was just an optical illusion caused by the camera lens but, hey, it’s still beautiful:) (Forbes)
Two: Superstar Vijay made a huge splash by turning up to vote in Tamil Nadu on a… cycle! Everyone is now madly speculating on the significance of his choice of transport: Was he calling out rising fuel prices or urging all of us ‘go green’? If so it didn’t quite work given the number of delirious fans swarming him on motorbikes and scooters lol! More photos here.
Three: Speaking of crazy fans, a bunch of Russians built a $10,000 life-size replica of the 13 feet high gunship flown by bounty hunter Din Djarin in ‘The Mandalorian’. It even had a Baby Yoda-sized car seat. And then this happened… sigh! Daily Mail has excellent ‘before disaster struck’ photos of the inside of this Razor Crest knockoff.
Four: The Indonesian government plans to shift its capital from Jakarta to Borneo—mainly due to the fact that Jakarta is sinking into the sea. A minister grandly unveiled the ‘Garuda-inspired’ design for a new state palace in the new location—only to be roundly mocked by citizens for being ‘weird’ (see hilarious Angry Bird meme). But hey, we think a giant bird is kinda cool! (South China Morning Post)
Dine With Data: All About Thrasio
Editor’s Note: Here is DWD’s weekly installment of one cool, innovative or just plain quirky startup from around the world.
Company: Thrasio
About: Thrasio is in the business of acquiring small to medium sized Amazon stores. It finds category-leading essential brands on Amazon, and buys them out. 🤝
Till date, the company has acquired over 100 brands, and now sells more than 15,000 products with a pro-forma revenue of over $500M. That makes it one of the top 25 sellers on the marketplace. 💰💰
The company's strongest competency is that it completes acquisitions in under 35 days, giving a super incentive to business-owners to grow their business and then cash out quickly.
Food For Thought: Till date, the company has raised $1.7B, and holds the record for the fastest profitable company to reach unicorn status! 🦄
DWD Take: This micro-PE model of acquiring successful businesses and helping them achieve economies of scale through aggregation is finding validation in several geographies, and Thrasio is a large reason for that. We'd love to see this happen in India!
URL: http://thras.io/
About DWD: Dine With Data🍴 sends you a short summary on one new startup every day, delivered straight to your Whatsapp inbox!
