The Myanmar uprising: the latest update
Saturday was the bloodiest day in the country as the military junta killed at least 141 protesters—including at least six children between the ages of 10-16. The estimated death count is 510. There was great global condemnation, and US President Joe Biden called the violence “terrible" and "absolutely outrageous” and suspended all diplomatic trade with Myanmar.
But that didn’t stop the army from continuing its crackdown—opening fire on a funeral on Sunday for one of the dead. And airstrikes on villages on the Thai border—to quell ethnic militias—sent residents fleeing out of the country. But Thai soldiers have started sending them back. All of which led UN officials to declare:
“Words of condemnation or concern are frankly ringing hollow to the people of Myanmar while the military junta commits mass murder against them… The people of Myanmar need the world’s support. Words are not enough. It is past time for robust, coordinated action.”
As for India: We’ve fallen short on all fronts. India—along with Russia, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand—chose to send representatives to attend a military parade in Myanmar on Friday. And adding to that show of callousness: The Union government has shown little compassion for Myanmar refugees who have fled into Mizoram—many of them members of the security force who refused to kill their own citizens:
“With the Centre telling the state authorities that no one should be allowed to come in along Mizoram as well as Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur, the Assam Rifles has blocked this route since March 8. The Centre has also demanded that those already in should be deported, which Mizoram has refused to do.”
And the Manipur government has directed officials to not open any camps to offer food and shelter to the refugees—who it says should be “politely turned away." Also read: Indian Express on the fears of Indian immigrants in Myanmar.
The great pandemic: A quick update
- Following a five-month high of 68,020 new cases and 291 deaths on Sunday, the number of cases and deaths registered on Monday fell to 53,250 and 242 respectively, due to a reduced number of tests.
- Also up: Karnataka numbers which jumped by 2,792 new cases on Monday, with Bangalore witnessing the biggest surge. More worrying than the overall total: 472 children under the age of 10 tested positive in the city since March. Not doing well: Delhi whose numbers are ticking up as well—while many of its private hospitals are running out of ICU beds.
- Researchers in Chennai and Pune are scrambling to identify reinfections among the new cases. The reason: It will help confirm a possible link between the new variants and the surge. The Telegraph has that story.
- On a related note: the top Covid advisor in Maharashtra says anecdotal evidence suggests that the variant is more infectious but less virulent.
- A related good read: Science Magazine has a deep dive on the possible causes of this second wave. A related good watch: This Karan Thapar interview with Dr Giridhara Babu who explains why this wave is worse than the first.
- Maharashtra has recorded close to 600,000 cases this month and registered over 2,100 deaths.
- But a full blown lockdown is very unlikely, as the state government made clear: “We don’t want to create a situation where migrant labourers panic and return home. The hardships that happened last year will not be repeated.” Expect a decision on new restrictions on movement to be announced after April 2.
- Related good read: Indian Express spoke to migrant workers in Mumbai, many of whom are already making plans to head home.
- In happier news, the CoWin portal has been upgraded to handle 10 million registrations per day—in time for April 1 when everyone above the age of 45 will become eligible for the jab.
- The Mexican government has finally acknowledged that its real number of Covid deaths—321,059—is 60% higher than the official total. That number now rivals that of Brazil (314,268) which is #2 in terms of fatalities—and this even though Mexico has a smaller population.
- Thanks to vaccine nationalism that is causing severe delays, Africa may not reach herd immunity until 2023. Point to note: more than 50% of the world’s vaccines have been “pre-booked” by predominantly wealthy countries which make up 15% of the world’s population.
- On a happier note: Johnson & Johnson just sealed a deal to supply the African Union with up to 400 million doses.
- There have been many questions raised about the joint WHO-China investigation into the origins of the virus. Associated Press got a hold of a near-to-final draft of its report. The most interesting bit: It says that the virus “most likely” did not spread directly from bats to humans—but via another animal who acted as an “intermediary host.”
- A good Covid read: Sandip Roy on the great lesson of the pandemic: learning to embrace the value of boredom.
An alien world inside Earth?
A team of scientists say that there are large remnants of a Mars-sized planet buried deep inside the core. And this vanished planet named Theia—which crashed into Earth when it was very young—also helped form the moon:
“Based on geodynamic models and isotopic evidence, the scientists believe two mysterious dense zones 1,000 miles beneath the Earth’s surface are actually ‘left-over Theia mantle materials.’ The dense zones—hundreds of miles high and thousands of miles across—are located beneath West Africa and the Pacific Ocean. “
Huffington Post has more on this sci-fi flick worthy research.
A wildlife tragedy in Gujarat
A video shot in the Greater Rann of Kutch shows a contractor destroying the nesting colony of Slender-Billed Gulls—migratory birds who had laid nearly 500 eggs in a location marked for the construction of a road through the local wildlife sanctuary. Also destroyed: 100 flamingo nests. The contractor has been charged by the forest department. But the damage sadly cannot be undone. See the clip below. ( Times of India)
Speaking of climate change: Delhi is in the middle of an unprecedented heatwave. On Monday, temperatures in the city hit 40.1 degrees Celsius—making it the hottest day in March since 1945. (Mint)
A streaming bonanza in 2021
OTT platforms are planning to spend big to create original content for the Indian market this year—Rs 19.2 billion (1,920 crore), to be precise, which is 17% more than 2019. So brace yourself for 500 new titles—of which 40 will be rolled out by Netflix, which is 3x compared to its 2020 slate. Of course, the question remains: How many of them will be total garbage? (Mint)
An important Aadhar deadline
Expect to be in big trouble if you haven’t linked your PAN card to your Aadhar by March 31. If you miss that deadline, you will have to cough up a Rs 1000 fine, but more importantly, your PAN card will become invalid. (Mint)
Three amazing sights
One: Over the weekend, folks in the US got very excited about what they assumed was a meteor shower. Actually, what they were looking at was the second stage of a SpaceX rocket—which carries satellites into space, and then self-destructs when it reenters the atmosphere as it falls back to Earth. In other words, it is the space equivalent of a dumpster fire. Point to note:
“[A team of scientists] released a forecast last year predicting that if the number of satellites currently approved for launch are actually deployed, the amount of space junk burning up in the atmosphere could rise to a level of 800 to 3,200 metric tons annually, from around 100 metric tons per year today. That’s because most satellites are designed so that 60% to 90% of their mass burns up in the earth’s atmosphere to avoid creating dangerous junk on orbit.”
So while this looks very pretty, it is actually pretty bad for the planet:
Two: Beijing has been hit by a second sand storm in less than two weeks—and it has turned the sun blue. Again: this isn’t good news either. This unprecedented set of storms are a result of climate change and deforestation (as we explained here). South China Morning Post has the story. See photo below.
Three: Finally, an amazing sight to celebrate: scientists have identified a new species of the peacock spider—and named it Maratus nemo, after the dearly beloved Disney clownfish. The reason, as you can see, is obvious. (Museums Victoria)
A royally amusing honour
Prince William is officially the world's sexiest bald man. And he beat out the others in the top 5—Mike Tyson, Jason Statham, Pitbull, and Michael Jordan—for the top honour. No, they didn’t hold some kind of poll to arrive at this (quite frankly dubious) result. Researchers analyzed millions of blog posts, reports, and web pages via Google search and found that the Duke was described as "sexy" 17.6 million times. We are speechless. (Marie Claire)