The great pandemic: a quick update

All we have today are the numbers. India recorded 165,119 new cases—and 1,185 deaths. 

Also this: If you’re worried about the so-called “stealth subvariant” of Omicron, The Guardian has a useful guide. The TLDR: It is more infectious but does not cause more severe disease. FYI: 90% of the sequenced cases were from Denmark (8,357), India (711) and the UK (607).

Boris Johnson says ‘sorry’

An investigation into violations of Covid rules at 10 Downing Street revealed 16 gatherings were held during the lockdown. These include parties at the prime minister’s own residence and a Christmas bash in Downing Street. The report calls out “failures of leadership and judgment” which allowed events that “should not have been allowed to take place.” And it shows a workplace culture marked by “excessive alcohol consumption”—and a staff that was afraid to speak out. 

In response, PM Boris Johnson said: “I get it, and I will fix it”—but rejected calls to resign. Bottomline: this partially redacted report is unlikely to be the bombshell that takes Johnson down. The Guardian and Associated Press have more details.

North Korea releases missile image

The country announced that it had launched an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile—capable of reaching the US territory of Guam. If true, it would be the biggest and the most powerful the regime has tested since late 2017. More importantly, many experts believe this is just a prelude to tests of nuclear weapons or intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of striking parts of the US mainland. To add to the pressure on the US to restart the nuclear talks—and remove sanctions. Pyongyang has now released images of the launch to add credibility to its claims. (The Guardian)

BharatPe drama gets more dramatic

First, founder Ashneer Grover was sacked after a leaked audio clip scandal—where he was recorded screaming at a Kotak bank employee, threatening to have him killed. Now, BharatPe is bringing in an external accounting firm PwC to investigate “financial irregularities”—unearthed by an internal probe. Grover isn’t being named as yet but here’s an interesting tidbit: He has hired Karanjawala and Co.—the law firm that represented Tata Sons in the Supreme Court during its fight with Cyrus Mistry (explained here). (Mint)

WhatsApp gears up for elections

The platform announced that it is planning to crack down on automated bulk messaging:

“WhatsApp has advanced spam detection technology that works round the clock to spot and take action on accounts engaging in automated and bulk messaging, which includes banning such accounts for violating WhatsApp's Terms of Service.”

The statement comes after experts point out that the platform’s guidelines are being “violated at a large scale in the electoral campaign in the five states.” (Business Insider)

Malayalam news channel taken off air

MediaOne TV has been cancelled since noon on Monday—after its license was revoked by the Information & Broadcasting ministry. The reason: “security reasons”—though the order does not clarify what that means. One source told The News Minute: 

“We don’t even know the reason for the ministry cancelling our license. In our previous communications, they have not mentioned whether it is due to a story, our directors or ownership pattern. Nothing has been revealed to us.” 

One possible reason: Most of the investors belong to Jamaat-e-Islami. The Kerala High Court has issued a two-day stay on the order.

Speaking of Indian media: The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) looked at how “hegemonic and toxic masculinities are performed in news media, specifically television.” Here are some of its surprising finds:

• Aggression was displayed in over 50% of all the news shows, however the number rose to 85% for talk shows.
• The most common expression of aggression: tone of voice (76.76%). Elements like sound and visual effects OTOH accounted for 60% .
• There was only a marginal difference between male anchors (78.13%) and female anchors (75.28%) when it came to using an aggressive tone of voice. 
• Male-moderated panels (48.75%) were seen to fall back on shouting more than women-moderated panels (15.52%). 

You can read the entire report here or the highlights here. 

Netaji hologram goes kaput

The government sparked howls of outrage when it extinguished the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate—and replaced it with a hologram of Subash Chandra Bose. The projection is meant to be a placeholder for a grand statue that is being readied. Unfortunately, less than a week after it was inaugurated by the PM, the hologram had to be turned off. The reason: “the wind had knocked down the equipment projecting the hologram in the canopy”. The space now looks like this. (The Hindu)

Say hello to the AI nanny

Chinese scientists have created an AI nanny to tend to human fetuses created in an artificial womb—and lined up in cubes filled with nutritious fluid. It will continually observe, document and adjust the carbon dioxide, nutrition and other environmental inputs—and rank embryos by their development potential. According to scientists, it has already been used to nurture animal embryos. FYI: none of this is legal as yet—especially in China where surrogacy is banned. (South China Morning Post)

Speaking of unlikely parents: A New York zoo has welcomed its first same-sex parents—two male gentoo penguins who are doing an excellent job as foster parents to a newly hatched egg. And they are the more conscientious parents: “The two penguins—Elmer and Lima—were given the egg to incubate by zoo officials who were concerned about breeding pairs at the zoo had a ‘history of inadvertently breaking their eggs.’” (Washington Post)

Speaking of good news for animals: Dolce & Gabbana has announced that they will not be using animal fur starting this year. Yay! D&G joins the ranks of other high-end fashion houses including Armani, Gucci, Prada and Moncler. (Associated Press)

Not good news for animals: The US National Weather Service has announced that severely cold weather on the East Coast could cause iguanas to literally fall out of trees. The reason: “Iguanas are cold-blooded. They slow down or become immobile when temps drop into the 40s (4-9°C). They may fall from trees, but they are not dead.” While they are likely to survive, the extreme temperatures could wipe out many. (Reuters)

WFH gives you more time… to work

According to a new study, working in your pjs gives you six extra hours a week—60 minutes a day from not commuting, and 10 minutes from skipping daily grooming tasks like showering, shaving, putting on clean clothes, or putting on makeup. But you spend at least half of that time doing more work. (Quartz)

Four things to see

One: A Swedish musician known as Supercomposite is using AI to generate hundreds of new tarot cards. These creepy versions feature strange humanoid creatures with holes instead of faces… Waiting for them to sell for stupid amounts of money as NFTs. (Futurism)

Two: Minnie Mouse is getting a modern wardrobe makeover. She is ditching her nearly-century old wardrobe—that quaint polka-dotted bow and dress—to style it out in a pantsuit. No, it’s just any old pantsuit but one designed by Stella McCartney herself. Also on point: Forbes on how the pantsuits have become a symbol for women empowerment. (CNN)

Three: A climate-conscious hospital in Bangladesh has won the world’s best new building award—awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Why this matters: “It is a demonstration of how beautiful architecture can be achieved through good design when working with a relatively modest budget and with difficult contextual constraints." (CNN)

Four: This one is a bit sad. Shankar—an African elephant sent to India as a gift from Zimbabwe—is all by himself at the Delhi zoo. A new petition in the Delhi courts is pushing for him to be sent to a sanctuary—since he is trapped in a “bleak enclosure of steel posts and metal fences.” And he doesn’t get along with the two other Asian elephants at the zoo. The zoo, to be fair, is doing its best to find alternatives—writing to parks in Africa to ask if they can find a mate for the animal, or take him back. See him below. (BBC News)