Good morning! Today’s news throws more light on India’s vaccination mess programme with firms showing least interest. There’s a cyclone coming, so Gujarat, Kerala and Lakshadweep watchout! Glasgow stands up for refugees and co-inventor of a very familiar product has died and the story of its invention is quite interesting!
Coronavirus News
🧪 Don’t mix ‘n shoot: Study says mixing two vaccines could lead to higher number of cases with side effects.
💉1️⃣2️⃣💉 Delay vaccines 1: GoI extends gap between Covishield doses to 12 to 16 weeks based on expert committee recommendations. It made more recommendations which GoI hasn’t accepted yet: 4-8 week gap after recovery, allowing pregnant women to choose vaccine.
🕑 Delay vaccines 2: Study on Pfizer, Moderna shots say UK’s move to have 12 week gap instead of the manufacturer-recommended 4 weeks, increased protection — upto 80%. Same study says one shot of AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield) reduced chances of hospitalisation.
📦 More Makers: Bharat Biotech and govt have invited more manufacturers to produce Covaxin. Centre says it talked to Pfizer, J&J and Moderna but the three said they could discuss only in July-Sept.
🫁 Few Takers: On April 16, GoI had issued a global tender for O2. The result: Three firms interested in delivery total 3,500 MT against demand of 50K MT.
💻 Login Denied: GoI expected common service centres (CSC) to help people in rural areas in registering over CoWIN. But of the 300,000 centres, only 18% active. Total registrations done: 0.1% of all those vaccinated.
⚕️Vaccination: 2 bn doses in 5 months: Niti Aayog; Punjab becomes first state to join global alliance COVAX to procure shots; UAE approves emergency use of Pfizer in 12 to 15 year olds; Australia abandoned AstraZeneca, secures 10 mn doses of Moderna vaccine. Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan halt jabs for 18+.
😷 US Offers Respite: World’s first to vaccinate children between 12 and 15 years. Those who get the jab can go maskless, says CDC
✍🏽 Civils Postponed: UPSC reschedules civil services exam to October 10.
🚷 Lockdown: Bihar extends to May 25; Maharashtra till June 1
🙏 Dead: Manipur BJP chief S Tikendra Singh (69), Times Group chairwoman Indu Jain (84), Sculptor Kanaka Murthy (79)
😤 So Annoying!: Delhi HC says, “You have been playing that one irritating message on the phone whenever one makes a call, for I don’t know how long, that we have the vaccination when you actually don’t have the vaccination!”
🪙 Crypto Tanks: Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterins donates cryptocurrencies, supposedly worth $1 bn, to India. But soon after this was made public, the value of these coins tanked by up to 65%.
😠 Criminal: UP district magistrate sacked for demanding Rs 200 for a -ve report.
😔 Tragedy: 15 more die at Goa hospital over O2 shortage. Authorities living in denial: HC.
🔎 Investigate origin: 18 scientists write in reputed journal Science that there needs to be a probe into where SARS-CoV-2 came from. “Theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable.”
🤐 RaWHAT: Former Uttarakhand CM BJP’s Trivendra Singh Rawat said, “If we talk philosophically, then Covid-19 virus is also a living organism which wants to live and has a right to live just like humans.”
Other India News
🏙️ Cities Unsafe: 99/100 most vulnerable cities are in Asia and 80% of them in India (Delhi #2, Chennai #3) and China. Jakarta #1. These cities are at high risk of pollution, pressure on water, heatwaves, natural disasters.
👨💼 Reviewing Debacle: Election Commission to look into shortcomings over last Assembly elections.
🌀 Cyclone Alert: IMD warns high intensity Tauktae (given by Myanmar) will reach Gujarat coast by May 18. Red alert in Kerala (suspends vaccination in T’puram), Lakshadweep.
🙊 PRoblem: Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar drops plans to hire a PR firm to handle his social media accounts after much outrage. Budget was Rs 6 crore.
👨⚖️ PACman writes: Public Accounts Committee chairperson Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury requests Speaker to allow the panel to meet and deliberate GoI’s vaccine policy.
👨⚖️ Flawed process: Two years after the Assam NRC was published and excluded 190,000 people, coordinator approaches Supreme Court and asks for a re-verification as there were “glaring anomalies”.
🏆 Green Oscar: Nagaland’s Y Nuklu Phom wins prestigious Whitley Award 2021 for creating network of community-owned forests and protect Amur Falcon.
👩🏼⚖️ Whoa, too much: Centre approaches SC with request to review its role in defining OBCs. Last week, SC said only Centre could do so. Centre wants states allowed to determine socially and educationally backward castes.
✈️ New name: GoAir is now GoFirst as airline goes ultra low cost.
World News
⚔️ Middle East Escalation: Israel says ground forces have joined air assault on Gaza with artillery and tanks at the border.
🏴 We are One: Glasgow residents surround Immigration van and refuse to let them take away refugees. “These are our neighbours”, “You messed with the wrong city.” Police intervene and free detainees.
🇺🇸 Bitter lesson: After a major oil pipeline was forced to shut due to hackers, US president Joe Biden signed an executive order that equips investigating agencies with better tools, requires software firms selling to govt to maintain standards and report any compromise.
🌍 Climate Change: Atmosphere thickness down 400m since 1980s, by 2080 this could be another 1km due to emissions. Can affect satellites, GPS, radio
😑 Racism Over Lives: Amnesty International says survivors of extremists’ attack in Mozambique told them how rescue efforts from a hotel prioritised the lives of White contractors.
👊 Search Fined: Google will have to pay $123mn in Italy for excluding an app from its store and favouring Google Maps.
🥷 Spies a Target: Over 130 incidents of unexplained brain injury, Havana Syndrome, among US diplomats, spies and defence officials reported. Could have been targeted attack.
🇳🇵 Oli Back: K P Sharma Oli returns as prime minister of Nepal days after his govt fell as opposition fails to find numbers. Gets month to prove majority.
🙏 Dead: Co-inventor of Post-it Notes Spencer Silver (80)
- Was working on developing adhesive for aircraft when instead he found that a glue he was working on could be peeled off paper and stuck again without damaging it.
- Silver invented the glue, colleague Art Fry had the paper idea when he realised he needed a bookmark for his hymnal.
- Invented it in 1968 but company 3M could be convinced only nine years years later. Post-Its became an instant hit.
- Held 37 patents
🏳️🌈 Right to Exist: Cameroon sentences 2 transpersons to five years in jail for “attempted homosexuality”. Here is a post by one of them:
News of Yesterday
Edward Jenner administers first vaccine against smallpox🦠 on May 14, 1796
News Of Today 