Good morning! Journalism requires trust — that the journalist won’t deceive the source and vice versa. Today’s stories see how the Israeli Army may have violated that and how a BBC journalist quits before a probe into his alleged violation is made public. In other news, do dreams have a survival purpose? Scientists seem to think so.
Coronavirus News
💉 Oh no you don’t: Centre says if states added new categories under “front line” workers (railways, transports and journalists etc) then they would‘ve to procure their own stock and not use the free shots that the Centre provides.
💉💰 Vaccine Mess Programme: India only country to ask people to pay for shots. Experts say there is lack of a coherent economic policy around pricing.
🏭 Ramping Up: Bharat Biotech to transfer tech to two Ahmedabad-based firms and a state-run institute in Gandhinagar.
📦 Friend or Foe: Uttarakhand too goes for global tender for vaccine procurement but adds: except from neighbours.
😑 PM, Care: 25 people arrested for putting up posters that read: “Modiji, why did you export vaccines meant for our kids?”. Many who were picked up were jobless or daily wagers and didn’t know about the content or politics involved.
🧔🏼 PM Cares: After reports of ventilators bought under PMCARES fund lying unused in many states, Modi orders audit.
🚷 Lockdown: Bengal till May 30, UP and J-K curfew till May 24.
🙏 Dead: Financial Express managing editor Sunil Jain (58).
#️⃣ Malana High: Not one person in the remote villages of Malana has taken a Covid shot because the local diety, Jamdagni Rishi, has not given permission.
🎤 RSSspeak: Mohan Bhagwat said govt, people misread the situation after first wave and then got complacent.
🙇♂️ Small mercies: UIDAI says Aadhaar number and verification are not required for vaccines, treatment.
😠 Criminal: Gorakhpur Hospital’s neighbour allegedly cut power supply to hospital that disrupted care and led to death of 2.
📉 Joblessness: Survey finds 63% of domestic helps have lost their job in South Delhi alone. Most of those who are still employed, get paid less than Rs 60.
Today’s Interview — The Indian Express
👨⚖️ Former chief justice of Allahabad HC Govind Mathur who retired in April.
On few Muslim judges: A different kind of mentality works that a young person from a minority will not be appointed. It is not in mind of judges but at govt level.
On NSA, sedition: Protesting legislation… doesn’t mean waging war. It is easy to call a person anti-national… but is not so…99% citizens are committed to the nation.
On Conversion: Fail to understand this… People call me Hindu because my father was Hindu…. If I am choosing something for the first time, how is it conversion?
Other India News
🎯Cairn Moves In: Cairn Energy has sued Air India to enforce a $1.2 bn arbitration award it won against India. This could hit GoI’s move to divest itself of Air India this year.
🙏 Dead: Sanskrit scholar M A Lakshminathachar (81), 6-time and ex-Kerala governor MP Raghunandan Lal Bhatia (100)
🌀 Cyclone Update: Crops and buildings damaged in Kerala rain — 145mm in 2 days; Navy and IAF deployed. Cyclone to further intensify.
World News
🇮🇱🇵🇸Middle East: Israel bombs offices of Al-Jazeera and The Associated Press in Gaza after “less than 1 hr” warning to vacate. They said the building housed Hamas, which the landlord denies. Saudi hosting OIC meet to discuss crisis. Gaza: 145 dead (40 kids); Israeld: 12 (including 5-year-old).
⚔️Trust Eroded: Israeli army is being accused by the international press of lying to them and putting them in danger. Two days ago, the army informed them that military ops had begun “in Gaza”, i.e. invasion, which was reported promptly and widely. But there was no invasion. Israeli media reports it was a tactic to get Hamas onto the streets and tunnels.
🇷🇺❌🇺🇸🇨🇿 Officially ‘not friends’: US and Czechoslovakia on Russia’s new “unfriendly states” list. Cap on employees at both embassies in Moscow.
🗣️🎙️ No more questions: Martin Bashir quits the BBC, which will soon publish the inquiry report into Bashir allegedly having fraudulently secured that interview with Princess Diana that rocked the country.
🖥️ Stop recommending evil: Christchurch Call wants tech companies to work towards making their algorithms more ethical by not feeding extremism.
🍊 Trump nailed: Former US President Donald Trump finds his picture on the wall of the prestigious National Portrait Gallery. But opposite him is a picture of late civil rights hero John Lewis who boycotted his inauguration.
😴💭Dream On: Dreams help us deal with the unexpected by offering bizarre situations, says a new theory.
🃏 Gotta catch ‘em all: US store Target has suspended selling Pokemon trading cards after man drew a gun when attacked for the cards. Mania for card games have increased with people in lockdown and influencers’ videos.
🐳 Lost at Sea: A grey whale named Wally should be near Alaska at the moment, but is currently lost in the Meditterannean 6K miles away. Experts blame climate change.
✍🏽 Fair Game: University of California stops considering SAT and ACT scores, found that they put minorities and low-income students at a disadvantage.
News of Yesterday
News Of Today 