Relying on random WhatsApp forwards has finally caught up with Ramdev who was forced to apologise and withdraw comments. Cyclone Yaas is gaining strength and is expected to make landfall on May 26. Belarus has forced a commercial aircraft to land just to arrest a dissident in what many countries now call a “hijacking”. And in today’s Monday Explainer we look into Unicorns.
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
💬👨🎓 WhatsApp University: After IMA’s strong demand that Ramdev be prosecuted, Union health minister scolds him. Ramdev’s Patanjali says he was merely “reading a WhatsApp forward”.
💉 Jabs at Work: Centre says families of employees can get their shots at the workplace too.
💉💉Vaccine mess Programme: Punjab tries to buy from Moderna, which said it will deal with Centre only.
🇲🇳 Bend it like Mongolia…: The country closed deals with Russia and China and now has vaccines for everyone.
🇺🇸 … Or Like the US: 60% of adults got at least one vaccine shot. Cases are the lowest they have been since last summer and deaths lowest since last June. NYT calls the virus “in retreat”.
✍🏽 CBSE Class 12: Decision on exams likely on June 1. Most states backed a shortened exam for 19 subjects in July-August. Some states want it scrapped, others want jabs for students and teachers.
🚷 Lockdown: Delhi, Haryana till May 31, Rajasthan for 2 more weeks.
👊 Punishment: Chhattisgarh removes district magistrate who was seen slapping a man for violating lockdown.
🙅♂️ Serum clarifies: Day after its executive director criticised the Centre’s vaccination plan, Covishield maker SII said it was not the company’s view.
⛔ ‘Don’t do it’: Farmers are planning a 3-day protest in Punjab’s Patiala. CM asks them not to as it could undo Covid fight. 12 Oppn parties support stir.
🙏 Dead: Former TMC MLA Moinuddin Sams (58)
INDIA NEWS
👮♀️ First Woman: Aashrita V Olety, IAF woman flight test engineer.
🌀 Yaas is Coming: Bengal, Odisha have begun preparations with govt relaxing lockdown rules to enable emergency activities. IMD expects “damaging” winds of 185kmph like Tauktae.
👩🏻⚖️ Ca(ir)n’t Do It: India is contesting the $1.2bn tax arbitration that was awarded to oil major Cairn Energy at The Hague Court of Appeal, saying tax was an internal matter.
👨⚖️ Another One: German company Deutsche Telekom has filed a petition with a US court against India seeking confirmation of a $135 mn award from a Geneva arbitration court over a nixed Antrix deal (ISRO commercial wing).
👮 Crime Control: Govt research wing has recommended an integrated agency to deal with cross border crimes having units from Customs, wildlife, anti-human trafficking etc, which at present works separately.
🥸 Row: UP basic education minister Satish Chandra Dwivedi’s brother appointed as asst professor at Siddharth University under the EWS quota.
🔎 Probing Killings: Six days after three men were killed and police called them Maoists, the Sukma district collector has ordered a magisterial inquiry as their families said they were not extremists.
🎤 IE interview with former NSA Shivsankar Menon
On India & Asia geopolitics: We are turning inwards — a sort of closing of the Indian mind, cutting off from the outside world.
On Response to China: iIt’s best to be honest with your own people right from the start. Otherwise, you get into a very complicated web of trying to explain
On RCEP: You had 8 years to negotiate… a 20-year adjustment period for it to actually begin fully. So what are you saying when you walk away? You are saying I am not competitive today and I don’t think I will be competitive in 20 years.
WORLD NEWS
🇧🇾 At All Costs: Belarus President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko ordered a fighter jet to “escort” a commercial aircraft headed to Lithuania from Greece and forced it to land in Minsk over a bomb threat. Once it landed 26-year-old journalist passenger critical of the govt (in self-imposed exile in Lithuania) was arrested. This has provoked the international community saying that this was akin to hijacking.
Lava Stops: Mt Nyiragongo lava halts after burying hundreds of homes and buildings in a Congo city. 15 dead but most due to traffic accidents. Many kids are missing, separated from families.
🇧🇩🇮🇱 Bangladesh: It does not recognise Israel and its passport mentions that it is valid in all countries but Israel. On Sunday, this clause was removed.
😔 Tragedies: 14 dead in Italy in cable car accident. Reason unknown yet; Shooting in New Jersey birthday party leaves 2 dead, 12 injured.
🇲🇲 Myanmar: Fighting in many regions leaves police personnel dead, civilian deaths around 815; 125K teachers suspended for opposing coup.
ENVIRONMENT
🥚 Comeback: Wildlife officials pumped after finding 28 Gharial hatchlings with their mother in Odisha. First case of breeding in natural habitat for critically endangered species.
🚛 Gas Power: Daimler, world’s largest long-haul truck maker, promises to go zero-emission in the next 15 years with hydrogen. It has partnered with Shell to create a “hydrogen corridor” in Europe. It has also allied with rival Volvo to create fuel cells. Questions remain of hydrogen fuel cost, efficiency.
Monday Explainer: Unicorns
Basics: Private startups with a valuation of at least $1bn. It was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013. Just four months into 2021, world has already seen 125 unicorns, which was the total in each of the last 3 years. Some notable Unicorns: PayTM, Byju’s, Oyo Rooms, Zomato, Swiggy.
Boost reason: With Covid-19 many Indians are now going digital – from banking to health to education-, a space that Unicorn firms are consolidating. Plus, many venture capitalist firms are keen on getting on the “Indian growth” bandwagon thanks to the cheap US dollar.
There are risks: With valuations going skyhigh, some worry about whether the firms’ fundamentals are strong. What happens when the virus ebbs and people go back to re-altering daily lives?
“Just because you become a billion dollar company, doesn’t mean you will automatically become an enduring company”
Rajan Anandan, managing director at Sequoia Capital India.
NEWS OF YESTERDAY
New York city’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge 🌉 opened on May 24, 1883.
Editor’s note: Previous version mentioned “Just four months into 2021, India has already seen 125 unicorns, which was the total in each of the last 3 years“. This has now been corrected.
News Of Today 