Dear reader, our headline today is representative of how we must see things. India’s Finance Minister has announced a stimulus of Rs 6.28 lakh crore to help the economy recover after the second Covid infection. Bare numbers often do not tell you the whole story and an expert analysis may be required to light on the details, hence we have given a disclaimer. In other news, there is cause for cheer with studies suggesting the existing vaccines are sturdy, but how sturdy we cannot say as new variants pop up every now and then. In Ethiopia, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winning Abiy Ahmed Ali now knows he has war on his hands.
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
🦠💉 Studies: mRNA vaccines Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna can give protection for years after vaccination, one study finds. Another study finds a 3rd dose of AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield) will give more protection (although we don’t know whether a 3rd dose is needed). Early results from a UK study finds there is good immune response when mixing doses- Pfizer/BioNTech with AstraZeneca – and also that this method found more antibodies against the virus than just two doses of one brand (although unclear why).
💰 New Schemes: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced eight new schemes to assist sectors hit by Covid, focusing on health and tourism. [THESE NUMBERS MAY REQUIRE EXPERT SCRUTINY]
💉 Safe for Kids: The China vaccine CoronaVac developed a high immune response in kids under the 3 to 17 years category. Results published in The Lancet. The inactivated virus vaccine had a sketchy record for adults as results were not published anywhere.
“It’s not that it was boring, but it was a regular lab that worked in the same way as any other high-containment lab. What people are saying is just not how it is.”
Danielle Anderson, the only foreign virologist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s BSL-4 lab that has gained notoreity with many suggesting that the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged from there.
👾 Beware: India and Chile are top two countries targeted by malware makers with the promise of vaccination, only to steal their personal and banking information, reports McAfee.
INDIA NEWS
✋ Congress Feud: Punjab Congress’s Navjot Singh Sidhu will be meeting Rahul Gandhi and Priyanak Gandhi today as part of the party’s efforts to prevent in-fighting jeopardising its prospects in next year’s state elections.
🤦♀️ ‘She can’t do that!’: Even after a woman said in court that she had married a Muslim man of her own free will, Sikh politicians in J-K are accusing it of being forced.
⚡🗳️ Punjab: AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal announces that if his party wins, there will be free electricity in the state.
💣 Rogue Drones: Two more suspicious drones were spotted in Jammu, this time in the Ratnuchak-Kaluchak military base area at different times. Soldiers fired at them causing them to fly away. Initial reports suggest the first attack on Jammu airport was by LeT.
♿ Give Quota: Supreme Court ruled that even if a state government did not have rules regarding quota for persons with disabilities in promotion, it should be done. It said that the method of recruitment did not matter as long as the person was disabled at the time of promotion.
🤦🏻♂️ Twitter Again:The site depicted Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as a separate country and disputed Aksai Chin region as part of China. After uproar, it was taken down. the company has, meanwhile, named a new grievance officer, but again, a problem: rules require an Indian resident and the new officer is US-based.
👉👈 Mud slinging: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee calls state’s Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar a “corrupt man” as his name had cropped up in the Jain hawala case. She said he was named in the charge sheet. Dhankar says there is no such document.
🔎🏭 Express Investigates: There are 172 “independent” directors in 98/146 central PSUs and 86 of them are linked to the BJP. The role of such directors is to be an objective watchdog who may receive some fee/reimbursement. Having political/bureaucratic links “vitiates” the intent of the role, according to IICA report. SEBI chief had earlier admitted that getting an ideal candidate is a tough task.
🤳🚫 Dang it!: Known for its forests, lakes and waterfalls Dang district in Gujarat has banned selfies, especially at tourist spots
Girmal Waterfall 
Don Hill Station
🎥 Filmmakers protest: Many have written to the govt to curb the cinematographers bill that gives it powers to hear complaints even after clearance from certification board.
😒 “Our kids are Safe”: After UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over child casualties in J-K and asked the govt to stop using pellet guns, India ticks him off.
WORLD NEWS
🇪🇹 Counterattack: In Ethiopia, Tigray forces managed a major counterattack against government forces and entered the regional capital Mekelle (north of the country pinned on map). The Ethiopian military had been occupying the region since November last year. Truce declared.
🇨🇳🤝🇷🇺 All for one: China and Russia agreed to work closer, extending their 20 year bilateral agreement on friendship known as Treaty of Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation, in a counter the EU, NATO and G-7 move against them.
💃🤳Pak TikTok: A Pakistan high court bans TikTok temporarily for spreading “immorality”. The country’s govt had earlier revoked a similarly reasoned ban three months ago.
*🇲🇼🏳️🌈 Courage*: In Malawi, where homosexuality is illegal, 50 people take out the country’s first Pride Parade.
“It was hard for me because no one wanted to associate with me. I was really depressed… I think this is historic and the moment we have been longing for. I know in the past we would not be able to do this.”
Chrispine from Malawi tells The Guardian
👮🏴👮♀️ Racial Justice: UN’s human rights office finds that police in many countries enjoy a certain level of immunity in case a Black person dies due to their inappropriate use of force.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
🪙 Crypto hit, Again: UK’s finance watchdog has banned world’s biggest crypto-currency exchange, Binance, as it is not registered with it. This does not impact services directly. But the action is significant as many regulatory authorities have been acting against cryptocurrencies.
“We’re 12 years into the crypto adoption cycle, these things just take time – the exact same things were said about the internet initially”
Nick Saponaro, cryptocurrency investor tells BBC on binance ban
🤑 Crypto India: Last year, Indian investment in cryptocurrency grew from $250 mn to $40 bn despite the RBI discouraging it with even a ban on its trade on the anvil. There are almost 15 million Indians invested in it, compared to 23 million in the US and 2.3 million in the UK.
👨🏻⚖️ FB Wins: Prosecution has failed to establish that FB holds monopoly, finds a US federal court and throws out a major antitrust case that could have broken up the company. The case was backed by the country’s FTC and 40 states.
🚭 Anti-addiction: Juul, which sells e-cigarrets, has agreed to pay $40 mn to North Carolina to settle lawsuits that accused them of deceptive marketing that fuelled addiction among young people.
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECH
🇨🇦🥵 Canada sizzles: Weather in the country has broken an 84-year record as heat wave spreads in the country’s west coast. At 46°C, it is almost as hot as in Dubai. Although it cannot be tied to climate change yet, this is in line with predictions.
“You must show it is a ministry for environment and not just ‘of environment’. You (ministry) have been constantly diluting environmental standards… What is the stay that you are seeking for? Should there be greater pollution?… No. We will not stay the order. You should also protect the environment.”
Supreme Court bench of Justices Chandrachud, Reddy and bhat tells Centre that pproached it over an NGT order that said sewage treatment plants had to upgrade immediately.
🔎⚠️Fighting Fake News: Google now has a feature that tells users if a topic is new and yet to be updated with a reliable source.
NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The iPhone went on sale on this day in 2007
News Of Today 