News Of Today

July 3 – Another rise in cases?

The much vaunted Kerala model of managing Covid has taken a beating yet again with cases rising. The state alone accounts for nearly 26% across the country. A major cyber attack was reported on US companies. And the Indian military’s turf war has gone public.

July 2 – ‘Pak prayed for India’, Monsoon’s Break

Strip away the politics, and Pakistanis and Indians are basically the same and Covid has sort of proved that, finds a study using artificial intelligence into people’s tweets. What Covid has not done is unite governments and that is Africa’s Lament against Europe that once colonised it and ravaged it before the virus and even against Covax that promised to help them. We can understand China President Xi Jinping is happy and proud of his ~~rule~~ country but he had some real harsh words for everyone else. Your cooking gas is now dearer and Antarctica is even hotter.

July 1 – Tyranny of Rulers, Airtel’s Space

Bharti Group has got a majority stake in a UK-based space firm that aims at increasing internet connectivity by creating a network of satellites. This puts it in competition with Elon Musk whose Starlink project is slated to begin providing coverage from August. The Supreme Court has involved itself in Covid-19 management now – ordering compensation and how deaths ought to be classified. And heat in Canada is killing people. Too many people.

June 29 – Exercise in Caution, Ethiopia’s War

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.

June 28 – Drone Attacks, Golden Archer

There is confusion on what the EU Covid certificate will mean for Indians after learning that although the EU does say it is applicable for “any Covid vaccine”, the technical specifications speak something else.

June 27- Rain Delay, ₹100 For Petrol

“When told to bend, the Indian media crawled.” is a quote often heard when talking about the Emergency, which was imposed 46 years ago on June 25, 1975. Hopefully, that will never happen again. After UGC, it is turn of reputed national research institutes to prostrate before the govt, this time with an acronym! A wild elephant has got Jharkhand officials worried and fuel prices have hit a century in 12 states. See if yours is one of them!

June 26- Toshiba Chairman’s Day Out

There is a storm brewing and that is after an interim report from an SC-appointed panel found that the Delhi govt had grossly overestimated the city’s oxygen needs. Pakistan’s troubles with the FATF continues but it is so very close to getting out of the ignominious grey list and the Twitter-Govt spat is getting silly.

June 25 – Horror from Canada, Burkina Faso

With vaccines now more freely available, state governments in Goa and Gujarat are taking measures to ensure nothing like the second wave happens again – insisting that people get vaccinated rather than encouraging. The much-awaited Centre’s meeting with J-K has finally begun with many leaders saying they got off to a good start. Shocking news from Canada where many graves had been found at another school, and in Burkina Faso where child soldiers were supposedly behind a massacre.

June 24 – Trouble in the Black Sea

India is moving to curb the spread of Delta+ with a new surveillance system. Hopefully that will prevent anything like the third wave. The AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have shown serious, but very rare, side effects prompting govts around the world to make a move. In the Black Sea, Russian and British Navy have conflicting reports on what transpired on Wednesday but the tension over the last few months, maybe years, is spilling over.

June 23- Variant’s March in June

The Phase III trial data is finally out for Covaxin and althought it is yet to undergo scientific scrutiny, provides much needed comfort to the public at a time when Delta+ is making inroads. The Gupkar Alliance will be meeting the Centre in Delhi, but will it result in anything? Initial reports say that the two sides may be sitting opposite each other – on the table and on agenda. Also, lawyers have put together a definition for “ecocide”.