Even as we roll out the vaccines worldwide, Covid19 is putting up a tough rearguard. Everyone knows about dire situation in US, but second wave in Canada is killing 167/day & death rate is still rising (population adjusted, that is equivalent to 6k+ deaths/day for India). 1/n
Several SE Asian countries had so far managed to keep the pandemic under control, but Indonesia & Malaysia have seen very big jumps in recent weeks (although still not in European levels of infection) 2/n
The most unexpected is the sharp increase in UAE where vaccination is progressing well. With 3.6k new cases/day, it is Asia's hotspot on per capita basis (India equivalent would be 4.9 lakh/day). 3/n
Europe continues struggle. New cases in Spain jumped to 43k/day (India equivalent 1.25mn/day). New cases in UK are thankfully now falling (albeit still very elevated) but daily deaths @ 1600+/day (India equivalent 33k/day). 4/n
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Dear @yonex please look at the quality of you AS 2 shuttles. I ran through 6 in one hour. If they cannot stand a smash from a middle aged economist, what happens when a pro hits it? Below is after just 3 rallies 1/n
One tube of imported Yonex shuttles costs 2k and will not last 2 hours of play. The Decathklon FSC390 is not as smooth but lasts longer and half the price. Cannot find any high end locally made ones 2/n
Incidentally, the Decathlon ones are also made in China. Wonder what happened to good quality ones from Ludhiana? I found only very poor quality ones in Delhi shops 3/n
Covid19 is genuinely unpredictable. It will spare a country/region and then suddenly reappear in full rage. For almost a year it seemed that East & SE Asia had controlled it, but now Japan is witnessing spiralling numbers 1/n
If you are trying to correlate this spike to temperature/winter, note that same spike is happening in Malaysia that is near the equator and barely sees any seasonal variation. Indonesia is also seeing an acceleration 2/n
Meanwhile, Vietnam is going about life as if nothing happened. Please don't try to argue that this is due to Vietnamese self discipline. Try crossing a road in HCM and you will know what I mean (much crazier than Delhi).
Why is @FT complaining? This is precisely what they & various international "experts" wanted India to do. It is inevitable if a large sum of money has to be spent suddenly. Do not blame UK bureaucrats & politicians. Hold the "experts" accountable. 1/n
Global gyaanis and columnists with zero accountability & skin-in-the-game give random advice, but never held responsible. Some of you will recall this article of mine written in response to Prof Stiglitz's comments on India's Covid response.
Indeed, the "advice" and the "assessment of success" changes according to the expert's political preferences. They will simultaneously criticise a strict lockdown & open strategies, and everything in between, without a hint of irony. 3/n
Yes, your journalist did speak to me but the article does not reflect the conversation and uses an arbitrary two word "quote". Would you like to hear the conversation? I have the full audio recording.
As promised, this is the full recording of my discussion with NYT journalist Suhasini Raj about the Indian response to the Covid19. Conversation starts at 1:50 2/n
30 of 40mins was about the thinking behind India's policy response. As will be obvious, the journalist was not interested. She already had an agenda to push a pre-decided story. When I did not play along, she tries in the last 10 mins to put words in my mouth 3/n
In March, just before the lockdown, I climbed up up Dhosi hill with @ArjunSKadian. Near Haryana Rajasthan border, this hill has great historical importance as it was home to Rishi Bhrigu & his clan.1/n
The Bhrigus are both respected and somewhat feared alchemists in the Vedas. It was here that Bhrigu's eldest son Chavana invented early ayurveda medicine (including Chavanyaprash) 2/n
Dhosi is an extinct volcano & the top has a flat depression with a small temple of the Bhargava clan & the kund where Chavana is said to have been cured of disease by taking a dip. There is also a cave where he meditated. 3/n