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DailyOh! Dil Bechara with Sushant Singh Rajput

VandanaJuly 6, 2020 | 18:59 IST

India has replaced Russia on the third spot of the global coronavirus hotspots tally, with India’s own tally rising to over 7,00,000 positive cases. Even as the numbers are rising, 239 scientists in 32 countries are demanding that the World Health Organisation (WHO) acknowledge that the novel coronavirus is airborne, which means smaller particles in the air can infect people.

So far, the WHO maintains coronavirus disease spreads primarily from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth. To travel from one nose or mouth to another nose or mouth, the virus will have to travel some distance in air, but what scientists are saying is that the virus can glide through air. So, if you are in an open space with no people around, these 239 scientists say, you can still get the virus.

WHO says there isn’t enough evidence to confirm coronavirus is airborne. (Photo: Reuters)

WHO says there isn’t enough evidence to confirm this, so it won’t revise guidelines – for now. But you can revise your precautions and not let the mask down when you are out, even if no one is around.

Does that ensure you are safe? Doesn’t look like the world would be a safe place anytime soon, with China reporting more deadly diseases. A few days after reports that a virus, G4 EA H1N1, with pandemic potential was found in the country, now there are reports that a city in northern China has sounded an alert after two suspected cases of bubonic plague. Bayannur, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, will stay on alert for the rest of 2020. The incident came to light after two brothers ate marmot meat. Both brothers ate it, both are sick and both are being treated in different hospitals. Hundeds of people they came in contact with are being traced now.

China has asked everyone to not eat marmot. In 2019, a couple had died in the same region after eating marmot.

Marmot, the latest threat facing the world, is our Word Of The Day. Marmot finds its origin in French word ‘marmotte’ and Romansh word ‘murmont’ where both mean mountain. Marmot rat is basically mountain rat.

Marmot rats are known to be carriers of a lot of diseases. (Photo: Reuters)

Marmot rats aren’t found in China alone. They are found in the mountains of Canada and the US too. But they are eaten only in China. In fact, they have been eaten there for centuries. The Tarbagan marmot that is found in Inner Mongolia is an endangered species. We can’t vouch for the taste, but marmots are rather dangerous for humans even when not eaten. Marmots carry a bunch of nasty things like ticks that cause Lyme disease, or rocky mountain spotted fever. They can also transmit hantavirus or rabies. So, while Chinese alert for bubonic plague is Level 3 and will continue till the end of 2020, the world will have remain alert in terms of what it is getting from China for a long, long time.

For now, China has pulled its troops back in the Galwan Valley and so has India. The PLA troops have reportedly moved about a kilometre from the site of the June 15 violent clashes at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh.

But there are fears that about 7 lakh Indians working in Kuwait too would have to move base to India. Why? That’s because the legal and legislative committee of Kuwait's National Assembly has approved a draft bill to reduce the number of foreign workers. If enacted into law, many Indians would have to return. The bill proposes that Indians shouldn’t exceed 15 per cent of Kuwait’s 48,00,000 population. Currently, about 14,00,000 Indians stay in Kuwait. That's about 29 per cent of the current population. The anti-expat rhetoric saw a spike in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, but long ago, there was an anti-merchant rhetoric in Kuwait.

Kuwait is facing job losses and is likely to force about 7,00,000 lakh Indians staying there to move base. (Photo: Reuters)

The Kuwait economy was dependent on pearl fishing, ship-building and some sea trade within the Indian subcontinent and East Africa. While many Indian merchants were engaged in the pearl financing sector in Gulf countries, very few had that opportunity in Kuwait. That was because Kuwaiti rulers were themselves pearl merchants and so were not open to allowing Indians in.

Indians in large numbers, however, began to flock to Kuwait in mid-1940s after the discovery of oil led to the formation of Kuwait Oil Company. Skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled - all categories of Indians shifted to Kuwait then. But now Kuwait faces a job shortage for its own people. The Covid-19 pandemic it seems is pushing not just India, but other countries also towards aatmanirbharta.

For now, no Indian can go to Kuwait; those stuck there, wanting to return, can find their way back under the Vande Bharat mission. But actors Akshay Kumar and Vaani Kapoor will be off to the UK in August 2020 to begin shooting for Bell Bottom. Many years later, someone can ask which was the first Hindi film to commence shooting at an international destination after coronavirus lockdown. Make a mental note of the answer you will give then – Bell Bottom (unless someone else gets out of the country before them, that is).

Akshay, Vaani and others will fly when they fly but the trailer of Sushant Singh Rajput's last movie Dil Bechara is out. The movie will be out on July 24 and you can watch it on Disney+Hotstar then. For now, you can watch the trailer here:

    

The trailer begins with a nani ki kahani and then sees Sushant and Sanjana Sanghi travel to Paris. You can watch the movie as many times as you want but it will leave you with a feeling that you will never watch Sushant again. Death is cruel that way. 

Talking of death, eight people are feared to have died in the US today as two airplanes flying in the sky collided in the state of Idaho. The collision happened over Coeur d'Alene Lake, after which the planes sank into the lake. While eight are feared dead, two were rescued.

Mid-air plane collisions will always remind us of the biggest ever mid-air collision in which 349 people died. This was over the village of Charkhi Dadri, around 100 km west of Delhi. Do you remember the incident?

The wreckage of the aircraft involved in the Charkhi Dadri mid-air crash. (Photo: Reuters)

It happened on November 12, 1996. A Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763, a Boeing 747 en route from Delhi to Dhahran in Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76, en route from Chimkent, Kazakhstan, to Delhi, collided mid-air. Investigation revealed that the accident had been the fault of the Kazakhstani Il-76 commander, who (according to FDR evidence) had descended from the assigned altitude, causing the accident. The reason for the Idaho collision remains to be investigated.

But since we are in the US, let us talk about the big development (which is not going to have any big outcome) that is being reported from the US. Kanye Omari West, American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, and a host of other things, will be fighting the US elections as an independent candidate. West was popular in the Western world, but his popularity in the East and the rest of the world grew after he married model and reality TV star Kimberly Kardashian. Just Kim Kardashian, like we better know her.

West may not get many votes but he has secured the endorsement of Elon Musk. Why do we say he may not get too many votes? Because he has woken up too late to the party. The deadline to get on the ballot in many US states has passed. America maybe an advanced democracy, but you still can’t vote for someone not on the ballot list.

This late entry into the race has made many question whether Kanye West is serious about his presidential bid.

It is also difficult to take Kanye West seriously because of his history of eccentric statements like 'slavery is a choice'. Remember the Indian leader who said poverty is a state of mind?

We will discuss that some day, because today we want to discuss West. During a TV interview in 2018, West said slavery looked to be a matter of choice because it lasted 400 years.

Ah! Stupidity has been around longer, but that too we wouldn’t say has been a matter of choice. But West does offer a competition there in terms of making bizarre comments.

Who wins that competition will unravel in the months to come, but for now, here is a Kanye West creation for you.

Stay safe, stay sensible.

We will see you tomorrow.

Also Read: Why India must use the Ladakh opportunity to tame the Dragon

Last updated: July 06, 2020 | 20:45
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