Hello, Today we talk about Pegasus Leak, Climate Change and growing incidents of floods and the varied impact of Delta Variant across the world!
I SPY!
Recently, The Wire, an online media platform, shared that more than 300 verified Indian phone numbers have been targeted by the Pegasus Spyware. It included members of the legal community, businessmen, government officials, scientists, activists. The Wire's analysis of the data shows that most of the names were targeted between 2018 and 2019, in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha general elections but there was not enough evidence to suggest all phones had been hacked.
What is Pegasus Spyware?
It is a hacking software- spyware- developed, marketed and licensed to governments around the world by Israeli Company NSO Group. It can infect billions of phones running either iOS or Android operating systems.
What can it do?
Once it has wormed in a device, it can copy messages you send or receive, harvest your photos and record your calls. It might secretly film you through your phone’s camera, or activate the microphone to record your conversations. It can potentially pinpoint where you are, where you’ve been, and who you’ve met.
Company’s response
The Israeli company, NSO Group, which sells Pegasus, denied the allegations, claimed that it only offers its spyware to "vetted governments" and said it was "considering a defamation lawsuit".
Indian Government says-
The Indian government has denied involvement in the hacking, saying, "The allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people have no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever."
(Source: Guardian,The Wire, NDTV)
Is it the race against Delta Variant or Time?
The delta variant has become the most transmissible Covid variant, as per the World Health Organization (WHO). The organisation has warned that this variant has spread in nearly 100 countries and will become the dominant variant globally in the coming months.
How is it impacting different countries differently?
Unequal access to vaccines has impacted different countries differently. Here’s the analysis:
Observations -
Developing: This variant is spreading across the world unevenly and especially where there are slow-paced vaccination drives.
Developed: High vaccination rates have moderated the impact on countries like Europe In the UK, where more than half the population has been fully vaccinated, the death ratio has fallen from 1 in 50 to 1 in 750.
Reasons for Unequal Access
Patent Rights- Pharmaceutical companies have patent rights which give them a monopoly on production.
Differences in Prices- As per the UNICEF’s covid-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard, Covid-19 vaccine prices differ. The European Union pays $3.50 per dose, while Bangladesh pays $4, and South Africa pays $5.25.
Why are there differences in the prices? India and South Africa had brought a proposal to the World Trade Organisation in 2020 which was a waiver of obligations to enforce patents and other intellectual property rights related to Covid-19 products. It wasn’t accepted and that’s why differences in prices occurred.
Experts’ say:
Hassan who works at the Health Justice Initiative said vaccine suppliers, which had not fulfilled their contracts to the developing and poor countries, bore a huge responsibility for what she described as an engulfing crisis.
(Sources: India Today, Business Standard, Financial Times, Scroll)
Global Floods
Time and again we are witnessing the impacts of climate change across the world as the weather is getting more extreme. Recently, China, Germany and some parts of the United States faced disastrous floods and experienced loss of lives because of the same.
What are the reasons?
China- Heavy rainfall, failed drainage system, and the dam on the Yangtze river, can be attributed as the plausible reasons. Though the dam was supposed to generate power, boost irrigation, improve the navigability of rivers and protect homes from floods and now 500 million people are living in uncertainty near the dam.
Germany- Poor urban planning and the increasing amount of concrete can be the leading reasons. The regions affected by floods had already experienced an unusual amount of rain in recent weeks which made soil absorb less water.
New York- The blame was placed on the creaking infrastructure and failed drainage system.
Experts’ say-
Andra Garner, a climate scientist mentioned in her research paper titled ‘Impact of climate change on New York City’s coastal flood hazard: Increasing flood heights from the preindustrial to 2300 CE’ - New York City could be hit by severe floods more than 2.25m (7ft), every five years within the next decade.
Eduardo Araral, co-director of the Institute of Water Policy, stated that it’s important for the governments to realize the infrastructure built in the past or even recent ones are vulnerable to these extreme weather events.
(Sources: Wion News, Washington Post, Hindustan Times)
What else is happening?
Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu wins silver in women's 49kg. This is India's first medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020, along with this Manika Batra became the first Indian woman to win a table tennis match at the Olympics since 1992!
Heavy rainfall caused floods in 4 states of India - Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Kerala. Maharashtra has reported the highest casualties out of the 4 states.
The Japanese Government appointed Tetsushi Sakamoto as a Minister of Loneliness, in a bid to tackle ongoing mental health issues in Japan.
Pfizer is only 39% effective in preventing Delta Variant as per Israel’s Health Ministry.
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