politicodiary

Spain is one of the worst hit European nations by the Covid-19 virus in the world  It is not just Hungary but Spain has refused immunization vaccination to curb the spread of Corona virus. Now, the Spanish health ministry has decided to set up a register of people who refuse to be vaccinated against coronavirus. They intend to then share it with other European Union nations.   While Hungary has had its reason due to the whimsical attitude of their leadership, Spain had almost 47percent people refusing to use the vaccine in November 2020. The statistics have now come down to 28percent. According to Health Minister Salvador Illa  receiving the vaccine would be a voluntary process in which citizens are called up for their doses, free of charge, by the country's national health system.   Having said that, the fact that a register is going to be used, is still a forced decision to record the names of all those who have not agreed to get themselves immunized. While Mr. Illa doe

The anti-monopoly probe will use Jack Ma as the guinea pig the Communist Party was looking for    Jack Ma might be under firing line for having spoken against Chinese government and banking practices  In a strange change of public perception, the teacher turned entrepreneur Jack Ma has suddenly become a 'villain', 'bloodsucking ghost'. The man behind the internet success called Alibaba business, is fondly called 'Daddy Ma' on the social media circuit.  But off late, his fall out with the Chinese government has costed him his reputation in the public domain as well. It seems the government has problems with his growing business empire and probably with the fact, that he might not want them to have a share of it either.  An anti-trust investigation is on the anvil. The Chinese government is trying to defame his powerhouse e-commerce company that he co-founded and over which he still holds considerable sway. Even his  fintech giant that he had spun out of Alibaba h

Corona Virus mutation is a new challenge for the world to face in 2021 The Corona Virus is mutating rapidly It is a scary time for humanity, as we face an unseen enemy. The might of it is growing as a second strain of the Corona virus is being seen mutating rapidly in the UK and South Africa.  The UK government has been giving mixed responses to the world. It is a panic situation that the New Year isnt looking a promising starting point of them right now.   Currently, roughly 30 countries have had to shut their borders to people travelling from Britain or South Africa. Both these places have reported another variant. However, those who have already travelled might be carrying the strain with them.  According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), things are well in control in the United Kingdom, despite the scare over the spread of a mutated form of the Corona virus. Currently, UK borders have been sealed to any movement in and out. The new mutated virus has a higher transmission ra

 China is looking for creative ways to create havoc in India  The China mayhem is attacking India from all corners; and borders is not the only concern. In fact, there has been a surge in cyber-attacks too. This time, it has been the e-retail space.   Earlier, China counterparts were trying to use encrypted codes embedded in their spare parts, to get into the telecommunication networks in India. This was somehow controlled when the Ministry of IT and Broadcast, capped the purchase of Chinese IT and technology related spare parts. They set a mandate that all Indian companies would have to put the spare parts through necessary vetting before they could be used. It is now confirmed that indeed, Chinese cyber hackers had attacked the accounts of Indian shoppers in the months of October and November this year. According to CyberPeace Foundation, a cybersecurity think tank, hackers from China's Guangdong and Henan provinces mounted multiple attacks on unsuspecting Indians during th

Data protection has never been as important as it is today, because of the way we depend on virtual data Photo courtesy: Council of Europe                   Companies are now investing in an overall enterprise risk management (ERM) framework . It is being observed that, there is a growing risk to data worldwide. The reason is no more simply cyber-attacks but others too. These include new threats emerging from global warming, geopolitics and changing regulatory frameworks on data protection. Do we remember how vaccine culture data was stolen through phishing mechanisms, right under the nose of the Oxford University last month? It was the job of a sophisticated hacking company that was hired by Russia governmental agencies to carry out the cyber attack.  Believe it or not but data is more valuable than money or time today.   This is the reason that industry bigwigs are seriously contemplating in data protection frameworks, as they addressed the Bengaluru chapter of Risk Masterclass, as

The Centre is not going to keep all its eggs in the same basket and have its own vaccine ready in time  While India is planning to support some poor countries with doses of Covid-19 vaccine, it is going to get an advantage of lesser-priced vaccine doses from the American biotech company Pfizer. Sources have confirmed that Pfizer is seeing the need to reduce its pricing to suit the Indian market. India was not planning to pick the dose from the US drug maker due to the high price and the fact that the vaccine is temperature sensitive, a tough proposition for a country like India that has varied temperatures throughout its length and breadth. The Covid-19 vaccine has to kept under certain temperature that supports the efficacy of the drug. The Pfizer- BioNtech developed vaccine has extreme cold chain requirement at minus 70 degree Celsius . Then there are logistic and storage challenges to be faced as well. Dr. V.K. Paul at the NITI Aayog has already stated that it is a huge challeng

Drone technology can actually help solve the problem of deforestation It would be an incredible feat of innovation if seeds could be planted in mass, in the most predictable manner. Drone technology today is making this possible. Through this, we can look at planting a thousand trees in a day. This can be done by firing seeds directly at the ground. By putting seeds in a pod that is biodegradable, the pod is then shot into the ground through a drone. Intelligent sky trackers are using digital intelligence and automation to plant seeds with both speed and accuracy. Through artificial intelligence, scientist have identified the right species that can thrive in the right environment and therefore plant them when need be. This information is then fed into the drone that then follows a path and continues to plant seeds accordingly. What the scientists are now looking for a swarm of such drones that can actually help solve the problem of famine and deforestation. UAE for example has alre

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are preparing well for the disaster that Trump is leaving them behind to deal with As the President elect gets ready for action as he takes control of the White House in January, Donald Trump is busy using the White House resources to meet his own personal agendas. HE has mocked the mask wearing compulsion and social distancing protocols innumerable times and remains shameless about it. Meanwhile Biden has all the intentions to urge his fellow American to start off simple- wear a mask for the next 100 days. As the old tradition goes, the effectiveness of any leadership is determined in the first 100 days of taking the seat of power.  He is also going to ensure that the American people can receive the vaccine in time; a point that Trump pushed in his twitters like a spoilt child complaining that he will get no credit for the vaccine after all. Trump was nowhere to be seen as Biden made a public statement on television that he is joining the previous three P

Everyone is ready for a vaccine but there is just too much misinformation creating unrest amongst the world population Photo courtesy: Euronews Not all vaccine candidates will suit every country in the same way. There are a whole lot of reasons behind why a certain country might not benefit from the research of Pfizer or Moderna after all.  The race for the vaccine was one thing; corruption and misinformation is already doing arounds across the length and breath of the  globe.  Pfizer and BioNtech are confident of the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine that they have come up with. They are now looking for authorisation in Europe for the use of emergency use of their Covid-19 vaccine  candidate. Moderna is also confident about the efficacy of their vaccine candidate. This is coming at a time when the news was doing rounds that former Vice President of Pfizer said 'the virus is over and herd immunity has done its wonder. We don't need a vaccine anymore'. According to the  forme