Dear Express Explained Reader, For more than a year now, Explained has concentrated considerable energy and resources to track the Covid-19 pandemic, and to try to break down for you in as much detail as we can the many small and large developments in the pandemic and the global response to it. It now looks like we may have to stay focussed on this once-in-a-century crisis for some more time yet. Science editor Amitabh Sinha wrote on the remarkable speed at which new infections are rising, which makes the second wave worse than the first in this respect. He also wrote specifically on Pune, the city where he is based as The Indian Express's Resident Editor and which is at the moment India's pandemic epicentre. Earlier in the week, Amitabh analysed grim data that showed that as the caseload is rising, so too are the death numbers, threatening what had until recently appeared to be the one silver lining to this gathering cloud. Also, the Health Ministry this week confirmed a "double mutant variant" in India, as well as the presence of the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil variants. Check out this useful recall on mutations of the virus, why they happen and how dangerous they are — and whether they are responsible for the ongoing surge. Finally, the government has increased the gap between the first and second doses of the Covishield vaccine to 4-8 weeks from the current protocol of 4-6 weeks, acting on the recommendations of two expert groups. Prabha Raghavan explained this decision — why dosing matters, why the interval has been increased to 8 weeks (and not longer), and what this means for India's vaccination drive. The other big story to which we gave space and attention to this week was the Supreme Court's decision in favour of the Tata Group, overturning a tribunal ruling that reinstated Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of Tata Sons. Coomi Kapoor, contributing editor of The Indian Express, wrote a fascinating piece on the history of three remarkable Parsi families — Tata, Wadia and Mistry — whose heirs are now at war with one another. Alongside, I would recommend Aashish Aryan's succinct explainer summarising the current corporate battle and the decision of the Supreme Court There's a bunch of other stuff to read as well in Explained this week: in the context of the Sachin Waze case, Sadaf Modak wrote about law and practice around the right to have counsel in custody; with the Ken-Betwa project finally off to a start, Harikishan Sharma explained river-linking in Bundelkhand; and Divya A recalled the story of Anangpal, the pre-Sultanate Tomar king of Delhi, whose legacy the government wants to celebrate. Stay safe. All of us who are above the age of 45 will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 shot from April 1. There is no reason to delay or hesitate. Do keep reading The Indian Express Explained. Sincerely, Monojit (monojit.majumdar@expressindia.com) If you received this newsletter as a forward, you can subscribe to it here | Do read our Explained articles here 
Quixplained: What is vaccine wastage, and how can it be prevented? | .png)
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