The Weekly Focus Edition 30
Global Vaccine Rollout.
The pandemic has brought many onto their knees and caused many inconveniences around the world. COVID-19 like all viruses can be cured by vaccines and the rollout of these vaccines are vital. The United Nations recently founded an organization known as COVAX in partnership with the European Commission and the French government. COVAX aims to spread the vaccines to those in need of it and distribute it to all countries. 64 higher income countries have joined COVAX as of 21st September 2020, these high-income countries could help with funding and other services as they might have the needed resources. COVAX plans on starting a global rollout of the vaccine from 2021.
As of 18th December 2020 COVAX, has had agreements with several promising vaccine candidates accessing close to 2 billion doses. COVAX’s 190 members will be eligible to access doses to protect vulnerable groups in the first half of 2021. At least 1.3 billion donor-funded doses will be made available to 92 parties. These numbers cover at least 20% of the population by the end of the year if not more. With planning, deals and donors COVAX is up for the COVID-19 fight and might be our guardian angel. Let's hope 2021 gets off to a great start and we overcome the current pandemic.
By Arhaan Zaveri
Chinese Telecom Giants bids goodbye to Wall Street
As the Trump Administration prepares to make its last big decisions ahead of the transition of power to the Democrats, they have toughened their stance against China and Chinese companies. Donald Trump signed a bill in December which prevented US investors from investing in state or military owned Chinese firms. 3 state owned Chinese telecom giants China telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom will be suspended on the NYSE in a few weeks. They will then enter the delisting process. China responded by blacklisting a number of US companies from their markets. Chinese companies were never heavily contested on Wall Street, although over 200 of them are present. As the trade war intensified, Chinese companies sought listing on other exchanges as a precautionary measure in case the worst happened.
Cricket Teams of The Decade!
Test Team
1. Alastair Cook
8818 Runs.
2. Hashim Amla
6695 Runs.
3. Steve Smith
7237 Runs
4. Virat Kohli
7318 Runs
5. Kane Williamson (Captain)
6877 Runs
6. Ab De Villiers (WK)
5059 Runs, 101 catches
7. Ben Stokes
4428 Runs, 158 Wickets
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
2418 runs, 375 Wickets
9. Mitchell Starc
252 Wickets
10. Stuart Broad
414 Wickets
11. James Anderson
452 Wickets
ODI Team
1. Rohit Sharma
8420 Runs
2. David Warner
5349 Runs
3. Virat Kohli
11,556 Runs.
4. Kane Williamson
6173 Runs
5. Ab De Villiers
6485 Runs
6. MS Dhoni (Captain and WK)
5640 Runs
7. Mohammed Nabi
2706 Runs, 130 Wickets
8. Mitchell Starc
184 Wickets
9. Trent Boult
164 Wickets
10. Dale Steyn
145 Wickets
11. Imran Tahir
173 Wickets
T20 Team
1. Rohit Sharma
2531 runs, 137 Strike Rate.
2. Chris Gayle
1175 Runs, 140 Strike Rate.
3. Virat Kohli
138 Strike Rate, 2929 Runs
4. Aaron Finch
2149 runs, 154 Strike Rate.
5. Glenn Maxwell
158 Strike Rate, 1687 runs, 29 wickets.
6. MS Dhoni (Captain and WK)
129 Strike Rate, 1261 runs.
7. Andre Russell
Strike rate 151, 26 wickets
8. Kagiso Rabada
31 wickets, good bowling average.
9. Rashid Khan
89 Wickets, Good Strike Rate
10. Jasprit Bumrah
59 wickets, good economy
11. Lasith Malinga
83 Wickets
By Krishnav Bubna
*All figures for the last decade.
India beat Australia by 8 wickets in a historic comeback, captain Rahane smashed a century to earn the man of the match award.
T Natarajan replaces Umesh Yadav in India's squad for the last two Tests in Australia.
‘Surprising to move up ahead of Kohli and Smith’, says Kane Williamson after becoming No.1 Test batsman.
Manchester United's Edinson Cavani handed three-match ban for racial term in a social media post.
Neil Wagner bowled 21 Overs with broken toes with realising which he is not in the 2nd test squad.
Chess prodigy Nihal Sarin becomes a grandmaster at the young age of 16. He has played over 30,000 games on Chess.com.
Tech News
The PS5 will release on 2nd February in India and preorders to start from 12th January.
Redmi and Xiaomi are expected to release a plethora of new phones in 2021.
Android 11 is rolling out to the Xiaomi Mi A3 and causing phones to become unusable.
Apple removes 39,000 games from the China App Store as the deadline for getting a license ends.
Other News
The Finance Ministry declared that GST collections experienced an all time high with 1.15 lakh crores in December.
Delhi recorded its coldest New Year’s Day which measured just 1.1 degrees Celsius..
A deceased farmer amid protests in Delhi was seen in a 2018 photo.
Donald Trump extended his immigration ban till 31st March
The UK officially parts with the EU, PM Boris Johnson says it will give 'more freedom and control'.
Murder on the Orient Express
-Agatha Christie
Age Rating 12+
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Genre: Mystery
“The murderer is with us- on the train now.”
Have you ever read a disappointing Agatha Christie? If you have, you must be exceptionally hard to impress because from what I’ve read, her books are absolutely mind-blowing! Unless you’re an intellectual genius, it's extremely hard to guess a ‘whodunnit’ like this one, and even if you do, there’s always some shocking revelation you are bound to miss. This book is crafted beautifully, so if you’re in the mood for a shocking mind-twisting read, it’s perfect. The only downside I could spot was that it moves slightly slower in the beginning, but believe me- stick on a little longer because it is worth it. If you’re not much of a reader, there’s also a movie based on this book which you might like to check out- though I won't vouch for that being as terrific as the book, although, I haven’t seen it. The age rating is mostly based on violence in the book and if you’re an advanced reader for your age the rating is rather flexible. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do- and seriously, read it.
By Sanaa Dharamshi
On 27th December 1835, Charles Darwin went on a journey that led him to create his theory about evolution.
On 28th December 1612, Neptune was observed for the first time.
On 29th December 1996, the 36 year war in Guatemala ended.
On 30th December 1922, the USSR was established by Leninism creator, Vladimir Lenin.
On 31st December 1911, Marie Curie received her 2nd Nobel prize for her contributions to the theory of radioactivity.
On 1st January 1896, Wilhelm Röntgen published his discovery of x rays.
On 2nd January 1906, the first air conditioner was patented.
You can hear a blue whale's heartbeat from 2 miles away!
Written by Vivaan Dharamshi
Edited by Nirvaan Zaveri