Mint Lite | India covid tally, Gen Y & democracy, warming Africa and others
4 min read 29 Oct 2020, 09:48 PM ISTStories, views, opinions and talking points that matter, from around the world
PremiumWhile covid-19 continues to wreak havoc in India, Europe and the US, Taiwan has achieved a different kind of record—200 days without a locally transmitted case. Experts say early closure of borders, rigorous contact tracing and widespread mask wearing helped the country of 23 million to reach the landmark on Thursday. Melbourne, meanwhile, emerged from one of the world’s strictest and longest lockdowns on Wednesday after over three months. Infections have dropped from a daily peak of about 700 in August to just two new cases on Wednesday. For more updates, here’s Mint Lite.
Gen Y is losing faith in democracy
Millennials, or those born between 1981 and 1996, are less satisfied with democracy and more disillusioned than at any other time in the past century, especially in Europe, the US, Africa and Australia, shows a University of Cambridge study. Millennials, or Gen Y, are more disillusioned than Gen X, those born between 1965 and 1981, or Baby Boomers born between 1944 and 1964, and the main reason for it is the inequality in wealth and income distribution, it says. Disillusionment is rife in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, France, Australia, the US and the UK. But, but satisfaction with democracy has increased in South Korea and many of the post-Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe as widespread protests in the past months have shown, points out the study, which delved into data from over 4.8 million respondents collected across 160 countries between 1973 and 2020.
LVMH, Tiffany end luxury battle
Tiffany and LVMH are finally getting back together. The French brand will pay slightly less to acquire US jeweller Tiffany & Co. after the two firms agreed to end a bitter dispute and salvage the luxury sector’s biggest-ever deal, reports Reuters. The new takeover price was set at $131.5 a share, down from $135 in the original deal, bringing the total price tag to $15.8 billion. That represents a discount of $425 million for LVMH. The transaction, which has received regulatory clearance, is expected to close in early 2021, subject to Tiffany shareholder approval. Last month, LVMH had said it would abandon its planned acquisition of Tiffany, saying a trade fight between Brussels and Washington had forced it to scrap the agreement. Tiffany sued LVMH in a Delaware court, saying the French group had breached its obligations. Weeks later, LVMH countersued, arguing the pandemic had damaged its business.
Virus slows down in India
For the first time since August, it was the US, not India, that reported the highest number of new coronavirus cases in a week. The US reported 16% of all new cases and 13% of new deaths. The figures for India were 10% and 9%, respectively. The global coronavirus case count has crossed 44 million, including 1.17 million deaths, showed data from Johns Hopkins University. India’s total count of coronavirus patients crossed 8 million on Thursday morning. India’s slowdown in the pandemic has now lasted around a month and a half. This has given a push to public mobility across the country and the economy is recovering. In Europe, fears are rising alongside cases as the previous lockdowns had ravaged economies worldwide. For more, see Plain Facts.
Why Africa is warming so fast
From health to food security and economic growth, climate is expected to disproportionally affect every aspect of life in Africa, shows the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Africa report. It says temperatures in the continent have increased over 1 degree Celsius compared to the average between 1901 and 2012, reports Bloomberg. The warm-ing in large areas of the continent may exceed 2ºC from pre-industrial times by 2080 to 2100 if emissions continue at their current levels, says the report. Over the years, African nations have been experiencing a rise in heatwaves and erratic rainfall patterns, affecting agriculture production. Climate change, along with conflicts and economic crises, is also causing an increase in hunger. In drought-prone sub-Saharan nations, the number of undernourished people has risen by 45.6% since 2012, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Hop on to a flight to ‘somewhere’
The pandemic has given aviation firms a chance to be creative in an effort to revive business. Air Canada will operate its jetz aircraft, meant only for business class travellers, on routes between Canada and popular winter sun destinations like Palm Springs, Mexico and the Caribbean. Tickets for travel on the jetz aircraft will be priced the same as a regular business class ticket. Quantas Airlines, meanwhile, has announced special flights aimed at people who want to travel but cannot leave the country due to covid-19 restrictions. On 5-6 December, the 24-hour “Flight to Somewhere" will take bored Australians from Sydney to Uluru, where they can see the sights and stay overnight in a hotel. This will be a little different from the airlines’ earlier offer, Flight to Nowhere, where travellers were taken on a seven-hour flight over picturesque locations, but not allowed to de-board.
Curated by Shalini Umachandran, Pooja Singh and Sohini Sen. Have something to share with us? Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com or tweet to @shalinimb
