MakeBelieve

The pandemic is far from over, as evidenced by the rapid rise to global dominance of the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2. This variant is a derivative of BA.2.86, the only other strain that has carried more than 30 new mutations in the spike protein since Omicron first came on the scene more than two years ago. This should have warranted designation by the World Health Organization as a variant of concern with a Greek letter, such as Pi.By wastewater levels, JN.1 is now associated with the second-biggest wave of infections in…

Reserve Bank governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday reiterated his call for an outright ban on cryptocurrencies, saying these are "nothing but gambling" and their perceived "value is nothing but make-believe." To further its opposition to such currencies and also to take a lead over other central banks, the RBI recently launched its own digital currency (central bank digital currency), in the form of e-rupee on a pilot mode, first for the wholesale in late last October and a month later for retail customers. Speaking at a…

“Still in shape, my methods refined,” sings Paul Banks on Toni, the opening track of Interpol’s seventh studio album. Banks is a lyric writer who, throughout his career, has tended to deal in allusion and opacity, the kind of imagery that sounds as though it means something, but can essentially be interpreted in any way the listener sees fit: “Draw me a million years and I’ll probably make them my home / eternity brought me tears, but it’s the cold I collect on my own,” he sings, characteristically, elsewhere on The Other…