The Week Ahead: Dubai showdown for IPL crown; WHO to decide on Covaxin’s emergency use approval

I am still recovering from that Goa-to-Gold Coast delivery by Indian bowler Shikha Pandey that clean bowled Australian batter Alyssa Healy at Carrara on October 9 during a T20I series. You can watch it here at Cricket Australia’s official Twitter account where, surprisingly, it got less than 40,000 views. But at cricket journalist Annesha Ghosh’s account (who also coined the Goa-to-Gold Coast phrase), it received more than 1.5 million views. This monster of an in-swinger, now being described by many experts as the Ball of the Century in women’s cricket, deserves to be seen in a non-stop loop, it’s that beautiful.

The Indian team fought valiantly that day, but Australia is the team to beat in women’s cricket. It is more dominant than Steve Waugh’s and Ricky Ponting’s teams were in the men’s version. Here, too, it is quite often India that dented Australian dominance.

Which brings us to this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). It may not have reached the exalted heights of its 2020 edition, but it certainly is one of the most exciting sporting leagues in the world. This Friday, the 2021 final will be played at the Dubai International Stadium. We don’t know the finalists yet, but Mumbai Indians, which has won more IPL trophies than any other team and the champion in both 2019 and 2020, has not even made it to the playoffs this year. This alone makes for an exciting playoff schedule.

There are hearts beating in the Indian pharmaceutical firmament as well. The decision on whether to grant emergency use listing to Bharat Biotech’s vaccine against coronavirus disease will be taken by WHO (World Health Organisation) this week. The experts from WHO, and a group of independent experts, are going through the data currently, and are expected to carry out the risk-benefit assessment this week. Once EUL is granted, Covaxin will be eligible for use in low- and middle-income countries under the COVAX facility. It will also bring huge relief to Indian travellers as some countries might recognise Covaxin and allow Indians vaccinated with it to travel, a significant step in our journey to pre-Covid normalcy.

What Indians are also looking forward to this week is the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of September and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the month of August. Both will be released on October 12. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for September will be released on October 14.

To be sure, CPI inflation had moderated further from 5.6% in July to 5.3% in August, a four-month low. It had stayed above the upper limit of Reserve Bank of India’s tolerance zone of 2%-6% in May and June. This decrease in inflation is because of food prices, which grew at 5.15% in June, but decreased to 3.96% in July and 3.11% in August. Food has 39% weight in CPI. Non-food inflation increased from 6.7% in July to 6.8% in August.

Meanwhile, IIP grew at 11.45% year-on-year in July, but this has to be read with the fact that factories were affected by the lockdown imposed to curb Covid-19 in 2020. IIP was 131.8 in July 2019, but decreased to 117.9 in July 2020. It was 131.4 in July 2021.

Unlike retail inflation, WPI inflation did not show a decline in August. August was the fifth consecutive month of double-digit WPI inflation. The 11.4% inflation in August was also slightly higher than the July inflation of 11.2%, although lower than the 13.1% and 12.1% inflation in May and June.

These numbers could have an impact on the stock indices, that have moved either sideways or downward this past week, with the BSE closing above the psychological 60,000 mark on Friday. There are a host of company results to be announced this week and the next, and the indices could see significant action.

Internationally, the situation in Afghanistan will continue to remain in focus as external affairs minister S Jaishankar makes an official visit to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia during October 10-13. The Central Asian states have been keeping a wary eye on the security situation in Afghanistan and the issue is expected to figure in Jaishankar’s meetings. Minister of state for external affairs Meenakashi Lekhi will visit Serbia during October 10-13 as the special envoy of the prime minister to attend a commemorative meeting marking the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

In domestic politics, we have the results of the two-phase local body elections held in nine newly carved districts in Tamil Nadu on October 12. Expelled leader V K Sasikala will be visiting J Jayalalithaa’s memorial on October 16, a day ahead of when the AIADMK celebrates its golden jubilee year.

In Assam, Congress leaders and cadres will take part in a three-hour ‘maun vrat’ (vow of silence) on October 11 demanding the sacking of union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni. This is part of the party’s nationwide programme that day.

In Kerala, a local court will give its verdict on one of the most intriguing cases of our times – the snake bite murder case – on Monday. A woman was bitten by a cobra let loose by her husband and killed. Her husband and a local snake handler are main accused. For background, read here and here.

In Karnataka, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai is expected to take a decision on naming district in-charge ministers and help calm soaring tempers in an increasingly tense cabinet. He is expected to find a balance and name a minister in-charge for Bengaluru or decide to retain the post himself like his predecessor, BS Yediyurappa. The bypoll campaign is gathering momentum as all three parties slug it out to secure victories in Hanagal and Sindgi. This is also the first test for chief minister Bommai after he took over the top chair.