Year 2021 in Amrit's History Book

1. While some have used Delta (Δ) and Pi (π) in math, in 2021 Greek alphabets became household terms, especially Delta and Omnicron. Thankfully Mu remained a variant of interest. I just wish the WHO had picked another mechanism to name COVID-19 variants.        

2. The COVID-19 Delta variant caused massive havoc, devastation and death in India while some US states had to incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations to increase vaccination rates domestically. 

3. The Indian government could not prevent millions of COVID-19 related deaths, however, administrating 1.43B COVID-19 vaccine doses and fully vaccinating 586M (as of 29th Dec,2021) is a huge achievement. 

4. The pandemic continued to affect our lives, and we are still trying to define a ‘new normal". Limited size and disclosing COVID-19 status prior to a gathering is new. The additional step of PCR tests has made international travel a bit more difficult. 

5. The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan within days of the US withdrawal. Most historians speculate that the Taliban will turn the clock backward. 

6. The Texas Heartbeat Act practically bans abortions in Texas, and places a bounty on abortion seekers, and directly undermines the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade. Are we turning the clock backward in America too? 

7. On January 6th, the greatest democracy on the earth, America, curbed the attack on its democracy and institutions. Nevertheless, the insurrection will be remembered as a dark chapter of American history. 

8. For the first time in US history, a female, an African American and an Asian American was sworn in as the Vice President of the US. While most know Kamala Harris made history, in another part of the world Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first African and the first woman to become the director-general of the World Trade Organization. 

9. While America experienced a racial reckoning in 2020, this year the US government declared Juneteenth National Independence Day (June 19) a federal holiday.