Impact of COVID-19 on undergraduate education

COVID-19 has hit India with its absolute force and has put the entire nation under lockdown. This nationwide pandemic has tested various systems of India. The medical sector has suffered the most under its wrath due to the unavailability of staff and equipment. Furthermore, due to lockdown, various business activities have been shut down, this has also taken a toll on India’s economy. While sectors like these are facing issues as of now, the educational sector of India is also under crisis. Colleges/ universities have been shut for over 2 months as it would be unsafe for the students and faculty to attend college at the time of lockdown, while coronavirus continues to spread at a massive rate. Coping with COVID-19 is difficult for everyone including universities, because they serve such an extensive variety of purposes. First and the most significant, they are educational institutions, where undergraduate and postgraduate students acquire skills, knowledge and education and where faculty educate and conduct research. Furthermore, they additionally work as small cities, complete with police forces, energy plants, sports offices, and other civic institutions. They are likewise significant local employers and important drivers of nearby and regional economies. Lastly, many manage hospitals, setting them at the front line of the local healthcare system. Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) has made the students hostel into a quarantine center as they have more than 300 rooms. Students are in panic as their belongings are still there.

Despite the fact that most understudies have left grounds, the issues created by COVID-19 have not. Everyone from the workforce to office staff are stressed over their future. Research projects, semester exams and practicals are postponed. Admissions for new courses and staff recruitment are disrupted. Everything is in disorder. Undergraduate and postgraduate students have many questions like: How will their academic credit be determined? Will they be reimbursed for the unused room and lodging? Will there be a farewell ceremony for last year students? Will this affect their athletic scholarship? Would they be able to stay in the country if their student visa is revoked? Would the final year students get their degree this year or not? In short, universities still have various important decisions to make, and to convey to the students and faculty.

Making an organization that gives a framework to these decisions can help—and is preferable done sooner rather than later. In working with higher-education institutions as well as businesses and public-sector agencies, we have perceived how integrated nerve centers can assist these institutions and organisations with setting a course and follow up.

COVID-19 has drastically reshaped the manner in which worldwide higher education is taught. Lectures are being conducted online. Examinations and their conduct is uncertain since most of the universities have cancelled exams for now, as all the education institutions have become virtual. Therefore, higher education institutions are quickly shifting how they impart and operate to meet the advancing needs of students and faculty. And they have successfully met the requirements of the students to a large extent.

EDUCATION IN TIMES OF CORONA

We all are well informed about the current unfortunate scenario created by the deadly Novel Corona Virus. A lot has been said and discussed how much it has impacted the environment, society and the economy of the countries. This pandemic has tremendously affected the education system, this is also needed to be discussed widely. Almost every day, the teachers and students are facing new challenges. Education is the backbone of a society and the students are the future. Life becomes valueless without education. The suffering of the entire education system is not at all desirable.

From the very beginning, the main mode of education was offline and the basic source was school. But it is obvious that due to this corona outbreak all the offline modes of education are closed for an uncertain period of time. On 14th March the nation’s Prime Minister announced the first nationwide lockdown, and the news dropped like a bombshell for the institutions and teachers, because at that point of time many board exams were going on in schools and colleges and some results were about to be declared.

The lockdown is getting extended in increments since March. Given this situation, it is not possible for the institutions to take a complete break from teaching the students neither it is possible for the students to stop studying since whenever their schools/colleges will reopen they will have to give their due exams. In this situation the only thing that is feasible, is to introduce e-learning in their curriculums. Internet learning was always an option for extra studies for the students, but now that option has become a necessity for almost all the educational institutions.

Education is a basic right for every citizen of a country. But this overnight change of the mode of study from offline to online has made education unreachable to some of the students. Numerous students do not have an internet connection and thus the study materials that are being given to them are becoming unattainable for them. Some of the institutions have even started marking their attendance in the online classes. Those schools/colleges use to allot marks on the attendance of the students, so, those students who aren’t being able to attend these online classes are getting affected severely. All the sources of learning have become unobtainable for these students since their tuitions are also off now. Even the teachers are facing copious issues due to this sudden change. Many teachers are not technologically equipped so along with the students they are also taking time for getting used to it. The teachers are also facing pressures of converting all the teaching materials to digital formats. Even if the majority of the students are getting the facility of attending their classes through online conferences, it can not be apprehended how the pending and future exams will be taken through online mode.

Amidst this situation where all the students and teachers were already struggling to get adjusted with this newly formed learning system, the government of several states announced that the junior classes of the schools and the intermediate semester students of the universities will be promoted to the next class or to the next semester. Regarding this a lot of hassles has been created since most of the universities are still not agreeing to promote their students without taking their tests. Some of the institutions are planning to take their exams very soon even in this crucial situation. The students were already distressed and this being added into their suffering, they are now completely perplexed.

The university students who had their terminal semesters just when the lockdown started, are suffering the most. Most of them had their career plans ready already. Since the entire exam procedure got delayed, they are living in an extremely uncertainty right now. The school kids are facing problems in paying the fees of the schools and tuitions since most of the parents do not have the facility of online banking. The government and the institutions are trying to make things a little less difficult for the students. The sense of insecurity in the students are making them depressed and it has affected their mental health badly. No one knows what the future holds for all of us, but what we can do is to try to keep the students engaged not only with studies but also with creative things so that they can stay healthy and productive in this pivotal situation.

ASHA Workers Fighting the Pandemic: Ground Zero Problems

Community Health Workers (CHWs) play an important role in building awareness, countering stigma and maintaining essential primary healthcare service delivery in different parts of the world. In India’s case they are in the form of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers, who are taking full charge of the public health effort for safe working conditions and fair remunerations in this pandemic. It is essential that they are provided adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and proper training for its usage in the early stages of the dreadful pandemic like COVID-19. It is also appropriate to ensure role clarity, training, supportive supervision, health and well-being for them.

In view of the shortage of human resource in the health system the Government of India recruited ASHA workers to connect marginalised communities with health care under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), 2005. There are 9,00,000 ASHA workers, who are acting as a bridge between the government and common citizens. They are working hard in these challenging times as health care facilitators, health activists and service providers and putting their lives at high risk. The current situation of the country has brought out the hidden but no less intense struggle of the ASHA workers. The struggle concerns the limited support they get from an inflexible and fragile public health system. ASHA workers are also facing increased resistance from communities when they go out in the field to monitor safety measures against the spread of the pandemic. They feel stressed when they fear the mistrust of local people while finding out COVID patients within an allotted area. They face trouble in various places in the country. They appeal for protective measures to save themselves from infection and also to ward off physical attack from hostile people. Let us have a pan Indian survey to trace some of the problems faced by the ASHA workers.

In Karnataka lack of cooperation from local people and unavailability of safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities have forced the ASHA workers not to drink water during their duty.

In Gosaiganj, Lucknow, the pink sari-clad ASHA workers stay outdoors most of the day, with ‘makeshift masks’ formed by dupattas. Their allotted work is to survey around thirty to fifty houses in a day depending on the risk levels of the area. They have an increased risk of exposure to the coronavirus, which also endanger their families. Such fears aggravate even further, especially given the gendered nature of domestic care work, forcing many of them out of duty in such challenging times. Lucknow has an ASHA team which has ‘ASHA Sangini’ as the leader. She reported that three of her workers have dropped out from work at present for fear of personal and professional risks.

ASHA workers in Faridabad, Haryana, and Bengaluru, and Belagavi in Karnataka, are facing the ire of local people who are dissatisfied with the government’s handling of the pandemic. People assume that the ASHA workers are in direct contact with political parties and on this pretext they attack the workers conducting surveys. Local people show huge resistance to cooperating with the workers. Now in some places police accompany the workers to protect them. Such protection is important in view of the fact that ASHA workers already face an increase in workload in terms of increase in number of working hours. Apart from their existing duties they also have additional workload now, including spreading awareness of the pandemic, regular check-up by house-to-house visit.

On the top of it, due to delay in payments, ASHA workers in Pedapalli district, Telangana, have decided to leave the work. This is not an exceptional event as delayed payment problem plagues ASHA workers in many parts of India. Very often they are the only source of income for their families. The problem is even more complicated because while they do not get their meagre allowance the medical staff and sanitation workers are receiving regular salaries.

In central Delhi, recently an ASHA worker reported positive for coronavirus. It is not unexpected because they were not provided PPE kits to work in the containment areas. Their meagre payment and inability to pay for treatment lead their families to prevent them from going out to the field and take life risk.

ASHA workers are also coping with the increase in demand of medical supplies and birth control methods of women’s reproductive concerns. Men are not used to be in home for a very long time. The women complain of physical demands their husbands are making on them. Being helpless due to the home quarantines and lockdown extensions they are begging the workers for protections to be used. An ASHA worker in Ajmer had to intervene when the police stopped a pregnant woman on her way to an abortion clinic. The workers are also running out of calcium and iron tablets and facing difficulty in providing them to the concerned people.

An ASHA worker from Barabanki district, Lucknow, reported that the swirls of rumours through social media have made their work more challenging. People have the fear that contact with the virus means immediate death. The workers have to work very hard to clear the confusion among the anxious and distressed people who have never faced such pandemic before.

We must appreciate the role of the ASHA workers, who are working very hard to put the welfare of the community before their own safety. They are putting aside their fear of coronavirus and the nation needs their service more than ever before as the foot soldiers fighting the COVID-19 battle. Their main motto is, “Kaam karna hai, toh karna hai” (work that has to be done, has to be done).

It is amply clear that ASHA workers face multiple problems in such crisis times. But their problems need to be addressed with due care at the governmental level. It is because they at the ground level make the public health system robust and responsive. They are not to be underestimated as “low-level health workers”.

WORLD BRAIN TUMOR DAY

Every year World Tumor Day is observed on 8 June. World Brain Tumor Day was first marked by Deutsche Hirntumorhilfe, a Non-Profit, German Brain Tumor Association. Deutsche Hirntumorhilfe declared the World Brain Tumor Day in the year 2000 to spread the awareness about the brain tumor among the people and tribute to all brain tumor patients and their families.

What is a Brain tumor?
Unnecessary growth of cells that are either within or around the structure of the brain is known as a Brain tumor. This abnormal collection of cells in your brain or central nervous system can disrupt brain function. Brain tumors are mainly of two types:

Malignant Tumors
Benign Tumor

Malignant primary brain tumors are cancerous and Benign brain tumors are non-cancerous.

Symptoms of Brain Tumor

•Changes in personality and behavior
•Double vision and blurred vision
•Severe headache
•Memory loss and confusion
•Nausea and vomiting
•Drowsiness
•Sleep problems
•seizures

Causes of Brain tumor

Age- with increase age risk of a brain tumor increases.

Chemical exposure- Being exposed to certain chemicals, such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that may find in a work environment can increase your risk for brain cancer.

Exposure to ionizing radiation- People who have been exposed to high-radiation cancer therapies or radiation from nuclear fallout are on the increased risk of brain tumors.

Frequent use of cellphones: the radiofrequency energy from cellphones is capable of causing brain tumors.

Family History- brain tumors may be genetically inherited. If your family member is diagnosed with a brain tumor than consult your doctor immediately.

Delhi CM going for test of Corona due to unwell condition

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has gone for a test of Corona on last Saturday. He is feeling unwell from last few weeks. After lots of coughs and headache , he gone through the test of Corona. Now waiting for the results.

This pandemic disease can attack on any person. But Now if the test reports come positive, it really going to make a big question on the administration of Delhi Govt.

Delhi has recorded a total of 28,936 cases of coronavirus while 812 people have died so far. Meanwhile, coronavirus cases in India have gone up by almost 10,000 on Sunday.

The real problem is that anyone can be attacked by this disease. So everyone should have to follow the guidelines of Govt. And we all had to be aware and don’t do any silly mistake as it can make you under this dangerous situation.

HEALTH & IMMUNITY -By Rakeshita

Nirogi bhavh!!

When health is concerned, it talks about mental and physical both. The situation is tough for us all but everything coincides, probably the people living in a home can work on the health and wellness of the family.
This time that we got rather, unfortunately, is ironically precious so, instead of issues and problems don’t skip to live it to it’s fullest.
I would suggest to make a healthy plan, laugh louder and speak your hearts out as tomorrow is uncertain, instead of the memories of the holiday trip, it’s better to introspect about life.

It is the time that you can use efficiently to be what you want to be, the time when work was at its peak and the responsibilities of family and everything made situations a little chaotic, so in this time, just try to mend things and start the life that you always dreamt of.

When things start to become anxious, get some coffee, tea, juice and think do we really need this time but if given then that is something which is very planned.

Though some plannings are not in control, at last, we need to think about the root causes, understand that individual care and prevention will also relieve the community, society and government as well, since everything and anything is interconnected issues.

Majorly the division of time and routine is important, to be the asset for the country rather than a liability.
Don’t think as if this is a holiday period for being lazy, rather understand it is a challenging situation that needs to be overcome by keeping fit and healthy collectively and through collective effort.

Start the spark of the flame let’s leave reason lame …

Starting the day with morning sun rays of optimism and fresh oxygen…
First drink water and then go for a brush and daily morning fresh up. Eat healthy give time to yourself introspect and find ways to improve.
Prepare a routine time and systematic review of the things.
Consistency is the key to success, improve a little habit daily that will give a

positive lifestyle and hope.
Self -Confidence will be the next step to the goal, develop a habit don’t just pen it down but rather make it daily a routine as planning is fruitful only when executed.

Read, Listen, Watch, Inspire…….
Target the goals you want to achieve, work hard and take a break with the help of meditation, yoga and
music.
Prepare yourself with little patience, losing hope is apart but don’t shake the urge to fulfil the goal rather develop an optimistic approach.
Uplift and Encourage each other to be the part of assets for the country.
Immunity stays with a healthy heart and a healthy brain.
Eat healthily, add sprouts, papaya, aloe, mango and green vegetables and especially the wheatgrass.

For mental health listen to music, birds chirping, connect to nature, breath in breath out, exercise these
are the little help I can provide by this article.
The threat and problems are everywhere it’s just an attitude and style of dealing will the situation in hand.
If reading this will make one life better that will accomplish the things as everything starts with an
individual effort.
Believe that everything will be fine but at the same time be prepared for challenges as well.

Here I quote an ancient saying that fits this time
“PEHLA SUKH NIROGI KAYA…
DOOSRA SUKH GHAR MEIN HO MAYA…
TEESRA SUKH KULWANTI NARI…
CHAUTHA SUKH PUTRA AGYAKARI”
It means that health is always at the top priority for humans.
Stay happy healthy and blessed!!

How can one develop reading habits?

The basic reasons why reading is important is that it helps in the growth of of emotional, mental and psychological aspects of a human behaviour. Every book you read would give you an opportunity to learn new ideas and implement them in your day to day life. Reading not only makes you intelligent but also smarter. For an author, writing a book takes a hell lot of efforts and dedication. He passes through several pains to come up with a single book. As readers we gain years of experiences by reading them. Reading improves our focus and concentration. Many of us spent our time surfing through the internet, watching videos and reading unnecessary memes. This is the reason people are losing focus. Thus, reading is an effective way to gain focus back. It helps in the discovery of yourself. When you read a book, you connect to various experiences and emotions. This not only makes you engrossed into the books but also guides you to to act in particular ways when you face such situations in life.

Reading also leads to the improvement of your emotional health. While reading a book you encounter many emotions such as happiness, anger, sorrow, surprise etc. But at the end, we always wish our hero to win. Your memory is also enhanced as you come across many words which you need to remember. U tend to become more creative and self motivated.

There are many reasons to be listed that why one should read books on a daily basis. Now, here are the ways to develop reading habits:

The foremost step to start developing reading habits is to stop looking it as a chore. Start reading few pages everyday and steadily increase the number as you begin to enjoy the story. It will take time to be able read 500 pages at a stretch.
Choose your genre of books such as fiction, non-fiction, fantasy or biography. It is better to know your taste of reading first rather than getting them halfway done and leaving.
Start small. Reading short stories can be a a very good start for the budding readers.
It is not necessary to complete a book till the end if you are not not finding it interesting. You may better leave it if you think that the book is not worth of your time.
Don’t start reading a book having tough language. Obviously, you can take help of a dictionary but better start with those books which have simple vocabulary. Gradually you can move on to to reading such books.
Paper is no more exciting. You can read from Amazon’s Kindle having millions of books of various genre.
Read the books on a daily basis. Do not pressurise yourself if you don’t feel like reading a book for long hours. Start with reading 20-30 minutes daily and then gradually increase over time.
Try to read before going to bed. This would not only improve your mental health but also would provide you a sound sleep.
Read at quiet places where there are no disturbances at all.
You can also keep a short diary with you to make notes for further references.

“Marvel” Mania

Marvel(studios) movies are a favourite amongst almost all age groups. Be it the characterization of the super heroes whom we hero worship and are die hard fans of the heroes or be it the creativity and the animation or the fact that they invoke amongst us all emotions which strengthens our affectionate and connections with the movie series.

The graph above is an evidence of the audience’s reaction and the attachment which marvel watchers have. Some of the most famous marvel series are Avengers, Iron Man, Thor and Spider Man.

Marvel studios is one of the companies that has the most versatile characters to show from different walks of life, this feature attracts audience to a great extent. They give their actors (movies) a better screen presence and their creativity which is displayed in every movie gives them an edge over the others.

Their story lines are super extravagant and their strong heroes and heroines always make the story more attractive and inspire us. Marvel movies constantly awaken emotions within us which builds up a connection between the audience and the movie. According to a source it creates 80% emotional engagement amongst its viewers e.g.-Ironman(series) has gained some die-hard fans especially the hero tony stark ,he had left us all in tears when he took his life to save the others in the movie Avengers: Endgame, we will never forget Tony Stark.

The statistics above in the graph clearly states how Avengers especially End game is reigning at the top. One of the main reasons why the series touched our hearts was because of the fact that it brought all of the amazing characters together in one platform and created a big family whom we can idealize & glorify and also because of the attractive visuals and the storyline.

Marvel has created gems out of actors who were underestimated or were not the most popular film stars in town, by giving them a chance he has allowed then to shine their true light and also has given its audience the best actors to look up to and hero worship. Many actors who were struggling became well known film stars overnight as Marvel brought out their true potential on screen.

The diverse and captivating movie series it has to offer to its viewers is one of the points which makes it always stand at the top of the list, be it Spider man, Iron man, Fantastic Four or even Guardians of the galaxy it offers the viewers a variety of characters to look up to be it their striking personality or their witty and charismatic appearances or even beguiling and ravishing characteristics of the characters. It makes even the unattractive and ugly characters look enchanting and desirable and turns them into heart stealers. And it’s given an equal platform to the female super heroes as well e.g.-Black Widow or Jane Foster.

The fact that it allowed the heroes from different walks of life to come together in one movie series(avengers) which created multiple relationships and also crated rivalry between antagonists, added more audience to its cup .The creativity which the movie offers is spectacular, the kind of movies which marvel creates have an edge over other thriller/superhero movies.

Marvel vs DC will always be an ongoing debate in the long run, even though DC is at the top when it comes to their animated movies and tv series. Marvel will always reign with the first rank because of positive audience reviews and variegated characters it has to offer.

Marvel has gone out and about and taken a step out of the monotonous box to offer its viewers some of the best content in the form of thrilling and appealing movies. In the long run it’s going to be tough for any production house or studio to surpass it or even compete with it.

Abdhi Upadhyay

Dethronement of Labours

Am I Guilty of being a poor citizen of the country?

Am I Guilty of working in the unorganised sector of the economy ?

Am I Guilty of being so illiterate person who is not even aware of his/her fundamental rights ?

Am I Guilty of not being able to provide you with big donations for your political agendas ?

If I am not guilty of any of these so what I am guilty of that I have to suffer so hard and who is responsible for the hapless condition of me and my family ?

The questions which every migrant labour is asking to its fellow citizens and the ruling government of our country .

Today we are talking about the Dethronement of Labours in our country, so what lead to the dethronement, it wasn’t the outcome of a simple thing. It was the outcome of a complex insecurities on the part of the labourers and insensitiveness on the part of government in handling the migrant crisis.
In India where more than 75% of the workforce earn their livelihood in the informal and unorganised sector. On 24th March 2020 country’s first lockdown because of COVID-19 was implemented with just four hours of prior notice by the government.

The migrant workers weren’t provided with any opportunity and time to understand the gravity of the situation. As soon as they realised how grave the situation is the entire nation was already at a standstill, and their biggest fear started haunting them. Not the fear of dying because of the virus but the fear of dying out of hunger since they were rendered jobless after the announcement of lockdown and were left with very little or no income because the factories in which they worked for a living weren’t operating anymore due to the nationwide lockdown and their employers weren’t ready to give their salaries.
They were neither informed about the processing of lockdown nor about the process after lockdown. With no other alternative left they started heading back to their native places on their own because the metropolitan cities in which they were working seemed hard for survival without work. They were forced to cover the unbelievable distance to their way back home on foot, cycles, trucks loaded with goods and what not.

https://images.app.goo.gl/2ryXG5QSX77TNHSXA

Even the announcement of relief packages didn’t convinced them and their distress increased with the increasing lockdown restrictions. Several reports suggests that more than 90% of migrant workers did not received government rations in many states and were suffering from dire food shortage. And there is enough corroboration to prove the same. Many people died while walking towards their native towns on road due to hunger, dehydration and lack of timely medical care. 17 workers were crushed by a goods train in Aurangabad Railway Incident as they were sleeping on the railway tracks . 27 workers died in Auraiya road accident.

We don’t even know about the exact number of labours who lost their lives because of various reasons during this punitive lockdown. As these are the only cases which came into limelight and the fact is very cogent that they are just a part of the huge exact number because only a fraction of deaths is reported by the media.

On one hand where PM CARES FUND has received approximately Rs 10,000 Crore of donations and the main reason behind the introduction of which was to deal with any kind of crisis, produced by COVID-19 pandemic and provide succour to those affected by it, on the other hand after 40 days of lockdown when the government restarted the railways and agreed to run special trains for labourers they were asked to pay the rail fare to reach their respective states and even after paying for fares and not left with any money they were left to scramble for food and water. Instead of supporting the labourers with basic necessities and adequate facilities our government tried to hoodwink the Indian public on the issue of rail fares reveals the hypocrisy level of our government. The heart wrenching experiences shared by the migrant labours clearly show the hideous face of the Indian government which always promises moon to its citizens but fails to provide them even with a LED Bulb. Did we contributed to PM CARES Fund to see the despair of workforce that has built our cities.

https://images.app.goo.gl/xdCS3rQ1mAPzYcTr7

The labourers who have reached and are still reaching their native places their problems have not ended with that instead it’s just the beginning of their problems.
India has the biggest workforce in the world and Indian cities produce over 70% of its GDP and informal sector makes about 65% of their workforce. The people who migrated to cities for work because of unavailability of work in their hometowns are now migrating back because of the similar scenarios in cities now. As of May, the unemployment rate in rural India was at 24.3% up from around 16% in April. According to ILO, the pandemic could push 400 Million informal workers in India into deep penury.

In the wake of migrant crisis our state governments are leaving no stone unturned to exploit the labourers in name of boosting the economy and are utilising the opportunity to its full extent . Amid the pandemic many states including U.P, M.P, Gujrat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and a few more are busy in diluting and suspending the Labour Laws for a long period of time. U.P made the boldest move by increasing the working hours from 8 to 12 which it later withdrew following a notice from Allahabad High Court. Rajasthan followed the move. By tweaking the Labour Laws the government isn’t ameliorating the condition of the labours instead it’s just creating an exploitative environment for the labours which will give more authority to the employers and exploitation of labour will take place on a larger scale and it will be no wrong to say that all this is being done for the benefit of employers not employees. Not only this these labour reforms introduced by many states are violating the constitution because relaxation of labour laws is only permitted during public emergency like internal or external threat to India’s safety and a pandemic is definitely not a public emergency.

The present pathetic condition of the labours would have been avoided if the executive’s attitude was not so callous in handling the crisis. The government is making them believe that they were living on the mercy of the god and the government and when now both of them aren’t interested in showing any mercy they don’t have any other option left except suffering.

A labour who wasn’t able to see his dying son because of the lockdown.

Written by Taniya Yadav, a law student from Allahabad.

Is the ocean is safe nowadays?

As we all know that the whole earth is divided into two parts land and ocean, on earth around 70.9% of the water, and only 29.1% of the land. however, the ocean gives many things and it means a lot to us, it gives water, food, medicine, and the least goes on. the human also takes advantage of it.

However, nowadays the ocean is in danger because of the pollution and human traffic in the water, big industry and factories also omit their chemicals and wast, due to these the marine life are in danger and some spices are in endanger and many times the oil ship crash in the middle of the ocean and because of the oil spill, the fishes and other creatures do not breath properly and lost there life. many oil industry also plant their plants in the middle of the ocean and because of carelessness these happened,

However, the prestige oil spill happened near the coastline of Galicia, Spain. this was caused by the sinking of the 26-year-old ship in November 2002, which was carried around 70,000 tons of heavy fuel and this accident happened because of heavy Strome. Due to this accident,

The area was totally covered with dead oil-coated coral reefs and many species of sharks and birds, and the fishing industry. but the government also took action to save the ocean and many organization also support and pay the fund to the government, within a two week the ocean was clean and look great as it was.

furthermore, we celebrate world oceans day every year on 8 June, what do you know about this day?

this concept of the day firstly proposed by Canada’s international center for oven development and the ocean institute of Canada in 1992 at the earth summit, and this conformance regarding environment and development held in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. the day marked in a variety of ways, including launching new campaigns and initiatives, special events at aquariums, and 2005. On that day, people celebrate by cleaning water, beaches, and feeding food to the ocean animals, hence famous influencers and celebrities give a speech on social media and share short movies regarding ocean life on the silver screen, because of this people nowadays, are more aware compared to the past.

in years between 2002 to 2008 dozens of things happened like the first-ever website launched “www.worldoceanday.org”, to promote and give guidance to the people, who wont to do something to make ocean pollution-free and they also share the timeline and events happened around the world, and in 2004 the ocean project launched by the united nation to officially recognization 8 June as world ocean day, in 2008 united nation also made lows to reduce the pollution in the ocean.

we should take steps against those people who pollute the mother nature and we stop them or complain in government departments regarding their work and actions, and the government also take down those industries which spread chemicals in the water.

“There’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.”

HOW TO CHOOSE MOST APPROPRIATE ANTIBACTERIAL CHEMOTHERAPY?

Choosing an antibacterial drug therapy can depend on various factors which are mentioned below:

BACTERIOSTATIC V/S BACTERICIDAL
Antibacterial chemotherapeutic agents can be categorized as bacteriostatic and bactericidal on the basis of their interaction with the targeted bacterial pathogens.
Bacteriostatic drugs work by inhibiting the growth of specific bacteria. Static drugs work by reversibly inhibiting the growth i.e. if the agent (drug) is removed or if its effect if over, the microorganism will get recovered and will grow again causing the same infection again.
Bactericidal drugs work by directly killing the target bacteria from the location. Cidal drugs may act as static drugs at low concenteration.

Use of any drug also depends on the immune system of the host because static drug does not completely eliminate the target bacteria. For patients with strong immune system, either static or cidal drugs can be used for curing infection while in case of immunocompromised individual, only cidal drugs are essentially required for complete removal of the bacterial infections.

SPECTRUM OF ACTIVITY
On the basis of their range or spectrum of activity, the chemotherapeutic agents can be broadly categorized into 5 different categories:

Narrow spectrum antibiotics are only active against less no. of microorganisms. They target only a specific strains of bacterial pathogens, especially gram positive bacteria.
Moderate spectrum antibiotics target most of the gram positive bacterial pathogens as well as most systemic, enteric and urinary tract gram negative bacterial pathogens.
Narrow and moderate spectrum antibiotics are known to cover all the β-lactam antibiotics which can effectively work against gram positive and negative bacteria. Some members of this classification are only effective against gram negative while others can also kill gram positive bacteria.
Broad spectrum antibiotics, as the name suggests targets a broad range of bacterial pathogens which includes almost all the prokaryotic organisms except mycobacteria and pseudomonas. They are also effective against polymicrobic infections (mixed infections caused by multiple bacterial species). It is used when other spectrum antibiotics fail to treat infections due to drug resistance. There is a risk of superinfection while using broad spectrum antibiotics.
Anti-mycobacterial antibiotics are only effective against mycobacterial strains of pathogenic bacteria.

DOSAGE AND ROUTE OF ADMINISTRATION
• Dosage –
The minimum or maximum amount of drug that a patient is given is the dosage of the drug. The dosage of the particular drug needs to be determined carefully to ensure that the optimum level of that particular drug is achieved at the site of infection for the elimination of the infection without causing any toxic side effects. Therefore, the selection and standardization of dosage of a particular drug is done so that it has the minimum side effect.
• Route of administration –
It can be defined as the method by which a drug is introduced in the patient’s body. There are different ways of administration of a drug. The most preferred drugs are the one that can be administered orally because it is easier for the patients to take them even at their home without visiting the health care professionals again and again. However, it is observed that not all drugs can be absorbed from the gastro intestinal tract. E.g. Bacitracin, Polymyxin and many antifungals. These drugs may be available to the patients in the form of topical preparations so that they can be applied for the treatment of superficial skin infections.
The another condition arises when a patient is unable to take oral drug initially due to some illness like vomiting. In that condition, the drug is preferably administered through parenteral route i.e. intramuscular or intravenous injections. In general, for most of the drugs, the drug levels in plasma introduced via intravenous is higher than that of oral or intramuscular route.

POTENTIAL FOR SIDE EFFECTS
The adverse effects which are seen in the patient’s body after administration of any drug can be classified into 3 main types:

PHARMACOLOGICAL SIDE EFFECTS
These are the toxic side effects which the drug shows by damaging the infected or even healthy cells by the production of some toxic chemicals on cell surface or their interior.
ALLERGIC SIDE EFFECTS
Some drugs show the allergic reactions in the patient’s body which is due to the antigen-antibody reaction which in turn effects other cells and show some allergy.
BIOLOGICAL TYPE SIDE EFFECTS
This type of side effect is worst and it involves interference of the drug with the normal microflora of the body which is followed by either local chemical damage or superinfection.

POTENTIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN DRUGS
Most of the time, antibiotics are administered in the patient’s body as a single agent but many time it becomes necessary to take two or more drugs at a time. So, different drugs administered at a single time show some interaction among them.
The interaction may be positive or negative.
Sometimes, a synergistic or positive interaction is shown by two antibiotics when they are administered together. Some drugs show bactiostatic effect when used as a single agent but are able to show bactericidal effect when combined with other antibiotic.
On the other hand, some drugs when used together show negative effect or antagonistic effect. Antagonism can occur between two antimicrobial or between one antimicrobial and one non-antimicrobial. The antagonistic interactions thus cause toxic side effects, loss of drug activity, decreased effect of drug at the site of infection. For e.g. Penicillin and bacteriostatic drugs are antagonists of each other.

Argentina ex-president Macri charged with espionage on 400 journalists

Argentina’s Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) has called for an investigation into former president Mauricio Macri that he has spied on more than 400 journalists, and officials have released a document they say is evidence of the claim.

Dozens of foreign journalists, including several representing AFP, appeared on a list of people to be investigated in relation to the G20 and World Trade Organization (WTO) summits held in Buenos Aires in recent years.The complaint was lodged on Friday and the evidences were expected to be presented on Monday.

Around 100 academics, business people and prominent figures from civil society also appeared on the list.Ten of those listed were staffers or freelancers who worked for The Associated Press. Also listed were journalists for international media such as Reuters, Bloomberg, AFP and CNN.
The documents relating to the case were found in three dossiers named “2017”, “G20 Journalists” and “Miscellaneous”, in a safe in the office of the AFI’s former director of counterintelligence. Buenos Aires hosted the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in 2017 and the 13th G20 Summit a year later.

“The investigation into the journalists was straightforward. They dug up information from social media and that way built an ideological and political profile,” said the source.

The complaint was lodged by Cristina Caamano, who has been tasked by center-left President Alberto Fernandez to carry out an audit of AFI as part of a reorganization process.

According to the complaint, the profile information included “political preferences, social media posts, sympathy for feminist groups, or political and/or cultural content among others.” The comments included whether or not “they were critical of the current government” of Macri, who held office from 2015-2019.

Other comments referred to “showing affinity for Peronism,” Fernandez’s political movement that was in opposition at the time, “supporting the government,” “asking on Facebook for the liberation of Lula,” the jailed leftist former Brazilian president who has since been released, or if they “signed a petition for legalized abortion.”

Caamano has asked for an investigation to be opened against Gustavo Arribas, the former AFI director, and his deputy Silvina Majdalani, as well as Macri as the person “responsible for setting strategic guidelines and the objectives of national intelligence policy.”

The complaint states that the background checks on journalists were “neither ordered nor authorized by any magistrate.” The foreign correspondents association hit out at Macri for the “inadmissible” investigations, while two Argentine press unions also blasted the former administration.

The dossier relating to the WTO conference was more exhaustive and included information on business people, trade unionists and social leaders, listing personal details such as salaries and wealth.

It’s not the first time Macri has been investigated for alleged spying. He is currently under investigation for spying during his presidency on political allies and opponents, including former president Cristina Kirchner and Buenos Aires mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta. He was also prosecuted for spying while mayor of Buenos Aires, a post he held from 2007-2015, but that case was dismissed two weeks after he assumed the presidency.

Legal authorities have opened numerous investigations into alleged corruption involving former President Cristina Fernández, who is now vice president. Those have been stalled in part by difficulties in holding hearings under pandemic restrictions.

PLASTIC AND MARINE LIFE!

For the past few decades, plastic has been an integral part of our lifestyle, from furniture to polybags. The use is not limited till here, but plastic is also used in making equipment, vehicle parts, and much more. However, plastics are likely to harm and cause destruction, the use is limited as it has caused severe harm to the undersea biodiversity. According to estimates, people around the world throw away almost four million tons of garbage every day, of which 12.8% is plastic, contaminating land, air, and water. The studies reveal that around 12.7 million tonnes of plastic waste is washed into the ocean every year.

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/327144360428505418

How plastic is a threat to marine life?
Thousands of turtles, sea birds, fishes, and other marine animals are killed every year. If the plastic pollution continues to grow, till 2050 there will be more plastic than fish beneath the water.

The phrase ‘Machli Jal ki Rani Hai’ will fade away if the plastic pollution continues resulting in the extinction of marine life. If plastic gets ingested by fishes, the toxins of plastic are entered into the food chain. Even if the fish don’t die after consuming plastic their presence on our plate is a sign of danger resulting in cancers, immune system problems, and many more health issues.
We love animals, that doesn’t mean just land animals! California, the first state to pass a statewide ban on plastic straws. In 2019, Assembly Bill 1884 was enacted by former California Gov. Jerry Brown; it prohibits sit-down eateries from automatically providing customers with plastic straws and can only be given upon request. Banning straws alone will not save our oceans as plastic straws consist of a very small percentage but at least that initiative was taken and is appreciable. Like every single drop can fill up the ocean, likewise, every small effort can bring a difference.

Face masks and safety equipment polluting seas!
“We’ve seen how glove and face mask litter in the ocean has increased considerably. Please, dispose of these items properly if you want the oceans to stay clean,” said Carmen Soto Barrera, a professional fisher in Spain’s Canary Islands, in a social media plea in late May. In the US, Maria Algarra in Miami noticed a growing number of gloves lining the street of her community. In a five-block walk around her house, she collected 52 gloves. To raise awareness about the problem, she created the #TheGloveChallenge on Instagram. Hundreds of people, from all corners of the globe, posted more than 1,000 snapshots of discarded gloves on the streets. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/environment/face-masks-latex-gloves-begin-to-trickle-into-seas/18682
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Throwing masks in the streets, the train water will make these flow towards the river. Again this issue will affect marine life. Here as nature is healing itself after lockdown, we humans are still ruining everything just by being at residence. Though there have been no studies on what a PPE kit can harm to the marine.

India pledges to win against plastic pollution by 2020!
https://www.thebetterindia.com/144223/news-india-pledge-beat-plastic-pollution-2020-5-steps-fast-tracking-process/
Clean up drives across various public places, and many such initiatives taken by our government.

Offices in Kerala switched to steel utensils reducing the use of plastics.
Fishermen not just find fish but remove stuck plastics in nets.
Sikkim banned packed drinking water in 2016.
Using plastics for road surfacing, by Professor Rajagopalan Vasudevan.
Recent proposal to introduce plastic currency to upcycling plastic waste by the
government.

RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS OF A RESPONSIBLE NATION!

Endless blues: World’s Ocean Day.

What is it About?

World Oceans Day is a worldwide initiative by the United Nations to spread knowledge and awareness about the vast expanse of oceans on Earth. It is based on the idea of preserving the infinite number of life forms and coral reefs that are a part of the ocean and being aware of how human actions can harm their natural habitat. The principal focus of this initiative is to bring the oceans at the forefront of global environmental discussions, and plan and execute a sustainable method to save our oceans and the planet at large.

When is World Oceans Day?

We celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8, and a lot of activities at global, national and community levels are organised worldwide to observe this event.

What is the History of World Ocean Day?

World Oceans Day was first proposed by Canada’s International Centre for Ocean Development and the Ocean Institute of Canada in 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Since 2002, the World Ocean Network has been instrumental in garnering support and organising worldwide activities on June 8. A huge network of more than 2000 organisations worldwide are invested in making sure that the ocean is protected from any damage due to technology or other human actions.

Why is World Oceans Day Important?

The composition, temperature, currents and life in the oceans drive every natural system that makes Earth habitable for humankind. Even the balance of oxygen that we breathe is primarily dependent on the ocean. The health of our oceans has become a matter of grave concern, due to the damage they have endured.

Dedicating a particular day to this cause not only helps in spreading awareness among people, but also in mobilising conscientious civic and political efforts towards addressing this global problem. Though spending just one day celebrating the oceans is not enough to bring about the changes required to conserve marine ecology, it works wonders as a starting point for people, especially young minds, to come together to take action against any damage done to ocean.

Other Important Facts About World Oceans Day

Knowing about World Oceans Day is not enough for your children to be able to grasp the whole concept of how important the ocean is for human survival. To encourage your children to celebrate our oceans and strive to make a difference, you could share some fun facts on World Oceans Day and how important the oceans are:

• 97% of Earth’s water is in the oceans, which is home to more than 200, 000 known species and millions of unidentified organisms.

• The oceans purify the air we breathe by absorbing 30% of the carbon dioxide in the air, which also helps in reducing the effects of global warming and climate change.

• Oceans are the world’s largest source of protein, and more than 2.6 billion people depend on the oceans as their primary source of protein.

• 40% of the oceans of the world are today affected by human actions causing pollution, depletion of fisheries, loss of coral reefs and endangerment of marine species. Seven out of the 13 great whale species are endangered today.

•13, 000, 000 tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean water each year. It has been predicted that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. Over 100, 000 marine wildlife animals are killed each year due to plastic contamination of the oceans.

• Each year a new theme is assigned to this day to cover different aspects of marine life and human dependency on oceans. In 2020, the celebratory theme on World Oceans Day is “Gender and The Ocean”, which emphasises the harm that gender disparity can bring to our oceans.

• The President of UN General Assembly has launched a global campaign “Play It Out”, against the use of plastic.

• Marine Protected Areas have been chalked out as an initiative to protect the oceans from illegal fishing.

• Jellyfish as a species is older than dinosaurs and has been on this earth for more than 650, 000 years.

• 75% of the world’s volcanoes are located under the Pacific Ocean around Ring of Fire, the largest zone of active volcanoes.

World Ocean Days Activities for Kids

It doesn’t matter how small their hands are, children can drive this movement and even inspire adults to participate. Here are a few activities that your kids can organise on World Oceans Day:

Clean-up Drive

Invite all the children in the neighbourhood to the beach or any water body close by to clean the area. This will help them to understand how much litter ends up in the oceans through different waterways polluting the habitat of marine life.

Ocean Themed Programme

An ocean theme-based arts and crafts competition can attract a lot of attention from children of all ages. You can engage kids in a drawing competition and then display their creative works. You can even inspire a few young writers to submit stories and poems based on marine life.

Ocean Hunt

Treasure hunts are an intriguing way to engage children. Keeping the spirit of World Oceans Day, you can organise an ocean hunt by creating puzzles around facts from the oceanic world, leading to prizes like ornaments made out of sea-shells, passes to any nearby aquarium, books with interesting facts about the ocean, etc.

Storytelling Competition

It is safe to say that all kids love stories, especially when they get to be the judge of who is the best storyteller. Engage the adults around and encourage them to bring in their theatrical talents to entice the kids with amazing storytelling skills. You can always use the sounds of the waves or wild animals from the ocean to enhance your performance.

5.Let the Kids Instruct

No child will say no to an opportunity to give some sound advice to his/her parents. Ask the children to make a list of human actions that harm our oceans and come up with instructional ideas to preserve them. Organise a session with all the adults, where the kids present their points of view on how to keep our oceans and planet safe.

History behind World brain Tumor day:June 8

June 8 2020 is also observed as World Brain Tumor Day apart from World Ocean Day which was intiated by a non profit organization in Germany called Deutsche Hirntumorhilfe in German.

They are providing facilities for scientists and health professionals to develop efficient treatment of Brain tumor. They also provide support to the Brain tumor patients and their families.

Apart from the tribute given, This day is also observed as international day to provide awareness about the disorder and spread information on it.

A Tumor is basically the abnormal growth of cells. This can be broadly decided into two Benign (non-cancerous) and Malignant (cancerous). Malignant tumor can be again divided into primary originating from Brain Or spine where as secondary are those cancer that spread from elsewhere in the body to the Brain. This secondary is more common than primary.

Causes and major risk factors:

The exact cause of brain cancer is unknown. However, factors that can increase your risk of brain cancer include exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation and a family history of brain cancer.

Cancer in other part of the body is also a risk factor. Major cancers that spread to Brain are:

Lung cancer
Breast cancer
Kidney cancer
Bladder cancer
Melanoma

Other factors are:

increased age
long-term smoking
exposure to pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer
working with elements that can cause cancer, such as lead, plastic, rubber, petroleum, and some textiles
having an Epstein-Barr virus infection, or mononucleosis

Symptoms

Symptoms that arises due to increased pressure inside the skull. They are:

Severe head ache associated with nausea and vomiting, blurring or dimmed vision, excessive sleepiness, loss of memory, seizures.

Symptoms that are arise due to location of tumor. They are:

Weakiness of one side of body, hearing loss, visual blindness, facial deviation, slurring of speech.

Diagnosis method

CT scan or MRI scanning of the brain. Further diagnosis can be done by PET scan or angiography.

Treatment

Surgery is the main treatment. Modern micro surgical methods and aids such as neuro navigation and intra op imaging have made surgery safe and effective.

Other modalities such as Gamma knife/stereotaxis radiosurgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be used alone or in combination

Prognosis

Brain tumor is considered as incurable disease but if given proper treatment it gives good outcome and patients are able to go to their normal lives.

Conclusion

Brain tumor can give good outcome when diagnosed and treated early. It may lead to severe mental, physical and financial burden to the patient and family. One should consult the best doctor and get adequate treatment. More public awareness need to be given to reduce panic.

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