The pandemic of 1918 was known as the Spanish flu pandemic, an influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. Lasting from February 1918 and April 1920, killing more people than the World War I, at somewhere between 20 to 40 million people due to the lack of effective drug or vaccines. The flu was first observed in parts of Europe, the United States and parts of Asia and later spread to other parts of the world. In United States it was first seen in military personnel in 1918.

By 1918 the first world war was coming to an end and the allies were emerging victorious after US entered the war, due to this the early reports of the flu were kept minimal to maintain morale of the people. But newspapers felt free to report the effects of pandemic in Spain which made it seem like Spain especially was impacted badly by the virus, which gave it the name ‘Spanish flu’. Other influenza viruses were life threatening for the extremely young or the older population, but the Spanish flu resulted in higher mortality rate of young adults.

The first wave of the virus in 1918 was mild and the people infected by it showed common flu symptoms such as chills, fever and fatigue and recovered quite quickly, it was the second wave of the pandemic which proved to be deadly. During the second wave, which occurred in the later half of the same year and spread to Russia, Africa, all of North America, Brazil, China and Japan, people started to show symptoms such as skin turning blue and lungs filling with fluid which lead to a persons death within hours or a few days, the virus around this time was highly contagious and took many more lives. The third wave spread far and wide affecting even Australia, it was less severe than the second wave. The fourth wave occurred in 1920 in isolated regions further increasing the mortality rate.

The cause and origin of the Spanish flu is unknown. Some theories point to France, China, Britain, and United States from where the early cases were reported. Some believe that infected soldiers who came back home after the war spread the virus to different countries. By the summer of 1919, the pandemic came to an end in many places and the infected either died of developed immunity. Since 1918 there have been several other influenza breakouts but none as deadly.

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Corona vaccine is being tested in the country and the world. Because cases of corona in the world are constantly increasing. However, it is a challenge to the government not only to corona but to whom to give corona vaccine first ? and how to distribute it?

In India, the corona vaccine may come early next year. According to Healthy Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan 25-30 crore people will be given corona vaccine by June – July of next year. The person will be linked to the Aadhaar card while giving veccine. For which there will be no Aadhar card, the government has not given any kind of information.Simultaneously, the government will use schools, panchayats, and anganwadis to distribute the vaccine and the state government will identify the places from where the vaccine will be given.

How will the covid app work?

While moving the veccine from one place to another, there is no change in the environment of the veccine so the covid app will be taken.

After giving the covid vaccine the person will be given a certificate. in which who, when, and where the vaccine is given will be given information which can be severely reduced in digi locker.

After their two decades of service, the renowned English film channel HBO which served as a gateway for Indians to Hollywood Movies, has discontinued its airing in India on 15th December 2020. WarnerMedia International has already announced that they will be shutting down HBO and WB movies in other South Asian countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Maldives along with India by the end of the year 2020. This decision was taken as a result of the shifting market dynamics with the introduction of OTT streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix e.t.c. Even though there was an exponential growth in the number of viewers preferring to view contents in english, TV channels like HBO and WB were unable to capitalize on this, but to loose their grounds owing to the stringent competition from the on demand streaming platforms.

“After 20 years of successes for the HBO linear movie channel in South Asia and more than a decade with the WB linear movie channel, this was a difficult decision to make. The pay-TV industry landscape and the market dynamics have shifted dramatically, and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for further change,” said Siddharth Jain, senior vice president and managing director for WarnerMedia’s entertainment networks in South Asia. 

WarnerMedia International is planning for a resurgence to the South Asian market through launching their own streaming service named HBO Max. But for the time being, they will be offering their content through Disney’s streaming platform. They have also declared that their entertainment organization will continue its broadcasting in popular kids channels like Cartoon Network, POGO e.t.c in the South Asian region. They are planning to invest more in this stream, with a focus on local animation production.

For Gen Z Indians, HBO has always been a part of their childhood. They were introduced to the world of Hollywood movies through the channel. Though the newly introduced OTT platforms provide great contents, for most of the Indians who grew up watching the likes of Harry Potter, Home Alone series, e.t.c, the shutdown of HBO will be considered as a great loss.

“Polo is not just a sport; it is a way of living.”
The more you watch a game of polo the more you fall in love with the game which has given so much to the world than just entertainment and leisure time. The sport which comes with a great deal of history has played a role in the social structure of a society.

Polo was first played like a miniature battle back in the 6th century before spreading to different parts of the world. India first came to know about the game in the 13th century although the widespread expansion of polo was done by the British in the early 1600s. India’s first polo club – Calcutta polo club was formed in the early 1860s soon after the formation first European club in 1859.

Polo by this time had many changes about rules but the most significant change came during 1888 where a system of handicapping the players was devised to equalize the tournament. Sports in itself is a type of adventure. Everyone should prefer playing one or the other game regularly. Sports make us active and too makes us brave. Sports help to boost our energy on the regular basis, so playing different games or sports should be an important part as well as a permanent habit in our life.

Another remarkable achievement polo has is the introduction of women to the sport in the 20th century and occasionally a woman was also included as the fourth member.

Whenever a team sport happens, the spectators always have their views about how the team could have played since there can be many different types of tactics a team can apply to score the goal. Polo also gives immense joy to the spectators who discuss how tactfully a team outplayed the other. It gives so many moments to cherish throughout the game which is a major reason people have come to watch.

The game has given us some legendary players like Thomas Hitchcock and John Hay Whitney who were far too ahead of the time during their years of play. Yet there is another name which is a must to include – Sue Sally Hale, a legend who first played the sports disguising as a man for over 20 years before she became the first woman to be granted membership of United States Polo Association.

Beyond the basic rules and history, the sport kept itself updated throughout the social evolution globally.

Polo is a sport which has got my eyes every time I get an opportunity to watch. This game is as beautiful as it looks with some extraordinary plays and when those magnificent figures run you just cannot stop romanticizing it!