Category: Health

You can share messages, why not blood?

The blood donation happens when a person voluntarily ready to transform their blood into communities without any charges, however, Donation may be of whole blood, or of specific components directly. Blood banks often participate in the collection process as well as the procedures that follow it.

The blood donation process discovered by English physician William Harvey in 1628 but after 36 years thy successfully done blood donation camp in England, the first blood transform done on a dog and Physician Richard Lower keeps dogs alive by transfusion of blood from other dogs people think it is funny incident but it is very seriously a successful transformation.

Today in the developed world, most blood donors are unpaid volunteers who donate blood for a community supply. In some countries, established supplies are limited and donors usually give blood, when family or friends need a transfusion. Many donors donate as an act of charity, but in countries that allow paid donation some people are paid, and in some cases there are incentives other than money such as paid time off from work. Donating is relatively safe, but some donors have to bruise where the needle is inserted or may feel faint. Potential donors are evaluated for anything that might make their blood unsafe to use. The screening includes testing for diseases that can be transmitted by a blood transfusion, including HIV and viral hepatitis. The donor must also answer questions about medical history and take a short physical examination to make sure the donation is not hazardous to his or her health. How often a donor can donate varies from days to months based on what component they donate and the laws of the country where the donation takes place. Ex. in many countries the doner have to wait for two to three weeks to rebuild their blood counts and proper growth of their blood portion. A typical donation is 450 milliliters of whole blood, though 500-milliliter donations are also common. Historically, blood donors in India would donate only 250 or 350 milliliters.

There are two main methods of obtaining blood from a donor. The most frequent is to simply take the blood from a vein as whole blood. This blood is typically separated into parts, usually red blood cells and plasma since most recipients need only a specific component for transfusions. The other method is to draw blood from the donor, separate it using a centrifuge or a filter, store the desired part, and return the rest to the donor. This process is called apheresis, and it is often done with a machine specifically designed for this purpose.

What precautions have to take donor after blood donation, they have to lay down for 10 to 15 minutes at the bead, then take light refreshments, such as orange juice and cookies, or a lunch allowance to recover speedy, The needle site wound is covered with a bandage and the donor is directed to keep the bandage on for several hours. And in last avoid strenuous exercise and games, alcohol and other kinds of physical exercise.

People from non-science backgrounds have questions that how doctors store blood for a long time?, here is the answer, Red blood cells, the most frequently used component, have a shelf life of 35–42 days at refrigerated temperatures. For long-term storage applications, this can be extended by freezing the blood with a mixture of glycerol, but this process is expensive and requires an extremely cold freezer for storage. Plasma can be stored frozen for an extended period of time and is typically given an expiration date of one year and maintaining supply is less of a problem.

Here is the table display that, which blood group person can donate to whom.

If your blood type is: You can give to: You can receive from:
O Positive O+, A+, B+, AB+ O+, O-
A Positive A+, AB+ A+, A-, O+, O-
B Positive B+, AB+ B+, B-, O+, O-
AB Positive AB+ Only All blood types
O Negative All blood types O- only
A Negative A-, A+, AB-, AB+ A-, O-
B Negative B-, B+, AB-, AB+ B-, O-
AB Negative AB-, AB+ AB-, A-, B-, O-

USE OF PHYSICAL METHODS IN MICROBIAL CONTROL

Although microorganisms are beneficial and necessary for human well being, microbial activities have undesirable consequences such as food spoilage and disease. To minimize there destructive effects, it is essential to kill a wide variety of microorganisms or inhibit their growth.

  1. Heat
    Heating is still one of the most popular ways to destroy microorganisms. Fire and boiling water have been used since the time of Greeks for sterilization and disinfection. Exposure to boiling water for 10 minutes is sufficient to kill or destroy vegetative cells and eukaryotic spores, but not enough to kill or destroy bacterial endospores, hence boiling does not sterilize but can be used for disinfection of drinking water and objects not harmed by water. This can be carried out within an autoclave. Hot and saturated steam enters a chamber and the desired temperature and pressure which is usually 121°C and 15 pounds is reached. At this temperature and pressure the steam destroy all vegetative cells and endospores. Moist heat is thought to kill so effectively by degrading nucleic acids and by denaturing enzymes and other essential proteins It may also disrupt cell membranes.
    Pasteurization is a process where many substances such as milk, are treated with controlled heating at temperatures well below boiling. There are two types of pasteurization- flash pasteurization or high temperature short term (HTST) pasteurization and the other method used is ultra high temperature (UHT) pasteurization.
    Dry heat sterilization can also be used on many objects in the absence of water. The items to be sterilized are placed in an oven at 160 to 170°C.
  2. Low temperatures
    Another convenient method to inhibit the growth and reproduction of microorganisms is to use lower temperatures like freezing or refrigeration. Mostly this method of control is used in food microbiology. Freezing items at -20°C or lower stops microbial growth because of the absence of liquid water and the ice crystal destruction of cell membranes at this temperature. This method is also used for long term storage of microbial samples in the laboratory in the form of glycerol stocks. This method of control at low temperatures slows microbial growth and reproduction but does not half it completely. Fortunately most pathogens are mesophilic and do not grow well at low temperatures around 4°C. Thus, refrigeration is a good technique only for short-term storage of food and other items.
  3. Filtration
    The filters simply remove the microbes instead of killing them. The material used mostly is glazed porcelain, asbestos or other similar materials. Membrane filters are also used and have replaced depth filters in recent times. These filters are used to remove most vegetative cells, but not viruses from solutions ranging in volume from 1 ml to many liters.
    The other way this method is used is in the laminar flow biological safety cabinet where the air is sterilized by filtration. These cabinets contain high efficiency particulate air(HEPA) filters.
  4. Radiation
    The radiations like ultraviolet and ionizing can be used for sterilizing objects. UV radiation is used as a sterilizing agent only in a few specific situations like UV lamps are placed on the ceilings of room for in biological safety cabinet to sterilize air and other exposed surfaces. Commercial UV units are available for water treatment. Pathogens and microorganisms are destroyed when a thin layer of water is passed under the lamps (water purifiers).
    Ionizing radiation penetrates deep into objects and is an excellent sterilizing agent. It destroys bacterial endospores and vegetative cells of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin but not against viruses. Gamma radiation from a Cobalt 60 source is used in the cold sterilization of antibiotics, hormones and plastic disposable supplies such as syringes and petri dishes.

Medical Emergency Not An Excuse To evade Fundamental Rights Under Article 21 Of Constitution

It is most heartening, most refreshing and most comforting to note that the Telangana High Court has on May 20, 2020 in a latest, landmark and extremely laudable judgment titled Ganta Jai Kumar Vs State of Telangana Rep. by Chief Secretary and others in Writ Petition (PIL) No. 75 of 2020 authored by Justice MS Ramachandra Rao for himself and Justice K Lakshman has explicitly, effectively and elegantly observed that a medical emergency is not an excuse to trample on the fundamental rights of a citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution. While holding so, the Telangana High Court has quashed a government order which compelled citizens to get testing and treatment for COVID-19 from designated government hospitals and prevented them from approaching private hospitals and laboratories for such purposes even though they have requisite approval from the ICMR. Very rightly so!

                                       Needless to say, the Telangana High Court was unable to agree with the contention of the Advocate General for the State of Telangana that there is a state of emergency in the State in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and that such emergency justifies the State action. It candidly and convincingly stated in para 50 that, “We are unable to agree. Admittedly no emergency has been declared by the Government under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, though there is a pandemic situation undoubtedly.” Besides, it also noted that Article 359 has been amended by the Constitution (44th Amendment) Act to say that the President cannot suspend the right to move a court for violation of Article 20 and Article 21 even in an emergency and seek appropriate relief.

                                     In this backdrop, the Telangana High Court in para 57 then very crucially went on to point out that, “This above decisions of the Supreme Court are a complete answer to the plea of the Advocate General that because there is a medical emergency or a war emergency anything can be done by the State including arbitrarily restricting the right to health conferred under Art 21 on a citizen of the State. An emergency of any sort is not an excuse to trample on the rights under Art 21 and the Courts have the power to see that the State will act in a fair, just and reasonable manner even during emergencies. Whether the State has done so or not is judicially receivable in the light of the law laid down by the Supreme Court.”    

                                          Of course, the Court also in para 56 quoted the famous words of Lord Atkin in Liversidge v Anderson that, “In this country, amid the clash of arms, the laws are not silent. They may be changed, but they speak the same language in war as in peace.”

                                                 In this context, it would be pertinent to mention that in para 33 of this noteworthy judgment, it is rightly held that, “Every human being has a basic and natural born instinct to protect himself and his kith and kin from danger – be it from human, animal or one in the nature of a disease, by utilizing all the means available in his power. The State cannot incapacitate him by restricting his choice particularly when it comes to a disease which affects his life/health or that of his kith and kin.”

                                                       More relevantly, it is then very rightly pointed out in para 28 that, “It is the basic principle of administrative law that every action of the State which affects the rights of citizens must be supported by reasons so that a Court can, while judicially reviewing it, know that there is application of mind to the issue by the authority concerned, which passed the said order. Absence of reasons would undoubtedly vitiate the later order dt 11.4.2020.”

                                  In the same vein, it is also then noted in para 38 that, “According to the Supreme Court of India, it is imperative that any restriction of right of the citizens in that regard must be by a procedure prescribed by “law” and such “law” must be reasonable, fair and just. It cannot be arbitrary, whimsical or fanciful.” Similarly, it is then observed in para 42 that, “As stated by the Supreme Court, the right to health of a citizen is a fundamental right under Art 21 and restriction thereupon must be reasonable, fair and just.” 

                                        What cannot be overlooked is what is then stated in para 43  while emphasizing the role of private sector that, “It is of utmost importance that each and every case (suspects/confirmed) of COVID-19 is isolated and provided appropriate treatment and their contacts traced at the earliest to break the chain of transmission. It is important that support and cooperation of the private sector is enlisted, in this regard. This is the policy which has been declared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India in its “Guidelines for notifying COVID-19 affected persons by Private Institutions” notified recently.”

                             While acknowledging the petitioner’s contention, it is then put forth in para 59 that, “As rightly contended by the petitioner, we find that there is no power in Sec. 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 either to prevent private hospitals from testing suspected any victim of an epidemic such as COVID-19 patients or treating confirmed infected patients. In fact in that era (pre 1900), the concept of private sector participation in health care was hardly there in India.”

                                           Furthermore, it is then enunciated in para 60 that, “What the Sec 2 prohibits and what it permits, in a case where there is a dangerous epidemic, disease for which the ordinary provisions of the law are insufficient. In such a case the State may take, require or empower any person to take “such measures” and by public notice such “temporary regulations” to be observed by the public or by any person or class of persons as it shall deem necessary to prevent the outbreak of such disease or the spread thereof.” 

                                      Not stopping here, it is then envisaged in para 61 that, “The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Union of India and the ICMR cannot be said to have ignored these provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and this Court has good reason to believe that the Union of India and the ICMR did give due consideration to this provision of law while permitting testing and treatment of COVID-19 patients by private laboratories and hospitals.”

                                          On similar lines, it is then further conceded in para 62 that, “On the other hand by issuing a set of guidelines called “Guidelines for notifying COVID-19 affected persons by Private Institutions”, the Union of India had clearly applied its mind to the provisions of the above Act which permit the Government “to take measures necessary to prevent the outbreak and spread thereof” by permitting private laboratories and hospitals also to be involved in the said prevention and outbreak and spread of the epidemic.”

                                          Be it noted, it is then observed in para 63 that, “The State Government, in its counter, has not questioned the wisdom of the Union Government and the ICMR in permitting private laboratories to achieve the very object of prevention and spread of the epidemic. On the other hand, the respondent Nos. 1-4 appear to have come to the opposite conclusion, contradicting the wisdom of the Union of India and an expert body like ICMR.”

                                         Going ahead, it is then disclosed in para 64 that, “In fact we find that the ICMR has notified on 3.5.2020, 111 private laboratories and 310 Government laboratories. It is obvious that by permitting 111 private laboratories to conduct COVID-19 tests across the country, the Union Government and ICMR were trying their best to take the private sector on board and to achieve the goal of stopping the spread of the epidemic.”

                                        No wonder, it is then held in para 65 that, “We therefore hold that the respondents Nos. 1-4 have no logical or legal basis to come to an opposite conclusion and come forward with total prohibition.”

                                             More strikingly, in a big setback to the respondents, it is then held in para 66 that, “It is not the case of the respondent Nos. 1-4 that there is a cure for the COVID-19 virus, that only Gandhi Hospital in the State of Telangana has got a vaccine for it, and so everybody in the State of Telanagana, who is infected with the virus has to go to the said hospital. May be the facilities in the said Hospital or other designated Government Hospitals are very good, but that does not mean that the respondent Nos. 1-4 can, under the guise of taking steps to prevent the spread of the Pandemic, restrict the liberty and freedom of a citizen to choose his own doctor and hospital and force him to take a test for COVID-19 infection or treatment from Government sources, if found to be infected with the said virus.” 

                                   Most crucially, it is then observed in para 92 that, “For the elaborate reasons given above, we hereby allow the Writ Petition and we:

(i)                         declare that the proceedings Rc.No.Spl/COVID-19/DMHO/HYD/2020 dt 11.4.2020 issued by the District Medical and Health Officer, Hyderabad which states:

“Adverting to the subject cited above, orders issued by this office regarding certain instructions on treating only emergency cases at notified hospitals in Hyderabad District vide reference 6th cited are hereby cancelled with immediate effect.”

is violative of Art. 14 and Art. 21 of the Constitution of India and also the principles of natural justice (for not giving any reasons) and is set aside;

(ii)                      hold that the respondent Nos. 1-4 cannot compel residents/citizens of the State of Telangana to get (a) testing for COVID-19 in NMS/Gandhi Medical Hospital or only in the other designated laboratories decided by them and (b) treatment/isolation only in hospitals designated by them, when the citizens/residents are willing to pay the cost and get their blood samples tested in the private ICMR approved laboratories or private sector hospitals having the requisite infrastructure by paying the requisite charges;

(iii)                   hold that it shall be the right of the citizens and residents of the State of Telangana to get tested on payment basis, if they choose to do so, for COVID-19 in any private laboratory presently approved by the ICMR or may be approved in future at such rates as may be determined by ICMR or any other competent authority of the Union of India;

(iv)                   hold that it shall be the right of the citizens and residents of the State of Telangana to get treatment on payment basis, if they chose to do so for COVID-19 in any private hospital presently approved by the ICMR or may be approved in future by it; and

(v)                      direct that all private hospitals, who wish to provide treatment/isolation for COVID-19 patients (other than the ones already granted such approval by the ICMR), shall make an application to the ICMR offering their facilities for the said purpose; the ICMR shall nominate qualified and experienced persons to scrutinize the said applications and cause inspections made of the available facilities and infrastructure in the said private hospitals, to verify whether they possess adequate number of qualified doctors, qualified nurses, paramedical staff apart requisite equipment and notify the same. This exercise shall be completed within the shortest possible time in view of the grave urgency and rising cases of persons infected by COVID-19 and deaths caused by it. Only such private hospitals as are approved by the ICMR shall be permitted to treat COVID-19 patients.       

                                           On a different note, it is then further added in this same para 92 that, “It is needless to observe that all protocols approved by ICMR or other competent authority from time to time shall be followed by the ICMR approved private laboratories and hospitals that have already been or would be approved in future by the ICMR for testing or treating/isolation of COVID-19 suspects/patients; and all possible precautions shall be taken by the ICMR approved private laboratories and hospitals to take good care of the suspects/confirmed COVID-19 patients; and the ICMR approved hospitals shall keep the respondent No. 4 or any other authority designated by respondents 1-4 informed on a daily basis of the persons who are being treated by them for COVID-19 and their health status.”

                                       Before parting, the Telangana High Court very commendably observes in para 93 that, “We place on record our appreciation for the petitioner for approaching this Court and bringing to our notice this important issue concerning the health and lives of our fellow citizens.”

                                                     In conclusion, it is a very well written, well balanced and well reasoned judgment. It leaves no room for doubt whatsoever that medical emergency cannot be an excuse to trample upon citizen’s fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution. No doubt, all the State Governments as also the Union Government must from now onwards always in their own best interest bear this latest, landmark and extremely laudable judgment while deciding in such cases of medical emergency! 

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

How to keep yourself amused during Covid 19

Since the global outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic, we are locked inside our homes trying various things to pass our free time. We can either waste our time or put it to better use by doing something productive. Most people are wasting this precious time, by sleeping, playing online games, watching shows, just thinking about how this lockdown period is affecting their lives. But, for the students, this is the best time to do stuff that he/she has wanted to do all their lives, but never found the time to do. So, here we are compiling some of the interesting and creative stuffs that you must try to keep yourself entertained during quarantine.

Reading: A habit to develop

As we have all the time in the world, so we can devote some time to enhance our knowledge by reading some good books. We couldn’t read much earlier as we had other important things to do, but this time away from the world has allowed us to explore many different books. Many good novels are available online. So, we don’t need to worry about going to the store to buy one. Reading books makes us see the world from many different perspectives, as characters from a novel have different points of view.

Learning new things

As no one is perfect and learning should never be stopped. We could use this time to learn new things, instead of just sitting around wasting time. You could utilise your time by learning French, or any of your favourite foreign language. You could easily found many good online videos and websites and also enrolled myself in a French learning course that is helping me a lot to learn. Also, I’m utilizing my time to prepare for some competitive exams that I need to give in the future.

Enhancing Yourself

We could immerse ourself in the process of self-learning to improve our skills and getting to know ourself better. We should keep trying new things to bring out our creativity. We can try to enhance our cooking skills by making new dishes each day and also investing this time to meditate and give our mind some time to relax and find peace.

Spending time with loved ones

We could best use of our time by spending quality time with our family members. In this digital age, we generally don’t get time to spend with our families due to busy schedule and workload. So this lockdown has given us enough time to appreciate and enjoy our time with family members. We could help our mother in household work, spend time with father talking about different things, help our brother with his studies and we also have fun, playing games together.

There are also many apps which you could prefer to keep yourself entertained. Some of these apps are as follow:

Learning Apps

There are several applications that enabled us to achieve our goals and learn new things through homeschooling. Some of such apps are:

  • DUOLING APP

Duolingo enables users to learn languages through gamification. The app includes 35 languages.

  • BUSUU APP

Due to the current pandemic, Busuu has introduced a new initiative, Keep Kids Learning. This initiative was done to support children and their families while home-schooling. The initiative provides free learning of different languages by some qualified teachers.

Fitness apps

Currently, there is no access to local gyms. So at such time to keep ourself fit and healthy we could install some good apps to follow our daily exercise routine. Two of the apps are as follow:

  • STRAVA

Strava is a fitness app where you can track all your performance and also helps to complete the given challenges. The app is community-driven which has social elements for friendly competition.

  • Runtastic

This fitness app was launched by Adidas. The app provides more than 180+ videos. The videos help users to achieve their daily fitness goals. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, it is currently offering a three-month free premium trial too.

Music Apps

Well, no doubt, music is the best way of relaxing. So these are few apps that you could also use:

  • Soundcloud

Soundcloud is one of the most common music apps. Here over 200 million tracks are uploaded by the active community. Soundcloud is one of the world’s largest open audio platform.

  • Spotify

Spotify is the other app that provides millions of tracks and even episodes. So during the lockdown period, you can choose any kind of music you to listen according to your mood.

Along with these fantastic Apps, there are many other apps that you can use in this period of lockdown and can keep yourself entertained.
These are some of the exciting and useful things that one could try to keep himself/herself entertained during this lockdown.

Always be aware of Agents.

What-do-agents-for-actors-do

Everyone is aware of the name Agents, but here is the clear definition of the Agent, An agent, in legal terminology, is a person who has been legally empowered to act on behalf of another person or an entity. An agent may be employed to represent a client in negotiations and other dealings with third parties. we came across each and every time in any sector whether it is heath, finance, banking, and even education also have agents to get admission in schools and colleges.

There are four types of agents Sales agents, distributors, and Licensing agents

Sales agents :

This type of agent is probably a self-employed sole trader ‘on the road’ selling a range of reproductions, ready-framed pictures, greetings cards and gifts on behalf of perhaps four businesses and/or artists. Sales agents handle sales but do not contribute to other marketing or production costs. They pay for their own car, petrol, hotel bills and insurance. Many sales agents expect financial back-up from their artists in the form of a promotional program (advertisements, mailshots, trade fair stands, etc.), and offering this kind of back-up is a good way for an artist to attract one of the better agents.

Distributors :

Distributors are companies rather than individuals, and they tend to cover the whole country. They are often successful sales agents who have developed into larger concerns employing sales agents of their own. Distributors normally work to develop a corporate image. They have their own marketing programs involving advertising, stands at exhibitions, trade showrooms, catalogs, etc.

Licensing agents :

These agents negotiate licensing deals with print and card publishers, porcelain manufacturers, and giftware companies. Good licensing agents should be able to negotiate better terms and have a wider range of contacts than artists representing themselves, even taking their commissions into account. Some publishing companies, however, will only deal with artists direct. Many print publishers and gallery owners also act as licensing agents for their artists.

Each and every company have agents, which provide the market trend by applying the charges and more, every person, who has a mobile phone they sometimes had experience regarding agents, who tried to sell their policy of life insurance and give home loan and car loan, they always have a target to finish and they get the commissions on each and every person. the same thing happened in the banking sector, when a bank does not grow properly then they hire agents and they sign an agreement to sell credit card and invest money on real estate.

If we look in the education sector whenever any student does not get admission to schools or college, they contact an agent and pay the fees to them and agent cut their commission and give the donation to the education trust then students get admission. the same thing happens in abroad admission when student wont completes their education abroad at that time they contact the agent to get admission in foreign university or college, However, parents also ready to spend their whole money on that thing, sometimes by luck student get admission at the same time agent charge high to the student’s parents, but when a student does not get money back from abroad after rejection on the filing process, then agents do not ready to accept their mistake and also charge same and they do not give the proper answer to the student regarding the money-back process.

So, any person who tries to apply abroad for any purpose like study visa, tourist visa or P.R., please clarify the rules of overseas government and immigration or search online because all countries have a website regarding rules and regulation regarding enter in their country, moreover on social media platform like Youtube also many people from abroad, who keep update us regarding changing immigration rules.

thanks for reading.

 

State of CHILD LABOUR in the world!

On the rising population there is also rise in demand of  family members related to commodities. Many of the family don’t even get 2 meals per day! there is lack of only one thing and that is money. It is said that

“Empty stomach can make you to do anything”

To fill the stomach people can do anything especially when they have family to feed. Now-a-days the crises and cruelty has increased drastically that alone 1 man cannot feed the all 4 members in the lower labour section. So, unwillingly all the family members had to work at the field and contribute some money towards family to sleep without an empty stomach at night.

a photo of a hardworking man
Photo by Tope A. Asokere on Pexels.com

There are many schemes released by government to stop the child labour like making primary education almost free for poor children along with mid-day meal to them so that they do not have to crave for the meals and keep focus on the study, they are also regularly checked by medical if there is any weakness in any of the student. National Child Labour Project (NCPL) is a central government branch which takes strict actions against child labour and works at the best to resist this act. According to UNICEF, India with the highest amount of population has also high number of child labour cases under the age of 14 and 1% of it i.e. approx 1,20,000 are forced to engage in hazardous jobs.

images

Image source: Jatinverma.org

Every year on the day of 12 June it is marked as Anti-Child labour day to draw the attention on the issue of child labour. Every year there is different themes on this day:

  • In 2020 the theme was “Protect children from child labour, now more than ever”.
  • In 2019 the theme was  “Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams”.
  • In 2018 the theme was “Generation safe and Healthy”.
  • IN 2017 the theme was “In conflicts and disasters, protect children from child labour”.
  • In 2016 the theme was “End child labour in supply chains – It’s everyone’s business!”.
  • In 2015 the theme was “NO to child labour – YES to quality education!”.

Now the matter is not just to put it to one day and on a piece of paper, it’s a world wide conflict and has to be somehow resolved. Every year various types of acts and event are performed by students of schools, college and NGOs too, but this year digitally the message was forwarded as due to lockdown and pandemic situation rallies, etc cannot be held.

“Why had his mother gone to the trouble of bringing him into the world if the most exciting moment in his life was having been made lame by a bayonet?” -Félix J. Palma

Let us have some stats:

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Image source: Al Jazeera

Tips for a healthy monsoon

The most difficult season to maintain our lifestyles is the monsoon season. The city life is often triggered by hustle and bustle. Wheater we like it or not, the schedules during monsoons often turn erratic.

Here are some tips to maintain a healthy monsoon

Personal hygiene

This is the season when you need to take great care of yourself. Maintain personal hygiene and make that the first priority. Make an effort to keep things dry as additional moisture can attract more germs. This can slow down your immune system.

Hydrate

It is a fact that during the showers, people tend to feel less thirsty. Human bodies are made up of 90% water so the intake of water is essential during all the seasons. Water is the best source of eliminating all toxic wastes from the internal system, hence keeping our body healthy and skin fresh at all times.

Say no to street food

Avoid street foods during the monsoon as the food items sold on the roadside attract invisible and detrimental germs from the potholes.

Eat healthy

Make sure you have fresh fruits and vegetables daily in order to stay fit and healthy during this monsoon. Have boiled water as it reduces stomach infections.

Wear clean clothes

Make sure you follow a great hygiene routine and wear clean clothes. Wet clothes attract germs and bacteria on the skin.

Avoid going out

During the heavy showers, it is always perfect to stay indoors to follow good safety rules.

Have fun and enjoy 2020 monsoons. Always make your safety the first priority on the bucket list. Wear gumboots and raincoats to stay safe and sound.

Protect Children Labor, Now More Than Ever .

Children around the world are regularly engaged in hazardous activities that affect their mental, physical, social or educational development. Every year World Day Against Child Labor Day is celebrated on 12 June to provide a growing and developing environment for children to live a dignified life. In 1919, the International Labor Organisation (ILO) was founded and in 2002″World Day against Child Labour” was established to abolish child labor.

Impact of COVID-19 on Children

World Day against Child Labor 2020 focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on child labor. The COVID-19 pandemic has a huge impact on Livelihoods of the labor market and children are often the first to suffer. The economic slowdown has forced millions of children to left their school and opt for minimal jobs to support their parents for the livelihood. This year, the World Day Against Child labor is being conducted as a virtual campaign and organized jointly with the Global March Against child labor and the International Partnership for Cooperation on Child labor in Agriculture.  

If children are provided with a suitable environment to enjoy their life, surely they will contribute to the economic and social growth of the country. So stop child labor, protect the right of children, and support them.

PULSES- STRUCTURE, COMPOSITION AND PROCESSING

WHAT ARE PULSES?
Pulses are basically a fruit part of leguminous crops that are harvested solely for the seeds. Dried beans, lentils, and peas are the most common known and consumed pulses. Pulses do not include crops which are harvested green – these are the vegetable crops. Also excluded are those crops used mainly for oil extraction and leguminous crops that are exclusively used for sowing purposes.
Generally, all pulses have a similar structure, but differ in color, shape, size and thickness of the seed coat.
Mature seeds have three components – Seed Coat, Cotyledons and Embryo.
The seed coat or hull accounts for 7-15% of whole seed mass, cotyledons accounts for 85% of total seed and embryo for 1-4%.

STRUCTURE
The external structures of the seed are testa (i.e. seed coat), hilum, micropyle and raphe.
• The testa is the outer most part of the seed and covers almost all of the seed surface.
• The hilum is an oval scar on the seed coat where the seed was attached to the stalk.
• The micropyle is a small opening in the seed coat next to the hilum.
• The raphe is a ridge on the side of the hilum opposite to the micropyle.
When the seed coat is removed from the grain, the remaining part is the embryonic structure. The embryonic structure of the pulse consists of two cotyledons (or seed leaves) and a short axis above and below them These two cotyledons are not physically attach to each other except at the axis and a weak protection is provided by the seed coat to these cotyledons. Thus, the seed is usually vulnerable to breakage. The outermost layer of the seed coat is the cuticle, and it can be smooth or rough.
• Both the micropyle and the hilum are related to the permeability of the testa and to water absorption.

COMPOSITION
Carbohydrates – 55-65%
Proteins – 18-25%
Fat – 1-4%
Minerals – 1-3%
Fibers – 1-5%

PROCESSING OF PULSES

There are various steps involved in processing of pulses:

  1. SOAKING – Soaking in water is the first step in preparing pulses for consumption. It reduces the oligosaccharides of the raffinose family. It also reduces the amount of phytic acid in pulses.
  2. GERMINATION – It improves the nutritive value of food pulses. The ascorbic acid content of pulses increase manifold after 48 hours of germination. The germination process decreases or eliminates most of the anti nutritional and toxic factors in several pulses.
  3. DECORTICATION – It is a simple method to soak the seeds for a short time in water, the husk takes up more water than the seeds and may be easily separated by rubbing while still moist. In the alternative, the soaked grains may be dried and the husk is removed by pounding and winnowing. Roasting also renders the husk easier to separate.
  4. COOKING – It destroys the enzyme inhibitors and thus improves the nutritional quality of food pulses. It also improves the palatability of the pulse.
  5. FERMENTATION – This process increases the pulse digestibility, palatability and nutritive value. It also improves the availability of essential amino acids and thus, the nutritional quality of protein of the blend.
  6. PULSE MILLING – The removal of the outer husk and splitting the grain into two equal halves is known as milling of pulses.

Delhi’s mismanaged fight with Corona virus

Corona virus or as its scientifically referred as Covid-19 has brought the world to its knees. How it got here, who is responsible, when will the vaccine be created and many other questions regarding to it are up to debate. However, one thing that is definitely the need of the hour is to get this disease to a halt, to decrease the number of patients. What the world needs, is a game plan which can deliver successful results. We need to flatten the curve should we want to open up the country again. So far India hasn’t shown such promise, with the number of cases increasing every day, we see a sharp increase in the graph since the partial reopening. One such country that boasts xero cases is New Zealand.

New Zealand has been able to reduce its number of cases to the point where they were able to announce zero reported cases due to a number of reasons. They have a rather small population, only 5 million or so, which is much lesser than most of the worst hit nations, India included. Another major factor is the decisive and fast action that the New Zealand government took to ensure rapid containment of the disease. They also used stringent lockdown measures in order to decrease the rate of spread of infection. Their alertness and strict policies ensured that the disease slowed due to a near inexistent halt. However, they were lucky enough that their population was low, because for a country the size of India, with its population density its very difficult to pull this task off. What doesn’t help is the state and central government bickering in order to gain an upper hand and increase their public popularity. Many states aren’t yet equipped to handle the sudden increase of patients. In Delhi, patients have to wander from hospital to hospital for treatment of coronavirus. Some of those admitted to hospitals have also gone missing. In Covid-designated Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, the bodies could not be accounted for. Bodies of dead people are being piled up in hospitals such as state-run LNGP and centre-run Safdarjung hospital. With such ill-equipped state of various states across the country its hard not to feel disheartened and try to approach the courts. However, in many cases that too is no longer an option, as two advocates filed PILs in Delhi High court to ask for an extension of lockdown due to the increasing tread of number of cases. Both the PILs gave good points in favour of an extended lockdown in Delhi, as it would provide a much-needed breathing space to the facilities concerning the virus and also in some manner break the transmission cycle. The plea also gave forward estimates of one lakh COVID-19 cases in the national capital by end of June and the number would escalate to around 2.25 lakh by mid-July and over 5.5 lakh by July end which the Delhi government themselves admitted. Strict measures are of the utmost importance to stop the increasing graph. However, the Delhi HC declined the PILs and did not give reasons as to why they were not entertained.

What happens next is for all of us to see.

Businesses that are majorly affected!!!

In the pandemic situation where the world seeks a miracle of vaccines, there are many business that came to halt or even they are going to be shut soon. Currently the major task of ours is to stop the spreading of corona virus. It is wisely said “If there is Health there is Wealth”. First we need to cope up with the pandemic situation and then business can be again built, if we stay alive.

CNBC Global CFO survey says that 40% of the business are facing the problem in transportation of the goods and it is expected that it would take more 5-6 months to start and run normally (25% of them said 6 months and other would take a long than that).

intermodal container stacked on port
Photo by Samuel Wölfl on Pexels.com

 

 “Nobody knows. The economic issues are totally driven by public health issues. You tell me how long we will be at home and I will tell you how long it will take for the economy and supply chains to recover.”

-words of Yossi Sheffi, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. Yossi Sheffi further says, if we want to build our business again as soon as possible than there is only one way out to do this and that is to join the war again corona virus and defeat it as early as possible, this epic war is started by many of the companies with their different types of help they can provide, like wise:

  • Auto manufacturers like Tesla and GM motors are providing ventilators to the hospital.

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(Image source: LosAngelesTimes)

  • Apple and Facebook are the largest in supplying protective mask in the U.S.

woman in face mask using smartphone
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

  • HanesBrands in contract with US federal government has decided to make cotton mask when the use of N-95 mask will be minimum. They decided to make 1.5 million mask weekly, and further if needed can go upto 5-6 million mask per week.

close up of face masks
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

The supply chain is completely disturb there is over manufacturing as there is no one to load and unload the trucks. Border shipping is still allowed but shipping through overseas it still a major concern. There will be also huge disturb in supply chain of for pre-planned Indian weddings, as now weddings are postponed or might be done in simple way, the business related to it like party plots, wedding photographers, ca tress, decorators, wedding materials, transportation, apparels and even small-small business related to it. A single event covers many business so all the business are affected largely.

group of people gathering inside room
Photo by Vireshstudio photographer on Pexels.com

 

The business of theater and restaurant are also at halt, which may cause a major set back as there are many of the workers working in restaurant it self. In film industry too many of the workers are engaged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best gifts for dad

             Best gifts for dad

So you have decided to make your dad feel special by gifting him the best you can. Well it’s a historical fact that choosing gifts is the most confusing stuff to do, the reason being millions and millions of options. So in this article you will find some evergreen choices for gifts that just work wonder. 

hugs_gettyimages

HUGs, yes you read it right. Give a warm cozy hug to your father and share how good you feel about him and trust me, it will work more than enough and your lovely dad will be happy in less than a second.

Apart from that try presenting him a lovely pair of socks because this is something that will definitely come in his use and won’t just eat dirt in the showcase.

A grooming and facial kit is also a good suggestion and will come handy to him in times of urgency when he hasn’t got any time to go and wait in saloons.

best-dad-ever-mug-coffee-mug-fathers-day-mug-daddy-mug-cup-with-stirring-spoon-gift

Apart from that, a coffee mug with vacuum sealed lid is also a nice buy as he can effortlessly carry tea, coffee or any beverage he loves which will remain hot or cold for 3 hrs.

A personalized photo frame or latest novel by this fav author is also a good stuff to think about. Further, gift him the membership of gym or yoga class that will add a pinch of health in your gift.

To escalate this gifting stuff why don’t you present him with his favourite snack in the evening so that he can go to bed with a smile on his face .

But you mustn’t forget,. Your affection, love and care is all what will really make his day and he will feel proud to have a child like you.

 

Abortion-a right or a choice?

What happens when people take the decisions of your life? When an unborn child is murdered before even stepping into this world? Who gave them the right to do so? Is it legal or illegal when a young girl is murdered with her unborn child by her parents? These questions triggerd in my mind while reading a recent story which took place in Telangana, where a 20-year old girl was murdered overnight by her parents because she refused for abortion. Digging deep into this story, I found out that the young girl was in love with a man from another caste and this was also a reason because of which her parents committed an unlawful crime by killing her overnight because her actions were against them. Earlier she agreed with her parents on aborting the child but later on she changed her mind and wanted to bring the baby in the world but she didn’t knew what misfortune was coming in her way and the poor child died even before opening his eyes. Who among us will be the one like her parents? Will try to commit this false crime? Or who among us will take a stand and support her and who all will fight with her? Stories like this revolve around the world where again the society plays a major role, not allowing the people to live and breath. According to the WHO, every year an estimated 40-50 million people who face unplanned pregnancy decide to have an abortion in the world. What a strange thing which is a tabu in some parts of the world where men cause women to be pregnant but it is the woman who alone bears the child and goes through a difficult period of pain and suffering. I am not only talking about teenage pregnancies but also about the mothers who face early pregnancy or about the mother who does not want to perceive. I am neither against the abortion nor standing with it, but as a girl I want the society to let the mother decide what she wants and not force her to kill the child because of various reasons.

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Medical Termination of Pregnancy(MTP)

Since the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act allows women to seek abortion as a part of reproductive rights and gender justice. This amendment places India on the top league of the countries where a woman can make individual choices from their perspective. In India, abortions are legal in certain situations, as for unmarried girls, rape victims and for married women with different reasons. There has been a decreasing rate in abortion since India made it illegal to detect the sex of the foetus. But there is a time limit given to the woman for getting an abortion done. A woman should always make sure to have a safe abortion procedure inorder to keep her body safe and always ask the doctor before getting it done.

Reasons why women get this done

1.Peer pressure, the biggest reason for a woman to get her child aborted. Where society never lets the woman live and allow to make her own decision which makes the abortion as the only solution. 2.Female Foeticide, which comes under peer pressure, where the society never lets a girl child to step into this world and gets her killed before her birth. 3.Rape victims and differently- abled.

Since this is a very vague and wide topic, I would like to end it here with a quote “Abortion is a part of being a mother and caring for children because part of her caring of her children is knowing when its not a good idea to bring them into the world”-Katha Pollitt.

top yaps.com

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/honour-killing-parents-held-for-murdering-pregnant-girl-in-telangana/articleshow/76273724.cms

PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING RHIZOBACTERIA

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria or PGPR is a group of bacteria that can be found in the rhizosphere or it can be said that bacteria that colonize the roots of the plants that enhance plant growth. It is observed that the rhizosphere is the zone of maximum microbial activity. It is the rhizosphere region of the plant from where most of the essential mico and macro- nutrients are extracted. The different species of Bacteria, Fungi, Actinomycetes, Protozoa, and Algae can be found in the rhizosphere region, Bacteria being the most abundant.
The term PGPR was introduced by Kloepper and Schroth. They concluded that PGPR are not only associated with the roots to exert beneficial effects on plant development but also have positive effects on controlling phytopathogenic microbes. Therefore, PGPR is one of the active ingredients in biofertilizer.
Based on the interactions , PGPRs are of 2 different types :

  1. SYMBIOTIC or INTRACELLULAR BACTERIA (iPGPR) live inside plants and exchange metabolites directly by biofertilization, stimulation of plant growth, rhizoremediation, and plant stress control. While performing direct growth promotion, they behave as Biofertilizers.
  2. FREE – LIVING or EXTRACELLULAR BACTERIA (ePGPR) live outside plant cells and indirectly increases plant growth by reducing the impact of disease, by Antibiosis, induction of systemic resistance, and competition for nutrients and niches. While performing indirect plant growth promotion, they behave as Biopesticide.

PGPR shows an important role in sustainable agriculture industry.
Undoubtedly, there is an increased demand of crop production now-a-days and also a significant reduction of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers which is a big challenge. So, the use of PGPR has been proven to be one of the best ways of increasing crop yields by facilitating plant growth.
PGPR show synergistic and antagonistic interactions with microorganisms within the rhizosphere and in bulk soil, which indirectly boosts the plant growth rate. PGPR also works as a biofertilizer for agricultural sustainability.
Agriculture is one of the human activities which leads to the increasing amount of chemical pollutants with the excessive and continuous use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This causes further environmental damage causing a serious risk for human health.
For e.g. N2O is excessively released by continuous use of nitrogen fertilizers which causes Greenhouse effect and finally Global Warming. Farmers apply a high concentration of nitrogen fertilizers in the form of ammonium nitrate to increase crop yield but continuous use of nitrogen fertilizers decreases the Biological Nitrogen Fixation in soil.

For Sustainable Agriculture fulfillment, crops which are produced must be grown with disease resistance, salt tolerance, drought tolerance, heavy metal stress tolerance, and better nutritional value. Also, the use of soil microorganisms is the one possible way. Soil microbes increase the nutrient uptake capacity and water use efficiency in the soil. Among these soil microorganisms, PGPRs are mostly used which are capable of performing all the activities without environmental contamination. PGPR include the species of Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Azobacter, Variovorax, Azosprillum and Serratia.
But it is found that agricultural industries worldwide still not use the concept of PGPRs. This is due to the inconsistent properties of inoculated PGPR which can greatly influence the crop production.

 A PGPR must :

  1. Possess its survival in soil by tolerating several environmental factors.
  2. Be compatible with the crops on which it is inoculated.
  3. Be interactive with the already existing microflora in soil.
  4. Have a broad spectrum of action.
  5. Be safe for the environment.
  6. Enhance plant growth.
    Another challenge is that all Rhizobacteria do not possess the same mechanisms which is a major disadvantage for the environment therefore, PGPR still are not used as a biofertilizer in global agricultural productivity.

SC Must Take Suo Motu Action Against Reported Incidents Of Manhandling Of Covid Patients

It is a matter of grave concern that we are getting to learn more and more reported incidents of manhandling of Covid patients/dead bodies. What is even more tragic to learn is that this is happening more with those patients who are not able to cough up huge astronomical sum of money as demanded by the hospitals where they are admitted! This is certainly a cause of grave concern for all of us who are Indians and judiciary too must take serious note of it.

                                           To be brutally honest, this most serious issue has been lying unattended since a long time. No one is taking a serious note of it. Who is responsible for this pathetic state of affairs?

                                    Truth be told, this has been brought to the fore by none other than the former Union Law Minister of India – Dr Ashwani Kumar who also happens to be an eminent and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court. He has addressed a letter directly to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) – Sharad Arvind Bobde and Justices of the Supreme Court highlighting the grave infraction of the citizen’s right to die with dignity amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He has very rightly and commendably asked the CJI to take suo motu notice of various reported incidents, whereby persons suffering from Covid-19 infection are being ill-treated and their dead bodies are being manhandled.

                                    To be sure, Dr Ashwani Kumar has specifically drawn the attention of the CJI towards a tragic, barbaric and shocking incident in Madhya Pradesh where an elderly man suffering from Covid was tied to a bed, after he allegedly failed to make payment of fees for his treatment in the Shajapur-based hospital. Similarly, in yet another case, he pointed out that in the Union Territory of Puducherry, a video had surfaced whereby government workers – four men in PPEs could be seen throwing the body of a Covid-19 positive man into a pit. Less than 30 seconds later one of the men is heard telling a government official that they have “thrown the body” for which the official shows thumbs up in approval!

                                           Of course, it is quite clear that the frontline workers ignored a series of Covid protocol while handling the body! The video shows the dead person was merely wrapped with a white cloth and not in a bag as mandated in such cases. The cloth wrapped around the body also opened up as it was dropped exposing the workers to tremendous risk of infection. It is not yet clear if the body was duly embalmed. The undignified handling of the Covid patient has led to massive outrage in Puducherry!

                                        In his elegant and effective style, Dr Ashwani Kumar points out in his hard hitting letter that, “The tragic and condemnable sight of a Covid-19 patient being chained to a bed in a hospital in Madhya Pradesh and another sight in Puducherry of a dead body being thrown in a pit for burial, has shocked the conscience of the Republic committed to human dignity under the Constitution, which recognizes dignity as a core constitutional value at the pinnacle in the hierarchy of non-negotiable constitutional rights.”

                                             To start with, Dr Ashwani Kumar first and foremost points out in his letter addressed to the CJI and Justices of the Supreme Court that, “This letter is intended to highlight and bring to the notice of the apex court, a case of grave infraction of the citizen’s right to die with dignity recognized by this Hon’ble Court on various occasions. Reference is invited inter alia to the decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in: Kharak Singh v State of UP & Ors 1964 SCR (1) 332, Pt. Parmanand Katara v Union of India 1995 (3) SCC 248, Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan v Union of India (2002) 2 SCC 27 and the Constitution Bench in Common Cause v Union of India (2018) 5 SCC 1. Reference is also invited to recent judgments of the Madras High Court in a Suo-Motu PIL and Bombay High Court in Pradeep Gandhy v State of Maharashtra, declaring a fundamental right to die with dignity embracing right to decent burial or cremation. These judgments constitute the law of the land and are binding on all authorities, as actualizing the promise of the Constitution.”

                                         Going forward, Dr Ashwani Kumar then further goes on to add in his letter that, “I may also add that the notified protocols for cremation in the capital city, reported piling up of bodies in hospitals and mortuaries, non-availability of adequate cremation/burial grounds and the reported non-functioning of electric crematoriums constitute distressing and an unacceptable violation of Right to Die with Dignity.”

                                            Most importantly, it is then pointed out by Dr Ashwani Kumar in the concluding part of his letter that, “Since the Court has the duty and the power to ensure that the law declared by it is actually enforced, it is requested that the Court takes suo-motu notice of the matter. In view of the shocking infraction of the fundamental right to dignity, as is evidenced from the enclosed NDTV report (Annexure ‘A’), Your Lordships are respectfully requested to issue such orders, writs or other directions as will effectuate the citizens right to die with dignity.”

                                                  Speaking for myself, I feel that it is high time and now Centre must come forward immediately and take the laudable initiative to make right to die with dignity a fundamental right just like to like to life is  as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution! For this the Constitution will have to be amended and that must be done accordingly! Political parties must come forward and join hands in ensuring that it is approved unanimously by both Houses of Parliament as early as possible! This is the crying need of the hour also! It brooks no more delay anymore now!   

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.