Tag: covid-19

                                                                       (Photo: Oscar)

How to take care of your health from corona?

In today’s pandemic time, health is the foremost thing to
take care of. So, here I am sharing an insight about Corona and ways to take
care of ourselves from it. Let’s begin.

We all have witnessed the most life-threatening disease,
that is, Coronavirus, started in 2020. Coronavirus is a communicable disease
which means it can easily transfer from one person to another. It has
dreadfully impacted millions of lives globally. No doubt, we all have lost our
loved ones’. It has turned employed persons into jobless, farmers with no food,
middle class into poor class, mass killing of innocent migrant workers, in
short, it has turned the brightest chapter of our lives into the darkest one’s,
where we had no choice, except, Death.

The situation became worse day-by-day. We have entered 2021
but with Coronavirus. The researchers, scientists, health organization, all
strove effortlessly to come up with a solution to cure it. But as such no
permanent solution has come up, except, the vaccine which does not really
protect the person entirely. Health is really important for all of us. And more
important is to maintain our health. Because if we don’t do, we can easily
catch up with different disease and it can trigger the situation. It’s totally
on us whether we want to be healthy or how we want our body to be? So, it’s our
responsibility to make a fair choice. Maintaining a good health physical
exercise, which will help in keeping the body fit, balanced diet comprises of
all essential nutrients, staying healthy mentally, away from depression and
anxiety and much more.

Now let’s take a look at the symptoms of COVID and some
basic ways to prevent ourselves to come in contact with the disease. Firstly,
the symptoms are: Headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, fever, cough, sore
throat. 

WARNING SIGN:  Whenever you observe such
symptoms in yourself, you should immediately contact the Doctor and get
yourself quarantined. You should understand the fact that if you get infected,
you can also infect your family members, friends or people around you. So be a
responsible person and seek medical help on an urgent basis.

If it’s a mild fever and you don’t observe any other
symptoms then take one tablet of DOLO 650. Consume multi-vitamins tablet on a
daily basis to boost your immunity. Along with the consumption of medicines,
drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated, eat fruits and vegetables rich
in nutrients, maintain hygiene. You can also eat dry fruits but if you can’t
afford, it then you can drink milk with turmeric added in it or soya chunks or
peanuts. 

Some of the basic ways to prevent the spread of disease are:

  • Wear
    a mask properly. Ensure that your nose and mouth is properly covered.

  • Use hand
    gloves to avoid getting touched by people around you.

  • Use
    hand sanitizer all the time as it will help to kill the bacteria.

  • Avoid
    travelling if it’s not urgent. Stay indoor as much as possible because you
    never know what can happen with you anytime and at any place.

  • Wash
    your hands properly as it will help to kill the germs.

  • Whenever
    you come from outside open your clothes, keep it away and take bath
    properly. Try using Dettol while bathing.  

  • Do
    not use other person mask or sanitizer. Ensure that you are living in a
    healthy and hygiene environment.

  • Do
    not share your things like water, food with others. As I have already
    mentioned that it’s a communicable disease so it’s better to avoid.

Remember, it’s very important to take precaution at the
first place itself so that you don’t regret later. As our lives are on our own
hands. Not only ours but also other lives too and we too need to become a
responsible person.

Due to the ongoing situation most of the people have lost
their dear ones which at certain level have affected them mentally like they
overthink, depression or anxiety. I totally understand their emotions. But it’s
also true that what has gone will never return. Instead, we need to gear up
ourselves and stand like a strong pillar. We need to motivate ourselves because
we all are in this together. Mental health is also a very serious concern. The
most important thing is we should not stop smiling. When you smile it releases
positive energy within yourself and surrounding. We need to ensure that he or
she is smiling and keeping others happy too. This is also a way to boost up the
immunity. The more you think, the more you will become negative. 

First of all, stop being corona conscious. What I mean by
this is stop thinking about corona all the time like this or that can happen to
you. Because that’s going to affect you emotionally. Don’t let it play and take
over your emotions. It’s you who will have to decide whether you want to fight
or quit. Take a break from all this and do something which calms you down. For
example, do yoga, meditation. Do something that interests you. And take all the
precautions too. Trust me it’s the time to become a strong and be positive
pillar for yourself and your family. Instead of getting demotivated, stay
positive.

Now looking at the vaccine found out by the scientists. So,
the vaccination drive started globally. People started getting vaccinated. Most
people are afraid of getting vaccinated because they believe that they will
die. To pinpoint, few deaths have taken place but I want to clear that vaccine
is for boosting immunity. It will not protect you entirely. Even after taking
vaccine, you can get infected but the vaccine will help you to fight. After
taking vaccine one should stay at home for a week. It’s necessary because one
might get sick. 

At last, I would like to say, try to help others who are in
need. We have to be backbone of one other at this time. Through support we can
win the war against corona. Take care of yourself and your family. And don’t
forget to smile.

 

India and her Handlooms

Indian handloom industry saw a reduction in 30% of its trade in the year 2020. This means that the already struggling industry will see further cut in costs. There is an urgent need to innovate new ways to market the goods it produces. The modern state of India still has one of the largest employed workforce in the textile sector, and a large part of it is the handloom industry – which is mostly worked in by the artisans who are either poor or are working hard to preserve their traditional way of manufacturing clothes and designs. For India presents a rainbow in manufacturing methods – right from the famous Benarasi Saree to the now almost extinct methods of making silk and woolen garments in the remote hills of Ladakh and Kashmir.

Cotton has been cultivated in the Indian subcontinent for over 3000 years. And that is probably also the age of a rich tradition of fabric making. With the advent of the bronze age through the influx of Greco-Roman, Mongol, Iranian, Vedic and Afghan cultures into the modern age of Mughals, Marathas, British and later the republic of India and her neighbours – the Indian textile industry has seen a plethora of changes and demand.

Shah Jahan Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline
Queen of royal India - SSK Art Gallery - Paintings & Prints, Ethnic, Cultural, & Tribal, Asian & Indian, Indian - ArtPal
From dhotis and sarees to kurtas and Salwars – India has seen a plethora of changes in its clothing culture.
India's handloom export declined by 30% within a year: Text Min statistics
Social enterprises looking at innovative ways to revive handloom sector post-lockdown - The Economic Times

Handloom has a great symbolic importance to India. For it was the first Industry that stood as a symbol of self-reliance during the British Raj resistance period, a rhetoric the current Indian Prime Minister used in his Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign. After all, if it were not for Indian fabric – the famed Muslins and Pashminas and Indian spices – the British would have had to search for other reasons to come and settle in a land so very far away from their motherland.

Cherishing the charkha | Indian Link
Gandhi used handloom as a symbol of self reliance

7th August marks the National Handloom day – a day dedicated to an industry that is rapidly finding itself in a stage where only the ones who are super-nationalist and the rich opting for it. Handloom products are often costly than the cheap produce of the machines that invaded the textile industry 200 years ago, effectively ushering in the Industrial Revolution in the 17th century England.

Back to India, here is a list of some famous Indian handloom industries and the cities in which they are concentrated.

  1. Varanasi – The famed Banaras Silk sari is the prized possession of many north Indian women as that is the standard sari of the bride in marriages in households that can afford them. And yet, the Benarasi artists are increasingly been replaced by machines that are producing cheaper saris though with reduced finesse. To add to it is the Zamdani works on cotton fabric, quite endemic to the city.
  2. Jaipur – Jaipur and its handloom industry have the royal family of Jaipur as its patrons. There are establishments and shops that were opened by the last Rajmata of the city, Gayatri Deviji to promote local industries. To add to that is the already existing tradition of Bandhni, Zari and Patti works.
  3. Surat – One of the oldest textile industries that were spotted and used by the local rulers and the British alike. The silk industry in Surat is one of the largest of its kind in the country.
  4. Kota – The tuition capital of the country is also home to the Kota Doria, Gotta Patti and the Kota weave artisans.
  5. Lucknow – The city has an industry that keeps alive the times when nawabs ruled over the city of Lucknow, the then capital of the Awadh state. Most famous of its local weaves is the Chikankari work.
  6. Bhadohi – The small town is only 40km from Varanasi and has been the centre of Indo-Persian carpet work since the era of the Mughal Emperor Akbar and has the largest carpet making industry in the country.

Well, there are many more of such cities and villages when one researches about them. Many of the ingenious art forms that are involved in making clothes are dying with less than 50 families left that carry forward the tradition. The sad part – machines cannot replicate that finesse. Such is the case of the wool and silk industry in the Gharwal and Kashmir valleys.

After the pandemic or even during it, let us and our government support this remnant of our history, our art, our tradition and a symbol of first instance of our modern industrial self reliance.

2020-21: Fires, Heat and Rains

2020 started with forest fires in Canada, Brazil and bush fires across Australian coast, causing the death of at least two billion animals.

Tourism Australia Bites Back On 'Viral Bushfire Misinformation'
The Australian Bush fires

Come 2021, Greek, Turkish and Italian people experienced one of the hottest summers in history in 2021. In the Hellenic Republic of Greece, the temperatures reached 45 degree Celsius on 4th August. While this might be a pretty regularly recorded temperature in the tropic, the Balkans and the Anatolian peninsula recording such temperatures is worrisome. The temperatures led to a spontaneous spread of forest fires in and across Europe, Canada and Turkey – and people across the globe shared the plight of Turkey on social media since Turkey is not habitual with these fires and hence lacks the number of helicopters and jets to control these fires.

Sicily wildfires, August 2021
Turkey battles wildfires for 6th day, EU to send planes
Turkish Wildfires have been unprecedented for the country

China recorded floods it had never seen in the last 50 years of its history in 2021. A very worst form of excessive rainfalls was recorded in central and western Europe in July 2021 with countries like Germany completely overwhelmed by floods. This is in addition to the already burning Amazons and even Asian countries recording instances of Forest fires in a time not traditionally identified with the same. Russia and Finland and US are also heading towards a quite imminent diplomatic crisis given that the Arctic has already lost more than 50% of its ice opening up the once frozen Tundra and permafrost to petroleum and uranium explorations with the obvious geopolitical control over the area being a chief topic of contention.

Arctic cold war: climate change has ignited a new polar power struggle
Climate change has ignited a new proxy struggle for the domination of the ocean.
Climate change: Polar bears could be lost by 2100 - BBC News
These might be one of the last generation of the polar bears.

China and India claim to have planted at least a billion trees in the last 5 years with China keen on developing technologies that are associated with building forest towns – a human enclosure built within an artificial forest as the future of dwelling. France announced a closing of all its coal plants 2 years ahead of schedule. But is that all? Global statistics show a massive increase in demand for coal in 2020 and ’21.

Liuzhou Forest City | Stefano Boeri Architetti
The Liuzhou city might be the first forest city on the planet.

The images of environment recovering due to COVID might be fairly short lived.

Give Data on Number of Deaths Due to Oxygen Shortage During 2nd Wave, Centre Tells States

The central government wrote to the states and sought data on the number of deaths that took place due to lack of oxygen during the second Covid-19 wave. The data will be collated and presented in Parliament before the monsoon session ends on August 13.

“We have been getting repeated questions on oxygen deaths in the parliament ” a govt official told CNN-News18.

Last week, responding to a question on the acute shortage of oxygen during the second wave of the pandemic, the Health Ministry had said in Rajya Sabha that “no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by States and Union Territories.”

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had then said that there have been several deaths because of oxygen shortage in Delhi and other places across the country.

The second wave had seen several private hospitals across the country, especially the national capital, take to twitter with SOS messages pointing out acute shortage of oxygen and demanding urgent help.

The Secret Garden: A book review

A girl is born to a rich household of a British officer in the times of the Raj. As customary to apparently the then tradition of rich households in British India, the child was raised by the local servants. The father and the mother never really bothered to spend some time with her. However, a deadly plague breaks in and everyone dies. Everyone, but the girl child who is now a bitter, unkind girl who has spent a large part of her growing time simply commanding people and repressing her emotions and has a habit of being fed, and bathed and clothed – all by others. The death of her family means she has to now live with her uncle – a lord in the British Isles.

In that cold, dead and open manor, she discovers the meaning of work, expression, friendship and love – not only nurturing back his cousin to health, but also helping her uncle rediscover happiness and let the garden where her wife passed away – the secret garden with no doors open to anyone.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Land of Tales

The secret garden – a British children’s classic for more than a century now – is some of those books which one might not necessarily complete in one go, but would be pressed innately to return to it. The story is very much of a child but it builds up in ways that often evade even adult and contemporary literature. Imagination, revelations and most importantly the fact that the protagonist is but a child – all of it is simply touching. A movie was made on the book in 2020 starring Collin Firth and Julie Walters.

The Secret Garden (2020 film) - Wikipedia

Remember to give it a read!!!

Penpals – Digitalized to be rediscovered!

Letters are probably the most graceful way of communication between people. It probably was the most common way of distant communication for more than 3000 years of our recorded history. Until very recently, letters were used by professionals and by common folks alike. You pick up a culture – Indian, English, American, Japanese etc. – all of them have a dedicated space for letter writing – often considered an art. However, mobile phones, instant messaging and e-mails changed the way in which communication was carried out between people forever. It is not that instant messaging is bad. It is better than what was, but certainly fails to have the element of gracefulness that was imbibed in the culture of letter writing.

However, until very recently, letters were also used for the tradition of penpals. Wikipedia defines penpals as – “Pen pals (or penpals, pen-pals, penfriends or pen friends) are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of letters. Occasionally pen pals may already have a relationship that is not regularly conducted in person.” And this was a very flourishing tradition between cultures. But of course, life becomes faster with technology and the social changes that come with it.

However, the ones who love and the ones who adore find more ways to hold on to things than the ways in which the others discard the same. There are several penpal clubs that run through magazines. But COVID has certainly put a halt on a large number of them. However, a better thing happened because of this – the innovation of digital letters. For instance, the 2019 Google Apps winner app Slowly built by a Hong Kong Based firm facilitates letter writing online. The time taken by a letter to reach the recipient is proportional to the distance the letter needs to travel geographically, essentially emulating a real-life letter experience. Several other websites that do not necessarily work on the letter based penpal format i.e. they work more like a chat between strangers erupted in market due to the pandemic. The most famous of them is perhaps Omegle which also offers face-time options.

While many may lament that the smell of paper and ink and the post man coming and delivering letters meant a lot to them, a reality is that our realities have changed. The present generation, mostly people born after 2004 might not have many recollections of letters at all in India- thanks to the massive cell-phone boom that has occurred since. However, letters are a good thing. Because the slow modality ensures that a person works upon his language and choice of words. If that isn’t training for soft skills and practicing writing, one may wonder what is. So, the author wishes the ones now planning to write to new people across the world, all the best!

How can online learning influences the education of a Student?

When the world has witnessed one of the most infectious diseases spreading around the globe that affects not only the physical health but also the mental health of people. It was really difficult for any educational institutions, schools, or a college to manage classes physically, But 21st-century technology made it easier and helped institutions with their breathtaking software to conduct online classes and tests.

Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com

How online education is a new way of learning?

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were people who used to study on E-platforms, but not often, there were people who didn’t go to school and studied at home. Technology made a click away to explore and learn anything a student wanted to. Now one can carry their textbooks in their pocket, one can meet up anyone face to face on a software, just a click away and one can do learn anything from the internet. After school closed as a result of the pandemic, about 1.8 billion students from 186 different countries, their education was affected, but again technology did not want the student’s life to be ruined by the physical closure of schools. 

Future of Online Education

As per some scholars and economists, it’s highly believed that the overall market for online learning can be up to US $350 Billion in 2025 or more. Parents and students now don’t have to spend extra charges for classrooms, Electricity, or for any other activities that the school asks the students to pay. Parents who used to worry about their kids in school about their bullying, consuming drugs or any other harmful activities now are totally diminished. Now parents can witness their kid’s education during their online classes. Students now can easily study as well as can upgrade their extra skills through e-learning. Many students nowadays do internships, do extra courses, learn new things as well as the technology. Now a 8 year old student knows how to operate a mobile phone or a PC. Some believe that in future online education would be easily available and students don’t have to pay more for their education. “I believe that the integration of information technology in education will be further accelerated and that online education will eventually become an integral component of school education,“ says Wang Tao, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and Vice President of Tencent Education.

As Online education can also put the students in a bad or harmful influence, there are people who don’t want the online education as a major medium of learning.

Reasons why online education can be a harmful influence for the students?

  • Nowadays, most of the school or college students don’t study and cheat on their online exams or tests. It can be a really bad impact on their future and can be the core reason for the lack of their knowledge.
  • The daily and often use of electronic devices can make a person sick and hits their mental health in a really bad way.
  • Students are well aware of the technology and now are highly active on social media networks and making online friends. One can be good, but there are high number of chances to meet a fraud one. Those frauds assault the kids and ask them to do things which a kid didn’t want to.
  • Nowadays students as well as the adults store their personal information on their electronic devices and one don’t know that there are people on the internet named as hackers, who often used to steal the random people information from their cloud and upload them in the Dark web. There is a high number of chances of a kid or high school student could be one of the victims of online frauds and assault.

Reasons why online education can be a good influence for the students?

  • Firstly, the online education can be done in massive numbers at a time, which in physical classes were not possible. A student can know a number of different answers to a same question which is really helpful for a kid to understand that how an answer could be framed for a question.
  • Question answers from textbooks were limited, but in online education one can know more about a question through exploring it on the internet.
  • Technology is our future generation and learning about it since childhood could be an advantage for a student in their future.
  • In a traditional way of learning, one has to stick by a particular teacher and had to adapt their teaching style, but in online education a student can get through a number of teachers and can stick with the one they liked the most.

Disadvantages of Online education

Schools, Colleges are one of the best moments one could live in and online education can totally dismiss it. The other activities in schools like Upgrading leadership qualities through school/college competitions, Outdoor games for physical health of a student, and more things which a student learns through offline education are not possible through online education. The major and the core problem is, not every student or kid have mobile phones or PC and the access to the internet. They all were dependent on government schools, offline classes and free books from the school for their education. Poor family conditions, Bad environment, Poor Electronic facilities could be reason in the future for a student who might lose their interest in their education through E-Learning.

In the end, the conclusion of learning through online education has more disadvantages than their benefits.

Sources:-

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidehighered.com%2Fnews%2F2020%2F07%2F30%2Fsurvey-data-reveal-impact-covid-19-perceptions-online-education&psig=AOvVaw28oKObAFVXLJ-UO6vhxiqv&ust=1627984700132000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAwQjhxqFwoTCKCFmYeKkvICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAK

Role Of Todays Youth In Building A Self Reliant India

“Self-reliance is the key to a vigorous life.”

Self-reliant India is the vision of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi of making India a self-reliant nation. The first mention of this came in the form of the ‘Self-Reliant India Mission’ during the announcement of the coronavirus pandemic related economic package on 12 May 2020. This self-reliant policy does not aim to be protectionist on nature and as the Finance Minister clarified, ” Self-reliant India does not mean cutting off from rest of the world”. The largest fund in the country worth Rs. 21,000 crore was setup by the IIT Alumni Council with the aim of supporting the mission towards self-reliance.

Everybody knows, that the youth are the future of any country. But India can take lead over many other nations because about 65 percent of the country’s population is below 35 years and 50 percent is below 25 years. With huge, educated young population, India is very uniquely poised to realise the demographic potential amd reap the advantage of this vast powerhouse of human resource talent. The need of the hour is to upgrade the skill or upskill the youth to meet the emloyment needs of technology driven 21st century and accelerate the pace of self-reliance.

The uncertainity created by the pandemic is being seen by many as an opportunity to upgrade knowledge and acquire new skills that will cater to the post-corona virus job scenario. The skills required for tomorrow’s jobs will be completely different from the skill-sets youth possess today.

So, its high time now, we have to make India self-reliant and youth plays the most important role in this mission.

Covid -19, Society and Law

Introduction

Humankind is going through a new and unprecedented experience with the rapidly spreading Covid-19 pandemic. We still do not know who ‘patient zero’, the first person to be infected and transmit it to others, was. The severity of this virus, which has caught the world by surprise, lies not only in the delay of laboratories in finding an effective and efficient vaccine, but also in the fact that the measures taken to counter it differ considerably from what was previously adopted to confront various acute crisis, whether health, political, social or economic.

There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic will change the face of human society, but it forces us to ask some important questions. Will this change only affect the healthcare systems, or will it extend to consumption patterns, value systems, political regimes and legal systems, thus leading to the fall of the huge financial and economic empires? Will the major transformations the world will undergo be determined by how we recover from the effects of this situation?

According to the World Health Organization, the problem does not lie in Covid-19 alone but rather in the fear, panic and terror caused by the spread of this virus, and amplified by the media, which has been presenting the situation as if it were the end of the world. Barring the measures adopted by China, where the virus originated, the methods used to manage the crisis around the world are somewhat similar. To some extent, China succeeded in curtailing the spread of the virus, thanks to the spirit of discipline in its people, and due to its health infrastructure, the plethora of research centres and laboratories, and the ability to control the sources of information from the onset. Most other countries have wasted precious time after the first cases appeared, relying on legal and security control in dealing with the pandemic and information about it, rather than establishing a single entity to disseminate information backed by science.

The current crisis is not of the pandemic alone. Rather, it is of the far-reaching consequences on human behaviour. Addressing these repercussions should not be limited to taking ad-hoc costly measures limited to the current situation but should prompt us to think about putting into place innovative measures and actions that go beyond the pandemic. Measures like imposing quarantines, enacting new laws to manage the pandemic, using modern tools for e-learning and telework, ensuring a minimum standard of living for all, granting loans, exemptions from paying water and gas bills and taxes, assisting the unemployed, and using the military to assist in security measures during the epidemic have cost countries billions of dollars. These are funds that could have been invested in infrastructure or other major projects, but instead have now been used to respond to the immediate needs of the people.The pandemic will radically change the modern world, leading to three likely outcomes.

The first outcome

A new theory will be integrated within political science in the future. Indeed, traditional legitimacies in the systems of government, which are derived from ballot boxes, hereditary legitimacy or religion, are beginning to decline, leaving room for a new theory called the “theory of achievements”. Since the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong in the 1960s, China has worked on this emerging legitimacy, as the Chinese Communist Party has distinguished itself from the rest of the Communist parties in the world.

The second outcome

The traditional conflict between wrong information and right information will transform into a conflict between convincing information and unconvincing information, as legal arsenals and control tools are no longer effective in the spread and prevalence of correct information. The method of producing information and choosing its dissemination channel is becoming a means of turning it into convincing information, regardless of if it is true or false.

The third outcome

The process of monitoring people will transition from external to internal control using smartphones. This is also what happened in China, to curb down on misinformation on Covid-19 during its early stages and as a preventive measure in the absence of a vaccine. These smart devices have become effective tools for measuring citizens’ reactions at home to what is happening in their surroundings.

A coming human revolution

Humankind is going through a humanitarian revolution, the kind that has occurred only thrice before: first, after the discovery of fire; second, with the advent of agriculture; and third, following the industrial revolution. The most prominent sign of this ‘fourth revolution’ is the predominance of new technology and the supremacy of modern means of communication, which have spawned a conflict between two major concepts of using the internet. The first can be described as social perception with a human connect, while the second is non-social perception, and can be termed as wild and unbridled. The humanitarian-minded perception is likely to win this conflict, as this human revolution is making its mark on our social existence and old behaviours. This will impact the current value system and will have political andeconomic implications.

The post-epidemic stage will see the emergence of a new human being, whose daily behaviour and thinking will differ from what it was before the Covid-19 outbreak. The political, legal and economic systems will have to adapt to this new human being. Despite the timely importance of the current safety measures being put into action around the world, there is a great need for these to be integrated into a comprehensive post-pandemic thinking. In fact, we will find ourselves faced with a generation who thinks differently from the pre- pandemic generation.

In light of the impact of Covid-19 on the individual and collective behaviours of society and State, and people’s continued thirst for information, it is necessary to keep in mind the post- pandemic world when it comes to decision-making. The Covid-19 storm will pass and mankind will survive, despite the loss of many lives. Humankind will soon live in a world that is very different from the one before the virus. However, the pandemic will succeed where the other movements of the 20th century have failed in their struggle to establish democracy and human rights, and preserve a safe environment for all.

Is Online Classes a Mental Exhaustion rather than Knowledge?

Yes, Online Classes is a mental exhaustion rather than knowledge. Online Classes is a modern way of teaching consisting virtual classrooms. With educational institutes closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has been encouraging online education to achieve academic continuity. Most high-end private and public institutions have made the switch smoothly using online platforms such as Zoom, Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams etc., while many still find it a herculean task. The challenges of online education is multifaceted.

Using internet for entertainment is common, but for online lessons is a big challenge. Teachers may not be well-versed with creating digital content, and conveying it efeectively online. A sudden expectation from them to upgrade, and from students to adapt, is unfair. Body language and eye-contact which are important cues for the teacher are difficult to perceive in an online class. “I do not receive continual feedback in the form of student’s reaction during online session” says a college teacher in sub-urban Mumbai. How many students have paid attention in a class? These questions arise even in traditional classrooms, but they are harder to address in online classes. A parent of an 8 year old attending a private school in Gurgaon says, “There shouldn’t be online classes for such younf kids. Their concentration span is small and they do not pay attention after a while.”

Even the college students seem to value the in-class physical learning experience much more than a virtual one. Theoretical knowledge always seems to be boring without practicals. Students have to sit at one place and just have to study the theory. Their minds gets exhausted due to which they pay less attention to what has been taught. many acknowledge that phones can be very distracting. In addition, science and technology programs often include hands-on laboratory sessions, dissertation projects and field trips to complement theoretical studies.This aspect of learning is severely limited in online education.

Finally, education is not just about subject knowledge but also about developing social skills and sportsmanship among the students, which is built over years. Relying solely on education maay hinder the holistic develoment of children and many may under-perform later in their professional and personal lives. Students are not able to understand lessons which result in oncreasing stress among the students.

“In a class of 40 students, after two months of online classes, around 20 students regularly attend class with whatever device and connection they have. Around 5-8 students are completely absent till date and rest are fluctuating” says a school teacher in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. A teacher in a government-aided school from the small town of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh says, “It is frustrating experience to engage students of lower classes in online mode . There are network issues on both teacher’s and student’s ends.”

We all know that some areas are prone to poor internet connectivity due to which some students are not able to attend classes and some join just for the sake of attendance. We Indians give more preference to marks and frades rather than knowledge, which results in less productivity of knowledge in students and more focus is given by students to get good marks.

Government vs Twitter

Chris pirillo said that “twitter is a great place to tell the world what you are thinking before you have had a chance to think about it”. However, the government wants to control it. 

India’s Covid-19 rise had eclipsed all superlatives only a few months ago. Hundreds of thousands of people have died because of India’s worst public-health catastrophe in history, which has highlighted the country’s deteriorating healthcare infrastructure. In the midst of the tragedy, while armies of medical personnel and volunteers focused their energies on battling the virus, the administration looked to be concentrating on a different issue. And that issue is TWITTER.

 The initial root of the situation was a tweet sent by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on May 18. Patra displayed a paper he referred to as a “toolkit” in this tweet, which appears to be an internal Congress document outlining the processes for undermining the BJP’s reaction to the epidemic and increasing publicity of the party’s activities. Days later, the Delhi Police, which reports to the Union government but is not a full-fledged state, paid a visit to Twitter’s headquarters in Delhi and Gurugram, ostensibly to find out why the company opted to put the warning label on Patra’s post. According to local sources, authorities in Uttar Pradesh recently blamed Twitter, along with journalists and opposition party officials, for posting a video that sparked communal strife. The video, which alleged to depict majority Hindus beating a minority Muslim guy, prompted another complaint against Twitter India CEO Manish Maheshwari, according to Delhi police. However, The problematic footage has subsequently been deleted, with no more comment from the firm other than a remark about following local regulations. 

The government has opted to focus on digital image management many times during the epidemic, including the most recent occurrences. Following government demands, Twitter and Facebook pulled down about 100 postings in April. The government’s approach to the epidemic was criticized in several of these tweets.Following the agricultural demonstrations, Twitter agreed to the BJP’s demands to temporarily and permanently restrict 500 accounts, including those of opposition leaders and journalists. The government also forced Twitter to remove several well-known personalities who expressed support for the protestors, like Punjabi musician JazzyB, whose account has 1.2 million followers but can’t be viewed from India, though the firm hasn’t followed through on all of its demands.

Therefore, they not only silence the critical voices but also exposes the corporation to much more pressure to stifle government critics in India and elsewhere. Twitter, a relative newcomer with 17.5 million members, has India as one of its fastest-growing markets. However, its limited reach makes it vulnerable in a country that demonstrated its willingness to outlaw popular foreign services a year ago when it banned TikTok — which had 200 million users in the country — WeChat, and hundreds of other Chinese-made apps following a violent clash on the disputed border. It is critical to political debate in India, and Modi himself is a frequent user with a following of over 69 million people, demonstrating its global reach. While politicians have been outspoken in their criticism of Twitter, none have publicly threatened to abolish it. 

Biomedical Wastes

Our environment is degrading day by day. India with its growing population is also keeping up with the waste generation.

Nowadays pollution is everywhere whether its air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, noise pollution, radioactive pollution and the pollution from E waste what not?

Biomedical Waste( BMW) is any waste produced during the diagnosis treatment or immunization of human or Animal Research activities retaining threat or in the production the testing of biological or in health camps.

Let the waste of the ‘sicks’, not ruin the life of the ‘healthy’

Common generator of Biomedical wastes are :-

  • Hospital
  • Emergency Medical Services
  • Medicinal Research Laboratories
  • offices of physician , dentist, veterinarians
  • home Health Care
  • funeral homes

From WHO stats 2000,the improper treatment of medical waste( primary use of infected needles and syringes) caused 21 million hepatitis B infection and 2, 60, 000 HIV infections worldwide.

During this pandemic situation, we have witnesses another huge list of Biomedical Waste generation in India. India generated over 18000 tons of covid-19 related biomedical waste in starting 4 months of this pandemic. This includes personal protective equipment (PPE), gloves, face mask, head cover, plastic coverall, hezmet suit and syringes among others.

Biomedical Waste during pandemic

Types of Biomedical Waste

Infectious waste

  • Suspected of containing pathogen in a sufficiently large quantity or concentration to result in disease in susceptible host.
  • Cultures and stock of infectious Agent from laboratory.
  • Waste from operation and autopsies on patient with infectious disease.
  • Waste having come into contact with infected hemodialysis patient.

Pathological waste

  • Infectious material containing dead tissue may conceal specially dangerous and communicable infectious Agent.
  • Include – blood, body fluid, tissues, organs, body parts, human foetus etc.
  • Subcategory of pathological waste is Anatomical waste.
    • Consist of identifiable human or animal body parts healthy or otherwise.

Radioactive waste

Colouring code of Biomedical Waste
  • Waste generated during the different application of radioisotopes in biological research on medicine.
  • May contain infectious biological components from Anatomical, research or clinical sources.
  • By product of various nuclear Technology process.
  • Include-
    • Nuclear medicine
    • nuclear research
    • Nuclear power
    • Manufacturing
    • construction
    • Caol
    • Rare Earth mining
    • Nuclear weapon reprocessing

Pharmaceutical waste

  • Contaminated or expired drugs and vaccine as well as antibiotics and pills.
  • Result from many activities and location in health care facilities.
  • Small quantities at households can often be thrown away in the municipal waste stream.
  • But large quantities kept at pharmacies distribution Centre, Hospital etc. be managed to minimise the risk of release or to exposure to the public.

Genotoxic waste

  • Waste from drugs that are used in radiotherapy and units.
  • One of the type of hospital waste that are extremely dangerous and may cause cell mutation or cancer.
  • Cytotoxic drugs are main components.
  • Include –
    • Urine
    • Faeces
    • Vomit treated with Chemicals or cytotoxic drug.

Sharps

  • Object that are Sharp enough to cut or puncture the skin.
  • Transmit infections directly into the bloodstream.
  • Generally treated as highly hazardous medical waste regardless of whether they are contaminated or not.
  • Includes –
    • knife
    • Blades
    • Infusion set
    • Needles
    • Broken Glass
    • Nails
    • Scalpel

Chemical waste

  • Contain radioactive element poses particularly difficult problem of disposal.
  • Includes –
    • Heavy metal from Medical appliance
    • Disinfectant
    • Solvent
  • Difficulty in disposal are partly technical and partly political
    • The radioactive constituent that find their way into groundwater and surface water must be kept to exceedingly small amount for very long time.
    • Fear of mysterious effect of radiation, politician reluctant to consider disposal of radioactive waste in the area of their constituent.

E-COMMERCE IN PANDEMIC WORLD

Covid-19 worldwide pandemic was one of the 2020’s defining events and it still is. It has changed everything even the e-commerce world. The internet and e-commerce industries have grown amid the COVID-19 issue and experienced extraordinary and unexpected development. 

Many restaurants, pubs, movie theatres, and gyms are closing in major cities. Meanwhile, many office workers are encountering new problems as they transition to full-time remote employment. However, People are adjusting to the reality of our interconnected society and the difficulty of briefly separating oneself from others. It would be an understatement to suggest that we are living in extraordinary times. In these times, lockdowns became the latest trend therefore, companies and customers progressively “went digital,” and started delivering and purchasing more products and services over the internet which in turn boosted e-share commerce’s of global retail trade from 14% in 2019 to almost 17% in 2020 as per the statistics. The epidemic has sped up the transition from physical to digital purchasing by around five years.

Customers are avoiding public locations, and non-essential enterprises are being forced to close in these trying times due to covid-19 situation where cities are going under lockdowns. Shopping for only the bare necessities is becoming the new normal. So, To satisfy shifting requirements, brands are adapting and becoming adaptable by consumers. 

Millions of individuals turned to e-commerce platforms this year, not only in metropolitan area  but also in tier III and beyond, due to the need for social distance and prioritizing safety during the epidemic, according to companies like Amazon and Flipkart as well as industry analysts. It is expected that the coronavirus pandemic influence will increase e-commerce business by 84% to $111 billion by 2024. Mobile shopping will fuel India’s e-commerce sector, which is expected to increase at a rate of 21% annually over the next four years. The most common payment methods online in 2020 were digital wallets, credit cards, and debit cards. As well all know that Physical retail has merged with the digital world and e commerce capacity is no longer restricted to traditional websites. Consumers are becoming habitual with this e-commerce world and  want the same hassle-free and convenient shopping experience whether they purchase via an app, through their social feeds, or in person in near future. 

However, despite several governments’ attempts during the COVID-19 crisis to promote e-commerce, persisting digital inequalities mean that not everyone has been able to participate. Furthermore, in the event of growing universal sales models or novel modes of delivery, rules that are not suited to e-commerce might create hurdles for businesses. While many of these issues existed before to COVID-19, the present crisis, as well as the growing role of e-commerce for consumers and businesses, has increased the need for governmental intervention.

Systemic issues in connection, financial inclusion, skills, and trust (for instance- digital security, privacy, and consumer protection) have been brought to the forefront for consumers. To solve this issue, governments may provide rural and underdeveloped areas with inexpensive and high-quality internet, improve financial inclusion, and encourage trust and the development of skills needed to participate in e-commerce.

Governments must also maintain fair system in the context of online platforms. It’s also critical to provide enough competition in the retail sector and a well-functioning enabling environment for e-commerce, which includes communication services, logistics, and trade.

Covid-19 : a travel and tourism wrecker

In the past decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and became one of the fastest growing economic sectors globally. The sector witnessed a 59% growth over the decade in international tourists’ arrivals from 1.5 billion 2019 compared to 880 million in 2009. Globally, the industry contributed to $8.9 trillion to the global GDP in 2019 equaling a contribution of 10.3%. However, the strong growth has been halted in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. With airplanes on the ground, hotels closed and travel restrictions implemented, travel and tourism became one of the most affected sectors since the very start of the virus spread. The pandemic has cut international tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2020 to a fraction of what they were a year ago.

Closing borders, tourism & travel ban

Countries all over the world applied travel restrictions to limit the coronavirus spread. Airport closures, the suspension of flights, and nationwide lockdowns are just some of the measures that countries are implementing in an effort to contain the pandemic. After the spread of the pandemic in the first two quarters of 2020, at least 93% of the global population lived in countries with coronavirus-related travel restrictions, with approximately 3 billion people residing in countries enforcing complete border closures to foreigners.

The decline of International Tourists during the Pandemic

The number of international tourist arrivals has been growing remarkably in the last decade and still sustained growth throughout the last years; in 2017 arrivals reached a total of 1.3 billion globally, 2018 reaching 1.4 billion and 1.5 billion in 2019. In 2020, due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, international tourism went down by 65% in the first half of 2020 when compared with 2019 figures.In May 2020, the majority of the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) tourism experts expect to see signs of recovery by the final quarter of 2020 but mostly in 2021.

Covid-19 and Airline Failures

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) financial outlook released in June showed that airlines globally are expected to lose $84.3 billion in the year of 2020 for a net profit margin of -20.1%. It also stated that revenues will fall by 50% to $419 billion from $838 billion in 2019. In 2021, losses are expected to be cut to $15.8 billion as revenues rise to $598 billion. IATA’s Director General and CEO, stated that “Financially, 2020 will go down as the worst year in the history of aviation. On average, every day of this year will add $230 million to industry losses. In total that’s a loss of $84.3 billion”. What’s shocking is witnessing how many airlines have failed during the coronavirus pandemic. And even for airlines that are still in business, the situation is severely difficult. The second-largest carrier in South America, Avianca Holdings survived the Great Depression – but not coronavirus. The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May.

Hospitality Sector Hit by the Lockdown

The lockdown due to the pandemic has affected the tourism industry across the globe, and the hotel sector is among the hardest hit. Global hospitality data company STR compared 2020’s first quarter status to 2019 figures, hotel occupancy rates dropped as much as 96% in Italy, 68% in China, 67% in UK, 59% in US. There’s no doubt that the hotel industry has witnessed a severe impact by the pandemic and the lockdown status.

Balancing the Return of Tourism Revenues and Safety

As of July 2020, the EU opened borders to tourists from 15 different countries leaving the U.S. off the list. Health officials developed a plan to classify accepted countries based on how the country is performing in controlling the coronavirus. A country is considered under control when they have a number close to or below the EU average for new coronavirus cases over the last 14 days and per 100,000 inhabitants. On 15 June, the European Commission launched ‘Re-open EU’, a web platform that contains essential information allowing a safe relaunch of free movement and tourism across Europe. The platform will provide real-time information on borders, available means of transport, travel restrictions, public health, and safety measures.

The Return of Tourism Globally

With lockdowns ending around the world, many countries have started to ease border restrictions and reopen for international tourists. Although many governments are still advising against “nonessential” international travel, a host of popular destinations have eased their Covid-19 border restrictions and are readily welcoming tourists back:

– The European Commission has released guidelines for how its Member States can start to ease coronavirus travel restrictions and enable tourism to begin again

– Destinations like Dubai, the Maldives, Egypt, Lebanon, Croatia, Kenya, Tanzania and Jamaica have already opened their doors to foreign visitors again, while Thailand hope to reopen soon

While tourism is slowly returning in some destinations, most members of the UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts expect international tourism to recover only by the second half of 2021, followed by those who expect a rebound in the first part of next year.

However, there are still concerns over the lack of reliable information and deteriorating economic environment which are indicated as factors weighing on consumer confidence, especially with the potential new limits on travel as world comes to grips with second Covid-19 wave. The concerns over the waves of coronavirus brought on by returning vacationers are wreaking havoc on the world’s tourism industry.

Which countries are open for Indian tourists.

Destinations such as Maldives, Croatia, South Africa, Switzerland, Russia, Lebanon, Germany, Ukraine, UAE, Turkey and Iceland have started allowing non-essential travel, subject to vaccination or other conditions.

India’s biggest online travel portal, MakeMyTrip, has seen a 35% jump in searches for international leisure packages in July compared to that in the previous month, with the Maldives and Russia ranking high on the list of preferred destinations.

“As positivity rates drop, we hope it encourages more countries to open their borders to Indian travellers,” said Vinay Malhotra, regional group chief operating officer, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa and Americas at visa processing firm VFS Global.

Aloke Bajpai, group CEO at Ixigo, said search enquiries on the company’s platform for travel to overseas destinations have seen 80-85% increase in July as compared to last month. “With several countries easing travel restrictions, interest in leisure international travel to countries such as the Maldives, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar and Turkey is rising,” he said.

Some countries such as Qatar and Switzerland require a full vaccination certificate (Covishield) from Indian travellers. Iceland has given an option to travellers to either submit a full vaccination certificate or a Covid-19 recovery certificate. Unvaccinated travellers can travel to countries such as the Maldives, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Nepal and Ukraine by providing a negative RT-PCR report issued within 72 hours of departure.

To cash in on the increasing interest, SOTC Travel has introduced a range of offers such as ‘Buy One Get One Free – Get your Companion’s Holiday Free’ for overseas destinations. Daniel D’souza, country head for leisure at the company, said the most popular destinations in terms of enquiries include Dubai, the Maldives, Russia and Switzerland. The company has seen a 35-40% increase week-on-week in enquiries, he said.

Kanika TTekriwal, CEO, JetSetGo Aviation, said travellers are still conscious about the high likelihood of contracting the virus via regular flights. As a result, her private jet and helicopter services company has been seeing 10-12 booking queries each day since air travel suspension was lifted for the Maldives and some European countries.