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Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Since early December 2019, officially, the world has been faced with an enemy the likes of which have never been seen before. Mutating at every given opportunity, the SARS-COV-2 virus genetically is a very intimidating. Officially known as nCovid-19, it has mutated into many more varities which is why the supposed vaccination process will take years.

Almost every country, every region, irrespective of race, colour, religion, history, development status have been affected. The developed world has been affected much more seriously than the third world countries. Not that I'm downplaying the seriousness of the siuation. NOT AT ALL

My sources of information are:


The last century, the twentieth century saw the 'Spanish Flu' pandemic so called because during those days, the neutral Spanish media had the freedom to report what they saw and understood. They were never censored. The rest of Europe had no media as such. Whatever the German, French, Polish, Italian media for example had to report had to go through their respective 'Propoganda Departments'; the jury's still out as to the origins of that pandemic. The flu we suffer from nowadays, is a remnant of that Influenza Pandemic. 

Similarly, the SARS-COV-2 genome that mutated into what we have come to know as Covid19 is a very intelligent viral species. Doctors and researchers have now and then said with some little conviction that we are all carriers. Just depending upon the health of our immune systems, we may or may not show any symptoms of this particular species of the virus genome. There have been more deaths in regions which are cooler than certain other regions. Researchers say that HEAT generally kills the virus quite effectively. While the jury's still out on this, it has been reported that the virus has a different shelf life on different surfaces. All these can be had from the WHO's Coronavirus Disease 2019 section (link above).

India's managing of this pandemic has been effective given that we have such a large population base. Much though I am not politically inclined, I will give our Central and State agencies every thumbs up they deserve; I WILL NOT BE FORCED TO DO THAT BY our federal leadership. They have been at the forefront of this war. They have risked their health - and yes some of them have been affected - and thus have become heroes in the citizens' eyes and hearts. Now we have lost quite a few health officials to this pandemic. And they will be remembered when we rise from the ashes of this pandemic. Wearing masks, washing hands more often, using sanitizers: these are the new normal now.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Sapiens VS The Rest

Homo Sapiens - the highest among the mammalian species on this planet has lost it's revered position ever since two co-sapiens were brutally attacked and left to die on the roadside. What did the people on the roads do? All they did was join in the FUN by simply looking the other way.

It took 6 homo sapiens to turn into nightmare what was otherwise turning out to be a gay and memorable time spent with a friend. How many can say that she will walk again? NO ONE. 

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Justice is not yet complete

Even though Osama is no more, people such as Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Maulana Masood Azhar, and the rest of the free birds alleged to be masterminds behind the 1999 highjacking of Indian Airlines flight 814, thanks in no small part to the cowardice of our then ruling coalition, are believed to be either Dubai or Pakistan based. Shouldn't Pakistan, who claim to be a partner in the Global War Against Terror (GWAT), be doing something? People here are bound to ask this... The leaders in Pakistan, cannot take a stand against these men. Why?

Because this is their main money-making and seat/power option in the country. I am not generally a hater of the country. They have given us respite from terror acts through great cricketers such as Afridi, Umar Gul, Amir Sohail, imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Imzy (the continent's favourite Inzamam-ul-Haq), etc. They are the world's favourite because they represent what is good and human about that country...

America cannot stop aid to Pakistan because the seats that the junior and many important people related to the powers that be in Washington are banking on their money and votes. Americans in Washington have become puppets in Pakistan's hand. It is not America which is the world leader, but Pakistan.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Japan - 2011

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One news article from a newspaper that struck my eyes was this
The Jakarta Globe, coming out online with this article was very apt... All news articles coming out with the news on Japan seem mostly to be from NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS, AFP, AP, etc., However for a news article of this type coming as it did from a paper such as this was really nice to see... the NEW YORK TIMES gives news on Japan, very frequently... I read The NEW YORK TIMES and CNN very mostly. Yahoo! recently came out with the news about the baby girl's miraculous survival. That, I am sure, 99.9% of my readers will already know, if they use yahoo mail... Will keep you updated and pray for the people there. Since the beginning of human habitation in those islands, they have borne earthquakes, tsunamis; but NEVER of this magnitude. The tremor that shook the earth on March 11, 2011 was definitely one of, if not, the longest to have struck... That is what has really upset the lifestyle of the people there. As I had read in Social Sciences class in school, Japan is usually regarded as the one nation, amongst the 200 odd which can teach people earthquake science, if not how to bounce back after disasters of large proportions. For Example we can start with the twin atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and right now end, at the point dated March 10, 2011.

Also, this link on New York Times page about Japan tells you about the book that shows you how to rise up from such ashes of nature like a phoenix.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Laila – The Younger Sister Of Aila

Laila made landfall as a storm… all the while, as she was moving over water, she was cyclone; making landfall, she was just a storm that made Hurricanes Katrina and Rita look like strong storms…

Coastal Andhra Pradesh, north-coastal Tamil Nadu (while she lived), and now West Bengal are feeling the after effects of that storm… raining just like that around the last week of May, that really cools down the summer in the city of Kolkata (Calcutta for those still not used to this local name)… West Bengal is feeling the heat of the storm… have we ever wondered what would happen if Laila was of Aila category? The devastation that would follow would be what – 2 levels below an F5 category hurricane… F5 being usually described as ‘The Hand of GOD’… That’s the kind of damage we are talking of here.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Haiti

The recent catastrophe in Haiti came as a quite a shock to me. It was heart-wrenching to watch those videos and photos of bodies being brought out from under the rubble and debris and then being flung about for want of space. Yes, they should have anticipated a catastrophe of such magnitude and should have been prepared for it. But when you’ve not face such a thing as an earthquake in more than 200 years, you do tend to get a little complacent. But that is not an excuse for not being prepared.

The international group of nations – more importantly – The United Nations Organization (UNO) should not shy away from offering and providing any and all necessary aid / help to the nation. The US, it has been reported, has monopolized the airport at Port-Au-Prince for it’s use leaving no space for other aid to get through. How much of it is true (it at all) I do not know… I only heard about this in the news. But anyway, we should not be blaming anybody for anything right now. We cannot afford to. This is not the time. We should instead concentrate on the future of the aid agencies. The UN has lost it’s representative and his deputy in the country. Both of them were really high ranking officials. Sad. But their families should be proud. They knew the dangers that awaited them. Of course not the earthquake. With all the coups and in-fighting that the country had seen till the last 8 years or so, any peace-keeping force should be prepared for the ultimate test – that of sacrifice when the country we work for is not the country we were born in. When we can truly say that we are prepared for this test, only then can we be true representatives of the international group of nations.

I am a humble citizen of the planet. Have been witness to the 2 wars in Iraq (including the current one), the fight for Kargil sector in the disputed J&K region of the Indian subcontinent and such… I can only say I felt shocked to hear about Teddy Pendergrass. It was sad that he lost his life in this catastrophe.

When will they end?