Unmasking the second wave of pandemic in India!

 Indian governments are in quandary now not knowing how to curb the fast- spreading tentacles of second wave of corona express.

Both central and state governments, especially Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal, Andra Pradesh and Telangana, are fighting hard to minimize the death toll but are in helpless situation with overcrowding critical care centres, running out of oxygen cylinders, beds and crucial life-saving drugs like Remdesvir, drifting the situation to out of control.

When first phase struck in early 2020, we were not prepared. No one knew for sure how the virus would impact the human’s immune system and enter into lungs. But now we are prepared, we know the symptoms, and how important to consult health expert when we have early symptoms. But still, we have alarming death rate which have crossed more than 2000 now.  We have the world record of highest singly day cases, which have crossed 3.5 lakh now.

Ironically, the countries who are well above India in global economic and pollution list, are not much affected, so far. To Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal, where we had sent millions of doses of vaccines recently as part of ‘Vaccine Deplomacy’, are turning their heads now. They even have issued advisory to stop their citizen to visit India.

Even US, which was earlier declined to help India to send critical components for making vaccines, came under intense criticism across

 the globe and has now agreed to send life-saving consignments to help millions of Indians who are struggling to breath.

When we managed to contain the first wave of pandemic efficiently with our limited health resources, what is the reason for the second wave , which has struck severe than before and have now gone out of hands killing more people than ever?

After seeing the declining in numbers several state governments had relaxed the curbs on activities and threw open public places like theatres, parks, malls, tourist and religious places late 2020. People also took it easy, not bothered to wear mask and maintain social distancing. Those who wore masks got ridiculed. NO one objected to that. Then came the wedding season, elections to states and now the maha kumbh mela.

Everywhere, the corona safety protocols have been floated. People thought we had defeated corona. NO leaders or experts warned them. NO restriction were imposed on people to move around freely in large numbers or gather at a particular place.

So, it is people who have to be blamed for the second wave in which we have lost quite a number of our near and dear ones. People should have shown some civic sense and restrain. There should also be some regulations, imposition of strict measures and guidelines.

In the presence of none, people started enjoying the new found free atmosphere (getting after a year or so), freely spreading the virus to known and unknown.

Responsible countrymen make responsible governments. So, for this pathetic situation, people have to be blamed and the government comes second.

Can we still contain the spread of covid 19? We can.

Vaccinating the entire population who are vulnerable and also those who are above 50 should be taken up on priority within six months (without playing politics). Like Korea, we should use artificial intelligence to track vulnerable population and vaccinate them fist.

Secondly, by imposing strict rules and guidelines and implement the same with iron hand, we can surely contain the pandemic and save millions of people from the death trap. When China can do it, we too can. Let good sense prevail.

 

Will lock-down usher dawn for online education in India?

With India getting into complete lockdown mode for three weeks till mid-April 2020, one of the biggest hits is the education sector. As CBSE and other state board exams for class 12 have postponed the remaining papers, children and parents are at their wits’ end not knowing what is in store for their children in the coming days.

The cascading effect is now on the preparation for JEE, NEET and other competitive examinations, which too have been postponed.

With classes for 10^th and 12^th already been started in many schools across the country, the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown have brought the entire education system in India to a grinding halt. Sensing the difficulties, the students are going to face in their preparations for the 2020-21 board exams, some schools have already started online classes for students in class 10 and 12 with the help of education software tools available on the internet. 

These education apps help teachers to connect with about 100 students at a time in a virtual classroom, (which can be interactive too), and can teach core subjects such as maths, physics, chemistry, computer science, biology, etc.

Seeing the sudden surge of demand for online classrooms, there have been a spurt in number of educational apps available online which can be downloaded on any smart phone, tablet or laptop. Of course, there is a price tag attached to it. But looking at the uncertainty involving reopening of schools in June, many schools in metros and smaller cities have made arrangements for teaching students online at convenient timings.

For example, a famous CBSE school in Chennai has asked its senior teachers to conduct online classes for students in class 10 and 12, so that students don’t miss much of the portion during the lock down period. One of the famous apps they use is Zoom.

Some of the other virtual classroom software providers include WebEx, Newrow Smart, Vedamo, BigBlueButton, LearnCube, Electa Live, Adobe Connect, WizIQ, Google hangouts and Edvance 360.

But what about the lower classes? For classes from pre-primary, primary to secondary classes till class 9 and class 11, the schools may not extend online classes for them as of now. Even if the school re-opens in the first week of June, it is possible for teachers to complete the portion for these classes before the annual exam in March 2021.

Will it be a new beginning for online education in India, which has been thus far overshadowed by classroom education method? Though there are several online players such as Byjus, Vedantu, Khan Academy, Unacademy, Edukart, Udemy, Shiksha, Toppr, Meritnation and Extramarks making their pitch for the last few years, they have not been able to penetrate the USD 100 billion education market in India.

With the lock down period coming as an opportunity to revive and reach millions of students for these virtual classroom service providers in India, will there be dawn for the online education in India? Only time will tell. 

COVID-19 infects world economy, will push India few years back!

With the Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation for the second time in a week locking down the entire nation for 21 days to control the possible spread of Coronavirus, India has joined many of its European counterparts in shutting down the entire nation fearing deadly virus and its devastating impact on its citizen.

Though India has not yet entered the third stage of the pandemic (thankfully), which is the community spreading stage, the measures such as restricting people to stay at home, will, to a great extent, help in containing the virus infecting millions of people in India.

With the country being the second most populous after China, the impact can be devastating and nothing can be said as of now whether the lock down will be effective in stopping the spread of virus and containing the causalities.

Like Italy, Iran, Spain and France, if there is a sudden spike of positive cases in India in the coming weeks, then the impact may be disastrous looking at the fragile, not-so-developed and overstretched healthcare system in India. Due to high population density in urban clusters and high number of uneducated rural households, the virus can infect millions within a few days. So, the lock-down can break the spreading chain.

But what happen after 21 days? If the travel restriction goes, people coming from outside can still infect people. Huge crowd can be seen in railway stations, bus terminus, temple festivals or social functions. Unless there some effective vaccine or cure is at sight, we can’t say for sure, whether the lock-down should be lifted after April 15.

Another important aspect is that, with offices and industries of non-essential goods closing the shutters around the country, the economy is the worst hit, and will take some years for India to come back to the present stage.

Stock market is bleeding, taking the cue from international markets and also domestic scenarios as thousands of crores have been vanished within a week. Rupee value too breached all time high making imports vulnerable. Several key industries have stopped production in their crucial third quarter of the fiscal.

Not only in India, entire world economy has been in jeopardy owing to the novel virus. As our prime minister stated in his address, if we don’t follow the government’s instruction to stay put at homes, our generation will be pushed back to 21 years and the impact will be devastating on several families.

For the world economy, it’s already been infected heavily by Coronavirus. It will surely take few years for the nations to come back to the stage where they are today, and India is not an exception to this situation.

So, without thinking about scientific aspects involved in social distancing to contain the virus, people should be indoors for some days, self-quarantining for the sake of their own health, elders and children in their families and also for the fellow countrymen. By doing this, we can win the race against the deadly virus which has threatened the very existence of humanity. 

Voice of India: Tamil Nadu Turns dump-yard of crime against women

Voice of India: Tamil Nadu Turns dump-yard of crime against women: Tamil Nadu, once the safe haven for women, has been turning into a place of nightmare as there has been more  crime against women inciden...

Tamil Nadu Turns dump-yard of crime against women

Tamil Nadu, once the safe haven for women, has been turning into a place of nightmare as there has been more  crime against women incidents coming to the fore with the recent being the brutal killing of an aspiring actress by her husband, whose chopped head still to be traced in Chennai dump yards and a class X student who was dead after being gang rapped for five days in a shed near Chennai.

Call it a lackadaisical attitude of police, in the second case, had the police acted on the plaint lodged by the student’s parents on the very same day when she failed to return home from school, the girl would have saved from the perpetrators and living among her parents now.

According to reports, the girl was forced into a shed on the way to school by a man acquainted to her (police say her boy friend and relative) and raped her along with four men he brought in later, and all of them continually raped the poor kid for five days. Earlier report suggested that the girl died due to excessive bleeding. Later the prime accused confessed to police that after the crime he hit the girl with iron rod to death. Once they found she was dead, they buried the body in a nearby sugarcane field in Thiruvallur near Chennai.

But their luck ran out after two weeks when a few labourers found a body half-buried beneath the field dug out by stray dogs, and informed the police. The main accused and his four middle-aged accomplices have been arrested.

The girl neither reported to the school on that day nor came back home in the evening. When the parents approached the nearby police station, the police personal in the station refused to entertain the poor parents’ complaints, and ignored it by believing that the girl would have been eloped with someone. After waiting for two weeks, the girl’s parents petitioned the High Court with Habeas 

Carpus plea to find their daughter.

In the first case too, the aspiring Tamil film actress’ husband, who is a director, made several attempts to misguide the police and deceased’s parents, but was caught red-handed when one of the chopped-out hands of the actress was found in a dump yard which had his tattooed name. In a fit of rage, after a domestic quarrel, her husband hit her head with hammer, chopped her body parts and dispatched them in gunny bags in different dump yard locations. With her torso and head still to be traced out even after a month of crime, it is unlikely that the victim and her parents will get justice and accused get punished.

There are several such incidents that are being report from other parts of the state and country daily by media, but the law remains dormant and perpetrators know that they have several legal windows to escape punishment. In most of the cases, the criminals may escape for lack of evidence or due to political and other such influences.

The law should be enacted in such a way that such criminals who committed heinous crimes should be be-headed like the law prevalent in UAE and other gulf countries. Such punitive measure should hesitate people even think of such crime against women.

  

Max Kids Festival Briings in Disney Merchandise for Kids

New Delhi: India’s leading fashion brand, Max Fashion has launched the sixth edition of the highly-awaited Max Kids’ Festival across the country. 

Max has associated with kid’s all-time favourite brand Disney to come out with specially designed Cars merchandise as part of their summer collection. The Fest kicked off with India’s biggest and most popular kid’s icon Rob, of MAD fame, conducting an exciting and fun filled DIY upcycling workshop for about 200 kids at the ‘Max Kids Festival’.

Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director of Max Fashion said: “Max stands for fashion for the entire family, we believe in bringing them closer through our initiatives. The idea of a kid’s fest is to make summer more fun for kids, ignite their young minds and teach them skills which they will use in future." 

Jiten Mahendra, VP Marketing said: “At Max, we continuously strive to engage with our customers through innovative, fun and engaging initiatives. This summer we bring to you specially designed Disney Merchandise to coincide with release of the most awaited blockbuster “Cars 3”. Max Kids festival is in its 6^th year and we saw more than 8000 kids participate actively last year. This year we are expecting more than 12000 kids across the country to participate in various activities.”

Max Kids Festival is an annual activity conducted Max Fashion, where their goal is to help children and parents spend quality time with each other. Over the last 5 editions the Fest has grown in popularity with kids and their parents and is eagerly awaited by this audience. 

This year Max has tied up exclusively with Disney and the Max Kids Festival will see a range of Disney merchandise featuring Cars and Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse at their stores.  Apart from DIY, customers can also expect entertaining activities in store every weekend like storytelling, track racing and craft workshops.

Gem & Jewellery India International Exhibition to Open in Chennai from March 10

Chennai: The 13^th edition of Gem & Jewellery India International Exhibition 2017 is scheduled to begin on March 10 at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai.

Organized by UBM India, the three-day glittering expo will see an array of products that includes fine finished jewelries, gemstone manufacturing services, pearl manufacturing services, silver manufacturing services, diamond manufacturing services, machineries and equipments for making jewellery, packaging materials, display materials, software and allied products as well as related products and survives.

An ideal platform for both buyers and sellers, the annual exhibition is known to attract thousands of visitors, not only from India, but also from several countries.

The participants of Gem and Jewellery India International Exhibition 2017 (GJIIE 2017) will exhibit several equipments and services belong to gem and jewellery industry. Some of them include, Fine Finished Gold Jewellery, Gemstones, Pearls, Diamonds, Silver Jewellery, Machinery and Equipment, Packaging and Display, Ancillary Service Providers, Hallmarkers, Assayers, Jewellery Retail Chains, Publications and Websites.

 The mega B2B gem and jewellery extravaganza is poised to raise benchmarks and fuel trade for the jewellery industry in India.

The expo which is represented by over 350 exhibitors and participants include retailers, artisans, wholesalers and machinery manufacturers who will showcase the latest trends in this domain.

The expo will also see jewellery wholesalers, retailers, importers and exporters, jewellery manufacturers, diamond, gemstone, pearl suppliers and traders, precious metal and jewellery mounting traders and suppliers, and representatives from trade and governmental organisations, all come under one roof to meet, connect, network and grow their business.

In addition to Tier I, II and III cities in India, the exhibition will have delegate representation from Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai, thus substantiating the international reach and presence of GJIIE 2017.

Spread across five halls in CTC, this year’s expo will witness participation by leading players in the gem and jewellery industry from Chennai, Trissur, Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Madurai, Cochin, along with Mumbai, Hyderabad, Rajkot, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore, Kolhapur, Calicut, Surat, and Vijayawada to name just a few.