[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”E-Edition” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F01%2FTIP-January-6-E-Edition.pdf”][vc_single_image image=”136127″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/TIP-January-6-E-Edition.pdf”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Lead Stories This Week” google_fonts=”font_family:Istok%20Web%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindianpanorama.news%2F”][vc_wp_posts number=”5″ show_date=”1″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”82828″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/advertising-media-kit-portal-indian-panorama/”][vc_single_image image=”82829″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https://www.theindianpanorama.news/advertising-media-kit-portal-indian-panorama/”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Tag: Science & Technology
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UK university scientists finalize nasal spray that blocks out COVID-19: Report
A nasal spray which can prevent a coronavirus infection for up to two days is being prepped for mass production by scientists at the University of Birmingham with the hope of having them available over-the-counter in pharmacies in a few months, a UK newspaper report said on Sunday. Dr Richard Moakes, the study’s lead researcher, told ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ that he is confident in the spray’s formula to help unlock society from social distancing restrictions and “get schools going again”.
The nasal spray, which has not yet been named, is made from ingredients that are already approved for medical use, meaning it is safe for use by humans and does not require further approval.
The formula helps prevent infection by capturing the virus in the nose and encapsulating it in a coating which it cannot escape from. As a result, it would be safe for a person to breathe out – even if inhaled by another person – because the virus would be inactive and harmless, the newspaper reports.
“As an over the shelf product, we have spoken to companies with a presence on the high street as we think they could distribute it effectively,” Moakes was quoted as saying.
“Based on the product, it will be much quicker to get to the user than a novel drug. I am confident that the formulation can make an impact. Our goal is to make an impact as soon as possible, we would really like to see this happen by summer,” he said.
In November last year, the researchers working on the spray since April 2020 announced that laboratory experiments showed the spray prevented a coronavirus infection from spreading for up to 48 hours.
The team believes using the spray four times a day would be enough for general protection, although it is safe enough to be applied every 20 minutes if in a high-risk, densely populated environment such as schools.
The spray is a combination of an antiviral agent called carrageenan, commonly used in foods as a thickening agent, and a solution called gellan – a gelling agent selected for its ability to stick to cells inside the nose.
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Signal to ramp up hiring after WhatsApp controversy drives download surge
Messaging app Signal has seen “unprecedented” growth following a controversial change in rival WhatsApp’s privacy terms and is looking to hire more staff as it seeks to bolster the service and supporting infrastructure, the head of its controlling foundation said. Along with another encrypted app, Telegram, Signal has been the main beneficiary of online outrage around the changes announced last week, which require WhatsApp users to share their data with both Facebook and Instagram. Telegram said on Wednesday it had surpassed 500 million active users globally. Brian Acton, who co-founded WhatsApp before selling it to Facebook and then co-founding the Signal Foundation, declined to give equivalent data for Signal but said that the expansion in recent days had been “vertical”. “We’ve seen unprecedented growth this past week,” Acton said in an email to Reuters. “It’s safe to say that because of this record growth, we’re even more interested in finding talented people.” He also said Signal was working to improve its video and group chat functions, allowing it to compete better with WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, and other conferencing apps that have become vital to day-to-day life over the past year. Signal was downloaded by 17.8 million users over the past seven days, a 62-fold rise from the prior week, according to data from Sensor Tower. WhatsApp was downloaded by 10.6 million users during the same period, a 17% decline.
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Chinese hackers luring Indian WhatsApp users into ‘part-time’ jobs
In fresh trouble for WhatsApp, which is facing backlash over its upcoming user data policy in India, New Delhi-based think-tank Cyberpeace Foundation said on Monday that China-based hackers are targeting WhatsApp users in the country with the promise of ‘part-time’ jobs. Such proliferating messages on WhatsApp, which come with attached links, claim that one can earn Rs 200 to Rs 3,000 in a day in 10 to 30 minutes. “There are multiple links that redirect to a common URL and each link uses different numbers to send a message,” the foundation said in a statement. “It can be observed that the same outgoing link is used for all the links with variation in the numbers. The parameter in the links indicates that they can be redirected to WhatsApp in all regions and in languages other than English,” said the report. The CyberPeace Foundation along with experts from Autobot Infosec Private Ltd has launched an independent investigation into the matter. “In all the links, the same redirection and outgoing sources were generated. However, in one link, a different URL was found and one new IP address that belongs to one of China’s hosting company Alibaba Cloud,” the report said. When the URL is manipulated, an error code is displayed in Chinese language, the report said, adding that the domain names found during the investigation seem to have been registered in China.
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‘Galaxy-sized’ observatory sees hints of gravitational waves
Scientists have used a “galaxy-sized” space observatory to find possible hints of a unique signal from gravitational waves, or the powerful ripples that course through the universe and warp the fabric of space and time itself.
The new findings, which appeared recently in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, hail from a U.S. and Canadian project called the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). For over 13 years, NANOGrav researchers have pored over the light streaming from dozens of pulsars spread throughout the Milky Way Galaxy to try to detect a “gravitational wave background.” That’s what scientists call the steady flux of gravitational radiation that, according to theory, washes over Earth on a constant basis. The team hasn’t yet pinpointed that target, but it’s getting closer than ever before, said Joseph Simon, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead author of the new paper. “We’ve found a strong signal in our dataset,” said Simon, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences. “But we can’t say yet that this is the gravitational wave background.” In 2017, scientists on an experiment called the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) won the Nobel Prize in Physics for the first-ever direct detection of gravitational waves. Those waves were created when two black holes slammed into each other roughly 130 million lightyears from Earth, generating a cosmic shock that spread to our own solar system.
That event was the equivalent of a cymbal crash — a violent and short-lived blast. The gravitational waves that Simon and his colleagues are looking for, in contrast, are more like the steady hum of conversation at a crowded cocktail party. Detecting that background noise would be a major scientific achievement, opening a new window to the workings of the universe, he added. These waves, for example, could give scientists new tools for studying how the supermassive black holes at the centers of many galaxies merge over time.
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IBM uses light for ultra-fast computing in AI systems
IBM researchers have developed a way to dramatically reduce latency in Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems by using light, instead of electricity, to create ultra-fast computing. The IBM team, along with scientists from the universities of Oxford, Muenster and Exeter, achieved this by using photonic integrated circuits that use light instead of electricity for computing. The light-based tensor core could be used, among other applications, for autonomous vehicles. In a Nature paper, they have detailed combination of photonic — demonstrating a photonic tensor core that can perform computations with unprecedented, ultra-low latency and compute density. “Our tensor core runs computations at a processing speed higher than ever before. It performs key computational primitives associated with AI models such as deep neural networks for computer vision in less than a microsecond, with remarkable areal and energy efficiency,” IBM said in a blog post.
Telegram crosses 500 mn subscriber mark
Messaging service Telegram crossed 500-million subscriber mark globally and added 25 million new users in the last few days as it gained ground amid the controversy over WhatsApp’s latest privacy policy update.
While Telegram did not specify India-specific user numbers, it said 38 per cent of the new users are from Asia, followed by Europe (27 per cent), Latin America (21 per cent) and MENA (Middle East and North Africa at 8 per cent). In a statement, Telegram said it surpassed 500 million monthly active users in the first week of January, and “has continued to grow with 25 million new users joining Telegram in the last 72 hours alone”. Reports citing Sensor Tower data indicated that Telegram had 1.5 million new downloads between January 6-10 in India.
India is the world’s second-largest telecom market and the biggest consumer of data. As on October 30, 2020, the total telephone connections stood at 117 crore, of which 115 crore were mobile connections.
A report by Ericsson had stated that Indians used about 12 GB data per month on an average in 2019, the highest consumption globally, and this is expected to rise even further to about 25 GB (gigabytes) per month by 2025.
In a recent blogpost, Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov said global user addition has seen a “significant increase” compared to last year when 1.5 million new users signed up every day, and that with its current growth rate, Telegram is on track to reach billions of users in the near future.
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UK bans arrivals from South American countries, Portugal over new coronavirus variant
The British government on Thursday, January 14, announced its decision to ban arrivals from more than a dozen South American countries and Portugal from Friday following the detection of a new coronavirus variant. British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted: “I’ve taken the urgent decision to BAN ARRIVALS from ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, BOLIVIA, CAPE VERDE, CHILE, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, FRENCH GUIANA, GUYANA, PANAMA, PARAGUAY, PERU, SURINAME, URUGUAY AND VENEZUELA — from TOMORROW, JAN. 15 at 4 a.m. following evidence of a new variant in Brazil.” “Travel from PORTUGAL to the UK will also be suspended given its strong travel links with Brazil, acting as another way to reduce the risk of importing infections. However, there is an exemption for hauliers travelling from Portugal (only), to allow transport of essential goods.” “This measure does not apply to British and Irish Nationals and third country nationals with residence rights — but passengers returning from these destinations must self-isolate for TEN DAYS along with their households,” he added. The new ban was announced after a meeting of senior British government officials on Thursday, Jan 14, the BBC reported. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday told MPs in the House of Commons, lower house of parliament, that the government was “concerned” about the new virus variant detected in Brazil.
“We already have tough measures… to protect this country from new infections coming in from abroad,” he said. In December 2020, Britain has suspended flights from South Africa after a discovery of a new and concerning variant there. Johnson said there were “lots of questions” over the latest variant, including whether it is resistant to COVID vaccines. At present, experts are uncertain how effective existing vaccines will be against the new variant, the Evening Standard newspaper reported.
Patrick Vallance, the British government’s top scientist, told ITV that the new variant contains “a change of the genetic code, at position 484, and that changes a part of the protein, it changes a bit of a shape of the protein”. He said that there is no evidence new variants are more deadly. The latest development came as another 1,564 have died within 28 days of a positive test, the highest daily death toll since the pandemic began in the country, according to official figures released Wednesday. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 84,767, the data showed. Another 47,525 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,211,576, the figures showed. England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.
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Indian Army signs USD 20 million contract with idea Forge to procure SWITCH drones
The Indian Army has signed a contract with ideaForge to procure “undisclosed quantities” of high-altitude variant of SWITCH unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at a cost of approximately USD 20 million, according to a statement from the Mumbai-based company on Thursday, Jan 14.
This fixed-wing UAV, capable of vertical takeoff and landing, can be deployed at high altitude and harsh environments for day-and-night surveillance, said the statement.
“ideaForge has been awarded this contract after it emerged as the only vendor that qualified the operational requirements in an evaluation done in real-world conditions, for a fast-track procurement,” it mentioned.
The company said “undisclosed quantities of a high-altitude variant of ideaForge’s SWITCH UAV” will be delivered to the Indian Army over a period of one year. The statement quoted ideaForge CEO Ankit Mehta saying that SWITCH UAV is the culmination of insights and knowledge the company has gained over years of experience in helping the Indian forces operationalise UAVs in their ranks. “The trials saw about a dozen national and global players compete to meet the operational requirements. SWITCH UAV is the only product that cleared the Indian Army’s stringent product trials and surpassed expectations,” he noted.
Over 270 terrorists currently active in J&K
More than 270 terrorists are currently active in Jammu and Kashmir, which is less than the 2019 and 2020 figures, official sources have said. The Union Territory has seen a decrease in terrorist incidents, infiltration and civilian killings in 2020, while security forces carried out more than 100 “successful” counter-terrorism operations killing 225 terrorists, they said.
There are over 270 terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir currently, of whom 205 are in Kashmir Valley, they said. There were 421 active terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 and over 300 in 2020. A total of 225 terrorists were killed in 2020. As many as 160 terrorists were killed in 2019 and 257 in 2018, they said. In 2020, terrorists activities were also witnessed in so-far peaceful areas south of the Pir Panjal range in Jammu region, including Kistwar-Doda and Poonch, they said.
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India approves Tejas fighter jets deal worth Rs 48,000 crore
New Delhi (TIP): The PM Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday cleared indigenous defence deal worth Rs 48,000 crores to strengthen Indian Air Force’s fleet of LCA-Tejas fighter jets, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. This will be the biggest deal ever in the indigenous military aviation sector.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed the development on Twitter, saying “the CCS chaired by the PM today approved the largest indigenous defence procurement deal worth about Rs 48,000 crore to strengthen IAF’s fleet of homegrown fighter jet ‘LCA-Tejas’. This deal will be a game-changer for self-reliance in Indian defence manufacturing.” The defence minister said Tejas is going to be the backbone of the fighter fleet of the Indian Air Force in years to come. Around three years back, the IAF had issued an initial tender for procurement of 83 Tejas aircraft, a four-and-half generation combat jet.
“LCA-Tejas incorporates a large number of new technologies many of which were never attempted in India. The indigenous content of LCA-Tejas is 50 percent in Mk1A variant which will be enhanced to 60 percent,’ Singh said.The defence minister said that aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has already set up second-line manufacturing facilities at its Nasik and Bengaluru divisions.
“Equipped with the augmented infrastructure the HAL will steer LCA-Mk1A production for timely deliveries to the IAF,” he said.
Singh said the Tejas programme would act as a catalyst for transforming the Indian aerospace manufacturing ecosystem into a vibrant, self-sustaining one. “I thank the Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi for this historic decision taken by the CCS today, ” the defence minister said.
Tejas More Advanced than China-Pakistan’s
JF-17 Fighter Jets, Better Equipped: IAF chief
Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Thursday, Jan 14, said the indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is far better and more advanced than China’s JF-17 fighter aircraft manufactured by Pakistan’s aeronautical company, adding that the newly added jets will be equipped for Balakot-type airstrikes.
Welcoming the government’s approval to the Rs 48,000 crore deal to procure 83 LCAs from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Chief of Air Staff in an interview to ANI said, “Indian aircraft Tejas is far better and more advanced than the Chinese and Pakistan joint venture JF-17 fighter. It will have top of the line Beyond Visual Range (BVR) class of air-to-air missile Astra, and other sensors and weapons.”
On being asked on the aircraft’s capabilities in carrying out Balakot-type airstrikes, the Air Chief Marshal said, “In terms of strike capability, it will have the capability of a standoff weapon which will be even beyond the capability we used that time.”
The Tejas Mk-1A will be equipped with active electronically scanned array radar, beyond visual range missile, electronic warfare suite and air-to-air refuelling and would be a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of the IAF, according to official statements. The 83 aircraft will look after four squadrons, he said to question on the fighter aircraft’s deployment in the IAF. “The current strength of the two squadron plan of LCA will now increase to six. Essentially the deployment will be on the frontline,” he added.
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Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos to become world’s richest person
Outspoken billionaire Elon Musk has replaced Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world on Thursday Jan 7, reported Bloomberg news. The 49-year-old Tesla and SpaceX chief was pegged to surpass Jeff Bezos earlier in the day after a fresh rally in Tesla shares.
And with Thursday’s gains, Musk’s net worth now stands at $188 billion, $1.5 more than Jeff Bezos, according to the report. Tesla shares are currently up over 5.50 per cent, trading at just short of $800. The fresh rally in the electric carmaker’s stock has elevated Musk above Jeff Bezos, who has occupied the position since October 2017.
While the pandemic-hit 2020 has been disastrous, the personal wealth of billionaires — especially tech entrepreneurs — have grown handsomely. Musk’s good fortune started in 2020 and his net worth has surged by over $150 billion in the last 12 months, making it one of the fastest bout of wealth creation in history. It may be noted that Musk had become the second-richest man in the world earlier in November 2020. An unprecedented rally in the Tesla stock, which has surged over 740 per cent in 2020, is the primary reason behind the blistering pace at which Musk’s net worth increased. Higher optimism on Wall Street regarding Tesla, the company’s inclusion in the S&P 500 Index and a constant profit run helped significantly in boosting Musk’s net worth. -
Meet the Poet: Vandana (Bindu) Sharma
Vandana Bindu Sharma Anxieties, worries, fears, despair are as much part of human experience as hope and faith, And, when a poet weaves them into a beautiful web of words, they seem to lose their hostilities and become a welcome companion. So, you get simultaneously the feelings of agony and ecstasy. With over 25 years in the frenetic aviation industry, Vandana remained a closet poetess till the Covid Lockdowns dialed down the pace of life a few notches.
Going by the nom de plume- Bindu, Vandana’s writings touch the depths of your soul & tug at the heartstrings. Just like the word Bindu which is Sanskrit for the point from which all creation and consciousness begins, this publication is the beginning of her creative journey.
The poems reflect her emotions and possibly the emotion that the world went through in 2020 – from despair and despondency, to quiet acceptance, to realization of the silver lining of families getting closer and finally hope of a better world emerging.
New Faith
Lockdown! Lockdown! Lockdown! Lockdown!
Stay home! Stay Safe! Help keep Us Safe!
Today’s new mantra we all chant,
New faith of all, an era dawns!
Temples, mosques, churches all closed,
Please stay away, don’t come too close.
God’s angels are in new avtar,
A stethoscope, brave caring heart.
What ails mankind? Just stop and think,
Is it a viral pandemic?
Nation, religion, riches, rules,
Cleaved us apart, divide and rule!
All were enmeshed, a clueless quest,
In Juggernaut of Man’s progress,
Trail of destruction left in wake.
Lone edifice, standing in state.
An “Act of a God” or “man playing God”,
Has brought Humanity to a halt!
Entangled in man’s web self made,
Web disintegrates as race is braked!
This time to pause, to think, reflect,
To pray at home, regain lost strength,
Let man made lines of hate be gone,
All faiths unite, and be reborn.
*****************
Godly Humor
Vexed, perplexed, distressed, am I,
Your Godly humor evades me.
The ambulance goes dashing by,
As do processions celebratory,
The little newborn is carried home,
The corpse in coffin too moves on.
For all, the road is just the same,
It does not cry, laugh or proclaim.
A quiet witness to life’s drama,
Myriad emotions, changing actors.
Who are we, moving on this path,
From birth to death, we race apart?
Machines, or shadows, puppets no strings?
An atom of some larger being!
What humors you, I fail to see!
Please answer me! Oh Bhagwanji!!
The saint dies young, the sinner lives!
Your logic remains incomprehensible.
The criminal thinks a judge he is!
Whole and intact, a beggar still!
I plan and plan, none fructifies,
The path I chose, does vaporize.
You are the master strategist,
Creating paths where none exist.
My soul is restless, bound I am,
Past is my blinder, sight is blinkered.
Your vision is beyond 360 degrees.
Encompassing dimensions seen unseen.
I lose today, yet hope remains,
Tomorrow I may win life’s game.
Win or lose or length of game,
Of most Import is game well played.
Please give me faith to walk the faith,
Tread on the path that you create.
Give me the strength oh Lord benign,
To appreciate Your humor divine.
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Good morning All !
A new day calls
The sun still rises in the east,
Our heart still beats a symphony!
The chirping birds a blessing sing!
Angels on earth with feathered wings!
Which way opens? Which will close?
The choice may not be mine, I know.
I choose to bask in sunshine bright,
Enjoy the peace of moonless nights,
The drenching rain which hides my pain.
And thank God for his daily grace.
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Battle of love
Each day we warred!
Passionately sparred!
Battled from far!
On matters not!
She in her home,
I safe in mine.
Both locked away
To rest and hide.
When cause was none,
Then what the fun?
A question always
Plagued their mind.
Oh those who watch,
Don’t cringe and nod!
Of no import,
This war being fought!
A pause in time,
Hibernate a while!
Blood flow may slow,
Not cease, go cold.
Alone alive,
Mansion sublime,
Bricks, stones formed home
Her safety zone.
Yet loneliness,
Chronic ailment,
Had her in hold,
Choking her soul.
Disease was grave!
Unspoken, brave,
The pill was call,
Out of the box!
Each morning call,
Her medicine shot !
Adrenaline kick!
That made her tick.
No walls or miles
Could lock their smiles!
Her lonely heart,
Beats strong apart.
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Amaltaas
Amaltaas! Amaltaas! Swaying in the breeze,
Your golden blooms, with sun compete!
More golden than the sun by far!
Ocean of gold, while it’s a mere star!
Amaltaas! Amaltaas! Golden your shade!
We hide and seek amidst your glade.
A shimmering golden flowery sea,
Golden your carpet ‘neath our feet!
The golden showers of your flowers,
Swirling, enhance our whole attire!
The sun’s gold orb when shining bright,
Gives us the light, yet still we hide.
It’s brilliance unsurpassed by none,
Shines fiercely bright, sparing not one.
It’s scorching heat, burns all in path
Defiant blooms the Amaltaas.
And when the blooms are dried and gone,
The seed pods hang in disciplined form.
Providing instruments for joy,
A rhythmic toy for girls and boys.
Your dark green fronds still shade and shield,
All passerbys from sun’s glory.
This wordless lesson we must learn,
It matters not fame or power.
The gentle and the kind beget
More genuine love and all’s respect.
The sun shines brightest in the sky,
Yet in our hearts, Amaltaas does lie.
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Strange Times
I, Me, Myself.
Living together in one shell.
A phone in hand, sheltered yet sad,
What ails the soul, don’t understand!
A message tings, my heartbeat blinks.
What message comes? oh what to think?
Another’s gone, the pyre’s lit.
A Neighbor’s hand, Son’s video call.
No shoulder lent, tears unchecked fall.
A soothing touch, memories recalled.
Strange lives we live, Time freeze persists.
Distant distraught, in virtual hearts.
Another ting, new message rings,
My world is captured in this thing.
A grandchild’s laugh, a carefree dance,
I see, I hear, arms enfold – can’t!
I live alone, yet world’s my home,
Connected souls, just call from phone.
Each day we pass, a grace bestowed,
To thank for blessings known unknown.
**************
Simply Human – A Luxury
North, South, East, West, news, news, such unrest.
Humans are now numbers at best,
A daily count of ill and dead,
Depressing facts seem all that’s left.
Of laughter, love and joy no sound,
Of kindness, hope also no sound,
We heard it’s love makes world go ‘round,
It seems the world has run aground.
Millions still starve, food stocks that rot,
A race being run, paused state of shock.
A clear blue sky! Future? No sight!
What fog is this that clouds the mind?
Oh listen heart! Give self kickstart.
The sun moon stars, have not yet paused.
The heart that rules, energizes all
Human Spirit is which wins wars.
Let not humaneness luxury be,
Though we be far, connected be,
Technology! a boon for me,
A kind word, heals and sets both free.
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God’s Garden
Tick tock tick tock tick tick tick tock,
In rhythm beats the solitary clock.
Birds sang and pranced, freedom still danced!
Yet, World’s clock seems to have been paused.
The earth still spun on its axis ‘round,
Of man’s cacophony there was no sound.
We ruled the earth, captured the skies!
Dived deepest seas, mountains astride!
God’s image most enlightened ones,
Now in our homes, captors locked down!
Listen, listen, listen, listen!
Who is it that gives a call?
Nature’s anguish, muffled till now,
Our thoughts, conscience, muted till now,
In strident synchrony they call!
The school of life, peremptorily calls.
Ancestral collective wisdom calls!
Look, look, look, look!
A bright new world, blue skies, clean shores!
A hesitant Nature ventures forth,
A step in joy, a dance enfolds.
Eightyfour lakh species freed and safe,
They breathe, they swim, Earth rejuvenates!
While man forcibly now meditates.
Think, think, think, think!
Oh man! Despair not! All’s not lost!
Life’s not eternal, a lesson forgot!
Lifetime’s ambitious striving forget!
Of greed, want, and strife forget,
Awake dear soul, enjoy with less!
Respect all life, pollute me less.
Feel, feel, feel, feel!
This is the flower bed being prepared,
A new world order’s seed to rest.
The tallest tree with densest shade,
Grows slowest, as do beings complex!
A little patience, faith, and more,
And Man’s freedom will stand restored.
**************
Treasure Hunt
I watch the world, windows ajar,
The breeze caresses from afar,
Secrets whispered amongst rustling leaves,
Treasure unknown! Who holds the key!
A solitary crow caws soulfully,
His mate’s busy with family!
Come out and play! Bright sunny day!
The flowers nod as if to say!
Morning walks seem, an era past!
Will they return, the question’s asked!
Alas! Home bound we must remain!
Give earth time to rejuvenate.
My phone companion gives a buzz.
Aleesha’s solitary Easter hunt!
She runs around, no stone’s unturned!
Her face a grin, Joy in each jump!
A treasure’s found! A plastic ring!
She cares no bit, it’s little thing.
Unbridled joy! Unquestioning stance!
Just guided by an unseen hand.
Let’s also go on treasure hunt.
Look for secrets locked deep in us.
Clues are around, hide unannounced,
Hunt’s fun when challenges abound!
As Nature’s secrets come to fore,
Discover facets known, unknown,
A boundless joy slowly enfolds,
When we find our hidden treasure trove.
**************
Storm
The howling winds, were buffeting,
At eight AM, sun was hidden.
Lightening lit up the darkened sky,
Heralding storm, a prophesy.
A fierce storm raged, we stayed in place.
This was forefathers’ strategy.
Our windows shook, we watched awestruck,
The dervish dance of dried up leaves,
Branches and twigs, soil loose in fists,
Clothes pin-less flew from the clothes lines.
All swept away, anchor-less strayed,
Maelstrom of odds did they create.
Just as it came, the storm just waned,
Sun up above, again held reign.
A little lesson Nature taught!
It’s momentary, don’t fear the storm!
***********************
Happy Retirement
Another month rolls to an end,
It’s hashtag retirees! good luck friends!
Remain at home, no hugs, just phone,
Nothing will change, we are all at home!
Each month the list goes on and on,
An aging company’s farewell song!
In question hangs remainder’s fate!
Will we get dues, on our due date?
I write, he sings, afar yet synced
Wishing you the best in new Innings.
May good health, joys and peace be yours,
Freedom from stress, well earned enjoy!
You will be missed, undoubtedly!
Your empty chair, mute testimony.
The laugh, the scrawl, arguments galore,
Tasty lunches shared from a box.
Each day you worked, left loved ones home,
This work’s ne’er done, focus on home!
Silken bonds formed, will keep us chained,
Colleagues we were, friends will remain!
Good luck dear friends, be blessed, take rest!
New journey starts, Wishing “All the Best”!
***********************
Rest In Peace
Each time one friend goes on, away.
A vacuum, sorrow, memories stay.
A grieving world, a gentle ache,
Oh Rest In Peace, whispered, messaged.
How does one really Rest In Peace?
Is it when our breath does cease?
When soul has left body bereft,
Which of the two in peace does rest?
Till moment passed, the soul just danced,
Carefree, the body puppet pranced.
Work, work, work, work, a sudden pause,
Left incomplete, left with no thought.
Who really knows the great beyond?
Do souls take rest? Live on and on?
No answer yet we guess, and guess.
Waste our today, in strife, unrest.
Parent’s gone on, we still live on.
Distraught, perplexed, we carry on.
He lived his life, so we could rest,
Enjoy this world, heaven at best.
Now He is just a breath away,
Beloved! In memories remains.
Last lesson taught, with breath that’s gone,
Don’t fret, enjoy each breath that’s yours.
************
Caught In Time
Same place, same time
Same food, same wine,
Life moves, just fine,
Who knows the time?!
You there, me here,
Celebrate and cheer,
Miles far away,
Connected we stay.
Mood swings in beat,
Once up, once down,
While feet remain,
Fixed still on ground.
Game rules unknown
Future unknown
Our fate unknown,
Riches who owns?
Virus unseen,
Fear is unseen,
Can Faith be seen?
Can God be seen?
The birds still chirp
Flowering buds,
Animals have fun
Nature has won!
Have heart, dear heart!
We’re not apart!
Soulful connect,
A world apart.
Your voice on phone,
A video call,
Moments of peace,
Let’s breathe and pause.
Are life rules new?
Reality new?
Old wine it is.
Bottle is new!
A body whole,
Food for the soul,
Roof overhead
To live is goal.
In home we stay,
To hibernate,
A step a day,
Thankful, we pray!
Same place, new time,
A happy mind,
Secure and safe,
We’ll win this fight.
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Science has delivered, will the WTO deliver?
TRIPS waiver proposal from India, South Africa and other members
By Brajendra Navnit “The TRIPS waiver proposal is a targeted and proportionate response to the exceptional public health emergency that the world faces today. Such a Waiver is well-within the provisions of Article IX of the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO. It can help in ensuring that human lives are not lost for want of a timely and affordable access to vaccines. The adoption of the Waiver will also re-establish WTO’s credibility and show that multilateral trading system continues to be relevant and can deliver in times of a crisis. Now is the time for WTO members to act and adopt the Waiver to save lives and help in getting the economy back on the revival path quickly.”
While making the vaccines available was a test of science, making them accessible and affordable is going to be a test of humanity. History should remember us for the “AAA rating” i.e. for Availability, Accessibility and Affordability of Covid19 vaccines and treatments and not for a single “A rating” for Availability only. Our future generations deserve nothing less.
A proposal by India, South Africa and eight other countries calls on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to exempt member countries from enforcing some patents, and other Intellectual Property (IP)rights under the organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, known as TRIPS, for a limited period of time. It is to ensure that IPRs do not restrict the rapid scaling- up of manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. While a few members have raised concerns about the proposal, a large proportion of the WTO membership supports the proposal.It has also received the backing of various international organizations, multilateral agencies and global civil society.Unprecedented times call for unorthodox measures. We saw this in the efficacy of strict lockdowns for a limited period, as a policy intervention, in curtailing the spread of the pandemic.International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its October 2020 edition of World Economic Outlook states “…However, the risk of worse growth outcomes thanprojected remains sizable. If the virus resurges, progresson treatments and vaccines is slower than anticipated,or countries’ access to them remains unequal, economic activity could be lower than expected, withrenewed social distancing and tighter lockdowns”. The situation appears to be grimmer than predicted, we have already lost 7% of economic output from the baseline scenario projected in 2019. It translates to a loss of more than USD 6 trillion of global GDP. Even a 1% improvement in global GDP from the baseline scenario will add more than USD 800 billion in global output, offsetting the loss certainly of a much lower order to a sector of economy on account of the Waiver.
Merely a signal to ensure timely and affordable access to vaccines and treatments will work as a big confidence booster for demand revival in the economy. With the emergence of successful vaccines, there appears to be some hope on the horizon. But how will these be made accessible and affordable to global population? The fundamental question is whether there will be enough of Covid-19 vaccines to go around. As things stand, even the most optimistic scenarios today cannot assure access to Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics for the majority of the population, in rich as well as poor countries, by the end of 2021. All the members of the WTO have agreed on one account that there is an urgent need to scale-up the manufacturing capacity for vaccines and therapeutics to meet the massive global needs. The TRIPS Waiver Proposal seeks to fulfil this need by ensuring that IP barriers do not come in the way of such scaling up of manufacturing capacity.
Why existing flexibilities under the TRIPS Agreement are not enough
The existing flexibilities under the TRIPS Agreement are not adequate as these were not designed keeping pandemics in mind. Compulsory licenses are issued on a country by country, case by case and product by product basis, where every jurisdiction with an IP regime would have to issue separate compulsory licenses, practically making collaboration among countries extremely onerous. While we encourage the use of TRIPS flexibilities, the same are time-consuming and cumbersome to implement. Hence, only their use cannot ensure the timely access of affordable vaccines and treatments. Similarly, we have not seen a very encouraging progress on WHO’s Covid19-Technology Access Pool or the C-TAP initiative, which encourages voluntary contribution of IP, technology and data to support the global sharing and scale-up of the manufacturing of COVID- 19 medical products. Voluntary Licenses, even where they exist, are shrouded in secrecy. Their terms and conditions are not transparent. Their scope is limited to specific amounts or for a limited subset of countries, thereby encouraging nationalism rather than true international collaboration.
Why is there a need to go beyond existing global cooperation initiatives?
Global cooperation initiatives such as the COVAX Mechanism and the ACT-Accelerator are inadequate to meet the massive global needs of 7.8 billion people.The ACT-A initiative aims to procure 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of next year and distribute them fairly around the world. With a two-dose regime, however, this will only cover 1 billion people. That means that even if ACT-A is fully financed and successful, which is not the case presently, there would not be enough vaccines for the majority of the global population.
Past experience
During the initial few months of the current pandemic, we have seen that shelves were emptied by those who had access to masks, PPEs, sanitizers, gloves and other essential Covid-19 items even without their immediate need.The same should not happen to vaccines.Eventually, the world was able to ramp up manufacturing of Covid-19 essentials as there were no IP barriers hindering that. At present, we need the same pooling of IP rights and know-how for scaling up the manufacturing of vaccines and treatments, which unfortunately has not been forthcoming, necessitating the need for the Waiver.
It is the pandemic – an extraordinary, once in a lifetime event – that has mobilized the collaboration of multiple stakeholders. It is knowledge and skills held by scientists, researchers, public health experts and universities that have enabled the cross-country collaborations and enormous public funding that has facilitated the development of vaccines in record time – and not alone IP!
Way forward
The TRIPS waiver proposal is a targeted and proportionate response to the exceptional public health emergency that the world faces today. Such a Waiver is well-within the provisions of Article IX of the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO. It can help in ensuring that human lives are not lost for want of a timely and affordable access to vaccines. The adoption of the Waiver will also re-establish WTO’s credibility and show that multilateral trading system continues to be relevant and can deliver in times of a crisis. Now is the time for WTO members to act and adopt the Waiver to save lives and help in getting the economy back on the revival path quickly. While making the vaccinesavailable was a test of science, making them accessible and affordable is going to be a test of humanity. History should remember us for the “AAA rating” i.e., for Availability, Accessibility and Affordability of Covid19 vaccines and treatments and not for a single “A rating” for Availability only.Our future generations deserve nothing less.
(The author is Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to WTO)
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Solar Orbiter spacecraft makes its first Venus flyby
The joint US-European Solar Orbiter spacecraft has completed its first of many gravity assist flybys of Venus, to start bringing it closer to the Sun and tilting its orbit in order to observe our star from different perspectives. The spacecraft’s closest approach to Venus took place at 12.39 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on Sunday.
“First #VenusFlyby completed for #SolarOrbiter,” the official Twitter handle of the spacecraft tweeted.A partnership between the NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), the probe was launched in February to study the Sun. Its mission is to perform unprecedented close-up observations of the Sun and from high-latitudes, providing the first images of the uncharted polar regions of the Sun, and investigating the Sun-Earth connection. The Solar Orbiter’s path around the Sun has been chosen to be “in resonance” with Venus, which means that it will return to the planet’s vicinity every few orbits and can again use the planet’s gravity to alter or tilt its orbit, the ESA said. The next encounter will be in August 2021, the agency said. Initially, the spacecraft will be confined to the same plane as the planets, but each encounter of Venus will increase its orbital inclination.
By 2025 it will make its first solar pass at 17 degree inclination, increasing to 33 degree by the end of the decade, bringing even more of the polar regions into direct view. This will result in the spacecraft being able to take the first ever images of the Sun’s polar regions, crucial for understanding how the Sun “works”, for investigating the Sun-Earth connection and how we can better predict periods of stormy space weather, said the ESA.
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Google takes away wide-angle astrophotography from Pixel phones
Google Pixel 5 and 4a 5G users can no longer use their ultra-wide cameras to take pictures of the stars. The company apparently removed the lens’s astrophotography capabilities with the Google Camera 8.1 update. According to The Verge, the feature was a selling point of the Pixel 4 and was available on the regular and telephoto cameras. When the 4a 5G and 5 were announced with new wide-angle lenses, the feature was added to those as well. Now it’s been taken away. On Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5, astrophotography only works on zoom settings equal to or greater than 1x. The astrophotography feature lets users capture the night sky by pointing their phone up and keeping it still, either by balancing it on a nearby object or putting it on a tripod. The feature is still available on the phones’ other cameras, but if you go to Night Sight mode and switch to the ultra-wide-angle camera a user will now get a warning saying “Zoom to 1x for astrophotography”.
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Google Glass-like device could zap Alzheimer’s disease
Could alleviating Alzheimer’s symptoms be one day as easy as wearing a Google Glass-like device? It could, if new research led by the University of Otago (New Zealand) bears fruit.
The researches are focusing on stimulating humans’ sense of smell to prevent conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease associated with memory problems. The olfactory system, or sense of smell, is known to be dysfunctional in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. It is also shown that proper olfactory function can play a key role in regaining consciousness after brain injuries. The Otago research centres around a wearable concept prototype—similar to Google Glasses—which produces small electronic pulses on the skin to stimulate the olfactory nervous system. “Olfactory nerves have terminals deep in the brain regions which influence memory and navigation,” said lead author Yusuf Ozgur Cakmak, Associate Professor at Otago’s Department of Anatomy.
“We’re hopeful this method will help stimulate these networks to alleviate symptoms or suppress the progression of Alzheimer’s disease to Dementia. It also has potential to help coma recovery and Parkinson’s disease.”
Cakmak said their promising early results, published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, can pave the way for developing the world’s first non-invasive, wearable electrical stimulation system to target the olfactory regions.
Modulation of the olfactory regions has been attempted successfully with electrical stimulation previously, either directly – intraoperatively through the nasal bones—or indirectly through the vagus nerve.
This research sought to develop a means of delivering electrical stimulation to the olfactory region in a non-invasive fashion and in a way that is simpler, easier, and less cumbersome.
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NASA approves 2 missions to explore Sun, Earth’s aurora
NASA has approved two missions to explore the Sun and the system that drives space weather near Earth. These two missions are Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission, or EUVST, and the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer, or EZIE.
Together, NASA’s contribution to the missions will help us understand the Sun and Earth as an interconnected system, the US space agency said on Tuesday.
Understanding the physics that drive the solar wind and solar explosions—including solar flares and coronal mass ejections—could one day help scientists predict these events, which can impact human technology and explorers in space. “We are very pleased to add these new missions to the growing fleet of satellites that are studying our Sun-Earth system using an amazing array of unprecedented observational tools,” Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for Science at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in a statement. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) leads the Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope (EUVST) Epsilon Mission (Solar-C EUVST Mission), along with other international partners.
Targeted for launch in 2026, EUVST is a solar telescope that will study how the solar atmosphere releases solar wind and drives eruptions of solar material.
Indian-origin chemist finds new clue to how life began on Earth
Adding a fresh viewpoint to the origin of life on Earth, an Indian-origin researcher Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy from Scripps Research in California has made a discovery that a DNA-RNA mix began the first life form on our planet.
Krishnamurthy demonstrated that a simple compound called diamidophosphate (DAP), which was plausibly present on Earth before life arose, could have chemically knitted together tiny DNA building blocks called deoxynucleosides into strands of primordial DNA. The newly described chemical reaction could have assembled DNA building blocks before life forms and their enzymes existed.
The finding, published in a chemistry journal ‘Angewandte Chemie’, is the latest in a series of discoveries, pointing to the possibility that DNA and its close chemical cousin RNA arose together as products of similar chemical reactions, and that the first self-replicating molecules – the first life forms on Earth – were mixes of the two.
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Readers Comment on How COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected the World
The present-day world is passing through a very challenging period when a raging pandemic during the past 10 months or so has snuffed out 1.79 million lives and infected close to 82 million the world over. The terrible virus’s effect on human body and the world will take time to be assessed. Right now, the world is busy fighting this virus, scrambling for a lifesaving vaccine, and living in fear of other variants of the virus, which have been found in some countries, notably in UK where a total lock down has been imposed. Nations the world over have restricted into their territory of travelers from UK for fear that they may bring the new variant of virus supposedly more deadly than COVID-19 and add to their seemingly unsurmountable problems.
So, we thought of asking our wide awake and well-informed readers of their view.
The Question: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the world? What is the future scenario? What do we need to do to combat this Virus, and any other, in future? Your personal experience, if any , will be welcome.
We are grateful to the readers who took time to send us their comment which we are pleased to publish here.
We wish them all a Happy New Year.
Anu Jain
Our lives before the virus will not be back anytime soon
COVID-19 has cost us a lot, the lives of our near and dear ones, small businesses shut down, yet it has brought attention to many other aspects of life. For example, HYGIENE; many of us had forgotten the importance of washing our hands after using public transport, before eating food, or even as simple as shaking hands with someone. Another example is MENTAL WELLBEING; people are starting to feel more lonely and many may also be suffering from depression. We all have become much more conscious and aware of these simple yet ignored matters. I am sure we will never forget what COVID-19 has taken from us, but I am sure we will also not be able to turn a blind eye to what it has given us. Some of the positive outcomes from this pandemic is self-improvement and building new skills. Reaching out to and rekindling with people we may not have in a very long time. We have also learned to appreciate what we have in our lives currently. Although, we have to maintain a 6 feet distance but we are fighting this battle together.
In this pandemic, we all have stood together as one big family. I still remember the surge of doctors we had from all over the nation flying into New York, when it was declared an epicenter/hot-zone for COVID-19. During those times, many people, independently and via organizations were empowered to help each other out. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to get involved and coordinate with many organizations to help out via food donations for many frontline heroes across the New York and New Jersey.
Future may be very uncertain with the many new revelations of the virus such as the new variant discovered in UK, recently. Our lives before the virus will not be back anytime soon, as the effects of this pandemic are here to stay. The format of events and gatherings will be changed forever as well. For example, greetings have already started to change from hugging to a more of a ‘Namaste’ approach. The limit of attendees at gatherings have also been implemented strictly.
Prevention is better than cure, and thus that would be the first step in combating the virus. Hand hygiene, maintaining a 6-ft distance, masks, are all some of the many preventative measures that all of us are already taking. Finally, there is also the vaccine for this virus, it is important to take the vaccine once available and continue to stay updated and informed by following the CDC.gov. We must also reach out to our loved ones and keep on adding new memories to our treasure chest.
(Anu Jain is one of the leading Real Estate Salespersons in Long Island, NY)
Ashok Ojha
2020: A Year of Grief
The year 2020 is coming to an end. When I look back months back I see a long spell of darkness, silence, pain, and grief, all of which generated by the horror of Corona also called Covid-19.
I made a short trip to India in early March. Prior to my departure I decided not to take chances and carry a tiny stock of disinfecting sanitizers and masks. I visited local pharmacies and grocery stores to buy it but found none. These were clear signs that general public were fully aware what was to happen soon. At that time authorities were cautioning against the virus but they were not advising to wear masks until plane loads of the stuff arrived from China.
The news of Corona infection was slowly crossing the borders of America. As I landed in Delhi I learned that a tourist had celebrated his birthday party in a local five-star hotel, travelled to Jaipur and Jodhpur leaving behind a trail of infections. Hospitals in all these cities were scrambling to deal with cases. It was evident that the virus had attacked India. It was a matter of time when it would travel quickly around the world as no restrictions were enforced at airports except for usual security protocols. Soon international flights were being curtailed.
I decided to fly back to the safety of my home in New Jersey. On my way back I found passengers and the crew were totally unaware of using sanitizers, forget wearing masks. On arrival in USA I saw no precautions were taken at the airports. No questions were being asked by officials. Everything was being done to welcome the virus. It was horrifying to hear US officials advising the public not to wear masks since PPE materials were in short supply. This was unforgivable. Didn’t we know enough or were just being complacent?
The entry of the virus into the United States was hastened many other ways. United States flew its citizens from a cruise ship anchored in Japan and was found heavily infected. Infected people as well those not infected shared the same aircraft way home from Japan. Horrified I could watch the scenario unfolding-schools opting for remote learning, crowds of US citizens returning home from Europe jostling at Chicago and other airports, elder care centers unsure of how to handle Corona infected patients. I felt I was writing script of a drama that was unfolding before my eyes. News of infections originating from supermarkets soon found space in newspapers. Few airlines were still flying, as if in defiance.
US is the most advanced nation in the world. Taking precautions or not taking it became a political matter. How can you dictate an American against his will? And he was against doing childish things like covering his face with mask!
Searching for vaccines was a matter that government needed to take. US had the re-sources. The search hurriedly began. The White House took a stand-downplay the threat!
Meanwhile, in May 2020, a black man called Floyd was suffocated to death by a policeman in Minneapolis. The incident unleashed nationwide protests and street demonstrations. “I can’t breathe…” symbolized the agony of the suppressed and ‘Black Lives Matter’ was the new progressive mantra. Protests and demonstrations, violent or not, turned into vehicles for the virus.
Days and months passed by. News and videos of hospitals overwhelmed by Corona infected patients were a common sight on television screen. Infected elderly citizens who lived in Elder Care Homes around the country were dying in droves. Nurses and doctors looking after patients, hospital workers, grocery store employees, meat packing plant workers, teachers and students-were among the vulnerable groups. In New Jersey, government departments were shut down. Most people were working from home. Courts were meeting virtually.
USA conducted the Presidential elections and American elected Democratic candidates Joe Biden as the next President and Kamala Harris as Vice President. But America was yet to see a smooth transition of power. The year is coming to an end and I find no words to explain the actions of sitting President Trump. He has pardoned his associates who were convicted for serious crimes. Trump sacked numerous officials during his tenure. America just watched in awe. His actions were twisting and turning the US Constitution but none could do anything. I realized the enormous power and legal immunity of the American President firsthand.The year 2020 presented a number of grim realities about America. That everything is not perfect in the USA. We must accept certain things as they are: Protection against dis-crimination, equality and justice are not to be taken for granted. One must not depend upon the government for help, even during the emergencies. US laws and the government can’t support the poor, the homeless and the unemployed, even during the emergencies. While the US can’t provide food for everyone the system allows the rich getting richer even when majority of people suffer from pandemic.
COVID-19 has posed so many questions for all Americans-our options for survival are limited. The vaccines are not the final solutions. We are part of a system that doesn’t work as it should all the times.
Let us hope for the better in 2021.
(Ashok Ojha is a senior journalist and a passionate promoter of Hindi abroad)
Dr. V.K. Raju
COVID- 19 and New Year Wishes for 2021
A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across the world. Throughout human history there have been a number of pandemics of disease, such as smallpox and tuberculosis, and the most fatal pandemic in recorded history was the black death, also known as the plague. The plague killed over 75 million people in the 14th century. History has the nasty habit of repeating itself. Our longevity in the present century is mainly due to the successes of public health. The most scientific and technological advances have added only 6 to 8 years to our life. Such is the paramount importance of public health, that even in the era of exponential scientific and bioengineering advancements, the impact of basic health protections from the 1900s cannot be underestimated. Let us recollect Charles Edward Winslow’s quote from 1842, “The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of personal hygiene… will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health.” Obviously, we missed many of these fundamentals during our present epidemic.
Concern for future pandemics includes antibiotic resistant microorganisms called “super bugs” and may contribute to the reemergence of diseases that were thought to be under control. A tuberculosis pandemic ???
One of my very religious Indian patients asked me recently, “Dr. Raju, so many people died so sadly, is it their karma?” I said instantaneously “Some others failed their Dharma, and these people suffered their karma”.
(Dr. V.K. Raju is an internally acclaimed Ophthalmologist. He is committed to his vision of a world without childhood blindness. Through the Eye Foundation of America which he founded almost four decades ago, and Goutami Eye Institute in Andhra Pradesh, he is working tirelessly to prevent avoidable childhood blindness in rural areas of India and elsewhere in the world)
George Abraham
2020: A year to forget
As I recollect, I was in Kerala in January reading about a virus that was sweeping the City of Wuhan, China. Like in the past, I thought it was one of those hyped-up pandemics like bird-flu, and the epidemiologists would go on an overdrive to herald its impact. When I was working for the United Nations, the Bird-flu scare was so intense; the organization went about putting together a disaster recovery plan that included working remotely and replicating the essential applications and data to Geneva’s offices. However, the doomsday predictions were proved to be wrong, and there was no significant impact of Bird-flu on the public, especially on the work environment.
But COVID-19 is not like any other virus in recent memory, it is so ruinous to human life and its well-being, and we are still in the battle to survive. Almost every country in the world has experienced its fierce assault on our way of life. It is an incredible thing to watch as this invisible virus drove the most powerful economies to the ground, forced stores and businesses to shut or close permanently, with most of its streets deserted and senior citizens fighting for their lives alone in their respective nursing homes while leaving millions of people in a state of anxiety and fear.
The pandemic once again revealed that life is so fleeting, and a virus can even isolate one from his/her loved ones and familiar surroundings. We have seen instances where bodies were forklifted to freezer trucks directly from the hospitals and buried without any friends or relatives’ presence. It is indeed a humbling moment; with all the technologies and know-how the humans possess today, there is a limit to what can be done.
As 2020 comes to an end, people are still trying to make sense out of what has hit us and how it has transformed the world forever. As the number of people who have lost their lives creeping towards a two million mark, I hope and pray that human ingenuity would once again be unleashed towards finding a solution. It would also be wise to recognize a divine power that holds sway over our lives and how vulnerable are us even to an invisible virus!
Let us hope and pray for a better year, 2021!
(George Abraham, Former Chief Technology Officer, United Nations)
Mike Ghouse
Happy New Year – the year of optimism
We wish you, your family, and your friends the very best in 2021. Each New Year is a milestone in one’s life. Indeed, it is as much a day of reckoning as it is of celebrations. Reckoning involves reflecting on why you did not get what you had wanted in 2020 and celebrating what you got for your effort and how you made it to where you are today.
Let’s go forward; if I were to ask you on 12/31/2021, how was your 2020? Would you respond, “as planned?” Did you plan it? I am pleased to share the easy way to plan your 2021.
First of all, let’s clean our slates:
If you (and I) have said something nasty to your siblings, spouse, parents, children, friends, clients, or customers – make the effort to call them to apologize. You will not believe the relief it brings. Try with one, if it feels good try with another one. If they are nasty to you, turn the other cheek, that is don’t aggravate it further, say thank you to them, and move on. You did your best to clean the slate. Enjoy being a conflict mitigator and goodwill nurturer.
If others have harmed you, hurt you, and have said nasty things to you, make an effort to call them and say, “look with this Covid, over 325,000 people have gone, don’t know who will be next, I just wanted to clean my slate and seek forgiveness and forgive and go in peace if it were my turn. It is good to free ourselves and live-in peace instead of brooding. Thank you very much.” Please avoid arguments, it will further aggravate the situation.
If none of them are alive, take solid 5 minutes, sit quietly and do it in your heart, the effect will be the same – relief, and freedom from the tension whenever you think about them.
You have everything to gain by cleaning your slate, try it, it is worth it.
Nothing happens by itself; things happen because someone causes them or drives them to happen. Did you let others drive your life, or was it your plan? You cannot go on vacation unless your dream about it, think about it, and plan on it. You cannot buy anything unless you start it with a want. Unlike the planets, stars, and many other things in the universe which are programmed to function precisely, humans were given the free will to chart their course.
God does not do anything; he cannot do good things for you and not for others. Indeed, He has laid everything out for you to pursue your happiness and peace; it is up to you to get it.
Here is a simple way of getting what you want! Plan, plan, and plan. The first thing is to know what you want; you should know where you are driving when you turn the ignition.
Buy a dozen 5×3 Cards or fold three regular blank white papers and cut them into pieces. Write the following item on top of each piece and place them in your pocket or purse; Family, job, health, income, vacation, home, retirement, self-improvement, a new image, spirituality, and volunteerism.
As you start driving, making coffee, watching TV, or whatever you are doing, take one piece at a time, start thinking about that item, pull the car over, or go to a coffee shop, and sit down and write your thoughts in bullets on each piece of paper. I am sure you have a few ideas about your family, job, and the other items, whatever comes to your mind, write it down.
One evening you can sit down for a few hours and put it all together. It would become your guideline and your plan for 2021. The more you stare at it, the more it becomes a part of you. Please do it for fun; you will be amazed at what it will do for you.
Spiritual freedom is indeed the greatest achievement in one’s life and it permanently clings to you till eternity. Those of us, who can free ourselves from tension, pain, anxiety, apprehension, hostility, malice, pressure, tension, stress, strain, and conflicts, are showered with blessings of peace and joy. It is good to be free, “indeed blessed are the peacemakers (Jesus).”
( Dr. Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, author, community consultant, pluralist, activist, newsmaker, and an interfaith wedding officiant. Mike is deeply committed to Free speech, Human Rights, and Pluralism in Religion, Politics, Societies, and the workplace.)
Gobind Bathija
A turning point for world economy and humanitarian issues
The pandemic Corona virus has been the turning point for world economy and humanitarian issues; it has changed our prospects towards life. It made us learn how to live without ultra luxury items in our life.
It also thought us the opportunity to go back to the basic understanding of family togetherness.
Now that the vaccine fever is in, it might give us some kind of relief and we may go back to normal; it may never be the same.
It was the biggest shock since world war II. Closing of the borders led us to stay home and realize the value of travel freedom.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic has had significant psychological and social effects on the communities
(Gobind Bathija is a businessman and community leader)
Tirlok Malik
I have been distressed to see suffering of people
How Covid-19 affected the world , we all know but the lessons we learnt are individual takes.
My personal experience of losing some friends and the sadness I felt for their
family will forever be etched in my memory. I have seen people suffer endlessly.
The other personal experience has been the ugly part of world
politics in the face of a deadly virus in the world that shook my faith in the basic goodness of politicians.
However, one would like to forget Covid 19 and 2020 as a bad dream.
(Tirlok Malik is an Emmy nominated film maker, actor, director of many well-known films in English and Punjabi languages. He is a promoter of Ayurveda and Yoga)
Prakash Waghmare
Needed a Volunteering ‘youth corps’
As of now, Covid-19 pandemic has brought the life as we knew it to a screeching halt. There is going to be ‘New World Order’ because of it. It has made us ‘isolationist’ on every level. It has taught us that we need not be physically in close proximity with each other to sustain ourselves or to sustain all the chores of life. Technology and Science are going to rule our world as never before, eliminating some of the functional responsibilities. Millions have lost their jobs and 1 in 5 are facing food crisis in USA. This will also require retraining ourselves to face this new world order. For the first time in probably decades the employers in every sector had the breathing time in Yr. 2020 to evaluate how much manpower they truly need, especially when Robotics & Artificial Intelligence is aggressively advancing towards them. In addition to safety precautions, it is very essential that at least 75% population gets vaccinated for any country to be safe from a pandemic. As there are almost 40% people against it, we need to create some enticement for the vaccine at government level as well as at private-sector level (certification connected to discounts, etc.). Like ‘common ‘Flu’, this corona virus is likely to be with us for years to come, so we need more research and permanent solution to eliminate it completely as we had done previously with ‘Polio’ or ‘Smallpox’. President Kennedy had floated ‘Peace Corps’ of youths to go out in the world to assist everyday folks. As America is aging, Biden-Harris team should create similar volunteering ‘youth corps’ for domestic issue – let it be any pandemic, hunger or caretaking of old folks etc.
( Prakash Waghmare is a social activist and a prolific writer)
Indu Jaiswal
Year 2020 is also known as Life Changing Year. Since March COVID 19 Pandemic changed our lives and lifestyles. We are following strict infection Control Rules and regulations so that COVID 19 Virus spread can be contained. . During this Pandemic , we have lost members of our family and friends.
There has been an enormous loss of human lives. The Pandemic paused progress of people, changed working environments, forced people to cancel celebrations, vacations, Holiday gatherings and Community oriented functions. Weddings and functions on ZOOM started making a change. Everyone started working from Home and even schools online became challenging for students, teachers and parents.. As a Health Care professional we are going to work to the line of duty and taking care of our patients. As we approach the end of the year we are greeted with a cheering news on COVID 19 Vaccine , which is giving hope to all so that in the coming year 2021, we will be able to fight this invisible Virus. As Mahatma Gandhi said “The Future Depends upon what steps you take today. Strength does not come from Winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships, and decide not to surrender, that is strength”..
We will continue to be strong and goal oriented, Welcome 2021 of Health, Peace and Joy. On behalf of the Board of Trustees and Executive Members of IAF, I wish you a Very Happy Holiday Season and aHappy New Year 2021
(Indu Jaiswal RDN is a community and social activist, and currently chair of IAF)
