The Pandemic- When The Non-Living Rules !

Hello Readers

We hope this blog finds you well!

“If the mind is tranquil and occupied with positive thoughts, the body will not easily fall prey to disease.”

— Dalai Lama XIV

 

 Well, we would first of all like to thank all our readers,  who have read our blogs since 2014 and have given us valuable suggestions which helped us improve our content, its good to be blogging again after a long time!

The time is 5:40 PM; there is a pall of gloom outside our houses, the empty streets, empty pavements and the shops. One of the first scenarios the entire humankind is feeling sad when they hear this word "positive," we think now you are catching the drift of where we are heading.

Neo corona human virus is active, and the world is under threat after a long time of pandemic free times, the world is in a war-like situation first time after the second world war.

Have we realized, after nearly four decades we are in a war situation, and this war is against a non-living thing which is not even visible to us it is popularly called virus?  what is a virus? A virus is a sub-microscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.

The evolution of the virus is uncertain; they say it is present in the environment. These particles are called virions, and each virus has an RNA ( Ribo Nucleic acid ) the genetic material to replicate itself and a protective protein layer around it.

Corona Virus-definition

Coronaviruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, corona-viruses cause respiratory tract infections that can be mild or fatal, such as some cases of the common cold (among other possible causes, predominantly rhinoviruses), and others that can be lethal, such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. Symptoms in other species vary: in chickens, they cause an upper respiratory tract disease, while in cows and pigs they cause diarrhoea. There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections.

–Courtesy Wikipedia

 Outbreak –The when and the how

The outbreak of the Corona Viral disease-2019 happened in Wuhan, Hubei in China in December 2019, even though there are multiple news items for the cause of the outbreak. They do not have legitimate proof. However, there are reasons to believe it has got transmitted to humans through consumption of raw meat of pangolins and bats and has led to hazardous pandemic across the world leading to lockdowns curfews and sense of confusion and uncurtaining in the minds of people.

From the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of Coronavirus has made much noise, and it has become a nightmare too. Countries having one of the best medical technologies are struggling to find answers to the questions posed by the deadly virus. Italy and the US have surpassed China in terms of the spread and number of people infected. The number of positive cases is on the rise daily, and stats show some real gross figures.

An active case is defined as a case which has not seen any outcome (recovery or death). These cases take a very sharp increase from 13th March 2020 at more than four hundred thousand. 

The source country China, the number of active cases stood at nearly six hundred thousand during February 2020 and has seen a steady decline touching almost zero. Such a drastic improvement needs an explanation. Whereas in Italy and the US the number of active cases reaching a hundred thousand. Developed nations like the US is facing challenges on testing. Testing is the key to any disease. And it has become the most significant challenge since there is no single contact to maintain the data exclusively on testing.

The daily situation report has no detail on the number of people being tested. In India, the total of individual tests done as on 28th March 2020 stands at just over twenty-six thousand. That is at 0.002% of the whole population of the country, which is a negligible number. 

The number of people who came to India from foreign countries during the past 3 months, i.e., January to March is enormous. The whole world would fall flat if the foundation (testing) fails, and the current scenario is heading towards danger. India, when compared to other countries, is handling the crisis pretty well until we know the total number of that is being tested daily.

Well now that we have a brief idea of the problem, the media and the analysts have some views: one of them is that the apparent threat to humankind, but there is a second view which is the self-healing of nature, there was a news item in WION a popular news channel which showed the returning of dolphins and swans to the coast of Italy the programme also made sure to tell the impact of social media impact and the outbreak of fake news which is more deadly than the disease and has also called this as an "infodemic".

Courtesy google images

We think that gives us a secure message just like in the case of the fateful Chernobyl disaster,  nature has reclaimed the entire restricted area. Nature for sure has made us a little bit more conscious on the path we have taken and maybe trying to correct it! and definitely has humbled us a little in these past few weeks, our lives have changed and are changing and we have only option to adjust to that whatever change. We urge and request the citizens to follow Government restrictions to fight this bloodless bio war.

Well, the crisis has hit us all big time, how would you as a reader like to end it?

Living with hope.

Harish Murthy and Tejus R.S

hypocrites- the disastrous society

“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.”
― Warren W. Wiersbe

Imagine a country where the Military, the Police, the Forest Department, the Fire Department and the entire functioning of the Government is just on the computers (Social media) without any action on the field. If there is war situation and the military just posts communications on the various social media platforms without deploying of any troops on the battle ground. The aftermath of this is obvious.

The above pointed out para is a hypothetical state which is sadly becoming real with the youth of the current generation who likes to act only on social media without any understanding of the ground realities. Using social media for the benefit of the society as a whole, works only when the person who posts is very well versed and uploads qualitative works. Sadly more than 90% of the communications posted on the social media is highly illogical and lacks quality and understanding of the subject posted. Many of them feel that there is no wrong in that and also claims that they are doing there bit for the betterment of the society. Doing something for the society needs to be defined first. It requires knowledge and it involves risk at times. Those who avert risk and knowledge are the ones who use social media to posts gobbledygook for their popularity and most importantly it influences other people with genuine concern.

Every Tom, Dick and Harry is jumping on the craze of “contributing to the society” without lack of knowledge on basic issues. Hypocrite may seem a harsh word to use but the context demands such words for the good.   

It is always advised to prioritise of what is important and urgent and what is not important and not urgent. Most of them choose issues which are not important and not urgent. Before taking up any issue one must have at least some basic insights on what is what.

If we keep on doing this muttering all the time and talking issues over coffee and tea and just forgetting all about it later it is mere discussion with no practicality.

The wearer knows where the shoe pinches. 

Thanks for your time.

Living with hope

Tejus R.S and Harish Murthy

Medal Tally

Hello readers

Hope you all are doing great.

"Adolf Hitler tries to rule the world, but Dhyan Chand ruled Adolf hitler."

- The Sunday Herald Dec 1967

It is great to be blogging again after quite a long break.

The Olympics are almost the oldest sporting events in this world which are being carried on from generations together with the same rich culture and best sportsman spirit. It is a venue where skills, guts and tenacity meet.

The Olympians are an inspiration to all of mankind for their dedication perseverance and patience.

Let us now discuss about where India stands in this great global event.

When P.V Sindhu won the silver medal and Sakshi Mallik won the bronze medal in Rio, we are sure that it was a very jubilant moment for the whole Nation.

We all must respect the Olympians who went from India, because we appreciate the callus attitude of the sports authorities towards them.

We took some time in considering one of the most important factors for success i.e., the benefits given to the Olympians. An analysis has been made of the benefits given to an Olympic aspirant in India and in comparison with the benefits given in the US. Few may feel that there has to be no comparisons as it would be unfair since, the US is far ahead of India in many disciplines and we are still in developing front. It is true. This has to be seen with a positive mind-set and only for the benefit of our country in the field of sports.

After reading some of the thoughtful articles about the sports services given to Indians and other countries we got some takeaways.

In India there is a popularity index imbalance towards cricket and other sports which is alarming and unhealthy. No doubt cricket is great game but why should we not think as other games are not as great as cricket?

The Indian Government has set up an institution called the Sports Authority Of India popularly known as SAI, has many schemes like “you are the coach” for veteran Olympians and “come and play scheme” for the children of Got employs children to learn and play at SAI.

These are measures which will help the aspirants to full fill their dreams but at the same time India needs a buff of energy where everyone is so proactive that they should keep the next Olympics in mind and target to win more medals.

There are some horrific incidents that are not good news; like MS Shanti Devi a great Kabaddi player who won national Kabaddi championships in 1976 who served as a captain during the period of 1983- 84 and she also had won a silver medal at the Guwahati National Kabaddi league, now for the shocking part today this great sport person is a vegetable vendor trying to meet her ends. MR. Kashaya Dadasaheb Yadav, he was the first wrestler to win an individual medal at the Olympics, later he joined the Police force as a Sub-Inspector, after his retirement, he was denied of pension by the Government and had a sad demise due to ill-health, even after his demise there was debate going on should the government confer him a Padma award or not? Is it not disrespectful?

These are just some stories which will startle us; there are many truths which we don’t even hear about.

Just take a glance at the US Government benefits given to its Olympians:

All of the following services are included in the figures for direct athlete support:

·         “Athlete performance pool – support training” (i.e. stipends)

·         “Elite Athlete Health Insurance & Other Medical Benefits for Athletes”

·         “Operation Gold – awarding top place finishes”

·         “Tuition assistance to pursue a college degree”

·         And “Special grants not already included above”

Source: usatheltictrust.org

Also find the pie chart of the detailed expensed published by the same website:

Our hockey team used to win unanimously till 1982 after that the graph declined, which also adds to the saddening part.

Predominantly India is a cricket centred country and it is one of the best in the world. We have to appreciate the best of efforts put in by the players to make our tri - coloured flag fly high. At the same time we have to question about the progress of India in other sports. India is failing to buck up in Olympics. It is easy for every Tom Dick and Harry to sit and pass loose comments on India's performance in the Olympics but none have till date understood why the failing is happening. After the failure the immediate next thing we do is to blame. Blame the Government and blame the players for having not done well at the biggest sports extravaganza in the world. Few days later everything is as it is. But in fact, every Indian citizen is to be blamed and has a role to play in the either success or failure in every sport because; it belongs to each and every on. 

We had filed an RTI to find out what were the benefits that were given :

Let's address about the current Govt., (the BJP led NDA Govt.,) that has announced several schemes and revised several policies related to Youth affairs and Sports. This should have given us some more medals. But we are happy and settled for two medals. There has been something which has gone wrong miserably. Are the schemes just for making the papers look glared!

It is for the first time that the participant’s numbers crossed 100 and all were in a hope that medal tally this time would be of double digits. Hopes were shattered. Finally it was just two and not even a double figure. Recently there was an article published in the TOI that a woman marathon runner was not provided with water or any other energy drink where, designated stalls were kept by other countries at regular intervals in the event but there was no stall from the Indian side. How could anyone expect to win a medal where provision of basic facilities failed? What were the officials doing that is the question that needs to be asked seriously?

It's actually very strange in India where, after the Olympics the winners were received back home with all the due respects. Why can't they be provided with best of the facilities prior and during the course of the event? This may lead to a sort of "be happy with what you got" state and may not see try for improvement.

Below, are the suggestions we have prescribed to improve the current state of being of sporting culture in our country:

·         There has to be an allocation of separate funds for the purpose of building new state of art sport stadiums in the annual budget. Borrow some of the best models of sports infrastructure around the world (USA, China, Australia…). Creating a separate wing in the sports building (Martial Arts require a different set of needs such as weaponry….. creating a separate wing for only Martial Arts would be helpful and the same follows for other sports).  Identifying and converting poor, non- performing sports stadiums in each and every district of our country into ultra-modern powered stadiums.

·         In Cricket, usually there will be best coaches from other countries for all the   departments of the game. Likewise for other sports, recruitment of coaches from best sporting nations should be in practice. Coaches hailing from India should have some sort of an International experience.

·         Critical analysis of the aftermath of any sporting event (domestic/Intl.…) should be implemented. Analysis to be done on a based on science. It is in fact a vast subject and also a very crucial subject for transforming any nation into a sporting nation. Government should sponsor for those (Coaches/Experts…) who would pursue a course in sports science in a Foreign University.

·         Use of technology in sports would create a massive impact. Every sports complex in the country should be integrated using this. This would save time, money and resources. A separate team should be constituted for this.

·         World-class experts should be deployed on advising about the nutrition diet for the sportsmen. Every so often journals/papers have to be published based on an in-depth research.

·         Selection of a candidate for a sporting event/competition should be only based on merits and not on any other basis such influence and like such. Tap on rural side to get the best sporting talents by providing them top-notch sporting culture. Increase the price amount for any competition that is organised. Frequently organising international events for getting exposure. Most importantly organising every event in a competition should be made compulsory and should be conducted with utmost seriousness.

·         http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelzakkour/2016/04/08/in-china-the-fusion-of-sports-gaming-and-e-commerce-could-become-a-1-trillion-industry/#17b047cf5a94 This is an article about how China is progressing in the field of sports. We also could do some of those that they have only when we slightly shift our focus from the IPL to other sports.

·         There has to be a district wise establishment of SCE to be made mandatory so that proper training would be given to everyone which would reduce the running around. It should also operate as a refreshing unit.

·         Key concerns that are to be addressed where the Government should form a separate Governance Cell under the Ministry of Sports and also under Ministry of Home: Accountability, Developmental and Administrative issues.

·         Sadly, even though, there is a separate subject PE in the schools it has just become merely a subject of pass. After the schooling that particular subject is not touched. A simple solution for this is the change of current system of teaching.

Sports ministry this year gets an allocation of Rs 1592 crore. What is only required is proper utilisation of this allocation for the betterment of sport. Private players have to be roped in for the funds for development of world-class sports complexes.

Ultimately there has to be a strong political will along with the change in the mind-set of the common people is very much required for the betterment of sports. For a country like India with billions of people which is cruising for the world power status will not be a difficult task for it to become a sporting power of the world. Fortunately/unfortunately everything is in our hands..!

To conclude, we feel that it is ‘IMPLEMENTATION’ that is failing horribly. Every effort of the concerned who painstakingly work for the betterment of sports is actually going in vain. We see that there will be no better results if there is no realization in the implementation of the various benefits that are to be given for the improvement of the sportsmen. Addressing the root cause of the problem/issue/failure and implementation of the whole ball of wax is what is required for the progress of a country in all disciplines.  

Thanks a lot for your time

Living with hope.

Harish Murthy and Tejus R.S

The Yamuna Gaffe.

Hello readers

Hope you all are doing well.

“What's the use of a fine house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?”
-Henry David Thoreau

All of us believe in some values in common, for instance you trust your family, you trust your best friend, you also believe in God for some it is Ram, for some Jesus for some Allah and so on.

In this world from time immortal we have different positions in the society to the class of priests, the pope, the fakir, the rishis and Pandits. We all consider them as divine and powerful in their intellect and the power to spread the message of God.

Many of our saints and religious leaders have done their duty in the purest form, which had helped this society to a greater extent. But we see some religious leaders have just turned this into a commercial venture and are minting money like any other multi-national company.

We seriously condemn such spiritual centres which use the faith of their devotees to get their break-even and also project the profit for the coming financial year!

Materialism in spirituality is baseless.

Nowadays it's becoming easy for the rich and powerful elements in India to destroy natural environment without any fear of law or anybody that governs and protects the natural environment.

Flood plains are rich in biodiversity and have a high degree of ecological importance. They help in rejuvenation of groundwater and prevent adverse damage caused in times of floods. Hampering the same would result in a serious environmental threat in the longer run, which we have already witnessed some of the disasters in Chennai and Uttarakhand.

Yamuna river flood plains in Delhi are important for the groundwater recharge and also an area with rich biodiversity. Recently there was a massive destruction of floodplains done and few environmentalists fear that it could have a permanent footprint. Art of Living (AOL) which conducted a three day cultural festival on the floodplains of Yamuna River had no sense of responsibility. They were absolutely unaware of the damage that they were causing. They were given the 1000 acre land for the construction work. This is the prime example of how one can use his power and money for any purpose without any fear of anyone.

 If the AOL was so cultural sided then they would have not chosen the place for their festival. They would have chosen some other place which was not having any environmental importance. There are many reasons why they exactly chose this place and not others. And we would recommend an enquiry about the same.

The land has been flattened and they have mercilessly destroyed the natural environment in the name of culture. 

At the first place the DDA should not have granted permission for the AOL to conduct this event. There is no doubt that the DDA would have been pressurised so that they had no other choice other than granting permission. And the NGT slapped a 5 crore as a penalty for reclaiming damages. What is the use of imposing heavy fines when these types of organisations have loads of money which is full throughout the year?

This issue has to be taken seriously. 

The honourable prime minister of India should have taken the decision not to allow this event happen at the cost of the great river Yamuna, but sadly it happened.

We seriously were not happy with the way the things were taken care of just before the programme was about to start like, you pay crores of rupees as fine and carry on with your event we feel that was illogical.

We appeal to the Government of India to be more serious and stringent while landing these types of issues going further and it should make sure that the AOL help sin rejuvenation of the place at least close to what it was before.

Living with hope.

Harish Murthy and Tejus R.S