Many times, people don’t understand each other. I sometimes tend to imagine that they have this checklist in hand that is to check on our every single word coming from mouth and lebal them with words like proud, greedy, cruel, cunning, liar and list goes on.
I feel like no matter how hard you try to understand them but they more often will have you, to judge only.
You try to just be the best for them but they will always have something to say or remind lack in you moreover, not just your weaknesses but sometimes your strengths and values be forced to be accepted by you as your weaknesses.
Well! Someone does gets you. I’m assured He always do. God’s knows me well. All my sins, weaknesses and faults. He knows all the shameful things I’ve done and all the struggle I do through.
But like everyone else, He has not chosen to stop loving me or go on leaving me.
In fact, He knew I am hellbound wretched Sinner but He still shows His love and Grace. He has not chosen to give up on me but rather, made me to get up on Him.
Christ was judge in my behalf, crucified, died on my place and resurrected on third day.
Grace, what have You done? Murdered for me on that cross Accused in absence of wrong My sin washed away in Your blood
Too much to make sense of it all I know that Your love breaks my fall The scandal of grace, You died in my place So my soul will live
Oh to be like You Give all I have just to know You Jesus, there’s no one besides You Forever the hope in my heart
Antimicrobials are medicines which are used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. They include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, antiparasitic.
Antimicrobial resistance happens when bacteria, virus, fungi and parasite evolve and change their form over time and no longer respond to the medicines. This makes infections harder to treat. It increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result of drug resistance to antibiotics, infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.
Antimicrobial resistance is a global health and development threat now. It requires urgent action from various sectors in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. WHO has declared that antimicrobial resistance is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.
Causes of of antibiotic resistance: Misuse and overuse of antibiotics is the main driver in the development of drug resistant pathogens. Lack of clean water, sanitation and inadequate infection prevention and control promotes the spread of microbes some of which can be resistant to antimicrobial treatment. Over prescription of antibiotics by doctors in today’s world is another cause of antimicrobial resistance. Patients do not finish the entire antibiotic course and as soon as they start feeling healthy, they discontinue the medication. Overuse of antibiotics in livestock and fish farming has made the the poultry animals resistant to these antibiotics. When these are consumed by humans, it impact us too. There also is poor infection control in healthcare settings and this negligence can be disastrous when it mixes with poor general hygiene and sanitation. The lack of research & development in medicine and absence of new antibiotics also adds to the cause. One of the major reason for antibiotic resistance is patients taking antibiotics without consulting doctors and practitioners.
Implications:
The consequences of antibiotic resistance are highly problematic. Because of this reality, it can lead to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays and increased mortality. The cost of antimicrobial resistance to the economy is very significant. The death and disability which produces is humongous and it can also lead to prolonged illness which results in longer hospital stays, the need for more expensive medicines and financial crunch for those who are impacted by it. According to one data there are more than 50,000 newborn babies who die in India alone because of antimicrobial resistance.
Without effective tools for prevention and right treatment of drug resistant infections and better quality in antimicrobials, the number of people for whom treatment would fail or who would die of infections, will increase. Also medical procedures like surgery, chemotherapy and organ transplantation will become riskier.
Taking cue from all this we should not use antibiotics to treat viral infections like common cold, sore throat etc. We should have alternate methods to treat it and feel better. We should not use antibiotics without doctor prescribing them and once prescribed we should take the the full dose and complete the course even if we start feeling better before its completion. Never use leftover prescriptions or share antibiotics with others.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February 2021 presented the budget. For the finance minister during the contemporary economic difficult situation, the challenge is to make a budget. To make a budget will be a challenge in which there is some thing for all the people. The people have suffered due to coronavirus and the people have a lot more to do with the budget this time. Expectations from the Finance Minister while preparing the budget is to pay attention to the three main topics: First-coming budget to be based on aspirational India because people are very hopeful of this budget. Second-to be based on the development of people. Third- the authorities should take care of the proper implementation of the budget. It is clear from these three points that the upcoming budget is for the unprecedented construction of India and the entire people of India. It should be done keeping an eye on the centre and state relations. India aims for 5 trillion economy by 2024-2025. The goal of creating this is very challenging. Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the central government aims to double farmers’ income by 2022. For this government passed 3 farm bills. But the current situation has brought sudden shock to the Government. It knows that without strengthening the rural area, to achieve the goal is not possible. To fulfil it’s goal, it needs to keep a special watch on the villages, fields, farmers, horticulture and pay more attention to the development of rural areas. In the upcoming budget, the government should know that farmers and the income of the people living in the villages will not increase until their purchasing power increases. Until the farmers income increases and their real purchasing power increases, 5 trillion economy will remain a mirage. So, the upcoming budget is going to be very challenging. India is facing today the challenge to create such a budget in contemporary times in which the poorest of poor people live their dignified life to achieve a state of safety. Meeting the basic needs of people should be part of the Government plan and should be reflected in the upcoming budget.
The discontent in today’s world is spreading all over. The main reason for this is mistrust, insecurity, apprehension, disloyalty, exploitation and war.
For the development of a society or a nation, obstructions have become natural. Poverty is prevalent in almost every society along with starvation and disease which have spread all around.
In such environment, education still seems to be of hope to help tackle these problems. Today, education should be imbibed in a way where we see the problem and are able to develop the skill of discovering solutions. There also should be adaptive mobility. Along with originality & values compassion should also accompany.
We have to pay more attention nowadays as education has changed its form. It has become ‘wealth’ centered. So, in the changes that are happening, it is important that there must be a culture of humanism.
There is a disturbance in the world, but the world assumes to be in a peaceful environment. No one is unfamiliar with this. But what is happening around the world is that higher amount of publicity and propagation of education along with unbelief, insecurity, humiliation, apprehension, unfaithfulness is being propagated in the world.
The world treads on the wheel of unsustainable development that will have even more negative effects in the future. Some of it can be seen now in terms of impact on nature, water, air, trees and animals. One day life on earth will become scarce. Human beings may question.
How did we reach this dreadful situation? And the answer would because of lack of knowledge, understanding and ignorance.
There is lack of empathy, lack of humanism. Knowledge may be unlimited and human learning capacity is also unlimited. But the problem is right knowledge at right time that can save lives is what matters the most. But how to identify which information is most important at which juncture. The answer to this lies in ‘research‘. We need to regularly keep researching about which issues plague the society most at a given time and what best knowledge systems can be disseminated to the people that everyone becomes sensitive to the issues at hand and that everyone may contribute to finding solutions.
Our contemporary time and this year of 2021 may feel like 1945. Soon after the second world war ended in 1945, reconstruction started across the world in various phases and styles. 2021 looks quite similar in terms of reconstruction and getting back on track albeit the war on covid-19 still rages. We know that the war against this hostile virus is not a conventional war as it is not fought with guns and is against an adversary which is invisible. As COVID 19 engulfed the whole world, it decimated the world population downsizing it by more than 3 million people and still counting. When this many people die without any violence as such, only by a virus, future may seem scary. Being cautious of what lies ahead, we need to prepare today itself to be ready for the challenges of tomorrow. We need to highlight the biggest issues plaguing humanity and planet earth in 2021 to be better prepared and possibly avoid the future catastrophes.
5 biggest issues in 2021
Equity and inclusivity: In the light of economic impact of lockdowns due to COVID, we need to hurry up to get the world economy back on track. The littles signs which emerge are encouraging. US economy grew by 6.4% in first quarter of 2021. Same is being experienced for many major economies.
2. Tackling COVID-19 and threat of new and re-emerging diseases: The second wave of COVID-19 in some countries like India has been more disastrous. Nations have been caught unaware. The variants of COVID-19 are escaping not just the tests but also vaccine. The basics to control the spread of virus, face masks & sanitisers, are going to be relevant for a long time now.
3. Climate change: Some 10 million acres were lost to wildfires in the West, creating a toxic cloud that hung over several areas for many weeks. Record number of hurricanes have been witnessed world across. US president Joe Biden’s decision to join back the Paris Climate deal comes as a big boost. Due to climate change, poorest nations and people are going to be hardest hit. We also need to help the small scale farmers to adapt to climate change. If not tackled, climate migration would soon be a reality which many would be forced to embrace.
4. Restarting and reimagining supply chains: Everyone would now agree that heavily depending upon one source can be disastrous. Same applies for supply chains also. China has been like the factory for the world. But when the Corona virus forced China to shut, it resulted in global supply chains being impacted badly. Many companies are now looking for diversifying their supply chains by moving to alternate markets like India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Philippines etc. Many are also trying to revive local businesses with young talent of their own region.
5. Misinformation: The globalisation has led to massive movement of not just resources & people but also of information from one place to another just with a click of button. When the information is shared in real time it can prove profitable but at the same time can be disastrous as well. This is because it is hard to verify its authenticity. With artificial intelligence making inroads in our societies catching the mis information may get even harder as artificial intelligence uses such systems to create fake information that it resembles very closely with the true information thereby misleading many. This misinformation may even lead to complete Chaos in society. We need to have proper systems that debunk misinformation & rumours and help build trust.
What is getting better: ° Increasing access to drinking water ° Increasing literacy rates ° Reducing nuclear proliferation ° Improving Energy efficiency ° Reducing infant mortality
What is worsening: ° Increasing unemployment ° Increasing greenhouse gas emissions ° Increasing corruption ° Increasing terrorism ° Reducing voter turnout
Humans have always been intrigued when they have looked at the sky. The rising and setting of the sun, the moon, the stars, the space always brought many questions into the minds of humans. But, thanks to the advancements in science and technology, specially rocket science, the dream of humans to go in space and have a closer look at the elusive celestial bodies and look at the Earth from above, is no more a dream. The landing on moon on July 20 1969 by Apollo 11 mission was not just a giant leap for mankind but also the commencement of a new age in space exploration. We now started to dare to reach to other planets in solar system. Many probe missions were sent to various planets in our solar system. Out of them, one planet stands out distinctly for more than one reason and that is: our neighbor Mars.
Reasons for exploring Mars
Mars, also known as the red planet, is the fourth planet from the sun. It is bigger than only Mercury in our solar system. It has only 38% of earth’s gravity. 1 year on Mars has 687 days and one day is 40 minutes longer than on earth. It has a thin carbon dioxide atmosphere and cannot support life forms. One big reason for exploring Mars is that some scientists believe that the red planet was once capable of hosting ecosystems and there might have been a vast ocean in its Northern hemisphere. They believed that there were evidences of rainstorms, lakes, rivers and carving troughs. Also they were likely wrapped in thick atmosphere capable of maintaining liquid water at Martian temperature and pressure, But it is now dusty and dry. The aim of all Mars exploration missions has been to study this transformation and shift in climate that modified this planet. The objective has been to look into biosignatures, the signs that may reveal whether life ever existed on the planet or not.
Mars missions so far
Since 1960 is humans have sent many space probes to study Mars. The early missions were only flybys where spacecraft would take the pictures of the red planet as they flew by like Mariner 4 of the USA in July 1965. Later some space crafts were put in the orbit around Mars like Mars 3 of the former Soviet Union in 1971. More recently landers and rovers have touched down on the martian surface. The first spacecraft to do so was NASA’s Viking 1 and 2 in 1976. US is the only country to have operated on the planet’s surface, and that too 8 times. Mars Pathfinder mission put the first free moving rover called Sojourner on the planet’s surface. Further, rovers that followed were Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and latest one to reach is Perseverance. Landing on Mars is not easy as it has a thin atmosphere which makes descent challenging. So far, only NASA, Roscosmos, European Space Agency and ISRO have been able to put a spacecraft in the orbit of Mars. The UAE and China may soon join this club when their spacecrafts Hope and Tianwen-1 respectively would reach Mars.
Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover
On 30th July 2020, the US’ Jet Propulsion Laboratory a self driving rover, Perseverance, a twin rotor helicopter called as Ingenuity and an orbiter NAVEN. It should also be noted that on 20th July 2020, UAE launched its Hope Mars Mission from Japan and on 23rd July 2020, China launched Tianwen-1 Mars mission. 3 different space probes in July 2020 were launched because Earth and Mars were closest at this time. Earth is closest to Mars every 26 months and thus missions to Mars are launched at this time as the distance between the two planets is least at this time. On18th February 2021, after a journey of around 7 months, Perseverance rover landed on the red planet’s surface in the targeted area called as Jezero Crater. The reason for choosing this location as the landing site is because it is believed to be an ancient river delta. It’s official mission name is Mars 2020 and will seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and possibly send them to earth. This will be the first Mars mission to be able to do so. The helicopter Ingenuity is also going to be the first helicopter taking flight
Ever since covid-19 wreaked havoc, it still refuses to settle down. Some mutations like the ones observed in United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil are being taken seriously by experts and community. Vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zeneca, among many others, have been able to provide much needed relief from the pandemic. But surveys across the globe also point to a phenomenon known as vaccine hesitancy among people.
What is vaccine hesitancy?
Vaccine hesitancy is as old as the concept of vaccination itself. The first vaccine by Edward Jenner in 1800s also had met the same fate. WHO defines vaccine hesitancy as something which refers to delay in acceptance of vaccine despite availability of vaccine services. It also states that it is complex and context specific and varies across time, place and vaccines. It can be influenced by factors like complacency, convenience and confidence. These are the psychological barriers that may stop some one from taking vaccine. If it continues then we may reach a stage where supply exceeds demand.
Combating Vaccine hesitancy
The response of people varies from place to place depending upon various factors. Some might be enthusiastic about vaccines, some observant, while some completely sceptical about it. Though vaccination is the common norm in many countries now, vaccine hesitatancy can still be seen.
There can be range of factors for it, like coincidental temporary adverse impact on health, unfamiliarity with vaccine, lack of trust in government agencies. But this needs to be tackled as vaccine hesitancy can result in personal risk and failure to achieve herd immunity to protect others.It is possible to steer people’s behaviour towards vaccination while still respecting their freedom of choice. The governments should come up with different strategies to reach out to different group demands. It should provide easy access to vaccines for the enthusiastic group and persuade those who are sceptical through scientific facts and proper communication. Help of prominent personalities who can influence people can also be considered. Studies show that this method can bring in positive social change by erasing scepticism associated with vaccine. We can also get started with politicians and government officials being vaccinated. The misinformation can be tackled by countering the myths and fake news around covid-19 vaccines.
The word cyber involves the use computers/information technology. Cyberspace, also called as virtual space, is associated with usage of internet worldwide and has no geographical limitations. It leads to total interconnectedness of people through computers and technology. While this has drastically increased the avenue of connection world wide and brought in humongous benefits, it also has opened a Pandora’s box.
Types of Cyber Threats
Nefarious actors attack in different ways to compromise confidential information or to create ruckus. Cyber crimes consist of crimes like hacking(illegal intrusion into some one else’s computer system/network), phishing( fraudulent attempt to seek sensitive information), cyber stalking (repeated stalking or harassment online), distributed denial of service(cyber intrusion achieved by overloading IT networks with obsolete requests and preventing legitimate requests to come in), dissemination of malicious softwares ( malwares like virus, trojans, spyware), data theft( stealing of confidential information without authorization), network interference(delay in data transmission or temporary disruption), digital forgery (use of technology to fake a document), cyber warfare(politically motivated attacks), internet fraud, telemarketing fraud, hate crimes etc. In the latest list of cyber crimes is the new entry of disinformation.
Disinformation & Cyber threats
Disinformation also is a type of attack that compromises our cognitive(realted to thinking, reasoning, remembering) being. Information is manipulated to create social discord, polarise, create friction in society and at times even influence the outcome of an election. Further, deep fakes complicate the situation even more. Deep fakes use artificial intelligence tools to fabricate or create images/audios/videos of a person to showcase a situation which would never have happened but is fake. This it does in a very natural way which is difficult to detect and in cases can be done by machines only. This all leads to cognitive hacking where target audiences’ thoughts and actions are changed using disinformation to hamper the social fabric. Hackers take the advantage of cognitive bias prevalent in minds of people. Thus, the implications of cognitive hacking can be more disastrous as it leads to social engineering threats on a mass scale.
Cyber Laws and way ahead
Cybersecurity focuses on protection from such wide ranging online attacks. The government of India came up with Information Technology Act, 2000 and National Cyber Security Policy, 2013 to tackle this menace. Some of the important stake holders include: National Information Board, National Crisis Management Committee, Department of Information Technology, National Cyber Response Centre-Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, National Information Infrastructure Protection Centre etc. Most of them are associated with Ministry of Home Ministry and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to coordinate the efforts. There are many Intergovernmental organisations and initiatives too to address cybersecurity at the policy level. They are: Council of Europe, Internet Governance Forum, United Nations, Conferences on Cyberspace etc. Also, more than 1,000 entities have signed the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace for stability and security in information space. Likewise, 52 countries and international bodies have signed the Christchurch Call to Action to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. Further, as way ahead, to counter disinformation we can employ following counter measures:
1) Defense in-depth- It is an information assurance strategy that provides multiple defensive measures if a security control fails. Authenticity and provenance solutions can intervene before disinformation gets posted. If it still gets posted, detection solutions using artificial intelligence and humans can come in handy.
2) Antivirus systems can help by defending against attacks that got through
On 7th February 2021 Uttrakhand was hit with nature’s fury once again when massive flooding happened in parts of Chamoli district. It has not been long when the flash floods in 2013 had ravaged the state.
The reason this time is being attributed to a glacial outburst from Nanda Devi glacier. It is termed as Glacial Lake Outburst Flood. What is Glacial Lake Outburst Flood? There are 1,000 glaciers in Uttarakhand and most of them are retreating. Retreating glaciers result in formation of lakes at their tips which are bound by sediments and boulders only. If something very heavy falls with a lot of force in these lakes, their boundaries can be breached and huge amounts of water can go rushing down to near by streams and water bodies. This is called as glacial lake outburst flood(GLOFs). In this case, it is being believed that an avalanche might have caused the lake to rupture its boundary and large amount of water came gushing down in nearby rivers of Rishiganga and Dhauli Ganga, causing flash floods.
GLOFs can have following features:
1) The release of water can happen suddenly.
2) There is large magnitude of water discharge downstream.
3) They tend to be rapid events which can last even for days.
4) The consequences can be disastrous. In this case around 35 lives are lost and more than 150 people are missing.
The exact reason for the disaster is yet to be ascertained. Satellite and Google Earth images do not show a glacial lake near the region but there is a possibility that there might have been a water pocket (lakes inside glaciers) in the region that may have erupted to cause this event.
This has brought 2 things in limelight again:
A) Nanda Devi glacial melt is being attributed to global warming. UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says glacial retreat and permafrost thaw (when ice inside the permafrost melts) decrease the stability of mountain slopes and increase the number and area of glacial lakes. The number of glacier lakes will continue to increase and such lake outbursts also might get easily triggered, if not taken care of.Some urgent intervention is seriously needed to avoid these incidents in future.
B) There are eight hydropower projects coming up in Uttarakhand. This state is a part of lesser Himalayas and experiences deep movement of rock assemblages and has been found tectonically active in recent times. The result is- geological stresses and weakening of rocks which makes development of large dams in the region imprudent.The net benefits of big dams are coming under question due to the collateral and immeasurable damage being caused to lives, livelihood and ecology. In recent tragedy, 2 hydropower projects(Rishiganga and Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower projects) bore the brunt. Rather, small low-impact dams can be an alternative.
Living W/ Creator 