The criminal media.

* Indian media showed Kargil army positions live, helping Pak army in pinpoint attack.

* Indian media showed live operation/landing of NSG commandos during 26/11 for the benefit of the terrorists, resulting in casualties.

* Media portrayed LeT suicide bombers as innocent citizens and helped the then UPA government to fix daring police officers.

* Media was hand in glove with the UPA government on saffron terror, fixing Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Col Purohit.

* When humongous loot was going on during UPA rule, the media was laughing and asking where is the loot.

* Media was partner in crime in loot. The country saw journalist purchasing farm houses, 50 cr flats and had the audacity to rape a young journalist. 

* The country also saw the media ganging up to save the rapist senior journalist.

* The media always sided with those politicians who showered them with huge sums of tax payers' money in the form of different gifts. Parties, club membership, foreign tours, plots, flats, educational favour for kids.

* Modi stopped this loot of the tax payers' money, so the anger of the media is seen in distorting news, creating fear and panic, supporting secessionist movement in the name of dissent.

* Thousands of crores have been spent by Kejriwal on the media. Its an amount thrown to purchase the media.

* Media returns the favour by covering his misgovernance, sabotage acts, zero development and shifting the blame on the central government.

* If the media had asked a few tough questions so many lives wouldn't have been lost in Delhi.

* Media shielded Kejriwal for not sending officers (like other states/UTs) to collect tankers, creating a distribution mechanism of received oxygen.

* Media can go to any extent to protect criminals if they are bribed.

* The second wave is jackpot for the media. They got money to spread widespread panic, creating rush of mild symptom patients into ICUs which denied beds to serious patients.

* Keep in mind, the media has never been concerned about the common man, it is available for the biggest bidder.

* They are 24 carat criminals!

- Source. What'sApp

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, saw Lekha, Mini and Sanil go with Rema - she'd arrived by 7, in an autorickshaw - to the Thrikkonnamarkodu Devi kshetram for the 'thaali pooja'. Achu's family is now ready to receive Karthika into its fold, on Sunday.

A quiet day but restarted my morning and evening exercises.

Participated in the Aazhchakkoottam : "Beating Covid with Ayurveda" by Dr J Hareendran Nair, Founder & Managing Director, Pankajakasthuri Herbals India Pvt Ltd from 1600 - 1715 hrs.

Let's be part of the Solution and not the problem.

Had the misfortune of visiting the crematorium earlier today to pay my respects to a very dear elderly Uncle of mine. He was a Covid case.

As I moved from the Hospital to the Crematorium I observed that this time, it's the common man that's making the difference, a real difference.

The nurse who cleans, maintains and takes care of hundreds patients. She puts her life to risk every time she steps in a Covid zone. She does it for a living, she gives life. She is making a difference.

The Ward boy who cleans the body, packs it, seals it and moves it up and down the corridors. That 10th Standard failed, that good for nothing boy has stepped up to give mankind some respectability. He is making a difference.

The Ambulance driver, who waits patiently for hours at the Hospital or at the Crematorium. That College drop out, has not gone home from over a week. Day and night, he eats, sleeps, drives the ambulance to take patients and dead bodies alike. He is making a difference.

That Security Guard at the Hospital who manages the arrival of all vehicles and guides them to their spot fearlessly. He is a retired Military jawan who gives priority to the patients and their worried families. He is making a difference.

The Manager of the Crematorium looks exhausted, over a cup of coffee he tells me, "I came in here yesterday at 7 AM and after 36 hrs am still here". He sees hundreds of dead bodies and their families crying for their loss. Quietly he did his job for a living. He is making a difference.

The body handler at the crematorium treats everybody in the same way. He is exhausted, overworked and underpaid. Often we see him as a good for nothing drunkard. This time, he is helping, bury and burn 30/50/70 dead every day and night. He is making a difference.

The Constable on the road guiding the traffic for a smoother flow is now ensuring that we all wear masks to stop the Pandemic killing more of us. He is risking his life for us everyday. He can barely speak English or use a computer like me. He is making a difference.

The delivery boys. Youngsters who didn't do well in the Corporate world. They ferry around town in the hot sun or rain from one place to another delivering 20+ packages everyday for you and me. We don't smile or acknowledge his presence when collecting our Parcel. He is making a difference.

My local vegetable vendor. He buys fresh vegetables and fruits everyday and brings them to my doorstep. All of us want the the freshest, sweetest and nicest stuff from him. We bargain to no real gain with this village bum who everyday wakes up real early and helps my family stay healthy on his veggies. He is making a difference.

This time, it's the common man that's making the difference, a real difference. He was always there but we never noticed.

Let's be part of the Solution and not the problem.

Stay in.

Mask up.

Eat healthy.

Keep distance.

It's very easy to sit in your Drawing room watching the idiot box and keep criticising.

Sometimes Government....sometimes opposition, sometimes doctors. 

Remember you have no control on others but you certainly have control on yourself. Behave responsibly, do your bit. It's an uninvited natural calamity. Together it can be dealt with.

Let's salute these warriors who are fighting our battle and motivate others.

Stop spreading negativity, even if it's true.

- Shared by Ms M Isaacs, Dean, CAJCS

Tailpiece.

Got up a trifle earlier than 6, opened up the house, the chores and was ready by 10. Meanwhile, Murali, the electrician and Suresh had come by. Interacted with them and gave directives about the work to be done. 

Our maid has reported that her immediate neighbourhood has been earmarked as containment zone.

Stayed at home today as there was work being done at Pidavoor.

A shocking example from history.

How powerful can the generational influence of parents be on their own family and descendants?

In 1874 a member of the New York State Prison Board noticed that six members of the same family were incarcerated at the same time. The board did some research, looking back a few generations to try to find the original couple who initiated this tragic family legacy.

They traced the family line back to an ancestor born in 1720, a man considered lazy and godless with a reputation as the town troublemaker. He was also an alcoholic and viewed as having low moral character. To make matters worse, he married a woman who was much like himself and together had six daughters and two sons.

Here is what the report revealed about the approximately 1,200 descendants of this couple who were alive by 1874 :

* 310 were homeless

* 160 were prostitutes

* 180 suffered from drug or alcohol abuse

* 150 were criminals who spent time in prison, including seven for murder.

The  report also found that the state of New York had spent $1.5 million, a shockingly high number at the time to care for this line of descendants and not one had made a significant contribution to society.

Sadly, we can see by this example how the harmful dysfunctions of parents can be passed down from generation to generation.

A refreshing contrast

This second family study began with the famous preacher Jonathan Edwards, who was born in 1703. A deeply religious man, he lived a life of strong moral values and became a minister and a dedicated family man.

He married a deeply religious woman named Sarah who shared his values and together they had 11 children. Eventually, Jonathan Edwards became the president of Princeton University. Here's what researchers discovered about the approximately 1,400 descendants of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards by 1874 :

* 13 were college presidents

* 65 were college professors

* 100 were attorneys

* 32 were state judges

* 85 were authors of classic books

* 66 were physicians

* 80 held political offices including three state governors.

* 3 were state senators

* 1 became vice president of the United States

What a difference it makes in the kind of example and values that are passed down to the next generation! Strong moral values can indeed bring blessings and opportunities for generations yet to be born!

Tailpiece.

Got up a trifle after 6, opened up the house but music could not be switched on because of a power interruption. Power was restored half an hour later. 

Lekha, Mini and Sanil left by a half past 11 to Letha's house and to Ayoor, respectively. So, I was alone, at home, for lunch. Guests dropped in over tea. We, then, went across to Pidavoor to be with the family and it was nice meeting Padmakumar's mom, as always.

Returned, in time, to watch our favourite serials!  

PS.

My course mate, Commander Sunil Gidwani - had neuro degenerative disorder and was fighting it bravely, over the last many years - passed into the mist of time, succumbing to Covid-19, by around a half past 7, this morning. We were together at the Directorate of Naval Training at the Naval Headquarters, during 1994-'95. He used to be a great help during my fights with the Director!

Gids was a person, battling too many fronts. Om Shanti! Sadgati. Here's wishing that his near and dear ones have the strength to tide over these stressful times.

At Raj Nivas.

We'd got up, on the dot at 4, thanks to Lekha's cell alarm. Went through our chores. Lekha needed more time in having our breakfast and lunch ready. We kicked off at a 5' past 7 but only after seeing Kittu's sentimental actions. Never knew that a cat behaved liked this akin to a dog, who shows his attachment always and every time. Or am I ignorant about its behavioural aspects which is more than likely!

I can never forget his gaze from our neighbour's outhouse's terrace that I could see from my rearview mirror! The sky was overcast and since the traffic was sparse, I could stick to the milestones that I'd roughly worked out with the speed that I was doing. The Paliyekkara toll has become smooth ever since the 'Fastag' has become compulsory!

The reduced density in traffic must have been due to the heavy restrictions put in place by the government, since yesterday, because of the exponential rise in Covid cases in Kerala.

We had our breakfast of crisp egg and masala sandwiches, washed down with a filter coffee, at Koratty, around a half past 8! Ernakulam had a bit more of traffic though it didn't slow me down at all, thankfully. Lekha, too, found the Alappuzha bypass boring as there was nothing to see on either side. The journey was seeming to be uneventful, when short of the Kayankulam bus stand, the Chevy's gears couldn't be engaged. Thankfully, I'd pulled towards the left edge of the road and realised that the clutch had seized to work as it remained jammed in the depressed position.

The car had stopped in front of a few automobile repair shops and one of them had told me about a good service station nearby - an all vehicle service station - from where I'd got its proprietor, Ratheesh, to do the defectation who confirmed it as a defective clutch assembly. After telling him to use only original spares (The nearest Geeyem Motors service station was at Kollam which was out of my journey's circuit, this time), we'd taken a taxi to complete the journey. The Chevy will be delivered two days from now.

After having lunch, within the car itself we reached Kottarakkara and could get our DTH subscription recharged and collect a few items from Lekha's sister, as per her earlier directives! We reached Raj Nivas by a half past 3 but there was a power interruption on; so, getting the television working seemed to be remote what with the signs of a massive rain in the offing. 

Luckily, the power was restored and we could have the overhead fresh water tank filled up by working the motor and the television was restored by about 5. Phew!

Spent time with my parents and briefly outlined to Mom and Dad the details of our programme. The great sense of being near them gave me the thrills, as usual, and I'm sure that they are near us, watching us - so near, yet so far! Meanwhile, the caretaker got us piping hot tea from his house and made up for the inadequacies, damn sweet of him!

Between Lekha and me, we had the house thrumming back to activity after connecting all the requisite gadgets into the circuit. Spoke to Padmakumar and we will go across to be with him and Rema to put them at ease as their son's wedding slated for the coming Sunday can have only 25 guests, as per the Covid protocols in place. 

Mini and Sanil drove in from Bangalore by a half past 8.

Tailpiece.

It was a mad, boisterous evening after a long time!

India's magnanimity towards the US.

The lever India is not using against US arm-twisting of local vaccine makers.

Bombay headquartered pharma and nutraceutical specialty ingredient maker VAV Lifesciences and its subsidiary VAV Lipids is going to supply highly purified 'synthetic phospholipids' required for vaccine manufacturing in US.

While the US has restricted export of vaccine manufacturers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, an Indian company is supplying a crucial and rare ingredient required for manufacturing their m-RNA technology based COVID-19 vaccines. It's a lever India could use as a bargaining chip to get US to lift curbs on supplies to Indian vaccine makers from the country.

Using a wartime law, Defence Production Act (DPA), US throttled supplies of key raw materials like bags, filters, vials, glass, cell culture media, plastic tubing, stoppers and some reagents. It directly impacted Indian vaccine makers. US invoked the law to give priority to the production of COVID-19 vaccines and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for domestic use. It forced US raw material suppliers to restrict supplies in favour of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson's unit Janssen.

Bombay headquartered pharma and nutraceutical specialty ingredient maker VAV Lifesciences and its subsidiary VAV Lipids, through a deal with a US-based multinational contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), is going to supply highly purified 'synthetic phospholipids' required for vaccine manufacturing. The CDMO is using lipids made by VAV to produce gene-based lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for exclusive use in the COVID-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

"LNP technology is considered  a medical breakthrough in vaccine-based delivery systems. It has enabled the development of mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines at a blistering pace. We are proud to be the first and only Indian company to produce high-quality phospholipids that have been approved for use in these novel vaccine delivery systems", said Arun Kedia, Managing Director, VAV Lifesciences.

Phospholipids, which are synthetic lipids and are used in the formulation of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are crucial biomolecules used in the manufacturing of m-RNA based Covid-19 vaccines. It is the first time vaccines made using this technology are being used in humans. Phospholipids are very tiny lipid particles which enclose submicroscopic mRNA strands in the vaccine. There are only 3-4 manufacturers of this in the world and VAV Lifesciences is the only manufacturer in India. These LNPs effectively deliver the mRNA to the target cellular sites and help bind these to the relevant cells. Since mRNA is extremely sensitive to degradation and rapid breakdowns, LNPs ensure the protection of the mRNA until its uptake in cells. This results in a better cellular response and efficacy against virus replication, significantly enhancing the overall immunogenic response of vaccines, said sources.

VAV has already initiated commercial supply of phospholipids for large-scale vaccine manufacturing through its subsidiary VAV Lipids. About 80% of the order quantity already has been either delivered or is in the supply process and new orders are already under discussion. VAV will manufacture all its synthetic phospholipids at its EU current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) certified facility at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. The volume of lipids utilised in vaccine delivery is very small and are measured in micrograms. Each order volume is about 250 kg and is roughly valued at Rs. 50 lakh (approximately USD 67,000), said sources.

So, now you know as to what made USA change its heart in a day and agree to release embargo on raw material for SII & Bharat Biotech!

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. After breakfast, had gone to the bank for work followed by topping up our Chevy and checking its tyre pressure.

Though the maid and the supermarket guy upset our timings, we were able to tie up the loose ends by the end of the day.

Two interesting stories.

A donkey was tied to a tree. One night a ghost cut the rope and released the donkey free.

The donkey went and destroyed the crops in an adjacent farmer's land. Infuriated, the farmer's wife shot the donkey and killed it.

The donkey's owner was devastated at the loss. In reply, he shot dead the farmer's wife.

Angered by his wife's death, the farmer took a sickle and killed the donkey's owner.

The wife of the donkey's owner got so angry that she and her sons set the farmer's house on fire.

The farmer, looking at his house turn into ashes, killed the wife and children of the donkey's owner.

Finally, when the farmer was full of regret, he asked the ghost as to why did it kill them all?

The ghost replied, "I killed nobody. I just released a donkey that was tied to a rope. It is all of you who released the devils within you which resulted into everything bad that occurred thereafter".

Today's media is like that ghost. It keeps releasing donkeys on a daily basis. And people react and argue with each other, hurt each other, without having a second thought.

In the end, the media dodges all responsibilities. So, it's our responsibility not to react on every donkey released by the media and preserve our relationship with our friends, relatives and community.

     *        *        *

I wish to share a nice answer I read in Quora today.

Question : Is Narendra Modi really transforming India?

Jay Agarwal, works at Federal Government of the United States and has this to say : "Since I have not lived in India for almost 25 years, I can only answer this as a perspective. Note that as US citizen, I can neither vote in Indian elections nor have any vested interest in the electoral outcome in India. Hence, objectivity! I will narrate two stories to make my point. And I will not use any boring statistics!"

Story 1

A routine Uber ride in Washington DC and an Afghani driver picks me up. After a few minutes, he asks me If I am an Indian, I say yes and he smiles and says that he loves Bollywood. I smile back. His next question, do you know when somebody will make a movie on Modi. I am a little shocked, not at the movie suggestion but that he would even know Modi. Anyway, I ask him why. His answer is that Modi is considered a magician in Afghanistan and the Afghanis pray that they get a leader like him to make Afghanistan like India.

Story 2

My beloved coworker from Nigeria, Iteogu, starts every morning at work with a curse at the Nigerian President Buhari. In his expert opinion, Buhari has sunk Nigeria. He then gives me a blissful look and says, what do you care, you have Narendra Modi. Look at where India is today. After this morning routine, we get our coffee! Same story. Every morning.

So, two completely random non-Indians, with no political agenda, want somebody like Modi to run their respective countries because they believe Modi can turn their fortunes around.

Nobody has fed them propaganda.

They simply see what India has become under Modi and how its international prestige has soared.

I am not saying anybody is perfect, but in my 25 years in the US, I have never seen India receive so much attention and status as it has under Modi. You have to give credit where it is due.

Haters will hate but it is undeniably Modi's magic, pure and simple.

He has nailed it.

Tailpiece.

Got up leisurely, at a quarter to 7, it being a Sunday, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. A quiet Sunday and the both of us went about our routine work.

In the evening we got the latest update. The number of guests at a wedding should not exceed 30 - 15 from the bride's side and the other 15 from the bridegroom's side. The numbers are getting to be very low. 

I only hope that our movement, sometime later this week to my parents' place, will not be thwarted by a likely lockdown between districts! My nephew's wedding is on 02 May!! 

 

   

Have You Earned Your Tomorrow

Is anybody happier because you passed this way?

Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?

This day is almost over and its toiling time is through;

Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?

Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along?

Or a churlish sort of "Howdy" and then vanish in the throng?

Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way,

Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?

Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that's slipping fast,

That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed?

Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said;

Does a man whose hopes were fading, now with courage look ahead?

Did you waste the day, or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?

Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?

As you close your eyes in slumber do you think that God would say,

You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?

- Edgar Guest 

                I Never Wanted to Die

It's the best part of the day, morning light sliding

down rooftops, treetops, the birds pulling themselves

up out of whatever stupor darkened their wings,

night still in their throats.

I never wanted to die. Even when those I loved

died around me, away from me, beyond me.

My life was never in question, if for no other reason

than I wanted to wake up and see what happened next.

And I continue to want to open like that, like the flowers

who lift their heavy heads as the hills outside the window

flare gold for a moment before they turn

on their sides and bare their creased backs.

Even the cut flowers in a jar of water lift

their soon to be dead heads and open

their eyes, even they want a few more sips,

to dwell here, in paradise, a few days longer.

- Dorianne Laux

   1952 -

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time and saw Kittu, the cat, lying on the rug outside the door to our balcony. Was he thrilled to see us as we were, to see him? Got through with the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10.

A quiet Saturday.

How do you know you are rich?

When I was doing my B Tech, there was a Professor Das Talukedar who used to teach us 'Mechanics'. His lectures used to be very interesting since he had an interesting way to teach and explain the concepts.

One day, in the class, he asked the following questions :-

     * What is ZERO?

     * What is INFINITY?

     * Can ZERO and INFINITY be same?

We all thought that we knew the answers and we replied as following :-

     * ZERO means nothing

     * INFINITY means a number greater than any countable number

     * ZERO and INFINITY are opposite and they can never be same

He countered us by first talking about infinity and asked, 'How can there be any number which is greater than any countable number?'

We had no answers.

He, then, explained the concept of infinity in a very interesting way, which I remember even after more than 35 years.

He asked us to imagine that there is an illiterate shepherd who can count only up to 20. 

Now, if the number of sheep he has is less than 20 and you ask him as to how many sheep he has, he can tell you the precise number (like 3, 5, 14 etc). However, if the number is more than 20, he is likely to say "too many".

He then explained that in science infinity means 'too many' (and not uncountable) and in the same way zero means 'too few' (and not nothing).

As an example, he said that if we take the diameter of the Earth as compared to the distance between Earth and Sun, the diameter of earth can be said to be zero since it is too small.

However, when we compare the same diameter of the earth with the size of a grain, diameter of earth can be said to be infinite.

Hence, he concluded that the same thing can be ZERO and INFINITE at the same time, depending the context or your matrix of comparison.

The relationship between richness and poverty is similar to the relationship between infinity and zero.

It all depends on the scale of comparison with your wants.

If your income is more than your wants, you are rich.

If your wants are more than your income, you are poor.

I consider myself rich because my wants are far less than my income.

I have become rich not so much by acquiring lots of money but by progressively reducing my wants.

If you can reduce your wants, you too, can become rich at this very moment.

An interesting thought for the day

I would like to leave you with this query that has been worrying my mind the whole day.

"Those who arranged food, massage centers, pizzas, DJs, diesel generators, beds, air conditioning, biryani for the so-called farmers protest, can't arrange oxygen, ventilators and beds now!"

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time to a steady rain which stayed on for an hour. The chores and was ready by a 20' to 10. 

Got the distressing news from my friend, Ashok Meelu that he had lost his son-in-law, Jonathan Ness to Covid. Jonathan was married to Latika, his second daughter and I gather, his death is the only one registered as due to Covid, in Oslo, Norway. Saw the funeral service live. RIP Jonathan. My tears and prayers. May Latika and your near and dear ones have the strength to tide over these stressful times.

Participated in the Aazhchakkoottam on "Covid's Second Wave and Vaccines" by Dr. Geetha Kumar, Diabetologist, SK Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram from 1700 - 1800 hrs. It was an interesting interaction!

The UK experience that we should learn from.

Lessons from the second wave.

India today seems to be in the same situation that the UK was in mid December. First an exponential number of people testing Covid positive followed a week later by an exponential increase in number of hospitalisations followed 2 weeks later by an exponential increase in Covid deaths. Given below are the lessons that need to be learnt.

1. 99% of Covid positive recover on their own. The only things needed for them are oxygen level monitoring to make sure sats are >93, paracetamol (Crocin or Dolo) for fever and body ache and home isolation to make sure they do not passit on to others. There is no need or benefit in giving plasma, remdesivir, ivermectin, hydoxychloroquine, antibiotics or even steroids, blood thinners or toclizumab to these 99%. There is NO need for hospitalisation as long as oxygen levels are above 93%.

2. Covid is an illness that affects a lot of people at the same time, however, it is how severely it affects the 1% who are unlucky enough to have severe covid which makes it the dreaded illness it is. All our medical resources (hospital beds, oxygen cylinders etc) need to be saved for those severely affected 1% and not the 99% with mild illness irrespective of wealth, contacts, influence etc.

3. For the 1% that have severe illness the only medications that have been found to have significant benefit are steroids and blood thinners. Toclizumab also has been found to have benefit (only 4%) and should be given whenever available. Remdesivir has very minimal benefit (no mortality benefit at all) and should be given if available, however, the patient does not lose much if not given. It would be wrong to call either of them life saving in Covid.

4. Plasma has been extensively studied and found to be of no benefit. This is after painstaking analysis of 11,000 patients given plasma vs 11,000 not given plasma. It should NOT be given. It uses up a significant amount of resources with no benefit.

5. Hydroxychloroquine/vermecin. No serious medical organisation in the world found any benefit in giving them and should not be given. However, they are cheap and relatively harmless.

6. Oxygen shortage. Many hospitals in the UK had to stop admitting patients due to running out of oxygen for short periods of time. We only need to give enough oxygen for levels to be above 93 to 94. There is often a tendency to turn oxygen flows to the highest levels possible. This has to be avoided.

7. Vaccine. In London before the vaccine all our ICUs were full, all theatre recoveries were full, all cardiac HDUs etc were full of intubated covid patients and we were transferring intubated covid patients to as far as Scotland, Bristol etc in helicopters to relieve ICU capacity in London. After the vaccine we have hardly any hospital admissions and almost, nil new ICU admissions. However, this could also have been due to the serious nature of the lockdown.

8. Rationing of resources. In the UK every patient who needed a hospital bed got one and every patient who was suitable for an ICU bed got one. This was only possible as there were strict criteria for hospital admission which meant that the 99% of Covid positive who do not need oxygen were not hospitalised. This needs to be done strictly in India as well.

9. Once someone has tested covid positive there is no need to get retested  to see if they are still covid positive. This unnecessary retesting results in wastage of testing resources. Once 2 weeks of home isolation following date of onset of symptoms is complete a person is considered covid negative and non infectious.

- Dr Nishit Sud, Anaesthetics/Critical Care, NHS London.

My take.

No doubt, we are passing through difficult times but together, we would flatten the curve and bring down the severity of the pandemic. This, too, shall pass. Prayers for the unfortunate people who had borne the brunt of the stretched resources. Om Shanti, Sadgati.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. The Aquaguard service engineer comes and carries out the first servicing as per the renewed AMC.

Sifting the truth from the fake news is becoming a tedious problem!

What ails European football?

European Football in crisis. 

Twelve major football clubs announced a new European Super League, last Sunday, breaking away from the UEFA Champions League and prompting an angry response from fans, politicians and their domestic leagues. Let's go through the key factors.....

What's the problem?

Twelve clubs, from Real Madrid to Tottenham, got together to become founding members of a new competition. A further three founding clubs will join, with five other clubs getting to play in a league-cum-knockout competition from August. Five of the 20 clubs would qualify based on what they do in their domestic leagues the previous season.

Is this the Champions League in a new name?

No. Europe's biggest clubs do not want to play in a UEFA-controlled tournament because of serious misgivings with the organisation. It's likely that they want more control which UEFA aren't ready to give at this point. They also want more money and more of the'elite' teams to qualify for the Champions League irrespective of their performance in the prior season. UEFA, which itself announced sweeping reforms on Monday, weren't prepared to fully bow to the elite.

How will it work?

Two groups of 10 teams each playing each other in a home-away format with the top three teams in each group presumably advancing to play in the knockout stages, with the play-off games to decide the other two slots. There will be mid-week games, at least for the 18 group stage matches each club will now play. The rebel clubs want to keep playing in their domestic league. But it's likely that they will stop playing in at least one of the domestic cups going forward.

What is the position of the Leagues?

Seething with righteous anger, Premier League, Serie A, La Liga issued strongly worded responses, with some leading lights wanting to already sanction clubs for going behind their backs. There exists the possibility of the leagues not accepting the clubs' positions. If that happens, expect lawyers from both sides. One thing though, the already rich will become super rich because all the founder members have been promised close to $400 mn already. The disparity will be huge. It's already huge and even the likes of Boris Johnson, the British PM and Emmanuel Macron, France's President have attacked the plan.

What's behind all this?

Money. Europe's top clubs have long agitated for the income that guaranteed, annual competition against their fellow powers would bring. Currently, they have to qualify for the Champions League by placing high in their domestic competitions and then make it through the season-long tournament to reach the high-profile latter stages. 

The founding clubs are expected to receive more than 10 billion euros in uncapped 'solidarity payments'. They will also receive 3.5 billion euros for infrastructure investment and to offset their losses from the pandemic. By comparison, UEFA competitions generated 3.2 billion euros in TV earnings in the pre-pandemic 2018-'19 season.

How does the Champions League feel about this?

Anger would be an understatement. But, to be fair, this was an inevitability of the system that UEFA themselves helped create in collusion with the big clubs. They played appeasement politics and gave everything the big clubs asked for. This was going to be the logical endgame. If the Super League does see the cold light of day, it's possible to see the eventual destruction of the Champions League as we know it as a product. The irony in this is that three of the four clubs who want to exit the Champions League will play in the semifinals in this year's edition!

Who are the leading drivers behind this move?

Reuters reported that JP Morgan are financing the league. But the ones who are really leading the push is Real Madrid and Manchester United, the elite of the European game. Others like Arsenal and Spurs, whose recent level is nowhere 'Super' probably signed on because this is an opportunity to make more money, considering there will be no consequences for their under performances on the pitch. In that aspect, it's proper Americanisation of football from a club to a franchise model after 140 good years.

Why are Bayern and PSG giving it a miss?

Bayern would face difficulties convincing its fans and members, who have a majority say in club business. PSG's Qatari owners could be wary of disrupting next year's World Cup - which will be played in Qatar - and a lucrative UEFA broadcast deal if there's a civil war in European soccer. Dortmund said it and Bayern rejected the Super League in favour of reforming the existing Champions League.

Courtesy. The NIE.

My take.

Sad to see greed taking charge of the lovely game of football!

Tailpiece. 

Got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. The well-washing team consisted of Subra, Appu and Ramesh. They had finished their job by a quarter to 11.

Participated in the webinar : "Self Employment through Skilling" by N Balagopal, Vice Chairman, PN Panicker Vigyan Vikas Kendra from 1030 - 1130 hrs. Interesting and was pleasantly surprised to see almost the entire lot of participants being young.

Jayan of the National Supermarket delivered the grocery on the dot, for the first time. He seems to have found a good assistant in Navin. 

  

The Temple of Eternal Fire.

Till about 50 years ago, a so-called eternal flame sprouting from the earth's bosom bore testimony to the religious syncretism of Zoroastrians and the Hindus. Both the communities venerated the fire at the temple known as Ateshgah in the modern-day Azerbaijan. Let's trace how a small town became the hub of intercultural exchange.

In the word Ateshgah, 'Atesh' stands for fire in Persian and 'Gah' means abode.

Did You Know?

* The area was under Persian control till 7th CE

* It was a small town along the Silk Route. Some Armenian historians say "seven sacred fire holes" were built by Shah Ardashir I (227 - 241) here.

* After the area was wrested by Islamic invaders, small pockets of Zoroastrians remained. These followers kept venerating the fire holes.

* 10th century CE Arabian historian mentions about fire worshippers of Ateshgah on the outskirts of Baku.

The Source Of The Eternal Flame

Surakhani falls on Absheron peninsula, which is famous as a locality where oil and gas ooze naturally from the ground and flames burn perpetually. The flame could be an outcome of an accidental ignition which assumed religious connotation later.

Location

Surakhani, around 30 km away from Azerbaijan's capital Baku.

Ateshgah

Built around 17th Century CE after Hindus, Sikhs and Zoroastrians arrivals to Ateshgah increased

17 Inscriptions : 14 in Sanskrit, 2 in Punjabi and 1 in Persian. Sanskrit inscriptions mentions Lord Ganesha, Jwalaji and Lord Shiva.

1880  The last Parsi priest sent to the region from India.

1969  The fire dies out, owing to USSR's exploitation. A pipeline from Baku supplies gas to keep the flame burning.

1998  Added to UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Why Baku?

Baku was an important trading town on the Great Silk Route. Carpets, fabrics, dry fruits among others trickled into the West from here through the Silk Route. Indian traders bound to West and China often traversed the route. Fire being important to both the Zoroastrians and the Hindus, the Temple of Eternal Flame piqued their interest.

The Structure

* Similar to caravanserials (travellers' Inns) of the region with pentagonal walls surrounding a courtyard 

* In the middle of the courtyard sits an altar, the centre piece of the temple complex where fire rituals were observed

* The altar is right above a natural gas vent, igniting a large flame in the middle and four smaller flames on the rooftop corners of the pavilion

* Surrounding the altar are a number of small cells which once housed ascetic worshippers and pilgrims

Indian Connection

* Some historians say the word 'gah' is a derivative of Sanskrit 'grih' meaning abode

* Claims have been made of Baku being a derivative of Bhagaun, meaning God in Sanskrit.

* Hindus, Parsis and Sikhs used to live in the area in large numbers till about 19th Century CE.

* Their dwindling population in the 19th Century CE.

Source. ExFile - History, the NIE.

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. It was a wet day to begin with and though the rains stopped by 10 o'clock, the sky was overcast.

It was a quiet day.

 

Three stories......

Story 1

Why 'tock-tick' does not sound right to your ears

Ever wondered why we say tick-tock, not tock-tick or ding-dong, not dong ding; King Kong, not Kong King? Turns out it is one of the unwritten rules of English that native speakers know without knowing.

The rule, explains a BBC article, is : "If there are three words then the order has to go I, A, O. "If there are two words then the first is I and the second is either A or O. Mish-mash, chit-chat, dilly-dally, shilly-shally, tip top, hip-hop, flip-flop, tic tac, sing song, ding dong, King Kong, ping pong".

There's another unwritten rule at work in the name Little Red Riding Hood, says the article.

"Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order : opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you'll sound like a maniac".

That explains why we say "little green men" not "green little men", but "Big Bad Wolf" sounds like a gross violation of the "opinion (bad)-size (big) - noun (wolf)" order. It won't, though, if you recall the first rule about the I-A-O order.

That rule seems inviolable : "All four of a horse's feet make exactly the same sound. But we always, always say clip-clop, never clop-clip".

This rule even has a technical name, if you care to know it - the rule of ablaut reduplication - but then life is simpler knowing that we know the rule without knowing it.

Story 2

Teddy Bear

Was invented in honour of President Theodore Roosevelt. It all began when Theodore Roosevelt was on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi 1902. Unlike other hunters in the group, Theodore had not located a single bear.

Roosevelt's assistants cornered and tied a black bear to a willow tree. They summoned Roosevelt and suggested that he shoot it. Viewing this as extremely unsportsmanlike, Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear. The news of this event spread quickly through articles across the country. The articles recounted the story of the president who refused to shoot a bear. However, it was not just any president, it was Theodore Roosevelt the big game Hunter!

Clifford Berryman, a political cartoonist, read the article and decided to lightheartedly satirize the president's refusal to shoot the bear. Berryman's cartoon appeared in the Washington Post. Morris Michtom, a Brooklyn candy shop owner, saw the cartoon and had an idea.  He and his wife Rose also made stuffed animals and Michtom decided to create a stuffed toy bear and dedicate it to the president who refused to shoot a bear. He called it 'Teddy's Bear'.

After receiving Roosevelt's permission to use his name , Michtom mass produced the toy bears. 

Story 3

Why an Elephant will not fight with a Pig

An elephant took bath in a river and was walking on the road. When it neared a bridge, it saw a pig fully soaked in mud coming from the opposite direction.

The elephant quietly moved to one side, allowed the dirty pig to pass and then continued its onward journey. The unclean pig later spoke to its friends in arrogance, "See how big I am; even the elephant was afraid of me and moved to one side to let me pass".

On hearing this, some elephants questioned their friend, the reason for its action. Was it out of fear?

The elephant smiled and replied, "I could have easily crushed the pig under my leg but I was clean and the pig was very dirty. By crushing it, my leg will become dirty and I wanted to avoid it. Hence, I moved aside".

Debrief

A matured person will avoid contact with negative people not out of fear but out of a desire to keep away from impurity though they are strong enough to destroy the impurity.

You need not react to every opinion, every comment or every situation.

Choose your battles wisely. Not everything deserves your time and attention.

Remember George Bernard Shaw's words. I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty and besides, the pig likes.

Tailpiece.

Got up on the dot, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. After breakfast, Lekha and I had gone to the town in our Chevy - she went to collect her stuff from Asha's boutique while I'd gone to complete certain pending jobs in the bank. Returned prior to lunchtime.

It was a quiet day otherwise. Fixed up the washing of our well for Wednesday - Subra, who'd done it last year will do the honours, this time too.

The perfidy, within!

In the name of Covid-19.

There are heated discussions in all media, forums, groups about the difficulties and shortage of Covid vaccine supply internally and criticism of the Modi government for exporting Corona vaccines to other countries, even when there is shortage in the country. This attack is done without understanding the ground realities of the Corona vaccine scenario, locally and internationally!

Let us understand clearly, that as of now, there are two vaccines manufactured in India.

(a) Covishield from Astrazenica-Oxford. Serum Institute is authorized to just manufacture it and it is not a proprietary brand. It is only authorized to manufacture the vaccine in their Pune facility. So it is not an Indian vaccine! As per the agreement between Astrazenica and Serum Institute, some share of this production has to be sent abroad to various countries, as per WHO policies, as well as contractual agreement with various countries. Government of India and Serum Institute have to abide by these agreements, otherwise, they will be charged with breach of contract and lose their credibility internationally and diplomatically. Secondly, as per their agreement, the various components for vaccine production are to be supplied by USA and any breach of contract can stop this supply, affecting vaccine production seriously.

(b) Covaxin is a Bharati Biotech research product and is totally Indian! But the company has only limited capacity to produce vaccine and can't cater for the entire country though efforts are on to ramp up production to over one crore vaccines per month.

There are several other vaccines in the pipeline like Sputnik V by Dr Reddy's and others. Even Sputnik V is a Russian vaccine and Dr Reddy's lab is to be allowed to produce in India as a contractual permission. 

Hence the campaign to criticise the government, without understanding ground realities, is wrong and will vitiate the atmosphere and seriously impact control of Covid pandemic. We can't ban export of Covaxin unilaterally. The recent statement and threat that Serum Institute will not be allowed to send vaccine out of Pune and Maharashtra is ridiculous and dangerous! It will seriously hit the supply chain management of Covid vaccine to all parts of the country. It may result in the Serum Institute shifting their facility to some other state or even another country!!

Source. What'sApp

Tailpiece.

Got up late, by half an hour, from our usual time, the chores and was ready by a 10' to 10. Went about our work. Video called Ammu and we had a rather long chat. Ammu and Mithun had just returned from Payyannur, after attending a wedding in Mithun's family. However, the marrying couple and two other friends of theirs were tested positive for Covid and therefore, Mithun-Ammu had to go into quarantine in a room, within their house. The 'rt-pcr' tests were carried out on them yesterday and the results were awaited later in the day.

By about 2230 hrs, we were informed by Ammu that their tests were negative and hence, they were out of quarantine! Phew!!   

  

The Vaccine Politics.

There is an ongoing clash between US and Europe over vaccines. Some of the news about vaccine efficacy or safety which we read is more about the Vaccine War than any real problem.

Indian vaccine manufacturing surge has displeased both west and the International Pharma lobby and even China. All are out with knives and then we always have such 'Jaichands' who will happily stab India in the back.

Russian vaccine "Sputnik" was dismissed mockingly by West almost like What Russians know about science. They conveniently forget that Russia is still a leader in space technology, missile warfare, avionics, defence equipments, virology, nuclear technology.

Indian vaccines sent abroad is harming business interests of Pfizer and Moderna and many BIG people have invested a lot in it. India vaccinating its people from Rs.0 to 250/- is eliminating a potential trillion dollars of profits for the World's BIG Vaccine Players.

There was a suspicion that raw material to make Indian vaccines is coming from USA and some curbs are being put on it to slow down India. Hence India was more keen to push totally indigenous Covaxin. We know who all were paid to abuse and defame Covaxin. Chhattisgarh state which is almost tropical Vatican today still doesn't allow Covaxin to be used in its state.

On whose behest, let's all hazard a guess. Think about naxal attack and Hidma and then extrapolate. Anyone who knows Chhattisgarh of today will know that things are not rosy there.

India manufactures 60% of vaccines made in the world. Asking it to import vaccines is like asking Saudi to buy oil just because the need is very high.

Already Novaxin and Sputnik are going to be made soon in India. But it also is not like making paper planes that you decide and get into business in a day. So June onwards we will have more options. Till then we have to make do with Covaxin and Covishield.

We have two credible proven choices. Rich man can pay Rs.250/- when he qualifies. Poor man can also pay Rs.250/- or get it free. It's a perishable item with a shelf life and limited stock commodity so one will have to wait for one's turn. It's not only about rich people willing to pay more for Pfizer or Moderna.

These companies have refused to test its efficacy on Indians. Who will pay if we suffer another Union Carbide kind mass murder by a western company on Indians?

We are no more a distant colony on whom white masters can come and spit on our faces and we have to oblige thankfully. They need to follow the laws of India to be able to sell in India. Plus we aren't Guinea pigs to be subjected to trials without safeguards.

Also the cold chain needed for Moderna and Pfizer is not available in India. We can't be given a dated or soiled product just because our skins are brown. When such vaccines come to our shores, it will also come with a massive disinformation campaign defaming Indian vaccines and highlighting some chance or unrelated complications.

Remember how coconut oil was defamed by an onslaught of advertisements and convinced Indians to buy all sorts of concocted seed oils by the big international industries.

So vaccine is now the talking point when just two months back the same ecosystem was defaming vaccines as "Modi Vaccine", "Saffron  Vaccine", "vaccine purchase is wasteful expenditure", "India is not capable of making vaccines", etc.

Let's have faith in the Government of India and show patience because our government has only our best interests in its mind.

Source. What's App

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time and the maid called up Lekha to tell her that she needed an off today as her son had a medical emergency. So, resorted to washing machinex of bed linen and assorted clothes and Lekha was on her own in the kitchen.

Participated in the Aazhchakkoottam : "Violence in politics" by Dr R Lathadevi, Ex MLA Chadayamangalam from 1600 to 1715 hrs. It was a nice interaction. 

A gas that erases memory!

Levels of Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) in the brain could influence whether or not we get dementia and epilepsy. It is created in the body in small doses and smells of rotten eggs.

Interesting Factors

(a) H2S is produced in the brain and several muscles, including thoracic aorta and the ileum.

(b) Tests on rat brain cells found it blocked a key brain cell gateway that helps the brain to communicate effectively.

(c) Treatments to reduce levels of H2S in the brain may help in tackling dementia and epilepsy.

This is an exciting finding as it gives us new insights about the role of hydrogen sulfide in various brain diseases, such as dementia and epilepsy.

- Dr Mark Dallas, University of Reading

What Does It Do

* Researchers found that H2S disrupts the normal functioning of potassium channels which regulate electrical activity across the connections between brain cells.

* Although H2S is produced in small doses inside the body, it's also found naturally in crude petroleum, natural gas, volcanic gases, hot springs and groundwater.

* Human exposure to hydrogen sulfide produced outside the body is principally via inhalation and the gas is rapidly absorbed through the lungs.

Stats

* 50 mn       Dementia patients globally

* 10 mn       New cases recorded every year

* 60 - 70%  Dementia cases are due to Alzheimer's

Earlier Studies

* A 2001 study by University of Calgary in Canada found the gas appeared to impair cognitive performance in rats.

* It has also previously been linked to brain damage and nervous system damage in humans.

Research

* The research was conducted by experts at the University of Reading, the University of Leeds and John Hopkins University in the US

* Cells taken from rat brains were changed with a H2S donor molecule and then brain cell electrical signals were monitored

* The resulting exposure to H2S increased the level of activity in brain cells

* The team was also able to identify which part of the potassium channel was allowing this activity increase

* They used a mutated form of the potassium channel which has already been shown to protect nerve cells from a host of toxic stimuli, including amyloid beta, a dangerous protein found in the brain of Alzheimer's patients 

* The researchers found that the mutation was resistant to the effect of H2S

* The specific mutated channel now holds particular interest for research into Alzheimer's given the protective benefits

- ExFile in the NIE

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by 10. Rema had called up to say that they had fetched up at Thrippunithura, yesterday, to finish pending jobs.

Had to make a trip to Harishree Department Store to pay the bill for the groceries as the online payment system had gone for a bunt. I'd hitched a ride on Nandakumar's Kinetic Honda for the onward trip and returned by an auto rickshaw.

Heavy thundershowers around sunset time which brought down the temperature.

 

 

China's perfidy, yet again.

China changes stance, wants de-escalation before disengagement in Ladakh. India disagrees. De-escalation before disengagement could give China an advantage as it can move troops back much faster than India due to its better infrastructure.

Differences seem to have emerged between India and China over the next steps their armies need to take to further ease tension along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

After surprise breakthrough in February that saw both sides pulling troops and equipment back from the brink in Pangong Tso, Beijing wants the two armies to de-escalate or withdraw additional troops brought in as back-up to those in the front.

This is a change in Beijing's position from what the two sides had discussed in February.

New Delhi insists on disengagement from the remaining friction areas along the disputed Himalayan frontier first.

These were part of the proposals exchanged between the two sides at the 11th round of Corps Commander level talks held last week, sources in the security establishment said. 

De-escalation before disengagement could give China an advantage as it can move troops back to the frontline much faster than India due to the better infrastructure on its side of the Himalayan frontier. The China Study Group will meet soon to take stock of the talks and discuss the proposal sent by China and the Indian response. A key member of the group, Army chief Gen MM Naravane.

De-escalation or disengagement?

New Delhi and Beijing have agreed that further escalation of tensions is in nobody's interest but there is a difference between the modalities of the steps to be taken next and the order of those steps.

India is insisting on disengagement because troops are facing each other off in at least four other locations. Last week, it was explained how China was dragging its feet on disengagement at other friction points, including what experts say are the low-hanging fruits of Gogra and Hot Springs. Army, after discussing with the MEA in a statement had said, "it was highlighted also that completion of disengagement in other areas would pave the way for the two sides to consider de-escalation of forces and ensure full restoration of peace and tranquility and enable progress in bilateral relations".

At the 10th round of Corps Commander level talks, held in February after the Pangong Tso disengagement process and broadly agreed on some steps in the Gogra and Hot Springs area, sources said. However, China switched to talking about de-escalation in the 11th round.

Infrastructure advantage

While While Army officers refused to discuss the issue saying that whatever had to be said had been mentioned in the Army press statement, a veteran explained that the Chinese have better infrastructure on their side and this would allow the PLA to move troops back to the frontline much faster than India.

Considering the low trust levels between the two sides, India wants to make sure that the disengagement happens first which will then pave the way for de-escalation.

The Army has already implemented a series of deployment changes in Ladakh for the summer and has also redrawn the Order of Battle (ORBAT) as one of the steps planned to counter China.

- Adapted from the article of Snehesh Alex Philip in ThePrint

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by 10. Two calls - one from the caretaker and the other from my aunt delayed me. The broken tree branches hovering close to the truss work have been cut, prepared and piled up near the base of the Mahogany in the courtyard.

Rema, Padmakumar, chettan and Achu had gone to Kidangoor and Ettumannor towards wedding invitation in the afternoon.  

Celebrating regional new years across India (2).

We shall continue our journey to the nooks and corners of our country to understand more about the regional new years that enshrine their cultural uniqueness.  

1. Pohela Boishakh

Or Bangla Nobobarsha is the first day of the Bengali calendar. Is celebrated on 14 Apr as a national holiday in Bangladesh and on 14 or 15 Apr in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Barak Valley region of Assam by the people of Bengali heritage, irrespective of their religious faith. Set according to the lunisolar Bengali calendar. 

2. Puthandu

Is celebrated on 14 Apr and it falls on the first day of the Tamil calendar. People of Tamilnadu and Pondicherry traditionally clean up the house, prepare a tray of fruits, flowers and auspicious items, light up family puja altar and visit local temples. They also visit their elders to seek blessings from them.

It's interesting to know that today is new year day for not only for Tamilnadu, Bengal, Assam, Kerala. Orissa, Manipur, Punjab but also for Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand!

3. Sheetal

Jur Sital, also spelt as Jude Sheetal (the movement of the Sun, relative to the stars). Celebrated on 14 Apr, the first day the Maithili New Year under Bikram Sambat calendar. The festival gets its name from the words 'jur' meaning staying connected and 'sital' meaning cool and is celebrated in Bihar and Jharkhand along with the Oriya new year, Pana Sankranti.

4. Vishu

Is a Hindu festival celebrated in the state of Kerala, Tulunadu region of Karnataka, Mahe district of the union territory of Pondicherry, neighbouring states of Tamilnadu and their diaspora communities. Celebrated on 14 Apr, the first day of the Malayalam month of Medam. Vishukkani and Vishukkaineettam are the main observances.

Our country is, indeed, blessed with varying hues of culture which complement each other and never ever, work at loggerheads with one another. 

Tailpiece.

Got up at 4, got the Vishukkani activated and took Lekha to have her first sight of the arrangement. After getting back to bed for about two hours, got up at 6, the chores and was ready by about a half past 9. Gave Lekha, her Vishukkaineettam and then dismantled the Vishukkani before breakfast.

It was a day of calling up near and dear ones to convey Vishu greetings and sending messages to friends. 

Earlier, gave Vishukkaineettam to Ramakrishnan, the newspaper boy and Selvam, the dhobhi. 

Celebrating regional new years across India (1).

Today many parts of India celebrate the new year and wishes have been pouring from many corners. Let's get a fair idea of the celebrations and the regions that are celebrating the commencement of the regional new years.

1. Baisakhi

Celebrated today, 13 Apr. Marks the beginning of the solar year. People of north India, particularly Punjab, thank god for the good harvest. Visits to Gurudwaras, Baisakhi processions and traditional performances were the highlight of the day.

2. Chaitra Pratipada/Chaitra Navratri

Is also known as Basant Navratri. Starts today, 13 Apr and ends on 21 Apr. Each day is celebrated in special ways or the puja vidhi is different and prayers are offered to different avatars of Navdurga or Shakti. Hindu devotees invoke Goddess Durga for happiness, abundance, protection and victory. Chaitra Navaratri is popular in north India. 

3. Cheirouba

Celebrated today, 13 Apr. Is the Manipuri new year based on the solar calendar. People clean and decorate their houses and prepare special festive dishes which are first offered to various deities. My friends, the Koijams - Amrit and Padma - sent me the snaps of their offerings to the deities, Laindhou and Leimaren.  

4. Gudhi Padwa

Celebrated today, 13 Apr. Is a spring time festival that marks the traditional new year for Marathi and Konkani Hindus. It is celebrated in and near Maharashtra and Goa on the first day of the Chaitra month to mark the beginning of the new year according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar.

5. Navreh

Celebrated today, 13 Apr. First day of the Kashmiri new year celebrated by the Hindus there. Blessings, prayers are indulged in and sweets are passed around. It's the first day of Chaitra, Shukla Paksh.

6. Ugadi/Yugadi

Celebrated today, 13 Apr. Also known as 'Samvatsaradi', it is the new year's day for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. It is the first day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Chaitra.

This, in essence, is the unity in diversity prevalent in this great country.

Tailpiece.

Got up half an hour late compared to our usual time, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. Suma did a thorough cleaning of the house with Lekha giving the finer tips and helping her where needed. Gave Suma the Vishukkaineettam before she left our place, in the evening.

Plucked the Labernum flowers from the tree in our courtyard and handed over a few clutches each to Suma and the Warriath amma, for their Vishukkani.

We set our 'Vishukkani' between the auspicious time of 2200 and 2256 hrs. 

 

News views.

Plenty of things are happening around us, with quite a few of them hogging the headlines in the media. So, without much ado, let me try to discuss a few of them. 

1. Mamata Banerjee Banned

The Election Commission of India has imposed a ban on campaigning for the ongoing Assembly elections for 24 hrs on the Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee. The ban is with effect from 8 PM today to 8 PM tomorrow. The reasons for the ban are :-

 (a) For passing disparaging remarks regarding the CRPF, even asking the public to stand up to them.

 (b) Asking all the Muslim voters of the state to vote for her and her party.

What has happened to the TMC chief? Is she losing confidence about her ability to win this election from the feedback received from the grassroots level? Her actions seem to suggest that she's increasingly getting jittery.

2. The Second Wave of Covid-19 Is Here

The incidence of the rising Covid-19 cases in our country has reached alarming proportions. Today's numbers are over 1.5 lakh cases, the highest daily spike in the world. Why is this sudden increase? Have we, Indians, thrown all caution to the wind because of complacency? Or is it a global trend? 

The state governments have begun to take remedial measures like imposing limited/restricted lockdowns, strict action on people making up crowds etc as no-one is interested in having a total lockdown imposed as it would hurt economic activity and push people to a difficult situation in earning their livelihood. 

Related queries on the subject are :-

     

     (a) Should we have a national lockdown to contain the surge that seems to be going out of control?

     (b) Is the availability of the vaccines - at every distribution point - assured?

I'm sure India will pass through this phase comfortably and the surge would be brought under control at the earliest. By now, the entire population has been seized of the urgency to get vaccinated after the initial hesitation mainly due to fear mongering and unnecessary political posturing.

3. A Dance Gone Viral

Naveen Razak and Janaki Omkumar - both students of the Thrissur Medical College - dancing to the tune of the 1970s Boney M number, "Rasputin" has gone viral on the social media. As it happens in our country, there are views and counterviews on everything and this activity has not been spared of the unnecessary hype.

The reactions - both positive and negative - have to be viewed with caution and handled in a matured manner so that they don't go out of hand.

The Supreme Court's latest ruling has stated that anyone above 18 years of age has the freedom to choose his/her religion. 

4. The IPL Cricket Is On

For the people forced to stay indoors, to beat the surge in the Covid-19 cases, the IPL cricket matches on television have come as a big boon. In the matches played thus far there has been plenty of runs, wickets and entertainment. 

I still have not come to terms with the dilemma as to why I should support the Mumbai Indians or the Rajasthan Royals or any other team, for that matter, that are participating in this tournament!

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by 5' to 10. It was a quiet Monday.    

 

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) - 2.

 ..........contd.

On the eve of the summit, the Global Times - the ruling Chinese Communist Party's paramount mouthpiece - had warned that an attempt to replicate NATO in Asia will not succeed. In turn, Russia has previously positioned the Quad as a new game of the West, designed to involve India in anti-Chinese strategies and undermine Indo-Russian relations. Given that rhetoric, the Quad member countries' major task will be to balance economic ties in the region while simultaneously curbing the expansion of China. All Quad countries are heavily dependent on Chinese supply chains and each country is more economically integrated with China than with one another.  This applies in particular to India and Japan. China is their first or second largest trading partner. Therefore, a number of Indian analysts believe that New Delhi will be able to breathe life into the project becoming an alternative to the Chinese world factory.

India is certainly considered an essential element of any strategy in the region. But so far, New Delhi has not dared either to directly align itself with the US to contain China or add an outright anti-Chinese dimension to its participation in the quartet. Meanwhile, the growing gap in national power, the long-term border confrontation and other related factors might well push Indian strategists to a certain revision of the policy of strategic autonomy and make the US the main security donor, as in the case of Australia and Japan.

The Quad can set the framework for a global governance model in a post-pandemic world but it is unlikely to become a NATO-like formal security alliance. Its evolution will be determined by its ability to mix global challenges in the interests of a wider range of countries. On the other hand, whatever form it takes, the March summit will have an impact on the region's geopolitics. In theory, such dynamics may push Beijing to institutionalise the Himalayan Quad project involving China, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan as a counterweight to the Quad. The pandemic turbulence, which has exposed China-centric vulnerabilities and dependencies, has already spurred India, Japan and Australia to launch a separate global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), which involves their realignment away from China. For many countries in Asia and Oceania, the Chinese factor is the main driver of large-scale arms imports. According to recent data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), this particular region was marked as the largest importer of conventional weapons in 2020, accounting for 42% of world trade. All while the main importers were India, Australia, China, South Korea and Pakistan.

Indian analysts use a figure of speech noting that the APR becomes the jackpot in the planet's geo-strategic sweepstakes and the centre-stage on which the new edition of the great game is being enacted. Also, it is difficult to argue that the region belongs to the geopolitical space where the celestial empire - China - challenges both the US and the Asian status quo in an effort to pursue the Chinese dream and gain a status of a great world power.

Thus, the seemingly inevitable and obvious trend of shifting the centre of the world's geopolitics to APR suggests that the coming "Asian Century" will be eventful and hardly anybody can remain unaffected. This specifically refers to those enthusiasts who will be able to timely and accurately see its hidden potential and benefits from the point of view of national interests and formulate the outlines of their own unique strategy for the Asian manouvre.

- Yuri M Yarmolinsky 

.........concluded.

My take.

It would be interesting to watch the progress of the Quad over the coming years. The Russians, along with the Chinese, will be the most anxious observers on the growing synergy among the Quad countries.   

Tailpiece.

Got up at a 5' to 5 instead of 4 because Lekha's cellphone alarm had played truant. However, we went about our chores, Appu was here by 6 and we could finally kick off for Palakkad, by a half past 6. Padmakumar had cleared all my doubts about the route to the Manappulli Kaavu temple and we reached there by 8. Had a good 'darshan' of the goddess.

Had breakfast of dosas and tomato chutney, made by Lekha, after parking the Chevy in front of the vendors, beside the Palakkad Fort. Washed it down with a cup of tea.

Made a beeline to the Malabar Gold to get Lekha's ornament fixed after 10. We kicked off on our return leg by 12 o'clock and had lunch at Konark in Kunnamkulam. 

It was a nice, short journey and we could accomplish everything that we'd wanted to do.

 

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) - 1

Quad isn't a NATO-like group but can push China to form a Himalayan Quad. Quad's evolution will be determined by its ability to mix global challenges in the interests of a wider range of countries.

Amid increasing recognition of the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) as the engine and centre of future global development and growth, it is important to highlight the historic event held on 12 Mar 2021 - the high-level virtual summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) of the US, Japan, Australia and India. The unofficial format of the Quad has been promoted by its participants since 2007, at the behest of Tokyo with varying degrees of activity, national involvement and success.

The rapid analysis of the thematic publications of the leading Asian - mainly Indian - analytical centres suggest the following general conclusions. Predictably, the key narrative has been a cause-effect link between the increase in action of the Quad and China's unilateral and expansionist actions in the region. In this regard, the new US administration seeks to involve its regional partners in the confrontation with Beijing, including within the Indo-Pacific Region.

As the Quad approaches the intended institutionalisation, its participants seem determined to work more closely with key regional actors. Thus, to reassure the ASEAN member countries amidst the geopolitical turbulence, the leaders reaffirmed their strong support for ASEAN's unity and centrality. However, many ASEAN countries do not want to openly take sides between the US and China. Most of them welcome the US presence in the region. Concurrently, they are aware of the benefits of cooperation with China, which will in any case remain the main trading partner.

Having regard to the plans of France, Great Britain and Germany to deepen cooperation with the Indo-Pacific Region, experts do not rule out the future expansion of the Quad. While maritime safety dominated the summit agenda, the focus was on the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and human health, climate change, common challenges in cyberspace, critical technologies, counterterrorism, investment in quality infrastructure, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The Quad leaders agreed to launch a vaccine cooperation program for the Indo-Pacific Region, with a focus on Southeast Asia (ASEAN), which, if successful, could be replicated in other sectors. The stated goal of the initiative is to address a severe healthcare challenge by creating opportunities for rapid vaccination of a large number of people. Clearly, this initiative deserves approval and support. A closer look, however, reveals a latent attempt  to counter China's vaccine diplomacy - Health Silk Road - which already covers more than 60 countries around the world.

In many ways, the Quad's decision to focus on fighting the pandemic marks a new approach to China. While the Biden administration continues to adhere to Trump's methods on this issue, it also seeks to create the added value, especially in terms of building multilateralism and creating a complex challenge to Beijing.

.........to be continued.

Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. 

Participated in the Aazhchakkoottam : "Music Therapy" by PJ Ignatius, Music Director from 1600 - 1730 hrs. An interesting interaction!

Tales from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - 2.

 .......continued. Indian Army's Captain Pinaka Roy's musings from his diary.   

The Gorkha sentry sat with a primus stove burning at his feet, staring out into the grey cloud through the bunker's porthole. Everything was white all around, except the black tip of angular rock that caught no snow and was scalped bare by the powerful wind. On the slab made of ammunition boxes a damp and soggy register lay in which the man on duty had to note down everything that he saw along the pass down below. The Chinese Army had a long double-story barracks on the pass and a road coming right up to the pass. There was a circular glass hut on the pass with a cemented plinth all around it. They knew the Chinese were there beyond the iced up no-man's land. Both sides passed sleepy months while nothing stirred under the cold rock five kilometres above the sea level. Ice melted, trickled from forlorn lakes down the valley to form raging torrents far away from those gentle, silent lakes amidst knotty rhododendron.

The bored watch slid from one week into the next and one kept sitting in one's soot-fluffed bunker in grim-dyed coarse wool clothing. The snow fell like the skies were shedding huge seas of dandruff. Deep fissures between rocks got filled and the steep slope, on which we had clung and cleaved tiny bunkers, looked like an even quilted ground of soft-surfaced cotton, ready to swallow a man in one quick burp and close its mouth again.

A Gorkha on duty pointed down to the far-off Chinese hutments at the pass. "Not even a mouse has stirred out of their post". They were burning wood inside; blue wood smoke drifted out of their chimneys. It was frontier in cold sleep and our neighbours, we envied. We lived like salamanders in holes and piles of stones on the mountain. Its pinnacle rose into the sky like the sword of a sky invader. When you looked up at the peak, the sky looked small and distant. The sections of Gorkhas and the artillery observers who were incarcerated on the tip of the sword had it much worse than the rest of the two platoons that clung around the hilt of the sword a thousand feet lower.

Those who talk of Kaala Paani and Tihar or Sing Sing or Belmarsh or Guantanamo Bay have no idea about the perilous ways in which the army beads the Himalayan oyster with platoon and section strength pearls for thousands of smiles. In the snow the Chinese never stirred out; their presence on the pass was the light plume of wood smoke that was distinct like a vaporous gray stain on a white bed cover. They didn't care a hoot about the pass being covered by our machine guns. Sometimes I thought that I could take  my Gorkhas and kick them out in one hour and start living in their long wood fire barrack. Not in the thick of the cold season but when the snow melted and one saw the Cyclopean rocks naked. I was sure we could use the rocks, hide in them and overrun the pass. In the young, the very concept of physical fatigue is eliminated and replaced by rash courage.

The Gorkhas are silent troops; they have a soft tongue and they never slide into anger. When two Gorkhas are talking to each other, it is hard to hear them at five paces. This soft exterior is so deceptive to an Indian born and bred in the vulgar-tongued and noisy races of north India. The Gorkhas don't sing songs of braggadocio like the Sikhs and the Jats. Their soft songs are songs of love and longing for their wives and their children and their mountain homes in Nepal. They love and honour their women and spend their money lavishly and at startling speed on their loves.

The temperatures were dozens below zero and blizzard and snow reigned. The observation posts with the machine guns had to be manned with two men round the clock in each bunker. Even at 3 in the morning, when twenty foot of snow would bury most bunkers, the men stood awake and ready. Of course, each person knew that not even a snow leopard would venture out five yards from his lair in such weather. But orders were orders, sacred orders, sacreder than Gita, Koran or Bible.

.......concluded.

Tailpiece.

Got up groggily (Had got up around a quarter past 4 to go the rest room), the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. Earlier, Lekha helped me in washing down the Chevy, that was full of dirt after our last trip to Kochi. 

Lekha and the maid went across to the ration shop to collect the kit on account of the forthcoming festival of Vishu. Meanwhile, Rema and Padmakumar had gone across towards Thiruvananthapuram to invite our family for Achu's wedding.

Subsequently, had driven across to the bank, got Lekha's cell phone filled up with certain inputs and returned after about an hour or so.

Tales from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - 1.

Two years on the gates to the Roof of the World. An absorbing account from the diary of Captain Pinaka Roy, Indian Army.

The dominant feeling of those two years in the mountains was one of loneliness and boredom pierced by the glorious white panorama of great mountains harking the sky. One awoke out of cramped sleep in an unwashed smelly sleeping bag to the sound of the Gorkha pumping the primus stove in your rathole. Then he went out in the rocks with a pick axe and started hacking ice to make water. He came back carrying a quarried block of ice and started breaking it with a stone into smaller clods. They spluttered when he slipped them into the empty milk-powder can used to melt ice on the primus. I watched over the rim of my sleeping bag, as he worked in the light of a sooty lantern. It was still dark outside the small tin igloo perched on the ledge of a high, soaring mountain. Sepoys had made boulder pathways between tin igloos along the steep boulder slope. The rocks were the size of rooms and tractors, black gray rock that had lain for millions of years at the brimming pinnacles of the Himalayas. The mountains lay closed by the snow on all sides. The north face of our home mountain was Tibet. The highest wall that I have seen fell from our mountain a few thousand metres into the fissures of Tibet.

"Leave the door open". He pushed the steel door hard and it screeched, crushing and grating over the icicles. There was a dark void beyond the yellow shadow. The flame tongues of the primus danced like a movie playing on the sooty conclave wall. He knew his breath was frosting in front of his face.

"Should I light the bukhari?" asked the batman. "No leave it". The interior of the hut was swimming in kerosene fumes. Everything smelt of kerosene; it was the sour fragrance of his life on the steep mountain.

He looked at his Murga wrist watch. The battalion baniya sold it at fifteen rupees a piece. He pressed a small pimple on the watch face. The watch spoke out the time and a cock inside it did a cock-a-doodle. Still half an hour to dawn and the day's first report to the adjutant far down below in the battalion headquarters. He wondered if the telephone line was working. It was a recurring problem and for weeks they stayed cut out of communication. The best thing to do when it snowed for days on end was to stay inside your stone holes or your tin igloo, sallying out off and on with spades to clear your door and roof from getting buried under tons of snow. You cut the ice all around, using the spade as an axe and scoop and throw the ice over the snow parapets.

"I am going to get tea". The Gorkha left unobtrusively and followed the clumps in his thick snow boots. It was dangerous, negotiating the rocks in the dark. You slipped on ice and could end up with a broken bone. The Gorkhas could move with a blindfold within the spread of their company and on most of the scree trails and through the giant boulders. The snow boots were two or three sizes too big for most of them. The thick khaki woolen socks slipped into the empty toe space and bunched there; they had to frequently untie the laces and pull them up.

The green magneto phone started whirring. He picked it up. The sound of the man at the base telephone exchange came faint and dim over miles of cable.

"Snowing, visibility ten metres, NTR, nothing to report". He put the handset in the notch of the phone. The report hardly ever varied in the snow and ice months. On clear days when the sun came out, he would haul himself up, pulling at the ropes tied to iron pickets hammered home into sheer rock face. Ploughing through waist high snow he would bulldoze his way to the machine gun bunker that overlooked the pass. It was a grand wide saddle, sloping into India. The slope burst into emerald green grass in the summer months and hundreds of Tibetan yaks converged there to graze. Now it was all a sheet of ice and snow.

........to be continued.

Tailpiece.

Got up a bit reluctantly, the chores and was ready by a 20' to 10. Fixed up with Appu about our trip to Palakkad this Saturday. A course mate of mine along with his daughter have been tested covid positive. Thankfully, his wife is free from it!

Another quiet day, otherwise. 

A failure of leadership. Will we ever learn?

Ambush in Bijapur : I subscribe to this article completely.

In one of the most serious incidents causing fatalities to security forces, the CPI (Maoists) gunned down 22 personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and local police and injured 31 of them. This has been the most serious loss of lives since the dastardly attack on CRPF personnel in 2010, in which 76 personnel were killed. The recent incident was sparked by a search operation launched to flush out Madvi Hidma, a Naxal commander wanted for his involvement in many deadly attacks on the forces. Intelligence reports had indicated that he was in the area for over two weeks along with people  from the Maoist No 1 PLGA (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army).

Media reports indicate that a search operation was launched with about 1700 personnel to flush out both Hidma as well as the Maoists from the No 1 PLGA battalion. Later reports indicated that the security forces' operation was launched with 400 men on the evening of 03 Apr. Next day, 04 Apr, at about 1145 hrs, when the troops were returning to their camp, they were ambushed by Hidma and his men, believed to be about 400 or so in number. The security forces were fired upon from three sides which resulted in the heavy casualties sustained.

Of the security forces killed in action (KIA), eight were from District Reserve Guard (DRG), seven were from the CRPF's Cobra (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) battalion, six were from the Special East Force and one from the Bastariya Battalion of the CRPF. In terms of rank, of the 22 KIA, one was a sub-inspector, two were head constables and the rest were constables. According to the DGP, Mr Kuldip Singh, there was no intelligence failure or operational failure. In a statement to ANI, he stated : "There is no point in saying that there was kind of intelligence or operational failure. Had it been some intelligence failure, forces would have not gone for the operation. And if there was some operational failure so many Naxals would not have been killed".

The entire incident throws up some very troubling questions. Mr Kuldip Singh, the DGP, is right when he says that there was no intelligence failure. It was intelligence inputs of the presence of Madvi Hidma along with persons from the PLGA which led to the operation. In any case, this area is a known stronghold of the Maoists, so there should not have been any surprise in the fact that Hidma and his men were present there. But Mr Singh stating that there was no operational failure, certainly raises many eyebrows. Unless operational issues are dissected with brutal honesty, we will continue to have a repeat of such instances in future also.

The logic given by the DGP was that since many Naxals were also killed, it means that there were no operational lapses. This has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Only one dead body of a terrorist has been recovered, so in the absence of evidence, it would be difficult to take the DGP's statement at face value. On the other hand, the Maoists, after ambushing the police personnel, had total control of the battlefield. They not only made away with the weapons and equipment of the dead policemen but in some cases also made off with their shoes. Command and control from the point of view of the security forces collapsed as there were no reserves to be brought into play, which would have prevented, at the very least, the loss of weapons and equipment. Even worse was the fact that the dead and injured were recovered for the most part, only on the following day. This indicates poor leadership and loss of command and control.

There is a serious leadership deficit in the CAPF, when it comes to the actual conduct of military operations. In the instant case, it is doubtful if any officer of the rank of IG or DIG police was present to conduct the operations. It is doubtful if any officer of the rank of Commandant was present to lead the troops. We still do not know if any person above the rank of inspector was present in the area of operations, to lead the composite force.

The training of personnel employed in such operations also leaves much to be desired. How could the Maoists, if they numbered over 400, not be detected in an area which should have been under the domination of the CAPF? This again points to poor leadership and weak tactical skills. The area should have been under domination, both by day and night, through own surveillance patrols, which would have enabled the early detection of the Maoists before they had gone into their ambush sites. More emphasis needs to be given to basic battle drills and field craft training. As of now, there is an excellent training academy at Kanker, Chattisgarh, but a large number of personnel trained in this establishment, find themselves posted to units involved in VIP security!

Organisationally, it would be better if the CAPF personnel deployed in the area, function in a grid system on the lines of the Army in J&K. CRPF battalions should not be split and they must function as a composite whole, under their own commanding officers. They must be trained as units to enable them to fight a coordinated battle.

We must remember that an additional 80,000 personnel were recruited for the CRPF, as they were made the lead force to fight the Maoists. We need to carry out an audit of how these 80,000 men have been employed since then. The personnel of the CAPFs are well motivated and imbued with great fighting spirit. All that they need is good leadership and training along with good communication means and surveillance devices to weld them into an unbeatable force. This is what we must do with immediate effect. We cannot keep relearning lessons after the blood of our soldiers has been shed.

- Major General DC Katoch

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores, the usual Wednesday 'aarathi' of the house and was ready by a 10' to 10. Rejoo, from the PCI, attended to the quarterly application of the medicines towards pest control, all over the house. Finally, could speak to Nikhila's mother, at Theni; she seems to be having a connectivity problem. She was chirpy, happy and contended in her new surroundings! 

Thundershowers soon after sunset brought about a power interruption of over two hours, dampening our spirits.