Human actions and profit-driven industrial activities over decades have ravaged the Earth beyond repair. Even the most powerful nations seemed helpless in the battle to save the planet and, in turn, human lives. However, the lockdown initiated to control the spread of COVID-19 is healing the Earth in more ways than one, says Manu Shrivastava. When residents of a house in Powai area of Mumbai heard a loud thud at about 1.30 am on 10 May 2020, during the lockdown, they woke up to an unusual sight – a deer, on the run being chased by a leopard, crashed down…
Author: oiop
Migrant workers including daily wage labourers, domestic helpers, hawkers and marginalised groups are the worst hit by the Coronavirus crisis. It’s the responsibility of the state and even their employers to ensure they make it through these trying times, says Sonal Aggarwal. The national lockdown has severely affected lives of millions of people in the country. However, the worst hit are those who belong to the lower economic strata of the society, migrant workers including daily wage labourers, domestic helpers, hawkers and marginalised groups, whose fringe existence is threatened with the restrictions that have come along with the lockdown. These…
The national lockdown has been a nightmare for many women, who are trapped inside their home with their offenders. The sharp rise in domestic violence forced the National Commission for Women to launch an emergency WhatsApp number, in addition to the available and operational options of complaining online and through email, says Manu Shrivastava. As the nation braced the strict lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, many women were being subjected to another kind of confinement. In Delhi, in the second week of April 2020, a man contacted a government-licensed shelter home for women survivors of…
The lockdown imposed by the Indian government was an absolute essential to keep the Coronavirus at bay. But, the effect it has had on children has been heart-rending and dramatic, says Mamta Gupta. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit nations brutally. Coronavirus sneaked into our lives and exploded right in our faces to disrupt lives in a most unprecedented manner. It has not only shaken the biggest of economies, but changed the very face of earth and the way humans live life and socialise now and in the future. Besides the health impact of the infection on adults and children, often…
Death is a democratic leveller that does not distinguish between the rich and the poor, between the powerful and the weak, between men, and women and children, between the Hindu and the Muslim. Shoma A. Chatterji writes how this has been amply illustrated through the deaths of some of the famous people during the pandemic. Death is the most definite answer to any questions on life or beyond life. Death hounds us all during a pandemic, a natural calamity, a war or an industrial accident like the one that happened in Andhra Pradesh recently. But what happens when a celebrity…
Our entire way of living has been disrupted following the lockdown triggered by Covid-19. Anuradha Pittie tells us how practical lifestyle changes along with psychological resilience and adjustments will help in keeping one’s sanity in these insane times. In the twinkling of an eye, everything changed. The world as we knew it came to a grinding halt, quite literally. The extension of the lockdown triggered by Covid-19 has left many floundering on how to manage in a chaotic environment, devoid of familiar routines and predictable outcomes. Ironically, clues on coping are found in the Chinese proverb “If you work hard…
We are living in uncertain times. The isolation, fear and stress during lockdown have adversely impacted the mental health of many – young and the old in many ways. And each one is fighting an individual battle for survival within the confines of their home, says Gajanan Khergamker. There are myriad wars being fought and at fronts other than across the nation against COVID-19. Some battles are fought within the four halls of a house. So, when India geared up to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on 14 April 2020, expecting the 21-day lockdown enforced to combat the…
A major concern in the battle against Covid 19 has been the high risk of infection for healthcare providers who have to work in close proximity with patients. The last couple of months have seen a few medical innovations from Indian startups, which should make us proud, writes Dr. Rina Mukherji. While organisations and individuals have come forth to help strengthen the hands of the government through charity, especially serving food and arranging shelter for the poor and those rendered penniless owing to the lockdown that has followed the coronavirus pandemic, a multiplicity of innovations has marked the fight against…
Father of Indian Rock Art (1919-1988) In the summer of 1957 while travelling in a train from Nagpur towards Bhopal, Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar overheard a conversation of hillocks nearby with huge boulders and paintings. Curious to find out if such a place existed Wakankar, then studying the painted rock shelters which were likely to be submerged under the proposed Gandhisagar Dam jumped out of the moving train in search of the grottoes with paintings. Hidden by a dense, almost impenetrable forest inhabited by wild animals, he came across shelters which had long existed in aboriginal folklore and even found mention…
An outstanding officer (1922 – 2018) Air Marshal Randhir Singh was born on 1 January 1922 and was commissioned into the Royal Indian Air Force on 21 December 1942. He was posted at Risalpura airbase, Naushera near Peshawar, presently in Pakistan. He saw active service during World War II. At the time of Partition, he along with 21 other officers opted to serve in India. A few days before Independence, some officers including Randhir Singh, shifted their 12-aircraft Tempest fleet to Palam airbase, Delhi. On 15 August 1947, he was member of the fleet that flew past the Red Fort in…