The existential
crisis is ‘to read or not to read’ – not one of ‘to know or know not’ !
Long back
a Doctor scared me on the evil effects of eating food outside and recommended
that washing hands is the most important habit to be
inculcated. Spending 20 seconds under
the sink with soap is the best way to get rid of germs on your hands, and
proper hand-washing still trumps hand sanitizer in terms of effectiveness. Household names are household names for a
reason -- they work and people like them. But have
you observed that most (including the household name of disinfectant in India) – carry a label ‘anti-bacterial’ – then
how effective are they against virus ?
A virus
is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living
cells of an organism. Viruses are found
in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological
entity. Bacteria and viruses are
microscopic microbes. Bacteria are living cells which can be either beneficial
or harmful to other organisms. Viruses have to invade the body of a host
organism in order to replicate their particles. Therefore, most viruses are
pathogenic. Corona is not new, it is a
type of virus and there are many different kinds – some cause disease. The one threatening mankind emanated from
Wuhan, China and was named Covid-19. Amidst all the apprehensions, fear, negative mind, negative
media, criticism – is there something positive to
look at – YES !
After recording 1,975
fresh novel coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, India's Covid-19 cases
count surged to 26,917 today, according to the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare data. On the first day of the ‘total lockdown’ in Tamilnadu on Sunday,
most streets in the city wore a deserted look. Cops and conservancy workers
were the only ones about. To add some
cheer, there were heavy showers early in the morning.
The new
coronavirus has caused a global disease
epidemic and all but turned the lights out on much of the world’s economy. The
next ripple effect could be a new Cold War, this time between China and the United
States. The world’s two biggest
economies are still trying to grasp the unprecedented scale of the pandemic’s
consequences. Global growth forecasts have been ripped up and job losses are running
into the millions and counting, while governments are pulling together rescue
packages worth hundreds of billions of dollars that dwarf those of the
financial crisis 12 years ago. US President Donald Trump last week indicated what some of those shadows
might be, saying at a press conference that the US was investigating the
origins of Covid-19 in Wuhan. He said that there would be consequences if China
was found to be “knowingly responsible” for the outbreak that has now killed
more than 200,000 people around the world.
The British government also waded in, with cabinet minister Michael Gove
telling the BBC last month that China had failed to convey the “scale, nature
and infectiousness” of the disease. German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined the
chorus, calling for more transparency from China about the origin of the virus.
This all pointed to “tense international relations” in the post-coronavirus
world.
Yet there
is some good news from the origin or the epicenter as one may choose to call –
the city of Wuhan, the initial epicentre of the
coronavirus pandemic, no longer has any Covid-19 patients in hospital after the
last 12 were discharged on Sunday. Their
release ended a four-month nightmare for the city, where the disease was first
detected in December. The number of patients being treated for Covid-19, the
disease caused by a new coronavirus, peaked on February 18 at 38,020 – nearly
10,000 of whom were in severe or critical condition. “With the joint efforts of
Wuhan and the national medical aid given to Hubei province, all cases of
Covid-19 in Wuhan were cleared as of April 26,” Mi Feng, a spokesman for the
National Health Commission said on Sunday afternoon. The
announcement came only one day after the city discharged the last patient who
had been in a severe condition. That patient also was the last severe case in
Hubei province. Wuhan was the hardest hit city in China, accounting for 50,333
of the 82,827 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases recorded in China. More than
4,600 died in the country from the disease.
On March 13, the city reported for the first time that there were no new
suspected cases of the infection, and five days later there were no confirmed
cases.
Tamil Nadu
registered a welcome milestone in the fight against Covid-19 on Sunday when the
number of people discharged from hospital crossed 1,000, leaving 865 under
treatment. And, 13 districts have not recorded a fresh case for at least five
days now. The Niligiris has
not had anyone test positive for 15 days and Ranipet hasn’t reported a new case
for the last 13 days. Krishnagiri retained its Covid-free record as the sample
of a 43-year-old man tested negative. Pudukottai and Dharampuri have only one case
each. Cases in Perambalur and Ariyalur have not exceeded single digits. Public
health experts, however, warned that more testing was needed to conclude the
rate of infection was slowing.
Chennai, however,
continued to report the most positive cases in the state, with 28 more on
Sunday taking its tally to 523. The state as a whole recorded 64 more positive
cases. The numbers are large in Chennai
because we are seeing clusters. Seven members of a family in Royapuram tested
positive today,” said a senior health official. “One more person tested
positive taking the count to 16 in a row of houses at Asirvathapuram in
Pulianthope,” he said.
We would be
failing in our duty to appreciate another good initiative – ‘Annapoorna Trains’
from North and Jai Kisan Special from
South mark the beginning of long distance super heavy fast special Freight
trains. Almost
5000 tons and more than 80 rakes long long haul loaded foodgrain trains run
fast to connect the nation. More than 3.2 Million Tonnes of food grains have
been loaded between 1st April - 16th April this year as compared to 1.29
Million Tonnes in the same corresponding period last year.
Indian Railways in its
endeavor to ensure transportation of
essential items during the nationwide lock down due to COVID-19, continues to
deliver essential commodities like food grains through its freight services to
strengthen Government’s efforts in managing the challenges and adverse impact
of corona virus in the country. The Union Government has been focusing special
attention to ensure that the supply chains of essential goods are maintained,
besides ensuring that farm produce is transported without hindrance within the
state and inter-state. To ensure delivery of bigger volumes at a faster speed,
Indian Railways have innovated by joining two freight trains together. Success
Stories and Innovations have come from Northern Railways and South Central
Railways.
Northern Railway has
formed 5000 tonnes long lead long haul loaded foodgrain trains. 25 such
Annapoorna trains have been formed and run by NR upto 16.04.2020. They covered
the states like Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Mizoram. These
long lead long haul grain trains have gone up to New Bongaigaon (NBQ) in NFR. Like
NR , As part of this endeavour, now the South Central Zone of Indian Railways
too has come up with a unique concept of running “Jai Kisan” Special freight
trains so as to ensure speedy delivery of foodgrains to different parts of the
country. Under this concept, two freight trains
loaded from two different originating stations are clubbed at the nearest
junction point and moved as single train up to the common junction point of the
destination stations taking the advantage of path availability due to
non-running of passenger carrying trains.
Under normal
circumstances, one freight train containing 42 covered wagons loaded with food
grains carries around 2600 tonnes. But in the new concept two freight trains
means 42+42 =84 covered wagons with 5200 tonnes capacity food grains will be
moved in a single path. This concept drastically reduces the journey time of
the freight trains to their respective destinations. Maintaining continuity in
supply chain was stiffer on account of tough working conditions due to
lockdown. A constant coordination for terminal release/labour availability with
DMs/SPs at district level, state coordinating officers, and at apex level with
MHA is being done by operating officers of Indian Railways. A meticulous prior
planning is being done with FCI for arranging destinations as per requirement
in states. In this lockdown period, moving staff from house to control and
office is being done through emergency vehicles and workman special trains. The
sanitization of control and other offices is also being ensured so that staff
feels safe and confident in working.
Let us hope that sooner we
forget Covid 19 and are back to our routine spending money on movies and
discussing on which team will quality in IPL 2020.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
27.4.2020.
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