Prabir Das Blogger

  Yess..!! What did you say? Sorry,    I can’t hear you!! What did you celebrate-last Sunday ? Ohh yes “ daughter’s day”. Yes, why not? Your princess deserves the accolades and celebration. You toiled hard, you made her stand on her own feet; you helped her take those baby steps; you gave her the best education. So!! Celebration of those moments for the apple of your eyes...yeh to banta hai.. But she was not a princess. Had she been one she would not have been allowed to accompany her mother in the fields covered with tall grasses to cut. She was an unknown beti of Hathras, a district formed in 1997 in Uttar Pradesh. Noo. She was not the princess! She was hardly 19. Oblivious of the imminent danger, oblivious of the two-footed sharks that followed her stealthily, she got into the fields cutting the grass. She was supposed to do it na!! The sharks did what they could do best. No . I am not going to narrate the “incident” for it is all over the media.    With thei...

  The covid-19 situation in the country is far from being comfortable as more and more people are testing positive. As on date around 60 lakh people have tested positive while over 41 lakh have recovered. A little over 94 thousand have succumbed to the virus.   While it may be argued that percentage wise a merely 0.005 percent of populace have been afflicted by the disease one cannot bask in false comfort as only 5 crore tests have been carried out so far which is 0.038 percent of populace. The only inspiring takeaway is the recovery rate which is robust and encouraging.   There are many theories staking claim for India’s stupendous recovery rate. These range from a wide array of fact files like superior immunity shown by the Indians compared to people living in West; the people living in a habitat circumscribed with microbes and pathogens; the multiple time people getting sick while they are still small; India’s own immunization schedule that is followed since decade...

  Amidst the gloom and despair that have been ensconsed by the Pandemic this year especially in India there are some rays of hope and glee which have escaped notice.   The south west monsoon that invades Kerala early June every year gradually intensifies and engulfs the entire country in the months that follow . This year this important but mundane event was pre marked by few cyclonic storms that had great effect not only in the course but also the intensity of monsoon. First super cyclone Amphun ravaged parts of Odisha and Bengal in third week of May. Amphun, arguably one of the severest in recent years, made its landfall near Kolkata in the third week of May this year.The devastation has been so severe that the almost entire city of Kolkata, the State Capital, bore the brunt. Hundreds of trees uprooted disrupting power supply, shanties blown away by severe winds, window panes of high rises broken to pieces    the city and its suburbs    looked war ravaged...

  Ever since the Pandemic broke lose early this year the global health fraternity has been fighting the menace with all its might. By the time the world population woke up from slumber and disbelief the virus had already taken its toll as continent like Europe was ravaged. Thousands of deaths every day in many countries like Italy, France, Germany, Britain in Europe dotted the headlines. The doctors world     over were anguished as to what medical regimen they would follow to stem the rot. The early months of March and April have been scary. The most affected has been the mighty USA where death rate has been very high. The effect was so horrifying that even a city like New York,     the Financial Capital of the world usually busy with its customary hustle bustle turned barren and ghost like. While the medical fraternity fervently tried to figure out the ways to tackle the menace,    India came out with a novelty of its own. Doctors in Kerala claimed to...

  The Pandemic, ever since it has started showing its fangs, have changed many things-our living styles, food habits, precautionary measures, behavioural pattern, buying habits , interactive relationships etc. But the most ‘enamoured’ among them has been the enormous effect it has had on economy. The industries that were closed during initial lockdown are still limping to get back to normalcy. The manufacturing sector not only suffers from availability of skilled workers but also from unsure supply of raw materials. The entire industrial sector is suffering from uncertainties due to irregular capital inflow. The malice is certainly appearing bigger than what it was comprehended earlier. One such sector that has been threatened by the pandemic is the agro-industry especially sugar industry. India is presently the largest manufacturer of sugar with annual production touching around 270 lakh tonnes; the state of Maharashtra accounting for a little more than half of those quantity. Mah...

  Seven major rivers-Indus, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tapi, Godavari, Krishna and Mahanadi and their numerous tributaries flow through India. All rivers, as we know originate from mountain tops and culminate into seas. No wonder India is considered a country of rivers. The rivers are the main source of sweet water used for human consumption. Since times immemorial the water of rivers and their numerous tributaries have been quenching thirst of the habitat and also irrigate the land for cultivation. India is indeed blessed to have this natural sources of sweet and potable water. A consistent monsoon pattern help maintain the water levels especially for the major rivers. But it is ironic that despite being self sufficient in natural sweet water the country has not been able to maintain its rivers. Gross indiscipline, mindless urbanisation, dumping of industrial wastes, release of sewage into streams and even some not so planned dams are some of the major identifiable blocks that have sev...

  The tall and lanky Laungi Bhuiyan would look at the terraneous mountain slopes around his village Kothilwa, nearly 80 kms away from Gaya in Bihar, with distress as hundreds of cusecs of water would drain down to the nearby river.   Kothilwa is surrounded by dense forest and terraneous    mountain. It’s a village no one would ordinarily visit. Agriculture and animal husbandry are the only means of livelihood for the villagers. During summer the crop would wilt under scorching sun as water was scarce. While the villagers, mostly poor, almost compromised with nature’s cruel game, Laungi Bhuiyan had a different dream in his eyes. The water flowing down the steep mountain slopes with gusto and finding refuge in a river would disturb him. His farming instincts would tell him that only if this copious amount of water could be diverted to village fields then everyone would benefit.  The thought at the back of his mind    became a dream for Bhuiyan. He knew t...

  Even though the world took note of the Corona virus and its rampage in Wuhan Province of China in January this year, the disease caused by it and later named Covid-19 was declared a pandemic much later i.e in March 2020. While the pandemic started showing its fangs in February,    mostly in Europe, the first case in india was reported in the last week of January. Indeed, as was the world, too was found heavy footed initially. Admittedly, the government was at a loss to understand what was happening, its possible future repercussions and the steps that needed to be taken to counter the menace. Looking back,    the last such incidence that ravaged the country was    in 1918 when a mysterious fever wiped out population at rampaging ferocity. The devastation caused was so monumental that almost 14 million people lost their lives in the country. The effect of Spanish flu was so severe that it spared almost none; very few lucky only survived. It is said th...

  Media is agog with the news that in Gujarat donkey milk of Halari breed is being priced as high as Rs. 7000/- a litre which has not only raised eyebrows but even made many heads turn towards what is thought a probable lucrative business interest. Halari breed is specific of Saurashtra, Gujarat. The nodal agency National Bureau of Animal Genetics Resources ( NBAGR) had already recognised this breed and paved way for its    independent breeding. These    donkeys are mostly white in colour and look like a small horse. The milk of Halari breed donkey is believed to be full of antioxidants and other vital nutrients providing health benefits of unbelievable nature. Milk essentially has been considered a ‘wholesome food’ since ages. There are numerous evidences on record to support this enamoured view. It is believed that a human being ( if not lactose intolerant) can survive only by consumption of milk. Not long back the news of an 80 year old farmer in Rajasthan fa...

  Novak Djokovic has been disqualified from US open on 7th last. The reason has been most unassuming. As things went Djokovic was frustrated after missing three set points in the fourth round match against Spain’s Pablo Busta. He inadvertently swatted a ball quite hard at the back of the court which hit the line judge on her throat and she needed medical assistance before she felt good. After a prolonged conversation that ensued amongst the Tournament referee, the Chair referee and the Serb it was decided to hand Djokovich a disqualification. Before the final decision was handed over to the Serb he reasoned out to the men there that he never meant to hurt anyone let alone the line judge. It indeed was an act done in pure frustration. Djokovic was full of remorse and was pained to see the lady in distress. Djokovic later issued an apology again saying that it was an act though reckless was done in utter frustration and he felt very bad to see the line judge in discomfort. He further...

  Many eyebrows were raised when Times Higher Education recently released the World University Rankings 2020. The reason being that none of the indian universities figures in top of the list. Premier institutes like Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru ( IISc) and Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT) are getting their places abysmally low in the rankings i.e between 301-400.     As usual Oxford tops the list followed by Stanford and Harvard of the USA.    The results as published indeed appear shocking. While a few    other debutante indian universities qualified in the rankings somewhere in the range between 690+ the downfall of top universities in the ranking is a matter of concern for all in the fields of Education. Those who are already in the business of education have started giving opinions which differ in thoughts and magnitude. But one common factor that raises its head is the lack of originality in publications by the faculties of the top ...

  Considering the ongoing turmoil in Eastern Ladakh it was not a surprise when the government banned use of further 118 popular Chinese apps in india.   After almost five decades of tranquility at LAC    the Chinese government appeared to have woken up from slumber in order to create an atmosphere of mistrust by trying to unilaterally change the LAC-the de-facto border between the two countries. Chinese aggression at LAC has fanned its    expansionism once again as it is trying to exercise control on all its neighbors. The indian government, quite aware of china’s sinister designs, has taken a slew of measures to make the latter bleed economically. Now, around 174 popular chinese apps having been banned by the government , a message has been passed to China-a message loud and clear: india is not going to tolerate any act of anyone which it thinks is detrimental to its sovereignty. A military build up at Sino indian border coupled with banning of hitherto po...

  The sudden change in the chinese behaviour in Ladakh since May this year has caused enough concerns not only for the indian government but also for the     entire world. Amidst all the speculations that are rife the indian think tank could not decipher what actually could be the reasons for china’s deviation from what is called a settled position to unilaterally change the Line Of Actual Control ( LAC) where tranquility mostly prevailed in the last five decades. The chinese activities in the Galwan valley or near the finger areas of pangong-tso area    and Depsang plains since May couldn’t be something without any sinister design. A conventional patrolling by troops of either countries in those areas which are considered buffer zones were not uncommon in past. But the chinese attempts to build permanent structures in the LAC by their military is what disturbed the serene atmosphere and the indian apple cart. Despite peace talks at military level in June the ch...