Ramana Gove

The pandemic has proved beyond doubt, the hollowness of preparedness in facing crises of current magnitude even by the developed countries let alone the developing and the underdeveloped !.The greatest challenges for mankind today are terrorism, climate change and of course, the pandemic. It is no wonder the much dreaded but an unlikely “nuclear war” or “another nuclear apocalypse” have taken one step backwards in view of the greater pellmell of the three. Needless to say that a major by product of all these is the “wealth inequality” ! All the three are global problems and need global efforts through exchange of information and intelligence ,expertise and experience and call for a mutual trust. But unfortunately, this kind of sharing of information and acting in synergy     is not seen among the global leaders to the extent observed     among the scientists toiling all over the globe. Leaders of well developed economies must make a trans border outreach for ...

We are pleased by simple gestures or expressions in many occasions in daily life.We may be even at the height of anger, irritation, restlessness and even be fretting and frowning ! Even under such turbulent situations a simple word like ‘sorry’ is often enough to act like a cannon of water from the hose of a fire fighter that can douse the flames of an inferno.Just an instance many of us might have come across is     what I want to discuss in this blog You are driving on a high way with your hands on the wheel and fingers tossing on it in rhythm to the tune of a melodious song in the stereo.You are perfectly on track and all of a sudden a vehicle zoomed past you on the wrong side and you were simply caught unawares and heard a small eery noise hardly noticeable and in the whip of a second, that vehicle was far ahead of you and the adrenaline started rushing in you and you were about to cry, shout and yell, honk the horn, all in a frenzied attempt to stop him.But imagin...

There are concerns from scientists on the   recently rolled out vaccine.We are in a world where everything, more so in the field of science is guided by systematic set of mechanisms, methods and metrics.It is important that all phases of trials are extensively carried out and the findings of the studies done on vaccine are available to the world and are peer reviewed. Unless the vaccine is administered to people across wide range of conditions including pre morbidities, its efficacy    may not be established totally. For example, a phase II clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine published is said to have excluded obese people ,pregnant women and those with chronic diseases.But all such groups have to get vaccine in future .   Enough testing of safety and effectiveness of its working in a general population along with information on dosage and vaccine schedule all form an integral part in the process.Extensive trials on animals, then extended to humans gradually...

It is likely that higher education almost this entire semester is going to be online in the US.A crisis is sometimes an opportunity too ! Instead of spending  many times the expenditure incurred in the country, staying far away, with the pandemic ruling the roost, swift changes in immigration visa rules, geo political uncertainties and losing precious foreign exchange, if the so called environs can be simulated here,it is a huge gain for the nation.The curriculum almost remains same for a given course across the globe but the methods of teaching and testing, infrastructure and interaction, industry orientation and institutional support for learning and earning differ.So equipping the institutions better with state of the art facilities and hiring faculty from top notch US universities if need be, would be  advantageous for countries like India.   The government’s recent plan to allow the top 100 universities in the world to operate in India is a commendabl...

Often we eat more than what we actually need ! The  estimated energy need per day is 2000 to 3000 kcal ( the actual   figure depending upon  age, gender,physical activity, life style, metabolic rate etc).We eat more to satiate the tongue than to quench the appetite more so on a day when there are special and delicious cuisines. Also it is a perceived feeling that depressed or worried people either eat a lot more or even a lot less.But, the chances of eating more are high, as food acts as a source to lift the mood.Leisure is a good friend of binge eating. It is common   that people who smoke, take tea or coffee and who have the habit of munching some thing frequently would have increased doses of these activities especially when they have more leisure or no specific work to do.The best way to overcome this problem is to engage oneself in an absorbing activity of one’s choice such as reading, writing ,listening to music, exercise etc. The lockd...

I gave vent to my thoughts on the role of sensation of touch.An article read recently on the void created by absence of touch (contact) due to social distancing prompted me wield my pen. Absence  of touch is an emotional impediment to further the bond of rapport or to express affection and to impress others. Science speaks high of the importance of    ‘’kangaroo care” exhibited by mothers when the infants are hugged to them.The kind of comfort and assurance provided by this to the infants is easily seen when the crying baby stops all of a sudden by the gesture.A similar trend is observed even in the case of pet animals such as cats and dogs caressing their new borns when they start cuddling around.Similarly the way we shake hands, pat gently on the cheeks or on the back as a token of appreciation or keep a gentle kiss or brush hair etc matter much in dealing with children.   The hugging by team mates of a pace bowler whose yorker uprooted the middle ...

In response to #GBS, part I, the concern expressed by many was the lack of confidence in the aid     sent to an organisation being     utilised for the purpose.A genuine concern indeed ! It is here the concept of ‘donations in kind’ comes handy where you donate some thing in kind, say a PPE kit or a bundle of sanitisers and hand them over to those in need.In other words, you hunt for the hungry ,net the needy, be after the affected to extend help..Alternatively, some close minded people can form a group and take the responsibility of streamlining the entire process and arranging the help through any one of them. I was impressed by the way when I read about the approach by the Agnelli family, an Italian business dynasty, using its companies to become directly involved in purchasing medical equipment, distributing food and medicine, and supporting distance teaching schemes in schools etc and the   action of large scale distribution of hand sanitiser by the L...

Two things have suddenly changed my mind on the topic for today’s post.They are :1. The photo of a tall and slender beauty queen distributing meals on her own to a few hungry hundred and 2. An article I read in Scroll.in It says that over 80 millionaires wrote an open letter urging the governments across the world to substantially increase the taxes on them to help accumulating more funds to fight the pandemic. Sounds incredible ! Is n’t it? The signatories were from United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany and New Zealand, who under the umbrella name “Millionaires for Humanity” called    for an “immediate and permanent” imposition of higher taxes on them. Among the signatories were Ben and Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Jerry Greenfield and filmmaker Abigail Disney.The letter went on to say that millionaires like them have a critical role to play in healing of our world !   We are following the stupendous work of Sonu Sood as a one mam army ! Also...