HOW COVID-19 TRANSFORMED LGBTQ COMMUNITY?

 

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

This title here is a sarcastic statement. When talking about the LGBT community, we have to keep in mind that, we are not here to dwell on the past, not to play blame games, we are hear to join our heads together and make self-acceptance in LGBT community and make them a part of us. Looking towards the catastrophic situations created by the Covid-19 pandemic, we all forgot that apart from the rest of the casualties, the LGBT community has suffered even worse than ever before. Where everyone lost their jobs, many became unemployed, homeless, the daily wage workers became even poorer and are living on roadside. The girls working in household jobs became lost their work, in such scenarios, the LGBT community which was already suffering huge discrimination and difficulties in finding proper jobs, employment, education, living, saw the worst parts of their lives, where no food, no money, no house, no water. The covid-19 pandemic has caused the worst damage to the LGBT community and now its even difficult to lift them out of the poverty and off such an adverse situation. In India, the present scenarios clearly implies that now, we must take strict actions against all those parties which are a troublemaker to the LGBT community. The current situation in India, is like a nightmare. The Covid-19 situation, the crisis period, the insecurity, the fear of being tested positive for corona virus, lack of awareness and education, exploitation of forced-labor, children, girls etc. All this adds up to more than a well of troubles. The worst affected are the daily-wage workers, girls, poor, middle class, and the LGBT community. Out of these if we talk about not even able to get access to any facility, is the LGBT community. The LGBT community has suffered beyond our imagination, and still not even able to come out of it. During this pandemic, and crisis the LGBT community has seen the darkest side of the world, where they can’t even have access to education, health care, jobs and employment. The society has neglected and ignored the LGBT community, as if their existence is opposed by the God. People have no idea what the LGBT community have seen in their lives and what will come in distant future. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender are struggling majorly because of the stigma and superstition in the society, and nothing else. People here in this country do not realize the pain of others, they just inject pain as much as possible. What we all see is just the upper layer or the roof top, we haven’t seen the bitter reality of the conditions in which the LGBT community live. Hence, its high time to just criticize and think, it’s time to initiate plans and take actions to assist LGBT community and other people as well to come out of such issues.

SCIENTISTS REVEAL WHEN WILL COVID-19 END

The Corona Virus Disease, popularly known as COVID-19, first appeared on this heavenly planet Earth on 31st December 2019, in the Chinese city of Wuhan. It has been one of the most deadliest viruses which has questioned the existence of humankind.  In a latest research held in London by the International Medical Institutions which included the international Royal Medical Institute of the United Kingdom, scientists have got to know about one of the most shocking things about CORONA, which has given an answer to the question, that it will never end.

Let me first tell you what exactly have they found out in the research. From day one, we all had been told that this deadly Virus spreads through droplets when someone sneezes. This meant that only if you were in the vicinity of a COVID patient, will you have any chance of getting infected with COVID. But now, this has been proved wrong. The researchers found out that Corona Virus spreads through air and it has now been kept in the category of air-borne diseases. 

When will COVID-19 end? In coming years, when all the world will be vaccinated, we will be able to develop herd immunity. But the resent cases in India and America about COVID infections after both doses of vaccine indicates that COVID can never end if we rely on herd immunity. Recently, ex prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh was found positive in COVID research. Unfortunately, senior doctors have said that this COVID will never end in future for atleast 15-20 years. Just like mild diseases like Dengue, Malaria, Swine Flu, Severe Cough, Yellow Fever etc., it will spread in all parts of world every few year. But after vaccination programs, its intensity will be low, and only a part of society, who live an ultra-luxurious life will have any chance to get infected by it. Rest, the majority of us, who live in towns, and earn our living by working hard, will not be a vulnerable target of COVID-19.  

So what can we do to end it? Before killing Corona Virus, we have to kill another virus. This is virus of carelessness. Only after we succeed in killing this virus of carelessness, will we be able to win our fight against this virus and free ourselves from the stigma of this pandemic. The best way to be safe is to wear mask even if your country gets very less cases, say only 500 per day. Keep wearing mask for next 2-3 years every time you step out of your house. 

The Story of Success:-

1. Israel- After 50% of its population has been vaccinated, Israel has officially undeclared emergency and has made the mask optional to wear. 

2. United Kingdom- The country where the second COVID variant first arose, has also opened its coffee shops, cafes, cinema houses without mask compulsion.

3. China- China has also removed all kinds of restrictions from Wuhan, the birthplace of Corona.

Please read about why COVID is spreading again here:- https://trendmeinworld.blogspot.com/2021/04/covid-spreading-again-know-why.html

Please read about COVID vaccines over here:-   https://trendmeinworld.blogspot.com/2021/04/different-covid-vaccines-in-world-which.html#more

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BE SAFE! 

EXACERBATING CONDITIONS OF WOMEN DURING PANDEMIC

In the words of Mami Mizutori, “disaster amplifies the inequitable aspects of the world we live in”. Each day as it comes to a woman, she lives it, utilizes it and works in it to adequately serve her family; the only goal which she tries to accomplish, irrespective of her job or health. Playing every role flawlessly, fulfilling each responsibility smoothly and multitasking unsurpassably. The world is going through an unprecedented catastrophe which has paralyzed the current socio-economic, political and infrastructural needs difficult to be met. Unknowingly the pandemic has unleashed a number of subsequent ‘Gordian knots’ correspondingly diverting us to the worst.

The deeply entrenched patriarchy in various parts of the world has got a great opportunity to antagonise the society once again by coming into corporeality. The cases of domestic violence, sexual harassment, child marriage, confinements on girl education, inaccessibility of girls to online tools and forceful pressure to do domestic chores are some of the problems which have touched the pinnacle of its existence. The GEM (Global Education Monitoring) Report 2020 by UNESCO states the non-supportive nature towards education during COVID-19 pandemic in 40% economically backward countries. The websites like PEER, have mentioned the continued existence of exploitation in terms of providing education to women. The oppressive social structures have made the online education least effective for girls to get themselves educated. The females are proven to be the worst affected group during this lockdown. The lacuna between the treatment for providing opportunities for educational exploration to only boys and depriving girls from it begins at a very early stage. This is reflected by the 14th ASER (Annual Status of Educational Report) conducted across 26 districts of 24 states has shown a drastic discrepancy in the rate at which the parents prefer to send boys to private school than girls. 56.8% of girls and only 50.4% of boys are sent to government school in contrast to the 43.2% of girls and 49.6% of boys are sent to private schools. The girls are preferably sent to government school while boys to private sector. However during lockdown the propensity to continue the pace of providing education to girls have been disrupted and another set issues are consequently rising like child marriages, pressure to do household chores or many a times inaccessibility to online tools. The report of UN mentions the vulnerability of child marriages to increase during the lockdowns by 4 million and total of about 13 million by the end of next decade. The RTE which mandates the persuasion of education for the age group of 6-14 has been proved to be unviable. 

The economy has experienced a swift slump which has brought turmoil to the lives of the people. According to the data of ILO (International Labour Organization) about 200 million jobs were lost in the initial months of the pandemic. The surge in poverty and economic inequality has resulted in a huge amount of school drop out of about 42%, conducted across few Asian countries by ‘Room to read’ which states that one out of every three girls is at the risk of drop out. These girls, mostly teen girls are forced to indulge themselves in domestic chores and the girls continuing their education are not able to dedicate the time essential for it. A paper under the name of “Whatever she may study, she can’t escape from washing dishes: Gender inequity in secondary education – evidence from a longitudinal study in India'' published under the ‘Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education’ states the amount of time spent by boys and girls respectively for doing domestic chores has about 17.7% gender gap. In the case of contemporary online classes it is evident in the accessibility of online tools and preferential treatment for the same. It is very saddening to know the results of the survey conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India that only 30% of Indian users are female. The most heinous fact about the Indian society of not allowing women to have access to mobile phones as it might lead to weakening of control of men over them. It is still prevalent in many parts of India like Phulwari village of Bihar. The lockdown has taken away jobs of many female workers too which has made it difficult for them to survive under their dominating partners who are exploiting them. Even if we are seeing a rise in the number of women as frontline workers, the remuneration given is not equal to that of men. Following this the rate of child marriage has simultaneously soared with an additional increase of about 4 million as warned by UN. Such scenario was earlier visible during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and 2008 financial crisis and ended in similar fate. 

Another important matter of urgent attention is escalation of cases of domestic violence. The reports of UNWOMEN states an upsurge of 243 million worldwide in any sort of violence done to women of age group 15 to 49 in a period of 12 months. In countries like France, the government has made arrangements in hotels for women victims of domestic violence .Apart from this, the women are forced to the facilitation of financial situations of the house even though simultaneously expected to organize household chores. British economists like James Meade and Richard Stone have stated the total value of unaccounted household chores which is equal to more than half of world GDP.  The women, however, have other threats too like the sudden uprising in human trafficking. This has been, since time immemorial, the worst form of exploitation a woman could go through. The human trafficking has increased due to the economic challenges chiefly. The landowners in rural areas are traced to be the huge regulators of such unethical actions. During these COVID times, online harassment against other forms of exploitation has spiked up by more than five times as per NCW (National Commission for Women) mentions. Many women are also facing reproductive threats as they are being abstained from obtaining the health facilities available. Their mental health is also a concern of great attention. 

It is our impeccable fortune that we are able to read articles or probably write and continue our studies even during the worst; not forgetting the exposure of opportunity that we possess. It should be our prime duty to respect such a luxury and share our resources pro-bono and break the confrontations of factors leading to the rise of such crimes. It is highly appreciable if our opportunities can be utilized for the betterment of the whole society.

The article has been published by Pranjal Sharma, the best content writer of this website. Her articles are loved by people all around the world.

COVID V/S HUMANITY

The COVID– 19 pandemic in India is a part of the world wide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019. Unfortunately, India has the largest number of confirmed cases in Asia currently, which account to around 20 million. It is witnessing the second wave from March 2021. The major causes of second wave were election rallies, Kumbh Mela and increase reluctance amongst citizens, were proved out to be super spreaders. The surge in COVID cases and fatality rates were highest in the world. Our health care system is overburdened not only by the increase numbers of cases but by the shortage of oxygen, masks, PPE kits, sanitizers and various lifesaving medicine.

Though Indian government is trying to get the oxygen and medicines by taking help from other countries and also installing new oxygen plants and turning all industrial oxygen into medical oxygen. But there is a popular saying “GHAR KA BHEDI LANKA DHAYE”. When people are finding it difficult to get hospital beds and medicines, when there are cries everywhere in houses and hospitals, so much heart breaking that we can’t hold our tears back. Yet there are few people in country who forgot about humanity , became so insensitive that despite this catastrophe they are more into filling up their bags by black mailing the needy people by selling oxygen cylinder , fake medicines at sky high prices without even considering the financial and mental status of the person . This mal practice after coming in the notice of the administration is facing strict action and the police has started grabbing them. Even people are leaving old parents on the road, they are not ready to go to crematorium to perform last rites just with the thought that they might contract the infection. I am sure that this suffering will be over our globe will be free from corona. But what about these vultures who have lost themselves in making the money. We have become so greedy, so self-centered that we have lost the purpose of our lives on this planet.

Is this the world that we wanted to live in? But yes every coin has two sides when we hear of one news of negativity we come to hear a positive news too. We have people those who are giving unconditional support. We have heard about a lot in newspaper and in social media about the work they are rendering to the society. In the Guruduwara’sthey have kept langers from where they supply unlimited to covid affected families round the clock. They are giving oxygen to people in need, in their cars or autos, free medicines and free ambulance service. Just like them many NGOs and industrialist have come to reduce the sufferings of the societies. After looking at such incidences. I am sure humanity is still alive and god always send his messengers in one or another way.

Hence “ MANAVTA KI MAHANTA MANAV HONE MEIN NAHI MANVIYA HONE MEIN HAI”

(This article has been written by Vaanya Meherda, a seventh grade student of Maharani Gayatri Devi School, Jaipur.)

DIFFERENT COVID VACCINES IN WORLD - WHICH VACCINE TO USE?

 

1.       COVID SHIELD: The Oxford University of Great Britain along with AstraZeneca is manufacturing this vaccine at the Serum Institute of India at Pune, Maharashtra. This vaccine has been found 81% working. This is the first vaccine to get the approval of emergency in India. India has exported over 50 million doses of this vaccine to around 65 nations around the globe. Another 10 million have been provided to World Health Organization (WHO) so that they can be distributed in poor nations like Pakistan and some African countries. This vaccine has however been in many controversies due to its adverse side-effects, that’s why it has officially been banned by many European and American countries. It costs around $4, though it is given free of cost in government hospitals.

2.       COVAXIN: This is yet another vaccine produced in India at Bengaluru by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). It is an indigenous vaccine, which is rarely used in India. The rate of manufacturing of this vaccine is quite slow. This is the prominent reason why only 10% of the total vaccines in India are COVAXIN. This vaccine was given to Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi on 1^st March 2021 in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi.

3.       Sputnik V: This is Russian Vaccine which claims to have the success rate of over 90%. It is the first vaccine of the world which got permission for emergency use in any part of the world to common people. The first person to take this vaccine was Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin. Recently, government of India has given permission to Sputnik V to be used as a normal vaccine from May 1. It is the first foreign vaccine to get permission for emergency use in the Republic of India. It is moderately expensive and costs around $8 to $10.

4.       Pfizer BioNTech: It is an Americo-German vaccine developed by a multinational vaccine company Pfizer. This vaccine is said to have maximum success rate in the world, with no or minimal side effects. It is claimed that this vaccine has success rate of 96%. Currently, 40 nations of the world are using this vaccine. It is being given to all people above 16 years, making it the world’s only vaccine to have been given to children aged below 18. It is given in the form of 2 doses, the second dose being taken after 3 weeks. It is moderately expensive and costs around $15 to $20.

5.       Moderna: It is the world’s only vaccine of COVID-19 which is based on mRNA technique. RNA stands for Ribonucleic Acid, it is present in the cell and is manufactured inside the nucleolus of an ordinary cell. It is also an American Vaccine manufactured by ModernaTX Inc. and is being used in many countries. Similar to other previously discussed vaccine, it is also given in two shorts, the time difference being at least 4 weeks (28 days). It is recommended that those people who have observed severe symptoms like nausea and fever should not take the second dose as it could be fatal. It is quite expensive and costs around $25 to $33.

6.       Janssen: It is a unique vaccine in the sense that it is the only vaccine in the world which aims to build immunity against COVID-19 in only one shot. Manufactured by an American Company Johnson and Johnson, it has been currently banned in USA due to observations like blood clotting. It is given to all adult citizens which means people above 18 years and is not currently a part of vaccination program of India and USA.

7.       Chinese Vaccines: Sinopharm, the first Chinese vaccine is a highly unreliable vaccine manufactured in China, currently used in not more than 3 nations officially. It was officially announced on 30^th December, after completion of its 3 trial phases. Results show that it is around 79% effective, lower than Moderna or Pfizer. The other is being developed by Anhui Zhifei Longcom. Its vaccine uses a purified piece of the virus to trigger an immune response, and has recently entered phase three trials, according to the report. At last, we would like to say NO TO CHINA!

COVID Spreading Again- Know Why?

COVID Spreading Again- Mutations, Elections or Something Else?

 We all have been listening about re-spread of Covid-19 in India since a few weeks. In this article, I will tell you about the prominent reasons why COVID cases in India are increasing exponentially.

 COVID Mutation: - Scientifically, mutation is something which changes the shape and DNA- genome structure of a virus. Surprisingly, this process takes all of a sudden and it occurs to increase the adaptability of the virus. As Virus are a link between living and non-living things, they try to find out all possible ways to enter into our body. There are 3 variants of COVID -19 available in the world. Sadly, all three variants have been successful to enter India. The first variant originated in United Kingdom in December 2020. This variant was often called COVID-20, due to its origin after exactly one year of the identified VIRUS in Wuhan. The other variants originated in South Africa and Brazil. These variants have been found ineffective against many vaccines which advocate the need of another lockdown or atleast strict implementation of compulsory masks.

1.     Fear of COVID is dead: - When COVID just started spreading in India, Narendra Damodardas Modi; honorable Prime Minister of The Republic of India said that, “Yeh Darr Achcha hai”. Have you ever wondered why this fear was important? I believe, to stop COVID from rereading, all of us should have some fear in mind. Initially, this fear forced all Indians to wear masks, and not go out of this country. In March 2020, we were horrified seeing the cases in Wuhan and Italy. We always wondered what would happen if lockdown would be implemented. I agree its effects on economic front were dramatic, but then without lockdown we could have never been able break this deadly chain. It was probably the fear of COVID that forced us to wash our hands every now and then. But today, in the streets, we find a whole lot of a crowd which never wears mask. Now, it is upon us whether we want another lockdown and thousands of graves or we wear mask. 

 

3.     Election Campaigns: - This can be noted as the biggest reason why COVID – 19 is spreading all over India so rapid after the declaration of Election in 4 States and 1 Union Territory, namely West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry. This election is the first election after the COVID lockdown era where BJP’s dominance over other parties does not exist. As of now, apart from Assam, any other state is not under the rule of BJP. Even in Assam, due to pre-pole alliances and other factors like CAA-NRC, opinion polls have suggested a change in the ruling party. This means Congress would come into power, if opinion polls are true. In West Bengal, the autocratic government of Mamta Banarjee is trying to suppress the growing agitation against her party, in most districts. This has lead to something unexpected, guess what? The COVID testing has dropped dramatically, only 42.59% of what it was 5-6 months earlier. In Southern India, no national party has dominance over any Legislative Assembly. Since both the states are controlled by regional parties, door to door campaigns are far and wide, leading to respreads of COVID.

 

4.     Failure of COVID-SHIELD: - India currently outnumbers all countries in the list of maximum vaccinations. In India, around 104 million, people have been vaccinated, which is around 10 million more than the country which we consider ideal in terms of health facility, United States of America.  Even  though we started vaccination programme around 1 month late, we are performing the best. But to vaccinate at the same rate it would take 4 years for everyone to be vaccinated. Further, there is no guarantee that vaccination will protect us from this deadly virus. We have vaccinated almost all doctors. Just a few days ago, 32 doctors in All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have been found COVID+. One of my own relative, who was vaccinated with both the doses on 1^st April, got tested positive for COVID yesterday. The adverse symptoms of the Vaccine manufactured at Serum Institute of India by Oxford University- AstraZeneca have been found in researches deadly symptoms

 

5.     Other Reasons:- I know there are many more reasons. I request you to comment them in the section below. Be safe, be COVID negative. 

BE SAFE FROM 2ND WAVE OF COVID.