Musings....... No one waiting for 2020 would have realised the world would be facing something so drastic as the COVID-19, previously called the Novel Coronavirus 2019 (nCOV-2019). Starting as an outbreak in Wuhan, the capital city of Central China’s Hubei Province, the viral zoonotic disease has spread its eagle wings into an epidemic at first and then into a pandemic engulfing the whole of earth around it. An outbreak is a sudden rise in the number of cases of a disease. It may occur in a community or geographical area or may affect several countries. It may last for a few days, weeks or for several years. Some outbreaks like influenza are expected each year. Sometimes a single case of an infectious disease can be considered an outbreak such as if the disease is rare - like botulism or if it has serious public health implications- like Anthrax. An epidemic occurs when an infectious disease spreads rapidly to many people. An example would be the 2003 SARS - severe acute respir...
Musings....... A tribe is defined in anthropology as a human social group. The exact meaning of the word tribe is considered controversial because of its association with colonialism. In general use, the term may have a negative connotation as it may refer to people who are perceived to be primitive. The system of classification for societies from anthropological point of view, is based on evolution of social inequality and the role of the state. It contains- 1) Hunter Gatherer bands that are generally egalitarian 2) Tribal societies with some limited instances of social rank and prestige. 3) Stratified tribal societies led by chieftains 4) Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organised institutional governments We obviously belong to the fourth category and the now well known Sentinelese tribe belong to the first category. The Sentenelese are an uncontacted tribe living on North Sentinal Island, one of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. They are the ...
Musings....... The year 2020 circa will be for long remembered as the Pandemic year for centuries to come. Even though it was named Novel Coronavirus 19 to depict that the virus outbreak happened in late 2019, the full fledged effect of Coronavirus or Covid-19 was felt world over in 2020. Looking back much has changed the world over due to the pandemic. This year showed how misplaced human priorities are- huge spending on defence while neglecting healthcare, being one such example. We must remember our year started as a year of protests in India. The Modi Government which in 2019 was elected back with a thumping majority, started to fulfill their manifesto promises. The initial months of 2020 saw passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC. The special status accorded to all the state Jammu and Kashmir was taken away and the state made into two Union Territories of J and K and Ladakh. One positive outcome of all this was that the Protests a...
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