Bigg Boss season 14 began recently. The show has been going on well and fans are excited about this new and different season. In the first week, we did not see very great performances but now the show is going on really well. The contestants are opening up and playing the tasks well. From, the premiere night itself, one name that has been in the news every day and gaining fame suddenly is Nikki Tamboli. Yes, the gorgeous South actress has been nailing it since day one. She has a unique style and has been rocking it in the Bigg Boss 14 house. On the very first day, she had a fight with Shehzad Deol and we saw how she always made all the contestants agree with her decision. Hina Khan had asked the 11 contestants to decide on the 7 things they need from BB mall which has been introduced in this season. Few contestants had to sacrifice each day but Nikki Tamboli was the one who always took what she wants and made ever other house member to agree with her decision. She stood for herself and played every task well. Hence, the seniors made her the first confirmed housemate of the Bigg Boss 414 House.
She is also entertaining fans with her cute talks and her fashion choices. As the game progresses, we are seeing a lot of Nikki Tamboli in the house. However, recently we had seen a completely changed Nikki. She is a smart player. Recently, Nishant Singh Malkani became the first captain of the season and his friends in the house - Rahul Vaidya and Jaan Kumar Sanu were quite happy about it. However, Nikki Tamboli did not like it as she was also a part of the gang and they did not choose her as the captain. She was seen crying and being emotional in front of others. She went on to say how she was betrayed by her friends. Post that task, we see Nikki Tamboli apologising to Jaan for calling him fake. Jaan comes behind Nikki in the red zone and tries to make her understand things but she doesn't listen to him. Post this episode, we had asked fans if they feel that Nikki Tamboli is purposely playing the victim card to gain sympathy from the contestants.
Forty five-year-old Ayesha (name changed), a resident of a small town in west Uttar Pradesh (UP), first spotted a tiny painless lump in her breast in April this year. However, the Coronavirus- induced lockdown and the fear of catching the infection in a healthcare setting prevented her from seeing a doctor. Even when the lockdown was eased, her family was too scared to travel to Delhi to seek medical consultation. By the time she reached an oncologist four months later, her aggressive cancer had already hit Stage III, diminishing the chances of her survival.
Unfortunately, Ayesha is not a lone case of a seriously-ill patient being deprived of timely treatment due to the ongoing contagion. While we will never be able to collate data of how many such patients suffered delayed diagnosis and treatment this year, it is evident that the number is significant. Patient attendance in oncology clinics fell significantly in the initial months of the pandemic. The number of new cases diagnosed continued to remain relatively low even several months after the total lockdown had been eased. Breast Cancer Now, a British charity organisation, estimated that due to the contagion almost a million British women had missed a screening appointment. This might have led to thousands of cancers going undetected. For a country like India, where a majority of breast cancer detections still happen in the later stages of the disease, the Coronavirus outbreak has further hampered diagnosis and treatment, and is likely to negatively impact survival rates from the disease.
Rising disease burden in India: Breast cancer is the most common form of the disease among Indian women and accounts for an estimated 28 per cent of all cancers. In fact, a woman is diagnosed with it every four minutes while another dies of this disease every 13 minutes in the country. In 2018, it is estimated to have claimed as many as 87,000 lives in India. The incidence of the disease has increased dramatically over the last 25 years due to multiple factors, including increasing urbanisation, adoption of unhealthy lifestyles (smoking, drinking, junk food consumption and so on), increased use of plastic utensils and microwave ovens, rise in obesity, drop in physical activity levels, delayed age of child-bearing and reduced breast-feeding.
India also has a high mortality rate because a majority of the patients are still diagnosed in the late stages of the disease and a significant proportion of them are not able to get appropriate treatment. Another worrying trend is an increasing incidence of the disease in younger women. Shockingly, nearly half of the patients in urban India are less than 50 years of age. Poor awareness about symptoms, lack of a universal and comprehensive screening programme, social taboos and embarrassment to discuss the issue are the main reasons behind delayed diagnosis as well as the resultant high mortality. Unfortunately, the prevailing situation due to a worldwide pandemic has impeded diagnosis and treatment of a number of non-Coronavirus diseases, including all types of cancers. Already a neglected subject, women’s health has further been relegated to the back-burner as families delay medical consultation and avoid visiting healthcare facilities or undergoing regular disease screening.
Pandemic or not, do not put health issues on the back-burner: The Coronavirus is a long-term problem, which is likely to stay with us in the near future. While containing the pandemic and ensuring treatment of all infected people must be a high priority, adequate policy measures need to be taken to ensure that other serious diseases are not neglected in the process. Governments as well as healthcare providers, both have a role to play in achieving this. It is important to educate people about the importance of not neglecting their health conditions and prevent interruptions in treatment modalities, too. It is equally important to ensure continuation of unimpeded non-Coronavirus services in hospitals while also instilling confidence among people about the safety of hospitals and clinics, especially outpatient departments (OPDs).
However, the silver lining in the dark cloud is that thanks to advanced diagnostic and treatment modalities, survival rates of breast cancer patients have increased significantly globally. While survival depends on a number of factors such as the type of cancer, stage at the time of diagnosis, the quality of treatment, in the US it is estimated that up to 90 per cent of women survive five years after diagnosis and 84 per cent manage to survive 10 years.
However, in India, the survival rates remain abysmally low for reasons mentioned above. Increased awareness and health literacy, regular screening after 40 years of age, adoption of a healthy and active lifestyle sans smoking or excessive drinking, timely and appropriate treatment can help improve survival rates in India too.
New-age technologies can help navigate the Coronavirus pandemic: The adoption of new-age technologically- advanced methods further helps improve the quality of life of patients. Now, surgical treatment does not mean removal of the whole breast in all patients. It is possible to offer a breast conservation surgery in nearly 60-70 per cent of the patients either upfront or after chemotherapy.
Similarly, complete removal of armpit nodes, a procedure done routinely in all patients until a couple of decades ago, has given way to sentinel lymph node biopsy in which only a few nodes need to be tested for the presence of the tumour.
If these sentinel nodes are not involved in the disease, one does not need to remove the remaining nodes, thus bringing down the rate of shoulder dysfunction as well as lymphedema (swelling of the arm) significantly. Similar to surgery, personalised systemic therapy (chemo, hormone, immune and targeted therapy) has enabled us to avoid more toxic treatment in patients with a good biology tumour. Two patients with the same size of tumour can have very different outcomes. New-age prognostic tests help predict the risk of cancer relapse in the early stage of breast cancer with a high degree of accuracy, stratifying patients into low and high-risk categories, based on their tumour biology. Those patients who fall in the low-risk category have very limited risk of relapse and may be able to avoid chemotherapy.
Cancer patients face a higher risk of catching the Coronavirus infection as well as suffering from its complications because of their immuno-suppressive state as a result of the disease itself and due to chemotherapy. These prognostic tests that can help them avoid chemotherapy, if used judiciously, can kill two birds with one stone — patients can avoid chemotherapy, which is immunosuppressive, and avoid visits to the hospital to undergo chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy has also undergone a complete metamorphosis over the decades and modern machines enable us to deliver more precise radiation (thus sparing adjacent organs like the lungs and the heart from a high dose of radiation) and in a shorter interval of time (as less as two weeks as compared to the usual five weeks in a select group of patients).
In more good news, researchers in Canada have developed a new, inexpensive technology that could save lives and money by routinely screening women for breast cancer without exposure to radiation. The system, developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo, uses harmless microwaves and Artificial Intelligence software to detect even small, early-stage tumours within minutes.
By comparing the tissue composition of one breast with the other, the system is sensitive enough to detect anomalies less than one centimetre in diameter. A negative result could quickly rule out cancer, while a positive result would trigger referral for more expensive tests using mammography or magnetic resonance imaging. In addition to reducing patient wait times and enabling earlier diagnosis, the device would eliminate radiation exposure, improve patient comfort and work on particularly dense breasts, a problem with mammograms. However, this technology will take a while to come to India as it is still at the nascent stage.
In the end, people have to realise that while the Coronavirus is a serious pandemic, they must not neglect their overall health, compromise on regular check-ups and doctor consultations or delay cancer treatment. However, all hospital visits must be undertaken with complete precautionary measures that are the new normal now.
(The writer is head, Department of Surgical Oncology, Manipal Hospitals, Dwarka)
US President Donald Trump has a point about Indian air quality and it is no laughing matter
People living in north India, particularly Delhi, under truly choking conditions would not really disagree with US President Donald Trump’s statement about India’s air being filthy. They should hope that this ultimate repudiation of our ambient quality and pollution in a US presidential debate might force the Central and State Governments to finally do something about it. Like it or not, Delhi’s air knocks years off the lives of its citizens and if farmers want the sympathy of the urban populace and the media over the new Acts, they will not get it till they stop burning stubble that leaves a haze and blocks sunlight every morning. The persistently poor air quality in India is now officially a global joke and our politicians’ reluctance to deal with the issue holistically because they do not want to irritate their agricultural votebank is an even bigger one. Hundreds of crores have been raised as green cess in Delhi; why is this money not being used to subsidise agricultural machinery for farmers in North India so that they can get rid of crop waste in an eco-friendly manner? The lives of our children are being ruined by chronic pulmonary conditions such as asthma and politicians are trying to blame everything under the sun but the most obvious cause. They can’t even attack the automotive industry anymore as it has moved to very low emission BS-6 vehicles now. There could soon be medical evidence to prove a direct connection between high levels of pollution and the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Say what you will about Donald Trump, he does speak about a lot of things without filtering them through political doublespeak. He was proven right about China and he is absolutely right about Indian air quality.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the political capital to do something about this and he must because inaction on this front will taint his legacy. The right to clean air should be a given and like it or not, this impacts the poor and underprivileged whom Modi and even Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claim to stand for the most. The chattering classes with access to air purifiers can afford to live with it. So whether Trump remains in office or the US gets a 46th President, the time for Indian politicians to act is now.
Perhaps the BJP forgot that as a party in governance, it is answerable to all citizens, not just those of poll-bound States
Political adventurism shouldn’t trespass reason. And governance is about contextual maturity. Besides, certain issues are just not meant to be politicised, especially something as serious as the Coronavirus vaccine, a hope that’s sustaining the entire nation which could still end up being the worst-hit in the world. That, too, at a time when an effective vaccine is like the proverbial El Dorado, as trials are still going on and there is no proof yet that it would work on a mass scale. Even assuming it does, every citizen, graded according to priority and co-morbidities, has a right to be administered a shot. And any smart Government would try to sound altruistic enough about protecting all citizens, if not mean it, only to reap political gains. Agreed politics is all about making tall claims that are rarely achieved. Still, for all the eloquence, there ought to be some sense of prudence and judgment. Most importantly, no party can advocate anything that is morally questionable. In this sense, the ruling BJP has overreached itself a bit much, promising the voters in Bihar free vaccines, without realising that it is implicitly saying that official benefits will now flow selectively among those who vote for it as a quid pro quo. That sounds as bad as a public threat. Worse, its promise is not just another instance of poll populism — it’s an attempt to manipulate the anxieties caused by the most lethal pandemic to have ravaged the world in more than a century. And when somebody like Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman makes the announcement, it shows that the Government is desperate about the poll arithmetic of the party it represents than pursuing holistic policies, that it is cavalier about the demands of science and health protocols and is unconcerned about lives, leave alone being compassionate. However, this isn’t the first time the party has made such questionable promises. There was talk that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to launch a home-grown COVID vaccine by August 15 to mark the nation’s 72 years of Independence. Apparently, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was under pressure to fast-track clinical trials but widespread criticism about compromising efficacy for the sake of political expediency and pressure from scientists ensured that a life and death question was not made a mockery of. Yet the BJP’s claim of free vaccine doses has already trivialised a grave issue into a point-scoring exercise. A similar announcement followed in Tamil Nadu, where the elections are due next year. AIADMK leader and Chief Minister E Palaniswami promised the shots on the basis of his proximity to the BJP. In other words, tradeoffs of this nature will be made to buy the allegiance of federal parties. One wonders what the BJP’s stand would be in Bengal, where it is seeking to dislodge the Trinamool Congress? But the BJP’s fatal flaw has certainly galvanised the Opposition. Delhi Chief Minister and leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal was quick to point out the plight of the people in non-BJP ruled States while National Conference leader Omar Abdullah called the announcement a “blatant populism” that “shamefully exploits COVID fears.” He even wondered if the BJP would be paying for these vaccines from the party treasury. So when the Union Minister of State for Health, Ashwini Chaubey, tried to clear the air, it was too little too late. According to him, the Centre had prepared an elaborate plan on distributing the vaccine and identifying those who would be given “preference.” He even added that every State would be given free Coronavirus vaccines. But Amit Malviya of the BJP’s IT cell further complicated matters when he said that like all programmes, the Centre would provide vaccines to States at a nominal rate. And health being a State subject, the Bihar BJP unit had decided to give it free if elected and that other State Governments, too, can decide to do the same. This is not unexpected, as it has become normal for the ruling dispensation to change its stand on what subjects under the State List can be manipulated by the Centre. Except that the Opposition is not buying this narrative with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) urging the Election Commission to restrain the BJP from “signing a poll deal using the vaccine.”
The larger concern is that the political parties will still get away making wild claims during the Bihar elections, the results of which will be announced in November. And no trial results will be available before December, leave aside the prospect of a rollout by the beginning of next year. Would the voter bet on something that has still not seen the light of day? The Government should instead focus on the vaccine administration process and set up a seamless cold chain infrastructure, both of which are humongous challenges. Vaccine preservation is a tricky business as wide swathes of vials could go bad if safety norms are not adhered to and the temperature controls are not monitored strictly. The COVID vaccine has to be stored at temperatures lower than other known vaccines. The Serum Institute has already raised questions on the Government’s ability to keep aside Rs 80,000 crore for the rollout. Is the Government equipped to handle this without roping in the private sector? If so, how much will the private sector be ready to subsidise costs? Besides, how will those at risk be mapped, considering that most Indians have a heavy disease burden and co-morbidities? Vaccine distribution and administration will be no less of a logistical challenge than the general elections and will require the Centre and States to work together. So before it promises the moon, the BJP should realise that gravity is rude and it alone would land with a thud if it doesn’t pursue collaborative politics on COVID for its own good.
Before I write any further on the topic of Corona, I would like to express my grief at the plight of doctors from the 900hundred bedded Hindu Rao Hospital-a Covid-19 dedicated centre run by North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).
The non-payment of their salaries for more than 3months and a crossfire of blames and counter blames between (NDMC) and Delhi government is an unfortunate situation, to say the least. This crisis of unbearable financial stress to the team leaders of the frontline workers in the prevailing emergency situations of the pandemic should be sorted out at the earliest possible as it carries the potential of causing a complete breakdown of the system.
It is now around 10months since Covid-19 virus made its gatecrash entry into almost every corner of the earth, affecting each & every sphere of human existence. India has borne the brunt of this attack both as a part of the rest of the world and as a unique nation of 1300million people , majority of whom were living below the internationally drawn poverty line even before the spread of this disease, as a nation practising all major religions of the world,, having 26 different official languages, a landscape varying from the mighty Himalayas to Rajasthan's Thar desert of 200lakh square kms, a mainland coastline of 5422.6kms, sharing its northern borders on both Eastern & Western sides with hostile countries. Each of these factors hold a moulding effect on the planning and execution of a fight against a disease which has a power of spreading like wildfire anywhere and everywhere. The health delivery system in this adverse situation could evidently not have been self sufficient or one of the best in the world, yet the country's fight for survival has been remarkably bold, result oriented & scientifically based.
Circumstances like these in any other part of the world would have led to a complete crackdown in the official and unofficial machinery which runs a nation, but India has not given any evidence of surrender to the Doom's day predictions about the pandemic.
The earliest days of the pandemic brought forward a depressing picture of millions of migrant labourers, literally walking down 1000s of kms back home after losing their meagre livelihoods, carrying their children & heavy baggage on frail shoulders, which more often than not belonged to ladies, running hungry for days, getting crushed under trains and buses, but continuing their march till they reached their destinations. Many died on the way but the country survived with the strength they imparted to it.
The complete lockdown stretching over months led, as we all are painfully aware, to a halt of all human activity; businesses and markets were closed, educational institutions were shut sine die, all means of transport were stopped from running, roads wore the bare empty look which no eyes had seen before, visit to religious places & cinema houses, sports, cultural events were all stopped and cancelled. This last part of the scenario was the only thing India shared with the world-the rest of the story being totally different for our land of miracles and awe.
The first confirmed case of Covid-19 was recorded in Kerela's, Thissur district on 30th January'2020, the country has come a long way from this Wuhan exported case, reaching 75,49,162 number of the total affected individuals & 1,14,623 national death figure as of today the 19th October'2020. Till mid-May we were nowhere in the list of 10 most affected nations, but from then on we steadily climbed this chart to reach our present 2nd position in it & are stuck there for more than a month now; 8th September'2020 is the date of reaching this world record when our numbers exceeded those of Brazil and remained less compared to only one country, USA.
Our consolidated efforts to fight the disease have been inundated by (1) the wreckage caused from repeated sea storms at the Eastern as well as the Western coasts, (2) a locust invasion on the north western states, (3) military scuffles with China, continued irritants from Pakistan, and even Nepal, which till date had been a friendly nation, (4) serious social disruptive incidents occurring as a result of religious intolerance, (5) state level elections and by elections & Rajya Sabha elections-to name a few of these factors, which also included (6) protests against various constitutional amendments, and (7) our multitude of festivals and finally last but not the least (8) especially in the NCR the return of the pollution problem, which in itself can be a cause of an epidemic of allergic respiratory diseases.
In this chaotic social scene, a scientific thought, leave alone a scientific action of such mass scale connotations would seem unimagineable, but India is India and we have done it!! Behind this grim facade of a hazy cover, a probe into the reality of the results of our struggle against the disease would read as a big success story.
Much before the actual declaration of the pandemic being made at the UN level and almost coinciding with WHO's declaration on 12th January'2020 that a novel Coronavirus was causing a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in the Wuhan city of district Hubei in China, India began thermal screening of passengers arriving from China and a few other countries on 21st January'2020. This exercise was initially carried out at 7 airports and by the end of January was extended to 20 airports. The countries from where arrivals were being screened initially included China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea- this was in the earlier part of February'2020, by the end of February Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, & Indonasia were also included in the list. However, in February only, the ICMR admitted that airport screening alone was insufficient to control the impending threat.
The actual plans to deal with a worsening of the pandemic in the country were only drawn in mid-March for which seven ministries were roped in to set up additional quarantine and treatment facilities. While spreading information about these plans care was taken to caution all concerned to avoid a panic-like situation. I believe that this small step provided a big boost to the morale of the workers at all levels. Social distancing advice to be announced by all states was issued on 17th March and was the first step of the preventive strategy to which later wearing masks and frequent hand washing for 20seconds and use of sanitizers were soon added.
Countrywide lockdown for 21days was declared by the PM from 25th March & was preceded on 22nd March by a single day exercise of similar nature in 82 districts of 22 states and union territories, where confirmed cases had been reported. This was followed by barring of interstate travel and sealing of state borders. The positive effect of this measure was that the doubling time for the number of cases increased from the earlier three to six days. A complete lockdown of the entire nation was thus in place from 25th March till 31st May, but declarations to this effect were made in steps and phases. For the red zones or the containment areas this situation was to prevail till 30th June. This essential step of locking down the entire nation for a prolonged 2 & 1/2 month period made every single citizen of the country aware of risk factors associated with the illness and thus comply with the instructions and government advisories.
Under the WHO guidelines, the country adopted an epidemiological approach involving mass scale detection-covering maximum population, adequate testing for the disease, isolation of the affected individuals, care for every positive case and sincere tracing of contacts. (Please refer to my previous article "Making Sense of World Corona Figures-Chapter20-WHO on Corona" dated 13th October'2020)
With these dedicated efforts we have reached today's date of 19th October when 5days back on 14-10-2020 the total samples tested were '9 crore 90 thousand 122' of which those who tested positive numbered 72 lakhs 39 thousand and 389, this was equivalent to a (test/million figure of of 65,289 & a positively percentage of 8.04). The union health ministry has set up a war room from where the policy making team with members from different government organisations work to decide about the policies to be adopted to tackle the prevention and spread of coronavirus.
The National Institute of Virology has been providing leadership and guidance under which the initial 15 labs, as on 17th March, increased to 65 labs for testing of the virus. The visionary decision taken in mid-March to allow the NABL accreditation attained private labs to conduct tests on suspected individuals has helped the workers cover a population of roughly ten crores for Covid-19 tests.
Rapid antibody tests, pool testing which are capable of handling around 90 tests at a time, RT-PCR tests, low cost paper strip tests developed by the Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology of Delhi are the various types of tests being used for detection of the affected individuals. At this point it might be imperative to mention the ridiculous experience with the Chinese test kits, 6,50,000 of which arrived in India on the 16th April'2020. Over 2 million more were to be delivered within the next 15 days. These were rapid antibody tests and RNA extraction kits which were distributed by ICMR & NICED to various states for their use. On 21st April the health department of West Bengal alleged that these kits were yielding inconclusive results and a low accuracy of 5.4% as compared to the expected 90% was found in relation to these kits, so the ICMR stopped their uses all over the country and cancelled orders for the remaining kits.
Another very important achievement of the scientists of this nation, was the isolation, as early as on 14th March, of a strain of the novel Coronavirus. By doing this India became the 5th country to isolate a pure sample of this virus after China, Japan, USA & Thailand.
India has played an important role in the treatment and research aspects of the global Covid-19 control programs too. Hydroxychloroquine-sulfate a refined form of the 400 year old antimalarial drug chloroquine, is a part of four drugs Solidarity Trial for Covid-19 treatment, initiated by WHO and India participated in it by sending it in bulk to USA and other countries where malaria had long since been eradicated. The other three drugs in this scheme are Remdesivir, Lapinavir & the interferon.
India's experiment with convalescent plasma therapy wherein a recovered patient who has developed IgG antibodies in his blood, donates his plasma to a Corona ill patient, has also been tried elsewhere and is slowly gaining popularity after the four preconditions which ensure its success have been discovered.
As for the anti-corona vaccine, a latest advisory on it has been released from the PM's office which has emphasised on 17th October'2020, after Mr Narender Modi chaired a special meeting on the subject. that (a) no intranasal Covid-19 vaccine is under clinical trial in India, today (b) 3 indigenous vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of development out of which two are in stage (ii) and one is in stage (iii) and (c) that the country's health delivery system has to gear up its preparedness for vaccine administration by ensuring advanced planning for (i) cold storage chains for the vaccines (ii) distribution network (iii) monitoring mechanism and (iv) advance assessment & preparation of ancillary equipment required such as vials & syringes. Detailed blueprint for this plan was presented in that meeting which was attended by the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, & NITI aayog's principal scientific advisor besides senior officers from various concerned agencies.
It was further said here that Indian scientists & research teams were collaborating and strengthening the research capacities in neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, and Srilanka. Besides this, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Qatar, & Bhutan have requested India to help in the clinical trials in their respective countries.
It is a result of such hard work and team efforts that today, the leading daily newspaper Hindustan Times carried these two headlines on its front page, "Covid could be under control by February" as a quote from a panel of experts appointed by the government, and WHO has welcomed India's stance against vaccine nationalism.
The above mentioned applause from WHO has come our way because of our strategy on anti-corona vaccine, wherein, besides promoting and fully utilising our own products in this capacity we have accepted proposals from many of the foreign companies to allow the use of their products too in our country.
India may be just about flattening its pandemic curve but all depends on how we handle the festival gush
There is some good news for India at last where the pandemic is concerned. The number of new Coronavirus infections and casualties has declined in the last three weeks and the spread curve of the pandemic has flattened in most States, except for Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. The Government may have finally admitted to community transmission but we had quite internalised the possibility way back given the stiff peaks and high infectivity. Yet we cannot afford to be complacent about the disease right now as in Europe, too, the cases spiked exponentially after the spread slowed down for a bit, giving people a false sense of security, and the dry winter weather aggravated susceptibility to the virus. The UK is in a serious lockdown mode again. Besides, with economic activity opening up as part of the country’s unlocking efforts and cinema halls, multiplexes, entertainment parks, swimming pools for sportspersons functioning, the festive bonhomie this weekend could just about trigger a viral storm that could reverse the situation in no time. One has to look at Kerala, which was seen as a model of virus containment at one time, sliding disastrously post-Onam. In a State, where 90 per cent of the reported cases were from outside, the trend reversed to 90 per cent of the infections being locally transmitted July onwards.
We may slow down, tire out and chase the virus but have a long way to go because 70 per cent of the people are still susceptible to infection. So in short, there is no room for complacency or laxity. In this respect, the Calcutta High Court ruling that puja pandals in the city, which have been mounted on the usual lavish scale, cannot allow any visitors inside except the organisers, is much needed to avoid a mass contagion. Only then can we flatten out by February. Because, the socio-economic impact of the second wave of the virus on an already overwhelmed, weakened and tottering healthcare infrastructure and economy will be too great. We have to stop pointing fingers at the Government and everyone else on the planet for our plight. We need to grow up as a nation and take responsibility for our own actions. True, the Government and other stakeholders in it are responsible to a very large extent for management, but it is time we hold ourselves accountable, too. If this means becoming online celebrants for one season, so be it.
The upcoming episode of Bigg Boss 14 is going to be a firecracker one. In the upcoming Weekend Ka Vaar episode, we will see Rubina Dilaik standing up against Salman Khan and the Bigg Boss. We will also see Jasmin Bhasin taking out her angst against Eijaz Khan.
So, let's talk about the first thing first. In the promo, we saw, Pavitra Punia reading out a task. In the task, Bigg Boss asks the contestants to choose between Rubina Dilaik and Nikki Tamboli as to who has more garbage in their brain. Rubina is furious with this insult. She lashes out saying, "Sabse pehle, I am not a bin of garbage. Ab humare ghar ke mukhya bol rahe hai ki tumhare dimag me kachra hai. Mujhe uss cheez se problem hai. (firstly, I am not a bin of garbage. The Boss of the house is himself saying that you have garbage in your head and I am not okay way that)."
She opts out of the task saying that she found Bigg Boss's remark very derogatory. When Salman Khan learns about this he says that her point is unacceptable. Rubina says she found it insulting. However, Salman retorts saying that it was the lowest level of insult. Salman asks her if she will not perform the task and why is she inside the house. Rubina asks why can't she take a stand if she feels insulted. Salman taunts her whether they should ask her before deciding upon every task? Salman also asks her to lower her tone as he has been talking to her in a nice way.
So, the second week Weekend Ka Vaar of Bigg Boss is here. But there would still be debate over the kitchen duties as Rubina Dilaik and Abhinav Shukla are not ready to do both cooking and chopping at one go as cooking for 13 people gets difficult. So in the Latest episode, we saw Rahul talking to Gauahar Khan over the duties as he was called out in the morning. Gauahar is of opinion that people can enlist help but chopping is not a different task altogether which they think Rubina and Abhinav are making it to be. Sidharth says only two people have to work as predecided. Gauahar pointed out that Pavitra and Jasmin perform the kitchen duties on their own. So, the point is that Rubina and Abhinav are not ready to chop.
Later on, without any choice, Abhinav and Rubina join the discussion. Gauahar states that chopping is not a separate duty. Rubina declares that she will only chop and not cook. Sidharth gets a little irked as to who will cook the dinner then as only a handful of people know how to cook. In the promo, we see, Rubina, saying that she took up cooking because she saw people getting help in chopping. Pavitra points out that it takes two minutes to ask for help. Rubina and Abhinav are targeted by others. Gauahar lashes out at them and says that she has said since day one to seek help in chopping. Sidharth adds that chopping should not be considered as a duty. Rubina tells Sidharth that he is being unreasonable. The latter says he sure is but only for her. Rubina asks her to have as stature being a senior. Gauahar points out that she was asking people to help in chopping and suggests them to not turn this around on them.
Bigg Boss 14 Update: Punjabi actress and singer Sara Gurpal became the first contestant to get evicted from Bigg Boss 14 house. Her elimination disappointed fans along with former contestants, who said it was all favouritism. Post Sara's elimination, the actress hinted it was her decision of refusing to sit on Sidharth's lap during a task, which led her making an exit from the show as rest all the tasks she performed extremely well.
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In the latest episode of Bigg Boss season 14, we saw Sidharth Shukla getting emotional while discussing about his childhood memories with his late father with other Toofani Seniors Hina Khan and Gauahar Khan. Remembering his schood days, the Bigg Boss season 13 winner revealed how he thinks that his a hero and a strong person. “When I missed the bus, I began running and he also started doing the same, while carrying my school bag, I looked at him, with his hair flowing in the wind and thought ‘kya lagta hai ye admi, ye bhari bag leke full speed me mere se aage bhag raha hai’ (Just how wonderful he looks, carrying that heavy bag and yet running ahead of me!) He is so strong.’” said Sidharth.
He added, “Lucky are those people who have both parents together and can live life with them. When my dad passed away, I was modelling...Mera commercial jeb mein rakhte the...Alag aadmi tha, will power alag hi tha (He carried my commercials in his pocket and had such great will power). Normally people live for two years (after diagnosis of complications related to lungs), but he lived for seven years. He did not see me achieving all this.”
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"Reema Khanolkar" born as the granddaughter of legendary Harmonium Maestro Late.Pt.Purushottam Walavalkar is a successful physical therapist licensed in California and Idaho states of USA from the past 12years. She is currently leading a team of talented physical therapists and is a proud winner of several accolades and powerful testimonies.
She has been a survivor of recurrent near fatal miscarriages in the past few years and lost her newborn daughter just 2 yrs ago, life played an unfair game with her. Her life turbulences took a heavy toll on her emotionally and physically leading to gain several pounds but at every attempt each and every time she fought back, worked double hard than last time to overcome emotional and physical deficits. She made that her strength with a vision to create an impact to catalyse, inspire and empower women to never let life put them down, take everything in their stride, tap their potential and live their dreams.
Here, she is two years after from a heavy set 80kgs to 53kgs, made it as a top finalist in Mrs India worldwide 2018, winner of California Indian Icon 2018, Zee to USA production, chosen to compete as international Indian Icon in Chicago this year for her talent in Hindustani instrumental classical music.
In conversation with the strong and charming lady: Reema Khanolkar - "My mom is my biggest inspiration, as she stood there strong beside me as she saw her daughter almost not making it alive and losing her granddaughter right in front of her eyes. She stood strong in Manchester while I was in the hospital under medical care. Looking up at her, made coo so couch stronger, that I was able to take everything in coy stride, so couch better. This was "THE" episode that pushed me to the limits to take control over life and not let life control me by its unfairness.
Nothing is more devastating than burying your own child and see her go. My message to the readers of Lifestyle Magazine is: Don't let anything stop you in this whole world. As long as you have an honest dream/cause in your heart and a strong will to make it happen, you can make anything a reality. Today I am an inspiration to a lot of women around me, who came to sympathize and felt sorry for me. They are proud of me today. I wish to continue to inspire and empower more women not only by my story but by my work of being a role model and personality/life coach.
Achievements:
Several Academic achievements from being awarded best Intern award for Physiotherapy to being an honor roll student right from first grade to 10th grade.
Performer of Hindustani Indian classical instrument since the age of 5yrs. Winner of several talent contests for music. Performed music at Palace of Rajpipla, by His Highness Yuvraj Manavendra Singh Gohil several years in a row.
Performed Indian dance form at Palace of Rajpiplo.
Choreographed fashion show at Max Mueller Bhavan, Pune and director of a stage play at Sancheti Hospital, Pune.
Choreographed and performed Indian dance at. Hewlett Packard, CA, USA by HP CIA for several years in a row since 2010.
Performed Indian dance form at Menlo college of MBA, in Atherton, USA.
Winner of Latin dance contest in Cabo Mexico.Winner of California Indian Icon Award 2018 in instrument category in Chicago for Zee to USA production at an international platform. Top finalist of Mrs India Worldwide beauty pageant 2018. She attributes her achievements to her husband's unconditional support in all endeavours.
INTERVIEW OF REEMA KHANOLKAR
Q Reema Khanolkor, a corporate honcho, mother or a beauty queen What defines you the best?
Reema> An individual blessed with the right blend of glamour, style, talent and intellect aiming to inspire people around, best describes me. In short, Beauty with a purpose, musical talent and healing touch.
Q A fit body, fit mind full of gratitude and joy, any secret you would like to share with us?
Reema> Being optimistic and grateful is my mantra in life. I am grateful for every moment in life that has passed since I only came out stronger from it, I am ever grateful for the one that lives in and I am very optimistic about the one that tomorrow is going to bring me. It is my powerful catalyst for happiness. I say Thank you a lot; it brings out my gratitude and humility .1 believe in being optimistic, coz when one's positive, good things happen.
Q What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
Reema> >Legacy is fundamental to being human. It gives us a perspective on what's important to us. To continue to be able to support the people and causes that are important to me, and being a mentor to others, is the kind of legacy I would like to leave behind.
Q What does women empowerment means to you?
Reema>Women empowerment to me is when a woman as an individual is equipped and allowed to make life-determining decisions socially, economically and emotionally. Making women feel entitled without any restrictions and limitations on their opportunities is the real empowerment.
Q What does it mean to you to be a Beauty Queen?
Reema>Being a Beauty Queen brings about a role of service and a sense of responsibility in me.Lot of people, especially women look up to me as a role model.lt makes me influential to do good and in a positive way.lt also gives me a platform to create an impact to inspire and empower women to explore their options, overcome their challenges and follow their dreams.
Q You are an inspiration to all the women out there. How does it feel and any message to them?
Reema>I feel immensely blessed that my journey so far has been inspirational to so many women. I hope it continues to do so. My message to all women is: Toughest times in life leave us the strongest. We don't know our inner strength until our worst fears come true. I believe tough times are a tool, Life throws at us to test our strength. Don't lei tough times ever stop you from giving up on your dreams. Last but not the least, love yourself unconditionally and have Faith. Everything else will fall in place before you know it.
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