Corona Vaccine for All

Coronavirus has already infected more than 18 crores people across the globe. More than 39 lakh individuals have also succumbed to this deadly virus. These are the reported statistics relating to the coronavirus pandemic. Lakhs of people are left with no family and thousands of children have become orphans. Crores of people across the globe have lost their livelihoods and have been forced into the vicious circle of poverty and are struggling for a square meal a day! World economy is left in lurch and there lies only uncertainties ahead. All this is happening when the governments, non-governmental organizations as well as the citizens across the world have been trying to provide the maximum support to everyone in need in the times of pandemic! Even at this point of time when hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccines have been administered to people, everyday more than 3.5 lakhs of individuals are getting infected with the virus and more than 7 thousands individuals giving their life to this undying virus.

शब्दों के मायने

तुम जिन रिसालों के जानिब
दुनिया बदलना चाहते हो
तुम जानते नहीं शायद
कि लोग उनको अब पढते नहीं।

खबर तुमको नहीं ये भी शायद अब
कि शब्दों के मायने जो तुमने सीखा था कभी
वक्त की सडक़ पर घिसकर
मानी उनका अब कुछ और ही है हो गया!

दर्द दर्ज कर सकता नहीं

जानता हूँ
चुप रहने की सलाहियत
वो यूँ ही नहीं देते।

हर बार रोए हैं
वो लफ्जों की लकीरों पर
जिनकी मात्राओं में
ना जाने किस-किस की कहानी है।

Fatality is Far Lower in the Second Wave of COVID19 in India

Every single death from COVID19 is unfortunate but every media outlet is creating panic by showing the dead bodies but none tells that the numbers of death per lakh tested positive is far less in the second wave than the first wave.

In the first wave, Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 1.43 per cent but in the second wave it is only 0.57 per cent. That means more than 99.4 per cent of infected individuals are recovering over time in this wave. This clearly indicates that Indian health system has learned a lot in the last one year. And this is a good news that every citizen must know to defuse the panic behaviour which on rise. Media outlets rather all the time creating panic should also focus on this side of the pandemic.

डरी रहती है

वो रह रहकर पूछती रहती है
ठीक तो हूँ मैं?

बहुत डरी रहती है
किसी अंजाने भय से!
कई बार
वो खुद को भी भूल जाती है
मेरी ही चिन्ता में
जैसे बहुत जरूरी हूँ मैं दुनिया के लिए!

The Wholesale Inflation to Scare Indian Economy

The Wholesale Price Index inflation popularly known as WPI inflation in the Indian economy grew by 7.39 per cent in the month of March 2021. During the same month of March 2020, the WPI inflation in the economy stood at 0.42 per cent. In the months of January and February 2021, the WPI inflation stood at 2.51 per cent and 4.17 per cent respectively. This clearly indicates that the wholesale inflation in the economy is elevating. It is the highest WPI inflation in the last eight and half years since October 2012 when the WPI inflation stood at 7.4 per cent. The food inflation stood at 5.28 per cent.

Daily COVID19 Infections Doubles in 10 Days to 200000 Cases

On 14th April 2021, India recorded almost 2,00,000 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours. Actually a total of 1,99,584 new cases have been recorded. It took only 10 days in doubling the total numbers of cases from one lakh to two lakh. However, of the total daily new COVID19 cases, more than 61.5 percent infections are recorded only in five states namely in decreasing order Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Similarly of the nationwide total tally, more than 50 percent of COVID19 infections in India have been recorded only in five states namely in decreasing order Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. This clearly tells the gravity of the situation in these states. The situation in Maharashtra is going out of control. There is a need for an immediate response to the prevailing condition from the central government irrespective of the negative views of the government. All this is happening despite the fact that India has already administered more than 114 million doses of vaccines to its citizens and ranks third in the world in the numbers of vaccine doses administered along with increasing cover of the lockdown (night curfew and weekly lockdown) across the nation.

Vaccination is the Only Way Out of the Coronavirus Pandemic

With every passing day, the total numbers of the new coronavirus infections a day are increasing and hitting new peaks. In the last 24 hours, around 1.7 lakh new cases have been recorded across India which is almost double of the peak of the first wave. In every single state, the numbers of reported new infections are increasing and many states like Delhi, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh etc. are recording the highest ever new COVID19 infections.

फ्रैक्चर, प्लॉस्टर और चुनाव

अभी मैं उहापोह की स्थिति में पेंडुलम की तरह डोल ही रहा था कि चच्चा हाँफते हुए कहीं चले जा रहे थे। देखकर लगा कि चिढ़े हुए हैं। जैसे उन्होंने कोई भदइला आम जेठ के महीने में खा लिए हों और जहर की तरह दाँत से ज्यादा मन एकदम ही खट्टा हो गया हो। जब मैंने उनकी गाड़ी को अपने स्टेशन पर रुकते नहीं देखा तो मैंने चच्चा को जोर से हॉर्न देते हुए बोला,

‘अरे चच्चा! कहाँ रफ्फू-चक्कर हुए फिर रहे हैं। पैर की चकरघिरन्नी को थोड़ी देर के लिए मेरे स्टॉप पर रोकिए तो सही! क्या पता कोई सवारी ही मिल जाए?’

चच्चा पहले तो गच्चा खा गए कि बोला किसने लेकिन जैसे ही उनकी याददाश्त वापस लौटी तो खखार कर बोले, ‘तुम हो बच्चा! मैं समझा कि कोई और बोल रहा है?’

Increasing Price of Petroleum Products and Indian Economy

Considering the shock caused by the nationwide lockdown, very high fiscal deficit of the union and state governments and increasing coronavirus infections caused by the second wave, India at this stage cannot afford to derail the economic recovery process just because of high inflation induced by very high petroleum prices in the economy. So it's high time for the central as well as the state governments to not only put aside the greed of collecting high revenues from the petroleum products and reduce the prices of petroleum products without wasting any time through coordinated efforts but also develop a mechanism that can ensure that prices of petrol products remain stable in a given band adjusting the custom duty and VAT in a proportionate way. For this the central government in consultation with the state governments can either set up a commission to come up with a workable formula or migrate to the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime with a new GST slab for the petroleum products. At present the prices of the petroleum products can be brought down by reducing the excise duty and VAT simultaneously but this should be a temporary practice till a permanent mechanism is in place. Else, over time this greed of the governments would prove more counter-productive than increasing the tax revenues.

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