Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in June 2020
Last updated on 5th Sept. 2020
When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers will have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
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Around a week old video but notable for recognition of good work done by Kerala and its health minister K.K. Shailaja in combating and controlling COVID pandemic in Kerala.
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja invited to speak on UN Public Service Day, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RIpBhNtHyg, around a minute. This video has a clipping of the U.N. video conference.
Here's another video on the matter which gives more of general background of how Kerala combated COVID pandemic, with significant success (especially as compared to some other states of India). UN honours Kerala Health Minister K.K Shailaja, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJhtoE8x6DM, 1 min. 47 secs.
[Repeating earlier video link so that Facebook preview shows that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RIpBhNtHyg ]
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Govt. of India Press Release dated today (29th June 2020) banning "59 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order", https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1635206.
The Press Release lists the 59 mobile apps (which seem to be of Chinese origin or are associated with China in some way, though the Govt. Press Release does not say so). As of now, I do not have any of these apps on my (two) mobile device(s). Jai Hind!
A few days earlier, perhaps after an Android upgrade involving some Discover Apps functionality (which I later disabled), Helo and Likee seem to have got installed automatically on one of my (two) mobile device(s). As these apps were not familiar to me, I manually uninstalled them once I came to know about it, a few days ago.
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The tweet has a small video. Enjoyable!
[ https://twitter.com/susantananda3/status/1277149988976340993 (about elephant cub having a difficult time in bath tub and getting encouragement from mother elephant).]
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Very violent film (released in 1974) about how a horrendous and traumatic experience converts a person (played by Charles Bronson) to a dangerous vigilante, in New York City. Readers/viewers who get put off by such stuff should avoid viewing it.
Death Wish 1974 Full Movie In English | Charles Bronson | Action-Thriller- Drama Film | IOF, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9VMMzRKVZk , around 1 hr. 33 mins
Movie script: https://www.scripts.com/script/death_wish_6601
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1 min video (in Hindi) apparently from Indian soldier going to do duty on China border.
Ravi: I don't have any China apps on my mobile device(s) neither on PC. I also will NOT buy any Chinese company product/service. That is the least I can do to support bravehearts of Indian army fighting Chinese belligerence, barbarism and land-grab. Jai Hind! Victory to Indian army over Chinese army!
[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_9f8wF_Gxw ]
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Just shocking to know about what Pakistan's aviation minister said about serious lapses of the Pakistani pilots in the May 22nd crash in Karachi. The article states that the minister said to Pakistan's national assembly, "The pilots were discussing corona throughout the flight. They were not focused. They talked about the coronavirus and how their families were affected"! This seems to be based on the report of an investigation into the plane crash.
The minister said that the pilots were told 3 times by air traffic controllers that they were too high and should not attempt to land, but which was not heeded.
The pilots attempted to land ***but without lowering the landing gear of the plane***!!! My God!
So the aircraft touched the runway on its engines, damaging the engines.
The pilots then took the plane back into the air (aborting the landing) but the damaged engines failed and resulted in the crash.
I can't believe this! I mean, trying to land a regular commercial jet plane without lowering the landing gear! OK, they may have just forgotten about lowering it. But are there not standard procedures for landing which are double-checked by the 2 pilots, which would have raised the alarm that the landing gear has not been lowered? And would there not be an automatic alarm from the airplane's systems which should have detected very low altitude (indicating landing) but without landing gear lowered?
The article talks of significant number of Pakistani pilots having fake licenses (as somebody else sat in their place for the exams and cleared it)!
But it is good that the report lays things out bare rather than try to cover things up (to avoid embarrassment). That gives hope for correction and improvement in future.
Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/25/business/pakistan-fake-pilot-intl-hnk/index.html, 25th June 2020.
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Another interesting Western movie: (Video quality is barely OK): Gunman Called Nebraska | WESTERN MOVIE | English | Full Length Film | Spaghetti Western, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELExe_rEpS4, around 1 hr. 20 mins.
The video quality here seems to be better but the audio is in a different language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ2x7Y3vYH4
It is a 1966 movie as per its wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Gringo. Note that the movie seems to be known with a few different names - Ringo from Nebraska, Savage Gringo, Gunman called Nebraska etc.
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Interesting Western movie: SANTEE | Glenn Ford | Michael Burns | Full Length Western Movie | English | HD | 720p, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q42BgGVAO0Q, around 1 hr. 30 mins.
Seems to have been made in 1973, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santee_(film)
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Victory Day: Why Russia celebrates WWII triumph on a different date, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/victory-day-why-russia-celebrates-wwii-triumph-on-a-different-date-6473090/, 24th June 2020.
Ravi: Good to see that India's defence minister Rajnath Singh has gone to Russia to participate in this event. Russia is an old and trusted friend of India. Even in this China-India border barbaric killing by Chinese troops matter, I think India can count on Russia's support for India. I read about fighter jets from Russia that are going to be delivered to India very fast, in this context. Such top notch military supplies to India are vital for India to fight against Chinese aggression and belligerence against India. If these accounts of Russia supplying India fighter jets at short notice in this current situation, are true and happen in the near future, then as a resident and citizen of India, I will be grateful to Russia, for its continued support for India, even in the face of Chinese aggression against India, and I will remember this vital support of Russia at this crucial juncture for India.
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The article states, in the context of a particular nursing home in USA, the "nursing home was telling staff members to try to clear out less-profitable residents to make room for a new class of customers who would generate more revenue: patients with Covid-19".
Hmm. Patients with Covid-19 are a source of revenue for some USA nursing homes!
I think some medical institutions in India too would be having COVID-19 patients as an important source of (new) revenue.
C'est la vie! [That's life!]
[Linked article: ‘They Just Dumped Him Like Trash’: Nursing Homes Evict Vulnerable Residents, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/business/nursing-homes-evictions-discharges-coronavirus.html ]
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How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing Consensus, [Sub-heading: Surface contamination and fleeting encounters are less of a worry than close-up, person-to-person interactions for extended periods], https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-exactly-do-you-catch-covid-19-there-is-a-growing-consensus-11592317650, 16th June 2020.
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As I had shared a post on 19th June, giving one view of the sudden attack by large Chinese forces on Indian forces in Galwan Valley, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2873645336185358, I felt it appropriate to share a significantly different view of the same matter here: ‘Post Galwan battle, Chinese soldiers were in a state of panic’, https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/post-galwan-battle-chinese-soldiers-state-panic, 21st June 2020.
A small extract from it is given below:
"Inputs accessed by The Sunday Guardian post the debriefing of these 10 men, revealed that the outnumbered and “unarmed” (as the rules required them to be) Indian troops, rather than retreating in view of the huge number of Chinese soldiers, grabbed the improvised clubs and rods that the Chinese were using to batter Indian soldiers, and used the same to kill “at least” 20 Chinese soldiers and officers at patrol point 14."
Ravi: My view is that the sudden attack by large number of Chinese troops with improvised clubs (at least some of the clubs spiked with nails) and rods, on smaller number of unarmed Indian troops, is simply unacceptable. While India has mourned its dead troops, China seems to have chosen to be secretive about its dead. I salute the martyrs of the Indian army as well as the injured of the Indian army in this fight against the Chinese. But for me, the count of how many Indian troops and how many Chinese troops died is not as critical as who started the barbaric fight which led to the deaths of Indian and Chinese troops.
The answer there, at least based on Indian news media reports, seems to be clearly the Chinese troops. And for that horrific, barbaric and cowardly attack on unarmed Indian troops, China must be given a suitable response which need not be a violent one as both countries are nuclear powers and nobody wants a nuclear war. But surely India can "Boycott China" and cut China off from Indian market. And for the foreseeable future, India must always be suspicious of China and its People's Liberation Army, and NOT trust them one little bit.
Now Indian troops on China border are armed. So any future cowardly attacks by Chinese troops can be answered with armed retaliation by Indian troops. That's good.
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Rural job scheme proves a boon in Anantapur [district in which Puttaparthi lies], https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/rural-job-scheme-proves-a-boon-in-anantapur/article31874737.ece, 20th June 2020
[The article is behind a paywall though some articles per month may be viewed for free.]
One sentence from the article captures the key message of the article: "COVID-19 exposed the fragile rural economy in the arid Anantapur district with second lowest average annual rainfall of 550 mm in the country and ground reality check by The Hindu showed that if this scheme were not implemented proactively with a renewed vigour by the district administration, hunger deaths could have become a reality."
[I thank thehindu.com and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above single sentence from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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Liz Mitchell, the lead singer of the Brown Girl in the Ring hit song of Boney M in the 70s and 80s, sings the song in 2017 live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwdSiUF1G0A, 4 mins. I love this song! What a fantastic voice Liz Mitchell has!
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Longish but very interesting article. I have read about half of it and hope to read the remaining half in the near future: How Data Became One of the Most Powerful Tools to Fight an Epidemic, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/10/magazine/covid-data.html, 10th June 2020.
It talks about the history of epidemics in London in 1800s and how William Farr, a doctor and statistician, who worked in the area of public health, played a key role in tracking and helping to fight epidemics in roughly the second half of the nineteenth century in London, and in rest of UK. The account of how Farr tracked the cholera epidemic in London in 1866 and found out the cause for it, is very interesting.
I was also fascinated by "life tables" prepared by Farr in 1843 comparing life in rural Surrey, in industrial Liverpool and in metropolitan London, which tracked mortality by age. Here is the associated graph: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/06/14/magazine/14mag-Epidemiology-images-04/14mag-Epidemiology-images-04-superJumbo.jpg . Disproportionately higher number of young people died in the cities as compared to rural Surrey! The article states, "In Liverpool, more than half of all children born were dead before their 15th birthday."
Hmm. That is a shocking window into the poor public health situation in an industrial city in England when the British empire had become one of the most powerful empires in the world, if not the most powerful empire then! One can imagine then how drastic the public health situation would have been in other industrial towns elsewhere in the world in those days.
A small paragraph extract from the article is given below:
Despite those grim numbers, Farr remained hopeful that the health crisis emerging in the industrial cities could be ameliorated. “Is the excessive mortality of cities inevitable?” Farr wrote in the 1840 annual report of the G.R.O. “The first writers who established satisfactorily the high mortality of cities took a gloomy and perhaps fanatical view of the question. Cities were declared vortices of vice, misery, disease and death; they were proclaimed ‘the graves of mankind.’” And yet, he continued, “there is reason to believe that the aggregation of mankind in towns is not inevitably disastrous.”
--- end small extract ---
Hmm. Thought-provoking window into how public health of cities was viewed slightly over one and a half centuries ago in one of the most powerful nations of the world then.
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Here's a great online tool for comparing text of 2 PDF files: https://draftable.com/compare
In its comparison results it shows both files side by side with a common synchronized scroll bar [older file is supposed to be provided first and is shown on left; newer file is shown on right]. The scroll bar shows area with differences in green and green is the colour used to show the different area (text) in one file. [See attached pic.]
[In my case, there was only additional text in one file (and that too only in one line of one page). The help file says that removal of text is shown in red colour, and addition of text is shown in green colour.]
Note that the help file says that only the text in the two PDF files are compared and not images. However, one can physically view the images in old and new files by scrolling to those pages and check manually whether the images look the same.
Also, the help file says that formatting changes (e.g. bold font instead of normal font) are not shown. Hmm. That's sad.
[Post has pics. Post link: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2873938922822666 ]
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What seems to have actually happened at the China-India border in words of father of injured soldier who told him about the matter on the phone. I do not endorse the Congress vs. BJP politics part of the tweet but I am not able to share only the video and so am sharing full twt.
https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi/status/1273902483140562945
Ravi: As a resident and citizen of India, I will NOT forget this horrific attack by Chinese soldiers on what seems to be unarmed Indian soldiers, who were outnumbered. Yes, both India and China are nuclear powers and so outright war is out of the question. But I don't think for the rest of my life, unless China makes serious amends for what it did, I will ever buy any Chinese product or service. It is time to Boycott China.
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My comment on the shared post:
Thank you sir. Your words of sympathy and support for India and its soldiers fighting against Chinese belligerence and land-grab, will be gratefully remembered. - A resident and citizen of the Republic of India.
[Shared post: https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/posts/3272852696164070 - "The U.S. Mission in India sends our heartfelt condolences to the families of the soldiers who were lost at Galwan. Their bravery and courage will not be forgotten."- Ambassador Kenneth I. Juster #USIndia]
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PLA of China seems to have provoked clash to grab Indian territory: U.S. Senate Majority Leader, https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pla-of-china-seems-to-have-provoked-clash-to-grab-indian-territory-us-senate-majority-leader/article31865986.ece, 19th June 2020.
[PLA stands for People's Liberation Army (of China). PRC stands for People's Republic of China (official name of China).]
A few short extracts from it:
On land, for the sake of grabbing territory, the PLA appears to have instigated the most violent clash between China and India since those nations went to war in 1962, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a major foreign policy speech on the floor of the House.
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Needless to say, the rest of the world has watched with grave concern this violent exchange between two nuclear states. We are encouraging de-escalation and hoping for peace, Mr. McConnell said.
But the world could not have received a clearer reminder that the PRC is dead-set on brutalizing people within their own borders, challenging and remaking the international order anew in their image to include literally redrawing the world map, he said.
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Meanwhile, Congressman Jim Banks welcomed India’s decision to ban Huawei and ZTE from its telecom network.
Always best to push back against Chinese Communist Party thugs. India will not be intimidated. A strong, wise decision! Mr. Banks said.
--- end few extracts from The Hindu ---
Ravi: As a resident and citizen of India, and a well wisher of the USA, I thank USA Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and USA Congressman Jim Banks, for their support for India in this clash against China. We will gratefully remember this expression of support from these USA Congressmen and Senators in this challenging time for India against Chinese belligerence and attempted land-grab of Indian territory.
I personally have decided not to buy any product of Chinese companies. I also suggest to Indian readers of this post to consider doing the same to combat Chinese aggression against India. I think Indian government should keep away from Chinese vendors including Chinese telecom vendors like Huawei and ZTE, from both a direct national security interest point of view and from allowing Chinese companies to profit from sales in India, which profit will, indirectly through Chinese government taxes on these profits, help to fund Chinese armed forces in their belligerence against Indian armed forces and their attempted land-grab of Indian territory.
[I thank thehindu.com and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above few extract(s) from their website on this post which is on a grave matter associated with loss of life of Indian soldiers on border with China, is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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USA Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo: "We extend our deepest condolences to the people of India for the lives lost as a result of the recent confrontation with China. We will remember the soldiers' families, loved ones, and communities as they grieve.", https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1273782424879673345, 19th June 2020.
Ravi: I 'liked' the above tweet and responded to USA Secretary Pompeo's tweet with the following comment: "As a resident and citizen of India, and a well wisher of the USA, I thank you, sir, for your sympathy and support for India and its soldiers. We will gratefully remember this expression of sympathy and support from the USA in our time of grief."
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The horrible thing that this COVID pandemic is - Delhi ACP’s husband dies of Covid: ‘He didn’t step out of home… Can never forgive myself’, https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-acp-husband-dies-of-covid-6462491/, 17th June 2020.
The ACP (lady) [ACP is a top deputy police officer position] tested positive for COVID in mid May followed by her husband testing positive on May 20th. Both were admitted to (top) hospitals in Delhi. The ACP recovered but her husband (54 years old, who had high BP and diabetes but under control) passed away, after becoming breathless and being put on ventilator.
While we have to learn to live with this horrible COVID pandemic, we must not lose sight of how dangerous it can be, in some cases.
My prayers for the soul of the ACP's husband and prayers for strength and courage to the ACP and her family to bear this grievous loss.
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Very sad at loss of life of Indian army martyrs and angry at belligerent and aggressive China. My view is that India should not give in to aggression from China and must be willing to defend what is rightfully India's.
My prayers to Almighty God to shower Grace on the three Indian army martyrs - Colonel B Santosh Babu from Telangana, Havildar Palani from Tamil Nadu and Sepoy Ojha from Jharkhand - and give strength and courage to their families and friends to bear this grievous loss.
A Colonel And Two Jawans: The Indian Soldiers Killed In Ladakh Face-Off, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-china-border-face-off-ladakh-a-colonel-and-two-jawans-the-indian-soldiers-killed-in-ladakh-face-off-2247331, 16th June 2020.
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Great to see this positive development from former students of the laid off teacher (who took to selling bananas) which I had posted on 7th June, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2864354313781127.
'I must have made impact': Laid-off Andhra teacher sells bananas, former students raise Rs 86,300 to help him, https://www.timesnownews.com/the-buzz/article/i-must-have-made-impact-laid-off-andhra-teacher-sells-bananas-former-students-raise-rs-86300-to-help-him/605991
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Superb rendition of the old classic Hindi film song: JO WADA KIYA WHO NIBHANA PADEGA - ( COVER ) - Rishav , Ayachi , Maithili, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8dXtNKlcXM, 3 min. 14 secs, published on 11th June 2020.
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Oldie Hindi film goldie: Is Mod Se Jaate Hain | Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar | Aandhi 1975 Songs| Sanjeev Kumar (Actress seems to be Suchitra Sen), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STOM6NZfcrs, 5 min. 8 secs.
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What job loss due to COVID-19 business downturn, can do to a man who has to earn a livelihood to support himself and his family. Absolutely scary! He reportedly was a teacher of Telugu and Sanskrit in a corporate school earning around Rs.15,000 per month before he lost his job. Now he says he barely earns Rs.200 per day selling bananas (which would make it around Rs. 6000 per month). He is based in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh: Laid off, teacher sells bananas to make ends meet, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/laid-off-teacher-sells-bananas-to-make-ends-meet/articleshow/76238776.cms
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An excerpt from the article: 'The Lancet paper that halted global trials of hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 because of fears of increased deaths has been retracted after a Guardian investigation found inconsistencies in the data. The lead author, Prof Mandeep Mehra, from the Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston, Massachusetts decided to ask the Lancet for the retraction because he could no longer vouch for the data’s accuracy. The journal’s editor, Richard Horton, said he was appalled by developments. “This is a shocking example of research misconduct in the middle of a global health emergency,” he told the Guardian.'
Tragic! Should one also be angry? Perhaps as this publication then seems to have resulted in decisions taken against some HCQ work/research/study! Hopefully those decisions will now be revisited.
Thanks to Sundaram Hammond for sharing this article which is how I came to know of it.
Shared article: https://thehighwire.com/breaking-the-lancet-retracts-controversial-hydroxychloroquine-study/
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