What is the effect of corona and the lockdown on the mental state of children?
This pandemic has been a rollercoaster ride for all those who have lived it. For children, this has been something that neither they nor their parents had ever known. All spheres of their lives are affected. The major pillar of scaffolds in a child’s life include— his/her parents (or caregivers), immediate environment, school, the self, and social sphere.
Major instability in each of these has taken a huge toll on our children's mental health. There are rising concerns of temper tantrums, anxiety, existential queries, confusion and hopelessness, rendering them unable to figure a way out...
Hello, Everyone!
I was excited to go to school as our new session was going to start soon. But, but, but… just two weeks before it was about to reopen, we were banned from going outside.
LOCKDOWN—Yes! This is the word which has a lot of power. Are you thinking that I am praising it? No, never. This innocent word locked us inside our homes for months and months and drove, we the students, online with no end in sight.
Attending a government school in a remote village, all my students required greater attention. They have a rural background and pursue farming apart from studies. In the beginning, I contacted three of my 8th-class students through video calls on WhatsApp. Pawan, Adarsh and Bhavesh almost broke down over the call when they saw me live after months. Then, I made several WhatsApp groups like ‘Science 6th’, ‘Science 10th’, etc. and contacted them daily.
When a free bird is trapped in a cage, it writhes in pain and pines. My uncle had a parrot who used to roam around the house even though it had a cage to live in. That parrot is the representation of our lives before the pandemic. We used to live in our houses just the same but we had freedom too. However, during these two years, it feels as if our gates are shut with a huge lock called‘Covid-19’.
The first case of Green fungus infection in a COVID-19 patient was reported in India on June 15, 2021. The infected patient, a 34-year-old man in Indore, was shifted to Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital by air ambulance. He was diagnosed with a fungal infection called Aspergillosis this week. The patient had battled COVID-19 for two months with a severe lung infection, the doctors said.
Aspergillosis is caused by Aspergillus, a common mold fungus that lives indoors and outdoors.
A highly-polluting factory, the Sterlite Copper, shuts down after years of inspiring community effort by the suffering villagers of Thoothukudi.
When the entire world is suffering from the pandemic and lockdowns, one tiny village in our country is certainly thrilled. This place is Thoothukudi in the Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu where a highly-polluting factory is locked down after years of inspiring community effort by its villagers. This factory, called the Sterlite Copper, is a subsidiary of the Vedanta Limited...
A native Amazonian tribe, the Waorani, successfully defends its sacred homeland from destruction posed by an oil conglomerate.
The Amazon is the world’s largest and densest rainforest, truly priced as the ‘lungs of the world’. This jungle conquers over nine nationalities and houses a bewildering variety of plants and animal species seen nowhere else on the globe. All such detail might be already well-known to you along with the news about its constant destruction, which is also much lamented by everyone. However, off late, there has been some hustle within the woods.
A multi-billion dollar company had earmarked half a million acres of forestland for oil drilling in the Amazon. This would have required installation of some mining machinery and huge logging activities in turn. All of this would have fetched oil for the company but after causing humongous loss to the surrounding biodiversity, the cost of which is inestimable.
The spread of Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) has raised concerns among pediatricians. Children manifest this syndrome which usually involves multiple organs about four to six weeks after a COVID-19 infection.
Health experts say that MIS-C happens due to an antigen produced by the body to fight the COVID-19 infection. The lower number of COVID-19 tests conducted on children is the reason for the late detection of post-Covid complications among them.
Why is mud construction sustainable then using cement? Why are mud houses more comfortable to live in? What are the advantages of mud over cement for building and construction? Shagun Singh, the founder of GeeliMitti farms and educational research center talks about the common myths that are associated with mud houses. Most believe that mud houses are not strong enough, it's expensive to build and maintain and not suited to regions which have high rainfall.
A legendary organic farmer from Karnataka’s Sorahonase village, L Narayan Reddy breathed his last on January 14, 2019.
Reddy’s tryst with agriculture began late in life, after he had spent several years as a hotel menial, a lorry cleaner, an office attendant, and a manager.
Taking inspiration from a book titled One Straw Revolution by a Japanese organic pioneer, Masanobu Fukuoka, he switched to organic farming in 1979.
Tribal people are often potrayed as underdeveloped. But history actually shows something else. For the past few months, an uneasy calm is prevailing over the lives of Huaoranis—an Ecuadorian tribe living in the deep and dark forests of Amazon. Recently, they spot some outsiders in the forest. Not only that, the other day they saw a big bird with a deafening sound hovering over their village. This big bird was in fact a helicopter, which for us is as familiar as birds flying in the vast, blue sky. But for the Huaoranis, it only meant one thing...
Lack of personal hygiene is the reason behind the spread of many of our diseases. Even sneezing and coughing can spread germs from one person to another. From common cold to the fatal Nipah disease, all can be transmitted like this.
A group of students raise awareness to preserve the beauty of wetlands
I have always enjoyed the trips and picnics our school takes us for. They are a good break from studies and a time to refresh our minds. This year, our school decided to take us to the Ropar wetlands in Punjab. But, we were not excited. We were hoping for a trip to Jaipur or some other historical place.