Anosmic Covid 19 smell tester eases Corona virus detection

New Delhi: Close to a year into the Covid 19 pandemic and a couple of test regimes to check whether you are positive or negative of Corona virus, Testing was the only way to rein in the spread. As the year 2020 ends, the hope of a vaccine has pulled humanity out of pessimism. A second strain is at the door, maybe a third one too, more infectious than the first one. An easy testing tool that addresses our olfactory senses may work as an alternative testing options preceding Antigens and RT-PCR testing regimes. The former has a result span of 15-20 mins at best and the latter result took at least 4-8 hrs for a report.  Till date 1,740,390 deaths from Corona virus in the world have been reported to WHO. India has reported 1,47,379 deaths till December 26, 2020.

Anosmic Covid 19 smell tester claims of not just ease of testing but a host of other accompanying benefits like cost effectiveness, non invasive, accurate and can be used at home. It can also be effectively used in difficult to reach geographical locations. Spray some on your wrist and try smelling or a nasal inhaler can do the job as well. If you can't smell anything of the otherwise strong and pungent odour, its time to go to a hospital for a formal check.

Claiming to be a blend of natural organic extracts, 100% plant based and not containing any animal, poultry, dairy or chemical product, it carries a disclaimer that it may not be effective on asymptomatic persons or persons with autoimmune disorder. Indian researchers claim the use of coconut oil and lemon grass whereas Virocule's Anosmic Covid 19 smell tester has primarily Apple cedar vinegar and spices that affect our sense of smell.

The Lancet, a leading international medical journal, enumerates in its studies that amongst the symptoms of Covid virus, loss of smell as well as taste are some major ones. On the science of working on the olfactory senses the Anosmic smell tester is claimed to be low cost, easily available, provides instant result.

According to ENT UK journal of King’s College London study, 'Post-viral anosmia is one of the leading causes of loss of sense of smell in adults, accounting for up to 40% cases of anosmia. It is therefore perhaps no surprise that the novel COVID-19 virus would also cause anosmia in infected patients.'

“My impression is that anosmia is an earlier symptom of Covid-19 relative to fever, and some infected people can have anosmia and nothing else,” said physician Andrew Badley, who heads a virus lab at the Mayo Clinic. “So an anosmia smell tester is potentially a more sensitive screen for asymptomatic patients.”

As per The Royal College of Surgeons of England, ''Given that Covid 19 cases can surge as a second wave it is essential and high time to switch from the highly sensitive PCR based surveillance regime to a sufficiently easier and inexpensive test regime, a test that can be performed at home multiple times a week.''

It says,''Based on our above findings we stress the usefulness of the COVID-Anosmia checker as a low-cost, fast and accurate quantitative primary mass-screening tool, combined with confirmatory platforms or for self-checking and isolation. This approach could significantly reduce cost, time and enhance detection and tracing of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients thereby immensely helping in management and control of COVID-19 spread'' .

“The nasal passage is a principal gateway for the coronavirus to enter the body. That may be a reason why the loss of smell may be an early indicator of an infection.”

The smell tester was also adopted by ETIO Public Health Consultants for its screening protocol to be used along with its CovidGuard service for businesses.

Globe Newswire reports, Chief Scientific Officer, Toronto, Dr. Deven Sandhu, said, “In clinical studies with 211 participants, ANOSMIC was shown to have high accuracy of over 90% in screening for a COVID-19 infection (91% sensitivity and 97% specificity at a 95% confidence interval).

Dr Tarun Lall who is a senior Prof SMS Medical College, presently HoD of designated covid centre at Rajasthan University Health Sciences feels that the Virocule product will come very handy in screening of patients who are roaming around in the general population and are a threat to the normal people who are covid negative. Dr Lall who is the nodal offcier at the Trauma Centre of SMS Medical College having tested Virocule on several hundred patients out of his personal curiosity, found that 10% of asymptomatic patients had hyposmia or anosmia who when checked for RT-PCR tested covid positive. He feels that this product is an excellent screening tool to catch the asymptomatic carriers who are roaming around randomly in the general population. ''These people can be segragated from the normal covid negative population and they can be helped because they have never been to a doctor, they do not even know that they are covid ppositive and that they may be carriers of such a deadly disease.'' Dr Lall says that this will come very handy and is a very important product for the Indian population at large.''

Approved for sale and import by the Canadian government Health Ministry, India is tested the efficacy at its Thiruanantapuram's Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology and Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, Haryana. As per a senior doctor in Jaipur the smell tester efficacy is being tested at Rajasthan University of Health Sciences. Interestingly there have been many cases of reporting of false positives with the RT-PCR.

President Michael Bryant, Virocule Inc, of Toronto, introducing Anosmic COVID-19 Smell Tester says that is immediate, easy to use, 98 % accurate, non-invasive, organic and can be used at home, work, school, air travel and for events.

Meanwhile the WHO has no word on the successful use of Covid 19 smell tester.

Tags: #Anosmic Covid 19 Smell tester, #Covid 19, #Virocule, #RT-PCR, #Lancet,  #Dr Tarun Lall, #Rajasthan University of Health Sciences

Farmers challenge the Government, its not just another protest Mr Prime Minister

An iron pillar that stands around the midst of the area which constitutes the farmers protest grounds at Singhu border outside the national capital of New Delhi has some dummies hanging on it. A poster below reads that the farmers will give up their lives for the sake of their objective, for which they have plonked themselves at the borders of Delhi since last 20 odd days and are here to stay in the chill nights till their demands are met by the government of India- the repeal of farm laws- legalization of MSP, the right to go to civil courts, enter into contract with private companies and produce for them, and allow anyone in agro business to stock unlimited without restrictions.  Ironically the ‘’annadatta’s’’ are on road.

Farmers in thousands have pitched in their make shift tractor trolleys besides each other. They have come prepared for a long haul to see that the government takes back the newly passed laws in the Parliament. “Sarkar ko manana he padega, hum manvake he jayenge’’,  is the chorus. Each passing day the fire in them just seems rising.They have already had half a dozen level of talks with the union minister of Agriculture and Commerce minister followed by the Home minister but all to no avail. Neither is the government ready to roll back the laws nor are the farmers ready to relent. 31 farmer organizations are taking part in the protest. Amidst the stalemate its just the courage, perseverance, grit and tolerance of the farmers who have descended from various states, majorly Punjab, is at test. Unfortunately they have been called Khalistani’s. terrorists and anti national by some.

 The road leading to Singhu border on GT Karnal road is heavily congested. Multiple layers of security and para military personnel are deployed. Protestors do not stop pouring in everyday and hour from across the border to take part in this fight for their rights issue and stand in unison with their brethren. Gurpreet Singh 44 of Ludhiana says they have come prepared for the winter. ‘We have got mattresses and blankets from our villages.” Others have got desi geysers for hot water for bathing and washing dishes. Langars are running all the day to provide good food, snacks and hot tea to protestors and visitors. Winter supplies like shawls, blankets and tarpauline are distributed free. Small kiosks for medical aid and doctors are set up to help people in need of medicines and advice. Free dental camps are set up. Most of these things have come through donations. Water tanks have rolled in for 24 hrs water supply. To maintain sanitation and cleanliness in such a huge gathering Delhi government has placed a large number of mobile toilets. 

The entire area is abuzz with farmers demands sloganeering accompanied with ‘Modi Sarkar murbadad’, Kisan Ekta zindabad’. Posters suspended at every metre define the demands. ‘We are farmers, not terrorists’’, ‘’Stop killing farmers’’, ‘’No farmers, no food’’. A new trend of Punjabi songs supporting farmer community blare all day to keep the spirit and tempo of protestors up. Amidst all the humdrum Sardar Parkar Singh from Taran Taran, an 80 year old who is sitting here along with 5 more of his age since 26 November says, ‘’we will not go back till our demands are not met fully even if it takes a year or two. We will die here if required. Our families in the village will only be happy if we return victorious. Otherwise how will we face them.’’ Another octogenarian Gurmukh says, the government has all the plans to finish us. The new laws will render us slaves of the corporates in long term.’’ His accomplice Harkirat Singh from Taran Taran says ‘’With the laws we will die in the village, its as good to die here.The black laws have to go.’’ The protestors constitute of the young and the old equally with a strong feeling of wrong done to them.

Move a little further, a stage is set where various farmer leaders are speaking on the farm laws and the government. Half a dozen farm organizations have their presence at the site which include Bharatiya Kisan Union, All India Kisan Sabha, Rashtriya Kisan Samiti, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, to name a few.  Farmers union leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, even Gujarat (about 50 protestors have arrived) are belting out speeches that range from the disadvantages of the farm laws to the intention of the government (Adani’s and Ambani’s will take over) to nationalism and farmers contribution to nation building whether related to food or sending their sons to fight for the nation.

The protest is peaceful. No anti national organizations or platforms, as alleged, seemed in sight. Instead, banners of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and other religious leaders were spotted behind major congregations.  Jagtar Singh says, ‘’Our protest is inspired by our leaders and spiritual gurus. We will fight till the end. Some people want to discredit our protest by calling it anti national and associating it with various anti national forces. We are farmers and are fighting for our rights’’. Meanwhile around six farmers have died. Not to forget hundreds of farmers who have committed suicide in last many years is Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, even UP.

The government alleges that opposition parties are instigating the protestors and misleading farmers and that the laws were a long due reform which will only help farmers earn more and open up opportunities for them. Major political parties have made an outreach to stand by the farmers. Leaders of Congress, the Left and Aam Admi Party have rallied around their cause and assured them of their support. Contrary to this farmers have a lot to be convinced about. They fear the MSP going away, contractual farming working against them, big corporates taking over their land, cases against stubble burning and not being able to go to courts in case of disputes is their major worry. The government has been unsuccessful till yet since the protests started since around 20 November. Supreme Court having pitched in this slugfest between the farmers and the government has called for a resolve. No protest can be indefinite and that the government should appoint a committee to look into their demands and hasten a truce, ordered the highest court of law of the country.

This is about Singhu border. Similar protests and sit in are simultaneously taking place at Delhi-Haryana, Delhi-Rajasthan borders.  With the firm resolve of the farmers and the unrelenting mood of the government which way will the protest go will be seen in the coming days. Whatever happens the responsibility and accountability lies at the government’s doorsteps. Hope it does not go the Shaheen Bagh way.

 

 

Tags: #Farmers protests 2020, #Farmers Protests, #Singhu Border Farmers Protests, #Singhu Border, #Tikri Border, #Punjab Farmers protest New Delhi, #Priti Prakash Farmers Protest 2020, #Rare pics of Singh Border protests

The tango that can’t be: Let not China walk over you in 2020

70 years of India China diplomatic relations was a toast in September 2019 at the New Delhi’s China mission when the Chinese envoy Sun Weidong called for the elephant and the dragon to tango to march into the future which belongs to Asia.

On July 11, 2020, 60 days after 20 Indian soldiers along with the Commanding officer Suresh Babu of 16 Bihar regiment were brutally killed by the PLA soldiers in a scuffle, Beijing now looking for a face off, demanding trust and vouching ages old friendship and cultural commonalities, the envoy sounded just the contrary to the treachery, belligerence and the expansionist aspirations of his President Xi Jinping. In the brawl at Galwan around 70 PLA soldiers were causalities yet undeclared by the Chinese state.

China’s military misadventure at the LAC in Ladakh was sensed since early May 2020 when MEA had informed that China had been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and that the conduct of Chinese forces has been in “complete disregard of all mutually agreed norms”. Their preparations having started back since March, by this time PLA soldiers had already ensconced themselves firmly in strategic areas of Galwan valley, Hot Springs, Depsang and Pangang Tso which would give them control and surveillance over Indian troop movements at DBO uptill the northern borders along with furthering their cause of land grab. The intrusion was much within the Indian land as satellite images clearly zoomed.

Contrary to Prime Minister Modi’s statement on June 19 that no one had intruded and no one is there on the LAC, India’s top and well respected strategic affairs expert Ajay Shukla tweeted that the Chinese troops have altered the LAC at Galwan by a km, at Hot Springs by 2-3 km and at Pangang Tso by 8-10 km occupying Finger 4. He maintains that the Indian govt has made misleading claims and has been misleading media on Chinese disengagement along the LAC. In an interview on July 11, when Indian newspapers and news channels declared that Galwan and Hot Springs have been vacated by the Chinese, Colonel Shukla claimed in an interview to a leading daily that ‘China’s PLA has refused to withdraw in the Hot Springs area and at Gogra Heights….about 1500 soldiers from either side are in confrontation.’

This is after the disengagement and the de-escalation that has worked out after the four Corp Commander level talks, and a Special Representative level talk between NSA Doval and Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi. Going by the government version, as the External Affairs Ministry stated on July 12 that ‘íts a work in progress,’ we are yet to hear about disengagement in the last fort of Pangang Tso as I write.

Therefore for the country to be informed about the real position at the LAC many questions remain unanswered. If there were no intrusions as stated by the Prime Minister what was the disengagement and de-escalation about? Secondly if what Ajay Shukla says, (confirms by his long cultivated sources at the border), the Chinese have moved into the Indian side of the LAC few km inside then why is the govt (PM, NSA, or the Army) not refuting or denying it? And by that count have we conceded the territory to the Chinese already? Former Foreign Secretary and National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon says that there isn’t enough information coming out clearly.

Drawing similarity between the Chinese pattern Menon said, ‘India’s Doklam standoff was a wrong lesson given to Chinese where a withdrawal was negotiated by both sides from the face off point in 2017 but they finally set up a permanent presence on the plateau’. They became clear winners by letting India be happy with the advantage of propaganda victory. Menon called Doklam a political and diplomatic failure for not changing the status quo.

So is it true that have we again given away large swaths of land to China at Galwan, Hot Springs? Brahma Challaney a strategist and an expert voice on international affairs says, ‘China has accepted disengagement at the Galwan Valley — but on its terms, where India has pulled back from its own territory and created a “buffer zone” on its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which creates a new, China-advantageous status quo that PLA could seek to enforce because it keeps India out of China’s newly-claimed zone — the Galwan Valley. A mere disengagement allows China to hold on its core territorial gains and trade the marginal occupied territories for Indian concessions, as part of its well-known “advance 10 miles and retreat six miles” strategy.’ He says, ‘Bite by bite, China has been nibbling away at India’s borderlands, even as successive Indian PMs have sought to appease it.’

On trying to reach out to former army brasses on the veracity of the above claim, no one wanted to answer or speak on it.

Then, like in Kargil, was it an intelligence failure on our part? Even if the intelligence knew and reported did we take it lying down? Reports say the incursions were being observed and reported since February 2020. Experts say the whole build up by China was premeditated as they came in with not 30 or 40 troops this time, there were 4-5 divisions in Ladakh which couldn’t have happened overnight.

‘It is dangerous to speak of disengagement, pullback, withdrawal, buffer zones. They suggest that we are withdrawing from territory controlled by us consistently and that we are part of the problem to start with,’ Menon, who’s been former ambassador to China says. Interestingly he names it as ‘Fog of Peace’.

China being an aggressive neighbour as it is, it will be in India’s good to draw some permanent and clear lines at the borders. India should take lessons by not forgetting how China has been acting against India’s interests at international fora like the membership of NSG or the UNSC, designating Pakistan based militants as terrorists, building BRI projects through the Indian territory of J&K, intruding into Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh in the east and J&K in the north, instigating Nepal against India, at the same time striking an outreach of deceptive bond of Wuhan and Mamallapuram.  

Incidentally with exactly a similar standoff way back in 1965 at the Galwan, this time in 2020 we sure have our strengths to be built upon to look at the dragon in the eye. Banning apps, reviewing and dumping investment projects, boycotting Chinese products that gives China huge access to Indian markets is a good measure in the right direction.

Very importantly we have expedited work on the connectivity aspects in the border area by building roads, bridges, rail network and a host of other infrastructure mechanisms. What the need of the hour is tactical shift in our ages old approach to leverage our military, build up on our combat power and asset bargaining power from the position of strength with China, imposing substantive costs on Beijing or damaging bilateral relations. To create military conditions for China by counteroffensive strategic land grab on which basis we can negotiate from a position of strength would work in our advantage.

An aggressive India only can counter an aggressive China. A china that believes in ‘harass, encumber, encircle, deceive and weigh India down,’ as Chellaney puts it. For that India should get to the negotiating table with China with the advantage of large chunks of their land with us, a tit for tat. Our cyber capabilities have to develop to counter their cyber attack. Also this is the best time to get China around when the world environment is against Beijing. India should work towards challenging the dragon by becoming economically, militarily and diplomatically strong.

Our relations with our neighbours should be strengthened and not let to deteriorate to help create a buffer for our better security. With China it won’t be same again from this point in time. Its time to rejig our relations and it cannot be better than of now.

Tags: #China India standoff2020 #LAC #India China relations #Priti Prakash #Clicktyclick blogspot #Pangang Tso #Galwan valley scuffle