#India coronavirus second wave

[mariacallous]

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula, stepped into his third term ready to rebuild Brazil’s international image, which had been largely diminished by his predecessor. And Lula has a guidebook to follow, not only from his two prior terms, but also from U.S. President Joe Biden’s ascension. From the Jan. 8 riots in Brasília to both countries reentering international organizations, Biden and Lula have fought—and will continue to fight—eerily similar battles. 

“Both Lula and Biden are presidents that are positioning themselves as leaders in the democratic world, defending democracy in the region, and with clear priorities on the agenda,” said Bruna Santos, director of the Brazil Institute at the Wilson Center.

During his first two terms as president, between 2003 and 2010, Lula set Brazil up as a major economic and political player on the world stage. Lula was a founding member of BRICS—a geopolitical bloc including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—and attended its first formal summit in 2009, and Brazil was one of the leading voices calling for U.N. Security Council expansion during the Lula administration. Brazil’s relationships with its neighbors had never been better, with a wave of Lula allies elected into office throughout the region, including Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina, Evo Morales in Bolivia, and Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.

But things may not be so straightforward this time around. Despite the recent wave of leftist governments echoing the political tides of the early 2000s, instability has rocked Latin America in recent years, with worsening situations in Nicaragua and Venezuela, violent protests in Peru, and the devastating economic and social impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The new “pink tide” will be far more turbulent than the first.

“It’s very early on to see how successful he’s going to be, but it’s not going to be the easy ride he had on the first pink tide, when everyone was on better terms,” said Cecilia Tornaghi, the senior director of policy at Americas Society/Council of the Americas. 

Deep political polarization was laid bare in two of the Western Hemisphere’s largest democracies during the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington and the Jan. 8, 2023, riots in Brasília. For both Biden and Lula, who each began their time in office amid the wreckage of stormed government buildings, this became an opportunity for further cooperation on strengthening democratic institutions. The United States will be hosting the second Summit for Democracy this month, which is focused on developing an agenda for democratic renewal, which Lula welcomed in his meeting with Biden in February.

“It’s a very positive initiative on the part of both to recognize the similarities and the threats to democracy, and their willingness to cooperate,” said James Green, a professor of Latin American history and Brazilian studies at Brown University. “It’s still to be determined how that will actually play out in practice.” 

But Lula’s image is also not the same as it once was. Lula was handed a 12-year jail sentence for a massive corruption scandal that took place during his first two terms in office. Although the sentence was short-lived and Lula maintains his innocence, the baggage of jail time has become a major point of concern for leaders who may not want to be associated with Lula’s past scandals.

“All the people that see him as a criminal or a former criminal will continue to,” Tornaghi said. “There’s nothing he can say that will change their views, so he doesn’t even try.”

Former U.S. President Donald Trump and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro turned their respective countries into pariahs on the international stage, causing tension with neighbors and turning their backs on multilateral organizations that did not flatter their nationalistic approaches to governing. If Bolsonaro and Trump were often compared while in office, what they left behind is also similar.

Both Bolsonaro and Trump threatened to withdraw from the World Health Organization at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, touting anti-COVID conspiracy theories and discouraging mask use. U.S. and Brazilian standing on the world stage suffered under the two leaders, with Trump and Bolsonaro ignoring—and sometimes railing against—climate issues. Bolsonaro’s threats to withdraw from the Paris climate accord followed Trump’s official withdrawal from the agreement in 2020, citing his “America First” policy.

One of Biden’s first acts as president was to re-enter the Paris Agreement, signaling U.S. commitment to environmental policies and a return to international engagement. Climate change, too, has been at the heart of Lula’s international strategy. Lula visited Washington in his first trip outside of Latin America in early February, following which Lula signaled that the United States is expected to join the Brazilian Development Bank-led Amazon Fund, which raises and directs investments to prevent and combat deforestation in the Amazon. 

“I think President Lula is prioritizing the right thing that can be the hook for the international community to work with Lula and to bring back Brazil as a leader in global affairs,” said Valentina Sader, Brazil lead at the Atlantic Council. “And that angle is climate.”

Brazil is home to 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon is a crucial carbon sink, which helps regulate both local and global climate. Under Bolsonaro, deforestation reached a record high, sparking concerns that the forest would never recover from the accelerating large-scale deforestation.

Within the region, Bolsonaro’s withdrawal from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), despite Brazil’s historic leadership in the organization, over criticism of leftist authoritarian countries within the organization, including Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, further isolated Brazil.

Lula has already taken a different approach, showing his willingness to engage with its traditional allies, strengthen cooperation in the region, and keep the door open to bring leaders such as Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to the table.

“Lula is being Lula,” Tornaghi said. “What was the first thing he did? He went to CELAC in Argentina. He was celebrated like a rockstar in Argentina—concerts and everything, in his honor. Then he went to Uruguay, a center-right country, and had a great conversation with President Lacalle Pou.”

Santos also believes, given his strong democratic and diplomatic record, that “Lula might be an important moderator in the region when it comes to coordinating and moderating conversations with Venezuela and Nicaragua.” 

“Brazil has a clear path in foreign policy that went a little bit off track with Bolsonaro,” Santos said. “But there is a path of valuing multilateral organizations, regional dialogue, and finding diplomatic solutions for peace. Those are important values for Brazil’s foreign policy.”

That was reflected in Lula’s statements on the Russia-Ukraine war. He expressed his desire for a peaceful end to the conflict and has left the door open to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin—much to the chagrin of Western leaders who are trying to ratchet up military support for Ukraine from the so-called global south.

“Brazil and Brazilian diplomacy tends to not take a side unless they absolutely have to,” Sader said. “The approach that the Lula administration is taking—and Bolsonaro had this kind of approach as well—is that we defend and want peace, but that needs to be done through diplomatic means.”

Trade is another area where Lula can mark a contrast to Bolsonaro. Brazil is one of the biggest forces inside the Mercosur trading bloc, which also includes Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Since 2019, the bloc’s Association Agreement with the European Union has been pending, and ratification is one of Lula’s foreign-policy priorities. After a 20-plus-year process, ratification must take place in both Europe and Mercosur member states to finally come into force. Despite holdouts like France, Lula’s Amazon-friendly stance may make ratification easier. Ratification has also taken on new urgency after Lula floated the idea of an agreement with South America’s largest trading partner, China, an attempt to soothe the rift among Mercosur leaders after Uruguay toyed with a bilateral deal with Beijing.

“Mercosur and the EU treaty are definitely the low-hanging fruit that he can show his chops on,” Tornaghi said.

But in order to achieve his objectives within Latin America, Lula will have to reckon not only with his own baggage and the debris left by the Bolsonaro administration, but with Brazil’s complicated role in Latin America as well. Many of its neighbors are wary of being engulfed by Brazil due to its massive territory, economy, and geopolitical influence. Linguistic differences have also long set Portuguese-speaking Brazil apart from the rest of the region. 

“Brazil needs to reconcile its soft power in the region,” Santos said. “Because of the language and recent history of our foreign policy in the region, we have to get that back on track and establish clearly that we are prioritizing the relationship of democratic nations that are committed to sustainable development in the Americas.”

[foodalliedinfoglobal]

Dark Spirits Market Booming Worldwide with Latest Trend and Future Scope by 2027

Craft spirits have witnessed monumental growth in the last few years, owing to changing consumer preferences toward craft spirits especially whiskey and brandy. According to American Craft Spirits Association, craft spirits are products produced by a distillery, which values the importance of transparency in distilling and remains forthcoming regarding the spirit’s ingredients, distilling location, aging, and bottling process.

Dark Spirits Market Size was valued at $87.2 billion in 2019, and is projected reach $129.1 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.4% from 2021 to 2027.

Global Key Players:

Anheuser-Busch InBev, Asahi Group Holdings, Kirin Holdings, Diageo, Suntory Holdings, Pernod Ricard, Bacardi Limited, LT Group, Inc (Tanduay), The Brown–Forman Corporation, and Rémy Cointreau.

A distilled spirit is produced by a distillery producing fewer than 750,000 gallons annually. The craft spirits volume sales have witnessed upswing of 26% in 2019, crossing 80 million liters of craft spirits sold in the U.S. alone. The number of craft distillers has also surpassed 2,000 mark in the financial year 2019. The craft movement has brought rising levels of distilling expertise, knowledge, and innovation. Similar trends have been witnessed across Europe and Asia-Pacific regions in prominent countries such as India, the UK, and France. Increasing demand for craft spirits is expected to provide impetus to the global dark spirits market growth.

Explore More Insights @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/dark-spirits-market-A10287

With increased awareness and consciousness, consumers are scrutinizing food as well as beverages labels these days, with alcohol being no exception. Clean label, organic, natural, no additives, and GMO-free alcohol, including dark spirits have been successfully launched in the market. For instance, Waterford Distillery released Ireland’s first organic whiskey GAIA 1.1 priced at $110. Similarly, Neisson launched organic certified rum. With more players entering the organic market, the market for organic dark spirits is anticipated to gain high traction with new flavors and offerings to lure consumers.

The global dark spirits industry has been slightly impacted amidst the outbreak of the coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdown and widespread restrictions across the world. The on trade sales of dark spirits have nosedived across the world, owing to the closure of HORECA industry across the world. Furthermore, recent development in resurgence of the second wave of coronavirus in Europe and North America is one of the major challenges the industry is expected to face in the coming days.

The global dark spirits market is segmented on the basis of type, distribution channel, and region. Based on type, the global market is divided into whiskey, rum, and brandy. By distribution channel, the market is bifurcated into on trade and off trade. Region-wise, the global market is studied across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and LAMEA. North America consists of market evaluation for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Europe is studied across the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, and the rest of Europe. India, China, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific are the countries analyzed under the Asia-Pacific region. LAMEA includes Brazil, Argentina, the UAE, South Africa, and the rest of LAMEA.

Key Findings Of The Study

By region, Asia-Pacific dominates in terms of the global dark spirits market share, and is expected to retain its dominance during the forecast period.

By type, the whiskey segment led in terms of the market share in 2019, and is expected to gain market share in the coming years.

By distribution channel, the on trade segment is expected to gain market share in the coming years, and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% during the dark spirits market forecast period.

By region, North America is anticipated to grow with a moderate CAGR of 4.2% during the forecast period.

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of “Market Research Reports” and “Business Intelligence Solutions”. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

Contact: United States 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 help@alliedmarketresearch.com 

[themovieblogonline]

Bloody Daddy (2023): Ek Anokha Kissa

Every night has a story. This is the story of one unusual night when a father embarked on a bloody and gory quest to save his only son from the hands of a drug dealer who had kidnapped him. Starring Shahid Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Sanjay Kapoor, Rajeev Khandelwal, and Diana Penty; this mega action-thriller has been co-written, co-produced, and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and is named “Bloody Daddy". It is streaming free on the OTT platform, JioCinema. Trust me; if you haven’t watched this insane hard-hitting action-thriller, you have watched nothing because if you watch this, you are sure to forget John Wick! Even if the twists and turns in this story are low, the action and thrill are insanely intense! Nowadays, I barely find time to narrate movie stories like I did before. But upon watching this movie, I just couldn’t help narrating its story exclusively for The Movie Blog. https://youtu.be/2_ERyvO_w3U Bloody Daddy (2023): The Story Of A Sleepless Night In 2019, a virus called coronavirus changed the world. In 2020, we were at war with an unknown enemy. In 2021, by the end of the second wave of the pandemic, millions had lost their lives and livelihood and the crime rate was at an all-time high. The story begins just after the second wave as India was opening up again. Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sumair Azad (Shahid Kapoor) was on vacation with his son Atharv in the city of Gurgaon in Haryana, India. While vacationing, he and his colleague captured a bag of cocaine. He smashed his car into the escaping vehicle. The car overturned and they were able to recover the bag of cocaine from the car. The driver of the car was shot dead by them while his companion escaped. Sumair returned to his hotel room where his teenage son Atharv (Sartaj Kakkar) was waiting for him. He was separated from his wife and his wife was living with some other man. His son used to stay with him. Little did Sumair know that this bag of cocaine belonged to businessman and hotelier Sikandar Chowdhary (Ronit Roy). Sumair used to leave his son in his hotel room and go out to work. It was then that he received a call on his phone from Sikandar, "Your son is with me. Give me my bag of cocaine and you can have him". Bloody Daddy (2023): Starring Shahid Kapoor! https://youtu.be/ZwOeTu6ciP8 It was up to Sumair now to save his son. Atharv was his only son and he meant everything to him. The bag contained 26 packets of cocaine and he took one packet to the hotel suite of Sikandar leaving the bag to the hotel staff to take care of. There was a royal marriage ceremony going on in that 7-star hotel and Sumair walked in among that chaos. As he reached Sikandar's suite, he handed over the cocaine packet to him and said, "Release my son and I will give you the bag". Sikandar shoved him off and said, "You think I am a fool that you brought a single packet? Where's the bag? I give you three minutes to hand me over my bag of cocaine. Then you can take your son away". Saying this, Sikandar gave Sumair a hard push towards the door. Sumair had no idea that his friend and colleague, who used to accompany him in his encounter missions, had already informed his fellow NCB officer Sameer Singh (Rajeev Khandelwal) that he was going to give the bag of cocaine to Sikandar Chowdhary. Sameer, along with his subordinate officer Aditi Rawat (Diana Penty), had followed Sumair to the hotel and had already confiscated the bag from the hotel staff. As Sumair desperately asked for the bag from the staff, they told him that his fellow officers, Sameer and Aditi, had taken it away. Sameer was Sumair’s rival and wanted to falsely portray him as a criminal to the world.  So, he was deadly after Sumair and was ready to do anything to prove that he was associated with the drug mafia. Sumair devised a foolproof plan. He went to the kitchen of the hotel and threatened two chefs to pack up 25 packets of flour in a bag to make them look exactly like the cocaine packets. After packing the flour packets in the bag, he purposefully damaged its zip so as to buy him some time if Sikandar decided to check the bag while handing over his son to him. Meanwhile, the drug lord Hameed Shaikh (Sanjay Kapoor) was already in Sikandar’s hotel suite demanding the bag for him. Sikandar assured him that his "trusted man" is coming with the bag. Meanwhile, he requested Hameed to relax and wait in his suite. Before going to Sikandar's suite, Sumair had a word with the hotel’s bartender that it was Sikandar’s marriage anniversary and they must bring a surprise anniversary cake and champagne to his room. He also told the bartender to bring two or three buff dudes to his suite as these strong guys may be required to shift the furniture of Sikandar’s suite to make it appear well-decorated for his anniversary celebration. Sumair reached the suite with the bag of flour and handed it over to Sikandar. Sikandar, by that time, was already irritated by Hameed’s constant nagging and threw the bag at him. As Hameed started pulling the damaged zip of the bag, Sumair knew that he would soon cut open the bag and discover packets of flour instead of drugs. So, he shouted at Sikandar, “Where is my son? You bastards! Now you have the bag. Just bring him to me!” Sumair watched with horror as Hameed took out a sharp knife from his pocket intending to cut open the bag. Sumair now shouted at them, “You fools, don’t open the bag, the NCB has already tracked this bag and can come anytime looking for it!” Hameed got irritated. He indicated Sumair and shouted at Sikandar, “Who does this loudmouth think he is?” Sumair shouted, “I am an officer from the NCB”. Hameed looked admiringly at Sikandar saying, “Sikandar, I am really impressed. You have pet an NCB officer as your slave?!” He then turned to Sumair and said, “I must have your number buddy because from tomorrow you will be delivering Pizza at my doorsteps also”. That very moment, the doorbell of Sikandar’s suite rang and Sikandar saw through the CCTV camera that some buff dudes are standing at the door. It was then Sumair shouted, “These are NCB guys, I told you to run away you fools! Now you had it!” https://youtu.be/LaSJt3LWl9I Hameed and his men ran off to their car. Before Sumair left, Sikandar told him the spot inside the hotel where his men are waiting to hand over his son to him. As Sumair left, Sikandar opened the door only to know that his anniversary cake and champagne have arrived. Sumair had just made a jackass out of him. Hameed, sitting in his car, tasted a sample in one of the packets in the bag and discovered that it was only flour. He and his men rushed back to Sikandar’s suite intending to break the door. As the door opened Hameed rushed in and flung himself on Sikandar and blasted an entire packet of flour on his face. By that time, Sumair had reached the spot where Sikandar’s men were waiting to hand over his son to him. Hameed, on the other end, told Sikandar about how they have been tricked by Sumair with a bag of flour. As Sumair was walking away with his son, Sikandar called the head of his gang men and ordered him to detain the boy. The henchman shouted and ran after Sumair and his son who were fleeing. After a scuffle inside a DJ party going on on the dance floor of the hotel, the henchman somehow managed to pull away the boy from his father. Sumair followed them and an immense gory fight endured between him and dozens of henchmen. Sumair got wounded during the fight while the lead henchman was somehow able to take away his son back to Sikandar’s suite. As Sumair’s son was taken inside the suite, Sikandar told him that if his father didn’t bring the bag of cocaine within an hour, he would chop him into pieces and send his father the same flour bag which now will contain "him in pieces". The boy then asked for lactose-free chocolate milk as his last meal from Sikandar as he was allergic to lactose. Meanwhile, officers Sameer and Aditi had caught hold of Sumair at the hotel’s pub. Sumair somehow escaped from them to the kitchen where he was again caught by Aditi. He convinced her that the NCB department had a corrupt officer who was an ally of Sikandar, and he is trying his best to track him. It was then Sameer attacked him and a huge brawl between Sameer and Sumair took place inside the hotel’s kitchen with all the chefs watching in fear and awe. It appeared as if Sameer was bent upon killing Sumair as he was aiming heavy blows at him with sharp objects like butcher’s knives and steel rods. In the end, Sumair managed to bring him down and escape from the hotel’s kitchen. Sumair met his friend and colleague outside the hotel who was in fact an informer of Sameer. He knew his friend’s plan to hand him over to Sameer. So he knocked him unconscious and fled. Hameed, the drug lord, now decided to take matters into his own hands and asked for a gun from his henchman. He set out to capture Sumair all by himself but to his ill fate, was taken hostage by him. Sumair brought Hameed at gunpoint to Sikandar’s suite warning Sikandar that he would kill the drug lord if he didn’t hand over his son to him. To Sumair’s surprise, Sikandar shouted, “Yes kill him! He has been bothering me for a very long time. You call this guy a drug lord? It was I who made him. Five years ago, he was selling marijuana on the footpath. I raised him up to this position”. To this, the humiliated Hameed became agitated and began abusing Sikandar by calling his wife a whore and giving reasons why his daughter didn’t look like him (indicating that his wife used to sleep with other men). This made Sikandar furious and out of rage, he shot Hameed with his gun. Sumair was dumbfounded as Hameed fell dead right before him while he was still pointing his gun at him. Following this, there was a confrontation between Sumair and Sikandar after which Sumair managed to escape from the scene. In another scene, Sameer and Aditi found Sumair’s friend unconscious. While Aditi discovered the bag of flour in Hameed’s car, Sameer suffocated and murdered the unconscious man without her notice. It is then understood that Sameer was the actual "corrupt NCB officer" who was associated with Sikandar, not Sumair. Sumair went to the same bartender at the hotel's pub and saw that he was just about to take a bottle of lactose-free chocolate milk to some room in the hotel. He understood that it was for his son, and decided to follow the bartender. The bartender went into the room and served the chocolate milk to the boy. When he came out, he saw a bloody and gory scene. Sumair had killed all the henchmen who were standing outside the room. Some had their bellies punctured with metal rods while others had their throats slit open. Sumair then tapped the cheek of the shivering bartender and said, "You are a good boy from a good family. This is not your place. Now go." It was then Sumair entered the room and a bloody fight endured between him and two of Sikandar’s most trusted henchmen who were detaining his son. Sumair killed one while the other got unconscious while fighting him. By the time Sikandar came into the room, Sumair had escaped along with his son. Sikandar mourned the death of the dead henchman in the room as he happened to be like his right hand. He then gathered himself and ordered his henchmen, “Wherever you see the father and son, just shoot them”. Sikandar somehow caught up to Sumair and his fleeing son who were trying to escape in an unidentified car. As Sikandar pointed his gun at Sumair, there was a huge commotion. Hameed's henchman fired at Sikandar muttering, "You killed my boss!" In the firing commotion, another of Sikandar's very trusted henchmen got killed. As Sikandar mournfully held his corpse in his arms, Sameer and Aditi arrested him. Meanwhile, Sumair escaped along with his son. Sameer and Aditi were taking Sikandar to the police station after arresting him. Sikandar was made to sit in the back seat of the police jeep along with Sameer. Aditi was seated at the front along with the driver. It was then Aditi realized that there was something in the pocket of her jacket. It was a mobile phone which Sumair had stealthily slipped into her jacket's pocket. The phone belonged to Sameer which Sumair had taken from him after pinning him during their fight. As she checked the phone, she saw Sameer's text conversation with Sikandar and immediately knew that the corrupt police officer who was associated with Sikandar was none other than Sameer himself! As she looked back at Sameer, he shot her that very instant. The bullet hit her and she fainted. The driver beside her became nervous. Sameer shouted at the driver, "What are you looking at? Just drive!" Within a matter of five seconds, he shot Sikandar too who was sitting beside him. Sikandar died, and he again shouted at the driver with an evil look, "Can't you hear me? I said, look forward and drive!" As the horrified police driver looked forward, he shot him dead too. The driverless police jeep hit the side of the road and overturned. Policemen came to the rescue and as they were helping Sameer who was clenching on the cocaine bag, the front door of the jeep opened and the injured Aditi painfully stared at him. The bullet hadn’t killed her, and she was alive! The bag of cocaine dropped from Sameer's hands as he knew that his game was over. Sumair's car was still parked at the hotel. He and his son went back to the hotel to retrieve their car. As Sumair was about to drive away with his son, Aditi came up to him and told him that the cocaine bag has been captured but three packets of cocaine are still missing from the bag. Sumair's son was sitting in the car while he was talking to Aditi outside. The boy happened to open the car's dashboard and was surprised as he found the three packets of cocaine there. He was dumbfounded and kept staring at his father when he got into the car. Sumair grinned at the dumbfounded boy and said, "Let's go on a vacation buddy". Bloody Daddy (2023): Ek Anokha Kissa Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/O1vDPCGygkQ Watch Out for my thrilling review of this master-blaster action-thriller coming soon only on The Movie Blog!     Read the full article

[alibaba1xk]

Bnagladesh Helps India: পড়শি এল সাহায্য নিয়ে, দুঃসময়ে বন্ধু ভারতের পাশে ওষুধ হাতে বাংলাদেশ!

#বাংলাদেশ: করোনার দ্বিতীয় ঢেউয়ে (Second Wave of Coronavirus) বিপর্যস্ত গোটা ভারত। ঝড়ের গতিতে বাড়ছে সংক্রমণ। এই পরিস্থিতিতে গত সোমবার থেকে আগামী দু’সপ্তাহ ভারতের সঙ্গে স্থলপথে যাবতীয় যোগাযোগ বন্ধ করে দিয়েছে বাংলাদেশ (Bangladesh)। তারও আগে টিকা নিয়ে ভারত-বাংলাদেশের মধ্যে মনোমালিন্যের খবর সামনে এসেছিল। ফলে যে সময় মনে করা হচ্ছিল, দুই ‘বন্ধুর’ মধ্যে সম্পর্কে মরচে ধরছে কিনা, তখনই ভারতের পাশে…

[wordexpress]

Milk Gives Government A Headache As Prices Soar Ahead of 2024 Polls

The average retail price of milk in India has increased by 12% from a year ago to 57.15 rupees ($0.6962) a liter.

Milk is ubiquitous in India - from the morning glassful that most middle class school kids glug to its use in Hindu religious rituals. Now it could become a headache for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government as prices soar.

The average retail price of milk in India has increased by 12% from a year ago to 57.15 rupees ($0.6962) a liter. A mix of factors is at play - a jump in the cost of cereals has made cattle feed more expensive coupled with lower dairy yields as cows were inadequately fed due to the pandemic rupturing demand at the time.

In turn, milk - which has the second-largest weight in India's food basket - pushes up overall inflation as well. India's headline inflation for March fell below the central bank's target of 6% as high interest rates cooled overall demand, according to data released Wednesday. However, milk inflation trended higher than the overall figure at 9.31%.

High prices of milk and related products - emotive items that most poor families aspire to and wealthier people see as indicators of status - have the potential of becoming a political risk for Modi's government ahead of national elections next summer.

"This trend of higher milk prices is problematic, since it is a highly price elastic product and has a direct impact on consumption," said R.S. Sodhi, president of the Indian Dairy Association.

For now, the demand-supply mismatch has helped a rally among dairy stocks in India as analysts expect this situation can help organized players expand their share of overall market in India.

However, Sodhi said the balance sheet of dairy companies may eventually come under stress as the cost of procurement is rising. One factor is the increase in the prices of cereals and rice bran, ingredients used in animal feed, which is discouraging farmers from feeding their cattle sufficiently and is reflecting in milk prices that have risen 12%-15% during winter months, he said.

Unseasonal rain and heat waves have also contributed to this jump in feed prices. Cereal inflation came in at 15.27% for March 2023.

But trouble was brewing even before prices of cattle feed began to rise.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit and India introduced one of the world's strictest lockdowns, demand for milk and milk products dipped as many restaurants and sweet shops were forced to shut down either temporarily or permanently.

India accounts for almost a quarter of the world's milk supplies, but those massive volumes are produced in large part by tens of millions of small farmers who maintain modest numbers of animals. The drop in demand meant they were unable to feed their livestock well.

"A cow has to be fed irrespective of whatever quantity of milk it is giving and this is a pressure point for the producer," said Jayen Mehta, who heads India's largest dairy cooperative, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns the iconic Amul brand.

And while the South Asian nation consumes the bulk of the milk it produces, exports have also been rising, especially once the global virus disruption eased and demand for milk products picked up across the the world. India exported dairy products worth about $391.59 million in the 2021-22 fiscal year compared to $321.96 million in the year before that.

"In terms of the outlook for this year, we believe that milk prices will continue to increase, since there is a shortage of milk heading into the peak demand season," Madhavi Arora, economist at Emkay Global wrote in a report this month.

Demand for ice cream and yogurt jumps as summer temperatures soar. That's followed by the season of Hindu festivals, which starts around September - milk-based sweets are a holiday staple - and carries on for the next few months.

While Modi revamped a food program to make monthly rice and wheat rations free for about 800 million Indians, higher prices of other kitchen staples add to the pressure on his government to do more to help citizens cope with the rising costs of living. That's crucial as he prepares to seek reelection next year in a country that has by far the largest number of poor people worldwide.

"It's an issue that affects ordinary people rightly," said Neerja Chowdhury, a New Delhi-based political columnist. "But whether it becomes a poll issue depends on the opposition, how effectively they can use it and make it into a right issue that make people vote in a particular way."

Analysts expect Modi to win as the opposition remains in disarray. But the government may still have to do some heavy-lifting to beat back price pressures, given the Reserve Bank of India has already paused monetary tightening amid mounting growth risks.

While economists expect overall inflation to ease going ahead, things are not looking up for this staple. India's central bank last week said that prices of milk may continue to be firm going into the summer season due to tight demand-supply balance and fodder cost pressures.

Amul's Mehta describes it as walking a tight rope. On one hand, it is about limiting the impact of inflation on consumers for an essential item, while simultaneously ensuring producers get a fair price to encourage them to continue producing milk, he said.

For now, even middle class families are tweaking their milk consumption. Ruchika Thakur, a lawyer and a parent to a five-year-old, says cutting down on milk purchases is not an option so she's started buying cheaper options to tackle the surge in cost.

"I think twice before making that extra cup of coffee," she said, adding that there is no room for buying more, especially for a family of eight who consume three liters of milk each day.

[creatiview]

[ad_1] The problem is that 85 of the 194 countries surveyed by the WHO technical advisory group that came up with the new estimates don’t have good enough death registries for this to be a viable approach. Forty-one of those countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.For these countries, a team led by Jonathan Wakefield, a statistician at the University of Washington in Seattle, used the data from countries with complete death registries to build another statistical model able to predict total COVID deaths in any month from other measures, including temperature, the percentage of COVID tests returning positive, a rating of the stringency of social distancing and other measures to limit infection, and rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease — conditions that put people at high risk of dying from COVID.The Indian health ministry objected strongly to this model in its response to the New York Times article. But the WHO team didn’t actually use it to estimate Indian COVID deaths. India falls into an intermediate group of countries that have reasonably good data on total deaths in some regions but not in others. So Wakefield’s team used data from 17 Indian states with adequate death registries, applied the standard excess deaths approach used for countries with complete death registries, and then extrapolated from these states to the entire country.“We only base the predictions of how many people died in India in those two years on Indian data,” Wakefield told BuzzFeed News.Importantly, the WHO’s estimates for Indian COVID deaths also align well with other studies, including one published in the journal Science in January by a team led by Prabhat Jha, director of the Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto in Canada. Jha’s team estimated COVID deaths from Indian government data and from a national survey of 137,000 people, conducted by a polling company that asked people whether a family member had died from COVID. “India has pretty high cellphone coverage, and they did random digit dialing,” Jha told BuzzFeed News.Jha’s team estimated that more than 3.2 million people in India had died from COVID by July 2021, the majority of them during the devastating surge in COVID caused by the Delta coronavirus variant between April and June 2021. That came after the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had relaxed COVID controls following an earlier, less severe wave. “The Indian government declared victory and said, ‘Oh India's beat this virus,’ and complacency set in,” Jha said.This explains the political sensitivity in India about accepting the results from studies that indicate a much higher death toll than the official count. Responding to a question from leaders of the opposition Congress party about Jha’s study in February, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare described it as “speculative” and claimed it “lacks any peer reviewed scientific data” — even though it was published in one of the world’s leading peer-reviewed scientific journals.“It’s politics,” Jha said of the Indian government’s rejection of his study.According to the WHO, Egypt has proportionately the largest undercount of pandemic deaths, with excess mortality running at 11.6 times the toll attributed to COVID. India, with 9.9 times more excess deaths than its official COVID death count, is in second place. Russia, meanwhile, has reported 3.5 times fewer deaths from COVID than indicated by its excess mortality.Ariel Karlinsky of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, another member of the WHO technical advisory group, hopes the agency’s “stamp of approval” for excess mortality calculations will encourage nations to come up with more realistic numbers. “Putin doesn’t know who I am, but they do know who the WHO is,” he told BuzzFeed News.But rather than moving to correct their COVID death numbers, some governments are apparently now withholding the all-cause mortality data used to calculate excess deaths. Belarus, which seems to

be undercounting its COVID deaths by a factor of about 12, has stopped reporting its all-cause mortality data to the UN, Karlinsky said. “The sections on mortality just disappeared.”Right now, the main concern is China, which is experiencing a significant wave of the Omicron coronavirus variant but is reporting suspiciously few deaths. If the wave now hitting Shanghai and other cities matches the pattern seen in Hong Kong since February, Jha fears that a million Chinese people may die.Some countries have responded to excess mortality studies with greater accountability and transparency. After earlier excess deaths analyses suggested that Peru was underreporting its COVID deaths by a factor of 2.7, the South American nation went through its medical and death records in detail and revised its death toll in May 2021 to a figure closely matching the excess deaths analysis. It is now reporting the highest official per-capita death rate from COVID of any nation. “Peru did what I would have liked every country to do,” Karlinsky said.The WHO’s new estimates of total excess pandemic deaths will include people who died from other causes because health systems were overwhelmed, as well as people killed by the coronavirus.Karlinsky, who is an economist, said he started analyzing excess deaths because he wondered whether “the cure was worse than the disease” — in particular, he feared that lockdowns could cause more deaths than the coronavirus, in part through increases in suicides. But the data told a very different story.In countries like New Zealand that had strict lockdowns but low levels of COVID, there is no excess deaths signal. There is also no evidence of a global epidemic of suicide during the pandemic — in the US, suicides actually decreased. Only in a few countries like Nicaragua, where people seem to have avoided going to the hospital because they were worried about getting infected, are there signs that deaths from other causes such as heart disease have increased, according to Karlinsky.“Excess mortality is about equal to COVID mortality,” he added. [ad_2] Source link

[imaec-digital]

Healthcare Information Blog: Another effort in IMAEC Medntek’s constant strive to serve patients and stakeholders

Looking at the present circumstances and what we have all endured through during the last two year of the pandemic, it seems inevitable that there will be a rise in chronic and infectious diseases in the near future and that there will be additional healthcare challenges due to an ageing population and changing lifestyle. This will transform patient demographics. At the same time, families are facing challenges due to the cost of healthcare and the limitations of the healthcare system in the country.

We saw how sudden surge in cases brought our health industry to the brink of collapse, while constant need for isolation did the same thing to our economy. We are now planning to restart all the economic and social activities. This means opening airports, corporate and public sector offices, factories, bus and railway stations and social gatherings. But we all know that covid might have been controlled but it is still out there. We are in a situation where not opening our economy is not an option but the possibility of another covid wave is very real.

In case of infectious diseases including covid we understand that the only possible option is to take all precautions while we slowly restart our activities. At the same time our hospitals need to be ready to handle the worst.

Doctors and caregivers can end up being carriers of the virus. Use of instrument disinfectants, surface disinfectants and sanitized or disposable clothes has always been a key to the safety of both patients and staff. But, now that coronavirus is out there, the risks have increased and so has the importance of sanitization. Not doing so can easily cause a mini covid outbreak within a medical facility, and can even make its way to the outside world. Of course, with proper sanitization, all of this can be avoided.

Who we are?

At IMAEC MEDNTEK, we aspire to become the market leaders in Infection Control and dialysis consumables in India as well as on a global scale. IMAEC MEDNTEK Solutions has the ability to cater to various hospital sectors and industries such as Pharmaceutical, Food, Dairy, Veterinary etc.

Our country needs rapidly deployable, state-of-the art, affordable solutions in order to bring our healthcare system at par with developed nations. Constant sanitization of hands, floors, equipment and frequently touched surfaces can allow us to get back to work while keeping covid at bay. which is why we have created a lineup of sanitizing and cleaning solutions to cater to all of our populations sanitization needs. This includes personal hand disinfectants, Instrument and hospital floor cleaners along with medical device disinfectants. We have also designed different types of protective clothing, disposable garments and sheets for use at medical facilities which can allow hospitals and medical facilities to work around the clock, while maintaining effective infection control. We are also working on similar solutions to cater to different healthcare needs such as wound dressing and air purification.

Let’s take another example of healthcare challenge. End-stage renal disease, also known as end-stage kidney disease occurs when chronic kidney disease or in other words, the gradual loss of kidney function reaches an advanced state. At this end-stage, your kidneys are no longer able to perform as they should in order to meet your body’s needs and you need dialysis or a kidney transplant just to stay alive.

In most cases, kidney failure is caused because of other health problems that damage your kidneys slowly, over the period of time. Changing lifestyle, increased stress, lack of physical activity and unbalanced diet lead to diabetes and hypertension. Diabetes and High blood pressure is the second most common cause of End Stage Renal Disease.

Every year around 2.2 Lakh new cases of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) get added to the existing number in India. Hemodialysis practically remains the first and in most cases, the only choice for ESRD patients. resulting in an additional demand of 3.4 Crore dialysis per year. With only around 5000 dialysis centers, the demand is not even half met with existing infrastructure. (1)Two thirds of our nation’s population live in rural areas, where the access to HD is limited. According to a study (3), Most of the patients live 50-100 km away from the nearest facility. The necessity to travel increases costs and exacerbates loss of employment or wages. (4) Besides, most families have to undertake frequent trips, and often over long distances to access dialysis services incurring heavy travel costs and loss of wages for the patient and family members. A study from Kerala, which is one of the more prosperous states in India, showed that families of more than 90% of patients on dialysis suffered catastrophic healthcare expenditure. (5)

The Indian government is trying to increase number of dialysis centers under National Dialysis Program announced in 2016, But less than a third of the requirement can be accommodated under this program, which means that contribution from private sector remains crucial. (2)

Our Vision:

At IMAEC MEDNTEK, our vision is to ensure that people across the nation have the same access to the best possible treatment. We are planning to launch several dialysis centers in India in the coming year. Later, we plan to target tier 2 and tier 3 cities so that the commute time and expenses for Kidney disease patients will reduce significantly. Additionally, we are planning manufacture home dialysis machines and consumables. By providing equipment and support for home hemodialysis we wish to take some load off from in-center dialysis. Additionally, Home hemodialysis comes with its own benefits for patients including the additional comfort of home, improved health benefits and improved quality of life, saving commuting time, to name just a few.

We aspire to provide economical and innovative solutions in infection control and dialysis. Our visions coincide with the government of India’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative. Local production will reduce dependence of foreign suppliers, reduce prices and increase employment in India. On one hand the generated revenue will contribute to the nation’s economy and on the other hand better healthcare solutions provided by IMAEC MEDNTEK will contribute towards nation building, and this is in addition to our plan of serving patients and improving their quality of life. This ambition of serving patients and partnering with all stakeholders is what inspires us to work harder every day.

Our Blog:

However, we asked ourselves, ‘do we want to stop at manufacturing instruments and solutions and providing dialysis services?’ and the answer was No, it wasn’t, we wanted to provide more holistic support and instruments and services are one part of this picture.

In today’s world providing information and spreading awareness is equally important. This blog is the final piece of the puzzle. Here we plan to handle several topics that can help our patients and our stakeholders. Everything from adjusting the Indian diet for a kidney disease to how those who depend on hemodialysis can take advantage of work from home practice. This platform will inform its readers about new advances of technology and it will educate them how to cope up with situations such as pandemic. Target of this blog is not just the patients. We cannot help patients without spreading awareness about the disease, can we??

Only by spreading awareness can we increase knowledge of the common population about ESRD and its effects on a patient’s life. By spreading awareness, we can pressurize governing bodies to take action, we can increase insurance cover for kidney patients and we can increase information available about treatments and their benefits and last but not least we can provide emotional support to the patients. By spreading awareness, we can enable common population to control infections.

Readers can expect informative content regarding renal disease, sanitization, infection control and many topics that are closely or even distantly connected to these twos. Above all, we want to build a sense of community among patients, their family members, caregivers, medical practitioners and common people. We aim to create a platform where interaction among all of them is possible and necessary information is readily available.

[shubhi01]

Mucormycosis (Black Fungus) And COVID 19.

Catastrophic second wave of COVID 19 has left millions of people infected and dead. India is experiencing the world’s worst outbreak with not only rising COVID cases but also an alarming upsurge in a rare and potentially life-threatening fungal infection, Mucormycosis.

What is Mucormycosis?

According to CDC, Mucormycosis (black fungus) is a serious and rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes. These fungi live in the environment, particularly in soil and in decaying organic matter, such as fruits, vegetables, leaves, compost piles, or rotten wood.People can contract mucormycosis by coming in contact with the fungal spores in the environment. For example, by inhalation of spores, by swallowing spores. Additionally, mucormycosisis likely to develop on the skin when fungus enters the skin via scrape, cut, burn, or any other type of skin trauma or injury.

How is mucormycosis related to COVID 19?

This rare fungal infection usually affects people who suffer from long-term health issues and/or take medications that lower immunity. Mucormyosis can be life-threatening in diabetics and immunocompromised individuals, such as recipients of organ or stem transplants, long-term usage of steroids, post-surgery, and cancer.

When diabetes is poorly controlled, and blood sugar is high the tissues become relatively acidic, it creates a suitable condition for Mucorales fungi to grow. This has been identified as a risk factor for mucormycosis in India.  People with diabetes and obesity are expected to develop more severe Covid-19 infections. This means they’re more likely to receive corticosteroids, which are frequently used to treat Covid-19. But corticosteroids together with diabetes increase the risk of mucormycosis. Meanwhile, coronavirus can damage airway tissue and blood vessels, which could also increase susceptibility to fungal infection.

Moreover, damaged lungs and suppressed immune system as seen in the case of COVID-positive patients make sinuses and nose the most common site of mucormycosis manifestation. From there it can spread to the eyes, leading to blindness, or the brain, causing headaches, seizures, stroke, and even death in certain cases. A recent study showed 94% of people infected with mucormycosis had diabetes and poorly controlled diabetes in 67% people.

Furthermore, long-term ventilation reduces immunity and there are speculations of the fungus being transmitted by the humidifier water being given along with oxygen.

Is it contagious?

No, it’s not. It does not spread from one person to another.

Image: Twitter/@drharshvardhan

What are the symptoms?

You must visit your doctor if you experience the following symptoms;

Cough

Shortness of breath

fever

headache

nasal congestion, discharge.

sinus pain

blackened skin tissue

blisters

redness and swelling

ulcers

one side facial pain

loosening of teeth

blackish discoloration over the bridge of the nose

How is mucormycosis treated?

This includes antifungal medication, controlling blood sugar, urgent removal of dead tissue.

The outcome is poor in many patients affected with mucormyosis. Nearly half of the patients affected will die and many will sustain permanent damage to their health.

Can we prevent mucormycosis?

Yes, mucormycosis can be prevented. Vaccination can help, it will protect from infection, which in turn will protect immunity. A strong immunity system can keep mucrmycosis at bay. Awareness must be created regarding fungal infections,  diagnose them early, along with a focus on controlling diabetes and using corticosteroids wisely.

Dr. Rahul Sawant is one of the Best Cardiologist in Pune. He is Interventional Cardiologist, MBBS, MD (Med) Pune, MRCP London, CCT Cardiology Cambridge UK. He is Director of Hridaymitra Cardia Clinic, Pune. Hridaymitra Cardia Clinic of excellence in Pune for heart care and you will discover well trained, and topmost best cardiologist in Pune.

[breakingnewsworld]

There is a need to crack down on black marketing of medicines and equipment, says PM Modi

[hummingzone]

Coronavirus live updates | Delhi High Court quashes GST on oxygen concentrators

Coronavirus live updates | Delhi High Court quashes GST on oxygen concentrators

India ought to realistically expect around a 1.3 billion doses of vaccines from August to December and not the 2 billion that the Centre has projected, said epidemiologist, public health expert and author Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, in an interview to The Hindu. Dr. Lahariya, who was formerly with the World Health Organisation, said that there was no evidence so far that a potential third wave…

[alibaba1xk]

প্রতিবেশীর 'রিটার্ন গিফট' ভারতকে! বাংলাদেশ পাঠাল ১০,০০০ রেমডিসিভির ইঞ্জেকশন... Bangladesh Provides Over 10,000 Remdesivir Vials To India – News18 Bangla

# বন্ধুদেশ বাংলাদেশ। বিপদে সবসময়ই সাহায্যের হাত বাড়িয়ে ��িয়েছে ভারত। করোনার (Coronavirus( প্রথম ঢেউ আছড়ে পড়তেও সাহায্য পাঠাতে কাল বিলম্ব করেনি ভারত। পড়শি দেশের পাশে দাঁড়িয়েছিল এখানকার সরকার। এবার কার্যত তারই প্রতিদান দিল বাংলাদেশ (Bangladesh)। করোনার দ্বিতীয় ঢেউ (Second Wave)-এর ফলে দেশজুড়ে শুরু হয়েছে অক্সিজেন ও জরুরি ওষুধের আকাল। টালমাটাল হাল স্বাস্থ্য পরিষেবার। তারই মধ্যে এবার ভারতের পাশে…

[everythingshouldbereality]

India records 3,11,170 new COVID cases, 4,077 deaths in past 24 hours

India records 3,11,170 new COVID cases, 4,077 deaths in past 24 hours

Image Source : PTI Phulia: Volunteers of a social organisation dress as Coronavirus make people aware about safety measures against Covid- 19 in Nadia India on Sunday recorded 3,11,170 new cases of the novel coronavirus, along with 4,077 deaths due to the infection. According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, the country saw a total of 3,62,437 discharges in the last 24 hours,…

[thelost-truth]

Drop adversarial stance on pandemic, Congress tells Centre

Drop adversarial stance on pandemic, Congress tells Centre

PM has left the people to fend for themselves, says party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. The Congress on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “negligent, callous and indifferent” about handling the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when the country is fighting the second wave. The party also urged the government to drop an “adversarial” stance and listen to former Congress president Rahul…

[breakingnewsworld]

‘Serosurveys lose their scientific relevance once vaccination starts in the population,’ says Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR

[whatnonsense]

Covid - India

The situation in India is really overwhelming right now. Also with America not helping us with vaccines while we helped the whole world is really depressing. The crematoriums in Delhi were so scary and frightening, to see so many people die just because they can't get enough oxygen supply is heart breaking. While we in our homes with a privileged life can only help so much to the needful but the government is not even trying to help. They've literally told us to look after ourselves, we can't do anything. Even some of my family has tested positive for covid but the ones who are critical and in ICU are barely getting any help. The doctors are helplessly tweeting to get some oxygen tanks, which is really scary considering even they can't help.

People are not wearing masks and going out when clearly there's a lockdown going on. And the government literally doesn't have a plan to stop this or to get it under control. I'm really thankful for the people on twitter helping with food and chores for the people suffering from covid. Atleast someone is doing something while the government is having rallies for elections.

This is a really scary moment for our country and I wanted to let you all know what's really going on here. You can surely show your support by reblogging and helping those in need.

Note: If you are too overwhelmed please block the tags of covid india.

[egyptian-spirit]

We'd appreciate if you could share this, Like this, or even donate. Just a £1/1$.. Any interaction will help greatly

This fundraiser is on behalf of my friend and his family in India as this site is not accessible in their country.

Like many others, they too have been affected deeply by the pandemic. On the 1st week of April 2021, the first tested positive for Covid and then within 3 days all the family members had tested positive (Total of 10 members) 

All had to be hospitalised, his father being the longest had to stay for 4 weeks. Up to 12 different medications had to be taken per day in the end.

Whilst this family already has to deal with a few long term illnesses. This past year they've also had to deal with 3 surgeries (one being an emergency)

His father was under a lot of severe stress and worry from all this happening within the family, whilst he eventually recovered from Covid, he then had to be further hospitalised for his mental state.

Whilst the Covid treatment was expensive (it is usually free/very cheap but during the 2nd wave, all hospitals were occupied and so the other hospitals charged multiple times more than what they should) It is the latter (Mental state hospitalisation) that carries a lot of the cost (For some reason, having been charged 10 times more than what it would usually cost)

This took place during the second wave, hospitals overflowed with cases. Due to this, the treatment had to be done elsewhere which in turn gave them a mass of various medical bills amounting to a staggering figure.

It started with the initial treatment, then hospitalisation and then more treatment.

The family don't have the option to take out a loan due to having taken one out in December 2020 to open up a centre for those in need, and those who lost loved ones in the pandemic.

The amount needed to be paid is overwhelming, the only way to be able to pay for this is by selling their home. But of course this would leave them homeless.

The said amount of money from donations is less than the amount needed but it will, help pay a good amount of it.

There are no pictures of them on here out of respect of privacy and them not being comfortable with having their pictures online.