What Everything starts with

The COVID-19 or commonly referred to as The Novel Coronavirus has become the only concern now. It's quiet natural to get irritated at this Coronavirus mania but there are a lot of interesting facts, eveyone should know about. News Media, though neutral or biased (Although, neutral media hardly exist), have started covering just a bit of useful information. However, most of this information is presented in a depressing way so as to cause anxiety regarding this situation. Hence, it is essential not to panic in such a situation. Probably the only thing we've to do is what youngsters call 'chill at home'. No doubt, this virus resulted in massive economic collapses and forced even the most powerful countries to kneel. Even the country that is considered as the 'superpower'; The USA has not been able to take effective measures. Whether Democracy or Dictatorship, many have miserably failed to control this spread. As a result, we've seen dreadful deaths and horrendous accusations. Even India which had been performing aptly, is now gradually getting churned by this virus. Many Governments, leaders believe it to be a conspiracy of the Chinese Government.
However, do we really need to be a bystander listening to these conspiracy theories or random facts about this virus ? Do we really need to watch how the opposition criticizes the center for taking any harsh measures (as quoted by the opposition) ? There is nothing that can change the fact that we are under the threat of this Pandemic. Do we have to cry over everything going wrong with the Economy ?
Every coin has two sides. However, man sees one side at a time. This is called as Halo Effect. A single quantity portrays a positive or negative impression that outshines every other factor. Like the moon; we see only the bright side while we ignore it's dark side. But in this Coronavirus episode, a larger populace is looking at it's dark side. If we look closely, we will find the bright side to be more intriguing. This is where we are headed at, in our blog :The Bright Side of Crisis. We are going to mention some facts that assure this Coronavirus mania to be in humanity's favour. This is a place where you'll find most of the positive stories, elements and facts related to the Coronavirus happening and also, the 'flattening of the curve' as they say.
Many Governments have announced lockdown in order to control the spread. This has caused a total stoppage of activities in factories and production units which massively contribute to the rate of ever increasing pollution. Also, larger number of people are now using digital forms of payment. This would help in fulfilling the 'Cashless India' dream. Nobody must've ever assumed schools, tuitions and colleges to conduct lectures online. We can say that All of the educational institutions have started using digital platforms to conduct classes. Online Video Conferencing platforms recorded a huge surge in the recent months. Online conferences, summits are conducted largely. For eg, Recently the G-20 summit was held through video conferencing. Zoom had recorded 10 million users in December 2019, prior to the outbreak. This number hiked to 200 million in February 2020. Did we foresee Mumbai, called as 'city of dreams' or 'Mayanagri', to shut down it's activities partly ? Did we predict that all of the corporate sector would shut down and every employee would have to carry on the work by sitting at home ? However, it’s the truth and all these things are happening. The students who would face difficulties to reach coaching centre classes, can now take online classes. Meanwhile people are becoming independent as they carry on household activities on their own in absence of their maids or workers. Moreover, many engineering students are involved in creating robots to help doctors. International trade experts and diplomats speculate that many of the top corporate giants and multinational corporations may shift their production units from China and establish them in India. Due to widespread lockdown, there are no people on the streets to mug because people are confined to their homes preventing burglaries and house invasion. Secondly, street prostitution or sex slavery has been severely curtailed. Also reduced pollution level in the world's largest lockdown, India witnessed a sudden fall of pollutants and subsequent blue skies signal a dramatic shift for India which had 21 of the world's most polluted cities. According to a survey, the nitrogen dioxide levels dropped by 30-40% in all major Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune after 3 weeks of lockdown. Also it is seen that The Ganges is about 10 times cleaner than it was in December 2019. The number of people suffering from fatal respiratory problems due to pollution was about 4 million in 2019, which is expected to reduce by 50% by the end of 2020. 'Work from Home' has resulted in reduction of use of plastic and paper to a huge extent. Also, the marine life which is endangered due to mixing of toxic chemicals in water, will rejuvenate. Paper, Rubber and Wood will be used conservatively. In short, this pandemic will benefit us by helping nature restore its original beauty that man has ruined to a great extent.
The world has also witnessed a sharp decline in the sale of illegal narcotic drugs due to a strain in supplies of those drugs. The most undisputed positive impact on India was its HCQ diplomacy. India is the largest manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine tablets, an anti-malarial and sold these to atleast 55 countries including the superpowers. Recently, Switzerland projected the Indian flag on the world's most photographed peak i.e. Mount Mattenhorn in the Alps, as a message of hope and humanity. This also depicts the growing stature and soft power of India in International politics.
Today, the world observes the acknowledgement of the heroics of those who were the unsung heroes yesterday. Doctors, Nurses, Sewage Cleaners, Sweepers, Security Personnel an all other essential service providers are now attributed greater importance. Human relationships will be stronger than ever, after the pandemic.
Mankind can always hope the future to be bright. This is what leads to development. It is true that the outbreak has disrupted economies worldwide. However, we see a gradual improvement in environment balance. Economies are social systems that are created by humans. Humans can create them, destroy them and even fix them using the neocortex. However, everything in this nature is an underlying component building this earth. Till date, mankind has caused lot of damage to these natural systems and despite a lot of efforts put in by environmentalists and leaders, mankind could hardly see any light coming through. However, this Coronavirus incident has resulted in rebuilding of these natural systems. Ozone layer healing, decreasing pollution levels, greater freedom for animals, suitable environment for birds and a lot more things are happening.
We have come up with this idea of writing Blog posts to acquaint you with the long term benefits of this ephemeral crisis requesting you to empathize and cooperate.







Writers - Ashutosh Gandhe, Sankalp Gharote and Tushar Saboo
Publisher - Yajnesh Gokhale

A New Dawn

To date, we've witnessed many people being bothered about economic breakdown. Economies are social systems. Man has created them, and hence, knows numerous ways to fix them if anything goes wrong.  Humans have an affinity towards their own creation. Any person would love the things born out of their imagination and hard work. We certainly are fond of our blog and so is mankind fond of these economies. This is called 'Not Invented Here Syndrome.' Humans were never so worried for the environment than they do now, for the coronavirus and the economies. The world runs on the principles of  'equivalent exchange' i.e. money. If we come to think of it from an economic perception, everything going wrong today is a small price to pay for environmental rejuvenation. However, a great extent of this price is being borne by poor people. This should be an important concern for governments as the lives of these people are at stake.

This post throws some light on one of the positive effects due to the Coronavirus happening i.e. constant decrease in pollution levels in the world. It is true that many organisations and governments have recorded a decrease in pollution in their nations, due to the lockdown announced by Governments. With all factories and industrial units shut, the level of emissions of toxic gases like Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) ans Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) have fell considerably. Also, now that only a fraction of the total vehicles run on the streets, the rate of pollution is further minimized. This news is particularly soothing in countries like India, where in lie 21 of the top 30 most polluted cities in the world. 

Talking about other nations, Paris has seen a drop in Nitrogen dioxide(No2) by 54% while Madrid, Manila and Rome saw a drop of nearly 50% according to the scientists from the Royal Meteorological Institute (Source Forbes). NewYork also witnessed a 40% drop in the release of effluents after the lockdown was enforced. In 2019, the number of people suffering from fatal respiratory problems due to air pollution was close to 4 million worldwide. But now, this number is expected to reduce at least by 50% by the end of 2020. Ozone Layer (which has been greatly harmed due to industrial activities) has been observed to be healing in some parts of the world. 

As far as the situation in India is concerned, all the major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata recorded a sharp drop in the air pollution level after the lock down was imposed. The air pollution in Delhi had reached unbearable heights by the end of 2019, with some areas recording an AQI (Air Quality Index), well above 300. Typically, an AQI above 200 is extremely hazardous (Source: worldaqi). But now, according latest reports, the average AQI of Delhi after 6 weeks of lockdown has dropped well below 90, which is 'moderately polluted air.'

(Image source : cnn.com)

The difference in the pollution in Delhi is quite evident in the picture above. In the past, the Government launched Air Prevention and Contol of Pollution Act in the year 1981 but failed to achieve success because of lack of public cooperation and poor enforcement of rules. Even the Delhi government also announced odd even rule but that too, didn't work out properly. In short, the virus has done something that the Delhi government has been tying to do since years. Of course this level of pollution will rise after industries restart, but its highly unlikely that the pollution levels will touch greater heights as they did in 2019. Thus, the Coronovirus has provided massive support mechanism in fighting air pollution.

Talking about water pollution, the pandemic has been a blessing for marine life. Rumors are that the virus spreads through meat; which considerably decreased fishe consumption and hence millions of fishes were saved. With chemical factories shut, no harmful chemicals are released in water bodies; which, again is a boon for marine life.

In India, the sacred river Ganges had been highly polluted due to industrial waste and human activities like bathing, washing clothes and cattle and various religious offerings made into the river. However, after weeks of lock down, the Ganges is several times cleaner than it was before.

The Ganges river water at Varanasi had the average Dissolved Oxygen Level of about 3.3 mg/L in 2019, which is now close to 8mg/L after the spread of the virus (Source: IndiaToday). Scientifically, water having DOL in the range 6.5-8 mg/L is considered to be safe for aquatic life.

  So, the virus has miraculously done many things that the government has been trying to do since 1986, when the then PM Rajiv Gandhi started the GAP (Ganges Action Plan). Similar situation is seen in the other rivers like Yamuna and Satluj.

    Now a days, you can hear the birds chirping loudly, can't you? The lock down has silenced the noise coming from factories and honking of motor vehicles, which has reduced the rate of noise pollution. Seismologists are reporting less seismic noise since the lock down, i.e. less vibration of the Earth's crust. Seismic noise caused by human activities in Brussels, for instance, is reported to be reduced by 33% as compared to pre-lockdown levels (Source: Forbes). The benefit of this is that the seismic tools can now detect earthquakes and other seismic activities precisely. As most ships and cruises are on temporary hold, the oceans are more tranquil. Hence there is a decrease in the chronic sounds in the ocean, which, in turn, has lead to the decrease in stress hormone production in aquatic creatures (Source: Forbes). Throughout the world, people like traffic policemen, public transport drivers etc are greatly affected by the noise pollution occurring on streets. This causes conditions like impaired hearing, blood pressure issues and heart problems in people and also causes many premature deaths. The pandemic has surely come as a relief for some of such people who can now experience the peace on the streets or at home. 

   Due to this pandemic, economies may collapse, depressions might occur, but we ought to redesign policies. And that's where we have the biggest advantage. Economic policies can be redesigned in a way that ensures environmental restoration. We can limit production activities, make use of alternative raw materials, regulate and restrict industries and much more which could've been impossible before this coronavirus made us do so.

   Although the decrease in the levels of pollution are fairly temporary at this stage, and are likely to increase in future and hence, doing all those activities that could transform these short-term gains into a permanent system in the long-term; is the only way to ensure a bright aftermath of The Coronavirus Pandemic. 

Writers - Ashutosh Gandhe, Tushar Saboo and Yajnesh Gokhale

Publishers - Ashutosh Gandhe and Yajnesh Gokhale

Crisis, Opprtunities and Aftermath

Twenty years back in time, while the world had been thumped by the Dot Com Crash, nobody would've envisaged a life sustained on the basis of algorithms. Nonetheless, today the world consist of data flow and other phenomena determined by data processing. According to Yuval Noah Harrari, mankind has entered the age of Dataism. Everything is a part of sophisticated algorithms. The two types of economies viz Communism and Capitalism are now regarded as a part of Central Data Processing and Distributed Data Processing respectively.

Amidst this Pandemic, mankind has witnessed immense growth in digitalisation. Indeed on this very day, life is incomplete without data and algorithms. This Coronavirus happening has accelerated digitalisation and automation. With cities being locked down, the only way for communication is to make use of digital media. Smartphones and Computers are considered as essential commodities alongside food, shelter and cloth. Video conferencing apps like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams etc have received a lot of response. Earlier, the use of these apps was mainly concerned with the corporate sector. But now, such softwares have gained massive attraction of other professionals at all levels. Zoom had recorded only 10 million downloads by the end of 2019. This number rose to about 200 million by the end of March 2020. Moreover, this time the G20 Summit was held through video conferencing, where leaders of major economies discussed about the Pandemic. Employees and staff members around the world are performing their jobs from home. This has changed the face of corporate sector. Educational Institutions had started organising online live  classes and sessions. Some are even recorded lectures. Many entrepreneurs around the world had been urging people to practice e-Education and use of online platforms. But the Pandemic has spurred the use of such platforms. Moreover, we are heading towards a 'Cashless Future'. Even after this pandemic, many people would prefer cashless transactions, because the spread of this virus through currency notes has been observed. This will surely lead us to fulfilling the dream of 'Cashless India' that was initiated by our government in 2018. Corruption rate in the Indian public sector  is likely reduce in the post-pandemic period due to the extensive digital transactions. Many reliable applications like Paytm, BHIM, PhonePe, Google Pay etc that are based on UPI, have emerged in recent times providing a safe e-transaction platform. International  entrepreneurs believe that Coronavirus will benefit the economies once the situation at the International level get relaxed. These statistics may throw light on the queries which could or have arises in your mind.

In this global technocracy, almost everyone has access to a personal digital device. Hence, Industries that will survive the pandemic are those which either do not need to digitalise or can digitalise completely. Lockdowns have restricted travels resulting in successful thriving of those industries which are digitalised. It has resulted in cost saving in manufacturing businesses. The pandemic is also testing the adaptability of industries such as hospitality sector which has suffered as it cannot completely digitalise. Sit-in-restaurants are empty but online take away services are booming . The role of the medicines in healthcare is increasing for outpatient services but still this sector cannot fully digitalise. 

Experts anticipate that this Pandemic will expedite automation which may cause vast unemployment. However, Mankind has been striving against all constraints to ensure survival. On an abstract level, we can say that some business models may cease to be relevant and/or reinvent themselves for contemporary environment.

 Having discussed about the positive aspects of the pandemic, another question arises: what's next? What will the world be like in 3 years from now? Although this question doesn't have a definite answer at this stage, we can consider some assumptions and get ourselves prepared for the after-effects of this pandemic. When scientists find the vaccine for the virus, its lab testing and human tests would require a few months. But after they come up with a vaccine, we have to choose, 'Who gets the vaccine first?'
Scientists estimate that the world would take about an year or maybe more time to return to total normalcy.
   Well, it is evident that there will be an economic crisis post this pandemic. Governments all over the world have splashed out millions of dollars during this pandemic. With major sporting events like the Olympics and the Euro cup being cancelled this year, their organizing bodies and the host cities will face huge economic losses. Aviation and tourism industries will face unimaginable stagnation. Many people throughout the world will have to face pay-cuts. Most of the advanced economies in the world like the USA, Canada, Germany and France are expected to face heavy recessions this year. Economists have estimated a 21 year low of average oil prices in 2020 (Source: BBC). In short, the world will face its most difficult time since the Second World War.
   In the previous comparable virus outbreaks like SARS and MERS, it was noticed that, in the countries which were most affected by the crisis, there was political willingness for change. Their leaders drew learning from the past and improved their healthcare infrastructure to better tackle the epidemics in future. Why Taiwan and Singapore have contained the impact, while South Korea and Japan have been able to flatten the curve ?  The reminiscences of Pandemics and experiences of other critical disasters have taught such countries about tackling difficult situations. However, in India we have learnt too little to deal with such crises. The timely measures taken to limit the spread are now proving to be unmanageable. The question is that whether we would be able to avert the expected economic catastrophes.
Though in India, testing for COVID-19 treatment has been capped at lower price, it still remains beyond the affordability of  majority of the population on lower end of income spectrum.
WHAT SHOULD BE THE MEASURES-
1) Like 2008, the government should take cautious steps by focusing on implementing a combination of stimulus bailout package with policy booster to stop growth paralysis and the boost the confidence of investors and a soft policy to encourage MSMEs
2) Sectors like real estate,automobile,banking includes NBFCs,tourism, are facing brunt of current socio-economic situation. Shrinkage in overall demand has raised a red flag for government. Thus Government and RBI cohesively work for reviving the economy.

   We see a lot of public demand to make good healthcare services affordable across the globe. It might happen when all stakeholders, within the healthcare industry, from the demand as well as supply side would be open to digital adoption. But since the beginning of this pandemic, the world has seen innovations in the healthcare industries which would surely make these services more affordable to common man. Such innovations would never have been foreseen an year ago, but we have them today. 'Necessity is the mother of Invention' is comprehensive and stands true for ever. For example, a team at MIT made a ventilator that costs just $100. An Indian team of researchers from Pune developed a Corona-testing kit, which costs about a third of the price of  imported kits. Moreover, these kits provide us with the results in less than half the time it requires for the imported ones. Hospitals will become more automated, with robots taking food and medicine to infected people, rather than nurses doing this risky job. It is undeniable that there will be many more such inventions in the year 2020. It would not be surprising that improved healthcare sector becomes one of the manifesto of the campaigning parties during elections.

   Productivity of individuals increases when they are a part of a social and supportive group. This is called 'Mayo's Theory of Human Relations'. Post the pandemic, people would become more united and supportive to each other, human relations would be stronger than ever and which will ultimately result in growing productivity. Everyone will work together to minimize the losses, for the losses are incurred as a group, and not as an individual. Unsung heroes of yesterday like nurses, sewage cleaners, sweepers, essential service workers etc will get recognized as heroes of crisis and would undoubtedly achieve a respected position in society.

Writers - Ashutosh Gandhe, Sankalp Gharote, Tushar Saboo and Yajnesh Gokhale

Publisher - Yajnesh Gokhale