How biased are WE ! .. .. in this World of Social media, every second, we find posts, tweets, and memes which smack of partisan attitude !! ~ not a Cricket post though starting with a reference to IPL 2020.
All good runs eventually end and, so it did for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) after it failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons.Going into this season, it was always going to be a tough task for an aging side.There were so many memes and criticism on team, more specifically on MS Dhoni – on how CSK was a club of aged stars and how MSD had failed to inspire.MSD, Shane Watson, Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav all looked jaded .. . .. fair enough ! as they lost badly but who finished lost ? ~ was there enough prattle on another team lead by an young International star ??
Rajasthan Royals purchased the most number of the players at the IPL 2020 Auction, 11. Their costly purchases were Robin Uthappa for INR 300L, Jaydev Unadkat for INR 300L, and Yashasvi Jaiswal for INR 240L. Aside from these 3, they got Andrew Tye and Tom Curran for just INR 100L each. Shockingly, they got David Miller for just INR 75L.They had inspiring Jofra Archer whose brilliance with the ball - and at times with the bat - throughout the tournament, along with some outstanding individual performances should have taken them very high, or at least qualification.They finished last, with six wins in 14 games and a net run rate of -0.569. An in-form Sanju Samson got their campaign off to a rollicking start with two big wins. Rahul Tewatia came along and produced the innings to remember from IPL 2020. They were on the top of the table one week into the tournament, a superb chase led by the young Riyan Parag against the Sunrisers Hyderabad raised the tempo. Later, there was a masterclass from Ben Stokes against the Mumbai Indians in a tall chase showed them in a different ladder.
A team led by Aussie captain Steve Smith and having heavyweights - Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Oshane Thomas, Andrew Tye, David Millerand Jofra Archer - in its ranks, failed miserably.Despite starting the tournament on a winning note - clinching its first two games - the side finished at the bottom of the table with just six wins from 14 games, leading to several questions in implementing its strategy. Please ponder who was criticized most – Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Steve Smith !!
We are always concerned with Covid 19 and perhaps would like to read the figures though it disturbs to see the negativity of Corona statistics shared in many forums daily by some.With 46,253 new cases, the tally in India currently stands at 83.13 lakh. This number remains below 50,000 for the tenth consecutive day is a positive note. The active cases continue to be below 5.5 lakh, while the recoveries stand at 76.56.
Kerala continues to top the daily tally among all states.A day after Delhi recorded over 6,700 fresh COVID-19 cases for the first time, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the city has seen a jump in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the last few days and it can be called a “third wave”. “We have been monitoring the situation continuously and there is no need to panic. The small city’s infection tally is over 4 lakh, even as the positivity rate stood at 11.29 per cent amid festive season and rising pollution in the city.
Tamil Nadu recorded 2435 positive cases of COVID-19 on 3.11.2020, bringing the state tally to 7,31,942. Among these, Chennai reported 669 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,01,848. As of Tuesday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 19,201. Till date, 4,41,809 males, 2,90,100 females and 33 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state. According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 1,01,69,917 samples from the state have been sent for testing till date, with 69,496 samples having been sent yesterday. Tamil Nadu today (4.11.20) reported 2487 new Covid-19 cases as opposed to 2435 cases on Tuesday. The State has consistently been showing a decline in cases over the last few weeks, providing some relief in the State which has been among the worst-affected in the country.Chennai reported under 700 new Covid-19 cases again going down significantly from 669 people on Tuesday to 657 people testing positive on Wednesday.When seen with those figures when the city was having more than 2000 cases, this brings in a lot of hope .. ..
Even as the health department has been finding it difficult to mobilise resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities have got a breather as dengue cases have dropped considerably compared to last year. Vellore region and Tiruvannamalai district have reported low numbers of dengue cases up to October this year. Vellore district alone accounted for 77 dengue cases till October, registering a huge drop when compared to the previous year’s figures of 434, officials said. Tiruvannamalai has reported just 19 cases till October against 205 recorded last year. Ranipet district had 212 cases last year but this year it accounted for 73 cases till October while Tirupathur had 46 cases this year. Dengue infections used to peak in October before gradually declining in January.
Several factors are cited for the considerable drop in dengue cases in the current year. The main reason is the coordinated preventive measures afoot in the districts to control COVID-19. One may or may not like the Government – be it the CM or the Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar who has been seen at hospitals everyday for the past 9 months or so .. .. but praises were heaped on neighbouring Kerala and some advocated on following Kerala model. Sadly, the statistics would show that the lesser populated State has more new cases for the past couple of weeks than any other State !!.. ..
Heartening news is about the vaccines .. .. Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer (CEO) of Pune-based pharmaceutical company Serum Institute of India (SII), on Wednesday said that a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is likely to be available in the country by January 2021 provided approvals from regulatory bodies are in place in time. In an interview with Mint, Poonawalla said, “Based on the success of the trials in India and the United Kingdom, and if approvals from regulatory bodies are in place in time, then we can expect the vaccine to be available in India by January 2021, only if its proven immunogenic and efficacious.” The SII is working in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca to produce the potential Covid-19 vaccine Covishield.
Covishield, developed by University of Oxford, is currently in the phase 2/3 clinical trial in the country and will be produced by SII for low-and-middle income countries. Poonawalla said that the vaccine shot has so far been given to thousands of people in India and abroad with no safety concerns. He, however, added that it will take two to three years to ascertain the long-term effects of the vaccine. According to a report published in the British medical journal The Lancet, the potential Covid-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55. AstraZeneca and Oxford University have said a two-dose regimen showed greater promise, while a single-dose injection is also being tested in trials. The CEO of the world’s largest drug manufacturing firm also said that the firm is in talks with the government over the pricing of the vaccine and assured that it will be made available at a reasonable price. “We are certain that it will be affordable for all,” he said.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar4th Nov. 2020.