On the 20th of April a Sunday around 10:30 PM, Salkumarhat in Block Number 1, Alipurduars turned into a battlefield. According to sources, a critically ill patient had been referred to Ayush Hospital in Topsikhata. Soon after widespread speculations and rumours allegedly circulated in the social media about his death being due to Coronavirus across Alipurduars district.
He explains, “There are too many do-gooders these days, majority of them run around like headless chicken, they will collect donations and distribute it where needed. Professional do-gooders on the other hand, use such donation opportunities to bolster up their own image among the downtrodden, and in some cases also their financial prospects…”
As the world fights against Coronavirus, two words have dominated conversations in our Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills – Hydroxychloroquine and Cinchona. There is excitement among certain sections of the people that finally our Cinchona plantations will be given their long-awaited look by the Government. This article sheds light on our Cinchona plantations and presents to you the grim situation facing this sector and the opportunities therein.
The COVID19 pandemic has been claiming lives and livelihood around the Globe at an alarming rate. Global & National Action Plans and initiatives to combat the pandemic have already been underway. Its success ultimately depends upon the effective and prudent actions undertaken at the Regional and Local level to implement it.
I grew up in a small community village in Darjeeling, where we were strewn together with the rest in an unbreakable bond – with similar values, language, likes and dislikes and almost similar surnames – and yet we were all different. I remember in 1986, my father was in a hurry to get us a television set. We would be the first one in our village, but that wasn’t his motivation, of course. The World Cup football was afoot and he wanted to make sure our village gets to watch it at our place.
With the Coronavirus outbreak being declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation; most nations have declared a self –isolation period. India too has declared a Janta (public) curfew. As a result, many office-goer are now working from home.
“It was the best of times; It was the worst of times” – Charles Dickens, A tale of two cities. There are emotions, events and memories for each of us, of our times, spent at Mount Hermon that fall into either of the categories mentioned above. Nonetheless, there are defining characteristics of a Hermonite that you might identify us by.
The corona outbreak has landed us in a chaotic situation along a lot of fronts. But we wish that the fear of getting infected by…
Being thin my whole life, I had taken my hilly physique for granted. I could eat together with the boys and still would be the last-woman standing – happy, on the weighing scale. It was only once that I had gone overboard with my weight. I was in college in Kolkata and had a can of cola and ‘kheer-kadam’ every single day for six months. First time in my life I had gained a whole lot of five kilos and suddenly found myself lethargic and fatigued by the end of the day. I checked my eating habits and found the two culprits and was easy peasy for me to get back to being energetic after I quit having these.
While there are guidelines and policies for usage of professional social media – external (Linkedin especially) or intranet, there is always a profile/ name/ organisation related information about the person who is connecting or commenting. Naturally, as a communications person, I assume that this is a good enough reason for people to be more wary about their own personal branding and reputation. However, every so often, I receive a connect request or a direct message on professional social media, I am always surprised at those (especially from the senior professionals) that seem downright ‘unprofessional’ online. Perhaps it is ignorance, but once you are out there, there are certain things we must get right.