They simultaneously provided 14,100 kilograms ration to the office of Imran Hussain, Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Government of NCT of Delhi.
They simultaneously provided 14,100 kilograms ration to the office of Imran Hussain, Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Government of NCT of Delhi.
Hamdard National Foundation (India), formed in 1964 at New Delhi, under the aegis of the century-old Hamdard brand, extended its food distribution drive through identified NGOs and individuals who have been working round the clock to ensure that no one dies of hunger in the Capital.
Following the pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown, HNF had undertaken initiatives to provide food to the underprivileged who have been the most affected by the ongoing health and financial crisis.
Under the initiative, ‘Ration Distribution Drive’, HNF undertook food relief measures for migrant workers and daily wage labourers. In the second phase of their ration distribution drive, HNF distributed over 7,000 kilograms of dry rations to the Moemin Foundation, 5,305 kilograms of rations to Rehab India Foundation, and a similar quantity to the Society for Social Welfare and Development for direct distribution to poor and needy individuals.
They simultaneously provided 14,100 kilograms ration to the office of Imran Hussain, Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Government of NCT of Delhi.
The organisation donated more than 20 Food Ration kits to the DM (South East) Delhi, for direct distribution to the families from where they were receiving distress calls, in addition to the 300 kits already provided in Phase-I of relief efforts.
Caring for the underprivileged
HNF has distributed over 7,000 kg of dry ration to the Moemin Foundation, 5,305 kg of ration to Rehab India Foundation, and a similar quantity to the Society for Social Welfare and Development for direct distribution.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Express News Service / June 16th, 2020
Muslim medicos in worst-hit Gujarat have been going an extra mile to fulfil their medical-course pledge for helping and curing run-down patients and have proved that not all white-coats are money-grubbing pill-pushers and bone-benders.
On March 1, the state government asked the medical fraternity to gear up for the pandemic and the medics of the minority community rolled up their sleeves to swing into action for serving the sick-as-a-dog patients of the dreaded coronavirus disease.
Even during the holy month of Ramadan and after, Muslim interns and resident doctors of the overcrowded state-run hospitals or physicians of private clinics not only sacrificed their comforts and academic studies but also risked their own lives to save precious lives with the situation worsening day every passing day – as one infected person expired every hour.
Doctors have to wear suffocating PPE suits for several hours.
Wearing suffocating plastic PPE suits for as long as 12 hours, the dedicated doctors in the frontline of the fight against the mysterious pathogen work in frightful COVID centres near infectious patients. And yet, they offer their services and personalized care gratis to all castes for a noble cause, not to mention the fact that some healers have to work without PPE kits, N-95 masks and proper gloves.
Not surprisingly, in Ahmedabad alone, some 200 doctors have tested positive and at least 11 of them have died with their boots on even as Gujarat registered the highest mortality rate of 6.2 per cent in India on June 15.
Besides creating awareness and sensitizing unlettered patients about the viral infection and dealing with uncooperative relatives, the hard-pressed medicos have had to stay away from their dear one’s back home lest the latter get infected by the coronavirus.
Dr Muhammad Husain
Dr Muhammad Husain of Vadodara has been a great inspiration for doctors of his community. As the corona crisis escalated, the local administration was worried stiff after senior doctors washed their hands off the global pandemic and in turn, the juniors had to meet the challenge of treating the patients in municipal hospitals.
But Dr Husain, who is also the chairperson of the Baroda Muslim Doctors’ Association, decided to pick up the gauntlet and presented proposals to set up four up-to-the-minute COVID care centres in Gujarat’s cultural capital. The beleaguered civic body was too happy to give its go-ahead with the result that hundreds of patients recovered in quick succession in fewer days compared to the discharge rate at other state-run facilities, thanks to round-the-clock monitoring by him.
When blood banks in the city ran dry and patients’ relatives running from pillar to post for the vital fluid, Dr Husain went round Muslim mohallas and sought the help of youngsters who, for the first time, donated blood on the day of Eid al-Fitr at a quickly-organized camp where 300 bottles were collected within just a few hours.
Community leader Zuber Gopalani told TwoCircles.net that, “Dr Husain, along with his bleeding-heart doctor friends, has stood on the road under the scorching sun and distributed immunity-boosting tablets bought from his earnings. All this has made him a real corona warrior.”
Dr Muhammed Dohadwala (right)
In Dahod city in central Gujarat, Dr Mohammed Dohadwala, a diabetologist, and his 67-year-old father Dr Kaizar, a senior consultant physician, kept their clinics open during the lockdown to help their regular patients even though most of the private doctors remained inaccessible, fearing the deadly viral infection.
“We decided that the work must go on and formulated a foolproof strategy for the safety of staff and patients, and even devised a video consultation platform in our centre for outstation patients,” he said.
Conscious of their social responsibility in these tough times, the Dohadwalas, with the help of a local NGO, distributed special kits of daily essentials among migrants, workers and other needy families in the city.
Dr Shakeel Vadaliwala (left) in PPE suit (right)
Ahmedabad-based Dr Shakeel Vadaliwala is a neonatologist specializing in the care of newborns but the dutiful doctor was so busy in serving COVID patients that he could not be near his wife when she delivered a baby girl last month. Even though he was away from home during Ramadan, he observed his fast and performed prayers and made do with simple food but he is happy that as many as 400 of the 800 COVID patients under his care at a government hospital were cured and discharged within a week.
Members of Ittehad Medicos’ Academy have not only kept their clinics open but have also been offering free services to COVID-hit men and women at three hospitals in Ahmedabad.
According to Dr Junaid Shaikh, who has a hectic schedule taking daily rounds at all these three care centres, he had to rent a house for several days to keep his family away from infection.
“I also had to use a PPE suit for three or four days because of shortage,” he told TwoCircles.net.
Mona Desai, president of the Ahmedabad Medical Association, said that Muslim doctors like Dr Didar Kapadia, Dr Murtza and Dr Iftekhar and others are doing a yeoman’s service in these tough times but wondered why cases of assaults on doctors by patients’ relatives were on the rise.
Mujahid Nafees, convener of the Minorities Coordination Committee, Gujarat sums up and says, that, “The sacrifices made by Muslim doctors fighting the pandemic are greater than even those of a soldier battling the enemy troops on the border. A soldier can see the enemies but for doctors, the coronavirus is not visible.”
Dr Muhammad Husain (second from right) and Dr Zuber Gopalani (second from left)
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> TCN Positive> Indian Muslim> Lead Story> Pandemic / June 15th, 2020
With countless migrant labourers deciding to journey home on foot amid the Covid-induced lockdown, an Anganwadi worker in Telangana’s Nizamabad decided to take it upon herself to feed as many hungry travellers as possible.
She has been buying and cooking food with her own salary, savings, and her children’s monetary help.
Ameena, who wakes up at 3 am every day to cook the food, has also been receiving donations in the form of money and food to continue her noble work.
Watch the full video for more.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> HT Salutes / June 10th, 2020
The family-owned Mezhukkattil Mill, which manufactures edible coconut oil, stuck in through logistical and procurement issues to meet demand across the globe.
Mezhukkattil Mill executive director Ubais Ali (third from right in the front row) with his employees | By special arrangement
Kochi :
This is a rare Covid business story from Kerala — one about the grit and determination of a medium-sized edible oil mill in Aluva, near Kochi, to keep its mills running during the lockdown as its workers had no option but to stay put.
The decision was also fashioned by the demand surge during the early days of the pandemic when imminent lockdowns across the globe led to panic buying.
For Ubais Ali, executive director of the family-owned Mezhukkattil Mill, which manufactures coconut oil, it did not require theoretical lessons in business management or post-Covid strategies being peddled by major consultancies across the world.
All Ubais did was spot an immediate business opportunity when essential products began flying off the shelves across continents in the middle of March. He was alerted by business associates in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain that edible coconut oil, just like any other food item, was selling fast, with a large number of non-traditional users turning to this cooking medium.
But just as he began exploring the opportunity, lockdown was enforced in India on 24 March.
Ubais had about 50 workers in his factory premises who had no option but to stay put, but he had to contend with logistical issues.
“When the national lockdown began, we had three containers stuck at the Kochi International Container Terminal. Even the big players in the food processing sector were caught unawares as the clearing and forwarding agents of Kochi decided against taking any risk,” Ubais says.
“I had no option but to keep the mill running at full capacity with three eight-hour shifts as the big brands like Lulu said their malls (in the Middle East) were facing total depletion of stock. I had to take a chance or lose this opportunity forever.”
The logistical troubles
Such was the demand that towards the end of March, during the first phase of the lockdown, Ubais had to augment his supply line of six truckloads of copra, from Tirupur district in Tamil Nadu, with well over a dozen containers from Indonesia and Philippines.
That posed its own challenges. For one, the executive director had to battle for lorry passes from supply officers at the taluk level and also for inter-state travel permits.
Then the State Trading Corporation (STC) refused to issue the company with a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the import of raw materials to bridge the gap caused by the shortfall in the indigenous copra supply.
Ubais first attempted to sort this out through the Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation, of which he is a member, but eventually it required the direct intervention of the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
K.M. Harilal, joint DGFT, Kochi, said: “Though food processing units had an exemption from the lockdown, none were functioning in the first week. Ubais came to us with a peculiar problem, as he was not getting the mandatory clearance from STC for imports. As the company’s normal channel via Chennai was not fruitful I got through to my boss in Delhi who got in touch with the STC chairman and the NOC came through.”
But all the clearances in the world would not have helped in a city known for the sincere hands-down approach of workers during hartals and the lockdown, an occasion that demanded stricter adherence to stay away from work.
The export trouble
As if procuring raw material wasn’t hard enough, exporting the coconut oil provided an equally tough task, mainly due to confusion at the Cochin Port, the region’s main export transit point.
The Cochin Customs Brokers Association passed a resolution on 31 March that it would not move containers. It also sought clarification from the chief minister regarding anomalies in the notifications issued by the central and state governments.
The Ministry of Shipping had notified normal operations of ports and customs. It was the ministry’s advisory that all cargo, both general as well as essential, be cleared. The Kerala government, however, brought out an advisory that no one should be attending office except those specially notified. The state’s focus then was on health and avoiding any threat of contracting Covid.
Although the Cochin Customs Association withdrew its resolution following instructions from the customs commissioner, the overall sentiment among its members was more in line with the state government directive on ensuring personal safety.
As a result, there were no clearing agents ready to move the coconut oil consignments.
It posed a major hurdle for Ubais as based on demand from clients, his oil mill had lined up over a dozen containers for export by the end of April first week.
Finally, one agent, George Forwarders, expressed willingness to move the containers provided they did not face hassles from any departments. The mill and the agent both received a shot in the arm — one of the clients, to be precise the personal staff of M.A. Yusuff Ali, the UAE-based Indian billionaire businessman and owner of LuLu Group, promised to monitor all local clearances in Kochi.
The result: The first lot of three containers were moved in early April.
In all, between 25 March and 30 April, Mezhukkattil Mill imported 20 containers of raw materials for exports. And between 12 containers that came under the head of direct exports and seven containers of deemed exports, this little known company from Aluva managed to export 19 containers of finished products, earning around $ 6,68,000 (over Rs 5 crore) in foreign exchange.
The lessons for big business
For Mezhukkattil Mill, which was the largest supplier of coconut oil for soap and surfactant giants as also hair and skin oil in the 1990s, with a client list comprising Tata Oil Mills, Hindustan Lever, Wipro, among others, the lockdown has marked its coming of age. The mill had switched to manufacturing edible coconut in the decade between 2005 and 2015.
The company’s makeover as a manufacturer of only edible oil products is now complete. It now ships its oil for various brands such as Lulu Muscat Hypermarket LLC, Royal Mark Foods and Eastern Condiments in Oman and Panten Mee in Taiwan.
As the country looks to get its act together on the manufacturing front, stories from even small companies like Mezhukkattil could prove inspirational. Surely, instances like this depicting small and medium-sized companies punching way above their weight by pouncing on opportunities in a pandemic-struck market should stir the big players out of the present clime of gloom.
source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> Economy / by Vinod Mathew / June 02nd, 2020
Lucknow resident Uzma in two roles — sanitizing streets during COVID lockdown and earlier protesting against CAA-NRC-NPR
New Delhi :
After the lockdown, when the country was facing Coronavirus and politicians were blaming religion and faith for the pandemic, a Muslim woman, away from Hindu-Muslim, temple-mosque TV debates, was carrying a spray machine on her back and sanitizing streets, temples and mosques and thus silently playing her role in the war against Coronavirus.
A picture and video of the protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Ghanta Ghar in Lucknow had gone viral on social media earlier this year – a woman in Hijab holding her kid in her lap was loudly raising slogans on mike. When the protest ended and the lockdown began in end-March, the same woman was seen carrying a spray machine one her back and sanitizing temples, mosques and 35 localities, and her pictures again became viral on social media. She is Lucknow resident Uzma.
Resident of Saadatganj in old Lucknow, Uzma has made struggle the mission of her life and her religious identity her strength. She has made her courage her ideal and struggle her way.
Talking to India Tomorrow, Uzma says she wants to make the country better, fight against evils, injustice and all types of epidemics so that the new generations could breathe in the air of love and peace.
Sanitizing Temples and Streets:
Uzma says: “Doctors, police and all others are engaged in the fight against Coronavirus across the country. I also thought to do my bit in this fight against the pandemic and began sanitization work in areas where employees of municipal corporation are not able to reach.”
Uzma doing sanitization work in Lucknow
Talking to India Tomorrow, Uzma further said: “I have a passion in my heart to do something for the country and I do whatever I can. Service to the nation begins from your home and neighbourhood, that is why I began my contribution in the fight against Coronavirus by sanitizing the lanes near my house and so far I have sanitized 35 lanes.”
Carrying Sanitization Work with Her Own Money:
During the continuous lockdown, Uzma is spending her own money on sanitizing the localities of her neighbourhood. When asked why she is using her own savings for this work, she said: “I had saved the money for the future of my children but this Coronavirus epidemic is taking away lives of our dear ones in the present. The municipal corporation is doing its efforts but wherever the civic body is unable to reach, I am doing sanitization work to save people from Coronavirus.”
Pictures and videos of Uzma sanitizing streets and localities of Lucknow have been viral on social media for the past couple of weeks. In the visuals, she can be seen sanitizing temples, shops and narrow lanes.
Uzma Was Active in Anti-CAA Protest:
This is not the first time that Uzma is in news and her work is being appreciated. Earlie, during the anti-CAA protest at Ghanta Ghar in Lucknow, a video of her raising slogans had gone viral on social media.
In that viral video, Uzma was holding her child with one hand and mike in the other and was raising slogans and inspiring the women audience there to continue the protest.
Lucknow Municipal Corporation honoured Uzma for her exemplary sanitization work
Talking to India Tomorrow, a young lawyer from Lucknow Sajid Khan said: “Uzma was among the women who were leading the anti-CAA protest at Lucknow’s Ghanta Ghar and gave a new dimension to the anti-CAA movement. A video of her holding her child in the lap and raising slogan had motivated women across the country.”
He further said: “When her anti-CAA video went viral, police had gone to shut down the Ghana Ghar protest and misbehaved with women protesters – Uzma was one of them and her video had gone viral. But forgetting all this, the same woman has again got engaged in the service of the nation, which is indeed surprising.”
Several images have emerged from across the country during the lockdown which are enough to change the way we look at the government and society.
Muslim youths like Uzma and students played active role in the anti-CAA movement and when the lockdown was imposed they got engaged in distributing ration and food among the needy people and laborers across the country. Uzma and hundreds of youths like her have done what the government should have. Yet, during the lockdown, the Delhi Police continued arresting those students and youths who were doing relief work and serving the humanity.
Away from TV debates on Hindu-Muslim and temple-mosque issues, the youths of the country are striving to make a beautiful India. The government should also fix its role in this endeavour.
source: http://www.indiatomorrow.net / India Tomorrow / Home / by Masihuzzaman Ansari , India Tomorrow / May 29th, 2020
A collaborative study between scientists in India, Saudi Arabia and South Korea aimed at discovering potential drugs to SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans has led to new findings that could pave way for clinical trials to cure the Coronavirus disease.
The recent study is titled ‘Unravelling lead antiviral phytochemicals for the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzyme through in silico approach. ‘ It has been co-authored by Dr. Arun Bahadur Gurung (North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong), Joongku Lee (Chungnam National University, South Korea) and three others, Dr. M. Ajmal Ali, Dr. Khalid Mashay Al-Anazi along with Dr. Mohammad Abul Farah (King Saud University).
The research has used screening from FDA approved antiviral drugs applying computational approach to embark on a scientific experimentation of vaccine development for the disease.
Dr Mohammad Abul Farah, originally from Ranchi in the Indian state of Jharkhand, spoke with TwoCircles.net about the study that has revealed substances and proteins having high capabilities of being used in treatment of the COVID-19 disease. An alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University, he is currently Professor at Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University and closely associated in the Genetics Laboratory at its College of Science in the Department of Zoology.
Having more than a decade of experience in academics and research in cytogenetics and genotoxicity, he is also working with Proteonik Inc, a South Korea based biotechnology research organization.
He opines that “the discovery of novel drug molecules is crucial and is need of the time” as mortality rate due to Coronavirus is rising exponentially and the speed for finding a vaccine must be accelerated with more variety in clinical lab experiments. He explained that at present there are no approved antiviral drugs or vaccines for the treatment of human CoV infection therefore the scientists in this study were compelled to use computational methods to address the problem and build on effective therapeutics against the current pandemic.
One of the co-authors, Dr M Ajmal Ali
Dr Farah informed that the researchers have proposed “potential lead molecules which can be explored as drug candidates for the treatment of the COVID-19 disease.” He further detailed the findings of the study for TwoCircles.net, beginning with the fact that “SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protease enzyme is a well-characterized drug target.” Through the study’s recent structural elucidation based on X-ray crystallography, it has opened an avenue for structure-based drug design. They have also explored “a small library of phytochemicals with previously reported antiviral properties for the identification of small molecular inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzyme” leading to identification of three lead molecules which exhibit higher binding affinities as compared to the control.
“The findings are novel and exciting as the lead molecules also demonstrated broad-spectrum antiviral activities against SARS-CoV Mpro and MERS-CoV Mpro,” he informed. He also outlined that the scientists screened small drug-like molecules from a dataset of phytochemicals possessing antiviral activities and this was achieved with the help of drug-like filters and toxicity studies. The selected molecules were evaluated for their binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzyme using molecular docking, from which a total of 38 phytochemicals belonging to the class of flavonoids, alkaloids, essential oils, organic acids, stilbenes and other phytoconstituents were screened. This led to identification of three lead molecules – Bonducellpin D and Caesalmin B and 5,7-dimethoxyflavanone-4′-O-β-d-glucopyranoside – all three having antiviral activities against parainfluenza virus (PI-3) and bovine (cattle) virus. These three lead phytochemicals, he says, “have potential to be developed as effective antiviral drug specifically against SARS CoV-2.”
When asked whether this identification would accelerate the process of vaccine formation or not, Dr Farah pointed that antiviral drug development takes place via classical mechanisms – usually by targeting important virus enzymes such as polymerases, proteases or neuraminidase; however vaccine against a specific virus is developed by injecting the same virus in inactive form or non-pathogenic form to activate the host immune system to produce specific antibodies against the virus. For that, he said “the current findings need further validations through in vitro and in vivo lab experiments for developing into drug candidate molecules.”
Bonducellpin D is a promising drug candidate against coronavirus, suggest the findings. While the three substances were found to be “significantly inhibiting Mpro enzyme that ultimately block the viral replication,” Bonducellpin D was identified as a unique precursor to a vaccine for coronavirus.
Discussing India’s more than 1 lakh mark of current infection rates coupled with a fourth phase of a nationwide lockdown and massive breakdown of economy unfolding with the migrant crisis, Dr Abul Farah highlighted that all the three lead molecules that need further validations through lab experiments can be obtained through a clinical manufacturing company and in case they are not available commercially, they can easily be purified from the source (plant), or could be synthesized in any chemistry lab equipped for organic synthesis.
“Of course, India can afford all these kind of research,” he said, when inquired about the feasibility of obtaining or manufacturing the same molecular binding in research labs in the country. He assured that India has “many high standard virology and clinical trial labs,” and the substances for clinical experiments can be obtained easily.
“It feels good to have a purpose and be able to contribute to the country during these times. We are lucky we have found our purpose even through this hopeless period,” says Afifa.
Dr Nadeem Rahman and wife Asifa Rahman in the lab
Dr Nadeem Rahman, a bio-chemist at Nu Life consultants and distributors, and his wife Afifa Rahman, a pharmacist at the same company, have spent the past few weeks working through the nights to fulfill their goal of producing 1 lakh rapid anti-body kits per day, meeting the pressing demand for such kits in India. “It feels good to have a purpose and be able to contribute to the country during these times. We are lucky we have found our purpose even through this hopeless period,” says Afifa, who adds that the couple have lost track of the time they spend in their office and laboratory since the company decided to begin manufacturing these kits.
Nu Life is one of the nine Indian companies which has received validation from NIV Pune and has been cleared by the ICMR to begin manufacturing of rapid antibody test kits, which would take less than 15 minutes to show results. There was a brief glitch in their plans due to some defective kits from China but they are back in action. “We received the approval on Monday, but we began working on producing the kits to be verified ever since the lockdown began,” says Afeefa. Without a moment lost, the team of bio-chemists, pharmacists and bio technicians working at the company began manufacturing the kits on April 14th, a day after they received the ICMR approval. Despite their quick action and fervent commitment, the team’s path towards meeting production goals is full of hurdles.
“If all the parameters are in place, which includes all the staff being able to commute to the workplace per usual, and all the raw materials for testing get delivered in time, then we can easily produce one lakh kits per day, but with current lockdown scenario and global shortage of raw materials, we are realistically producing 60,000 to 75,000 kits per day,” says Dr Nadeem, who is a founding member of the company and has driven the logistics and ideation behind their rapid test kit manufacturing project. According to his wife Afifa, even after the couple goes back to their house in Jasola, they spend time ideating on how to optimize their production. “As you can see, there is no escape from COVID 19 for us now,” remarks Afifa with a short laugh.
Before the company received approval from the government to manufacture kits, the couple would spend hours ferrying their staff to and fro between the laboratory and their homes. “Before they all got passes from the government, we had to make sure they reach home. We even worried for the women’s security, who stayed at the laboratory till late at night, finishing work, but now the UP government has provided passes to all our team members,” says Afifa. The company’s staff commutes from different parts of Uttar Pradesh, taking more than an hour to reach the office, so the team has planned to fix accommodation in the office premises soon, so that production deadlines can be met well in time. “It even limits their potential exposure to the disease which they could in turn pass on to their family members,” says Afifa.
Apart from the challenges of bringing the production staff together, Nadeem Rahman states that their biggest hurdle is the prompt delivery of raw materials. “We are getting access to these materials, but to ensure the best quality, you have to wait for the best products. The demand for antigens especially, has increased worldwide, leading to the shortage of its supply,” explains Nadeem. Antigens are the molecular structure that triggers antibody response in the blood sample deposited in the kit. It is this response which indicates the presence of SAR COV 2 infection in the patient tested for the disease.
Explaining how the testing kit is used, Nadeem states that the kit employs the same lateral testing technology which has been used in pregnancy tests. “Instead of urine though, you just place a drop of blood and if two red strips appear, it suggests that you have enough antibody response to indicate the presence of the virus,” he says. The manufacturing cost per kit is placed at Rs 500 to Rs 600, much less expensive than the Rt PCR test for COVID 19. “As we optimize production, hopefully the cost of the kits will remain close to the manufacturing cost. Either way, it should be accessible and affordable to all if goes straight to the market in the future,” says the scientist.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> India / by Chahat Rana / Chandigarh, April 30th, 2020
How an Assam lawyer became the source of reprieve for thousands of stranded migrants during the lockdown.
Guwahati :
A few days after the lockdown, when the plight of the stranded migrant first started making news, 27-year-old Aatifur Hussain remembered how some people from his village were in Haryana. An advocate from Assam’s Barpeta district, Hussain decided to give them a call. “They were panicking because they had run out of food,” recalls Hussain, who immediately touched base with a few local NGOs in Haryana. “They got their rations within 24 hours. The problem was solved.”
The next day, however, Hussain received another panic call from Noida. “I called up the local police station where the labourers were stuck, and they, too, received help,” says Hussain. Following that, the lawyer was suddenly receiving calls from all over the country — Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra etc. “Word had somehow spread that I was helping stranded migrant workers from Assam with rations.”
In the beginning, Hussain would meticulously note down details of each and every call in his diary, but now the pages have run out. “There were just too many calls,” says Hussain, “It was almost like I was a call centre.”
Hussain did not mind — two years back, after he passed his LLB exams, he began providing pro-bono services to people caught in legal citizenship battles in Assam. “I had started an NGO called ‘Insaaf’ to aid people who needed help with National Register of Citizens (NRC) hearings or had to face Foreigners’ Tribunals,” says Hussain. The latter referred to the quasi-judicial courts many in Assam have to defend their citizenship in.
In the first two weeks, Hussain’s ‘call centre’ provided at least 2,000 people with basic rations, but a month later, he has lost count. On his phone, contacts are saved as ‘Kerala’, ‘Noida’, ‘Mhr’ (Maharashtra) — “I don’t even remember their actual names now,” he says.
One of his very first beneficiaries was a man named Habejuddin, who was stuck in Ghaziabad, with about 200 people from Assam. “We got his number on Facebook ,” says Habejuddin, on the phone from Ghaziabad, “Someone had written that this was the man who had helped people in Gurgaon, so we took a chance and dialled his number. I do not know what exactly he did but we got rations the next day.”
Hussain says his job simply involved connecting the stranded to the “right people” — administration, police, NGOs or those who could amplify their distress on Facebook or Twitter. “The first thing I ask anyone who calls is how many people there are, their address, and I trace the police station nearest to them, and then make phone calls,” he says.
In the first two weeks, Hussain’s ‘call centre’ provided at least 2,000 people with basic rations but, a month later, he has lost count.
Over the last few weeks, Rahman’s role has changed too, as people’s requirements have. In mid-April, when the Assam government announced Rs 2,000 for those stranded, Rahman began teaching people how to apply for the aid. “Since many of these people are uneducated, they did not understand anything,” says Hussain, “I would explain to them that they have to give a missed call, click on the link, fill up a form etc.” Suresh Zaman, who is stranded in Maharashtra’s Pune district, said that is how many from their group availed the Rs 2,000 service. “Someone from Assam passed us his number,” says Zaman, who is still Maharashtra, “First, he helped us to get rations; later he was the one who told us about this scheme.”
Now, with the special shramik trains introduced, many are returning home. “They often call me agitated when they don’t have information about the trains. I try to give them as many details as possible,” he says, adding that he also ‘counsels’ people who are feeling low because of the lockdown. “I am used to this because I have helped a lot of people who had depression when they received notices from the Foreigners’ Tribunal,” he says.
Just last month, a man named Abdul, an Assam resident stranded in Arunachal Pradesh, reached out to Hussain, threatening to kill himself, if not brought back. “I was very sad as people told me I will never be able to go home,” says Abdul. On May 3, when the inter-state bus services started in the Northeast, Hussain put Abdul in touch with the authorities, who packed him off on a bus from Arunachal Pradesh.
“He used to call me 10 to 15 times a day,” says Hussain, “I have one sim but maybe it is now time to get two,” he says.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Facebook presents The Indian Express / Covid-19 stories of strength / by Tora Agarwala / May 20th, 2020
They are meant for people with hearing and speech impairment
Tiruchi :
With wearing face masks becoming the “new normal,” concerns have risen about its suitability for persons with hearing impairment who depend on lip-reading and facial expressions to communicate. To provide a possible solution, a young Tiruchi-based doctor has designed a transparent see-through face mask. The prototype has been submitted to the Tamil Nadu government for approval so that it could be mass-produced.
A.Mohamed Hakkim, a 29-year-old emergency physician in the city, thought of the need for such masks as some of his patients struggled to communicate with him. “My mouth was covered by a face mask and because of it, the patients could not read his lips and understand what I was saying,” he said.
Dr. Hakkim drew up a prototype using three layers of thick cloth, which N-95 masks are made of, and a biodegradable non-toxic plastic to make the transparent part.
A key feature of the mask is that it is reusable, and is also fog-resistant as one’s breath could fog up the glass rendering the mask useless, Dr. Hakkim said. The material had to be chosen to ensure the feature.
The cost of each mask will work out to be about ₹10 but Dr. Hakkim is looking to distribute at least 1000 in Tiruchi district for free. One must understand that along with a deaf and mute person, more importantly, their parents, teachers, friends, all those who communicate with them will require the transparent mask, he said.
The shelf life of the mask too is long and can be reused for up to 100 days, Dr. Hakkim said. “We have conducted various real-time tests to ensure its functioning. Many have expressed their need for such a mask,” he said.
The Tamil Nadu government has drawn up a plan to distribute 81,000 masks to 31,000 people through the Commissionerate for the Welfare of Differently Abled. Dr. Hakkim is looking to have the masks distributed through them and various NGOs.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities>Tiruchirapalli / by Kathelene Anthony / May 23rd, 2020
Like to any other woman in her slum near Lakshminarasimha Kere in Dharwad, the inevitable COVID-19 lockdown brought misery to Yasmin Nisar Mangalavadekar. A trained tailor, she was forced to stop work temporarily as there were no fresh orders. Tailoring is the only source of income for this single mother of three.
While she was struggling to make ends meet, similar plight of women in the neighbourhood moved her to think of an activity that could help them sustain through the crisis. She decided to put to use her tailoring skills to stitch face masks and create livelihoods for women in the neighbourhood.
A family engaged in mask making
For the last 50 days, five women from the locality have been stitching masks in Yasmin’s 12X15 ft single-bedroom house. Around 20 slum dwellers engage in the activity from their homes. These women are now earning around Rs 5,000 per month, the sole income for their families during lockdown. They are among hundreds of women trained by Yasmin in tailoring in the past two years.
“We stitch masks that are crucial to protect people from Covid-19. This, in turn, helps us subsist,” says Yasmin.
She acknowledges the support rendered by people and organisations who bought masks from them. Hubballi-based Deshpande Foundation purchased over 20,000 masks to be distributed among the frontline Covid-19 warriors including Dharwad Zilla Panchayat workers, Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation civic workers and police personnel. Yasmin is also grateful to Vani Purohit, the chief executive officer of Rehabilitative Assistance for People in Distress, for making this possible.
Deshpande Foundation’s Sandeep Sabarwal recalls Yasmin as a determined woman, who not only wished to lead a resilient life but also ensure that women around her are empowered. “Realising her qualities we trained her to become an entrepreneur, who, could lead a team and help others earn a living,” he said
Yasmin has trained more than 400 people to stitch dress, bags and do embroidery work. Today, she has become a guiding light to many women in her locality.
“Like me, many people living in our slum have lost their sources of income due to lockdown. As dignified bread-earners, waiting for someone else to feed us was out of question. Deshpande Foundation supported us by giving a big order,” said Yasmin andher team completed the consignment of 20,000 masks in just eight days.
“Each one of us worked for 8-10 hours a day and completed the task in record time,” said Saleema Bilagi. Her husband is a carpenter and couldn’t get work even for a single day in the past two months. She shudders to think of her family’s plight had she not got this opportunity.
Deshpande Foundation helped them with the know-how to stitch good quality masks apart from giving the first big consignment. Other NGOs and individuals followed with orders. The team has also sold over 5,000 masks to them at Rs 15 per piece. The team stitches two-layered and three-layered cotton masks.
Over 100 women from the locality have approached her to be part of the team that emerged from the crisis. Yasmin wants to accommodate as many people as possible but they don’t have any fresh orders now. “With so many families in need of a livelihood, we can stitch about one lakh masks in 15 days,” she said.
For details, contact Yasmin on 8722620230.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Spectrum / by Pavan Kumar H / May 16th, 2020
