the civil war of this date 29 years ago ! .. .. Leone

History is not all about Covid 19 only – today, Leone and some historic significance ! ~ meantime, have you heard of - Karenjit Kaur Vohra ?

In 1787 the British Crown founded a settlement in this African country  in what was called the "Province of Freedom". It intended to resettle some of the "Black Poor of London", some of whom were African-Americans freed by the British during the war. About 400 blacks and 60 whites reached this place  on 15 May 1787. The group also included some West Indians of African descent from London. After they established Granville Town, most of the first group of colonists died, owing to disease and warfare with the indigenous African peoples (Temne), who resisted their encroachment. The 64 remaining colonists established a second Granville Town.

Bollywood stars have devised ways to keep themselves busy while in self-quarantine. While some are giving fitness tips to fans online, others are sharing their beauty regimes. Karenjit Kaur Vohra,  known by her stage name Sunny Leone is a former pornographic actress currently active in the Indian film industry as an actress and model. She has American and Canadian citizenship. She was named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2003, was a contract performer for Vivid Entertainment.  Actress Sunny Leone is also practising social distancing and has shared a few pictures of herself on Twitter. She wrote, "Can’t get any more socially distant than this."  The virus spread has forced celebrities to stay at home. Earlier, Sunny shared a picture of her family, all wearing masks, and wrote, "A new era! So sad that my kids have to now live like this but it’s necessary. Training toddlers to wear a mask Day 1...

Miles Away, there was confusion at Lungi International Airport in Sierra Leone on Wednesday after a Kenya Airways (KQ) flight carrying a suspected coronavirus case landed.  The flight to Freetown, whose first leg had seen it first land in another country, had four Japanese passengers on board, one of whom was reported to be displaying symptoms of the viral infection. News of the suspected case first emanated from Liberia where the plane had transited en route to Sierra Leone.

The leone is the currency of Sierra Leone. It is subdivided into 100 cents. Sierra Leone is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa, bordered by Liberia and Guinea.  The capital and largest city is Freetown.  Way back in 1898, the Sierra Leonean people mainly from the north of then Sierra Leone protectorate, led by the Temne chief Bai Bureh, led an armed rebellion against British rule that is known today as the Hut Tax War of 1898. On  27 April 1961, when it achieved independence from Britain,  Milton Margai became the country's first Prime Minister. Milton Margai's political party, the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), under the leadership of Albert Margai, narrowly lost the 1967 Sierra Leone parliamentary elections to the main opposition party.

The country has been torn by civil wars.  The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002) was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. The resulting civil war lasted 11 years, enveloped the country, and left over 50,000 dead.

During the first year of the war, the RUF took control of large swathes of territory in eastern and southern Sierra Leone, which were rich in alluvial diamonds. The government's ineffective response to the RUF, and the disruption in government diamond production, precipitated a military coup d'état in Apr 1992 by the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC).  Sierra Leone installed an elected civilian government in Mar 1996, and the retreating RUF signed the Abidjan Peace Accord. Under UN pressure, the government terminated its contract with EO before the accord could be implemented, and hostilities recommenced. In May 1997 a group of disgruntled SLA officers staged a coup and established the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) as the new government of Sierra Leone.  The RUF joined with the AFRC to capture Freetown with little resistance. The new government, led by Johnny Paul Koroma, declared the war over. A wave of looting, rape, and murder followed the announcement. Reflecting international dismay at the overturning of the civilian government, ECOMOG forces intervened and retook Freetown on behalf of the government, but they found the outlying regions more difficult to pacify.

In January 1999, world leaders intervened diplomatically to promote negotiations between the RUF and the government. The Lome Peace Accord, signed on 27 March 1999, was the result. Lome gave Foday Sankoh, the commander of the RUF, the vice presidency and control of Sierra Leone's diamond mines in return for a cessation of the fighting and the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to monitor the disarmament process. RUF compliance with the disarmament process was inconsistent and sluggish, and by May 2000, the rebels were advancing again upon Freetown.  As the UN mission began to fail, the United Kingdom declared its intention to intervene in the former colony and Commonwealth member in an attempt to support the weak government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. With help from a renewed UN mandate and Guinean air support, the British Operation Palliser finally defeated the RUF, taking control of Freetown. On 18 Jan 2002, President Kabbah declared the Sierra Leone Civil War over.

This country was again in news few year back as an  Ebola virus epidemic in Sierra Leone occurred in 2014, affecting alongside  neighbouring countries of Guinea and Liberia. In Mar 2014,  Guinean health officials announced the outbreak of a mysterious hemorrhagic fever "which strikes like lightning.”  It was identified as Ebola virus disease and spread to Sierra Leone by May 2014. The disease is thought to have originated when a child in a bat-hunting family contracted the disease in Guinea.  Consumption of African bushmeat, including rats, bats, and monkeys, is commonplace in Sierra Leone and West Africa in general. At the time it was discovered, it was thought that Ebola virus is not endemic to Sierra Leone or to the West Africa region and this epidemic represents the first time the virus has been discovered there.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

23.03.2020.

tributes to Mr Visu ..

A middle class Orthodox Brahmin family mother Pandari Bai has two sons, Sundaresan (Rajinikanth) and Ram Kumar (Sreekanth). Both sons have great love for mother. - Sadhurangam  was released in  1978, and had  Jayachitra and Prameela in lead roles – not many would know that Visu was the writer for the movie.

Visu, is always visualized as a talkative middle-aged person, representing and speaking for the travails of middle class Indian.  He conducted ‘ Arattai Arangam’ a programme tailor-made for him speaking on ills and expectations of society.  It created lot of awareness .. ..

I see very few movies – and when I saw him in close quarters in Vani Mahal a couple of years ago, in a protest – was sort of shocked to hear him.  The lion in him was missing, clearly he was under physical stress, controlling his pain, he promised that he would fight and do something for his community. 

His films were outstanding more for the human and family values.  In the glitzy world of glamorous heroines and double-entendre, he was a gentleman. His films would resemble a drama stage – with many family characters in every scene, debating the pros and cons – with people talking in turns, one after the other, sometimes in pitched voices.   He was paired with KR  Vijaya in Aval Sumangalithan,  and in Veedu Manaivi Makkal, which were  acclaimed blockbuster.

Most people would have seen and enjoyed this film that in the entry scene shows an  ordinary day in the lives of the families in a large apartment house in Chennai. Each family representing  a different slice of early 1980s middle-class society. Kannan and Uma,  a working couple. Kannan's father, retired from Government service, lives with them. They enjoy the comforts of dual income, but their general lament is that their long work hours compel them to send their five-year-old daughter Priya to boarding school. .. .. .. ‘Kudumbam Oru Kadambam’ released in 1981 was of money and working women in 1980s Indian middle-class society.  The film was remade in Kannada as Ananda Sagara,  in Telugu as Manishiki Charithra, and in Hindi as Aaj Ka Daur.

Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanthan (1945) breathed his last today.  Visu, the man, Writer, director, actor and talk-show host has left a void in the hearts of middle class people.  With towel on shoulder and a white veshti he symbolized the urban middle class.   From  an assistant under  K. Balachander to becoming a Director, he worked industriously rising levels.   Pattina Pravesam  1977 too based on play  written by Visu starred Delhi Ganesh, Sivachandran and Sarath Babu, all making their debuts.

Sad to know that director Visu, who has also acted in 60+ films, passed away due to cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Chennai. Reportedly, he was also suffering from kidney-related ailments for the past couple of years. Visu, aged 74, breathed his last at 4:15 pm at a private hospital. His mortal remains have been brought to his residence in Thoraipakkam, Chennai where people can pay their respects on March 23. His final rites will take place at 4 PM at Besant Nagar crematorium.

He is survived by his wife Sundhari and daugters Lavanya, Sangeetha and Kalpana. A philanthropist, Visu had been supporting the needy through his own foundation.

Om shanthi – we will miss you Visu Sir

-       S. Sampathkumar (22.3.2020)

Moving away from Covid 19 ~ how diseases dealt in Cinema !!

Virus, dreaded disease and Cinema ~ some lighter moments away !!

We heard Kamal talk about synthetic bio-weapons in Dasavatharam – Anu, a lab monkey escaping from its cage would devour a negligently placed vial containing bio-virus and would die of blood splashing out from it.  The ‘kirumi’ trail leads to Kirumi kanda Chozhan and Chidambaram !  - I was really impressed by this Dustin Hoffman film, that I saw in Satyagowri theatre in Kakinada in 1995.  It was about an infection having its roots in Zaire but spreading to epidemic proportions in a small town called ‘Cedar Greek’ and the Govt initiating plan to erase that place from its map by bombing !

                         As the Globe  deals with the spread of the coronavirus, now infecting more than 267103 confirmed cases, 11201 deaths in 185 countries, a film depicting the Hollywood big budget version of the lengths scared audience.  Heroes Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo fought  against the spread of a fictional, Ebola-like virus known as Motaba, brought to America by an African monkey, and villainous military leaders played by Donald Sutherland and Morgan Freeman. The film, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, was a smash hit.

Monkeys may show off their physical flexibility as they clamber over tangled tree branches, but the animals also display impressive "cognitive flexibility," or the ability to quickly change how they think about, and work to solve, a problem.  Among the best known monkeys, the Panamanian white-faced capuchin is  popular in North American media, particularly in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. It is a highly intelligent monkey and has been trained to assist paraplegic persons.

Before we read on the movie, some history too – ever heard of Belgian Congo or Kisangani Mutinies ?

The Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present-day name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.

The Union Minière du Haut-Katanga or UMHK, was an Anglo-Belgian mining company which operated in the copperbelt in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1906 and 1966.  Created in 1906, the UMHK was founded as a joint venture by the Société Générale de Belgique, the Comité Spécial du Katanga and Tanganyika Concessions Ltd. With the support of the colonial state, the company was allocated a 7,700 square miles (20,000 km2) concession in Katanga. UMHK was part of a powerful group of global copper producers.   The State of Katanga  was a breakaway state that proclaimed its independence from Congo-Léopoldville on 11 July 1960 under Moise Tshombe, leader of the local Confédération.  The new Katangese state did not enjoy full support throughout the province and was constantly plagued by ethnic strife in its northernmost region. It was dissolved in 1963 following an invasion by United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC) forces, and reintegrated with the rest of the country as Katanga Province. The Katangese secession was made with the support of Union Minière du Haut Katanga, a Belgian mining company.  Moïse Kapend Tshombe was a Congolese businessman who served as the president of the secessionist State of Katanga from 1960 to 1963 and as prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1964 to 1965. Amid rumours that the ousted Prime Minister Moise Tshombe was plotting a comeback from his exile in Spain, some 2,000 of Tshombe's former Katangan gendarmes, led by mercenaries, mutinied in Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville) in July 1966. The mutiny was unsuccessful and was crushed.

Outbreak released in  1995 was about the dreaded virus spreading ..     film directed by Wolfgang Petersen was  based on Richard Preston's nonfiction book The Hot Zone. It starred Dustin Hoffman,  focussing  on an outbreak of a fictional Ebola-like virus, Motaba, in Zaire and later in a small town in the United States. It is primarily set in the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the fictional town of Cedar Creek, California. Outbreak's plot speculates how far military and civilian agencies might go to contain the spread of a deadly, contagious disease.

In 1967, during the Kisangani Mutinies a virus called Motaba, which causes a deadly fever, is discovered in the African jungle. To keep the virus a secret, U.S. Army officers Donald McClintock and Billy Ford destroy the camp where soldiers were infected. Twenty-eight years later, Colonel Sam Daniels, a USAMRIID virologist, is sent to investigate an outbreak in Zaire. He and his crew—Lieutenant Colonel Casey Schuler and new recruit Major Salt—gather information and return to the United States. Ford, now a brigadier general and Daniels' superior officer, dismisses the latter's fears that the virus will spread.

Betsy, a white-headed capuchin monkey that is host to the virus, is smuggled into the country. James "Jimbo" Scott, a worker at an animal testing laboratory, is infected when he steals Betsy to sell on the black market. Jimbo fails to sell Betsy to Rudy Alvarez (who also becomes infected), a pet-store owner in the coastal-California village of Cedar Creek. After releasing the monkey in the woods outside of the nearby community of Palisades, he develops symptoms on a flight to Boston and infects his girlfriend, Alice. Some deaths follow but  Keough determines that no one else in Boston was infected.

A hospital technician in Cedar Creek is infected when he accidentally breaks the vial of Rudy's blood. The virus quickly mutates into a strain capable of spreading like influenza, becoming airborne and causing a number of people to be infected in a movie theater. Daniels flies to Cedar Creek against Ford's orders, joining Keough's team with Schuler and Salt. As they begin a search for the monkey, the Army quarantines the town and imposes martial law. Schuler is infected when his suit tears, and Keough accidentally sticks herself with a contaminated needle while treating him.

When Ford provides an experimental serum which cures the original strain, Daniels realizes that he was aware of the virus before the outbreak. Daniels learns about Operation Clean Sweep, a plan for the military to contain the virus by bombing Cedar Creek, incinerating the town and its residents, ostensibly to prevent Motaba's expansion to pandemic proportions. However, McClintock, now a major general, plans to use the operation to conceal the virus's existence so it can be preserved for use as a biological weapon.

The movie winds differently with subvert moves to prevent finding a cure – a picture of the monkey getting released and subsequently Betsy traced, tranquilized, bombing delayed .. .. and helicopter feared crashed.  Back  in Cedar Creek, Salt mixes Betsy's antibodies with Ford's serum to create an antiserum; although Schuler has died, they save Keough. The flying bomber flight is persuaded to    detonate the bomb over water and spare the town. .. thrilling climax !

The film  was a box-office success and Spacey won two awards for his performance. A real-life outbreak of the Ebola virus was occurring in Zaire when the film was released.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

22.3.2020.

Monkey pic credit : Etienne Delorieux on Unsplash

Marina beach closed ~ Social distancing .. some good news on Corona

Visitors to homes in Triplicane are often lured to going to the pleasant Marina beach – but when they have paucity of time, and children cry to go – we would say ‘Marina is closed – locked, and would be opened only next morning !’.

Imagine an alien creature floating in space. It doesn’t grow, communicate or move at all under its own steam. Without a home it is inert. We know very little about it, except that it will start reproducing when it enters the atmosphere of a planet that suits it. Is it living? Is it dangerous?

People have forgotten totally that a month or so ago, the virus that is causing the Covid-19 pandemic around the world was not known, at all, to science, perhaps to humanity.  In the months and weeks since, researchers have been learning as much as they can about this pathogen — and at breakneck speed. Scientists have sequenced its genome and begun to create vaccines in the hope of making people immune to it. They’ve also learned, critically, that people can pass the virus on to others before they get symptoms themselves. That makes the virus hard to contain. But it also makes it clear that severe actions — like the social distancing measures in place in and around the world — are necessary in the fight to save lives. In between, there are social media Scientists busy in WA & FB dishing out newer rumours.

After months of outbreak – today some in Wuhan, the Chinese city hit hardest by the corona virus celebrated with fireworks as authorities began removing checkpoints after reporting no new cases for a third day, while other places also eased restrictions. The command centre handling the crisis ordered that the checkpoints – set up when the city was locked down in January to contain the spread of the virus – be cleared starting from Friday, as Wuhan prepares to return to work.

As you proceed, here is map of global affliction and  some facts collated from WHO web : 

o   Thermal scanners are effective in detecting people who have developed a fever (i.e. have a higher than normal body temperature) because of infection with the new coronavirus.  However, they cannot detect people who are infected but are not yet sick with fever. This is because it takes between 2 and 10 days before people who are infected become sick and develop a fever.

o   Only wear a mask if you are ill with COVID-19 symptoms (especially coughing) or looking after someone who may have COVID-19. Disposable face mask can only be used once. If you are not ill or looking after someone who is ill then you are wasting a mask. There is a world-wide shortage of masks, so WHO urges people to use masks wisely.

o    The most effective ways to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 are to frequently clean your hands, cover your cough with the bend of elbow or tissue and maintain a distance of at least 1 meter (3 feet) from people who are coughing or sneezing.

o   Hand dryers are not effective in killing the 2019-nCoV. To protect yourself against the new coronavirus, you should frequently clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Once your hands are cleaned, you should dry them thoroughly by using paper towels or a warm air dryer.

The encouraging news apart from Wuhan limping back, is most people who contract the novel coronavirus experience mild symptoms, according to data from China, where the worst of the epidemic now appears to be over. Last month, scientists from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published a research paper analyzing the data for the first 72,314 people diagnosed with Covid-19. Epidemiologists say it will take a long time to fully understand the mechanics of the coronavirus outbreak, but the information published by the Chinese scientists may give some insight into those most vulnerable to the virus.

The data shows that men and women have roughly the same chance of contracting the virus. When the scientists looked at 44,672 patients confirmed to have the disease, they found there were 106 diagnosed men per 100 women. While 2.8% of the men diagnosed with the disease died, only 1.7% of women did.

Had heard this word ‘corniche’ in Gulf and thought it to be representing beach.  A corniche is a road on the side of a cliff or mountain, with the ground rising on one side and falling away on the other. The word has been absorbed into English from the French term route à corniche or "road on a ledge", originally derived from the Italian cornice, for "ledge". The Cornish people are a Celtic ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons who inhabited southern and central Great Britain before the Roman conquest.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever ~ and one such is ‘Marina beach’ known for its  pristine beautiful sandy shores - that runs from Fort St George to Besant Nagar. This beach has a long history.  This was conceived in 1884 and christened by Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff, the then governor of Madras – the beautiful beach  is famed for the  ambience and rich eco system though it  stands a lot polluted now.   On the road side, many stone statues, some of them installed during the Tamil World Conference adorn the area.  There are famous landmarks like Vivekanandar Illam, Presidency College, PWD building, University and more.

Early morning the famous Marina beach offers intriguing things.  There are young, old, fast, slow, and varied people indulging in chit-chatting, eating and drinking the various health drinks ! that are sold on pavements.  You can see people walking, fast-walking, jogging, sprinting, skipping, doing physical exercises, yoga, laughing out loud – more – all law unto themselves – thinking and spreading that these are the passport to good health.  For every visitor, Marina beach offers cool breeze and a serene atmosphere.. .. confirmed news is that ‘Marina is closed’ and out of bounds of people from 3 pm today – most probably would be opened back after the ‘Janata Curfew’.

Humans benefit from some viruses, too. A group called bacteriophages help keep us well by killing disease-causing bacteria. Researchers are starting to use these phages to treat bacterial infections. Viruses can even become an essential part of a host’s genetic code, providing genes required for survival.  A new field of study known as viral ecology is providing insights into the interactions between viruses and their hosts. It is a gargantuan task.

I pledge to support the #Janata Curfew and participate in #Seva Aabhar in appreciating the services of those involved in protecting us.  Let us stand together in fighting the dreaded virus.

Jai Hind.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

21.3.2020.