DailyOh! Who is Sooryavanshi to why a virus is so dangerous

Hey there,

It is a new week. Monday began with the knowledge that you might soon be able to surf the internet on domestic flights in India. You can access WiFi on flights while your phone or device is on flight mode. Does that make you happy? It doesn't make us. That's the only place where the WiFi hasn't taken over and ruined our lives. But then there's always the option of turning your phone off to avoid that pesky call from work. Up to you.

While the bane called in-flight WiFi might soon become reality, the one thing that causes problems to many is the ban on smoking in aircrafts. If you smoke (you shouldn't, unless you live in a city like Delhi or Beijing where pollution makes cigarettes look like a breath of fresh air, pun or no pun), there's nothing worse than long flights; those hours of staying away from your nicotine. Even e-cigarettes are banned on flights. But did you know a few decades ago, smoking was allowed on flights?

It goes back to 1969, when a gentleman named Ralph Nader called for a ban on smoking in flights in the United States. What began with Nader in 1969, finally came into effect in 1988, when airlines in the US banned smoking on their aircrafts. On Day 1 of the ban kicking in, flight attendants treated passengers to candy and gum... but drilled into their heads the fines they would have to pay if they violated the no-smoking rule. The fine was USD 1,000 for smoking and USD 2,000 for messing with lavatory smoke alarms. In INR today, that would be about 1.5 lakh and 3 lakh, inflation-adjusted. By 2000, all international flights had a smoking ban in place. In India, today, the penalty for smoking is imprisonment for up to three months or a fine of Rs 1 lakh or both. That's way too much to pay for one drag, you'd agree.

Since we're talking of smoking on flights, you might also have seen that lavatories have ashtrays even though you can't smoke on flights. Reason: if anyone violates the smoking ban (we all know how much we love flouting rules), the crew should have a proper send-off for the cigarette. But where to send those calls that reach you on WiFi in the air? We'll have to find a way to navigate that.

Talking of flights reminded us of the biggest obstacle to travelling these days: yes, you guessed it right, the coronavirus. As of Monday, the virus has spread to 53 countries outside China. 86,500 cases have been reported all over the world and more than 3,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19, rapidly spreading from being an epidemic to becoming a pandemic. But why is it so dangerous?

This new coronavirus is a virus. Viruses, by definition, don't have a cure. Even your viral fever and the common cold, caused mostly by a type of virus known as rhinoviruses, are incurable. Virus is the cleverest of the microorganism kingdom. It cannot live without a host. It cannot be transmitted without a vector, a carrier, that is. A virus cannot replicate outside a living organism. So when a viral infection happens, it is because the virus takes over your cell structure and kills it. When a lot of cells die, it affects the living being. When our body detects the presence of this foreign organism, the immune system kicks in. But there is no cure for a virus. This is where vaccination comes in handy; reminding people of that age-old adage: prevention is better than cure.

So while the world succesfully said goodbye to smallpox by vaccination, a vaccine for the coronavirus is yet to be developed. Scientists all over the world are working on war-footing to battle this new version of apocalypse, but a breakthrough is yet to be reached. Till then, if you are travelling, especially at airports where people from all over the world meet and leave germs in the air, protect yourself. Wash your hands as many times as possible with soap and water, and wash them for twice as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday To You. If you're flying and cannot keep going to the loo to wash your hands every half an hour without raising eyebrows, use a hand sanitiser. We suggest keeping an alcohol-based hand sanitiser along and use it. Stay safe.

Outside of China, the single country where maximum cases of COVID-19 have been reported is South Korea, with 4,212 infections and 20 people dead when we last checked. Iran has reported 66 deaths and more than 1,500 infected. North Korea, however, has not officially confirmed a single case of this coronavirus. There were reports that North Korea had 'taken care of' its one single case of COVID-19: by shooting dead the infected person. But they are just unconfirmed reports. That's how things are in North Korea. This information black hole headed by Kim Jong-un ensures nothing trickles out. While South Korea is dealing with this severe attack, projectile launches are keeping its neighbour busy.

North Korea tested two projectiles on Monday, fired into its eastern sea. No, North Korea reported none of this. South Korea did. Because now that Kim Jong-un has thrown all nuclear diplomacy into its eastern sea, the US is worried. It should be. No one wants another Nagasaki when there is corona to deal with. But how did the relation between US and North Korea sour so much? Blame the two headstrong men at their helm.

Now we all know what Donald Trump is like when he is not thanking Swami Vivekamunnun at Ababaad in Gujaat. His North Korean counterpart is not exactly known for diplomacy. Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump met in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a two-day summit in February last year. The first day was fine. The second ended in a diplomatic disaster. Trump apparently handed Kim a chit asking him to surrender all his nuclear weapons and fuel, and well, goes without saying, it did not go down too well with Kim. The summit was cut short. US and North Korea reached no decision.

In December last year, Kim Jong-un actually signalled that he could lift the nuclear moratorium from North Korea... and was planning to introduce a 'new strategic weapon'.

Weapons, viruses, deaths. In India, one of the 2012 Delhi gangrape convict had his curative plea rejected today. Pawan Gupta had filed a plea challenging his conviction and punishment in the Nirbhaya gangrape case. He has now filed for mercy and has asked the President to commute his death sentence to life in prison. Pawan, along with the three other convicts, was scheduled to be hanged till death on March 3, that is tomorrow, at 6 am. A trial court in Delhi has now deferred the hanging, but it leaves us with the question: Why do hangings in India take place early in the morning?

In India, the hanging takes place around 6 am in summer, and at 7 am in winter. The execution should be completed before it gets bright. One of the reasons is that jail officials want to get done with the hanging early so that it doesn't interfere with other prison work. The other, more ethical, reason is to not drag the death-row inmate through another day of mental pain. It is also said that executions are done before other people wake up, to help reduce the shock that a hanging might cause. Remember when we woke up to the news of 26/11 Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab's hanging? It happened at 7.30 am on November 21, 2012, in Pune's Yerwada jail.

From Pune, let's take you to Mumbai, where Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh and Ajay Devgn launched the bombastic trailer of Sooryavanshi, their upcoming film, to be released on March 24.

Akshay enters Rohit Shetty's 'cop universe' with Sooryavanshi. Who were the actual 'sooryavanshis'? Sooryavanshi is our Word Of The Day. A literal translation of 'surya-vanshi' is the dynasty of the sun. Sooryavanshis were the oldest and largest Kshatriya clan in the country. They worshipped the Sun, and spoke of themselves as being descendants of the Sun god. The most important Suryavanshi king was Ishvaku. It is this Ishvaku dynasty that Ram belonged to.

Let's leave you with the trailer of Sooryavanshi, where Akshay plays Veer Sooryavanshi. Tell us what you think of the trailer.

See you tomorrow.

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