Awareness

India V/S China – How 2020 is not same as 1962?

July 11, 2020 by TCM Leave a Comment

India v/s China: Considering exaggerated claims by China on the Galwan valley, India on July 9th, said the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was the need of the hour. The stand taken by India, not to have any dialogues until disengagement of Chinese troops from LAC seems to have worked pretty well.

The disengagement news has been confirmed by the Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong (Source) who also appealed that China and India should have strategic discussions to enhance mutual trust and shun friction.

Today we will discuss, our readiness at the border based on Harvard Kennedy’s Belfer Center research (source) comparing both the countries’ strategic assets. However, war is the last thing we would expect, this article is just to discuss our readiness in such a situation.

The Indian Military has an edge over Chinese in the high-altitude region

We need to understand that in this case, the major role players during the war will be ground troops, Air force & Nuclear power. Let’s have a look at the individual comparative study:

Ground Forces Comparision (India v/s China)

We not only have a higher number of troops but also tank brigades to support them.

Air Forces Comparision(China v/s India)

Due to more distance of Chinese airstrip from LAC, their fighter jets might not have enough endurance. They might need a higher number of refueling to sustain the battle.

Air Force Comparision india v/s china — Source: belfercenter.org

Nuclear Forces Comparision (India v/s China)

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China has approximately 320 nuclear warheads while India has only 150. However, both nations have a “no first use” policy, i.e they have pledged only to use nuclear arms in defense of a nuclear attack.

Even in that case, both nations have almost full coverage of each other.

Nuclear Forces - comparision china v/s india — Source: belfercenter.org

So, when it comes to the military we have a better edge, apart from that many other countries like the U.S, Israel to name a few will be in our support post CoronaVirus pandemic (also read Are young people safe from COVID-19?).

What can be our role amid such tensions at the border?

We have already discussed the following in our video below:

China’s unfair trade practices, owing to which they can supply goods at the cheapest prices throughout the world.
How they have been using Debt Diplomacy to capture some of the strategic locations in different parts of the world.

Check this out & our role to support the current situation in the video below:

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Are you having Sleep-less nights? – Here’s a 2 min solution

June 25, 2020 by TCM Leave a Comment

After an exhausting day when you go to your bed and are unable to sleep. Literally a few minutes back you were dying to get into your bed and now You’re perfectly awake.

So now you try alternate ways to sleep & are increasingly more conscious of every waking second of sleep time that you’re losing and a bad day tomorrow as you are going to be feeling sleepy at college or work.

Oh my god, it 3 am now and you still can’t sleep!!

If this sounds familiar to you then this article is for you. We have compiled a number of the easy to implement advice and practices to increase your odds of falling asleep in minutes.

We will even discuss a way employed by the United States Navy to nod off in just 2 minutes!

Here are a few things that you should do before you sleep:

1. Sleep in a colder environment

Your thermal environment, surrounding your head and body is probably the most unappreciated factor determining not only the convenience with which you’ll sleep but also your sleep quality. Whether you’re overheating due to heavy blankets or simply a hot room it has been shown to deteriorate the sleep pattern.

Just to initiate sleep your body has to drop 2- 3 deg F or 1.5 deg C. Being colder helps bring this temperature down faster. It’d shock you but the recommended temperature is around 65 deg. F or 18.3 deg C for your room. Going too cold isn’t good either but it doesn’t have an equivalent disruptive effect on falling asleep or your sleep quality as a hot room does.

2. Take a hot shower or bath before bed for better sleep

You would possibly think, being all warm and fuzzy is what causes you to sleep but its quite the other way. When you’re exposed to a temperature the body can’t hold on to, the heart sends blood to the surface of your skin giving you that red appearance. Once you exit the warm water, the dilated blood vessels radiate out the inner heat to your environment and your core blood heat plummets. This triggers the body and brain to think it’s time to sleep.

3. Put away the clock

Simply having the power to see the time and determine what proportion you haven’t slept isn’t helpful and can honestly only stress you out. Time monitoring is strongly linked to worry and waking arousal for you.

4. Minimize or avoid caffeine and nicotine

Coffee, colas, tea, or even chocolate can take hours to wear out fully and nicotine may be a stimulant. So avoid them too late within the day. It is also worth avoiding eating next to your bed. While some studies show, avoiding diets that are excessively biased towards carbs will help. It’s better to avoid being too hungry or too full before bed.

5. Exercise effect on Sleep

Being physically tired can assist you to nod off faster but exercising just 2- 3 hours before bed can keep you up longer. So, earlier within the day is the best time to exercise. On a similar basis, naps are great but don’t take them after 3 p.m. or it’ll be harder to sleep in the night.

6. Confirm you’re relaxing before bed

If you are trying to sleep, your brain just won’t be ready. A soothing activity within the hour before bed like reading is that the perfect ritual to place you within the right mindset.

7. Confirm you’re getting enough sun exposure

Minimizing your light exposure during the evening i.e not using your smartphones before bed is important. However, it’s equally important to have some natural sunlight for a minimum of half-hour each day. If you’ve got problems falling asleep, this helps to condition your body’s schedule and trigger tiredness at the proper times.

Now that we’ve found out some conditions for optimizing your experience of falling asleep are you still unable to sleep?

Maybe you’ve already done those things & you’re lying in bed immediately desperately looking up the way to nod off faster which led you to this very article.

In that case, you’ve already broken rule seven of not watching your smartphone.

However, if you’re still laying in the bed, there is a way that the U.S. Navy used, that if practiced can have you fall asleep in just a few minutes regardless of where you are.

These studies aren’t publicly available but they claim that they were used on fighter pilots who would often make avoidable mistakes as a result of stress and ultimately sleeplessness. They were designed to permit them to sleep even while sitting up.

After 6 weeks they claim that majority of the pilots could nod off in two minutes.

The 2 min Process for a quick sleep

The process is systematically relaxing each part of your body while taking a deep breath to shut your eyes,

Start focussing on your face, picture every muscle slowly relaxing, if it helps squish and squint your face first then let it relax. Exhale as you are feeling your cheeks, tongue, mouth, and jaw relaxed. Even imagine your eyes sinking into their sockets.

Then slowly make your way down your body and do an equivalent thing to every muscle group. Tighten then relax your shoulders, then arms from forearms to fingers, chest, legs, and eventually your feet. All while breathing deeply and focussing on the entire body.

Then focus on clearing your mind into a meditative state. As thoughts about your day or images pop into your mind, try to not linger over them and allow them to pass. Simply thinking through motions can stimulate your muscles to involuntarily contract very similar to meditation. Keep taking deep breaths, inhaling in and out.

If you cannot stop your thoughts they suggest repeating “don’t think” for 10 seconds. It sounds silly or fairly simple but anecdotally it has worked for people. All it takes is to be consistent & practice each night. Though it won’t be an easy solution on your first night, within weeks it will be far more likely to sleep instantly assuming you do not have a disorder or other condition.

Bonus Suggestion

One more suggestion that’s considered the only most vital tip to falling asleep immediately. If you cannot follow any others follow this, go to bed and wake up at the same time of day regardless of anything. Even the weekends, we do know it sucks, but we’re creatures of habit. If you would like to be ready to sleep immediately, getting into an honest routine will make your body figure like clockwork.

Studies show that not falling asleep for an extended period causes anxiety. It only makes things worse so just get up and do a soothing or slightly boring activity until you are feeling sleepy.

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Are young people safe from COVID-19?

June 25, 2020 by TCM Leave a Comment

When COVID-19 or Corona Virus started to spread, it was mostly about older people, in particular, those over 60 were the major targets of the virus. But now that more stories and data about young people are coming out from hospitals, are young people really safe? Let’s find out!

Today we will look at the corona-virus data and its impact on different age groups from infection rates to hospitalization to the death toll.

First, we broadly looked at the ones under 60, because many of the studies that came out used this designation & then we will look more specifically at them between 18 and 44 years old and then finally at those under 20 with the available data.

It is important to note that Corona-virus can have a serious toll on our respiratory system. When it gets into our lungs, the virus damages the alveoli, which are tiny sacs in the lungs that exchange oxygen. If these alveoli are damaged by the virus then it creates more difficulty in breathing. Our immune system can sometimes make things worse by going into overdrive and also kill “good” cells which in turn provides more fluid and blockages in the lungs. This will be important to remember for later when talking about the lungs and immune systems of the young and the elderly.

Analysis / Statistics

For analysis purposes, we will also consider the available data from New York as its total number of cases is comparable to that of India (NY -4.13 Lacs, India- 4.73 lacs) (Source).

Let’s look at the percentage of people that dies per age group in the table below:

Health data - New York — Underlying illnesses include Diabetes, Lung Disease, Cancer, Immunodeficiency, Heart Disease, Hypertension, Asthma, Kidney Disease, and GI/Liver Disease. (Source)

It’s clear the older you are, the higher the risk of death. In April, the CDC (Center for Disease Control & Prevention) released data that looked at Corona patients from the U.S. for a month.

The people aged between 18 and 49 who receive COVID-19 are still around 18% out of the total hospitalized. However, this number may still be lower in India as it records 0.2 Corona deaths per lakh population as against the global figure of 4.1 as per health ministry (Source) as of last month.

Though, our mortality rate is lesser in comparison to the global average owing to better immunity. In India (as of May ’20), out of 3435 deaths, 49.5% were below 60 years of age.

Out of total deaths, nearly 2.47% of people aged 15-30, 11.4% aged 30-45, 35.08% aged 45-60, and 50.5 above 60 years of age have died. (Source)

Has anything changed since the beginning when we were told it was only about the elderly?

The truth is that the conversation started around people in China who died. The early stats that came in were mainly about the older population. However, now we are receiving broader data on common infections and serious cases, not just the death toll.

In general, only a small number of people under 60 die, but it can still happen.

Furthermore, data from New York City has shown that of those under 60 who died 95% already had an underlying medical condition. This is almost the same as in India. Experts point out that while the disease outcome is worse in older people with co-morbidities even younger ones who are immuno-compromised can be vulnerable.

Although this does not mean that young people are not seriously infected. So while the number of deaths in healthy young persons is low, it is important to remember that major illness and hospitalizations are still significant.

The chance that a young person dies without an underlying medical condition is rare, but can it happen?

YES! if the total number of infections increases even though the young individual’s deaths are low, this number will also rise. So, unfortunately, we are going to hear more stories about young, healthy people who die.

What about people specifically under 30?

In India, as of May ’20, there have been quite a several cases. To be precise its 103 including 17 kids who are less than 15 years of age & have succumbed to the infection. It targets vital organs such as lung, kidney, and heart.

Why do healthy young people die at all?

One theory is that some individuals simply have a genetic predisposition making them less responsive to this virus. There may be a specific gene that modifies respiratory receptors making it easier for the virus to infect people’s lungs.

It may also be related to viral load i.e. the number of virus particles that infect you as an individual. With a higher dose, it might have a less good outcome.

Why is it generally rarer for young people to die?

As you age, your lung and chest muscles become weaker and your immune system slows down. The elderly are more likely to have problems such as diabetes or a heart condition. For children, there is a theory that their immune system is a little bit underdeveloped in some ways. So it is less prone to overdrive and fills the lungs with fluid.

We didn’t want to scare people, but to make sure people understand that it can happen to young people too. Even if you don’t show any symptoms while others only exhibiting mild symptoms does not make us young and healthy. Many cases of young people have had a fever for weeks, absolute physical exhaustion, and difficulty breathing.

Remember! India has limited medical Infrastructure compared to its population.

Even if you don’t get seriously ill, that doesn’t mean you can’t be a carrier and give it to others, whether they’re young or old.

And as hospitals fill up and become overloaded, the cases that can be treated with intensive care may not be treated, regardless of age due to lack of hospital staff or lack of proper equipment.

So remember! Although your chances of death from Corona are not high, it is important to take enough precautions & stay away from people by maintaining proper social distancing to keep yourself safe, keep others safe, and to help the hospitals keep us safe.