National Doctor’s Day is celebrated on July 1 to honour and recognise the services of great physician Dr BC Roy, who often described as the Dhanvantari of the modern era. Doctor’s Day is observed on different dates across the world. The theme for this year being “Lessen the mortality of COVID 19”. In the current times of the health pandemic caused by COVID19, all of us realise the importance of the doctors, health workers and their commitment to providing health care more than ever.
Doctors are special, and the health pandemic brought to the fore they being our real-life heroes. Doctor’s Day is an opportunity to thank all the heroes in the medical fraternity for their selfless contributions.
The presence of the doctor is the beginning of the cure. “Vaidyo Narayano Hari”
Space is home to millions of galaxies inhabited by countless celestial objects with only a few of these have been discovered. Researchers believe that celestial objects like as asteroids, meteoroids, comets have hidden secrets which can help to solve the mysteries of the universe. In 1801, the first and largest asteroid, Ceres, orbiting between Mars and Jupiter was discovered. “Tunguska asteroid event in Siberia” on 30 June 1908 lead the UN adopting that day as International Asteroid Day with the aims to raise public awareness about the asteroid and its impacts. There are lots of asteroids in the solar system and positioned in the main asteroid belt – a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. By landing two hopping robots onto asteroid Ryugu, Japan has become the first country in the world to land rovers on an asteroid. Several NASA Space missions have flown by and observed asteroids. Indian students (trained by organisation SPACE) discovered two Asteroids. Only a few weeks ago (April 2020), one of the asteroids, passed by relatively close to Earth. Let us celebrate “World Asteroid Day” and continue research and observations to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
Life is a journey. Bharata Muni describes the emotions humans go through in “Navarasa”. All humans go through the feelings but in varied proportions. Success-Failure, happiness-sorrow, Victory-loss, all are there and many times cyclic, as if a shadow of one another.
In pursuit of success, humans have drifted away from remaining to be in equilibrium. The more technology entered the lives, the more drifted the humans are and have increasingly become hollow. To lead a satisfying life, balance is needed, and it comes in pursuit of fine arts, be it learning, practising or just listening/watching. 21 June is celebrated world over as “World Music Day” the world over.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought unthought-of restrictions and fear of the possibilities. One de-stressing instrument is music. Let us celebrate Music.
“Yoga is an invaluable gift from our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action, a holistic approach that is valuable to our health and our well-being. Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature.” PM Narendra Modi to UN General Assembly.
UN declared 21 June as “International Yoga Day”. The practise of Yoga was started during the Indus-Sarasvati civilization over 5,000 years ago. It was first mentioned in the Rig Veda. Yoga is a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual practices and brings spiritual discipline based on an extremely subtle science. Yoga does not adhere to any religion, belief system or community; it has always been approached as a technology for inner wellbeing.
While fighting the battle against COVID-19 epidemic, there is a need to keep ourselves strong both physically and mentally. Practising Yoga and meditation are our ammunition in our fight against the unprecedented health pandemic.
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences in which Indians had mastery. Aryabhata almost 1,500 years ago, explained the reasons for the eclipses. When the moon covers the sun from the centre leaving the outer rim of the sun, an annual solar eclipse happens and ‘Ring of Fire’, is seen. On 21st June, people from different parts of the world will be able to witness the beauty of ‘Ring of Fire’ for about 30 seconds.
This is the first Solar Eclipse in 2020 and one more would be in December. If you miss them, you need to wait till March 2034 to see one in India. “Presence of Helium in Sun’s atmosphere” was discovered during one of the solar eclipses way back in 1868. Vigyan Prasar has been organizing several activities around the astronomy for the last 20 years.
Interestingly one question uppermost in many people’s mind: Will the solar eclipse kill corona virus? The solar eclipse won’t kill corona virus – that’s entirely in your hands. Literally.
Our Planet is Ailing. Through international action and solidarity, we can scale up, land restoration and nature-based solutions for climate action and the benefit of future generations. By doing so, we can deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and leave no one behind.
According to the latest report of ILO, there are 152 million child labourers (42% of them being girls) across the globe, nearly half of them engaged in hazardous work. Child labour prevalent in labour industries like Diamond industry, Fireworks manufacture, Silk manufacture, Carpet weaving, Domestic labour and Mining with agriculture accounting for 71% of them. Africa, Asia and the Pacific regions have the largest share of child labour (9 out of 10) in the globe. Low income, poverty, lack of resources forces the families in taking the children to take up works. The National Anti-Child Labour Day is observed every year in India on April 30.
In the race of development, all countries are competing to get ahead of each other, and one major calamity is the overexploiting the natural resources. Exploiting the ocean resources is no exception. The societies which will promote sustainable development would win the race.
Celebrate Biodiversity The world belongs to every creature and the sooner we realise the better placed we all would be. Every living thing is connected to another living thing, and together it forms a network of diverse life forms on the planet.
Be peaceful, the scriptures have been advising mankind from ancient times. The feeling of peace and harmony towards each other not only brings people closer but would give an opportunity of being there in happiness and sorrow. Over the period, countries across the world, pursued diversified paths to achieve progress to bring prosperity. We stand today being silent spectators to very disturbing situations and differences, not learned to live within and accept diversity both in thought and action. To help countries torn by conflicts and to create the conditions for lasting peace, the peacekeeping force by the UN. This year’s theme “Women in Peacekeeping – A key to Peace” has been decided to celebrate the role of women in the forces. On this special day (May 29) let us all pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honour the memory of those who have lost.
