Sarvhara

A better world is possible 🚩🌟

[sarvhara]

How do you have a such a good hold on the English language?

Read a lot, you'll be just as good.

[sarvhara]

Are you God?

Yes

[sarvhara]

Corruption in India

Corruption is a malady that plagues some nations more than others. The underdeveloped, developing and emerging nations bear the brunt of corruption. It siphons off capital in the pockets of the undeserving and leaves society as a whole, poorer. India ranked 80th in 2020 in the Corruption Perception Index globally, with surveys concluding that over 50% of Indians paid a bribe in the last year. This is a grave issue, because this ensure that substantial amounts of funds never get utilised for public interest. If our nation is to progress, it becomes instrumental to address the issue of corruption.

Corruption occurs in many forms, it might be tax avoidance, undue subsidisation, under-the-table sales etc., however, one thing is certain, the most prevalent form of corruption occurs between private enterprise and the state when a private entity aims to debase the system in his favour by influencing a body associated with the government. When the vile deed is finally uncovered, the private entity proceeds to flee the nation, the public is outraged for a few weeks and then things return to normal. Some estimates have indicated that Indians have over USD 1,456 billion in black money stored in Offshore Swiss Bank Accounts. What is to be done then?

One must first realise that the profit incentive to benefit from corruption is endemic to the economic system that governs Indian society today. No major improvement can occur if the structural framework is not reformed, if not wholly dismantled. With increasing private involvement in public dealing, new avenues of corruption are opened. To mitigate the same, the government must expand, dominating distinct sectors if need be, to decrease pathways non-public bodies can take.

However, this cannot reasonably occur if the government officials in-charge dabble in off the record dealings themselves. The core body of the government must be strong enough to repel, cut off and at times purge large sections of the corrupt legislative bodies. This can only occur with increased public participation in politics. For the same, the popularisation of political literacy programmes in educational institutions and other related propaganda become of paramount importance.

Additionally, as a nation, strictness and admonition of/against corruption must be cultivated in our national ethos. Certain key Indian industrialists, Bollywood personalities, media figures have had the “fortune” of being featured in international exposés like the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers. They were diverting money to offshore tax havens away from the watchful eye of the income tax department. As a nation, we have been too soft on these figures. While they were robbing blind the public, the public was too busy being intoxicated on their latest movie or product. This cultural change must be cultivated if we are to progress as a nation.

If we are to ponder upon the nature of how black money is stored, it occurs in one of two ways, offshore Swiss Bank accounts and physical cash hidden away in miscellaneous locations. The former can only be expropriated via deft diplomacy so we shall focus in this passage on the latter. To combat the physical hoarding of cash, the government must transition the economy towards conducting business digitally for most major dealings, if not all. However, care must given to the fact that the data concerning digital transactions is decentralised, this would secure it against malicious private actors and malignant governments in the future. Blockchain is a technology that would be of great use for this purpose. Blockchain is a public ledger of transactions, guarded by digital cryptography, that is distributed to all, i.e. is decentralised. This protects the ledger from modification by a singular party as the ledger is publicly owned. While other digital means of data accumulation have their merits, they are more susceptible to subversion than Blockchain.

There is no absolute, one-size-fits-all cure to the issue of corruption, but we have various nations that have addressed the issue of corruption in a manner adapted to their unique material conditions. Learning from the experience of these nations states, India too must forge its own path towards freedom from corruption; it must devise a solution specific to its circumstances and situation. The march against corruption is a social, economic and cultural battle, which would involve both the people and the government, but, with political will and national resolve, we shall cause the unequivocal material upliftment of the Indian worker and peasant. Transforming India in the nation it was always meant to be.

[sarvhara]

The Politicisation of Education in India

“In a global economy, where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity- it is a prerequisite.” This statement by Barack Obama undeniably strikes true. Education is an essential tool in the arsenal of the empowered that can destroy oppression, elevate economies and change lives. According to a UN Statistic, with each year of schooling, an individual’s income potential increases by 10%. Yet, in India, especially in modern times, the scourge of political powerplay and corruption has plagued the education system.

The interplay of political parties over dominance plays out in the educative sphere of India too as parties try as hard as they can to whitewash them and their allies via education during their tenure. This issue is not modern as Macaulayism, the practice of destroying native heritage and forcibly imposing rigid and alien practices via political policies on education, dates to the 19th century. According to Pr. Kapil Kapoor of JNU the imposition of the English mode of education has destroyed the traditional Indian mode of thought and introspection and created a sense of self-denigration in the minds of Indian populous.

Similar to how Macaulay preached the benevolence of the British instead of the truth, the political right has distorted facts and blended them with myth in an attempt to glorify Hinduism. It is to note that albeit “glorification” of Hinduism may create an apparent sense of “nationalism”, it jades the truth by propagating fabricated falsehoods and leads to disintegration of Indian secularism. The NCERT in recent times has updated various books on the political sciences in an attempt to stir public support for the ruling party from an impressionable age, for example, NCERT’s book on the political sciences for 12th standard experienced changes such as the “Anti-Muslim Riots of Gujarat” in 2002 were simply changed to the “Gujrat Riots” and in an attempt to slander the opposition, the 1984 riots were described to be Anti-Sikh.

Saffronisation, the predilection of Hindu right-wing parties to promote Hindu-centrism in education, has resurfaced in the past years. In a groundbreaking report by the international news organization Aljazeera, children in Gujrat, a right-wing stronghold, are made to believe in pseudo-scientific Hindutva notions for example, that airplanes are an ancient Indian invention from the “Dvapara Yuga”. This creates a covert religious bias and hurts one of India’s defining traits, its vibrant diversity, be it in cultures or religions. Furthermore, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS, an alt-right group in India responsible for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, has had education boards in its state Uttar Pradesh frequently change textbooks to glorify Hinduism discrediting other religions.

Reservations in educational institutions, a historical policy in India which first came into effect in 1954 guarantee reservations for the SCs, STs, OBCs, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and economically weaker sections of the society for opportunities in schools, colleges, teaching posts etc. These came into effect in 1954 however, after 65 years, many in India ask the question – are they relevant in the 21st century? Article 334 which laid the foundation for Indian reservations has been repeatedly amended by political parties to increase its duration of effect every term to influence minority vote-banks. Admittedly, casteism is still prevalent in India in modern times, however, it is mainly concentrated in rural settlements and poverty-stricken ghettos, that issue demands a whole another set of solutions.

Merit based scholarships in India only account for about 0.7% of student aid in India, furthermore, continual politicization of education regarding reservations creates not an atmosphere in which quality education, rather, one in which caste-based divides widen. Labelling someone an SC or ST does in no manner whatsoever invoke egalitarian sentiments rather it divides society on communal lines further.

In addition to hurting the chances of deserving candidates, reservations hurt the public image of SCs and STs too, as many an allegation is launched on an SC/ST candidate after competitive exams, doubting his/her ability and crediting his/her success solely to reservations. The spread of education too gets hindered as the appointment of teachers via reservations does not always ensure the quality of education for the future of the nation, i.e. the students.

There are numerous solutions the government can implement to curb these problems. India is divided into Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities, Tier-3 towns and Tier-4 rural settlements. Reservation can be divided on this basis. The reservations in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities should be decreased or completely removed on the basis of caste and increased on the basis of financial condition. In Tier-3 towns, caste based reservation should be moderately decreased and reservations for the economicly weaker should be promoted. While in Tier-4 rural settlements, reservations on the basis of caste and for the economic leak should be promoted heavily.

Furthermore to check the clarity of fact and the propagation of truth, an autonomous body should be created that audits educational literature and textbooks to ensure that impartiality and veracity is maintained in order to educate the youth with the plane objective truth and not a mythical blend of fact and fabrication.

This issue is grave and if not solve quickly can effectively hinder the growth of the nation and decrease opportunities for the youth, however, India is a nation which has suffered at the hands of many yet it rose to the occasion and outdid its oppressors. In the words of the former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee "सरकारें आएंगी, जाएंगी; पार्टियां बनेंगी, बिखरेंगी, पर यह देश अमर रहना चाहिए|"

[sarvhara]

The Freedom of Speech Dilemma

Few legalities have been debated upon to the extent of the freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is a topic frequently brought up in today’s times, be it the news media, political debates or actual legislative laws. What is Freedom of Speech?

The Freedom of Speech is a subsidiary of the Right to Freedom( Article 19, sub-clause 1 ), it essentially lays down a few basic points. The three major ones are that all citizens have the right -

1. To freedom of speech and expression; 

This means that censorship/suppression of anyone’s opinion is unlawful unless there exist special circumstances.

2. To assemble peacefully and without arms; 

This gives the citizens the right to protest about an issue they feel agitated about in a peaceful manner.

3. To form associations or unions [or cooperative societies]; 

This right is especially beneficial to proletariats as in an increasingly capitalist society, unionising is detested by the capitalist masters. This right safeguards the workers and gives them the means to fight back any predatory exploitation.

The special circumstances under which the freedom of speech can be curbed by the government when it feels that the exercise of the right to freedom of speech of an entity competes with the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of the nation, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality.

This basically means that the government allows free speech until it gets ‘anti-national’, defames national allies, is disruptive to public order, is blatantly vulgar and meant to shock, corrupts the moral compass of society or encourages illicit practices.

One can observe that some of the aforementioned circumstances are intentionally left vague. This, at least in theory, is a wise choice as it leaves the law up for future interpretation, however, in certain special cases can prove to be a problem.

Freedom of speech is a hot button, the debates on it usually centre around on the agenda as to what extent one can exercise his/her freedom of speech until it becomes offensive to an individual or group or simply untrue. For example in an important political debate that would be used to shape substantial policies-

Politician A: The families of XYZ city feel that crime is increasing day by day and the ABC community is, to a large extent, responsible for it. 

Politician B: That is untrue as it is statistically proven that crime in XYZ city is at an all-time low and in fact, it is the lowest amongst the ABC community.

Now, the debate here stands as to whether Politician A be allowed to make such a statement in the name of freedom of speech. Note that Politician A used the word ‘feel’ and that makes the statement subjective. This would mean that even if the associated facts may be false, the subjectivity of the statement would complicate matters as politician A is still allowed to make such a statement under the freedom to speech.

Consider another example - The press. The press is an integral part of any lawful and democratic society. It’s freedom is also sanctioned under the freedom of speech and expression, however, how far does that right go?

Whenever sensational stories break out, all news outlets are enthusiastic to cover it. Reporters and journalists go to great lengths to painstakingly uncover every single detail about the story in an attempt to be the news source with the most amount of broadcasted information however, it is to be pondered as to whether this freedom of press come at the cost of someone’s reputation, privacy etc. Are these circumstances enough to justify a temporary cessation of freedom of speech or should the media be penalised when it goes overboard?

As we’ve now deliberated upon the problems and complications surrounding freedom of speech, it is only fair to talk about what can be done further.

Apart from the obvious rules that prohibit freedom of speech for spreading hate, inciting violence etc. There can still be much more done to preserve and maybe improve freedom of speech, even on an individual level, however this does does not mean that someone’s wrong, unjust and potentially hurtful statement carries as much worth as somebody else’s statement or protest (both of which, as read above, are constitutional) against that injustice. Such disparities are to be treated with caution; the press plays an important role in this regard as the press is the society’s sentinel against false claims and is especially useful in disproving confusingly subjective statements with the hidden intention of subversion or to demean. However, in this age, it is understandable that the public trust in the press might’ve taken a hit, to remedy that the press must work harder to prove that is accountable and reputable.

Another way one can improve freedom of speech is weeding out misinformation, “fake news”, if one will. Misinformation is damaging and sometimes may take the form of mob violence if handled incorrectly. Media literacy goes a long way in this endeavour.  Here is a beautifully written article by the National Public Radio and this is a splendid video created by TED-ED for the same.

Many influential figures today would like you to believe that all news prevalent today is some sort of “fake news” and actual journalism is dead. News Flash - It’s not. Journalism doesn’t die unless we all let it die by consuming any statement as the truth without confirming it’s accuracy. They only want you to believe this because it helps them deceive the masses easier and that’s where you come in. A single individual can make detrimental changes to the world and humanity. The legalities, complications and subjectivity of rights, be it freedom to speech, are up for debate and everyone has a stake in it; anyone can mould these to his/her interpretations and anyone’s input on the matter, under freedom to speech, is constitutionally sanctioned.

[sarvhara]

How The Stock Market Works (for dummies)

One must first know what a stock is. For example, an individual owns a company, but for further development of the company, lacks the required funds. What he/she can do is start selling a part of the company to the general public, this is a stock.

The total worth of the entirety of the stocks a company has made available to the general public is called the company’s market capitalization. For example, a company XYZ sells a total of 10,000 stocks for $10; the company’s market capitalization (or market cap in short) would be $100,000.

Market capitalisation is of two types, full market capitalisation and free flow capitalisation. A part of the company's stock is also owned by the company's management (read: promoters, A corporate promoter is a firm or person who does the preliminary work incidental to the formation of a company, including its promotion, incorporation, and flotation, and solicits people to invest money in the company, usually when it is being formed) apart from the general public. Free market capitalisation takes into account the management owned stocks along with the public owned stocks, whereas, freeflow capitalization only takes into account the stocks owned by the general public. Most stock exchanges around the world use free flow capitalization for the calculation of their indexes (more on this later).

To enter the stock market a company must first register itself with a stock exchange, this is essentially a ‘bazaar’ for stocks. The two biggest stock exchanges in India are the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange), both of which are established in Mumbai, hence the city being called the ‘Commercial Capital’ of India.

In earlier times, stocks were bought and sold manually, but in modern times, computers have taken up that job as they can respond to fluctuations in the market at lightning fast speeds.

Terms such as ‘Sensex’ and ‘Nifty’ are often used while discussing stocks in India. Both are simply indexes that indicate the growth (or shrinking) of the finances of the biggest Indian companies, the Stock exchange and the Indian Economy in general.

Sensex is BSE’s index and Nifty is NSE’s index. As these indexes indicate the growth of their respective stock markets and in broader terms, the nation, it would be counterintuitive to take into account the 5500 companies in the BSE and the 1600 companies in NSE when deciding upon the Sensex and Nifty.

To eliminate that complication, Sensex takes into account the economic performance of the top 30 companies registered in the BSE at that point in time and Nifty, 50.

When we talk about the ‘points’ in regards to the Sensex and Nifty indexes, we are talking about  the quantity that particular stock market has developed since it was established, for example- when the Sensex was adopted by the BSE in 1979, the base points were considered 100, for the ease of future calculation, on the 25th of September 2017, the Sensex was at 31,863 points and a total market cap of ₹54,637.0878 billion, that indicates that as the Sensex rose by 31,763 points from 100 in 1979 to 31863 in 2017, the market cap of the top 30 companies in the BSE rose by ₹54,465 billion from about ₹171 Billion in 1979 to ₹54,637.0878 billion in 2017.

Therefore, the fluctuation in the points of the said index is basically the fluctuations in the total market cap the top companies of that particular stock market.

An increase in points of the index directly translates that most of the top companies of that market are performing economically favorably, the companies are enjoying profits and more and more people are buying stocks from that stock exchange. Stock markets like these, which are rising, are called ‘Bull’ Markets, which is why many stock exchanges feature a bull in their logos. If the index points are decreasing, it means that the top companies are incurring a loss, more and more people are selling their stocks and the market is a decline at that point in time, such a stock market is also called a ‘Bear’ market.

The stock market and the prices of stocks in general, is extremely volatile and can change at a moment's notice. Various real world incidents can influence stock prices, from something as major as the country's national budget release to something as trivial as smoking marijuana on podcast, as Elon Musk led Tesla can attest to, which experienced a 9% decrease in stock price after the company's billionaire CEO hit a blunt in a Joe Rogan podcast. Therefore, it is advisable to contact a stockbroker before delving into the intricacies of buying and selling stocks in a stock exchange.

Happy Trading!

[sarvhara]

The Rise of Creative AI

We live in the age of technological marvels, all the knowledge humanity has compiled over the course of its entire existence is available at the click of a button. First came the mechanical calculators, then the information superhighway i.e. the internet, then came advanced personal computing and handheld devices and finally, in recent times, automation and innovations in artificial intelligence are re-defining the way technology is perceived.

However, as efficient automation and AI might have been, we humans can always stay content with the fact that at least there is something AI can never do, creative tasks. After all, how can a few lines of code come even close to emulating the creative complexity of the human mind? Well dear reader, I urge you to reconsider that stance.

These past few years have seen an emergence of creativity-based AI programmes, here are some notable “threats” to all you creative snowflakes-

The Next Rembrandt

Rembrandt Harmenszoon was a prolific Dutch artist of the 17th century. He is art’s subject matter was diverse and his style, unbeatable; he is credited with greatly contributing to the ‘Dutch Golden Age of Art’. In an effort to re-create Rembrandt’s unique art style, Microsoft created an AI programme that allegedly emulated the great artist’s signature style, the AI was hailed by Microsoft as the ‘Next Rembrandt’. The AI was created after an 18 month long deep analysis of Rembrandt’s works. This was the product-

This picture was created by a programme, modeled after a long-gone artist. Despite your opinions about the painting, this art is described as “a horrible, tasteless, insensitive, and soulless travesty” by art critics. It can, however, not be deduced whether the opinions of the critics would have been any different if they were told that is was, in fact, created by a human.

Bach AI Powered Google Doodle

Johann Sebastian Bach was a world-renowned legendary composer, considered to be at par with the likes of Mozart and Beethoven. Google on Bach’s birthday this year decided to prepare a special gift in the memory of the great composer and his impeccable music. Google with its AI development units created a programme that firstly, studied 306 of Bach’s compositions and then identified intonations, key signatures, time specifics, musical patterns etc. in an attempt to recreate Bach’s style of composing music. The AI could successfully compose melodious pieces however; it was still a ways off from perfectly replicating Bach’s style.

Emily Howell

Emily Howell is a revolutionary AI that was created by researchers at the University of California; this AI could gain musical insight from some amount of source data and then create its own unique pieces inspired by the source material. Emily Howell created a number of soulful compositions and it can be said that this AI has reached unprecedented heights in the field of creative AI development.

 All of the above examples may fill you with existential fear for humanity’s future and make you doubtful of careers in the arts, but, it can be safely said that no AI has come even close to successfully emulating the creative capabilities of the human psyche and creatively intelligent AI is still a figment of the distant future.

[sarvhara]

Minimum Basic Income

Minimum Basic Income or sometimes quite simply called Basic Income is a state funded social program in which the government pays a monthly sum of money to its subjects on an unconditional individual basis. What that means is that every citizen of a particular nation would receive a certain fixed amount of money monthly most probably in their bank account irrespective of their income, family structure, gender or housing cost. The amount is given on an individual basis to singular citizens not to a household or any equivalent social group. This idea has been increasingly gaining traction in recent times and as economic trends suggest, will continue to do so. So much so that people all over the world are talking about it; from Andrew Yang in the United States of America to both major parties- INC and BJP in India, Scottish National Party in the United Kingdom etc. There is a lot of skepticism and misinformation surrounding minimum basic income and I shall try to unravel some of it with this article.

The very first objection people might have against minimum basic income that comes to mind is that if free money was simply handed to the poor people, they would stop working all together and transform into a permanent burden on the society. However, instead of arguing over ideologies, let’s look at the facts. In Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada, a minimum basic income plan, called ‘Minicome’, was incorporated by then elected Pierre Trudeau. This plan was implemented starting from 1974 but was scrapped in 1978 due to Canada’s economic recession in the same year, since then the government officials had not analyzed the data collected during the course of the scheme, until 2009 when Evelyn Forget of the University of Manitoba secured the data. As the data suggested-

“Only two segments of Dauphin's labour force worked less as a result of Mincome—new mothers and teenagers. Mothers with newborns stopped working because they wanted to stay at home longer with their babies. And teenagers worked less because they weren't under as much pressure to support their families.

The end result was that they spent more time at school and more teenagers graduated. Those who continued to work were given more opportunities to choose what type of work they did.”

(Read more about it here)

Another major example is Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend, the largest scale universal basic income program in the USA, as data suggested-

“They found that full-time employment did not change at all, and the share of Alaskans who worked part-time jobs increased by 17%.”

(Read more here)

Another concern is that damaged households, those with addicts, would simply indulge in their addictions if given a minimum basic income instead of contributing to the society. I have to disappoint you, but, a study conducted by the World Bank begs to differ-

“We find that almost without exception, studies find either no significant impact or a significant negative impact of transfers on expenditures on alcohol and tobacco.”

(Read the full report here)

Simply providing a poor individual $1000 resulted in his earnings increasing by $270, assets increasing by $430 and his nutrition spending increasing by $330, with a 0% increase in alcohol or tobacco spending. Source.

Another issue people have been heard raising is that minimum basic income is basically communism, but sadly it is not. Communism’s ideology ‘Everyone is Equal’ directly implies equal salaries; however the minimum basic income’s whole point is not to be a primary source of income. It is simply a tool with which the downtrodden and poor can receive to increase their qualifications and educations, or maybe start a business or even use it as leverage to demand better working conditions. Communism gives workers equal salaries whereas minimum basic income gives the workers a chance to invest in themselves and try to earn more than they do now.

As the author is Indian, this last paragraph focuses on the hypothetical application of minimum basic income in India. India yearly spends Rupees 361 billion on multiple social welfare programs, which is 11.1% of the total government expenditure. This includes the cost of the maintenance of the program and the bureaucracy it encompasses. There are 354 million people below the poverty line in India. That gives us approximately 1020 Rupees per person, which, if one talk to the poorest of the poor in India, is a lot of money. Further if minimum basic income is implemented it would probably pay a lot more than 1020 rupees as the Rupee 361 billion we started with are also used to maintain the multiple social welfare programs whereas minimum basic income would be one comprehensive program, furthermore a lot of bureaucracy would be curbed.

Lastly, my fellow Indians that might be reading this far, I leave you with the results (and the source) of a minimum basic income experiment in a village in Panthbadodiya, Madhya Pradesh receiving 200 rupees a month-

“Studies at the beginning, mid-point and end of the project confirmed that, in villages receiving payments, people spent more on eggs, meat and fish, and on healthcare. Children’s school marks improved in 68% of families, and the time they spent at school nearly tripled. Saving also tripled, and twice as many people were able to start a new business.”

[sarvhara]

The Unfree Mind

When I opened my eyes I saw that I was in a musty old room. Cobwebs all around, with the walls, ceiling and the scant furniture reeking with greyish rot. The rusty old bed I was lying on, expelled dust at my slightest twitch. The only window in the room was cracked and faint dying sunlight shone through the cracks. I got up. The bed and floorboards creaked even by the weight of my feather-light frame. My eyes seem to adjust to the darkness and I peer around the decrepit room.

The room is the same as always- an ancient bed in the corner, a cracked window on the other wall, a creaky bedside table with a dim lamp whose luminescence made no difference in the impenetrable darkness that engulfed the room. At the far end, an old cupboard that looked no younger than a hundred years, beside it, a single door, beaten and old, that looked as if the slightest push might break it. The room was drowned in a grey hue that, at first glance, looked awfully boring but I knew, hidden in it was plain psychosis.

I moved towards the window, the only discernible observation is that it is dusk; that the radiant sun shall be soon taking its final breath and leaving me in the unending horror that is night. Yet it never does set, days pass, then months, years, decades, centuries and then millenniums. It is always dusk, as if the sun were toying with me, giving me false hope it might just rise for a bit again, giving me false hope that I might just see more than a few meek rays. Yet there it was always, stuck at dusk, as if it could tip over any second. This angered me, at times I wish it did. Anything was better than this meaningless limbo that gnawed at my very being.

I rushed towards the door, this had to end. I will get out, I thought. I banged my wrists on the door as hard as I can.  I banged and banged and banged until my fists ached and became purple all over.

"I have suffered enough" I shouted at the top of my voice. I shouted some more till my voice got hoarse. This had to end; I resumed banging my fists against the door, putting the whole weight of my body in the act. I banged, banged, banged and banged some more. My hands started bleeding as the skin gave way, but I couldn’t have cared less. I saw my tendons rip by the splinters. The pain shot through my arms and permeated all over my body, but it was a sliver compared to the suffering than my mind endured everyday. I felt the very bones of my hand landing against the bloodied door, yet it does not give way.

I fell down, unsuccessful. In the ageless dust that swarmed around me, I wept.

[sarvhara]

The Bio-ethical Dilemma

Scientific advancements are the harbingers of comprehensive progress and at the forefront of the advancements, lie biological innovations. Many among the scientific community consider the human body with the entirety of its intricacies the final frontier of medicine. Further analysis, understanding, and modification of the human body would naturally raise moral and social concerns. To address such concerns, the field of bioethics was created.

Bioethics deals with the legal-tape when it comes to medical and genetic tests and procedures with the assentation of the patients right to be treated. Recently Bioethics made headlines when a Chinese scientist by the name He Jiankui used the CRISPR method (a technique of gene editing which uses the CRISPR protein) to edit the genome of two unborn twin sisters creating the world’s first gene edited babies. He (his first name) edited the babies so as to delete a portion of a gene called the CCR5 gene on chromosome 3. This gene codes for the CCR5 protein which is present on the white blood cells in the body and play an important role in the body’s immune system. His deletion invoked the CCR5 Delta-32 mutation in the twin girls making them resistant to a certain type of HIV. However, Mr. Jiankui did these experiments absolutely incognito. He did not violate bioethics standards, he ripped them to shreds. The problem was that the CRISPR method is relatively new and no one in the scientific community has fully discovered the consequences of its liberal use.

He Jiankui speaking at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing

Many argue that although Mr. Jiankui intended goal was achieved (China has strict gene resource laws, meaning the genetic data of the parents and the children cannot be published, making verification of He’s claims difficult) he may have given rise to many unintended ones like increased susceptibility of some other diseases.

Even if He may have brought about a genetic wonder he did so while violating basic ethical guidelines forbidding human experimentation and that more than anything else erodes the public trust. His actions may not only harm him but also his scientific field, genetics.

The main problem was that he experimented without administrative approval and flouted medical guidelines and that is where Bioethics comes into play. Another major bio ethical tragedy was Japan’s Unit 731.

Unit 731 complex in Harbin, Japan

The Unit 731 tragedy can be considered not only Japan’s but the world’s most horrific tragedy, at par with the human experiments conducted by Nazi scientists. Unit 731 was a biochemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Sino-Japanese conflict at the time of World War II. Unit 731 undertook potentially lethal human experimentation on at least 10,000 POW s from China, Soviet Union, Korea and Mongolia, killing 3000. These prisoners of war were from a wide cross section of the society including criminals, political prisoners, captured bandits, elderly, infants, pregnant women and otherwise.

Victims were subjected to vivisection (i.e. they were “opened”) usually without anesthesia resulting in the loss of the subject’s life. This was done after infecting the victim with a combination of various diseases like syphilis, gonorrhea, cholera, anthrax, tularemia etc. to study the effects of the diseases on the human body. Furthermore, many organs were removed to study the synchronous effect of the disease on the body and its organs. The Unit’s researchers insisted on using live subjects because according to them deceased bodies provided “inconclusive” results.

Victims also were subjected to periodic amputations to study blood loss, those limbs that were removed were sometimes re-attached to the opposite sides of the body. Some prisoners had their stomachs surgically removed and the esophagus reattached to the intestines. Parts of organs, such as the brain, lungs, and liver, were removed from some prisoners.

Shiro Ishii, director of Unit 731

Prisoners were also used for frostbite testing; various extremities of the subject’s body were dipped in ice-cold water. After the limb had been frozen over it was shattered to study pain responses and medical implications.

Females prisoners were injected with STD s and then forced to become pregnant usually by rape for use in experiments exploring the possibility of the transmission of STDs from mother to child. A large number of babies were born in captivity but none survived, being killed after birth.

Human targets were used to test grenades positioned at various distances and in different positions. Flamethrowers were tested on humans. Humans were also tied to stakes and used as targets to test germ-releasing bombs, chemical weapons, and explosive bombs.

The worst part of this ordeal was that at the end of the war, the US struck a deal with Unit 731 researchers granting them absolute immunity from being tried for their war crimes in exchange for the data they accumulated through human experimentation.

Bioethics is a strange field of study replete with subjectivity and at times, absolute ambiguity. Many consider it obstructive and unnecessary “legal-tape” when it comes to scientific experimentation but history has proven time and time again that whenever bio ethical principles are violated, despicable crimes are committed. And that is why Bioethics, with all of its tedious guidelines, is important.

[sarvhara]

What Runs in the Family Part-II

Genetic Diseases are unusual maladies caused by chance mutations in the genome of an individual. Many are congenital, quite a few untreatable and some fatal. Genetic diseases have vastly varying, both in magnitude as well as type, effects on the affected body. They are of 4 types-

1. Chromosomal Disorders- They occur due to abnormalities or anomalies in the chromosomes of an individual, they can either be due to unorthodox number of chromosomes or structural flaws in one or multiple chromosomes. It is of various types –

A. Aneuploidy- This occurs due to an irregular number of chromosomes. The most famous examples are-

Down’s syndrome- This occurs when an individual has a complete or partial third copy of the 21st chromosome, causing this condition to be also called ‘trisomy-21’. A patient has characteristic facial features and mental impairment to a degree along with some other uncommon symptoms.

Turner’s Syndrome- It is a condition in which a female is lacking part of or a complete X chromosome on her 23rd pair. It’s symptoms include (but are not limited to) a short stature, webbed neck, reproductive infertility and swollen hands and feet.

B. Deletions- In these type of conditions, part(s) of an individual’s chromosome or genetic code is missing. The most famous examples are-

Microcephaly- A certain deletion in the chromosome 5 of a fetus can cause a child to be born with an abnormally small head, this causes mental and speech impairments.

Cleft Palate- A deletion in chromosome 4 can cause an opening in the roof of the mouth to the nose to form, resulting in a condition called a ‘cleft palate’.

C. Insertions- In such a case a portion of a chromosome has been deleted from its usual position and inserted into an another chromosome. A famous example is Huntington disease, a disorder usually caused due to repeated insertions of a certain sequence of genetic data in chromosome 4 causing mood swings, mental degeneration, and a lack of coordination and spatial ability.

2. Single Gene Disorders- In such disorders, the presence of a single gene causes genetic abnormalities and conditions. These are also called Mendelian disorders, after the father of Genetics, Gregor Mendel. These disorders are of 3 types-

Dominant- These disorders are caused due to an anomaly in a gene, and there is a 50% chance of the affected trait passing on to the next generation. A famous example is Achondroplasia, disproportional dwarfism resulting in short arms and legs but a normal length torso. The most notable personality with this condition is Peter Dinklage, the famous actor.

Recessive- These disorders are caused only if the individual has 2 copies of the affected genes. A common example is sickle cell anemia, causing complications in the blood’s haemoglobin, decrease in blood count and malformation in the red blood cells causing life-long chronic pain.

X-Linked- These disorders are caused by mutations on the X chromosome. Usually males are affected by these disorders and females generally act as impassive carriers of the disease. A very common example is male-pattern baldness, which as the name suggests causes baldness.

3. Multifactorial Disorders- These disorders are caused by the effect of multiple genes and their combined effect with themselves and the individual’s environment. Some examples include some forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s and hypothyroidism.

4. Teratogenic Disorders- These disorders are caused when the fetus is exposed to certain harmful substances such as alcohol, lead, nicotine, radiation etc. resulting in growth retardation and mental depreciation.

These conditions are duly terrifying and fortunately uncommon, what are your thoughts on this? How would you think these conditions affect an individual psychologically? Tell me down below-

[sarvhara]

What Runs in the Family

Everyone loves their family and enjoys spending time with their loved ones (hopefully); and why wouldn’t they? After all as the old proverb goes – “blood runs thicker than water’. We’re biologically related and in that sense, will be closer to one another than anyone else we meet. Most families are open enough to share things with each other and for better or for worse that includes a set of genetic data. Data that influences virtually every aspect of our physical being; from skin colour to height, blood type to intelligence quotient (to a certain extent) and so on.

This data is encoded in the form of a sequence of 4 acidic macro-molecules called the nucleotides that form long chains that constitute the DNA di-helix which in turn forms the chromosomes in the nucleus of a cell. The 4 nucleotides are – Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine. A nucleotide is made up of a pentose sugar (sugar with 5 carbon atoms), a phosphate group (PO4) and a nitrogenous base, with the type of base deciding the nucleotide.

The chromosomes that these nucleotides form are 46 in number or 23 pairs that are a sort of a ‘manual’ that the body follows while making ‘you’. Every cell in your body has the same set of chromosomes and contain ‘special regions’ on them that serve as the functional unit of DNA in the body called ‘Genes’. The human body has approximately 22,300 genes are they are specific parts of the chromosomes that code for (or instruct) the cell to produce proteins.

Fun Fact – The Human Genome Project was an international scientific research project started in 1990 and completed in 2003 with the goal of determining the sequence of nucleotides that make up human DNA and to identify and map all the genes of the human genome. Approximately 70% of the DNA used was of an anonymous male donor from Buffalo, New York with the rest being a combination of various male and female donors making the final product a sort of ‘mosaic’

The first printout of the human genome presented as a series of books.

An allele called be simply defined as a ‘version’ of a gene, one usually has two alleles for a trait; one from the father and one from the mother. The pattern in which the alleles of an individual influence the phenotype (The expression of a particular trait, for example, skin color, height, behavior, etc., according to the individual's genetic makeup and environment) of the individual is called an ‘inheritance pattern’. There are many such inheritance patterns-

Complete Dominance- This occurs when the presence and expression of an allele completely mask the expression of the other allele, the former is termed ‘dominant’ and the latter is termed ‘recessive’. This concept is the basis of Mendelian Genetics (Named after Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics) or Classical Genetics. This is characterized by 2 contrasting alleles

Presence of widow’s peak.

Absence of widow’s peak.

Here we see two clear-cut expressions, with no middle ground.

Incomplete Dominance- This occurs when the expression of the two different alleles blends and forms a combination of both expressions.

We see that the red and white flowers when bred produce a pink flower i.e. the combination of the colours red and white.

Codominance- This occurs when the expressions of two different alleles co-exist simultaneously in an organism.

A popular example is AB type blood group in human, when type A blood and type B blood individuals breed there is a chance of an AB type blood group individual being born. That person will have both blood A type and blood B type antigens (a type of genetic marker which helps the white blood cells differentiate between native and foreign blood cells) on his/her red blood cells. This is codominance.

Polygenic Inheritance- This occurs when different alleles of varying genes influence a single trait. In polygenic inheritance the expression of the trait is found in a phenotypic spectrum resulting in immense variations.

The height of a human being is influenced by the coordination and combination of approximately 400 alleles in the genome, this creates a spectrum of varying measures causing the differences we see in human heights. This is polygenic inheritance.

Pleiotropy- This occurs when a single gene affects multiple characteristics in the human body.

Albinism is a condition caused by a chance mutation in chromosome 11 which causes the body to stop producing the enzyme tyrosine 3-monooxygenase which is essential for producing melanin, the body’s natural colouring agent. This causes the affected individual to have a distinct pale white shade of skin and stark white hair. Albinism is also associated with a number of vision defects, such as photophobia (intolerance towards light), nystagmus (involuntary movement of eyes), and amblyopia (a disorder of sight due to the eye and brain not working well together). The pale skin also substantially increases the chances of sunburns and skin cancer.

Epistasis- It occurs when a gene suppresses the expression of a completely unrelated gene.

Here we see that even though the individuals have the genes for blonde and red hair, the presence of a single unrelated gene that causes baldness results in the suppression of the genes formerly mentioned.

I’d certainly like to continue but as the article’s get a bit too long I’ll continue in the second part. So be sure to check out my blog next week.

[sarvhara]

Spicing it up

Chillies are an essential part of cooking, they play an integral role in Indian and Mexican cuisine. In 2016, the worldwide production of chillies was 34.5 million tonnes (with China producing half, that is, 17.4 million tonnes). Chilli is one of the oldest crops still grown by man, being a part of human diet from 7,500 B.C. with the oldest traceable records of chilli cultivation dating back to 4,000 B.C.

We all know the searing hot feeling chillies leave on the taste buds. The fiery feeling that makes your nose run and eyes water, but do you know just how that scorch is evoked in your mouth? It is a little chemical called ‘Capsaicin’ (pronounced cap-si-sin) and its other chemical variants, collectively called ‘Capsaicinoids’.

Capsaicin is a chemical that produces a sensation of burning in any mammalian tissue it comes in contact with. All thirty species of chilli peppers contain at least some amount of capsaicin. The receptors that capsaicin binds to in the sensory neurons of the body are the same receptors used by the body to detect high temperatures and excoriations explaining why when these receptors are stimulated by capsaicin, the individual describes a feeling of intense heat or excoriation damage.

Fun fact – Humans are the only animals that enjoy spicy food.

The relative amount of capsaicin or the relative ‘hotness/spiciness’ of a substance is actually measured by a scale, the scoville heat scale! I know right, I too never thought there was something like this until I researched on this topic. Well I guess there is a scale for everything after all.

Fun fact – the ‘Ghost Pepper’ or as it is traditionally called ‘Bhut Jolokia’ held the record for the hottest naturally growing pepper in the world in 2007, before being superseded by the other peppers on the list. Its cultivation is limited to the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, from where it is exported to the rest of the world.

Capsaicin is not only used in food in chillies, but this nifty chemical has a host of different beneficial properties.

Capsaicin is a medically approved pain-killer and is a common central ingredient of topical painkilling gels, creams and patches.

When capsaicin is applied to a paining area, the individual experiences a burning sensation in that area on his/her body which lasts for a couple of minutes, what happens is that the capsaicin or the burning sensation it’s causing, causes a rapid depletion of neurotransmitter ‘P’ in that area. Neurotransmitter ‘P’ is used by the body to send signals of physical pain to the brain, and thus its rapid depletion helps to alleviate pain.

Capsaicin, as anyone could have guessed, is the main ingredient of pepper sprays and is used in its pure form to incapacitate assailants as a pepper spray’s target, the eyes are especially sensitive to capsaicin. Loss of vision for at least 30 minutes or more is sure and in some cases, a permanent loss of vision can occur.

Capsaicin is also used as a chemical deterrent and is sprayed on crops to check mammalian pests.

So the next time you sit down to chow down on your favourite spicy dish, appreciate the miracle of science that is capsaicin, letting you enjoy that jalapeño laden quesadilla but more importantly, letting you stay lit.

[sarvhara]

The Purge, reality much?

Most of us may know what the movie/television franchise ‘Purge’ is, however for the less informed on modern horror culture, the ‘Purge’ franchise depicts a semi-fictional situation in which due to a legislative and economic malfunction, the American government designates half a day each year, 12 hours in which any activity (I mean absolutely any activity) is allowed. Which means one can murder, assault, steal, torture, rob, rape, arson etc. without consequence and no emergency services (police, healthcare and firefighting) are available. Note that I called it ‘semi-fictional’ because although the American government shutting down for half day like that is very unlikely, the stark nature of human actions depicted in the movie if that unlikely event ever happens is very, I would say, human-like. The depicted human response to sheer anarchy in the Purge franchise is quite bona fide.

At the end of the movie, it is shown, in the form of a news report, that although the Purge is a moral, criminal and governmental disaster for the 12 chaotic hours it ensues for and the body count and the degeneracy of it increases each year (in the movie), it is effective in keeping crime rates low for the remainder of the year. Now it is to be understood that this is highly unscientific as psychological studies have shown that wrath begets wrath and if people are allowed to go on a destructive frenzy once a year, it does not mean they will be calmer the rest of the year. Rather psychologist Roy Baumeister has found that “most evil acts of cruelty and violence are over an escalating competition over who did the other person more wrong”, or the Gandhian “an eye for eye makes the whole world blind”

Now what if the purge was a reality? That this sick and morally twisted scenario played out in real life, not just the reel one, somewhere in the world? It did.

In the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, the various police departments went on a strike from February 4th to February 24th 2017. Brazil was going through a cash crunch and economic recession through the time and was finding it difficult to pay its teachers, police officers and other government workers. The police departments were protesting against the poor working conditions they were employed in and the unfair wage they received. The first protest was on 3rd February in front of the police headquarters in the Serra district, however this was allegedly peaceful. The actual chaos began on the 4th, when protests in as many as 5 districts started turning mildly violent. This were the strikes for the military police, the situation worsened when the civic police, the grass-root law enforcers decided to go on strike. Although the strikes were state-wide, most of the chaos was concentrated it the state’s capital, the city of Vitória and its suburbs.

Gangsters, robbers and essentially, anarchists took to the streets causing mindless damage to life and property. Schools in the area closed, so did public health clinics and other state funded offices. People barricaded themselves in their homes, leaving precariously, just to get supplies. Local wealthy businessmen hired private guards (read: mercenaries) just to protect their establishments from looters.

It is calculated that crime rates surged by 650% during that time. 251 individuals were slaughtered in the wake of this event over the course of a meagre 20 days in a city of 2 million. Finally the government had to send in the army to sort things out. 3000 army officers, 200 marines, 500 national military troops, 6 armoured tanks and 3 helicopters were deployed to bring things under control. According to Espírito Santo commercial federation, just the police strikes itself cost $100 million, this is not accounting for the looting which reportedly affected 300 shops in just the first two states.

This event in an interesting albeit horrifyingly violent footnote in history but it does provide insight into the primal psyche of the unrestrained human. The analysis of the actions of the aggressors in this event show just how wild man can be if his reins are set free. It also depicts the role of the police in the society, acting not just as a physical barrier towards crime but being a moral buffer too. There are many low-res first-hand videos at ground zero of the event online that show most people being elated just by a distant and faint hope of help, arising the suspicion that the police department’s symbolic presence has its own value to it too.

Don’t forget to like and tell me how you would fare in the purge if it happened near you down below-

[sarvhara]

The Killing of Our Environment

Humanity has made major strides in this decade, we landed a probe on a comet and launched a car into space. However, as illustrious as this decade may have been for space exploration, Earth has been deteriorating steadily all these years. Our environment has degraded to egregious and potentially harmful extents by our actions in the quest for unregulated, rapid industrialization.

According to a NASA report, the average global temperature shift has increased from +0.5◦C in 2000 to a whopping +0.9◦C in 2017. This is a reason of major concern, as the earth continues to warm up, the threat of the destruction of life as we know looms over us each day.

Although, many among us wish to save the planet, the acts of a few aggravate this grave danger. UNFCCC’s (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Paris Climate Accord of 2016 united 195 on a single agreement to collectively tackle climate change. This agreement was devised after reports from scientists all over the world claimed that irreversible and catastrophic changes to the climate can occur if the average temperature of the earth crosses a certain threshold. However, the United States of America, a country that claims the second rank on each country’s share of carbon emissions with approximately 5000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emission each year, a country only outshone on that list by China, withdrew from the agreement crediting the alleged unfairness of the agreement and to rather promote American coal industries. It is important to note that the states of Israel and Palestine both agreed on this accord, in addition to the country of North Korea.

Our nation (It is to note that the author is Indian) is not however any less of a culprit. India ranked third with an estimate of 2000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emission each year. According to a latest WHO report, as of 2018, nine out of the ten most polluted cities in the world are in India. India has an average PM-2.5 level of 60 on a scale that classifies anything above than a 50, unhealthy. Some parts of the nation especially metropolitan cities like Delhi boast a PM-2.5 rating in the range of 500's for a major part of the year. Nonetheless, India has proven itself to be a leading member of the global society with respect to all aspects, including climate change. Indian representatives spearheaded through on all agreements related to climate change, being a leading participant in the Paris Accord and even successfully proposing seven new policies for combating climate change on the global forum.

A poll conducted in March of 2018 showed that 37% Americans believed that climate change and global warming were not man-made and simply nature’s doing. Climate change is a serious issue that affects not only us but other lifeforms as well, this is seen most dramatically in turtles and lizards. The 4675 species of lizards and the 7 seven species of turtles are affected by global warming when it comes to sex determination. At temperatures below 25◦C all eggs will hatch into males and at temperatures higher than 30◦C all eggs will hatch into females. Therefore, even slight variations in temperature can in essence, wipe off entire populations. In addition to that global warming is causing sea levels to rise at a steady rate of +4mm each year. This causes the loss of habitable land for humans and animals alike.

Climate change will be a difficult adversary to conquer and require ingenious and efficient solutions. In the coming years experts and data have proved that renewable energy shall be our only savior, if we harness it to its fullest extent. As of today, three times as many workers are employed in the solar power sector than by the entire coal mining industry of the U.S.A., in India too investments into clean energy rose 22% in the first half of 2018. India is currently investing 7.4 billion USD in the renewable energy sector. Skepticism must be tackled with proper awareness, logic and facts and support for climate change prevention is to be encouraged. Climate change is not a problem that can be ignored for any long, its effects are far-reaching, implications terrifying and outcomes devastating.