*From & To Sathish* - Thread 4 - Page 100

Vaanathai Pola 84

Chennai city police Commissioner Viswanathan looked at Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime Cell S.Sudhakar and at Inspector Prabhu and asked both of them, ' What do you make of this hacking business, gentlemen?'

Looking at Inspector Prabhu who was wavering between silence and speech, he said, ' Prabhu, speak your mind freely and you have my full permission.'

Prabhu thanked him, ' sir, it is not easy to hack a system and it takes a true professional to do it and to do it so quickly and skillfully. The Crowne Plaza hotel's cybersecurity is handled by Integrated systems who are the best in the business and they were hacked in minutes and their security swamped like never before.'

Pointing to the blank IPAD on the table before them,' Our own security systems are also equally good if not better than what Integrated systems had provided for the hotel but did not stand a chance and they hacked us.'

Assistant Commissioner Sudhakar nodded his acknowledgement, ' I agree, sir, and it is obvious that whoever did this hacking must be really good.'

Commissioner Viswanathan, ' That is obvious gentlemen but I need answers and solid proof of who was behind this hacking.'

Exhaling his breath with a whoosh, he looked at his juniors, ' every crime, every action has a motive behind it. A need, a cause that is fulfilled. What was the motive behind this hacking of our computers and why now?'

Both, Sudhakar and Prabhu looked at each other and then at their boss, ' why sir?'

' If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.'

Totally confused, Inspector Prabhu looked at the commissioner and asked, ' What duck sir?'

Assistant Commissioner Sudhakar could not help it even though he tried hard to stifle his laughter and quickly apologised to Inspector Prabhu and said, ' I will translate it later for you' and glancing at the commissioner

' the duck here being the man of the moment and who is in the centre of this case, right sir?'

' Correct Sudhakar. My instincts tell me that this Mr.Radha Krishnan is knowingly or unknowingly involved in this mess.'

The fax machine whirred and all three of them heard a page being printed and Commissioner Vishwanathan looked at it and Inspector Prabhu went to the machine and picked up the still warm and freshly printed paper and handed it over to him.

Commissioner Vishwanathan glanced at the paper and then with a smile handed it to Assistant Commissioner Sudhakar who scanned it with his eyes and then hurriedly looked up at his boss, ' Sterile sir. It states his date of birth, his Aadhar card details, pan card number, his ICICI bank balance and nothing else.'

Commissioner Vishwanathan leaned back into his chair, ' that information is from the national database, Delhi and maybe if we dig deeper then we might find more about this man. But, you are right in thinking that this man is way too clean and we know from experience that it is virtually impossible.'

Inspector Prabhu's curiosity was aroused and since he was one of those officers who spent most of their time in front of a computer, asked the commissioner, ' Sir, I am at a loss and you lost me at the very beginning with that reference to the Duck.'

Commissioner Vishwanathan looked at Assistant Commissioner Sudhakar and both burst out laughing and Inspector Prabhu stood staring at them feeling uncomfortable and then slowly said , ' Sir, my wife who works in Madras university as an English lecturer kept pushing me to do more reading of english novels and newspapers other than the thina thanthi newspaper and vigadan magazines. Only now, I am able to understand what her words really meant and it's worth. But, I know that Duck means Vaathu in Tamil.Right sir. But what is a vaathu doing here in this case?"

Tears of laughter were pouring out of Commissioner Vishwanathan's eyes and he looked at Inspector Prabhu and folded his hands and pleaded,' Please Prabhu, for god's sake man don't go and talk to your wife about this duck incident for I promise you that she will nag and torture and ridicule you about it until your last breath and she will narrate it to all your friends and family members at every function and wedding and at any given opportunity. You understand.'

Commissioner Vishwanathan looked at Assistant Commissioner Sudhakar, ' Find out more about this man and I think you better start your search from Kumbakonam since his Aadhar card has an address from that town. Leave tonight and report to me by tomorrow afternoon.'

Getting up, he looked at both officers, ' Meanwhile, I am going to go to Apollo hospitals and pay this man a visit and see for myself who this Radha Krishnan really is.'

Both, Assistant Commissioner and Inspector saluted their boss and left and Viswanathan pressed a button on the intercom and spoke into it, ' please ready my vehicle for I am going out right now. Thank you.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL_VyN46EaQ

Duck. Vaathu.

As it was before, it is now and still

I timed my morning routine, always with my eyes on it

and when the time came, I stopped and finding a vantage point

sat facing as it rose in the east, cresting the horizon

Passing strangers passed me with their thoughts cut from their soul

and pasted clearly on their faces ' What is he so happy about?'

and not knowing that I was enjoying the sun come up

all the while knowing that it was us who were dropping down

with the earth's rotation, thus the day begins with an illusion

that suits me and us and we call it sunrise and sunset

when it is earthfall and earthrise

As it was before, it is now but

instead of the beach it is on the terrace

and higher on to the water tank and the best seat in the building

every ray of light feels like a message

every caress of the morning sun whispers an aria

a sacred message from the heavens

" Believe, be alive and don't belittle"

I smirk and say to the air around me, "Believe" and think of all the words in that one word that was made famous by The X-files when Fox Mulder says again and again " I believe."

lie

vie

evil

live

bile

veil

vibe

vile

Levee

belie

Vaanathai Pola 85

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Gandhi

Raman bent low to his waist and after paying his respects to Dr.Otto, bid him bye saying that he was drained and that he was returning to the house to eat and his the bed early than usual.

Dr.Otto accompanied him back to their workplace and told Aaron to see that Raman was safely escorted back to the house that had been provided to him and V.K.Singh.

V.K.Singh informed Raman that he would be staying on for a few more hours and would see him for dinner if he was awake or would see him the next morning.

After Raman had left, V.K.Singh looked hard at his Mossad counterpart and asked ' Otto, I hope you are better off from that experience.'

Dr.Otto Hauptmann thought hard for a second and said, ' That kid Raman is special but we did not fight and we just practised certain movements together and also discussed the pros and cons of each others knowledge about martial arts.'

' Why is that, Otto? Why do you think Raman refused to fight with you?'

'I have no clue as to why Raman refused to fight and maybe he is really not that fighting type and maybe he is somebody who needs to be really pushed and will fight when his back is against the wall.'

' You are wrong, Otto' a deep voice growled and both of them turned to see Rudran standing near the entrance.

He looked at Otto, ' I requested Raman not to get dragged into a fight with you and also asked him to go easy on you if a fight did happen. For, I know pretty well what a dirty old B..t..d you are and also know what kind of man, Raman is.'

Hearing Rudran's words, it finally dawned on Dr.Otto that maybe he had indeed been lucky to have not really tangled with Raman and asked, ' Rudy, How good is he, really?'

' How good am I?'

' You. But, there is no comparison when it comes to you and your skills, Rudy for both of us know that you are different.'

Rudran smiled cryptically, ' even that being the case, Raman is as good as me or better than me.'

He stared hard at Otto and said, ' it will serve you well not to underestimate anyone anymore. See you soon.'

V.K.Singh watched Otto standing transfixed and still staring at where Rudran had been standing before he had left them and mumbling to himself, ' It cannot be. Raman cannot be as good as Rudran. How is that even possible?'

' Otto, what is going on and what did Mr.Rudran mean when he said that Raman was better?'

Dr.Otto still lost in thought, replied, ' It means that I just escaped from getting my old, sorry a..e beaten from here to Timbuktu.'

A German Exception? Why the Country’s Coronavirus Death Rate Is Low

By Katrin Bennhold, New York Times, April 4, 2020

The pandemic has hit Germany hard, with more than 92,000 people infected. But the percentage of fatal cases has been remarkably low compared to those in many neighbouring countries.

They call them corona taxis: Medics outfitted in protective gear, driving around the empty streets of Heidelberg to check on patients who are at home, five or six days into being sick with the coronavirus.

They take a blood test, looking for signs that a patient is about to go into a steep decline. They might suggest hospitalization, even to a patient who has only mild symptoms; the chances of surviving that decline are vastly improved by being in a hospital when it begins.

“There is this tipping point at the end of the first week,” said Prof. Hans-Georg Kräusslich, the head of virology at University Hospital in Heidelberg, one of Germany’s leading research hospitals. “If you are a person whose lungs might fail, that’s when you will start deteriorating.”

Heidelberg’s corona taxis are only one initiative in one city. But they illustrate a level of engagement and a commitment of public resources in fighting the epidemic that helps explain one of the most intriguing puzzles of the pandemic: Why is Germany’s death rate so low?

The virus and the resulting disease, Covid-19, have hit Germany with force: According to Johns Hopkins University, the country had more than 92,000 laboratory-confirmed infections as of midday Saturday, more than any other country except the United States, Italy and Spain.

But with 1,295 deaths, Germany’s fatality rate stood at 1.4 percent, compared with 12 percent in Italy, around 10 percent in Spain, France and Britain, 4 percent in China and 2.5 percent in the United States. Even South Korea, a model of flattening the curve, has a higher fatality rate, 1.7 percent.

‘We Take the Dead From Morning Till Night’

No country has been hit harder by the coronavirus than Italy, and no province has suffered as many losses as Bergamo. Photos and voices from there evoke a portrait of despair.

“There has been talk of a German anomaly,” said Hendrik Streeck, director of the Institute of virology at the University Hospital Bonn. Professor Streeck has been getting calls from colleagues in the United States and elsewhere.

“‘What are you doing differently?’ they ask me,” he said. “‘Why is your death rate so low?’”

There are several answers experts say, a mix of statistical distortions and very real differences in how the country has taken on the epidemic.

The U.S. will stockpile large quantities of an anti-malarial drug, the president says, though proof it can treat coronavirus is scant.

Will Americans follow guidance to wear masks?

The average age of those infected is lower in Germany than in many other countries. Many of the early patients caught the virus in Austrian and Italian ski resorts and were relatively young and healthy, Professor Kräusslich said.

“It started as an epidemic of skiers,” he said.

As infections have spread, more older people have been hit and the death rate, only 0.2 percent two weeks ago, has risen, too. But the average age of contracting the disease remains relatively low, at 49. In France, it is 62.5 and in Italy 62, according to their latest national reports.

Another explanation for the low fatality rate is that Germany has been testing far more people than most nations. That means it catches more people with few or no symptoms, increasing the number of known cases, but not the number of fatalities.

“That automatically lowers the death rate on paper,” said Professor Kräusslich.

But there are also significant medical factors that have kept the number of deaths in Germany relatively low, epidemiologists and virologists say, chief among them early and widespread testing and treatment, plenty of intensive care beds and a trusted government whose social distancing guidelines are widely observed.

In mid-January, long before most Germans had given the virus much thought, Charité hospital in Berlin had already developed a test and posted the formula online.

By the time Germany recorded its first case of Covid-19 in February, laboratories across the country had built up a stock of test kits.

“The reason why we in Germany have so few deaths at the moment compared to the number of infected can be largely explained by the fact that we are doing an extremely large number of lab diagnoses,” said Dr. Christian Drosten, chief virologist at Charité, whose team developed the first test.

By now, Germany is conducting around 350,000 coronavirus tests a week, far more than any other European country. Early and widespread testing has allowed the authorities to slow the spread of the pandemic by isolating known cases while they are infectious. It has also enabled lifesaving treatment to be administered in a more timely way.

“When I have an early diagnosis and can treat patients early — for example put them on a ventilator before they deteriorate — the chance of survival is much higher,” Professor Kräusslich said.

Medical staff, at particular risk of contracting and spreading the virus, are regularly tested. To streamline the procedure, some hospitals have started doing block tests, using the swabs of 10 employees, and following up with individual tests only if there is a positive result.

At the end of April, health authorities also plan to roll out a large-scale antibody study, testing random samples of 100,000 people across Germany every week to gauge where immunity is building up.

One key to ensuring broad-based testing is that patients pay nothing for it, said Professor Streeck. This, he said, was one notable difference with the United States in the first several weeks of the outbreak. The coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress last month does provide for free testing.

“A young person with no health insurance and an itchy throat is unlikely to go to the doctor and therefore risks infecting more people,” he said.

Tracking

On a Friday in late February, Professor Streeck received news that for the first time, a patient at his hospital in Bonn had tested positive for the coronavirus: A 22-year-old man who had no symptoms but whose employer — a school — had asked him to take a test after learning that he had taken part in a carnival event where someone else had tested positive.

In most countries, including the United States, testing is largely limited to the sickest patients, so the man probably would have been refused a test.

Not in Germany. As soon as the test results were in, the school was shut, and all children and staff were ordered to stay at home with their families for two weeks. Some 235 people were tested.

“Testing and tracking is the strategy that was successful in South Korea and we have tried to learn from that,” Professor Streeck said.

Germany also learned from getting it wrong early on: The strategy of contact tracing should have been used even more aggressively, he said.

All those who had returned to Germany from Ischgl, an Austrian ski resort that had an outbreak, for example, should have been tracked down and tested, Professor Streeck said.

A Robust Public Health Care System

Before the coronavirus pandemic swept across Germany, University Hospital in Giessen had 173 intensive care beds equipped with ventilators. In recent weeks, the hospital scrambled to create an additional 40 beds and increased the staff that was on standby to work in intensive care by as much as 50 percent.

“We have so much capacity now we are accepting patients from Italy, Spain and France,” said Prof. Susanne Herold, the head of infectiology and a lung specialist at the hospital who has overseen the restructuring. “We are very strong in the intensive care area.”

All across Germany, hospitals have expanded their intensive care capacities. And they started from a high level. In January, Germany had some 28,000 intensive care beds equipped with ventilators, or 34 per 100,000 people. By comparison, that rate is 12 in Italy and 7 in the Netherlands.

By now, there are 40,000 intensive care beds available in Germany.

Some experts are cautiously optimistic that social distancing measures might be flattening the curve enough for Germany’s health care system to weather the pandemic without producing a scarcity of lifesaving equipment like ventilators.

“It is important that we have guidelines for doctors on how to practice triage between patients if they have to,” Professor Streeck said. “But I hope we will never need to use them.”

The time it takes for the number of infections to double has slowed to about eight days. If it slows a little more, to between 12 and 14 days, Professor Herold said, the models suggest that triage could be avoided.

“The curve is beginning to flatten,” she said.

Trust in Government

Beyond mass testing and the preparedness of the health care system, many also see Chancellor Angela Merkel’s leadership as one reason the fatality rate has been kept low.

Ms. Merkel has communicated clearly, calmly and regularly throughout the crisis, as she imposed ever-stricter social distancing measures on the country. The restrictions, which have been crucial to slowing the spread of the pandemic, met with little political opposition and are broadly followed.

The chancellor’s approval ratings have soared.

“Maybe our biggest strength in Germany,” said Professor Kräusslich, “is the rational decision-making at the highest level of government combined with the trust the government enjoys in the population.”

Christopher F. Schuetze contributed reporting.

Vaanathai Pola 86

Aaron looked at Raman with both respect and curiosity and asked him, ' Why didn't you take him on?'

' And prove what and to what end, Aaron?'

' But, it was just a game of wits and a test for your skills. Don't you want to know how good you are and how will you know that if you don't constantly pit yourself against experts and peers in this business.'

Raman slowly turned and facing Aaron said, ' That is not me and will never be me. Your boss, Otto came there with a specific intent and that was to humiliate me in front of my boss and also to prove to all of you that he is still the best.'

The car meant for him slowly came to a halt in front of him and Raman opening the front door stopped and looked at Aaron, ' I would have gained nothing from beating him and in the process shattering his ego and the image that he has about himself.'

' Why?'

' Because that would have made me a bully and a sadist for I knew very well that I could handle him easily and even after knowing that, if I had taken him on then it would have been petty, childish and downright cruel on my part.'

Getting into the car, Raman waved bye as his car moved away leaving Aaron lost in thought.

The driver turned to Raman, ' Hi, my name is Uri.'

' Hi Uri. I am Raman.'

' We all know who you are. But, like, many others in that building, I too only knew and learnt about you this afternoon after watching you take on the boss in the Gym.'

With his eyes expertly scanning the immediate surroundings of the car and slowly negotiating the busy traffic, Uri asked Raman, ' I repeat Aarons question, why didn't you kick that arrogant old man's a..e for that would have really put him in his place and taught him a thing or two about humility.'

Raman looked at Uri, ' Hold on, please. Don't you think that all of you are looking at this the wrong way and coming at with a lot of anger aimed at Dr.Otto.'

' You are right when you say that we are all kind of pissed off at that old dog of a boss.'

' Why, Uri? What is the reason for all this anger against an old man?'

Uri shook his head and cursed in Hebrew and although he did not what the man was saying, Raman knew that the man was surely not singing praises about his boss.

' Mr.Raman, in that same spot where you were earlier, a few minutes ago, Dr.Otto has taken down, beaten and humiliated scores of agents like me and others and what freaks us all out is that he teases us and mocks us with horrible references to our manhood and to our stamina in bed.'

Raman looked at him with a W.F expression, ' you mean that he has not been beaten even once by one of you.'

' No. There is not one Mossad agent who can proudly say that he has beaten the boss or even come close to beating him or do what you managed to do today.'

Raman laughed and looked at Uri with an expression " well, that explains the meaning of his taunts" and Uri nodded, ' Yes. You are right. That old dog is more of a man at his age than all of us put together.'

' Uri, you and the other agents in Mossad should be proud of being led by a leader like Dr.Otto and instead of bitching and moaning about him, should train harder at perfecting your skills.'

Uri slowed the car at the small apartment block that was being guarded by armed agents and turned to Raman and asked, ' Nothing we do seems to work against him.'

Raman thought for a moment and then looked at Uri, ' maybe it is because you have already made up your mind that you are going to lose even before entering the fight. But, in my opinion, none of you has been good enough to beat him is because you are approaching him from a physical point of view and are not taking his mental prowess into the calculation.'

Uri looked at him and a spark of realization flared in his eyes, ' Please, Mr.Raman, kindly elaborate on what you just said.'

' Uri, when you enter a physical fight, it is not only about the physical strength and the training but also about the metaphysical. Imagine that you are tackling both the body and mind of your opponent and plan and execute according to that.'

Uri looked at Raman, ' But, to do what you are saying will mean...?'

' Right. A lot of training and a lot of that which involves the mind and contemplation. Before, one ventures into anything, one must think, ponder and dwell on it and only then execute the thought as action.'

Raman raised his right hand and looked at it and said, ' The hand is just flesh, a means to an end.'

Tapping his head, ' but up here is the command centre and where everything is processed and executed and only then do your hands and legs move to do the minds bidding.'

He slowly got out of the car saying, ' work on that and everything will fall into place. Good night.'

Good morning.

I spent a lot of valuable lifetime lost in anger and in rebellion for I thought I deserved more than what I was getting from life.

For a long time, I also spent valuable moments of my little time in this body imagining that I deserved far less than what I was being given.

Then, I stopped imagining, thinking and instead became thankful for what I was being given on a day to day basis or even minute by minute basis.

It started with food and my shiny steel plate out of which my reflection stared back at me every day and most of the time, I complained or thought of complaining about the quality of the food or the variety of food that was being served to me.

Then it changed, it all changed and it was not about whether one deserves it or not but it is about what one has done to change that status quo. If you want something, you go get it or you go do it.

It is about being thankful for what grace has been given to you via family and friends and via love.

Forget the enforced lockdown due to this virus problem and give thought to enforcing lockdown on your own thoughts and your own understanding about life and your journey in it.

I have begun to see that it is not about one's spouse, lover, friends and family members or how we deal with them but it is really about one's own soul and how we deal with it. For, if that job gets done everything else falls into place and becomes easier to live with.

It is not about God and praying to some idol and unknown entity but it is about Saying thanks to nature as we cast eyes on the amazing sun and the beautiful moon. It is about watching the trees in your compound raining down their dried brown leaves and getting ready for new green leaves.

It is not about mocking Modi's call for 9 minutes of lights in darkness using torches, candles and lamps but it is a call for all of us to come together and stand together and show solidarity in these days of the crisis that all of us are facing.

It does not matter if you are rich or poor, young or old, strong or weak, brave or meek, Hindu or Muslim, for all appear as one in the face of the Coronavirus and funnily enough that is the same situation when we come face to face with God when the time comes.

All the best.

Vaanathai Pola 87

“Although, a lifetime of listening to the music of the world has passed, even now the tone of the rain on the roof of my home is the sweetest sound I have ever heard.” Kensi Brianne Smith

A Home is not just a house with walls and a roof for a ceiling. It is not a space divided into smaller spaces to make way for a kitchen and rooms to live in. A home is not just about paint, curtains, pots and cupboards with beautiful things.

Home, it is a soul, a vessel where other souls exist as one and come together in love. A beautiful home is a bubble inside stone and metal and a place that you call your own piece of heaven on this planet that sometimes is both Hell and heaven.

It is your private space whose doors close and give you protection and privacy from other souls and their eyes and in your own bed and on your own pillow, you can lay your head and make your own tracks of your tears.

Sub-Inspector Kanagaraj saluted Kavita and wishing her was about to move away to get into the car when she stopped him by saying , ' One moment, please.'

' Thank you for everything, Kanagaraj sir. You have been with this family for many a year now and you have seen us in the best of times and at the worst of times and you have remained nevertheless, a constant source of support and motivation.'

SI Kanagaraj looked away unable to face her and her words and Kavita could see that he was struggling to control his emotions and a few moments passed before he slowly turned and facing her said, ' My only wish is to see you safe and happy and if that comes true then I will be the happiest person in this world.'

She watched as his face turned serious and heard him say, ' But, as a cop, I need to warn you about protecting yourself from all manners of danger, known and unknown.'

Then, he quickly moved away leaving Kavita wondering about his words and all that had taken place in the hours that had passed away.

She heard the sounds of feet coming towards her and she turned to face her mother whose thoughts reflected even in the way she ran towards her daughter and now her only remaining child.

Sharadha Arumugam grabbed Kavita and her eyes ran all over her child, checking and also making sure for herself that she had not been hurt from the incident at the Crowne Plaza hotel.

' I am not hurt. Stop worrying for I am okay. How is appa doing?'

Her mother's face filled up with such anger that Kavita began to worry if she was going to erupt like a volcano and tried calming her by saying repeatedly that she was all right and there was no reason to worry anymore.'

' Is that all you have to say when I have been sick with worry and my heart, felt like a speeding train.'

Pointing inside, ' Every tv channel worth its salt is carrying news about this so-called attack at that hotel and all they talk about is you, Minister Kavita Durai Pandi Arumugam being there when the attack took place.'

Overwhelmed with grief and fear, she slowly sank to the floor and yelled, ' The tv channels did not stop with you and instead have gone back to your brother.'

Kavita sat next to her, ' amma, why talk about tv and newspapers when we know that we cannot expect anything better than them?'

' It is not about you and me, Kavita. But, also concerns your dad and his health. He is slowly but surely making progress but if he hears about what happened to you today, it might just break his will for it will be too much for his poor heart to bear.'

Daughter looked at her mother, ' so what do you plan to do, shield him from everything and for how long? you think he is not going to learn about what happened today or what is happening around him in the outside world?'

Kavita smiled and looked at the sun as it began to slip and slide down the western highway.' please, give more credit to your man, mother. I am willing to bet that he is already aware of what happened and will probably wait and play mind games with me.'

Getting up, Kavita looked down at her mother, ' Come and see for yourself the game that me and dad are going to play with each other.'

UK think tank seeks global solidarity to sue China for US $ 6.5 trillion for covering up Coronavirus

After Conservative MPs in UK directed their ire towards China for downplaying the threat of coronavirus, a London-based Conservative think tank has explored possibilities of legally suing China on 10 possible grounds.

The Henry Jackson Society has compiled in its 'Coronavirus Compensation?' report that "China should be sued under international law for trillions of dollars for its initial cover-up of the coronavirus pandemic which has caused more than 60,000 deaths and trillions of dollars in economic damage," the London bureau of The Sunday Morning Herald reported.

The report by the think-tank said that damages caused by China amount to at least the £3.2 ($6.5 trillion), which is being spent by G7 nations. It should prop up their domestic economies because the governments forced their citizens to stay at home in order to contain the virus’ spread.

The report emphasised that China owes it to the Australians too, the amount of the compensation that came from Prime Minister Scott Morrison's unprecedented $130 billion in government support for workers and businesses.

UK's observations and reports are in contrast to what China thinks. Senior Chinese figures, including China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, have "endorsed speculative and groundless claims that the virus was imported to Wuhan by the United States military, instead of emerging at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where wild, live animals were traded", said the Sunday Morning Herald report.

The report says that China could be sued under 10 possible legal avenues, including International Health Regulations. These regulations became more stringent after the SARS outbreak. China also tried to cover up that outbreak.

If China was responsible enough to provide accurate information at an early juncture, "the infection would not have left China,” the report reads. It was only on December 31, China reported to the WHO about the disease and said "there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission".

On the other hand, China reprimanded its whistle blower medics like Li Wenliang. "Some were confident the disease was spreading between humans before this date."

The news reports in South China Morning Post cited Chinese government documents that identified nearly 200 cases of coronavirus by December 27.

As per the The Henry Jackson Society, China acted contrary to the International Health Regulations that expect the nations to monitor and share data related to the spread, severity, and transmission of any pathogens that are potentially transmissible internationally.

China downplayed the data and punished the doctors who sought to tell the truth.

The report calls for global courage and solidarity to take action against China. It says "the Chinese Communist Party’s response to COVID-19 was in breach of international law".

WHO provides structures to bring suit against China under the International Health Regulations.

Other options could involve using the International Court of Justice and Permanent Court of Arbitration, the World Trade Organisation, bilateral investment treaties and even the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Domestic courts and Chinese courts could also be possible avenues, the report said.

The co-author of the report Matthew Henderson said the Chinese people were also the victims of their government's negligence. They are suffering because of CPC.

"By computing the cost of damage caused to advanced economies and assembling a series of possible legal processes to which the rules-based order can have recourse, we offer a sense of how the free world might seek recompense for the appalling harm the CCP has done,” Mathew Henderson said.

Vaanathai Pola 88

The male nurse who had just come in for his evening shift stood up catching sight of Kavita and her mother Sharadha coming towards him.

Kavita politely enquired as to how her dad was doing and the man replied that he was well but had been a bit moody from the afternoon.

She looked pointedly at her mother and raised her head in question and Sharadha's eyes opened wide and she murmured, ' He neither revealed his moodiness nor asked me anything about you. So, how was I supposed to know what he was thinking?'

' Amma, after all these years of being married and being with him and this is all you have to say for yourself.'

' I am but his second wife, and have spent much less time than his first wife, his party and politics and they might be better equipped to know what is going on in his mind.'

Mother and daughter stood staring at each other when Sharadha said, ' But, I know my children very well and far better than I know my husband.'

Kavita looked into the bedroom and saw father, Minister Durai Pandi Arumugam sitting near the window reading some Tamil magazine while the music player gently hummed and filled the air around him with some old Tamil songs penned by his favourite writer, Kannadasan and turning to her mother, asked her, ' Looks like you too have joined the bandwagon of playing mind games like dad.'

' Mindgame. How can you label a mothers love, and her instinct to know what her child is feeling, as a mind game?

Kavita fell silent and Sharadha looked at her daughter, ' there is something different about you today and although I did sense something different yesterday itself, I let it go for it was not my business and thinking that you will talk about it when you are ready.'

Kavita's eyes flared open and she hurriedly looked away and her mother holding her chin slowly turned her face to hers and said, ' Your lips look a bit bruised' and walked into her bedroom to join her husband who enquired, ' was that Kavi that you were talking to?'

' Yes. She has gone to her room to wash her face and freshen up. Meanwhile, I will just go make her a cup of coffee and join you both.'

She stopped seeing her husband's eyes which seemed to be filled with a longing in them and asked, ' What is it?'

' I know that my doctors have put me on a strict diet but I am sorry for I cannot take this torture any longer.'

Mrs.Arumugam looked at her husband Mr.Arumugam knowing pretty well what he meant by the word torture and said, ' Rava Kesari. Brimming with Ghee, Raisins and cashews.'

Minister Durai Pandi Arumugam nodded eagerly and Sharadha beat her head, ' Your obsession with this sweet began with that occasion when the late Puratchi Thalaivar Mgr sir invited us both for breakfast after our wedding and served us this sweet that Janaki Amma had personally prepared and has not let go off you since then, has it.'

Kavita entered, face all washed, scrubbed and with a dab of lipstick covering her beautiful lips and commented loudly, ' Rava Kesari. I don't mind having a plate full of it right now.'

Then she excitedly added, ' That reminds me of something that Jeeva mentioned a few months ago about her mother being an excellent cook and that even the Prime minister fell in love with her Kesari dish that was served to him when he had come to see Raman during that time they were all in the Army camp.'

Prime Minister Modi, they don't like you By Sarang

'And Sir, you are at fault if they don't like you.You don't boast of your government's efforts to be the first one to bring in thousands of Indians back home without thinking for a second about their race, religion, language, orientation, or even citizenship,' says Sarang, a reader of Rediff.com.

Dear Honourable Prime Minister of India,

I need to tell you something. They don't like you.

To be honest, they never really liked you, but even in this time of our biggest existential crisis also, when you need all of us, every single citizen of India, to back you with all our might, they don't like you.

They don't like you when you take a daring decision to lock down a country of 1.3 billion people, to save their own lives.

They don't like you when you send flights to get back your countrymen from the riskiest areas to relative safety; they say but the migrants had to walk.

They still don't like you as you send thousands of buses overnight to bring back migrants to their hometowns as now, they say migrants are at risk because of the crowding.

Maybe they are expecting you to arrange one cab per person or build them homes overnight with stashes of cash wherever they are? Whatever it may be, but they don't like you.

As the head of a developing nation taking a big hit on the economy, you lock down the country at a time and stage where half the world was roaming around in gardens and paid a hefty price with their lives.

Where some so-called heads of powerful nations, the so-called 'buck stops here' heads, could not even dare to lock down a state, you executed the world's largest lockdown in the history of mankind. They still don't like you.

They don't like you for the confidence and morale boosting in your speech that united and channelised an entire nation of a billion and they still don't like you when you exude humility and awareness of the situation by apologising to the poor of the country for having to do this to them and the nation.

They don't like you when you release an economic package for the poor.

They don't like you when you repeatedly ask them with folded hands to stay at home to save their own freaking lives.

They don't like you when you beg them to express gratitude for the unsung heroes while your government is bringing in test kits from Korea and Germany and setting up required facilities on a war footing.

Now, sir, these are the same folks who cannot even figure out how to entertain themselves and their family of four for 21 days but they expect you to have a perfect solution to the problem of 1.3 billion people of different needs.

These are the same folks who may not even have helped their neighbours or maids in need but they want you to distribute money to the needy equally, without lapses. overnight.

Some of them cant even manage their home budget with a huge salary but they want you to manage the economy in these testing times without failures.

Some of them can't attend their offices or meetings on time and some may not even wake up on time despite alarm clocks but they want you to announce the lockdown in the morning to give them time to hoard and stash the essentials.

As if and announcement in the morning will have a different impact, silly!

Their walls are filled with pictures of police charging protesters, even if it was to save their own lives, but their walls shamelessly avoid posting thousands of Indians stuck in the the Middle-East brought back in Air India planes.

Their walls are filled with posts on migrants' sufferings but never a single post on what could be the solution to save lives without collateral damage.

Their walls shamelessly avoid showing Sikhs doing langar, Muslims opening up their hotels to feed the needy, Christians opening their hearts to not just humans but also the suffering dogs on the roads, common men opening kitchens, ordinary people working with government employees to distribute money, goods, food. Don't be surprised why. They don't like you.

They don't like you because for them you are part of a political party and ideology which they admonish and the fact that you won the a majority in Indian elections twice, which they have neither the capacity nor the maturity to digest.

Alas, if, and only if, for one moment they could treat you as the head of the nation, head of their nation, the Prime Minister of India... but still, they don't like you.

And Sir, you. You are at fault.

You don't boast of your government's humongous efforts to be the first one to bring in thousands of Indians back home without even thinking for a second about their race, religion, language, orientation, or even citizenship.

You don't boast of the fact that our first quarantine establishment of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police was positioned even before the first coronavirus case in India surfaced.

You don't publicise how your railway compartments are turned into a quarantine zone, a first of its kind in the world.

You don't market all the efforts your billionaire Industrialists in the country are putting in to ensure the health infrastructure is expanded rapidly to meet the demands of the present crisis and the future.

You don't question the protesters gang, the award returnee gang, the afraid gang, the pseudo-intellectual gang while they are all shamelessly hiding wrapped their tails around them when the country needs them the most.

Tweeting or posting anything in opposition to any steps the government takes is their only 21-day quarantine plan.

Your government will still serve them all and protect them all, just as any other citizen of India, but they still won't like you.

And your face, Sir, it still hides the dilemma and the helplessness you deal with. I, for sure, see the agony behind that confident, smiling but serious face for which saving the lives of each and every individual is personal, very personal and I can see that.

I can see the trade-off you face, of having to self-destroy the economy for saving the nerve, the life of this nation, its people, of all races, regions, religions, economic stature and political orientation, even the traitors.

I can see this is a fight where winning is not the goal, minimising losses is. Suffering and collateral damage are inevitable, and survival is the key.

The goal is not to win but to just hang in there and live another day till the virus is defeated by the scientists, people, doctors or the very nature that brought it up.

Dear honourable prime minster of India, Shri Narendra Damodardas Modi, I am with you as you lock down the nation for 21 days, and if need be, even more. As you said, Jaan hai to Jahaan hai.

The economy is revived by living people, not coffins. One never boasts of the future and I will not either.

Only time will tell if this was our finest hour but at present, I am positive that the steps you and your government is taking will save our lives and also our economy and minimise the losses.

Keep serving the nation for as long as you can.

We need you.

Jai Hind!

-- By someone who has no wings (right or left), no extremes (hard or soft), no religion, no party membership, but only a passport that is dear to him above everything else, an Indian passport that proudly says he's an Indian.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and absolutely not a reflection of any other living being, or organisation that he may be part of or associated with.

Sarang is a Hyderabad-based software engineer working in a multinational company. He is a vivid blogger and writes about international affairs, leadership and management, self-learning, and matters of national importance. On Twitter: @sforsarang

Rediff.com accords space to readers like Sarang to pen their thoughts on the issues before the nation, subject, of course, to the Editors's approval. If you too would like to see your articles published on Rediff.com