Inconsistencies and Contradictions

 4th round of seroprevalence survey by ICMR in June-July 2021 has revealed that nearly 2/3rd of Indian population has antibodies. The presence of antibodies is assumed to indicate prior exposure (though not necessarily manifested with disease symptoms) to Coronavirus. Exposure to virus can be seen as indicative of low probability of Covid-19, at least for the short-term. Very high seropositivity, more than 70%, suggests low probability of occurrence of severe Covid-19 outbreak.  Table 1 After feeling somewhat relived over national estimate, if we look at state-level results, there is a variation of seropositivity levels. (Table 1) Seropositivity is highest in Madhya Pradesh (79%) and least in Kerala (44.4%). It has been noted with hint of surprise that Kerala and Maharashtra do not have very high seropositivity despite bagging the attention for their high Covid-19 numbers for sustained duration.  We must understand that one should read these state level numbers with some ...

 Stan Swamy, 84 years old and an accused in Bhima-Koregaon Violence and alleged and accused Maoist sympathizer died yesterday. He died while being detained without facing trial and with multiple rejections of a bail.  Prime facie, the manner of death is tragic, irrespective of whether accusations are proven or not. I do not presume Swamy's innocence, but I do not think he should be declared 'guilty' since courts have not declared him so.  His pictures on internet, where we see frail old man participating in various meetings and agitations, invoke a certain admiration. It is admirable to fight with the mighty state. But fact that he was in fight with state and admiration invoked by visual clues does not make him innocent. He might have been kind and loving to those around him, but that does not mean he was against violence of any sort. Being political activists is being selective about certain sort of violence. There is no one who is 'human right activist'. I know th...