Page 14 - The Indian EYE 091721

Op-Ed SEPTEMBER 17, 2021 | The Indian Eye 14

Covaxin, online schools and taliban

Views and opinions from the top commentators in Indian media

ndia’s swift crossing of the online education.
75 crore vaccine doses land- Literacy is a basic tool of
Imark has been powered in self-defense in a modern society.
large part by Covishield con- Without it, children are exposed
tributing about 67 crore of not only to economic hardship
those doses. Armed with new but also to lifelong powerless-
production lines spread across ness and exploitation. Literacy
multiple states, now is the time is also a springboard for further
for Bharat Biotech to catch up. study. A resurgence of mass il-
The significant scale-up in vac- literacy among children, if it is
cine administration to nearly 75 allowed to happen, could have
lakh doses per day in September dire and lasting consequences.
has happened despite Covaxin’s -- Jean Dreze, The Indian Express
hovering around 6 lakh daily
doses. In July, the Union health iNClUsive GoveRNmeNt?
ministry had said it expects Co-
vishield supplies to touch 12 ne of the Taliban’s main
crore doses a month and Covax- A health worker injects a woman with a dose of Covaxin at Moolchand backers, Russia, has
in 5.8 crore. Going by Septem- Hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday (ANI) Osaid that the new gov-
ber vax numbers, Covishield ap- ernment announced in Kabul
pears to be exceeding this target military operations to remake tion-building in Afghanistan.” is not an inclusive one. It also
and may deliver 20 crore doses other countries” has been inter- -- Swapan Dasgupta, The Telegraph turned down the invitation for
in September. preted to mean that this is pre- the inauguration ceremony of
We have been told the Co- cisely what was being attempted left behiNd the Taliban Cabinet, which, how-
vaxin narrative could change if in Afghanistan. ever, was cancelled eventually.
production from its new plants Yet, it is interesting that he School Children’s On- The announcement followed
in Malur near Bengaluru, Pune prior to 9/11, the Republican line and Offline Learning the visit of the top Russian se-
and Ankleshwar besides Hyder- establishment seemed deadly T(SCHOOL) survey, as we curity official, Nikolai Patru-
abad delivers to professed capac- opposed to persisting with Ron- call it, found that online edu- shev, to Delhi, where he met
ity. NTAGI officials expect these ald Reagan’s post-Berlin Wall cation had a very limited reach: with his counterpart, Ajit Doval.
facilities coming online to deliv- democracy project. In an article The proportion of sample chil- Iran, Afghanistan’s immedi-
er 10-12 crore doses per month. in early 2000, Condoleezza Rice dren who were studying online ate neighbor, has also rejected,
May they be right because safe- quoted George Bush as saying regularly was just 24 per cent in albeit indirectly, the new govern-
ty and immunogenicity trials of that he would avoid “open-end- urban areas and 8 per cent in ment. In a virtual meeting of for-
Covaxin on children over two ed deployments and unclear rural areas. This is all the more eign ministers of Afghanistan’s
years old are on. With over 40 military missions”. The former striking as three-fourths of ur- six neighboring countries, Ira-
crore Indians below 18, this is president is quoted as saying, ban households and half of rural nian Foreign Minister Hossein
a huge demographic to leave “I don’t think our troops ought households in the sample had a Amirabdollahian emphasized
unvaccinated. Covaxin is the to be used for what’s called na- smartphone. Aside from smart- the development of an “inclusive
best option for them right now. tion-building. I think our troops phone ownership, the multiple government reflecting diversi-
-- Editorial, The Times of India ought to be used to fight and win challenges of online study in- ty and will of Afghan people”.
wars.” Although the neo-con- clude smartphone access, ad- “Emphasized on securi-
abJeCt failURe servatives had a strong influence equate connectivity, recharge ty, stability & development by
on the George Bush adminis- money, intelligible material formation of an inclusive gov
he preliminary post-mor- tration, their vision of exporting and a conducive environment. reflecting diversity & will of Af-
tem has centred on the democracy didn’t quite have all- Among parents of “online chil- ghan ppl; dialogue instead of
Tfailure of the nation-build- round endorsement. One of the dren” (those who were studying violence; rejection of foreign in-
ing exercise in Afghanistan main criticisms of the misadven- online, regularly or occasional- tervention,” he wrote on Twitter.
— euphemism for the estab- ture in Iraq was that it was a di- ly), only a small minority were -- Aditi Bhaduri, The Quint
lishment of a Western-style, version. satisfied with their child’s study Every week, we look at what
rules-based, ostensibly mod- The former UN secre- material. More than two-thirds
ernist order. President Biden’s tary-general, Kofi Annan, for felt that their child’s reading the top commentators in the
August 31 address to the nation example, rued that “[h]uge re- and writing abilities were higher Indian media are talking about
and bring to you a slice
where he bluntly stated that the sources were devoted to Iraq, before the lockout than they are of their opinions and comments
US would not undertake “major which focussed away from na- today — a severe indictment of

www.TheIndianEYE .com