Category: NATIONAL

By : Prof Santosh Kumar ,CEO, IISSM, formerly, Director SAARC Disaster Management Centre & Chief Consulting Editor-ICN The Puzzle of Rationality NEW DELHI : Disaster loss data have no emotions. And hence, lack compassion and empathy in long term recovery and risk reduction. Why do we, as human beings, behave in ways that appear “irrational”? We face devastating disasters, mourn collective losses, question the system for a brief time — and then, once the dust settles, we slip quietly back into our comfort zones. Governments and institutions, too, learn little,…

By : Barnali Bose, Editor-ICN World KOLKATA : In life, he touched the lives of all those he came across. And in death, he traversed geographical boundaries, far and near, to enrich the lives of even those who he had never met. Yes, it is none other than Zubeen Garg, the mere utterance of whose name blurs my vision and touches my soul. His sudden death in foreign waters leaving a trail of unanswered questions is deeply shrouded in mystery and has devastated us beyond measure. Zubeen is said to…

By: Prof. Santosh Kumar, Sr. Advisor, NIDM & Sr. Consulting Editor-ICN NEW DELHI: Disaster is man-made or natural? Who is responsible for disaster? People, govt, corruption or nature? TV and social media are accusing one another. This is not a new phenomenon. It happens after every disaster in India and across the globe. Recent disaster in Turkey when it was hit by a great earthquake , TV and social media were flooded with such debates. India is currently witnessing huge floods in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi ( after 48…

By: Dr. Kumar Raka, Editor-ICN NEW DELHI: Suffering has been defined in different contexts in different social and also the medical sciences. Suffering can be mental, physical, social, economic and heavily influenced by the cultural, religious and spiritual orientations. Moreover, it is an objective as well as subjective phenomenon and closely related with the well-beingness and happiness of individual, groups, community or the nations when we talk about measurement of suffering. Finally, the threshold of suffering is inherent in its psychological definition which emphasizes pain, distress, sorrow, and grief an individual feels that may be absolute or…

By: Prof. Santosh Kumar, Sr. Advisor, NIDM & Sr. Consulting Editor-ICN NEW DELHI: Disaster is man-made or natural? Who is responsible for disaster? People, govt, corruption or nature? TV and social media are accusing one another. This is not a new phenomenon. It happens after every disaster in India and across the globe. Recent disaster in Turkey when it was hit by a great earthquake , TV and social media were flooded with such debates. India is currently witnessing huge floods in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi ( after 48…

By: Barnali Bose, Editor-ICN World KOLKATA: In your daily interactions, various words and phrases you use and hear being used, a few of them more often than others. You might have come across some of them while reading. If you pause to think, you will notice that quite a few of these, you hardly use anymore or hear them being used. One plausible explanation is that they might have become obsolete or perhaps their use is confined to a particular subject or area and you have drifted away it. Despite that, like…