18 Jun 2020|Noida | Amity University, Noida
Pandemic, State Responsibility and International Law
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A lecture on ‘Pandemic, State Responsibility and International Law’ was delivered by Dr. Bhanu Pratap, Assistant Professor, Lucknow University. He shared that International law has its own unique structure and is horizontal in nature. In addition, international law does not have a well-defined hierarchy and is decentralised in nature. He added that International law is not taken very seriously in the country. However, it was International law that raised the first alarm in the case of covid19. There is a shift from government to governance and this is the era in which we are living in. He also shared that Congregation, consumption and overpaid tax systems are the three anomalies in global health law that WHO is trying to combat. He further detailed how the WHO was created and its structure related to how the pandemic is declared. “The membership of WHO is bigger than the UN and is truly global in nature,” said Dr. Pratap. He averred that health is a physical, mental as well as the social well-being of a human according to the preamble of WHO and health norms of WHO are based on science, ethics and human rights. Dr. Pratap stated that while addressing a global pandemic, the human rights have to be considered.
A webinar on ‘Mental Health and Nutrition’ was co ducted by Mr. Umesh Wadhwani - Nutritionist - Fitness and Mental Health Consultant focusing on how to manage mental health issues and stay healthy, basics of nutrition, Myth V/S Reality, what we eat and why we eat. He shared that the suicide of a popular Bollywood star made things really difficult for youngsters this week. He had an interactive session with the students and other attendees where he addressed their queries related to these aspects of mental health and nutrition. Sharing his life journey that after studying medicine, he went to UK for his higher education as he did not wish to be a doctor. He shared that everyone wants to be fit but find nutrition, mental health and fitness to be very complicated. He asked students about the need for mental health support and the issues plaguing them. Overthinking, anxiety, depression, anger, sleeplessness and stress eating were a few issues that were shared by attendees. Mr. Wadhwani shared that all these were internal symptoms of mental health and people are not taught and made aware about it since childhood. He added that mental health conditions happen due to internal and external causes and talked about hormones that are chemical messengers in human bodies. “The raw materials for these hormones come from what we eat and thus it is important eat right to produce the right hormones to avoid suffering from mental issues. Healthy proteins and healthy fats are important for us and should be had regularly for balanced mental health,” said Mr. Wadhwani. He also added that vitamins and mineral are also necessary for our mental health and normal body functioning and advised students to have complex carbohydrates once a day; seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables; include nuts and seeds in the diet and have milk and milk products daily. It was also shared that vitamins and minerals were the demands of the body that need to be fulfilled by the food naturally or through supplements.
A lecture by Prof. (Dr.) Saroj Sharma, Professor, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University was delivered on ‘Developing Synergy between School and Education and Teacher Preparation post Covid 19’. Dr. Sharma stated that in the Indian scenario we can clearly see the digital and economic divide. She also added that it is important to bridge the gap between school and higher education. “Students are spending a lot of time at home and they can learn from their parents or community with safe distance. Teacher training is also going online. Various app came up like zoom, webex etc and students and teachers should be given training to use it. This is the best time to learn value system, as school doesn't only mean syllabus learning but value learning is also important,” said Dr. Sharma. She further averred that teachers should be trained to conduct online exams, teaching etc. She stressed on the fact the there was a need for rationalizing the time of online teaching and also supported the need for conducting counselling and many other interesting activities. She also mentioned that along with studies we should change the typical method of internship. New areas of learning like online dance classes, music, craft making and many more can be done. Students should be channelized in new way of learning. It was also stated that new normal was never new and impact of any trial will be very high. “Child safety is a new challenge. Post Covid skills should be encouraged. Remote mentoring and Personalized Counselling should be focused upon by teachers.