The Covid situation in Maharashtra has become major concern, no idea when it is going to change. One day number of cases reduces but very next day again they shoot up. The number of cases now have crossed 5.25 lakh, and deaths have crossed 18,000 mark. With the onset of Ganpati festival and Maharashtra govt allowing people to move across the state, with opening of special State Transport buses for Konkan region. Train services for the region has not been approved till yesterday, if that also happens then no idea what will the situation, it may worsen after the festival, let us keep our fingers crossed. Main cause of concern is that Maharashtra’s record in testing is not very great, while Delhi is top with 59,034 testing per million population, while Maharashtra stands at number 11 among states with 22,144 testing/million. The country testing rate on average is 17,795 per million, compared this with UK which is at 211,044/million. With this small rate of testing, no idea if testing is increased where the number of cases figure will reach.
Now coming to my other topic of the day
In the present days the use of social media is increasing rapidly in all age groups, Apps like WhatsApp and Facebook have become permanent features in most of people lives. With data rates from Cell phone service providers becoming affordable, there are many apps which you can download on to your phone and pass your leisure time.
WhatsApp is common media platform for many people to remain in touch, share information, news, videos and many more .The surprising fact is this is one app which seniors have sportingly learnt very fast and using it frequently. Facebook is another platform where you find lot of seniors participating, as this is rather an easy platform to create an account and use. However, while the young are quite tech savvy , and can watch out for themselves, perhaps the seniors need to keep an eye out, for lot of unwanted incidents that take place on these social media platforms. There are certain precautions pone must take while on social platforms :
When you create an account on any platforms, please have s strong and unique pass word which can not be hacked easily. Do not share your pass word with any one, as misuse of identity is a very common thing on social media. Someone can use your account, impersonate you and request your family and friends into sharing some confidential details and information, or worse transfer money etc.
Be careful about what you share, if it is a family WhatsApp group, you may have the luxury of sharing your pics, information, whereabouts with them. But on a purely social platform like Facebook or instagram, please be careful what you post. The pics can be misused and hackers can use the information about your whereabouts, for wrong purpose.
Do not click on unknown or unsolicited site, sometimes you find unknown links being shared on your e mail, Facebook, WhatsApp or even by SMS. Please be very careful about clicking on anything which you receive from unknown person or number. This could be spam, virus, or wrong type messages and harmful stuff. It could trigger something totally unknown to you, by installing something on your computer or phone to track your activities, which can lead you into serious trouble.
If some thing strange on unusual happens, you can report the same on platform using the options given or to the police and cyber crime cell. One another thing is not to accept friend requests from any unknown persons. These type of people who could photoshop(modify) your pics and try to blackmail you. If they get your contact number, you could be harassed. Please do not share your bank details with anyone on phone calls.
Using social media can be double sword, however with little care and caution, you can stay safe and use in wisely, and be online with your family and friends. Please seek help at the first sign of trouble or abuse that you suspect, and you should become tech savvy for your needs.
Awaiting your comments/views/feed backs.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
11th Aug 2020
R. N. Mungale.
Kovid situation is alarming.
Good information about social media.