Knowledgebase & Articles

In my last article, I have advocated use of colossal places like stadium, play ground or any open space available to conduct on-site examination while maintaining social distance which is one of the key preventives for Covid- 19 infection.  This method will obey all the best practices of taking physical examination, safe, and centralized.  In parallel, individualized on-line examination taking process using modern technology is under development, it’s scrutinization and acceptability yet to be tested. Development of a full-proof on-line individualized examination system will help ease the huge logistic and physical infrastructure required to conduct off-line examination system. I also advocated to pursue a blended approach of on-line and face-to-face teaching-learning method to be pursued at post Covid- 19, where positive aspects of each side can be assimilated in developing a more robust and beneficial platform of delivery of learning contents.  It is all known that face-to-face teaching where dexterity and human affection of good teachers has no substitute. At the same time, on-line method offers quite a few positive aspects which can no longer be ignored. So let us examine what are the potential positive derivatives of digitization as well as on-line method of delivery if it is implemented in symbiosis with face-to-face teaching method.   Shortage of teacher in educational Institutions: Very often the issue of shortage of teachers across all institutions from primary level to university cropped up, and this is a primary step to look into for any education system to be effectively functional. This problem, say, from Std. VII to University can be solved by developing a centralized teaching pedagogy using technology enabled platforms, where limited number of teachers can address a large section of students. This may not be the best one, but can emerge as an optimum one.  And to solve the digital divide between have and have-not students, organization can buy like mobile phones or tablets and rent to the students. It is also indicating the future direction in the evolution of library operation.  Libraries needs to lessen expenditure in physical book purchase, instead of, it should change its budget plan to purchase/subscribe soft version of the book and digital device like mobile phone and/or tablets to loan/rent in order to get accessibility to on-line mode of teaching. Improvement in Work-Life balance: This is a very much talked about parameter about how to maintain a good work-life balance? And in terms of teaching and especially in school teaching profession, majority of the teachers are women. In major parts of the world, as society is still patriarchal, additionally if the women hail from low income group, most of the house chores including cooking are burdened with the women. My Indian experience has also observed that most of the educational institutions are working on Saturday and hence the woes are compounded. In this circumstances, out of six working days, teaching of four days from work place and two days from home by adopting on-line method will bring a huge relief to the working women who are serving as teachers.  Economical operation of the organizations: Lot of companies globally has changed the operation from six days to five days/week, and one of the consideration is to reduce the operational and overhead cost. Therefore, for educational institution too, reducing the number of working days at site and partially converting to on-line might help more saving in the revenue. I personally know lot of educational institutions runs in shift because of huge no of student enrolled vis-à-vis paucity of available physical infrastructure. Therefore, partial conversion to on-line mode will reduce the strain in the availability of physical infrastructure. Reduction in the carbon footprint:  According to my Indian experience, most of the educational Institutions opens in between (8-9) AM and closes in between (3-4) PM. This arrangement is adopted in order to beat huge congestions developed afterwards due to office goers.  Though this staggered arrangement is better than starting every activities together, even then no respite. Huge congestion is built up in the school communication hours due to the plying of school buses and many schools are located within city limits. Therefore, reduction of no of on-site working days will definitely reduce the level of air-pollution in the area. Adoption of virtual meeting: Meetings/interactions through virtual mode has become the new norms in Covid times, and there is no hue and cry against this practice.  Therefore, all the business meetings, interviews now onward should be adopted preferably in virtual mode, and this practice will help reduce the unnecessary travelling and, in turn, the level of air pollution.  Exposure to technology and induction of self-learning: Digital divide between kids of “haves” and “have-nots” to access to electronic gadgets and internet is a growing concern; students without tech access could fall further behind. Even in the developed world, a gap of approx. 20% and in the developing world approx. a gap of 50%, exists (1) (Figure 1). So, a gradual arrangement of digital infrastructure in delivering the educational content will automatically close the gap of digital divide. Additionally, digital delivery of content where the direct involvement of the teacher is absent, might induce the spirit of self-learning and digital literacy among youths; and this is no longer a concept.  The Hole-in-the-Wall Education Project (HiWEP) conceived and implemented by Dr. Sugata Mitra, Chief Scientist at National Institute of Information Technology, India, has already proved that how mere availability of educational content in a digital format can inspire young mind’s self-learning and cognitive skills (2, 3). The Hole in the Wall experiment had inspired Indian diplomat Mr. Vikas Swarup to write his debut novel Q & A, which later became the Academy award winning movie Slumdog Millionaire (3). At the end, impetus for gradual digitization of education will assist in the preparedness of uninterrupted delivery in the next crisis time like epidemic/pandemic or any other natural disasters. Today’s new generation not only requires basic education, but also the skill through self-learning to deal with an increasingly complex and connected world. We need

Plastics have become the inseparable part of our lifestyle even though we know the grave threat it poses to our environment. They are everywhere, from our wears- shoes, bags, headgears and even women hairs attachments; our automobiles; office and household electronics/computers; storage facilities/containers and sachets/wraps of various products and foods. The world now produces more than tons of plastic every year, which could end up as pollutants, entering our natural environment and oceans (1). About 91 % of the plastics that we consume are not degradable (2). Nigeria generates an estimated 32 million tons of solid waste per year, one of the highest amounts in Africa. Of that figure, plastic constitutes 2.5 million tons (3).  Tackling increasing plastic waste Plastics take thousands of years to decompose in nature under normal conditions and cause floods by clogging drains, respiratory issues when burned, shortening animal lifespans when consumed, and contaminating water bodies along with damaging aquatic lives. The normal degradation also poses a yet graver threat of microplastics which are even tougher to degrade and are produced from the degradation of plastics by the Sun’s UV rays. Though a lot of countries have mechanisms to collect plastic waste, not much has been done to process these waste. Most of the developed countries tend to export their waste to the poorer and developing nations thereby harming their ecosystem as well. In 2017, Europe exported one-sixth of its plastic waste, largely to Asia. They don’t realize that this is not a long term solution and ultimately the brunt of the damage will be borne by the entire humanity and none will be spared. Although, there are many ways to curb plastic waste—by producing less, consuming less, and better managing the waste that already exists to prevent contamination or leakage (4). The 5-R’s as proposed by various environmentalists for better management of plastic pollution are as mentioned below: REDUCE the consumption of plastics from all walks of our lives. This notion sounds utopian as present but we need to learn from our past and try to sync with our lifestyle to try to minimize and ultimately reduce our dependency on plastics. One such mechanism is through the policy-based support on the initiative by all governments. Policies can be made to nudge the reduction in consumption of plastics by taxing plastic-based products and providing incentives for alternate products. It is the first and most important step of confronting plastic waste problem. When you initially reduce the amount of plastic you consume in the first place, the harms of that plastic, including greenhouse gas emissions, are lessened. Furthermore, the remaining “R’s” become easier because there is less plastic to address down the line.    Some of the ways to reduce the plastic wastes are: Buy in bulk to reduce packaging Take a reusable shopping bag with you so you don’t have to use a paper or plastic bag from the shop Say ‘no’ to a plastic shopping bag when you only have a couple of items Choose products that use less packaging  Buy reusable items rather than disposable ones REFUSE: Is the second of the “five R’s” of waste of management. “Refuse” goes hand in hand with “Reduce” because you can easily cut your plastic consumption by refusing to accept certain types of plastic products. The next time you are offered that plastic straw or plastic shopping bag for an item you can just as easily carry away without the bag, please just politely refuse it! The positive impact might seem small, but it will add up over time, especially if we all do our share and refuse unnecessary plastic. REUSE: The idea again to reduce the consumption by promoting the reusability of nondegradable plastics. That way it doesn’t go in the rubbish and end up in the landfill. It also means you don’t have to buy a new product rather be creative. That saves you money and saves the energy and resources that would have been used to make the new product. Some of the suggested ways in which we can reuse the plastics at our home are as follows: Give unwanted toys and books to hospitals or schools Use plastic containers for freezing or storing food items Use old jars for storage Shop at second-hand stores or use online trading websites to buy items that are unwanted by others.   RECYCLE: is probably the step that everyone is familiar with since it seems to get the most attention. Recycling also serves to lessen the demand for virgin plastic resources, which produces more greenhouse gas emissions compared to recycled plastic resin. Remember that not all plastics are recyclable. Plastics cannot be recycled infinitely, at least not using traditional techniques. Chemical recycling, on the other hand, breaks the plastic down to the molecular level, making available “platform molecules” that can then be used to make other materials. It’s early days for this idea but, in principle, it could open up a whole range of opportunities. There are up to 50 known “plastivore” micro-organisms that can digest plastic because they contain enzymes that help break it down (5). Recently Cemex Ventures is investing in a start-up that turns waste unrecyclable plastic into artificial gravel (6). Beginning in January 2020, South Africa joined the Plastics Pact, making South Africa the first African nation to join the network. The Plastics Pact Network is a system of national and regional initiatives working toward “a circular economy for plastics” to dramatically reduce waste worldwide. The South African Plastics Pact outlines these goals for 2025:   Taking action on problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (re-use) delivery models – 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable – 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled – 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging It has been had reported that “plastic recycling created 7,892 formal jobs in recycling centres in 2018.” An additional 58,470 people reaped the benefits, “including informal waste pickers and small or family-owned businesses.” Informal

We live in a digital age where communication can happen at lightning speed, geographical or spatial barriers do not pose a problem anymore.  Smartphone technology and the internet has altered the information flow in a phenomenal way. Every day we are bombarded with information be it useful news or a marketing advertisement. We are made to consume these kinds of stuff daily. Smartphones have become a necessary evil in our life.   Fake news is also known as junk news, pseudo-news, or hoax news is a form of news consisting of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional news media (print and broadcast) or online social media. Digital news has brought back and increased the usage of fake news, or yellow journalism. The news is then often reverberated as misinformation in social media but occasionally finds its way to the mainstream media as well. Fake news is written and published usually with the intent to mislead in order to damage an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically, often using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership. Similarly, click-bait stories and headlines earn advertising revenue from this activity [1]. Claire Wardle [2] has identified 7 types of mis – and disinformation as shown in the figure below. The incidence of fake news is growing across the globe. In 2012, there was just one journalist in jail on fake-news charges. By 2014, there were eight. Then came 2016, when the most dramatic rise began, in which 16 journalists worldwide were in jail on fake-news charges. Overall, between 2012 and 2019, there have been 65 journalists imprisoned on false-news charges [3]. Why people fake news? Most of the time the person who are associated with the fake news remains anonymous. We can never know who really have manufactured it. People who invent fake news may do it for a multitude of reasons: Just to have fun Out of hatred, spite or jealousy; To get revenge, teach someone a lesson; To create confusion among people; For political reasons; To promote an ideology; To harm a business competitor; To promote products; But especially because it pays! Fake news is a big business these days. The fake news item on the accident due to Pokémon Go was shared 60,000 times on Facebook and received 150,000 Likes. Thanks to this fake news, somebody made a lot of money in ad revenue. Some fake news sites made thousands of dollars per month in advertising revenue during the last American election campaign [4]. Recently, someone just to have fun shared a genuinely looking news on WhatsApp that the schools of Kano will be closed till November due to COVID-19 problem, which was later found out to be fake. Fake news has a variety of impacts, depending on the type of information conveyed. The creators of fake news arrange to have it look so real that I’ve fallen victim to it myself when it hit my confirmation bias. I understand those who dispense spurious medical advice in good faith. Many times I had rushed to forward such sensational news on WhatsApp without verifying it because I want to be the first one off the block. Later, I had to repent that how I was tricked to spread misinformation that suited my taste. Though regularly I do share R-rated wink-wink Playboy jokes to my middle-aged friends to make them feel that they are still hormonal teenagers, I don’t feel that I am doing something impish or wrong. However, sharing a piece of fake news makes me feel sick. The fake news can be used for political reasons.  Fake Pakistani Twitter account posing as the handle of “H.H. Mona Bint Fahd Al Said,” the Omani princess was caught spreading misinformation and anti-India content on Twitter. Tweets made by the account went viral amid a wave of controversy following concerns raised by the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which is made up of 57 nations, raised concerns regarding growing Islamophobia in India. The tweet instantly went viral and was shared by the handles of several social media users as well as the official handles of the Pakistani government. Many in India outraged against the tweet and called for a boycott of Omani royalty within India. The discovery comes amid a trend in Pakistani social media sphere of Twitter account holders changing their names and impersonating Saudi royalty following IOC’s statement [5]. How can we curb Fake News?  We all have a crucial role to play in the curbing of fake news. Every time we passively accept information without double-checking or share a post, image, or video before we’ve verified it, we’re adding to the noise and confusion. The ecosystem is now so polluted, we have to take responsibility for independently checking what we see online. To curb fake news WhatsApp has set a limit on the number of times a user can pass on a forwarded message on the instant messaging platform. Under this new restriction, being rolled out recently, frequently forwarded messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time. The Facebook-owned company explained that its previous exercise of limiting a forwarded message to five chats led to a 25% reduction in message forwards globally at the time. Many users forward helpful information, as well as funny videos, memes, and reflections or prayers they find meaningful [6]. However, WhatsApp is a major propagator of fake news. Limiting the forwarding of chat will definitely curb the proliferation of fake news.  References: Fake News. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_news Wardle C. Fake news. It’s complicated. First Draft 2017. https://tinyurl.com/u8altzq Berger M. There’s a worrying rise in journalists being arrested for ‘fake news’ around the world. Washington Post 2019. https://tinyurl.com/rejqd4f Why is fake news invented? https://tinyurl.com/y7dgt92k Fact Check: Omani Princess’ viral Tweet about expelling Indian workers is fake. https://tinyurl.com/y9xvh2ld Bureau FE. Curbing fake news: WhatsApp sets limit to forwarded messages. April 8, 2020. https://tinyurl.com/yaqabqqj   Dr. Sanjoy Kumar Pal is a Professor of Biology in Skyline University Nigeria. He has a PhD. in Animal Genetics from Indian Veterinary

Difficulties in course of time in an individual’s span of life or natural or social context seeks for makeshift rescues followed by out of the box discoveries/inventions as long term solution. The ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic has jeopardized all traditional chores in each and every operation essential for individual life and society as a whole, forcing mankind to look for alternatives which protect people and their communities. In the sphere of education, it is no exception. Delivery of education within a class room having real presence between an experienced individual (teacher) and a learner (child, young or aged individual) was preferred to date, though distance mode and online delivery were picking up gradually mostly in a complementary role. There were widespread doubt in the complete acceptance of online qualification. The lethally contagious Covid- 19 pandemic has made the class room gathering impossible and has forced to adopt the online delivery of education as the sole and safest method of delivery in order to keep teaching-learning process on-the-go.  The global teaching community has whole heartedly accepted the challenges of online delivery of teaching and are trying their best to contribute in the making of competent, knowledgeable, skilful, and above all socially empathetic future citizens. There is no doubt that with the might of science and technology, human species will overcome sooner and later this darkest phase appeared in front of the civilization. So in the post Covid-19 era, a pertinent question needs to be asked whether the delivery of education will revert dominantly to class room, or exclusively continue as on-line or as a mix of both (hybrid).  One of the quickest method to be sought by education administrator to know the efficacy of the delivery is to make few questionnaire, distribute among students, and asked to rate the given choices and check their satisfaction level. To the best of my guess, students will give positive feedback instead of being critical to the core of their new learning experience, because this method is less hassle to the student communities like every day commuting to the school/college/university, not being too attentive and disciplined as required in a class room, freedom of leaving and joining in the course of lecture, and over all comfort of staying at home etc. Of course they would miss daily hang out sessions with their close friends, but with the menace of COVID- 19 and its high infection rates, they would be willing to sacrifice their time with friends in order to reduce the risk of endangering their life. These observations of mine has been reflected by several studies conducted with proper research procedures and standards pre-COVID- 19. All of these studies have indicated that there is no significant difference between students learning in the online and traditional classroom environments (1, 2, and 3).   And depending on the result of these studies, Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have been introduced in the year 2012 (4) and are destined to play a fruitful role in higher education (5, 6) (Fig. 1).   Now let us analyze the positive observations from a critical angle. The studies which have been referred here or usually taken up for experiments to observe the students’ satisfaction level are mostly from non-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Programmes or some discipline from STEM Programme like computer, software, mathematics, statistics etc. But these Programmes are not linked to wet laboratory activities. In courses like Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Engineering which are wet laboratory based and where practical experiences are equally or even more important than just theory based learnings, are usually delivered in institutional owned physical laboratory (sometime coined as traditional laboratory) and experiments are performed in presence of a trained person e.g.; teacher and lab technician. Nowadays, new types of wet laboratory pedagogical approaches like Home laboratory, Virtual laboratory, Remote laboratory (Satellite laboratory) etc. are gradually being tested as alternative to traditional laboratory approach. And with the sudden spike of online education at the backdrop of Covid–19 menace, some of the educational institution mostly located in the developed world, are trying the Home laboratory operation where students are asked to purchase readymade kits (included chemicals and procedures) and perform the experiment at home. But a key question which arises about this practice is the safety issues to perform experiments at home using chemicals which are hazardous, not environment friendly, and most importantly in the absence of physically close supervision by an experienced person, who can guide and take over if a mishap occurs. Moreover, is it possible to perform all kinds of experiments in a home environment? Remote laboratories are equivalent to the traditional laboratory environment where real equipment are used but those are situated at a significant distance from the learner. There is considerable research that indicates that the effectiveness of remote labs is equivalent to that of traditional face-to-face labs (7). However, lack of experience of setting up of experiment, instruments and spot on trouble shooting capabilities which are important in students’ training, are couple of key disadvantages in this approach.  The Virtual Laboratory is an interactive environment for conducting simulated experiments where real experiment are recreated in a controlled setting with the help of computational Programmeming. Virtual laboratory can also be accessed from a remote place. In a very recent study conducted by Goudsouziar et. al. (8) in comparing the student’s experience of performing cell and molecular biology experiments between live and computer simulated virtual laboratory showed that the overall knowledge score of the simulation-only students was significantly less than those of the students who performed both the live and simulated laboratories. It indicates that the live laboratory and computer simulation promote greater learning in comparison to the simulation alone. Similar experiments regarding the student’s best learning experience through a hybrid pedagogy of traditional live lab and simulated virtual lab were also conducted with similar results.  (9, 10).  Therefore, implementation of virtual laboratory as an exclusive substitution for Programmes having wet laboratory exercises will appear detrimental to student’s holistic learnings and skill

Introduction Microfinance institutions are bankers and lenders who provide microfinance services, such as deposits, loans, payment services, money transfers, and insurance. The prominence of microfinance is that it provides much-desirable financial services to poor and low-income households, entrepreneurs, and nascent businesses, who would otherwise not have access to such services. An estimated 1.7 billion people around the world don’t have access to financial services, according to the World Bank. The organization is an international banking group with 189 member countries that work to reduce poverty and “build shared prosperity” in developing countries. To break financial shackles, marginalized groups in rural areas traditionally formed self-help groups, where resources were pooled and distributed to those in need. The government made the decision to link these groups to banks and other financial institutions, a scheme that was developed by the commercial micro financial institutions. Functions and Benefits of Micro Finance It allows people to extend the current opportunities to run their families It gives small merchants to access to credit for their business operative purpose It creates the possibility of future investments.. It is one of the financial tool for mobilizing rotation funds for sustainability of business It can create the possibility of self-employment It encourages people to save for the future It offers significant economic gains even if income levels remain the same. It leads to better loan repayment rates   Conclusion Capital and expertise are increasingly flowing into microfinance. Increased competition can be seen among MFIs. As they continue to develop their internal operating capacities, more of the potential 80% of the market will be served. Key players such as ratings agencies and institutional investors are also moving into the marketplace, signaling the fact that a true market is developing. Microfinance has a significant role in bridging the gap between the formal financial institutions and the rural poor. The Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) accesses financial resources from the Banks and other mainstream Financial Institutions and provide financial and support services to the poor. MFIs are the pivotal overseas organizations in each country that make individual microcredit loans directly to villagers, micro entrepreneurs, impoverished women and poor families. An overseas MFI is like a small bank with the same challenges and capital needs confronting any expanding small venture but with the added responsibility of serving economically-marginalized populations. Many MFIs are creditworthy and well-run with proven records of success, many are operationally self-sufficient. Various types of institutions offer microfinance: credit unions, commercial banks, NGOs (Non-governmental Organizations), cooperatives, and sectors of government banks. The emergence of “for-profit” MFIs is growing. References https://smallbusiness.chron.com/role-microfinance-institutions-13233.html https://www.cgap.org/blog/6-ways-microfinance-institutions-can-adapt-digital-age https://www.investopedia.com/articles/07/microfinance.asp   Dr. Senthil Kumar, is an Associate Professor of Finance and Business Management in Skyline University Nigeria. He has a PhD. in Business Management from Bharathiar University, India. You can join the conversation on Facebook @SkylineUniversityNG and on Twitter @SkylineUNigeria

An endemic disease is a disease that is always present in a certain population or region. One of the most talked-about endemic diseases is malaria. An epidemic is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, for example, meningococcal infections. Whereas, a pandemic is an epidemic of disease that has spread across a large region, for instance, multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of people. A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious, for example, COVID-19 [1]. In the realm of infectious diseases, a pandemic is a worst-case scenario. When an epidemic spreads beyond a country’s borders, that’s when the disease officially becomes a pandemic. Communicable diseases existed during humankind’s hunter-gatherer days, but the shift to agrarian life 12,000 years ago created communities that made epidemics more possible. Malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, influenza, smallpox, and others first appeared during this period [2]. Throughout history, there have been several pandemics such as smallpox and tuberculosis. The most fatal pandemic recorded in human history was the Black Death (Plague), which killed an estimated 75 – 200 million people in the 14th century. Other notable pandemics include the 1918 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu) and the 2009 influenza pandemic (H1N1). Current pandemics include HIV/AIDS and the 2019 – 20 coronavirus pandemic [1]. A major global pandemic that has occurred over time is listed below [3]. Throughout history, nothing has killed more human beings than infectious diseases [4]. It is generally zoonoses such as influenza and tuberculosis which constitute most of the widespread outbreaks, resulting from the domestication of animals. There have been a number of particularly significant epidemics that deserve mention above the “mere” destruction of cities. The first recorded outbreak of bubonic plague started in Egypt and reached Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) the following spring, killing (according to the Byzantine chronicler Procopius) 10,000 a day at its height, and perhaps 40% of the city’s inhabitants. The plague went on to eliminate a quarter to half the human population of the known world. It caused Europe’s population to drop by around 50% between 550 AD and 700 AD [1]. This was the only instance in the history of human civilization that the global population growth showed a declining trend (Figure 1). Eight hundred years after the last outbreak, the plague returned to Europe. Starting in Asia, the disease reached the Mediterranean and western Europe in 1348 (possibly from Italian merchants fleeing fighting in Crimea), and killed an estimated 20 to 30 million Europeans in six years; a third of the total population, and up to a half in the worst-affected urban areas. The third plague pandemic (1855-85) started in China and spread into India, where 10-12 million people died. Figure – 1 The “Spanish flu”, 1918 – 1919. First identified early in March 1918 in U.S. troops training at Camp Funston, Kansas. By October 1918, it had spread to become a worldwide pandemic on all continents, and eventually infected about one-third of the world’s population (or ≈500 million people). Unusually deadly and virulent, it ended almost as quickly as it began, vanishing completely within 18 months. Within six months, some 50 million people were dead [1]. The “Asian Flu” of 1957 – 58, an H2N2 virus first identified in China in late February 1957. It caused about two million deaths globally. The “Hong Kong Flu”, 1968 – 69, an H3N2 virus first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968 and spread across the world, lasting until 1972. This pandemic killed approximately one million people worldwide. The “Swine Flu”, 2009 – 10, an H1N1 virus first detected in Mexico in early 2009. Estimates for the mortality of this pandemic range from 150 to 200 thousand. HIV/AIDS, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is considered by some scientists a global pandemic. However, the WHO currently uses the term ‘global epidemic’ to describe HIV. As of 2018, approximately 37.9 million people are infected with HIV globally. There were about 770,000 deaths from AIDS in 2018 [5]. Likewise, Hepatitis B is another global pandemic that no one talks about, yet one in three people worldwide has been infected. In 2013, hepatitis B and C together was the seventh-leading cause of death worldwide, with hepatitis B causing 780,000 deaths annually. Why pandemic does happen? Pandemic diseases is not a new phenomenon, it existed from the time when humans first settled down and started farming. Gradually, over thousands of years, the human population grow slowly and steadily. The first recorded pandemic was typhoid fever (430 to 426 BCE), it killed a quarter of the Athenian troops and a quarter of the population. This disease fatally weakened the dominance of Athens, but the sheer virulence of the disease prevented its wider spread. Within a space of a few hundred years, the earth has been regularly ravaged with devastating pandemics. Pandemics have a special significance in biology, it plays an important role in the process of evolution. According to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, only the fittest individuals will survive. It is not the most strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent that will survive. It is the one that has the best genes which will allow them to adapt to the various challenges thrown at them by nature. The laws of nature are such that no one species can dominate. Moreover, with the regular pandemic, the human population is kept under check so there is no overcrowding. However, in the past 3 centuries, the world population has risen rapidly, primarily as a result of the decline in child mortality, improvement in sanitation, and advancement in modern medicine that followed the industrial revolution. As a results, we now understand the various pathogens involved in dreaded diseases better and have successfully developed antidote (vaccines) against them. Some of the pathogens like smallpox virus and poliovirus has been completely eradicated from this world. No doubt

A human cell is a generally defined as a basic structural, efficient and genetic unit of human. In human cell structure a gene is defined as a chain of nucleotides in either Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) or Ribonucleic acid (RNA) it is generally used to code a molecule that has function.