ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Friends Month of August, unlike any other month has its own appeal. In the roughly 1200 million Indians, how many will be remembering and emotionally looking forward to the day which some 63 years ago gave us political freedom, is a question of myriad dimension. On 15th of August 1947, when the tricolour finally flew on the ramparts of Lal Kila (Red Fort), surely crowd assembled there could have gone delirious with joy. Many would have surely wept. Around 350 million Indians, who had the singular joy of being free from the colonial rule, in some form or the other, which began with the establishment of East India Company in the year 1600 on the shores of Hoogli river, in the then Calcutta, by Robert Clive, how would they look back? How have those 350 million Indians traveled down the development road for 63 years in free India could be an exercise of profound significance. Joys and suffering, dreams and disappointments, success and failures of living in democratic India could as well be...

NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY ACT Having our godowns full and its silos bursting at the seams, does it represents food security? It is a question of multiple dimension. 60 million tonnes of grain in the government warehouse and the seemingly endless household food insecurity represents the dichotomy of India’s weird situation where millions of Indians still go to bed hungry or half hungry while foodgrains rot in open and rodents make merry in the FCI godowns. They could be in hundreds of millions of people. After all ours is a country of around 1200 million people. Even 10% represents some 120 million, and the truth is, the number of people who go to bed with little or no food is far greater than this 10%. Rich and poor are found in all countries. While rich are rich everywhere poor are of varying degrees. A poor in U.S. is not the same in Sub-Saharan Africa or India. In U.S. or in Europe a poor may not go hungry even for a part of the day. Same cannot be true of Africa or India where hunger ...

Cancer Myths Prof. B. M. Hegde, hegdebm@gmail.com "Choose being kind over being right, and you’ll be right every time." Richard Carlson The word cancer brings on goose pimples in many of us. We are being bombarded with so many myths in this area; most of them make the gullible public believe in them and get scared. It is not for nothing that this is done. Cancer management in modern medicine is one of the multibillion dollar business opportunities both for the medical establishment and the pharmaceutical companies. Open a newspaper or look at the TV, chances are that one gets to hear a celebrity-a film star, an athlete or even a VIP goading you to get your self screened for one or other cancer. I have been consistently warning the powers that be and our own medical profession that our linear thinking about cancer and its treatment are at best out of tune with reality and at worst are downright dangerous. Who cares? Instead they have been consistently condemning me for writing...

GANG LEADER FOR A DAY A Book by : Sudhir Venkatesh Ms. Bailey’s Neighborhood As the Chicago winter began to settle in, Ms. Bailey asked me to help with a clothing drive. Tenants and squatters in her building needed winter coats, she said, as well as blankets and portable heaters. She wanted me to collect donations with her from several stores that had agreed to contribute. A friend of mine let me borrow his car, a battered yellow and brown station wagon. When I went to collect Ms. Bailey at her building, she was carrying a large plastic bag. She grunted as she bent over to pick it up and again as she set it down on the floor of the car. With labored breaths, she directed me to our first stop: a liquor store a few blocks from her building. She instructed me to drive around the back. She told me she didn’t want the manager to see me, but she didn’t explain why. I parked in the alley as Ms. Bailey went inside. Five ministers later a few employees came out the back door and began loading t...

An Indian Responds to the American Traveller Dear Sean Paul Kelley, This has reference to your piece ‘India-Reflection of A Traveller (I & C-May) Let me tell you, India is the only place with all its faults, the soul finds its freedom, its peace & joy. being home to a billion beats , this country has huge resources & beyond. Can they be typified under a single banner? I agree when you say, this is a dirty place, electrical grid is surely a joke, there are many other concerns which india faces today. But that doesn’t mean people out here aren’t interested . we are. to every enemy there is a friend. to all corrupt people, there are good people. its all round the corner, just a glance away. I wouldn’t want to call you the spoilt kid of the west, but when you compare, why is there so many broken families? divorce rules the roost. depression takes its toll. at a young age , students are into bad company? I bet, this is far far better in India. Night life is the only thing in mos...

Why don’t cats like to swim? Print media from Wisconsin, U.S. informed of a shipwreck found preserved in Lake Michigan, sunk in October 1898. For different reasons it remained at the bottom of the lake. Around 1990 at the government initiative search for the missing L R Doty was started. After 20 years of research Mr Brendon Baillod, the current president of Wisconsin under water Archeology Association reportedly found the 300 feet L R Doty which sunk in storm on Lake Michigan some 112 years ago. To the pleasant surprise of the diving team, reportedly it found the ship upright and intact. Believe it or not even the corn, being the cargo of the ship reportedly was found still in its hold. Lake Michigan is a fresh water lake, hence had no salt in it to cause corrosion to the body of the ship. According to the report, due to water in the lake is clod and non-salty the Doty was well preserved. Even the storm did not affect the ship since it was far below the surface. As of now, strangely, ...

Strange are the ways of the world Print media from Wisconsin, U.S. informed of a shipwreck found preserved in Lake Michigan, sunk in October 1898. For different reasons it remained at the bottom of the lake. Around 1990 at the government initiative search for the missing L R Doty was started. After 20 years of research Mr Brendon Baillod, the current president of Wisconsin under water Archeology Association reportedly found the 300 feet L R Doty which sunk in storm on Lake Michigan some 112 years ago. To the pleasant surprise of the diving team, reportedly it found the ship upright and intact. Believe it or not even the corn, being the cargo of the ship reportedly was found still in its hold. Lake Michigan is a fresh water lake, hence had no salt in it to cause corrosion to the body of the ship. According to the report, due to water in the lake is clod and non-salty the Doty was well preserved. Even the storm did not affect the ship since it was far below the surface. As of now, strang...

An educated India: A meaningful corporate journey - Prof R S S Mani, Come May-June every year and the corporate world is ready to provide a red carpet welcome to the MBAs. These MBA students having completed two year of professional management education are now on the verge of an exciting career. Unfortunately we often see a mismatch between what the companies seek and what the MBA graduates expect. As a result often there is a disillusion that that sets in at a fast pace resulting in partial to total alienation. Keep Feet on the Ground MBAs are often accused of being people in a great hurry and carrying a chip on their shoulder. It is true that MBAs are well trained and groomed but this still does not make them perfect. A sensible MBA should bid his/her time and learn as much as he/she can on the first job. The sooner he/she settle down, the impact of the reality shock is reduced. Reality shock is a phenomenon many a new employees suffer because of the gap as stated earlier. Let them ...

Operation Job – Interview - Renuka Natu I – Instant N – Notice T – Taken E - Every R – Reaction V – Viewed E – Evaluated W - Weighed When I think of the word ‘Interview’, be it an interview for school/college admissions; for marriage alliances; for a job or even for obtaining a visa, the word interview stands crystal clear for the above-mentioned decoding of the letters. If I were to split the word into 3 parts, it would appear something like this – Instant notice taken – stands for the first impressions that you make from the time you enter the venue for the interview, CCTVs capture all your moves and interactions with the reception staff and with the co-interviewees as well. Every reaction viewed – though you are being watched from the time you have entered, once you are actually being interviewed by a panel, you are really being scrutinized from all aspects – Personal Hygiene; Body Language; Confidence; peculiar traits/characteristics…. The list is endless. Interpreted evaluated wei...

Beetroot juice cuts risk of heart disease, London: Beetroot has long been known for its various health benefits. Now, an Indian origin researcher led study says that drinking its bright-red juice daily could substantially reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes. A team, led by Amrita Ahluwalia at Queen Mary University in London, has found that beetroot juice contains a chemical, called nitrate, which dramatically reduces blood pressure, and also cuts the risk of heart disease and strokes. According to researchers, the nitrates which naturally occur in beetroot are the cause of its beneficial effects as they produce a gas known as nitric oxide in the blood which widens blood vessels and arteries and lowers blood pressure. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. The researchers have based their findings after comparing patients who were given a 250 ml glass of beetroot juice a day with those who took nitrate tablets, the ‘Daily Mail’ ...

Every tablet to carry expiry date and more Will it cure an ailing pharma industry? The Union Government may take it mandatory on pharma companies to emboss the batch number and the expiry date on every tablet instead of the present practice of printing the details with ink on each strip which can easily be erased. The likely step has been prompted by the massive re-circulation of expiry drugs in the market. Going by the growing number of cases in re-usage of expiry drugs and the absence of a law to curb the menace, the All India Chemists and Distributors Federation with its State associations, including those of Karnataka and Kerala, is scheduled to meet the union Health Minister, Gulam Nabi Azad. The estimated value of expiry-dated drugs is Rs. 720 crore. Parallel and developing industry Life imprisonment for food adulteration Beware, food adulterators In view of the impact of adulteration in food items, medicines and soft drinks on public health, the Maharashtra cabinet has approved ...

New tool to predict earthquake risk accurately Melbourne: A new tool could now help experts predict areas at high seismic risk, according to new research. "What we’re talking about here is mapping the earthquake faults in the Earth," ABC Science quoted seismologist David Robinson, of the Australian National University in Canberra, as saying. Robinson and colleagues from Colorado School of Mines have developed new computer programs that can use measurements from just one monitoring station to locate earthquakes to within an accuracy of 200 meters. While traditional monitoring uses the first second or so of seismic signals, the new technique uses the entire seismic wave, which can go on for 30 seconds. The new technique images all of the minor quakes and aftershocks associated with it. "You might be able to identify where there’s a gap in the activity, for example. That might indicate a region of the fault which has not had an earthquake yet," says Robinson. He says h...

Two youth thrown out of moving train Lucknow: Two youth were thrown out of a running train in Uttar Pradesh’s Sant Kabir Nagar district, allegedly by two Railway Protection Force (RPF) constables for refusing to pay extortion money, police said. Sanjay Prasad and Satya Prakash were found lying injured near the Maghar railway station in Sant Kabir Nagar, some 300 km from Lucknow. In their statement to police, the two, who are undergoing treatment in a hospital, alleged that the two RPF constables first assaulted them for not paying the extortion money, and later threw them out of the moving Amritsar-bound Jan Nayak Express.

Kerala Government panel asks coca-cola to pay Rs. 216 crore Booked for widespread damage A 14-member high-power committee of the Kerala Government has asked Coca-Cola to pay Rs. 216.26 crore against damages caused by its cola bottling plant at Plachimada. The plant has remained shut down since March 2004. The committee held that besides heavy withdrawal of ground water, the plant was harming the farming sector and environment in the area by irresponsible disposal of the sludge. The agriculture production in the area has steadily fallen. Metals like cadmium, lead and chromium have been detected in the sludge and this has affected public health. The committee classified the damage suffered by various sectors due to functioning of the plant as farm loss, pollution of water resources, cost of providing water, health damage, wage loss and opportunity cost. Once the Government establishes a suitable mechanism to claim the compensation for these damages from the company, individual claims wil...

9-year-old loses teeth for laughing in class Bangalore: A class IV student of Baldwin’s Boys School was left with broken teeth reportedly for laughing in class. Mohammed Irfan, father of nine-year-old Mohammed Aymen, said the class teacher hit the boy with a wooden duster. "His class teacher Irene Shaw hit his mouth with a wooden duster just for laughing in the class," he said. "Two of his front teeth were broken and gums were damaged." Irfan, who is an engineer, said he was shocked to realise that the teacher took it lightly and failed to provide him any treatment. "The incident happened at 9.30 am and the teacher informed my wife at 10.30 am," he said, adding that his wife was asked to visit the school at 2.30 pm. "Till she visited the school, my son was not even taken to the hospital and the principal was also not informed about it," said Irfan. He said initially the teacher tried to put the blame on the Aymen and said he needed counseling as ...

Journo activists introduce citizen journalism course Mumbai: A non-profit body initiated by two former journalists has conceptualised India’s first teaching programme in Citizen Journalism, a two-month ten-session module will begin in Mumbai. Former journalists Shishir Joshi and Aloke Thakore have designed the course as weekend programme every Saturday for ten weeks and will conduct the same in suburban Mumbai. Joshi said that the aim of the course was to empower citizens. The minimum requirement is basic language skills in any Indian language. "Age is not a bar and 15 students could be admitted in each batch," he said. Experts in the field of policing, law, civic issues, right to information would be engaged in the teaching programme. Some key areas of teaching citizen journalism backgrounder and how it is practiced globally, basics of reporting, news gathering, ethics including accuracy and fairness, laws and use of technology in citizen journalism. Joshi said every studen...