ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Friends We are well into the monsoon season. It has already been around, doing hide and seek. Meteriological Deptt. reckons, North West monsoon to hit the Kerala coast early June as usual. Hope it keeps its date with the earth. Despite the forecast for deficient rainfall, the food production is likely to be normal, report monsoon watchers. Month that went by witnessed an upheaveral of another kind. Some even called it a tsunami. 2014, election has come and gone and has left Congress, SP, BSP, NCP devastated. While the Congress has been reduced to double digit, SP and NCP were reduced to single digit of 5 seats each, and BSP could manage only zero. Congress managed only 44, as against over 200 seats in the last Loksabha. This is perhaps the lowest for Congress in all these past 16 elections to the Loksabha. Indian electorates have spoken, loud and clear. Indeed, in one sweep, NAMO wave has swallowed all of them to register a highest tally for his party, the BJP. From 106 to 284 is ...

NEW DELHI: Every good thing has to come to an end. So is the prime ministership for Dr Manmohan Singh. Come June 2014, there will be a new dispensation in the corridors of power at the portals of parliament. So the incumbent CEO, the prime minister of the government at New Delhi, will call it quits. The honeymoon, which was, kind of bestowed on Dr Singh, shall be curtains down. Thus, fare-well speeches have already begun for Dr Singh.  Speaking on one such occasion at the Planning Commission he is reported to have said “India’s Growth story is a Work-in-Progress”. Indeed, it is a story of never ending work-in-progress! 66 years, of independent India’s ‘tryst with the destiny’ has been a story of a long, winding, with continuous ups and downs, journey of glorious uncertainties. How long into the future, it shall be a story of work-in-progress? is a question begging for answer. Of course, Dr Singh was frank in admitting that “there is lot of distance still to be covered”. Around t...

Let me, at the outset, thank you for sending “ISSUES & CONCERNS”. The magazine is really focusing on several issues & concerns that all of us are facing. The articles are of high standard dealing with contemporary Social, Cultural and Political problems they are both informative and educative, analytical and meaningful. Write-up by Prof. B.M.Hegde is practical for he deals with Science for everybody by his simple examples. There are other articles of interest together with snippets. On the top of everything, the magazine carries an article by a Journalist of Great eminence DR. M.V. Kamath whose write-up are of immense value. While again thanking you, I congratulate you for being an Editor of a good Magazine. H.G.Somashekhara Rao, Bangalore. Its been quite sometime since I wrote a feedback to I & C. So here I am penning some of my thoughts. I & C, as an awarness periodical is certainly doing a commendable job. Its analytical excercise - Month - in - Perspective - i...

Millennium Development Goals &  The 3rd Largest Economy Post May 16 While, being No:3 among the larger global economies may improve our international stock, it is more important that our own domestic problems have to be better addressed with genuine concern. At the end of the day, it is the human capital which is more important than capital formation. The present dispensation at the centre headed by a controversial but dynamic leader is expected to address this issue of Human Development Index (HDI) more than the index at the share market. Hope post May 16, 2014, things should look up for Indians rather than Brand India.      “India replaced Japan as the 3rd largest economy after U.S. & China, say data released by the World Bank” informed a media report on 1st May. Reportedly the data was related to 2011. So, it may well be true that India is indeed world’s 3rd largest economy. But frankly, does it really calls for celebration? is a question staring...

TRIBAL WOMEN IN OUR BLUNDER LAND   Ajit Panda Banita Naik is a lactating mother living in a remote village in Sunabeda Panchayat in Nuapada District of Odisha, where the only hope during any health problem for a pregnant or lactating woman is the ASHA (accredited social health activist). Although weak and anemic, Banita can’t consult any health person because the doctor, pharmacist and the ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife) posted in the PHC (primary health centre) in her village do not stay there for fear of Maoists. The lives and livelihood of 4000 such tribal women and children in 24 villages scattered over an area of 600 sq km inside the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary are thus left to the mercy of God. There is no one to monitor the health and nutrition programmes which could help thousands of women live healthy lives.  Mamata is one such scheme, floated by the Government of Odisha in 2011 as a conditional cash transfer plan, to compensate pregnant and nursing mothers for...

IS THERE MORE TO BITE THAN JUST EATING New York: If you are longing for a quiet and relaxing meal with your kids, cut up their food as research has found that children are likely to become more rowdy when they need to bite the food with their front teeth, reports IANS. When 6-10 year old children ate foods they had to bite with their front teeth, such as drumsticks, whole apples, or corn on the cob, they were rowdier than when these foods had been cut, said the study. “They were twice as likely to disobey adults and twice as aggressive toward other kids,” said Brian Wan sink, a professor at Cornell University. For the study, the researchers observed 12 elementary children for two days. The findings indicated that when children were served chicken on the bone, they acted twice as aggressively, and were twice as likely to disobey adults, than when they were served bite sized pieces of chicken. Furthermore, the children who were served chicken on the bone left the circle without pe...

ARE MONKEYS BETTER IN MATHS THAN HUMANS! New York: Go tell this to your kid who is throwing tantrums at learning maths. According to a new research, even monkeys have the ability to use numbers and symbols to add up, says IANS. The scientists from Harvard University taught three rhesus monkeys the values of 26 distinct symbols – the 10 Arabic numerals and 16 letters. Each symbol was associated with zero to 25 drops of a reward of water, juice or orange soda. Given the choice of two different symbols, the monkeys chose the symbol that represented the larger reward with up to 90 per cent accuracy. “The monkeys demonstrated the ability to not only differentiate between the symbols but also to add the values of two symbols at a time,” said Margaret Livingstone, a neuroscientist at Harvard University’s medical school. The results suggest that the monkeys learned to distinguish the symbols and assign them specific values. Monkeys estimated quantity based on relative value rather than ab...

Dirty Electricity Prof. B. M. Hegde, hegdebm@gmail.com “Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.” Groucho Marx Last time I wrote something on the above lines, a good hearted Bombay doctor was so upset that he abused me in a comment. This word –dirty electricity-has now become a respectable word for Indians as their intellectual masters in the west do use it. I am sure the doctor would be nice to me this time round. Much more dangerous than the ghost called cholesterol, dirty electricity has become a dangerous killer risk factor for myriad illnesses and many daily discomforts like tiredness, aches and pains, dizziness which might cost the hapless sufferer thousands of rupees if he goes to main line neurologists who would want to rule out everything using all...

Road-side properties: Precautioinary measures to be taken before purchase by the investors Vivekananda Paniyala Cities are undoubtedly becoming cauldrons of development, demanding fast paced upgrade in the quality of existing roads. May it be the National highways or the State Highways or even Major District Roads, they have seen massive development, fuelling a sudden rise in the prices of the properties abutting them. There is a rush of the investors wanting to invest on these roadside properties which hold immense potential for development to yield higher returns. However, extreme care and caution should be exercised before acquiring such properties given the kind of pitfalls that these properties pose and in some cases the investment may prove to be disastrous. Hence, it is advised that professional advice is sought while finalising such a deal. Factor that needs to be looked at while contemplating to purchase a roadside property is the vulnerability of the land for compul...

THE INTERVIEW “What, you resigned? What about your green card?” she asked, her voice turning uncommonly shrill. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ll get it sooner or later. For now, I don’t have to work for that Pete or his gutless staff anymore. Come, let’s make some tea.” As he put the kettle on, she came up behind him and hugged him. “Now why would you do something so drastic, Satish?” she asked tenderly. “Because, sweetheart, I don’t want to be at a company that condones such behavior, especially from its president,” he said, matching her singsong, tender tone, as if talking to a child. “Be serious, Satish. This is no joke.” “Seriously. This is no joke. I have seen enough prejudice and discrimination in my life. First, my grandparents had to leave Tamil Nadu because they were Brahmins. They dropped their last name because it denoted our caste. That did not help, so they came to Mumbai hoping for a better life.” He paused, waiting for a response from Priya. She remained silent a...

Vitamin supplements cannot replace natural foods New Delhi: Natural foods provide the best nutrition to the human body and there is no evidence to prove that vitamin supplements can better a person’s health, medical experts have said. “All kinds of natural food if taken in moderation are good for health. Nature is the best. It is better to have natural foods than tablets supplementing vitamins,” Seema Puri, associate professor at the Institute of Home Economy of Delhi University, said, reports IANS. Cautioning against any kind of dietary supplements, she said even “super foods” which claim to be fortified with minerals and calcium should be taken with caution. Puri was speaking at the seminar “Vitamins-Do I need the multivit supplements” at the India International Centre here. Asserting that natural food items were always the best, N.K. Arora, former professor of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said simple measure like washing vegetables first and then cutting...

Extremist's school plot – Blue printer identified  London: An alleged plot to takeover some of Britain’s schools by Islamist extremists has been reportedly master-minded by a ringleader who had drafted a guide document on the process, a media report has said, reports PTI. Tahir Alam, chairman of governors at Park View school in Birmingham, is allegedly the man behind a blueprint for the so-called “Trojan Horse” plot for the radical “Islamisation” of secular state schools. He called for “girls [to] be covered except for their hands and faces”, advocated gender segregation in some school activities, and attacked a “multicultural approach” to collective worship, ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ reported. In his 72-page document, published by the Muslim Council of Britain in 2007, Alam and co-author Muhammad Abdul Bari attacked many state schools for not being “receptive of legitimate and reasonable requests made by Muslim parents and pupils in relation to their faith-based aspirations and...

UNDERSTANDING COP Near Dadar in Mumbai, a boy was riding his bike in top gear and jumped the signal. The traffic constable caught him and very politely asked him as why he was speeding. The boy merely wanted to know the fine. The traffic constable said, “It is not the question of a fine. You could have lost your life. You should follow the traffic rules to avoid accidents. You have not read the instruction displayed on the screen near traffic signals?” The boy said, no. The traffic constable took him to the monitor which was displaying the messages about safe driving and asked him to read them. The boy read out, “Sar Salamat hai to pagdi Hazar hain, If you want to stay married, divorce speed, Go to home in peace and not in pieces.” Thereafter, the traffic constable fined him and let him go. LONELY IN BIG CITY At Santa Cruz station, a correspondent saw a very old man walk by. He was wearing a crisp white shirt and starched trousers and was walking very slowly, his eyesight being po...