ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Friends, Are we upbeat at I&C ! YES & NO ! Yes because, this issue of October 2015, completes our 15 years in the print media, some even call it CRYSTAL JUBLEE. Either way, we are happy. Our first issue was released in November 2000. Its been a long and very demanding journey of ups and downs. What saved us is our commitment and support of some of our well wishers. Indeed there were souls, who regularly came back to tell us that we are doing a good job. We are grateful to all of them. Coming to the growth of I&C, we must admit that it is growing in popularity, in acceptance, so also in circulation. However, when it comes to circulation, the growth has been very slow. It needs more participative support of readers and well wishers. I&C is a movement towards a better India and hence need participation of all those who feel concerned. It is true that there were souls, who supported us, Kaaya, Waacha, Manasaa, some of them have been exemplary. Dr. M.V.Kamath, a doyen...

NEW DELHI:    Supreme Court, baffled at the vanishing seized drugs in the ‘safe’ custody of police! Supreme Court, with due respect, is little too late in recognizing this dimension of our policing. It is an open secret that there could be thousands of instances of 'fence eating the grass' when it comes to police. It is an all India phenomenon. The perception among police is quite established that once the seized property is in the possession of police, no question shall be asked, and even if asked it is eminently manageable. There is an element of non-challance among policemen, when it comes to accountability of seized tangible assets, since most higher  ups are hand-in-gloves in the in-house crime. Recently there was this story of a Mumbai cop found with drugs in his personal cupboard and in contact with drug mafia. This is only a tip of the iceberg. To illustrate a bank robbery, where robbers emptied the strong room of a co-operative bank, giving mostly loans agains...

PATELS, ANSARI & KALAM: THE RESERVATION CONUNDRUM “I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It would perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness” The above statement, attributed to former President of India, late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has to be dissected verbatim to let the world know, the beauty of the personality of Dr. Abdul Kalam, born into a Muslim family, died a practicing Muslim, yet like Mahatma Gandhi “World will scarce believe that such a one as this would ever have walked upon on this earth in flesh and blood.” Indeed Dr. Abdul Kalam is the most acceptable human being in India’s public space, where 80% of its population constitutes Hindus. He was, as he writes in his autobiography “WINGS OF FIRE”, born in ...

Risk factors Vs. Asset factors Prof. B. M. Hegde, “This world was never about TRUTH or LIES. There are only hard facts. Despite that, some who exist in this world mistakenly believes that only FACTS FAVORABLE TO THEM are truths. They know no other way to live. Do you know all the Facts?” Bleach anime Risk factors for any disease, especially for life style diseases, are another big business. Almost every known thing is cited as a risk factor. If one carefully reads a recent medicine textbook heart attacks have more than one hundred risk factors! People goad you to get yourself checked up regularly by regular screening to lessen your risk factor dangers. There are many studies of risk factors which are small cohort studies done for a short time slot, so called cross sectional studies, mostly funded by the vested interests, which proclaim that every single risk factor needs to be actively pursued and treated (controlled) vigorously. The main line media, both print and ele...

Juveniles Incarceration & Teenagers Education Washington: Teenagers who are detained tend to have substantially worse outcomes later in life than those who avoid serving time for similar offences, according to a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study, reports IANS. Juvenile incarceration lowers high-school graduation rates by 13 percent and increases adult incarceration by 23 percent. “We find that kids who go into juvenile detention are much less likely to graduate from high school and much more likely to end up in prison as adults," said co-author Joseph Doyle, an economist at the MIT Sloan School of Management. The study uses the variation in judges’ sentencing tendencies to analyze a large pool of otherwise similar teenagers, thus isolating the effects of the sentences on the kids in question. “We think this is some of the first real causal evidence on the effects of juvenile detention on kids’ outcomes,” Doyle noted. The co-authors are Doyle and ...

Sailing Saucer Prof. B.N.Karkera  Sailing Saucer (SS) is a fundamental invention in ocean engineering. The three tier structure and saucer like shape of SS shields it from the disturbances of the sea/ocean and provides land-like stability under all weather conditions. Thus, a SS System (SSS) is proposed for offshore mega harbor, cruise Island Township, research station, airport, nuclear/thermal power plants, battle station in national exclusive economic zone, vessels and many more spinoffs. The fundamental invention is by way of realizing multiple immunities to sea waves, ocean current and sea breeze. The first immunity, to sea waves, is due to absence of change in buoyancy volume. The remaining immunities, to ocean current and sea breeze, are due to its saucer shape. These features permit SSS to harvest bountiful renewable ocean wealth, while rejuvenating coastal water, as the subsidiary invention.  Lower Deck with heavy equipments. Artificial Reefs to 200 m dep...

Pakistan should stop cross border terrorism: Muslim Cleric Jammu: A prominent Muslim cleric said India should not holds talks with Pakistan unless it stops cross border terrorism as no engagement with the neighboring country “is possible at the cost of safety and security of our countrymen”. Against the backdrop of the cancellation of NSA level talks between India and Pakistan, Syed Athar Hussain Dehlavi, chief of the Anjuman Minhaje Rasool, also said that while Pakistan itself was “struggling for its  survival”, its other neighbours like Iran and Afghanistan, too, have become victims of the terrorism emanating from its soil. “No dialogue with Pakistan is possible at the cost of the safety and security of our countrymen. Pakistan itself is struggling for its survival given the internal conditions of that country,” Dehlavi told reporters here. “Not only India, countries like Iran and Afghanistan, too, are victims of terrorism emanating from the soil of Pakistan,” he said....

‘PCOS & Life style’ Mumbai: A recent study has revealed that around 10% of women in India have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) “Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a complex metabolic, endocrine and reproductive disorder that results in overproduction of male hormones, and is associated with insulin resistance (IR). In PCOs multiple small cysts are formed in the Ovaries,” said Dr Sandhya Kadam, MD, Ayurveda. Hormone imbalance causes problems with the regularity of woman’s periods and releasing eggs, and can also cause problems for women when trying to get pregnant. PCOS may also cause serious health concerns such as diabetes and heart disease. “I had PCOS when I studied in Kota for 3 years. I was preparing for the different engineering entrance exams. I gained 18 Kgs in 2 years since I hardly underwent any kind of rigorous physical activity. I started having a lot of irregularities in my menstrual cycles. I skipped months many times. I also had an episode where I kept b...

No More Shoes! London: A swish company claims to have created socks that are 15 times stronger than steel and could make shoes obsolete. The waterproof Free Your Feet (FYF) sock is built to “fit like a glove” and gives the wearer a feeling of being barefoot, while protecting the feet from injuries, according to a report by PTI. The tear and abrasion resisted socks have been tested by athletes and adventurers for rock climbing, surfing, slack lining and even swimming with sharks. The Swiss Barefoot Company used a super-strong fabric named Dyneema to create the socks. Dyneema floats on water and is resistant to moisture, UV light and harmful chemicals. The socks’ soles have ‘grip dots’ that let the wearers use them on all terrains, ‘Daily Express’ reported. “FYF increases your performance safely, and with a new sense of security,” said Dieter Hesch, founder of the company in Switzerland. “There are many sports where you would like to be barefoot but the risks of being injured are...

PORTRAYAL OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN MAINSTREAM CHILDREN’S TELEVISION Shailene Woodley, the young star of the best-seller-turned-movie “The Fault in our Stars”, in an interview, refused to call herself a feminist, citing the reason that she “loves men”. When did feminism turn into man-hating? In the contemporary era of digitised opinions, virtually projected ideas and hypocritical propositions, the term ‘feminism’ has been stripped of its true essence. Militancy has taken over the movement which has latched a sense of shame and disgrace to calling oneself a feminist. I will not look into feminism and its bittersweet relationship with influential women, but rather wade into the deep waters of how women are depicted in one particular yet vast segment of popular media – children’s television shows. In my two years of study of the basics of psychology, I’ve come to apprehend that, as Freudian as it may seem, an almost unnoticeable metaphorical blemish on a child’s psyche, if not cu...

When friendship is deeply meaningful London: A single supportive close friendship can help young people from low-income background to thrive in challenging circumstances, says new research, reports LANS. “Boys’ and girls’ best friendship are an important source of meaning and strength in the face of substantial adversity,” said lead researcher Rebecca Graber from University of Sussex in Britain. Young people from low-income areas typically face substantial challenges to good physical health, mental health, academic achievement and employment. Previous research has linked these challenges to involvement with peers and membership of larger friendship groups particularly among boys – but has not looked at whether young people’s best friendships, could positively contribute to resilience: self-reliance, a balanced perspective on life, and the ability to make meaning from difficult circumstances. In the new study, the researchers surveyed 409 student aged between 11 and 19 from...

Meeting students is OK. But what about teachers! Mumbai: Teachers welcomed ‘Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to interact with school students a day ahead of Teacher’s Day but they want him to also address their concerns. Modi will interact with Students in New Delhi for an hour-and-a-half, from 10am, like last year. The interaction will be telecast live for senior students at HVB Global Academy, Marine Drive, on Friday. “We had a staff picnic planned but now that is not happening. We will screen the students from grade IX to XII and over 150 staff members in the school hall. We will also record the interaction and show it to the other students on Monday,” said principal, Chandrakanta Pathak. It will be streamed live for over 500 students at Andheri’s Hansraj Morarji Public school. While teachers said it was a great idea and schools are making arrangements for screening it for students, they want Modi to also take note of their problems. “The idea of the prime minister speak...

Tamil Parliamentarian  is  Lankan opposition leader Colombo: Sri Lanka’s parliament named an ethnic minority Tamil politician as the main opposition leader for the first time in 32 years, a sign of growing reconciliation in the nation following the end of a bloody civil war. The majority of the nation’s population belongs to the Sinhalse community and the minorities Tamils have alleged persecution by the government since the uprising of Tamil Tiger separatists three decades ago.  Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, 83, head of Tamil National Alliance, is the first ethnic minority opposition leader since 1983, when Tamil legislators resigned en masse to protect against a law that compelled them to denounce separatism. Parliament’s speaker accepted Sampanthan as the main opposition leader after loyalists to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa were divided on whether they should support the government or be in opposition. “We will oppose the government on all issues, where i...

INDIAN IN COWBOY COUNTRY TWO LINES When Satish first came to the America, like any new immigrant to this country, he was given many telephone numbers of people from the old neighborhood who now lived in the U.S. Vikas, a fifteen-year veteran of this country, living in Manhattan, was one of them. He had one piece of advice for him: “Don’t go changing your name to Sat or Stan. If this country can say Zbogniew Brzezininski, it can Satish, Heck, your name has two vowels in it, and recognizable syllables from the English language!” Zbigniew Brzezinski was the secretary of state in the Carter administration. “Pardon,” exclaimed Quynh. “I don’t understand ‘speak news?” “No, Zbigniew,” he said, It was too difficult to explain, so let it pass. “You from Vietnam?” he asked as she turned on her clippers. “Yes, “she said, again quite pleased. “How did you know?” “Easy,” he said. “Your name is Vietnamese.” “Yes. You say it so well, but most people find it so hard,” she complain...