Changing profile of banking

The recent data on deposits and credit of scheduled commercial banks published by the Reserve Bank of India provide valuable insights into the distribution of banking business across the country. As on March 31, 2009, the number of banked centres served by scheduled commercial banks stood at 34,636. A very large number of them – over 28, 000-were single office centres, mostly in rural and semi-urban areas. At the other extreme, there were 61 centres having 100 or more bank branches. The concentration of bank branches in a few urban and metro centres is by no means a new development. But for the unprecedented branch network expansion that followed the nationalization of large banks in 1969, the concentration would have been even more pronounced. In the reform era beginning the early 1990s, the emphasis shifted in favour of consolidation. With considerations of profitability dictating the strategic plans, branch expansion, especially to rural areas, was no longer a priority. Instead, banks tended to converge on centres that had business potential. According to the RBI, the top hundred centres, arranged according to the size of deposits, accounted for 69.2 per cent of the total deposits, while the top hundred ranked according to the size of credit accounted for 78.5 per cent of total bank credit as on March 31 this year.

The skewed pattern of distribution obviously meant heightened competition in certain centres while in a much larger number of places, including those with no banks at all, the urgent task has been to extend the range of financial services. Among the banks, non-price competition has become the norm. Technology has been harnessed in a variety of ways to take on competition and, more importantly, to reduce transaction costs. It has enabled the opening of new delivery channels such as internet banking and mobile banking. But its role in extending financial services across the country has not been fully appreciated. Quite obviously the goal of inclusive banking has to be achieved in a context where the traditional model of branch banking cannot be entirely relied upon. Technological applications are already enabling business correspondents and others to deliver many types of services now offered by a bank. However, over the medium-term it is highly unlikely that the traditional bank model will lose its relevance even in rural areas. In fact, these bank branches might be called upon to undertake newer services, including those having a development dimension such as delivery of subsidies and conditional cash transfers.

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Global interest in strategy: Colombo

Several countries, including Pakistan, have expressed the desire to learn from Sri Lanka’s experience in successfully fighting terrorism, according to Sri Lankan Army chief Jagath Jayasuriya. Speaking at his Regimental Headquarters here on Thursday, Lieutenant-General Jayasuriya said the Army had no hesitation in sharing the knowledge with the armies of other countries. The Army chief said, in his assessment, Sri Lanka’s military strength needed to be enhanced from the present 2, 00,000 to 2, 25,000. “The actual new recruits could be around 50,000as for the last two-and-half years those eligible to retire were not permitted due to war.” Lieutenant-General Jayasuriya said his endeavour would be to transform the Army to cope with post-conflict challenges.

He said the Army would soon send more of its engineers for additional demining work. “I have already sent 400 engineering troops for de-mining and I am sending more battalions to be trained in ‘humanitarian demining,” he said and added that the military did not have a precise estimate of land mines planted by the LTTE. “An area about 3,100 square miles [8,000 sq.km.], including Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu and parts of Jaffna districts, must be demined before it will be safe enough for the Tamils to return. Without de-mining, I don’t think we can take a chance,” said the General.

“We have four international non-governmental organizations helping us now and I want to use mechanized mine clearing to speed up the process,” he added. Nearly 2.6 lakh war-displaced persons are sheltered in temporary government transition camps and pressure is growing on the government to let them return to their original homes.

The government is committed to a 180-day programme for rehabilitation but holds that there is no way the war-displaced can return immediately as the areas, which were earlier under the control of the LTTE, are heavily mined and basic infrastructure is in rubble.

Habitat and food mark out tigers in Sunderbans

Living in the intertidal habitat among marshy thickets, having become accustomed to the saline water, and but often without the trademark element of surprise, the Royal Bengal Tiger of the Sunderbans may have evolved differently from its brethren in peninsular India, according to experts here.

Forest Department Officials are constantly discovering aberrant behaviour patterns. The July 17 finding of poisonous snake in a tiger’s stomach is one such example. “While tigers are known to eat snakes, this is perhaps the first record of a tiger eating poisonous ones,” said Richa Dwivedi, deputy field director of the Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve.

“Although it is yet to be confirmed scientifically that the tiger is genetically different from terrestrial tigers as the DNA analysis has not been done, there are certainly many physiological adaptations,” said Pradeep Vyas, the State Forest Department’s chief conservator of forests (Central).

There is strong evidence of the fact that tigers in the Sunderbans drink saline water, says N.C. Bahuguna, director, Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve.

“There are nearly 270 tigers in the Sunderbans, but the few fresh water ponds that were ponds that were created are not sufficient to support this large a population,” said Pranabesh Sanyal, former director. “In any case, there were no fresh water ponds before 1977, so what else could the tigers drink then?

These tigers have to negotiate harsh habitat conditions, apart from non-availability of fresh water. The muddy and marshy areas, dotted with pneumatophores (spiked roots of mangroves which abound in these forests), have forced them to hunt differently, says Mr. Vyas. “When they walk on the wet soil, it is often noisy and they can’t stealthily approach their prey, like tigers normally do.”

Aquatic diet:

Difficulties faced in hunting may be the cause of their alternative food habits, although experts differ on the reasons.

“Studies have shown that nearly 20 per cent of the diet of tigers in these parts is aquatic including fish, crabs and turtles,” said Mr. Sanyal, who suggested that easy availability of these substitutes might cause them to eat this food. At times, even grasshoppers have been found in the stomach contents of these tigers, according to Mr. Bahuguna.

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Link between rice intake and diabetes found

Rice is a major source of dietary carbohydrates. But the link between diet, rice in particular, and diabetes has not been studied in great detail till now.

A paper published recently in the British Journal of Nutrition shows a clear link between the consumption of white, polished (refined) rice and the prevalence of diabetes.

Every tenth participant of the 2001-02 phase I CURES (Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study) conducted by Dr.V.Mohan of the Dr.Mohan’s diabetes specialities center in Chennai was chosen for the current study to see for a link between dietary carbohydrate and diabetes. 1,843 people who did not know their diabetes status were selected for the study.

The participants: the chosen participants were then tested for diabetes and their food habits were recorded. The risk factor for diabetes such as sedentary lifestyle, age, BMI (body mass index), etc., were adjusted between the kind/ quantity of food consumed and diabetes.

When the food habits of the chosen participants were studied, it became clear that those who consumed more rice (Polished and refined) were more likely to have diabetes. For instance, the study participants were spilt into four quartiles based on the amount of various food consumed. It was found that people in the lowest quartile consumed about 320 grams per day of rice compared with 516 grams per day by those in the highest quartile.

“What we found was, as the amount of rice consumption increased, the consumption of other food items, like fruits and vegetables, legumes and diary products became less,” said Dr. Mohan. “We found a link not just between carbohydrate consumption and diabetes but the kind of carbohydrate consumed and its effect”, said Dr. Mohan.

Carbohydrate rich:

The carbohydrate derived from polished white rice is 66 per cent of the total carbo hydrate in take.

“Another interesting finding was that as the increased intake of rice was at the cost of other food items,” he said. For instance, in the lowest quartile that consumed less rice, the intake of fruits was about 300 grams per day, while fruit consumption in the highest quartile was 233 grams per day. The same trend was observed in the case of other food items.

But the biggest positive link was found in the case of dairy products. Those having the least quantity of dairy products were more likely to have diabetes; those who consumed the most had less chances of having diabetes.

Polished rice:

“It is not that our eating habits have changed in the recent past. Our fathers and grandfathers had also consumed rice. But the kind of rice they consumed and what we consume today are totally different,” he said.

The rice that we get today is the highly refined and polished variety. “The more polished the rice, the more glycaemic index (GI) it would have,” he said. The GI indicates the glucose-raising effect of a food.

Polishing removes the bran and the germ. While the bran contains fibre, protein and vitamin B-complex; polished rice has only starch, which is nothing but carbohydrate.

According to Dr. Mohan, rice used to be 2 per cent polished earlier; now it is polished to 8 per cent -10 per cent.

The only good news is that increased of the ill-effects of various food items has made many companies produce healthier food products.

Healthy food:

Rice that is relatively less polished is now available in the market. Similarly, many products made from whole wheat are available.

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Chronic paronychia

Chronic paronychia is a multifactorial inflammatory reaction of the proximal nail fold to irritants and allergens which has been present for at least 6 weeks at the time of diagnosis.

What are the symptoms?

• One or several fingernails are usually affected,
• Sudden pain, redness like acute paronychia
• Pus discharge
• Retraction of the proximal nail fold and absence of the adjacent cuticle.
• The nail plate becomes thickened and discolored, with transverse ridges.
• Nail loss.

What is the cause for this infection?

The cuticle separates from the nail plate, leaving the region between the proximal nail fold and the nail plate vulnerable to infection.

Who are all prone to get this problem?

• Laundry workers,
• House and office cleaners,
• Food handlers, cooks, dishwashers, bartenders,
• Chefs,
• Fishmongers, confectioners,
• Nurses,
• Swimmers.

What is the common organism thought to cause this infection?

• Candida albicans (controversial)

How to prevent?

• Apply moisturizing lotion after hand washing.
• Avoid chronic prolonged exposure to contact irritants and moisture (including detergent and soap)
• Avoid finger sucking.
• Keep nails short.
• Use rubber gloves, preferably with inner cotton glove or cotton liners.

What is the treatment?

• Steroids and Antifungal agent (ointment) used to treat and prevent recurrence.
• In severe cases- Oral antifungal and/or Steroids.

What are the options for non responders?

• Simultaneous total or partial avulsion of the nail plate.
• En bloc excision of the proximal nail fold is effective.
• Eponychial marsupialization, with or without nail removal.

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Go the fruit and nut way for a healthy life

A healthy diet helps prevent kidney stones, says a new study. The study, appearing in the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN), claims that loading up on fruits, vegetables, nuts, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains, while limiting salt, red and processed meats, and sweetened beverages is an effective way to ward off kidney stones.

To reach the conclusion, Eric Taylor, MD (Maine Medical Center) and his colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted a large study. They collected information from individuals enrolled in three clinical studies. Dr. Taylor’s team assigned a score to each participant based on eight components of a DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) style diet: high intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains and low intake of salt, sweetened beverages, and red and processed meats. Individuals with higher DASH scores consumed diets that were higher in calcium, potassium, magnesium, oxalate, and vitamin C and lower in sodium.

A total of 5,645 incident kidney stones developed in the participants in the three studies. In each, participants with the highest DASH scores were between 40 per cent and 45 per cent less likely to develop kidney stones than participants with the lowest DASH scores. The reductions in stone risk were independent of age, body size, fluid intake, and other factors. Because a DASH style diet may affect the development of hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseases associated with kidney stones, the researchers also performed an analysis limited to study participants without hypertension or diabetes. Even among those individuals the DASH diet reduced the risk of kidney stones.

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Australia takes steps to ensure quality education in universities

The Australian government is getting tougher with private education providers who recruit international students through unscrupulous agents making it mandatory for them to provide the list of agents. This was one of the key aspects included in the changes proposed to the education services for overseas students act, 2000 (ESOA). The amendment bill was introduced by minister for education Julia Gillard in Parliament on Wednesday.

The changes will require the education provides to list the names of education agents, who represent them and promote their education services, and comply with any matter prescribed in the regulations. The changes will also ensure that the principal purpose of educational institutions is to provide education, and the provider demonstrates the capacity to give education of a satisfactory standard.

The amendments call for re-registration by December 31, 2010 of all institutions now registered on the commonwealth register of institutions and courses for overseas students (CRICOS) conditions imposed on the education provides will be recognized by the commonwealth.

Under the scanner: the amendments are the first in a series of measures the government is taking to ensure that Australia continues to offer world-class, quality international education in the changing environment. These measures assume significance with the quality of education coming under the scanner after the international media, particularly the Indian media, highlighted the issue in the wake of attacks on Indian students here.

Many students and teachers from popular universities here view the courses, mostly vocational diplomas, offered by private colleges as substandard, which do not meet the quality prescribed by the Australian government and are being used as a dashboard to get into the country. Interestingly, the majority of students coming under attack are enrolled in such institutions here and mostly in Victoria.

Earlier, skills and workforce participation Minister of Victoria Jacinta Allan told a visiting Indian media delegation that Victoria initiated a repid audit of education and training providers suspected of breaching their legal obligations. “ The audit is on and expected to be completed soon,”.

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Effective advice giving calls for understanding emotions

Often while discharging your duties at work you are required to provide advice based on your technical expertise to others say your boss, a client or a colleague. But to your surprise your well-intentioned advice frequently falls on deafears.

You are baffled at why your suggestions though technically sound have not been implemented. Herein lies the catch. To become a good advisor technical brilliance alone is not enough. Along with good advice you must have some good interpersonal skills too. You are wrong if you think advice giving is just a logical process.

It has an emotional undercurrent that you must take into account. Before you can influence others, you must build a good rapport with them and earn their trust. Unless you learn to recognize and respond to others’ emotions, you cannot become an effective advisor.

Your success greatly depends on your ability to understand their personalities and adjust the advice-giving process accordingly. Therefore the next time you are asked for advice, remember to do the following to improve your effectiveness:

Choose right words:

While giving advice pay careful attention to language. Suggestions for improvement may carry an implied indication that things are not being done well at the moment. This feeling switches the other person into a defensive mode.

So first you must find a way to convince him that your intention is not to criticise but to help him. Choose the right words to express your views so that it comes across with respect and any implied criticism is softened.

Understand perspectives:

If you talk directly about how to improve things, you may not find instant talkers. To be really effective as an advisor you must know how to influence the thinking of other people.

As a first step, try to gain good insights into what they think and why. When dealing with more than one person such as committees you must take extra pains to collect this data. Each person in the group brings a different perspective to the problem you have been asked to help with. So find out beforehand who is going to attend the meeting. Call each of them in advance to find out their take on the issue.

When you understand their individual views and concerns you will be better equipped to provide expert guidance and secure a buy-in for a preferred solution.

Be a guide:

The most effective way to influence a client, subordinate or a colleague is to help him find the solution himself. Instead of saying what you want him to do, develop a gradual reasoning process that helps him arrive at the logical conclusion himself.

The whole process should involve more of questioning and listening than suggesting improvements. While helping the person solve a problem you can ask questions like:

• Why do you think this problem occurred?
• How can we do things differently?
• What pros and cons do you think exist for the various options?
• What do you think is the best option under the current circumstances?

By helping him discover all the available options, their costs, benefits as well as risks involved, you can gently guide him to the preferred solution.

Emotional support:

People in general look forward to support, affirmation, approval and appreciation from others. This also applies to people whom you need to give advice be it your boss, client or a colleague.

In order to make them listen to your advice and accept it you must develop the right behavioural skills that ensure the kind of emotional support they expect along with your technical guidance.

Customise:

Tailor your advice giving approach to suit the individual who has sought your help. Depending on the situation and the other person’s preferred style of interaction, you have to make amends to your approach. The key to success is to be sufficiently flexible and discover what works best in any given situation.

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Tunisian woman pregnant with 12 babies

A Tunisian woman is said to be pregnant with 12 babies. The unnamed teacher and her husband are ecstatic about the pregnant that was achieved with fertility treatment after she suffered two miscarriages. The couple is expecting six boys and six girls, the media reported.

The husband, identified only as Marwan, is also a teacher of Arabic at a high school in their home town of Gafsa, southwest of the capital Tunis. The couples have said, it was an “amazing and wonderful miracle”.

“In the beginning we thought that my wife would give birth to twins, but more fetuses were discovered. Out joy increased with the growing number,” The Daily Telegraph quoted him as telling the local media.

The woman is about to eclipse the American “octomom,” Nadia Suleman Fertility experts have condemned the news, alleging the doctors who treated the couple are “irresponsible” and risking the health and lives of both, the mother and her babies

Simon Fisher, a fertility expert from the University of Oxford said the news of the duodecaplets was “horrendous” and the doctors involved were “irresponsible” to allow it.

“The chances of all of them surviving are extremely remote and the chance of some of them surviving without any problems is unlikely- they are likely to have significant problems”.

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Amino acid discovered on comet

Astronomers claim to have found an amino acid on a comet. The ‘discovery’ confirms that some of life’s building blocks were delivered to the early earth from space. Amino acids form when organic, carbon-containing compounds and water are zapped with a source of energy, such as photons- a process that can take place on earth or in space.

Previously, amino acids have been found in space rocks that fell to earth as meteorites. Now, a team at NASA Goddard space flight center has analysed the samples from the agency’s stardust mission and traces the amino acid called glycine to an icy comet for the first time, the new scientist reported.

“It’s not necessarily surprising, but it’s very satisfying to find it there because it hasn’t been observed before, “lead astronomer Jamie Elsila said.

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Prince William to marry Kate in 2011: media report

Prince William and his girl friend Kate Middleton have reached “an understanding” that their eight year relationship will culminate in marriage by 2011, a media report said on Sunday.

“Done deal”

While marriage is a “done deal” between Prince William and Ms.Middleton, both 27, it is not expected till 2011 at the earliest, the News of the World reported, quoting well-placed sources in the royal family. The plan is that by the time the queen celebrates her diamond jubilee in 2012, Ms.Middleton will be on the palace balcony by her side as a full-fledged princess.

Insiders say the prince and his key advisers, including his father prince Charles, have a route map to the altar in place, with Ms.Middleton, at its heart.

Ms.Middleton is secure in the knowledge that the secret pact has already been made, and the palace blueprint for the future, creating the prince and princess of Wales, is in place.

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Lack of rain in Gulbarga hits pulses output

The failure of Kharif crop in Gulbarga district will have a disastrous impact on the foodgrain production, particularly pulses, in Karnataka.

Gulbarga, popularly known as the “pulses granary of Karnataka” because of the large area under pulses cultivation, is experiencing drought owing to the failure of rain resulting in crops of major pulses, including red gram, black gram and green gram, failing this year. While the cultivation of short-duration green gram and black gram has been ruled out this year following lack of rain in June and July, red gram, which is known for its drought-resistant qualities, too has failed owing to extended dry spells.

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Unrest over health hazards in China

Hundreds of villagers in China’s Shaanxi province stormed a lead smelting plant on Monday after it emerged that more than 600 children in two villages had taken ill with lead poisoning.

Monday’s incident is the latest in a number of recent cases of public unrest caused by environment pollution by factories in China’s provinces. While the government has in recent years begun to strengthen its environmental pollution laws, violations are still widespread at the provincial level.

Officials said on Monday the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Group in central China’s Shaanxi province was responsible for poisoning at least 615 children in two villages near the township of Chagqing located near its plant. Officials found that lead content in the water and soil in surrounding areas was dangerously high.

Out of the 615 children who had taken ill with lead poisoning, 166 were in a serious condition and admitted to local hospitals. Officials said in some cases the lead content found in their blood was more than four times safe levels. “The medical test by doctors showed that for 20 out of 30 children the lead in blood was excessive, and 10 had more than 200 mg of lead per litre of blood,” Zhang Yongxiang, a local villager, told the State run China Daily newspaper. The normal lead content in blood is between 0 and 100 mg per litre. “One girl was taken to a hospital because her lead content was 306 mg,” he said.

While environmental laws have been strengthened at the central level, enforcement at the local level remains week, and many say influential companies, which often enjoy close relationships with local governments, escape strict enforcement. It emerged on Monday that Dongling had even passed emission standards tests and inspections conducted by local authorities.

Another high-profile case last year saw more than 3 lakh children fall ill after consuming milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine. Later, investigations found that the Sanlu Company, China’s largest dairy producer, had for months covered up tests which had found its milk products to be unsafe. It also emerged that Sanlu had close ties with the provincial government in Hebei where the company was based.

Next month, the first ever environmental protection lawsuit filed against a government body in China on behalf of residents will be heard in Guizhou province. Usually, affected residents receive little compensation given the weakness in enforcement of environmental laws. But a local municipal court last month, for the first time, accepted a public interest petition filed against the government for a construction project that polluted two water bodies.

“No matter what the conclusive is, we hope it will serve as a warning to government departments that they should fulfil their duty to protect the environment,” Liu Haiying, a judge at the Qingzhen municipal court in Guizhou told China Daily. “They need to gradually realise they are not only under the supervision of the Communist Party and other administrative departments, but also under the watch of citizens.”

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Indian consignment handed over to U.N

High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Alok Prasad on Tuesday handed over to the U.N Resident Representative, Neil Buhne, the fourth consignment of relief goods from India meant for the war-displaced population in northern Sri Lanka.

The 600-tonne consignment, valued at over $3-million, arrived in Colombo on August8. It consists of more than 6,00,000 packages of grocery items, utensils, plastic mats, clothing materials including children’s clothing, footwear, jerry cans and personal hygiene items.

Most of the items are in enough quantity to cover the needs of 80,000 families, nearly the entire IDP population in the north. The Indian mission said New Delhi was appreciative of Colombo and the U.N. for facilitating distribution of materials to the war displaced.

“The Government of India hopes that the process of resettlement will continue apace. It reiterates its readiness to work with the Government of Sri Lanka in assisting the later to fulfil its commitment for early resettlement of all displaced families to their original habitat.”

Important contribution:

The U.N. said would distribute the materials in the coming weeks with particular focus on those returning to their homes under the government’s 180-day plan. “This contribution is extremely important now,” said Mr. Bhune.

“The goods provided will help to meet the needs of the displaced in the welfare centres, but can also be used to support the return of the displaced to their homes.”

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11 test positive for flu in Coimbatore

Test results received here on Monday from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in New Delhi confirmed that 11 persons had tested positive for the A(H1N1) influenza. They include two doctors, health officials said. These cases add to the four declared on Sunday.

Three men, a woman doctor, six girls and a boy were declared flu positive by health officials on Monday.

The Coimbatore Medical College Hospitals sent for tests throat swabs of seven persons – three women, including a doctor, two men and two boys.

Collector P. Umanath told reporters that all the patients were stable and asked people not to believe rumours that two persons had succumbed to the flu.

“There is no need to panic,” he said after inaugurating an orientation meeting at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for government and private doctors on combating and preventing the flu.

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The unvarnished facts about swine flu

‘Swine’ is not a nice word. We use it in a derogatory sense to describe people we don’t much like. ‘Pig’ on the other hand is fairly neutral. It could indicate a likeable animal. “The three little swine and the big bad wolf someone does not seem appropriate. Hence it is not surprising that the influenza pandemic, which no one can help but hear about, has been labelled ‘swine’ and not ‘pig’ flu.

It is caused by a virus that originally infected pigs and was labelled ‘H1’. This occasionally infected humans but, importantly, did not spread from person to person. As most of us are less likely to meet a pig than another human being, this meant the virus had a limited chance of spreading.

Viruses, which are one of the most basic of living beings, essentially consist of strings of DNA or RNA, which are the building blocks of all life. Viruses can change their DNA (or RNA) sequence fairly easily during replication, helping them evade the immune system of their hosts. This change can sometimes alter the character of the virus. The HI virus, which infected mainly pigs, did just that. The new avatar had the important characteristic of spreading from human to human; this change was of sufficient importance for it to acquire a new addition to its label.

Thus was born the H1n1 virus. Its DNA sequence is a mix of DNAs from three different viruses, affecting birds, pigs, and humans. Occasionally a human could infect a pig with H1N1 but the infection is predominantly among humans. The first time the H1N1 virus infected humans was in 1918. Over the years, several epidemics have occurred by similar strains, which were also called Human Influenza A (seasonal) and were also H1N1. The current pandemic probably resulted from cross transmission from pigs again, the first case occurring in a 17-year-old in Wisconsin, USA in 2008. This strain is sometimes referred to as S-OIV.

Viruses produce a wide range of diseases. Influenza, common cold, polio, small pox, chicken pox, encephalitis, rabies, and measles are some of the well known ones. Many viruses are yet to be identified and named but can still cause serious disease. Hundreds and possibly thousands of children die everyday in India from acute respiratory infections and acute gastroenteritis, often caused by viruses. Overcrowding, poor hygiene, and malnutrition increase the chances of not only getting infected but also dying of it.

The swine flu, like most flu, affects mainly the respiratory system. This facilitates its spread as the viruses travel through droplets dispersed while sneezing or coughing. The typical symptoms are fever, cough, body pain, lethargy and, in severe cases, mental obtundation and respiratory failure. When the patient dies, the virus dies. Hence, overtime, the more virulent strains die out and subsequent infections are milder. The flu viruses generally spread, almost inevitably, to infect large sections of the population in the course of a few months unless effective vaccines are developed and deployed quickly for the entire population. But vaccines can cause problems and the occasional fatality too.

For milder infections like the common cold and the milder forms of flu, it may be better to allow the spread of sub-clinical or mild infection for natural immunity to develop in the community. The H1N1 (S-OIV) virus is estimated to have infected about 2.5 million people in the United States. Previous epidemics of similar viral infections have left behind sufficient innate immunity in many, protecting them from fresh infection with the current pandemic.

Antibiotics have no effect against viruses. Specific anti-viral agents, namely Ostelamivir (Tamiflu), are effective against H1N1 if used early, preferably within the first two days. However, as early symptoms are non-specific, potentially millions of people with ordinary viral infections like the common cold will have to be tested and/or treated with anti-viral agents. Such a strategy may be impractical and without established benefit.

Swine Flu (H1N1 S-OIV) is one among many infections caused by viruses and bacteria. Many of these infections are more infections and dangerous than swine flu in India. TB kills a thousand people in India every day.

1. Most cases of swine flu are likely to recover with or without Tamiflu.
2. The virus may get less virulent with time.
3. Many may already have natural immunity against the virus.
4. In course of time, a significant proportion of the population will test positive for swine flu due to swine flu infection without disease. Because of this, there may be a danger of misdiagnosing many other conditions for swine flu.

Possible beneficial outcomes:

1. Greater awareness of the nature of infections and their spread. Better hygiene and preventive methods for all infections may evolve.
2. Preventive methods may curb the spread of their infections like TB.
3. The government and the public may become more aware of the lacunae in health care delivery and corrective steps may be taken.

Possible deleterious effects of excessive publicity:

1. Mass hysteria and panic, leading to inappropriate and useless actions.
2. Diversion of scarce funds from other badly needed areas to activities with little benefit.
3. False expectations of medical interventions from doctors and institutions.

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Plan to utilize equipment at university for swine flu test

The State Health Department is planning to use the advanced laboratory equipment available at Madurai Kamaraj University for conducting swine flu tests.

Since the requisite machines for testing the samples were not available in private hospitals in the city, the officials of Directorate of Public Health have approached the university which has the ‘Real Time-PCR Test’ equipment needed to carry out A (H1N1) influenza tests.

Official sources told The Hindu here on Sunday that a team of health officials visited the MKU on Saturday to assess whether the proposal was feasible. The university has two PCR machine at the laboratories in School of Biological Sciences and the School of Biotechnology.

Asked about the proposed move by the Health Department, Vice-Chancellor R.Karpaga Kumaravel said, “The University is ready to extend its facility if the State Government is satisfied with our laboratory equipment. We have a social obligation to support the Health Department.”

A two-member team comprising Deputy Director of Health Services A. Palanichamy and faculty member of Madurai Medical College Jhansi Charles visited the university’s ascertain if the university’s equipment met the specifications given the Directorate of Public Health.

Even while agreeing to share the infrastructure, Dr.Karpaga Kumaravel said that the Health Department must arrange for the requisite trained manpower to carry out the swine flu tests.

When contacted, the Director of Public Health S.Elango said that the university would be the immediate option available for diagnosing swine flu. A senior faculty member at the university in the field of genomics P. Gunasekaran said that the Health Department has asked for BSL-3 bio-safety specification whereas the Real TimePCR machine in the university was only of bio-safety-2 level. “Our university is working in the field of molecular biology and not in pathogenic levels. Since the handling of machine is different in the case of swine flu, it is for the Health Department to decide. They will have to upgrade our PCR machine,” Dr. Gunasekaran said.

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Turkey supports China on Xinjiang

Turkey, the lone voice in the international community that strongly criticized China for its handling of July’s ethnic unrest in Xinjiang, now appears to have mended its fences with China.

Only a few weeks ago, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the events as “a kind of genocide”. Now, it appears to have considerably changed its tone.

“We have the confidence that those who caused the incident would be brought to transparent, fair and swift justice by the Chinese authorities,” said Turkish Ambassador to China Murat Salim Esenli on Friday, during a four-day visit to the troubled Muslim-majority Xinjiang region. Relations between the two countries have been strained following the ethnic clashes between Han Chinese and minority Uighurs, an ethnic Turkic-speaking Muslim group that broke out in Urumqi on July 5.

At least 197 people were killed in what was the biggest ethnic unrest in China’s recent history.

Migrant community:

Turkey has a large Uighur migrant community, which is viewed in the country as sharing a common pan-Turkish ethnic identity. Shortly after the violence, Mr.Erdogan said he would approach the United Nations to “discuss” the issue.

Last month, Trade Minister Nihat Ergun also called on consumers to not buy Chinese goods. But Turkey has found itself isolated in the international community over its stance on Xinjiang.

The country’s trade relationship with China has also grown close in recent years, and Mr. Erdogan’s government has found itself walking a tight-rope balancing economic and geo-political considerations with domestic public opinion that remains strongly against China.

Opposition parties in Turkey have also sought to gain political mileage out of the issue, and more than 10,000 people attended a recent protest rally criticizing China’s handling of the unrest and calling for a strong response from the government.

But now, the government appears to have softened its stance. Mr. Esenli for the first time toured Xinjiang last week, as part of a delegation of envoys from the U.S., Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Togo, Egypt, Turkey, Kuwait and Afghanistan. During the visit, Mr. Esenli praised the Chinese government for opening up the region to foreign media, and blamed the Western media’s “biased and prejudiced reporting” for influencing public opinion in Turkey, State media reported.

Economic ties:

The trip, organized by the Chinese government, comprised a number of envoys from Muslim countries, many of whom enjoy close economic ties with China and have in recent weeks publicly voiced their support to the Chinese government on the Xinjiang issue. Turkey has now joined that list.

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Number of swine flu cases rises to39 in west Bengal

Even as the number of people who tested positive to swine flu in west Bengal rose to 39 on Sunday, the health department issued guidelines to collect throat swabs on a priority basis.

A large number of people rushed to the city’s three swine flu clinics to undergo test. “Seven new A (H1N1) positive cases were detected on Sunday”, said Dr.Taposh Sen, nodal officer of the state health department’s swine flu wing. He said 21 people were undergoing treatment at various state-run facilities.

The large number of samples being sent in to the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), the only swine flu testing facility in West Bengal, has created a backlog, Dr.Sen said.

“This is causing delays in the detection of patients in the detection of patients in the most vulnerable groups”, he added.

A case in point is that of Akash Chowdhury, who was admitted to the R.G.Kar medical college hospital on Tuesday but doctors had to wait till Saturday to know his results. Admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit, his condition was critical and remained unchanged on Sunday, said Dr.Sen.

The other 20 victims, who are currently undergoing treatment, have been kept in the isolation wards of the Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital at Beliaghata and the M.R.Bhangur Hospital. As the combined capacity of the two hospitals was only 28 beds, the authorities will have to find alternative isolation facilities.

The health department has issued guidelines that samples collected from four categories of patients will be given priority-children up to 5 years and people above 65 years, a person with an underlying disease such as diabetes, asthma or a pregnant woman, a suspect suffering from breathing difficulties, high fever or diarrhoea and an individual who has travelled abroad or has come in contact with a swine flu victim.

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British tabloid claims add a new twist to Jackson’s death

In a new twist to the circumstances surrounding pop star Michael Jackson’s death, it has emerged that his “drug-riddled” body may have been lying in his bedroom for more than an hour before help arrived, a British tabloid claimed on Sunday, quoting what it sensationally described as a “bombshell” ambulance report.

It said the report made on a comprehensive official form showed that Jackson was clinically dead along before paramedics arrived at this Los Angels home.

The revelation contradicts claims by Jackson’s personal physician Conrad Murray that the singer had a faint pulse when the ambulance came.

The News of the world, which reported the claim, said that Steven Hoefflin, a close friend of Jackson had “confirmed” its details.

“I’ve spooken to a chief in the fire department who told me Michael was dead when they arrived. He had no pulse and was not breathing. They gave him an electro-cardio-gram, but he was flatlined. They say he even had lividity, which meant the blood had sunk to the back, indicating that his heart had stopped a couple of hours earlier. This is the most important aspect of the report, as it means he must have been dead for over an hour, or probably longer,” Dr. Hoefflin was quoted saying.

The report, the newspaper said, was completed more than seven weeks ago, but was kept from the public by the police.

The 50-year –old King of pop died of a heart attack on June 25 after taking a cocktail of prescription pills. According to his Physician Dr. Murray, the singer was unconscious, but still had a faint pulse and the body was warm when he walked into Jackson’s bedroom.

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Swine flu testing labs to be ready in 20 days

With the health department having initiated the process of setting up swine flu testing laboratories in Madurai and Tirunelveli, these facilities will start functioning in 20 days.

The state government had announced, after a review meeting in Chennai on Tuesday, that testing laboratories for A (H1N1) flu would be established at government medical colleges in Madurai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli. ”Formalities for providing the testing equipment have started and training is being given to lab technicians at the king institute of preventive medicine in Chennai”, health minister M.R.K. Pannerselvam told The Hindu on Thursday.

Training in conducting the laboratory tests was an important component in fighting the swine flu as the tests could not be done properly if trained personnel were not available in government hospitals. The testing equipment cost around Rs.30 lakh and once it was available locally, samples of suspected cases need not be referred to the king institute, the minister said and appealed to the people not to panic.

Officials in the directorate of public health said that the Real Time PCR test equipment for carrying out swine flu tests would be given to Government Rajaji Hospital/ Madurai Medical College and Tirunelveli Medical College. Adequate number testing kits would also be made available, an official said.

Meanwhile, the director of the public health and preventive Medicine, S.Elango, said that there was no increase in incidences of fever cases in Tamil Nadu, as corroborated through monthly data from government and private hospitals. “Our analysis has shown that 10 per cent of the state’s population will normally have common cold at a given point in time, of which half of them will have normal fever. These cases cannot be construed as swine flu”, Dr.Elango said.

Seeks nod

To step up testing and treatment facilities for swine flu cases in Madurai region, vadamalayan Hospitals here has approached the state Government for its permission. Right now, the Government Rajaji Hospitals (GRH) here has an isolation ward to patients suspected to the GRH with swine flu symptoms were discharged from the hospital on Thursday.

Sangili Murugan (18), a student from Oddanchatram in Dindugal district, and Balamurugan (32) of palanganatham here were admitted on Wednesday with complaints of fever, cough and sore throat. Samples were sent to the king institute in Chennai for tests and the results are awaited. “They were discharged on Thursday morning itself since they did not have fever,” S.M. Sivakumar, Dean in-charge, GRH, said.

Authorities in Vadamalayan Hospitals are of the view that private hospitals can join hands with the government in fighting the flu. “If the government gives permission, we will create an isolation ward and procure testing kits.”

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Groundwater vanishing in north India, says NASA

Groundwater levels in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi are falling dramatically – by one foot a year – a trend that could lead to “extensive socio-economic stresses” for the region’s 114 million residents, says a scientific paper based on National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s satellite imagery.

A staggering 109 cubic km of groundwater has been lost in just six years (2002 to 2008) – a figure twice the capacity of India’s largest surface reservoir Upper Wainganga and “much more” than the government’s estimation, says the paper published in the latest issue of the international journal Nature.

The depletion owes entirely to human activity such as irrigation, and not natural climatic variability, concluded the study co-authored by Matthew Rodell, a hydrologist with NASA. Groundwater is being pumped out faster than it is being replenished.

The finding is based on images from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a pair of satellites that senses changes in Earth’s gravity field and associated mass distribution, including water masses stored above or below the Earth’s surface.

Between August 2002 and October 2008, the region lost 109 cubic km of groundwater, almost triple the capacity of the largest manmade reservoir in the U.S., Lake Mead.

If measures are not taken to ensure sustainable groundwater use, consequences may include collapse of agricultural output and severe shortages of potable water, said Professor Rodell.

Depletion is likely to continue until effective measures are taken to curb groundwater demand which could propel severe shortages of potable water, reduced agricultural productivity, conflict and suffering, the research paper added. Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi are semi-arid or arid. The region has benefited from the Green Revolution “fuelled largely by increased production of groundwater for irrigation.”

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Swine flu less severe than expected: European centre

The current swine flu pandemic is less severe than might be expected, says the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The ECDC has published the planning assumptions that European countries could use to prepare for the major first pandemic wave expected in the coming autumn and winter months. The Centre has drawn heavily on the planning assumptions put out by Britain’s Cabinet Office and its Department of Health last month.

The swine flu’s death rate, known as the ‘case fatality ratio’, is expected to be similar to that of seasonal flu that people catch each year.

Peak absenteeism:

The British had predicted a peak absenteeism rate of 12 per cent of the workforce, which fitted with the mild illness seen for most people, observed the ECDC. This suggested that “the social disruption effects of the pandemic will be less than feared for other pandemics and that severe social interventions will not be necessary given good business continuity planning,” it remarked.

‘Hope for the best and plan for the worst’ is at the heart of much contingency planning. The ECDC and British planning documents give a glimpse into what ‘the worst’ in the current pandemic, involving a virus that the World Health Organisation describes as moderate in its severity, might be like. The British planning document is based on analysis and modeling of data from swine flu outbreaks that have occurred both inside and outside the country.

Both ECDC and U.K. documents emphasise that the planning assumptions they describe should not be seen as a prediction of how the pandemic will develop. A number of parameters were involved, each taken at their ‘reasonable worst case’ value, noted the British document.

Taken together, these parameters “represent a relatively unlike scenario.” However, the use of such parameters ensured that the plans remained robust against all likely circumstances, it pointed out.

In order to plan for extreme contingencies, the British document assumed that up to 60 per cent of the population could catch the virus. But about half of them may show no or insignificant symptoms.

Up to 30 per cent of the population may therefore become clinically ill in the first major wave of infection. Children are more likely to be ill than older people. However, the latter are more likely to suffer from complications if they do become ill.

“Shoter and Sharper”

The British planning document indicates that 6.5 per cent of the population could fall ill each week at the peak of the pandemic. But since local epidemics are “often shorter and sharper,” the proportion of the local population that falls sick could be higher than national rates, the ECDC noted.

The document also suggests that up to 2 per cent of clinical cases in Britain might require hospitalization, a quarter of whom could need intensive care. Hospitalization rates for seasonal flu that occurs every year are typically in the range of 0.5-1.0 per cent for that country. However, the case fatality ratio – the proportion of clinical cases who die of flu during the complete wave of infection – is expected to be in the same range as for seasonal flu, 0.1 -0.35 per cent. “Current experience from abroad suggests a figure closer to 0.1 per cent at present,” the document observed.

“It is also important to appreciate that [the case fatality ratio] is especially subject to social effects,” the European centre remarked. In poor social settings such as Africa, even seasonal flu could result in death rates that were higher than seen in pandemics, it pointed out.

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Obama gives Medal of Freedom to 16 luminaries.

U.S. president Barrack Obama took a break from the vitriol of the health care debate on Wednesday to bestow the President Medal of Freedom on 16 luminaries in theatre, sports, science, the humanities and politics, including Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the tennis great Billie Jean King, the actor Sidney poitier and the physicist Stephen Hawking. “This is a change for me and for the United States of America to say thank you to some of the finest citizens of this country and of all countries,” said Mr.Obama at the ceremony in the East Room of the white house, praising the recipients for remainding Americans that excellence is still possible “in a moment when cynicism and doubt too often prevail

It was Mr.Obama’s first chance to award the medal, the highest civilian honour a president can bestow, and there were some emotional moments. When the president hugged Mr.Poitier, it was a poignant reminder of how the actor, who broke racial barriers, had paved the way for Mr.Obama’s own journey to the White House. Ms.King, who was honored for her work advocating for the rights of women and guys, touched her medal to her lips when Mr.Obama draped it around her neck.

And Senator Kennedy’s daughter, Kara, seemed to blink back tears as she accepted the award on behalf of her father, who is battling brain cancer. Mr.Obama introduced the honoress in alphabetical order but saved Senator Kennedy for last, praising him as someone who had fought for soldiers, working families and students for nearly half a century.

Two of the awards-to Jack Kemp, the one-time Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, and Harvey milk, the slain gay rights activist whose life story was recently chronicled in a film starring sean penn-were delivered posthumously. Kemp’s accepted his award: milk’s award was accepted by his nephew, Stuart Milk. The honorees also included Mohammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist who pioneered microfinance.

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No plan for expanded presence in Pakistan: U.S.

The united status has been forced to defend its plans for an expended presence in Pakistan after media criticism that it was aimed at “mithan a “couple of dozens.” The U.S. had no “insidious” intentions behind the expansion, the U.S. diplomat was quoted as saying by local newspapers. “When you have got nonmilitary and economic assistance going up to $1.5 billion every year and security aid also trebling, then you need people to develop, implement and run the programmes, and more importantly, keep an oversight to ensure that money is appropriately spent,” he said. The embassy expected to get 450 new permanent staff members and recruit 1,200 Pakistanis, he said.

Non-Military aid: the U.S. Congress is considering a bill providing for $ 7.5 billion in non-military aid to Pakistan over five years, a three-fold increase over present amounts. The Dawn reported that the U.S. would spend nearly $1 billion on the construction of its new embassy and that this money would be drawn from the war supplement aid to Pakistan.

The newspaper said the planned $112.5-million complex for marines within the embassy compound in the diplomatic enclave was an indication that their numbers “may run into the hundreds” the cost of reconstructing and fortifying the embassy itself was reported to be $405 million, while another $200 million is to be reportedly spent on constructing houses for its staff.

The reports have caused a stir about U.S. “designs” in Pakistan, with unnamed diplomats and former diplomats telling the press that the staff surge would mosely comprise intelligence agents for “covert operations” under a diplomatic guise. One former forign secretary told Dawn that this was a clear indication that America would “remote-control” the region from Pakistan.

The reported increase in the number of marines has also raised fears of American “boots on Pakistani soil”. While Mr.Feiersteinown was categorical that the increase in the number of marines was insignificant and was intended for the purposes of the embassy’s own security, newspapers have persisted in reporting that between 350 to 1.000 marines will be eventually stationed in the upcoming complex

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Kalam driver becomes lecturer

He was a driver for Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam when the former president was director of defence research development laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad Mr.V.Kathiresan (47) ,an example of self-confidence and perseverance, was directly motivated by Dr.Kalam. His father Vellaichamy thevar died when he was young and kathiresan was forced to join the army in 1979 without even clearing his class-X exams. Trained as an electrical mechanic in Bhopal, he served in Nagaland and Sikkim and was finally posted at DRDL as driver for dr.kalam who was the director in the ‘80s.

“I cannot forget ayya. He was never harsh with anybody but used to motivate me and others,” says Mr.Kathiresan. He served DRDL for 19 years during which he cleared the English paper that he could not pass in the class-X public exam. Then he finished clasds-x11 as a private candidate. After Dr.Kalam moved to Delhi as PM’s advisor in 1996, Mr.Karhiresan got relieved from the services in 1998.

Then he did B.A. (history) and later M.A. (history) through distance mode from Madurai Kamaraj University. He pursued B.Ed and M.Ed through the same university. Finally, he did his M.Phill and Ph.D from Manonmaneeyam Sundaranar University in 2002. Having qualified under the teachers Recruitment board, he has been recruited as history lecturer for Arignar Anna government Arts College, athur, Salem district. “I will continue to instill patriotism in youngsters, as ayya Dr.kalam) used to do,” he said.

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Not just a sprain

A sprained ankle is one of the most common joint injuries, prompting many to consider it “just a sprain” and not treat it with the respect it deserves. The too-common consequence is a lasting weakness: an unstable joint and repeated sprains.

I suffered two memorable ankle sprains and although I did better with the second than the first, in neither case did I do everything right. The first occurred when I twisted my ankle stepping on an uneven surface in my backyard. The pain subsided in a few minutes and I did nothing about it. Nothing, that is, until it began to swell and throb and I couldn’t walk.

The second occurred when I turned my ankle coming down the stairs of a commuter plane. This time the pain was so sever. I had to be carried into the airport, where a wheelchair and ice packs were provided. On my connecting flight, I was given a three-seat row where I could keep my ankle elevated and periodically iced. I slept that night with pillows under my foot. The next morning, the pain was gone and I went jogging.

Two mistakes:

My first injury should have been treated immediately, with rest, ice and elevation and an elastic bandage to keep down the swelling; with the second, I had no business running on that ankle less than 12 hours later.

Ankle sprains are so often mistreated or not treated at all, experts say, that they have the highest recurrence rate of any joint injury and often result in chronic symptoms. Ankle sprains usually need more rehabilitation and take longer to heal than most people think.

According to Tricia Hubbard, undergraduate athletic training director at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, “Most research shows that, with any ankle sprain, the ankle should be immediately immobilised to protect the joint and allow the injured ligaments to heal: at least a week for the simplest sprain, 10 to 14 days for a moderate sprain and four to six weeks for more sever sprains.

Lack of pain is not the best indicator that it’s safe to resume activity. The pain can subside fairly quickly, but that does not mean the ligaments have healed.”

What to do:

As with other such injuries, the recommended first aid, to be started as soon as possible, goes by the acronym RICE: R for rest, I for ice, C for compression, E for elevation. In other words, get off the foot, wrap it in a bandage, raise it higher than the heart and ice it with a cloth-wrapped ice pack applied for 20 minutes once every hour (longer application can cause tissue damage).

This should be followed by a visit to a doctor, physical therapist or professional trainer, who should prescribe a period of immobilization of the ankle and rehabilitation exercises. An anti-inflammatory drug may be recommended and crutches provided for a few days, especially if the ankle cannot bear weight.

Immobilization provides ligaments with the rest needed to heal and reduces the risk of aggravating the injury. Even a complete ligament tear can heal without surgery through proper immobilization. But this should not be overdone and must be followed by exercises that prevent muscle atrophy and stiffness.

During healing, Hubbard said, “new tissues are laid down, and they need to be aligned with the action of the joint” through proper exercise.

Rehabilitation should include range-of-motion and stretching exercises, strength training and balance training. Even after an injury has healed, an athlete’s ankle often needs extra protection during physical activities.

Of course, preventing injury in the first place is deal. Athletic trainers emphasise the importance of wearing proper shoes for your chosen activity: comfortable, supportive and not worn out.

Hubbard says women should be very careful in high heels or platform shoes, which she called “an ankle sprain waiting to happen”.

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India, China to set up hotline

India and China have decided to set up a hotline between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao as a confidence building measure. The decision was taken during the 13th Round of India-China Special Representatives talks on the boundary question which concluded here on Saturday in a “cordial and friendly atmosphere.”

Bilateral relations and regional issues were also discusses. At the ministerial level, India now has a hotline only with Russia, while China has a functional hotline with the United States. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told Parliament last month that the proposal had come from the Chinese side and the intention was to “maintain regular contacts at the highest level.”

‘Centrepiece’:

Discussing a broader agenda than just the border issue, the two special representatives – National Security Advisor M.K Narayanan and State Councillor Dai Bingguo – identified trade and economic relations as the “centrepiece” of the bilateral relations and noted that despite the global economic slowdown, India-China trade last year was $52 billion. They resolved to create suitable conditions and an environment to maintain the expansion of trade ties.

In order to “fittingly” observe the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year, it was decided to hold the year of Friendship with China in India, while China will also kick off similar celebrations, said sources privy to the two-day meeting. Mr. Narayanan and Mr. Dai also noted that the frequent interactions between the two countries lent “global significance” to the bilateral ties.

China had proposed the establishment of the hotline during a meeting between Dr. Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia. There were expectations of the hotline getting activated in July. No date has so far been announced and officials said technical and other modalities were being worked out.

Describing ties with China as a key foreign policy priority, Mr.Narayanan said the joint document on a “Shared Vision for the 21st Century” signed during Dr.Singh’s visit to China January last year had taken bilateral relations to a new level.

An External Affairs Ministry statement said Mr.Dai referred to the rapid growth witnessed in bilateral relations in recent years. Highlighting the importance of the ongoing consultations and coordination between the two countries on multilateral for a, he hoped that the two countries would jointly meet global challenges in the spirit of the “Shared Vision.”

During his visit, Mr. Dai called on Dr. Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi. He conveyed the greetings of Mr. Hu and handed over a written message of greetings from Mr. Wen to Dr. Singh.

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Designing your career

New Zealand’s campuses provide a great environment in which students can pursue their studies. Even those students interested in subjects like art and design have ample scope for study here. Among the top ranked design and art schools in New Zealand are the Design and Arts College (DAC), Christ-church, and Natcoll which has three campuses across the country. A visit to these centres was an enriching experience. Natcoll is among the top 10 digital design schools the world over. Courses include full-time, diploma and certificate options and several specialized courses, such as web designing, graphic designing for print industry, animation, etc. Said Campus principal Jeff Lockhart, “Natcoll’s programmes offer a pathway to a great future in the field of design. We have just introduced a trial intership programme and also started Creative Byte, a commercial design studio that gives our graduates some work experience – both were planned keeping the demand for job options in mind.”

Interestingly, students at Natcoll do not give any exams! Grades are given based purely on tutor evaluation alone. A strict cheat code is in place. “We tell students to take their cameras and bring original photos for use in their creations. We accept only original work. Any infringement of this clause results in suspension.” adds Lockhart.

Jasmeet Sarna, a Delhiite is studying her level 5 in animation. She, like other Indian students on campus, feels the course is extremely creative. P Madhukar from Hyderabad, who has enrolled for a one-year Diploma in Digital Media, acknowledged that his course was very advanced compared to those offered back home. “It’s very different and international in approach. There is a lot of scope,” he said.

All courses stipulate a maximum of 20 students per programme and at least three hours of practicals ever day. The cost for international students is NZ$ 15,000-17,000.

The DAC campus offers fashion designing and architecture, besides graphic design and digital design courses. Their short programmes include beauty, hair styling and make-up. Which are hugely popular among those in the theatre and beauty business. Said Cherry Chen, the international marketing liaison authority, “To encourage our students, DAC organizes some unique events. We have two fashion shows a year to provide for interactions with industry experts. Many students have found buyers at these shows and have gone on to work with design houses after graduating. We also have industry valuation for architecture students. In order to make our international students feel at home, we organize barbeque nights and fun competitions. International students are safe in New Zealand. Most of them come from China. India, Japan, Singapore and also the Fiji Islands.”

Vikash Verma, a professional graphic and digital designer from Mumbai, who won a trip to visit New Zealand’s campuses, courtesy, Education New Zealand, said, “The courses offered in these design centres will certainly add to a designer’s profile. They are futuristic and are planned for the global consumer.”

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New beauty tips

Beauty is the qualities that give pleasure to the senses. All of us are conscious about our looks to some or more extent. Our skin is a very important determinant of our looks. Some people prefer to use synthetic ready to use products that are easily available over the country. Beside this, there are thousands of brands that claim eminence organic ingredients, however, these are expensive and their quality can not be guaranteed. Comparing to these brands the home made ingredients are cheap, fresh, more easily available and much better for the body.

New beauty tips for skin care, for a glowing beautiful skin complexion, use rose water twice a day. There is a direct relationship between what we eat and what we look. The better we feed our body, the better it is reflected by our skin. So, by eating well, we can keep our skin in a good condition for a longer period, thus preventing not only wrinkles but also many skin problems. Your lips are the most important and exquisitely sensitive part of our body. So, therefore you have to take special care to your lips. Use lip care stick before going to bed. By taking green fruits and vegetables lip get nourishment.

Eye care tips, take a vitamin diet to make your eyes brighter. Wash your eyes with cold water to get sparkling eyes. Put sliced cucumber or potato on your eyes to treat dark circles. Hair care tips apply olive oil at bed time and wash off the hair next morning. Always drink plenty of water and take plenty of raw fruits and vegetables to achieve healthy hair. Coconut oil mixed with lime-juice on the hair applied daily is also good for healthy hair.

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Tackle drought on war footing

To describe the current situation on the agricultural front as “grave” or “serious” would be an understatement. What’s worse is that, as is usually the case in this country, it is rural poor who are the worst sufferers in any drought. The government cannot ignore its responsibility to mitigate the condition of the worst afflicted by the speedy provision of emergency food and water supplies. There is a flicker of hope that the rains will come in good measure soon after August 15, now less than a week away; but if that does not happen the situation could turn cataclysmic in certain areas. If agricultural operations come to a standstill, then where will farmers and labourers get the money to buy food which the government says is there in plenty in the FCI’s godowns? Even today, with the government saying it has adequate stocks of 253 lakh tonnes of wheat and 323 lakh tonnes of rice, the ration shops in Mumbai, for instance, are not giving wheat, rice and sugar to ration card holders. They are being forced to buy these items in the open market. In states like Maharashtra, some parts of Andhra Pradesh and northern Karnataka, jowar is a staple food for many people, but the government has nothing to stock it. There has been no agricultural breakthrough in pulses and oilseeds as in the case of rice and wheat, even though pulses are the only source of protein for crores of vegetarians across the country. India is one of the largest consumers of edible oils, and yet we depend on imports for three-fourths of our requirements. When the world markets come to know that India is going to import grain, the international prices shoot up, adding to domestic inflation. The government is also forced to subsidise these imports for the poor.

The sheer neglect of research and development in pulses and oilseeds reflects poorly on the government, and only shows how our administration is so totally ignorant about the needs of agriculture. Much was expected of Sharad Pawar, who understands the needs of farmers and could have revolutionized the pulses and oilseeds sector. It is still not too late for him and the government to remedy this, and bring about a new green revolution in pulses and oilseeds in the way Indira Gandhi had done with rice and wheat many decades ago. Without this, there will be no real food security for much of the people of India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken the initiative by calling state chief secretaries to discuss, among other things, planning for the rabi season. Gram and masoor can be increased and work on this should start immediately. There have to be some special programmes and minimum support prices should be announced early to encourage farmers to take up production of rabi crops on a war footing. The government’s agricultural minister would do well to reduce their dependence on bureaucrats and bring in some real experts to plan are to get food at reasonable prices. From the farmers’ standpoint, government polices today are totally lopsided: if the crops are abundant, prices go down and farmers suffer as they can’t even recover their cost of production. There needs to be a way to protect them and motivate them in the same way that the government does for industry.

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That refreshing Cuppa

Tea is that invigorating and stimulating beverage that we all take for granted but most can’t live without. Now tea is the source of a great career as well. Jobs in this field can be quite interesting. Known as tea management, there are jobs for researchers, plantation managers, tea brokers, consultants and of course, tea tasters.

If you are a nature lover and believe in working in the field, then plantation work should suit you best. The work involves nurturing tea plants, so you must know how to prepare the soil, apply the appropriate fertilizer, choose the right variety of fertilizer etc. Two leaves and a bud is the mantra that plantation managers live by, says Ranjana Dutta, principal and Secretary of the Dipras Institute of Professional Studies.

Processing involves the crushing, tearing and curling of the leaves, which takes place in factories. The tea is then packed and dispatched to auction centre. The various samples of tea from different plantations are tested, blended and branded by tea tasters at the auction centres. Tea brokers who have a background in planting, tasting and a know-how of market trends, auction the tea and the marketing personnel sell the final product. Although computers are now used to blend varieties of tea, a tea taster’s verdict is still considered the ultimate test.

If you wish to take up a career in this field, you must have a liking for outdoor life. You must be physically fit and self-reliant as well. A leadership quality and the ability to deal with labour are added assets for factory managers.

Tea tasters need to have keen taste buds and refrain from smoking, drinking and eating spicy food. Those planning to become brokers should be level-headed and disciplined and be able to strike a good rapport with producers and buyers.

Anybody who has a basic educational background can get into the tea industry, and pick up the skills required on the job. However, a degree in Agricultural Science or a B.Sc. in Botany, Food Sciences, Horticulture or allied fields is preferred these days. Candidates who have specialized in business management or marketing are recruited for marketing jobs.

According to Dutta, Dipras also conducts three stages of practical training. First, a three-day training at STEP – IIT-Kharagpur, followed by a six-week training at a tea estate and then a week’s training at a broker or auction house. New entrants are taken on as assistants at the plantation level. After gaining experience, an assistant can get promoted to the level of Assistant Manager, and then Manager of a tea garden. Most assistants can expect to become managers after 12-15 years of service.

Potential tea tasters selected are trained on the job. Besides natural talent, vigorous training for a number of years is essential before you don the mantle of a professional tea taster and then a tea tasting manager. A tea taster should be able to tell the difference between a mellow cup and a brisk cup and be able to sniff a smoke tint in the tea. His palate should be so trained so as to be able to register even the most minute difference. Tasters also have to coordinate with gardens, look after import and exports, advise researchers on commercial factors like economic viability and quality of tea etc. the world of tea is best suited for nature lovers. However, long spells of loneliness are a common occurrence. Despite the draw backs, many young people are coming into the profession because of the good pay, attractive perks including a comfortable lifestyle. Tea companies or tea gardens, tea broking houses, tea associations and the Tea Board of India offer lucrative positions. Trainees get, on an average, Rs 5,000 while senior professionals draw Rs. 25,000 per month and specialized professionals can earn in the range of 40, 000-50,000 per month.

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China to India handle differences properly

Pending a mutually acceptable solution of the border row, china suggested India to “properly handle frictions and questions thereof” by maintaining the momentum of high-level exchanges, strengthening economic and defence cooperation, and by coordinating their positions on global issues such as economic crisis, climate change, energy and food security.

This was a recurrent theme of the two-day talks, between Chinese state councilor Dai bingguo and national security adviser concluded here over the weekend. Mr.Dai, who conveyed the greetings of Chinese president Hu Jintao and also handed over a written message of greeting from premier Wen Jiabao to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said china took a positive view of India’s development and progress, and also supported a bigger role for India in international affairs. He iterated china’s commitment to consolidate the strategic and cooperative partnership, established in 2005, in all fields in a comprehensive way.

A Xinhua report cited Mr.Dai as also saying that in the next several years, china and India would have “a rare time period of opportunity” to solve their boundary issue. China experts such as Mohan Guruswamy from the centre for policy alternatives, Srikanth Kondapalli of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Phunchok Stobdan from the institute for Defence studies and analyses did not anticipate anything different emerging from the 13thround of the border talks, but so did a section of the Chinese media.

A China Daily report said the latest round of talks was hardly expected to make substantive progress. It quoted Fu Xiaoqiang, a scholar on south Asia at china institute of contemporary international relations, as saying that the border issue was complicated and the talks would at best serve to improve understanding between people of the two countries.

Further, china maintained that both sides should Endeavour to build “strategic mutual trust” to pave the way for resolution of “the questions left over from history”

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Stick trick to lose flabs

If you are unable to hit the gym and are stuck at home, don’t worry. Try out some simple workout routines with the help of a stick! By following these few easy steps, one can get a complete body exercise at their home.

Side bends: rest the stick behind your neck, arms over it both sides, bend the body left and right. Perform the same exercise by holding the stick above the head.

Bend over rows: hold the stick in front of your chest and bend down. Try to touch the ground and repeat the process to and fro. This exercise would work for thighs and abs.

Flat bench rest: lie down on a flat floor and hold the stick in front of you and pull it back and forth. This helps the hand and shoulder muscles.

Oblique twist: hold the stick straight and twist left to right. What one needs to focus on is keeping the middle and lower body stable while twisting the upper body

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Props to aid yoga

Strengthen and tone legs with support: we made yoga easy! Practicing yoga with a support is one the easiest and fun ways to condition your body and mind. People who are just beginners or who are overweight can do yoga with a support. Let’s begin!

Wide leg squats with props:

*stand holding the back of a chair with your legs wider than hip-width apart.

*as you inhale, bend down while you keep your spine upright and hips slightly forward. Press your heels firmly to the floor and keep your arms straight. As you exhale, stand up again. This is one set. Do two sets. Practice one round of 10 sets with a short break in between.

Benefits: wide leg squats are fun and great for the legs! It helps reduce excess fat from the hips and the thighs, strengthens the bones and tones your buttocks. It makes your hip bone strong and healthy.

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Pumpkin to pamper the skin

Yes, even pumpkin has some vital elements that are beneficial for the skin.
Use as a face mask: mix two teaspoons pumpkin puree, half a teaspoons honey with one-quarter teaspoon milk and apply on skin.
As a scrub: mix half cup pumpkin, pureed with half cup brown sugar and one quarter teaspoon ground cinnamon, apply this paste with a upward, circular motion to remove dead skin.

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Make money through the mobile phone

Who uses mobile phones? If you ask Nathan Eagle, a researcher at Santa Fe Institute in the United States, he will tell you it is the developing world. As the majority of mobile phone subscribers live in the developing world, it made sense for him to pack his bags and move to a small village on the coast of Kenya when he was a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

And there he came up with the idea of a service that helps people make money through their mobile phones, and created Txteagle (http://txteagle.com), which is set to come to India soon.

The service enables crowd sourcing through mobile phones. “People need to be aware that large chunks of work can be broken down in to micro-tasks that can then be distributed to people around the world,” said Mr. Eagle, in an interview to The Hindu, describing the shift in mindset corporations needed, to make use of crowdsourcing.

Any task that a human could outperform a computer was appropriate, and there is a wide range of such tasks including translation and labeling images. A farmer in Orissa who could translate some lines of a phone manual and SMS it. But how to ensure quality of the tasks?

‘Secret sauce’:

“This is our secret sauce a sophisticated machine learning [Artificial Intelligence] algorithm developed jointly at MIT and Harvard lies at the heart of our accuracy inference engines,” said Mr. Eagle. “It does three things – infers if a task has been completed accurately within a 99% confidence interval, estimates the expertise of our users in a wide range of application domains, and allocates tasks – sending each particular task to the most suitable active user.”

The idea used to determine accuracy was straight forward, he said. If multiple individuals were given the same task and asked the same questions, and if they provided the same response, then we could assume it is right, he said. And the service is active – the more the user uses it, the more it learns.

The clients pay for the completed tasks. “We pay our users and provide the operators with a fraction of the money their subscribers earn,” said Mr. Eagle, describing the revenue model. The payment to the users could be in airtime too.

Search for partners:

In India, there was a huge market fort mobile crowdsourcing, said Mr. Eagle. “The question is not whether or not there is a market, the question is whether there are clients.” Currently Mr. Eagle is scouting for partners in the BPO industry who are familiar with Indian outsourcing.

A certain degree of literacy was required for the tasks, said Mr. Eagle. An average user in a place such as Kenya who did not have any special expertise could earn 70 cents to $1.75 an hour for doing work, he said.

Companies were typically “extremely excited about a new and cheaper way of completing their tasks.” Initially, they were skeptical of the performance until they saw a demonstration, using a small subset, of how the tasks could be performed accurately, he said.

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Why should we be afraid of swine flu?

We are not really afraid of typhoid, tuberculosis, leptospirosis, diabetes, HIV, malaria and a host of other infectious and non infectious diseases which are flourishing in our country. The apathy towards the basic issues in health care is really appalling. Why should we be afraid of swine flu alone? The medical profession is busy and happy treating diseases, confining to its own insulated and compartments. I happened to read with concern the comments made by some that we are not equipped to face the threat of swine flu, as if we are already well equipped to face the threat of all other communicable diseases; they go on to assert that the problems we face are due to lack of dedicated infections disease departments and dearth of WHO-trained doctors in the medical colleges of Kerala.

A mater of approach

It is true that we need infectious disease units in each medical college, like the ones we already have; but the only problems is that we do not have an adequate number of doctors to spare to improve the services, to do research and surveillance.

The issue can be solved easily by posting a few more doctors for this purpose alone rather than hunting for WHO-trained doctors. Why not the existing system be made to tackle the problem by reorienting and reorganizing than compartmentalizing? In health care (no disease care), there is only doctor-oriented planning and implementation and no community-oriented planning.

A properly trained MBBS doctor or even an educated person with common sense and some training is more than enough to manage the threat of any public health issue. The general medicine department of any medical college can easily tackle all these if they have a few more doctors and isolation wards. We ignore health care and literally manufacture disease of all colour and shades, and finally we have a museum of all diseases. We have already become the diabetic capital of the world, and now we are trying to overtake sub Saharan Africa to win the first place in the number of AIDS cases, malnutrition and environment-related infections, which produce more morbidity and mortality than swine flu.

The developed countries are worried since they have controlled all infections by proper waste management, safe drinking water and good nutrition for all and press the panic button the moment they come across any one of them.

They would have shown similar panic if typhoid, viral hepatitis, leptosirosis or TB occur in much lesser numbers than we see in India. Why we are not similarly worried about these diseases which kill several thousands annually? Let us not panic merely to show that we are also developed and evolved.

The basic issues:

All communicable diseases are flourishing here because of lack of basic health amenities, malnutrition, poor environmental hygiene, unsafe drinking water, etc. people are now exposed to unchecked consumerist forces promoting lifestyle disorders with an even greater impact on us.

One more world environment day had passed – we behaved like the developed world by planting one or two trees here and there and having a talk on ozone layer and green house effect and that is it. We overlook environmental issue like poor waste management and unsafe drinking water everywhere.

We always ignore basic issues and go for knee-jerk reactions to appear big in front of developed countries. We need to do some homework and introspect and bring well-meaning leaders with a vision for the people on top of every system and make changes to achieve health and prosperity and then start panicking at problems like swine flu. We must try to achieve good environmental hygiene and provide safe drinking water for everyone. We must prioritise and spend on health care first and then on disease care.

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No more nightmares

Dream therapy could show a way out of recurring nightmares, says a new study. The previously discredited approach is drawing the interest of clinicians, because it can treat nightmares by training the victims to dream lucidly, so they can consciously wake up.

Lucid dreaming- when you are aware of dreaming- is a state between sleeping and being awake. It creates distinct patterns of electrical activity in the brain similar to the patterns made by psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia.

The links between lucid dreaming and psychotic conditions offers potential for new therapeutic routes based on how healthy dreaming differs from unstable mental states.

New data affirms the connection by showing that, while dreaming lucidly, the brain is in a dissociated state, according to Ursula Voss from the University of Frankfurt.

Silvio scarone, of universita degli studi di milano in Milan, said, “Neuroscience investigators could explore how to extend their work to psychiatric conditions, using approaches from sleep research to interpret data from acute psychotic and dissociated states of the brain-mind. Exposure to real threatening events supposedly activates the dream system, so that it produces simulations that are realistic rehearsals of threatening events in terms of perception and behaviour”.

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For easy flights

The bane of most memorable travel usually involves airports and flights. Here are some tips to make travel easier.

Nothing beats going to the airport at least three hours before your scheduled flight. The chances of having to negotiate long lines are minimized. The attendant will be in a better mood and your chances of getting away with a few kilos over the limit better.

You aren’t allowed to choose seats in economy but do put in a request. If you are among the early birds checking in then your seat of choice might just have your name on it.

Try for aisle seats especially when the flights are international and therefore intentionally long. Skipping around your neighbour’s feet in economy baffles even seasoned acrobats.

Get rid your check in luggage first. If you are taking connecting flights check your luggage in through till the end of your journey. This is possible even if you are not travelling on the same flight service. The ease of stretching minus heavy loads will be the comfort of checking out duty free without having to keep an eye out on bags.

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Dress for the rains

Who doesn’t like to get wet in the first shower of the rainy season? But no one likes the idea of getting their pretty clothes spoiled. Often one gets stuck when it comes to fashion in the rainy season. One downpour and the entire crisp look, neat hair goes limp. Well, its time to keep your worries aside as the fashion for this season is all about ‘flaunt with comfort’.

What’s in

“Full lengths are a complete no-no. Knee-length skirts are a must-have this monsoon. But if you are into Indian wear then go for churidars and avoid patialas as they get spoiled easily”, suggests designer Mandira Wirk. Another style that will work is a well fitted tee with sporty chic shorts. “The rainy season demands a more casual look than a formal done one. Sporty styles in knit and stretch gel well with the season. The monsoon is all about a cheerful mood so your look should always spell that out”, says designer Anita Dongre.

“This season, styles for men are cropped jeans-ideal for when you need to wade through those inevitable puddles. In addition, linen shorts are another big rage this season. For women, there are denim capris, knee-length skirts, cotton shorts and jumpsuits which are perfect for the monsoons. A fresh colour palette ranging from white tonalities of sand blasted denim, which are contract to vintage gabardines, and washed shades of light and dark blues are the highlights of this season’s Calvin Klein jeans collection”, suggests Shiraz Bhavani, senior marketing and communication manager, Calvin Klein (India). “Tops are brighter, key colours are coral, chlorophyll green, lagoon (blue)”. One can also indulge in calf-length belted dresses and easy-to-dry silk tunics for evenings as they make easy dressing for the weather.

Brighten up

Go bright and flashy this monsoon. It’s time to fold up your pastels and tuck them deep inside your wardrobe; try bright hues like electric blues, candy pink, vermillion, fresh green to complete the perfect look. “Bold is the way to go “, advises Mansi Zaveri, marketing and communication manager, FUCK. She further adds, “Don’t shy away from bright colour this monsoon. Monsoon wear aims to look effortlessly stylish. Embrance colour injections in lime green, orange and pink where modern graphics sit alongside colourful stripes featuring across bare shoulder dresses and smock tops”.

The lighter, the better

If you think denims are a good choice during heavy showers, I’d say, give it a second thought! Don’t you know that drenched jeans are a big turn off? Make way for lighter fabrics. Listen to designer Reynu Tondon to know more. “Go for fabrics that are water-resistant and quick dry like polyviscose, polynylon, cotton blends or lycra mixed fabrics. They cling well and don’t get messed up even in heavy shower. Monsoon demands light weight fabrics so that it won’t feel heavy even when wet”. Also, lightweight jackets are a perfect match for both men and women.

Time to accessorise

“Great collection of bags is a perfect match to heavy rains”, advises designer Manoviraj Khosla. But he also suggests selecting them carefully. “Accessories should be selected carefully; bags should be waterproof and in bold colours, footwear should be open and airy. If you want to go for jewellery keep it minimum; either flaunt your earrings or a chunky neckpiece. Men should go for utility and comfort with cargo pockets and waterproof bags”, says Khosla.

Monsoon is all about romance with beauty and a date with gorgeous styles. Get set to cheer up your wardrobe and enjoy the first shower in the trendiest outfits.

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