The Indian Panorama

Tag: Health

Read the latest health news, diet, fitness, medical news and healthcare tips on theindianpanorama.news/health. Get all the healthcare news, including wellness, fitness, diet and weight loss & more.

  • Study shows Indian Professionals Most Successful in UK

    Study shows Indian Professionals Most Successful in UK

    LONDON:  People of Indian origin are most likely to be in elite professional and managerial roles in Britain, a study based on official census figures has found.

    According to a detailed analysis of the 2011 census, Indians are the most successful ethnic minority group with 15.4 per cent found in class 1 of eight occupational groups, comprising higher managerial, administrative roles as well as professions like doctors and lawyers.

    They are followed by those of Chinese origin at 12.8 per cent, ‘The Sunday Times’ reported.
    However, if students are excluded, the figures rise to 17.8 per cent for Indians and 19.1 per cent for Chinese, while men from Indian and Chinese backgrounds are almost twice as likely as their white British counterparts to be in higher managerial jobs.

    By contrast, just 6.6 per cent of all Pakistanis and 4.2 per cent of Bangladeshis make it into class 1.

    For black Africans and black Caribbeans the proportion is 7.5 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively, and for those of mixed race it is 10.3 per cent.

    Ethnic minorities fare particularly well in health care, with 41 per cent of doctors coming from an ethnic minority, particularly Indian or those classed as other whites.

    The study, to be officially released later this week to coincide with the launch of the Demos Integration Hub (DIH), also found almost half of Bangladeshi men worked in restaurants and a quarter of Pakistani-origin men were taxi drivers.

    Trevor Phillips, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the statistics told a “good story about modern Britain and that diversity is actually adding to our stock of talent”.

    “Publishing this kind of data will puncture the delusion that if we simply leave it alone, don’t talk about it and let people get on with it, we will all come to love each other and Britain will become a big melting pot. Actually what the data shows is that if you neglect integration we end up with divided communities,” he said.

    The data also revealed that overall people from ethnic minorities are more likely to secure elite professional roles than those classified as white British.

    Nearly 10.3 per cent of minorities are part of class 1 professions, while for white British, the figure is 9.8 per cent.

  • SUPPRESSING DISSENT – Why Greenpeace is first on the Indian government’s chopping block

    Source: World Resources Institute
    Source: World Resources Institute

    As Greenpeace India struggles to stay afloat, the real reason why the government wants to shut down the global environmental NGO hasn’t got much attention: Coal, the single biggest source of primary energy in India, is at the heart of the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious plans to ramp up industrial production in the country.

    Source: PwC
    Source: PwC

    A total of 1,199 new coal-based thermal power plants with a total installed capacity of more than 1.4 million MW proposed worldwide, the lion’s share – 455 plants – are in India, according to data from the World Resources Institute.

    India is overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – which meet more than three fourths of the country’s energy needs, despite Modi’s plans to promote alternative energy sources.

    Of the fossil fuels, oil and gas account for just about 30% of India’s energy needs, the bulk imported (80% in the case of crude oil). India has abundant reserves of coal, the fourth-largest in the world.

    Coal meets 54.5% of India’s energy needs, and 61.5% of the installed power generation capacity, and plays a key role in industries like steel and cement.

    India is set to more than double its coal consumption by 2035 and become the world’s largest coal importer by around 2020, according to the International Energy Agency.

    The cheapest of fossil fuels, coal is also the most polluting in terms of carbon emissions. Coal-burning power plants are the single biggest cause of climate change, way ahead of the burning of petroleum in transportation.

    Greenpeace has been at the forefront of a global campaign against coal mining and burning, and its Indian wing has mounted several high-visibility campaigns against coal-burning thermal power plants and coal mining in forest areas.

    Coal India and Adani in the spotlight

    Greenpeace graph2
    Especially irksome to the government must have been Greenpeace’s targeting of two domestic entities that are also major global players in coal – public-sector company Coal India, India’s 5th most valuable company by market capitalization at $35.9 billion (Rs 2.3 lakh crore) and the Gujarat-based Adani Group, whose promoter Gautam Adani is known to have a close relationship with Modi.

    Coal India is number one, and the Adani Group number three on the list of the top 200 coal companies globally ranked by the potential carbon emissions content of their reported reserves, according to Fossil Free Indexes, a stock market index that promotes ethical investing.

    Greenpeace has campaigned against both companies, exposing their claims on reserves and financial health, and documenting environmental and other violations. Greenpeace’s Australia chapter has opposed Adani’s plans to develop the world’s largest coal deposit, the Carmichael mine in Queensland, which it acquired for 16.5 billion dollars.

    Breakneck industrialization, Chinese style Companies like Coal India and Adani are expected to play a vital role in the Modi government’s grand plan for India to take over from China as the new ‘factory of the world’. With GDP growth dipping to 7% for the first quarter of 2015 (the lowest since 2009), China is clearly slowing down. India seems intent on capitalizing on this slowdown and the newfound limits on growth imposed by environmental and health concerns in China.

    The first signs that the Modi government is pushing for a Chinese-style industrialization project came when it announced a clutch of mega projects under the Make-In-India initiative. Work is underway on the most ambitious of these projects, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, across six states, to be built at an estimated cost of $100 billion.

    For the government, one of the chief obstacles in this path is land acquisition, which is being tackled through amendments to the existing legislation. The other big hurdle is energy, in which coal will continue to play the biggest part-and this is at the core of its grouse with organizations such as Greenpeace.

    Coal and Climate Change – an existential threat

    The burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas, in that order – releases massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, and has been proven to be the biggest culprit behind climate change.green peace chart 4

    With carbon-dioxide levels at record highs – as IndiaSpend reported – only a fraction of the known extractable fossil fuel reserves, least of all, coal, can be burned without endangering the world’s future, the reason why campaigners like Greenpeace are dead set against the fuel. But for the Modi government, and India’s elites and middle classes in general, this would amount to the big prize being snatched away from sniffing distance. That’s why the shots fired against Greenpeace may be only the first in the long, bruising battle ahead.

    (This article was originally published on IndiaSpend.com, a data-driven and public-interest journalism non-profit)

  • US-India Business Council Inducts 6 New Board Members

    US-India Business Council Inducts 6 New Board Members

    WASHINGTON:  The US-India Business Council (USIBC) comprising more than 300 top-tier US and Indian companies advancing commercial ties between the two countries has inducted six global business leaders to serve as members of the board.

    The new appointees are Anurag Bhargava, Chairman, IREO; Marc Allen, President of Boeing International; David M Cordani, President and CEO, Cigna Corporation; Patrick Dewar, Chairman, Lockheed Martin Global; Kenneth C Frazier, Chairman and CEO, Merck; and Edward Monser, President and COO, Emerson Electric.

    USIBC and the board of directors remain committed to advancing the commercial relationship between the US and India, said Ajay Banga, USIBC Chairman and MasterCard President and CEO.

    “Our members are encouraged by Government of India’s commitment to economic growth, to attracting the investment needed to achieve that growth, and improving the ease of doing business in India,” he said.

    They “look forward to contributing to India’s growth story through any number of Government of India initiatives, including Smart Cities and Make in India.”

    The new group of directors is “joining the Council at a time when India is poised for tremendous growth and will undoubtedly provide valuable leadership to USIBC and its members,” said Mukesh Aghi, President of USIBC.

    Anurag Bhargava, Chairman of IREO, the largest FDI investor in the construction development sector in India said, “IREO is committed to delivering world-class homes and supporting efforts to build smart cities and urban infrastructure that enables India’s continued economic growth and middle class expansion.”

    “Promoting an innovation-based economy supports not only the growth of the life sciences industry, but also helps to expand health care access for its people,” said Kenneth C Frazier, Chairman and CEO, Merck.

    “As Cigna works to improve both health and vitality in India, we look forward to increasing our presence in the dynamic Indian market,” said David M Cordani, President and CEO of Cigna.

    “India has a lot to offer to the world as a market and US companies have a lot to consider and gain from the opportunity,” said Edward Monser, President and COO of Emerson Electric.

    “Boeing’s relationship with India dates back several decades, and we look forward to an enduring partnership for decades to come,” said Marc Allen, President of Boeing International.

    “Lockheed Martin’s commitment to teaming with the Indian Government and enterprise aligns well with the spirit of the Council’s mission to advance the bilateral relations,” said Patrick Dewar, Chairman of Lockheed Martin.

    As board members, this dynamic group of CEOs along with existing members will help promote the USIBC policy advocacy priorities across critical areas such as health, defence, designing liveable cities, technology, manufacturing and financial services, said the trade association.

  • MODI IN CHINA – A high-octane reception

    MODI IN CHINA – A high-octane reception

    [vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_images_carousel images=”35692,35693,35694,35695″ onclick=”link_no” custom_links_target=”_self” mode=”horizontal” speed=”1500″ slides_per_view=”2″ autoplay=”yes” hide_pagination_control=”yes” hide_prev_next_buttons=”yes” partial_view=”” wrap=”yes” title=”LIST OF 24 AGREEMENTS SIGNED BETWEEN INDIA AND CHINA – India and China on Friday signed 24 deals worth over $10 billion during Modi’s visit to the country.” img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][quote_box_center]Here’s the complete list[/quote_box_center]

    1. Protocols between India and China on the establishment of cousulates-general at Chengdu and Chennai and the extension of the consular district of the consulate general of India in Guanzhou to include Jiangxi province.
    2. MoU between the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship of India and the ministry of human resources and social security of China on cooperation in the field of vocational education and skill development.
    3. Action plan on cooperation in setting up of the Mahatma Gandhi National Institute for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
    4. MoU between India and China on consultative mechanism for cooperation in TRADE negotiations.
    5. MoU on cooperation between the ministry of external affairs of India and international department of the central committee of the Communist Party of China.
    6. Action plan between the National Railway Administration of China and the ministry of railways of India on enhancing cooperation in the railway sector. (2015-16).
    7. MoU on education exchange programme.
    8. MoU between the ministry of mines of India and the ministry of land and resources of China on the cooperation in the mining and minerals sector.
    9. Space Cooperation Outline (2015-2020).
    10. Protocol on health and safety regulations on importing Indian rapeseed meal between the export inspection council, ministry of commerce and industry of India and the general administration of quality supervision, inspection and quarantine.
    11. MoU between Doordarshan and China Central Television on cooperation in the field of broadcasting.
    12. Agreement between the ministry of tourism of India and the national tourism administration of China on cooperation in the field of tourism.
    13. MoU on establishing India-China think-tanks forum.
    14. MoU between India’s Niti Aayog and the Development Research Centre, State Council of China.
    15. MoU between India’s ministry of earth sciences and the China Earthquake Administration concerning cooperation in the field of earthquake science and earthquake engineering.
    16. MoU between India’s ministry of earth sciences and the State Oceanic Administration of China on cooperation in the field of ocean science, ocean technology, climate change, polar science and cryosphere.
    17. MoU on scientific cooperation between Geological Survey of India, ministry of mines of India and the China Geological Survey, ministry of land and resources of China in geoscience.
    18. MoU between the ministry of external affairs of India and ministry of foreign affairs of China on establishment of states/provincial leaders’ forum.
    19. Agreement on the establishment of sister-state/province relations between state government of Karnataka and provincial government of Sichuan of China.
    20. Agreement on establishment of sister-city relations between Chennai and Chongqing of China.
    21. Agreement on establishment of sister-city relations between Hyderabad and Qingdao of China.
    22. Agreement on establishment of sister-city relations between Aurangabad and Dunhuang of China.
    23. MoU between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Fudan University on the establishment of a centre for Gandhian and Indian studies.
    24. MoU between Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Yunnan Minzu University on the establishment of a yoga college.

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • 50 wounded in blast at Gaza training camp

    GAZA CITY (TIP) : At least 50 Palestinians were wounded in a blast that occurred Thursday inside a militant training camp in Gaza, Hamas officials, medics and witnesses said.

    “An explosion happened inside a post of the resistance in Beit Lahya,” said interior ministry spokesman Iyad al-Bozum, in reference to the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.

    The health ministry spokesman in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, said the blast wounded 50 people, five of them in a serious condition, and including children.

    Witnesses said the blast took place inside a training camp of the Ezzezdine al-Qassam Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, where Hamas is the de facto power.

    A doctor in the Israeli-blockaded coastal enclave, Baker Abu Safia of Al-Awda Hospital, said 30 wounded people were brought to his establishment, most of them women and children.

    He said the hospital “declared a state of emergency” after the explosion took place.

  • Indian-Origin Harbhajan Kaur Dheer becomes first Asian elected woman Mayor in UK

    Indian-Origin Harbhajan Kaur Dheer becomes first Asian elected woman Mayor in UK

    LONDON (TIP): Indian-origin Harbhajan Kaur Dheer, 62, became the first Asian woman elected mayor of Ealing Council in London.

    “It is a great privilege and challenge to be the Mayor of Ealing Council in London. I have no illusions about the task ahead. But if I can cope up with Ranjit at home I can climb even the Everest,” Ms Kaur said.

    The early years in Britain were difficult and she had to work very hard to establish herself and raise two children.

    She studied Social Sciences at Kingston University and obtained a degree in 1995.

    She worked as an Approved Mental Health Professional in Surrey County Council until 2003.

    After joining Labour Party in the Eighties, she began to develop her public role within the Party and outside in the community.

    She has served the borough as a governor of a number of schools.

    In the Nineties, she worked as a volunteer Home Visitor helping home bound women with learning English.

    She is a passionate advocate of rights of children and elderly including those with mental health issues.

    A mother of two children – a son and a daughter – she became a grandmother in January this year. Her husband held the post of Mayor of Ealing in 2001-2002.

  • Let Women Decide : Guest Comment

    Let Women Decide : Guest Comment

    The manner in which leaders arrogate to themselves the right to tell women how many kids they should have is a uniquely “affirmative” action, cutting across communities. Remember the motherhood cult when fertile mothers were awarded along with frontline troops, Honor Cross of the German Mother? It was a bronze for more than four children, a silver for more than six and a gold for more than eight. The wartime slogan was “I have donated a child to the Führer.” The overt aim behind pronouncements now is to outbreed other communities. Never mind that we are in the 21st century, our Napoleon Bonaparte clones think they can rightfully define a woman’s reproductive role.

    BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj had announced Hindu women should have four children, give one to the Army, another to religious leaders and teachers. Another MP declared five was the magic number if the community were to thrive. A separatist leader from Jammu and Kashmir asked Muslims (the well-to-do ones) to marry more than once and have as many children as possible. This would preserve the Muslim-majority character of the state. The latest to jump on to the babies’ bandwagon is the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh. His view is that Sikh women should have four children to counter the dwindling population and be a support for parents.

    Insensitivity is not an exclusively Indian trait. Way back in 2007, Japan’s then health minister had commented on Japan’s low birthrate: “Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed, all we can ask for is for them to do their best per head.” Surely we in India can factor in women’s health and population control before thinking of kids merely as part of an electoral arithmetic. Lest we should forget, it is a woman’s body. So why not let her decide when and how many children she should have or not have. It is a personal choice. Do not make it a political option.

  • Indian American scientist Rohit Bhargava develops new tool for Cancer diagnosis

    Indian American scientist Rohit Bhargava develops new tool for Cancer diagnosis

    WASHINGTON: Indian American Professor Rohit Bhargava of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has developed stainless staining that provides a new tool for clinicians and researchers for better diagnosis of cancer.

    His new technique paints tissue samples with light instead of chemical stains or dyes.

    Using infrared spectroscopic imaging for microscopy, Bhargava has reported the development of label-free chemical imaging to provide the same information as molecular stains.

    The new, advanced infrared imaging technique uses no chemical stains, instead scanning the sample with infrared light to directly measure the chemical composition of the cells. The computer then translates spectral information from the microscope into chemical stain patterns, without the muss or fuss of applying dyes to the cells.

    “This approach promises to have immediate and long-term impact in changing pathology to a multiplexed molecular science – in both research and clinical practice,” Bhargava said.

    The National Institutes of Health supported this work. The Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois, and the University of Illinois Cancer Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago were partners in this work.

    Rohit Bhargava received his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in 2000 and undergraduate degree from Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi in 1996. He is a professor in the UIUC Department of Bioengineering and a full-time faculty member in the Beckman Institute Bioimaging Science and Technology group.

  • Mother’s Day – FEATURE Special – Mother is the Ultimate Definition of Selflessness

    [vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Every religious tradition has elevated mother to nearly the status of God, because she possess many a qualities of God; kind, merciful, beneficent and caring among thousand other qualities. Mother is the reason for our existence; sustenance, nurturance and shaping who we are. I dedicate this write-up to my Mother, and all the Mothers out there. There is a beautiful song in Urdu/Hindi language.

    [quote_center]

    Us ko nahin dekha hum ne kabhi, per us ki zaroorat kya hogi

    Ai maa teri soorat say alag bhagwan ki soorat kya hogi.

    [/quote_center]

    I have not seen him (God) ever, but what is the need for it?

    Dear Mother, your face cannot be different than God’s own face

    Video Link on Youtube Full translation by Rajiv Chakravarti at www.Urduhindi.net

    Mother is the ultimate definition of selflessness! No matter what happens to the world or even her, she is there for you in your need; she recognizes your need much before you know it. Of course every day is Mother’s day, and each one of us honors her in a variety of ways. From simple caring to doing things for her that makes her happy.

    Mothers don’t need a whole lot; they just need to know that you care. Remember you were showered by her attention when you needed it.

    Thanks to this beautiful tradition of America, a day to honor Mother. No mother should be alone today; some one or the other must give her a call.

    I appreciate all the mothers who have raised their kids well, particularly the single mothers, and it is not easy! Getting them ready, taking them to school, playground, tuition, and taking care of them, and going to work. There is a lot of sacrifice made by mothers and no amount of appreciation will be enough. Whatever you are today, it is because of your mother. If you have tensions with her, seek her forgiveness today, if she is not around, spend half an hour meditating about her and see the sense of completeness you feel within you.

    A majority of us are fortunate to have the love and affection of the mother to bless our lives. However, there are some mothers who have not been good to their kids and I feel your anguish if you are the one, but I assure you that, you are a blessed one to have made it in life without mothers love and it is time for you to give that love to others.

    It’s time to express gratitude to her; it restores the spiritual balance in each one of us. Life is about transactions, each time we received a “good” we become indebted to the giver, but when we give back to the giver or find alternate ways of giving back, then we regain our spiritual balance, bringing us nirvana, salvation, mukti, moksha, nijaat and freedom.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Cont. After Messages below[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” image=”35314″ img_size=”medium” img_link_large=””][vc_column_text]Photo Caption : Prof. Indrajit S  Saluja’s mother Mohinder Kaur who passed away in 2009 at the age of  91, was  a  saintly person , created in God’s own Image.

    [quote_center]Remembering my mother on Mother’s Day, 2015[/quote_center]

    That’s my mother who gave me birth,
    Breastfed me to grow in to a healthy child,
    Trained me to walk , taught me to talk;
    I am her creation and gift to the world;
    Whoever and whatever I am , it’s because of her. I miss her and wish she were around
    To chide me for the mistakes I make ,
    And hug , pat and kiss me for the good I do;
    But she’s gone and left behind memories to haunt; I love you Mata Ji, I miss you, Mata Ji.

    I know she looks at me from her heavenly abode,

    She watches all my actions and doings;
    She guides my steps even now from afar,
    And exhorts me to justly and honestly play my part
    In the theatre of the world to which I am assigned.
    When I am done with my part that God has assigned me,

    I only long to go to my mother in heavens above, And be the child that I was , learning at her feet, And  be folded in to her protective arms for ever.

    – Prof. Indrajit S saluja

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”35311″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text][quote_center]My mother is the anchor of my life[/quote_center]

    This morning when you asked, “What does my Mother mean to me?”  I realized that this was one relationship that I have taken for granted since my childhood years. I wondered why I had not reflected on this statement and the answer was apparent. The selfless, untiring love that I have received from my Mom was the culprit. She never allowed me and my siblings to feel that she was giving us anything. We took her warmth, affection and love for granted !

    As I step back and reflect, I see my mother as a warm, generous, ever caring pious lady, someone who has stood by us through all our trials and tribulations, kept her needs away in front of the wants of the family. A gracious host to neighbors and visitors, ever ready to help. An excellent cook and a good seamstress. The best grandmother to her grandchildren… always ready to wipe that tear, always ready to pray for the success of her family. She joined to share others’ grief as willingly. Her indomitable spirit to Never Give up. All these and many more made her the anchor of my life and indeed of the whole family growing up, shaping our formative years. A mother is super special and a symbol of selfless love like none other.

    Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mamas of the world !!!

    – Rishikant Singh

    [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”35310″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text]

    Photo Caption: Two and a half year old Ashishpal Saluja (now 37) with mom Gurdarshan Kaur who passed away in 2007.

    I realize that everything important that I know, I either learned from my mother, or my father probably before I was 15. Every child considers his or her mom and dad as the best parent in the world. And I believe that every child is right in doing so. Growing up as a child, I always looked up to my parents, especially to my mother. She was my greatest teacher and the source of inspiration for my many interests. Generous, kind, loving, sweet, caring, honest, elegant, brave, strong, bubbly, energetic, resilient, thoughtful, hopeful, selfless. My mother possessed all of these qualities for sure. Right now I’d probably have a million reasons to thank my mother for. Because she brought me to this world, because she made me all I am, for knowing me inside and out, for believing in me. But I do not need a reason. It matters the least. Whether she knew it or not, she was always, and forever will be the queen of my heart and my guiding light of life. Love you always MOM.

    – Ashishpal Saluja

    [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”35304″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text]

    [quote_center]I just miss you![/quote_center]

    Growing up in a remote village in Kerala, I have fond memories of my mother who has nurtured, inspired and influenced my life through thick and thin. My only regret is that I couldn’t spend more time with her as I have come away from ‘God’s own country’ as Kerala is described, looking for better opportunities!

    This tribute by an unknown author summarizes my sentiment in its entirety:

    ‘Death changes everything! Time Changes nothing. I still miss the sound of your voice and wisdom of your advice and stories of your life and being in your presence. So No, time changes nothing, I miss you as much today as I did the day you died. I just miss you!’

    – George Abraham

    [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”35305″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text][quote_center]A mother is the truest friend we have[/quote_center]

    Mom, Nani, Gail Mommy, Cathy Chachi & Sunil Aunty. “A mother is the truest friend we have.” Lucky for us, we have more than one individual whom we love and consider as our mother. Without the love and care from such selfless mothers and aunts, we would not be where  we are today.

    -Bobby, Jessica, Pavneet, Amy, Matthew & Rohan

    [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”35306″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text]“Yaad na jaye beete dinon kee. Jaskiran (center) now 35,  with mom Gurdarshan Kaur and  brother Ashishpal (left), now 37.”

    [quote_center]You are the words inside my song[/quote_center]

    Dear mom, how do I explain the most sacred relationship on this earth in a few words. here are a few lines that can help let all know what you meant to me and how I survive without you. You are my friend, my heart, and my soul You are the greatest friend I know.
    You are the words inside my song,
    You are my love, my life, my Mom.
    You are the tree I lean upon,
    You make the troubles be gone.
    You are the one who taught me life,

    How not to fight, and what is right. You are the words inside my song, You are my love, my life, my mom. You are the one who cares for me, You are the eyes that help me see.

    You are the one who knows me best,
    When it’s time to have fun and time to rest.
    You are the one who has helped me to dream,
    You hear my heart and you hear my screams.
    Afraid of life but looking for love,
    I’m blessed for God sent you from above.
    Though you may be far but this heart has missed you all the time.

    – Jaskiran Saluja Beri

    [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Cont. From Top

    [quote_center]RELIGIONS ON MOTHERS: [/quote_center]

    In the native traditions, be it American, European, African, or Asian, Mother is creator in the form of mother Earth.

    Christianity and Judaism: “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God will give you.In Jewish tradition, your heritage is determined by your Mother, you are a Jew because of your mother.

    “Diverse images of what are believed to be Mother Goddesses also have been discovered that date from the Neolithic period, the New Stone Age, which ranges from approximately 10,000 BCE when the use of wild cereals led to the beginning of farming, and eventually, to agriculture.” Wikipedia

    The Baha’i faith, “For mothers are the first educators, the first mentors; and truly it is the mothers who determine the happiness, the future greatness, the courteous ways and learning and judgment, the understanding and the faith of their little ones.”

    In the Hindu tradition Mother is worshiped and is represented in many attributes like Ma Saraswati (source of knowledge), Ma Lakshmi (source of income) and the likes… Mother’s face is equated with God’s face, a song celebrates Mother by saying, if I have seen your face mother, and I have seen God.

    Sikh’s consider God as a parent, a mother and a father. Guru Granth Sahib advises “Always remember the boundless, limitless God, remembering whom all our sins are destroyed. My son, this is a mother’s prayer for you.”[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Prophet Muhammad was asked by his associates, who is the most important person in one’s life – he says, “Mother”; they ask again, the answer was “Mother again” and same response was given for the third time, such is the importance given to mother. He said, your heaven, your paradise and your peace of mind comes to you by serving your mother.

    You will find mother is placed at the highest spiritual level in all religions or non-religious traditions and life forms. Those who have a mother to see, you are the blessed one, those who don’t, you have her blessings.

    “Paradise is under the feet of your mother” is the mantra probably every Muslim recites and it is part of Hindu, Sikh, Jain and South Asian culture as well. The idea is of gratitude, if you are grateful to you mother, then you would be grateful to the creator and other benefactors around you.

    2001, my Mother passed away in one of the most beautiful manners one could embark on the eternal journey; a clean slate with no loose ends. She was incredible; she tied all the loose ends before she took her last breath, she called every one and cleared the air and said goodbye that was the biggest lesson of my life; to tie the loose ends. The Jain tradition calls it Michami Dukadam.

    I guess, all of us kids and her grand kids turned out that way; boundless. No barriers between us and another soul and our relationships have always been multi-cultural and multi-religious. Thanks Mom for pounding those values in our hearts and minds.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” image=”35313″ img_link_large=”” img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Photo caption: Reliving the  hapy moments. Ambassador Dnyaneshwar M Mulay with  his mother Akkatai Mulay (left) and her best friend Shara Kaku

    [quote_center] Happy Mother’s Day![/quote_center]

    It is obvious that on this day, I remember my mother. She stays in my village near Kolhapur. While I have been flying the flag of India all over the world, it is she who has sacrificed the most. right from my early education till now, she continues to work hard so that all of us lead a happy life. For me she is the source of inspiration.

    In modern times, mother’s role has undergone a huge change. She is a teacher too who actively shapes her children’s future. Unlike yester year mothers, she is educated, aware and helps in decision-making. the core of mother’s role vis-a-vis a child has not changed. Her caring, her attention and her love remain unchanged and civilization grows on those qualities!

    My mother did not go to school, worked from 4am to 10pm everyday and ingrained in us qualities like hardwork and dedication. I salute her on this day – likewise salute all mothers – past, future and present – for their gift to humanity.

    – Ambassador Dnyaneshwar M Mulay

    [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” image=”35312″ img_size=”medium” img_link_large=””][vc_column_text]Photo Caption: Ravi Batra’s mother Raj K Batra with husband Hon. Sada Nand Batra in a 1954 photograph

    [quote_center]I continue to adore my mother, and am proud to be her son too[/quote_center]

    While my late great Dad is known to be my greatest hero, it is my mother – who is the unsung hero I took and took from her well of unqualified love – and miss her always. A mother with ideal attributes of a giving love that never runs dry.

    Like every child, I was dependent upon my mother even before birth and without knowing so. Such remained throughout her life. She was born in what’s now Pakistan, got married at an early age – as was then the custom – started having kids and the country partitioned. Uprooted and on a refugee train, she was shot in her foot and lay bleeding until the 7th Calvary arrived – in the form of the Indian Forces -and saved the stopped-train from a certain massacre in the hot sectarian violence that engulfed the subcontinent in 1947.

    Taken to a refugee camp, she functioned as a mother would, with a bullet for 3 months, until her foot was gangrene and amputation was possible. My dad found in the Camp a general practitioner, not a surgeon, who operated upon her without any anesthesia with a barber’s straight edge razor and stitched her up with regular needle and thread. Miraculously, my mom healed. She went on to have 4 more babies, I being one of them.

    She went on to be the wife of an unusual man, driven to unusual achievements, and started to achieve in her own right. By 1960, she was a mother when the kids were home and a businesswoman employing dozens of mother-employees when kids were in school. The duality of a woman we now take for granted – was nearly unheard of then. And, then there was much more…

    I continue to adore my mother, and am proud to be her son too.

    Happy Mother’s Day to all.

    – Attorney Ravi Batra

    [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”35309″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text]Photo Caption: Good old days! Bidisha with mom Tripti Roy, who passed away in 2014

    [quote_center]My mother is the epitome of humanity[/quote_center]

    My mother Tripti Roy was my best friend ever. I’ve never seen a simple, honest, affectionate person like her who dedicated her life for others. She was a renowned teacher and used to teach poor students. She used to help so many needy families without any publicity. For me she is the epitome of humanity. Miss you Maa!

    – Bidisha Roy

    [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”35307″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text][quote_center]AYE MAA TERI SURAT SE ALAG BHAGWAN KI SURAT KYA HOGI[/quote_center]

    Mother’s love. Unconditional. Forever. Mother-child relationship is like no other. Mother’s love is a fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. A mother is the truest friend we have

    We are always so grateful for the love you have  always shown  and guided us in each phase of our lives.

    Even if you are  far away, your blessings and love have always been unconditional

    USKO NAHIN DEKHA JISNE ABHI, AB ISKI JAROORAT KYA HOGI

    AYE MAA TERI SURAT SE ALAG BHAGWAN KI SURAT KYA HOGI

    HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY

    – Indu Jaiswal

    [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”35308″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_column_text]

    [quote_center]Everyday is Mother’s Day[/quote_center]

    Being born a Hindu is a privilege”. I was told this by a Christian who converted to Hinduism. This opened my mind and made me think about my life on earth. The only reason you and I and every one else on this planet have an existence is because of the great mothers who bear us. From the second we’re made till the time of our departure, the amount of attention and focus that is put on us is unbelievable. From the time of the mothers 9-10 month pregnancy, nourishing us while we’re in their bodies, from being born and helping us grow and develop as small individuals. From schooling, to kids, to adults, teaching us from right and wrong, preparing food and making us strong, day in and day out, every day of their of lives. Without any thought of a mother’s own, their vision is only on us.

    A selfless mother is a blessing and because of them we are enjoying good health and enjoying life.

    Hindu culture is a way of life, it’s a great culture with developed ideas and so many research and experiments that have been performed over so many years.

    There is no life without wife. Just like that, there is no child without mother. Hindus see females in everything. We see the beauty in everything. Mother earth. Goddess of wealth, Sri Laxmi Mata. Goddess of Knowledge, Shri Saraswati Mata. Goddess of Power, Shri Durga Mata. My mother. And your mother. These are the powerful women who make us.

    Everyday is Mother’s Day. Lets start the day by touching the feet of our mother and accepting her blessing. Lets care for her and protect her when she’s old, after all we are here because of her.

    Hindus are taught to treat all women as their own sister, aunt or mother. To respect them and help them when in need without any reservation.

    Our existence is because of our mothers. We exist because of their love and respect. I guarantee you, you’ll have a better and great life – just love and be there for your mom!

    -Arish Sahani

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Here is how Mom is called in different languages, please add yours….

    I called my mother, ” Amma” and at times “Ammi” while addressing her it was Ma. Languages Spoken in South Asia

    ● Arabic – umm

    ● Assamese – Aayi, mA, mAtri Aayi, mA,

    ● Baluchi – Ma

    ● Bengali – Mata or jononi,

    ● Bhojpuri – Mayee

    ● English- Mother, Mama, Mom

    ● French- Mère, Maman

    ● German – Mutter

    ● Gujurati – Ma

    ● Hindi – Ma, Maji, Mata

    ● Kannada -Amma

    ● Konkani – Amma

    ● Kashmiri – Muoj

    ● Latin – Mater

    ● Marathi – Aayi

    ● Malyalam – Amma

    ● Nepali – Aamaa

    ● Oriya – Bou

    ● Pashtu- Mor

    ● Persian- Madr, Maman

    ● Portugese- Mae

    ● Punjabi – Mai, Mataji, Pabo

    ● Sanskrit – Mata

    ● Sindhi – Mau

    ● Sinhalese- Amma

    ● Tamil – Amma

    ● Telegu- Amma

    ● Urdu -Ammee, Maa, Amma[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]There are more languages out there…

    It’s time to express gratitude to her; it restores the spiritual balance in each one of us. Life is about transactions, each time we received a “good” we become indebted to the giver, but when we give back to the giver or find alternate ways of giving back, then we regain our spiritual balance, bringing us nirvana, salvation, mukti, moksha, nijaat and freedom.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”32953″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text]

    Main Article  – By Mike Ghouse

    [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

    (The author is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism, Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other issues of the day. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • MAKE YOUR HOME LOOK SPACIOUS

    MAKE YOUR HOME LOOK SPACIOUS

    Low furniture really opens up your home and makes it look spacious. People wanting a sleek, modern look for their homes opt for low furniture. Furniture closer to the ground ends up making the room it is placed in much larger than it is. From platform beds to low sofas, home decor just got lower. Many sofa sets available in the local markets are just a few inches off the ground, instead of the traditional height of more than a foot away.
    Most Mumbaiites live in small flats, and that is the reason why even a little space available anywhere is what people crave for. Thanks to these short sofas the ceilings of your homes can appear to be much higher than it is. Low furniture can really lend a spacious look to your otherwise cramped dwelling.
    Yash Tonkk’s duplex home in the western suburbs has a low sofa cum bed that makes his otherwise small living room appear larger. “I liked this low sofa cum bed. Its height and bright colour adds drama to my room, while the low height allows space,” says Gauri Tonkk.

    Not just sofas there are beds available in the market, which accommodate the mattress, and thereby keep the level much lower than regular beds.
    Low furniture can actually be housed in any room, and can be mixed with any style. “My wife, Mona and I got this low sofa especially designed for our home. I believe low furniture like our coffee table gives an amazing sense of space inside homes,” says

    Sudhanshu Pandey.
    Low furniture can work in any room but when it come to just the seating areas, then mixing a low arrangement and a higher one at the same time can be quite disastrous. It looks more aesthetically appealing to have seating arrangements that are of similar heights, if not exactly the same. For example one should ideally avoid a low sofa right next to a very high bar stool!

  • MAKE SOY WAX CANDLES AT HOME

    MAKE SOY WAX CANDLES AT HOME

    You can get the required products from your local craft store, or you can order them from online retailers. If you are making candles for the first time, purchase a small amount of each item on the list. You can always order for more supplies if you like them.
    Soy candles are said to last longer than wax candles and burn with a cleaner scent. Try your hand at making them.

    Things you’ll need

    Mason jars or small earthen pots Ready-made wicks Soy wax for candles

    Method

    To melt the wax, you need to create a double boiler. Place a glass or pyrex or a metal bowl on top of a pan of simmering water. Add the wax to the bowl, and let it begin to melt. While the wax melts, add the wax dye and aroma oil to the wax.(Note: wax is always darker before it cools, so you may need to add dye depending how you want your candle to turn out.) When adding fragrance, use the amount suggested on the bottle.
    Using too much can cause your candle to burn improperly. Place the wick in the bottom of jar or a small earthen pot and pour the liquid wax. Allow it to set for several hours. If you are placing a lid on the container let the wax cool completely before covering the candle. In most cases the candle will need to set overnight before it can be lit. Before lighting trim the wick to ½ inch above the top of the candle.

    Get it right

    If you have purchased a wick with a metal piece on the end you can secure it in place with a touch of superglue. Use the end of a pencil to get the metal piece centered in the bottom of the container. There are many types of fragrance but fragrance oils work the best with soy candles. These fragrances can be purchased in containers as small as 2 oz.

  • NEVER SKIP YOUR BREAKFAST

    NEVER SKIP YOUR BREAKFAST

    In spite of health experts going blue in the face trying to get people to understand the importance of having breakfast, there are thousands who skip the first (and most crucial) meal of the day citing a motley of reasons.

    Dietician Dr Sunita Dube says that having a hearty breakfast helps control excess hunger throughout the day. “Since we technically fast overnight while sleeping, forgoing breakfast adds to this fasting period and may disrupt blood sugar balance and insulin output.

    Skipping breakfast also triggers bad eating habits during the day, as cravings ensue and quick-fix fast foods are often eaten. Having breakfast boosts metabolism and increases your energy levels throughout the day. When you miss it, your energy is reduced and physical activity levels decline,” reckons Dr Dube.

    An ideal, healthy breakfast A healthy breakfast provides 25 per cent of the total energy and nutrients required by the body.

    “Ideally, your first meal of the day should comprise a perfect combination of carbohydrates, protein and fibre. Make sure you include fruits, whole grains, berries and and good fats. Opt for light and soft idlis with sambhar, plain dosas with green chutney, milk with cornflakes or wheatflakes, vegetable poha or upma with a milkshake and sprouts. Also, include high fibre fruits like apples, papayas, muskmelons, oranges or watermelons,” says dietician and sports nutritionist, Deepshikha Agarwal.

    What to avoid in the morning l Processed, deep fried or oily food, preserved meat, left over or junk food, cakes, pastries, and only juices are a no-no. l Avoid refined foods like white rice and white bread. Instead opt for whole wheat bread and cereals. Stay away from deep fried pakodas, puris, samosas, doughnuts, cookies, potato chips, candy bars and sodas. l Food items like vada pav, bhajias, wafers, pizzas and French fries are loaded with fat, salt and calories and have very little fibre -keep them at an arm’s length.

    Disadvantages of skipping breakfast Experts say that skipping breakfast may put you on the fast track to weight gain, heart disease, osteoporosis, irritability or mood swings, menstrual irregularity, low energy levels, low memory and hormonal stress. “A study shows that people who skipped breakfast developed higher bad LDL cholesterol levels, and were less sensitive to insulin than people who ate breakfast every day,” says Dr Dube. And for those who skip breakfast in a bid to lose weight, you ought to read this. “People who miss breakfast tend to feel fatigued early on in the day and have low concentration levels, affecting their efficiency. Skipping breakfast also decreases metabolic rate making weight loss difficult. Research proves that people who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast. So, if you’re looking forward to losing weight, have a nutritious breakfast to get a healthy start to the day,” suggests Dr Agarwal.

    Importance of a healthy breakfast in children and teens The amount of food that a child needs varies according to height, built, gender, and activity levels. “Most kids will usually eat the amount of food that’s right for them, however, it is up to the parents to ensure that their children have the right foods available to choose from. Eating a meal should be both a healthy and an enjoyable occasion – a fact that many parents overlook when planning a meal for growing children. Good eating habits start from home so be a good role model.

    Make sure that no one in the house skips breakfast. A glass of milk along with a boiled egg, idli, dosa, a grilled vegetable sandwich, porridge, fresh fruit or a paneer sandwich is good for tweens and teens, says Clinical Nutritionist Dr Nupur Krishnan.

  • TIPS FOR A PERFECT SMILE

    Everyone wants a perfect smile especially when you see celebrities like Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie or John Abraham smile confidently.

    We tend to believe that to get that picture perfect smile we have to opt for corrective dental procedures and go for teeth whitening sessions. Here are 20 ways to get that perfect smile and maintain it, without burning a hole in your pocket. *Inputs by Dr.Karishma Jaradi, Aesthetic Dentist, Dentzz Dental Care Centers.

    Lighten up

    Brushing daily with toothpaste that contains baking soda helps in maintaining the whiteness. It will always build up your confidence in maintaining the perfect smile.

    Get gorgeous gums

    Your gums are at focus every time you smile and so to keep them pink you should use whitening floss, following up with a quick gargle of brightening.

    Eat fibrous foods

    Fibrous foods like apples and carrots have an exfoliating effect and help remove surface stains which help in maintaining the whiteness of your teeth and in turn enhances your smile

    Check your cracks

    Grinding teeth can also be a major cause of cracked teeth. Consult your dentist to determine if you are clenching or grinding your teeth, and if you could benefit from a protective thin night guard.

    Fill the spaces

    Spaces between the edges of the teeth are unattractive and might ruin the smile. People view your smile and dark spaces can be disturbing to the eye. Therefore consider cosmetic dental bonding to close spaces and enhance your Smile.

    Protect your teeth and gums

    Getting your teeth and gums camera-ready requires a bit of behind-the-scenes preparation. Correct cracked, broken, or missing teeth by visiting a dentist on regular intervals.

    Replace missing teeth

    Missing Teeth limits you from Smiling whole heartedly. The most obvious form of dental neglect is a missing tooth, as it instantly draws somebody’s attention to the mouth. So it is advisable to replace the missing teeth and smile the way you want.

    Whiten your teeth

    Teeth get stained by either chewing tobacco or due to old age or hereditary. Discoloration is expected for most of us who smoke, drink lots of tea and coffee leading to a dull smile that’s lost its radiance. Whitening strips or laser treatment aids in whitening your teeth. This encourages you to smile brighter and bigger.

    Eat fruits & vegetables

    Fruits and vegetables, along with a balanced diet, have been noted for decreasing tooth decay and promoting oral health. A number of fruits and vegetables are good sources for vitamin C, some contain iron and calcium, and they don’t contain added sugars. Fruits and vegetables are also composed mostly of water, and it provides a moist environment that is not conducive to bacterial growth.

    Safeguard your mouth

    Do not neglect dental check-ups, loose tooth, sensitivity or pain in your gums. It is very important to keep a check on all of them. Brushing can also help prevent decay.

  • Belgian footballer Mertens dies after collapsing on pitch

    Belgian footballer Mertens dies after collapsing on pitch

    BRUSSELS (TIP): Belgium under-21 international Gregory Mertens died on April 30, three days after collapsing with heart failure during a match, a spokesman for his club, Lokeren, said.

    The 24-year-old defender had been in a coma since going into cardiac arrest early in a reserve team game on Monday.

    Club spokesman Herman Van De Putte said that his condition continued to worsen and the player’s family had agreed with doctors to switch off the life support system.

    “Much too soon must we bid farewell to Gregory Mertens,” the club said in a statement. “We are a football club. Everyone in and around the club breathes football. But suddenly something happens where we realise football is just football.

    “Today is such a time … The medical team did all they could to save Gregory but in the end had to recognise their impotence. Gregory passed away today about 4:30 PM (1430 GMT).

    “His family were able to say their farewells.”

    Mertens, who joined top-flight Lokeren last summer after nearly 100 appearances for Cercle Bruges, collapsed 15 minutes into the game at Racing Genk and despite lengthy efforts to bring him round doctors quickly said his survival needed a “miracle”.

    The death of a young man his club described as making himself “indispensable” while never losing his “quiet modesty” shocked many leading figures across European soccer.

    Chelsea’s Belgium international goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois tweeted in Dutch: “RIP Gregory Mertens! Much strength to family and friends.”

    Fabrice Muamba, who as a 23-year-old nearly died during an FA Cup match in England three years ago, tweeted:
    “Horrible news that Gregory Mertens has passed away, only 24 years old. #RIP.”

    A former England Under-21 international, Muamba’s heart stopped for over an hour during a televised quarter-final for Bolton Wanderers at Tottenham Hotspur.

    He survived and retired from the game, drawing attention to the health risks young players can face.

    “Shockingly sad,” former England striker and television presenter Gary Lineker tweeted after news of Mertens’ death.

    Manchester City said: “Our thoughts are with the friends and family of
    @KSCLokeren’s Gregory Mertens at this sad time.”

  • Winter freezes US economy in first quarter

    Winter freezes US economy in first quarter

    WASHINGTON (TIP): US economic growth braked more sharply than expected in the first quarter as harsh weather dampened consumer spending and energy companies struggling with low prices slashed spending, but there are signs activity is picking up.

    US gross domestic product expanded at an only 0.2 per cent annual rate, the commerce department said on Wednesday. That was a big step down from the fourth quarter’s 2.2 per cent pace and marked the weakest reading in a year.

    A strong dollar and a now-resolved labor dispute at normally busy west coast ports also slammed growth, the government said. The weak growth, though probably temporary, reduces the chances of a June interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

    “A stalling of US economic growth at the start of the year rules out any imminent hiking of interest rates by the Fed,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit in London.

    Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the economy expanding at a 1.0 per cent rate.

    The dollar fell to an eight-week low against a basket of currencies after the report. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US treasury note retreated from a six-week high.

    The sharp growth slowdown is probably not a true reflection of the economy’s health, given the role of temporary factors such as the weather and the ports dispute.

    The first-quarter GDP snapshot was released just hours before Fed officials conclude a two-day policy meeting. Policymakers at the US central bank are expected to acknowledge the softer growth, but shrug it off as temporary in a statement they will issue after their gathering.

    While there are signs the economy is pulling out of the soft patch, data on home building, manufacturing, retail sales and business investment suggest the rebound will lack the vigor seen last year when the economy snapped back after being blindsided by cold weather.

    At the start of this year, many economists believed the Fed would raise interest rates from near zero in June. Now, most of the guessing centers around September.

    Hibernating consumers

    The government did not quantify the impact of the weather, the strong dollar, lower energy prices and the ports disruptions on growth last quarter.

    Economists, however, estimate unusually cold weather in February chopped off as much as half a percentage point, with the port disruptions shaving off a further 0.3 percentage point.

    The weather impact was evident in weakness in consumer spending. Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity, slowed to a 1.9 per cent rate. That was the slowest in a year and followed a brisk 4.4 per cent pace in the fourth quarter.

    The sharp moderation in consumer spending came even though households enjoyed huge savings from a big drop in gasoline prices. Consumers boosted their savings to $727.8 billion from $603.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

    Construction also took a hit from the weather, while lower energy prices, which have cut into domestic oil production, undermined business investment.

    Spending on nonresidential structures, which includes oil exploration and well drilling, tumbled at a 23.1 per cent rate. That was the fastest pace of decline in four years and marked the first contraction since the first quarter of 2013.

    The decline in nonresidential structures was driven by mining, exploration, shafts and wells, which plunged at a 48.7 per cent pace in the first quarter.

    “The downward pressure on profits, the large drop in oil-related investment and the strong dollar are holding back the US economy,” said Gad Levanon a managing director at the Conference Board in New York.

    Schlumberger, the world’s No. 1 oil-field services provider, has slashed its capital spending plans for this year by about $500 million to $2.5 billion, while competitor Halliburton cut its by about 15 per cent to$2.8 billion.

    While companies have not given a time frame, economists believe the bulk of the spending cuts were front-loaded into the first quarter, and they expect energy-related investment cuts will present less of a drag on growth in the April-June quarter.

    The dollar, which gained 4.5 per cent against the currencies of the United States’ main trade partners in the first quarter, weighed on trade, as did the West Coast ports dispute. Trade subtracted 1.25 percentage points from first-quarter GDP growth.

    The dollar is expected to remain an economic headwind in the quarters ahead. Economists estimate it will reduce growth by 0.6 percentage point this year.

    There was a surprise increase in inventory accumulation, which added 0.74 percentage point to GDP growth.

    Inventories increased $110.3 billion from$80.0 billion in the fourth quarter. But the jump suggests inventories will weigh on growth in the second quarter.

  • Indian American social activist Safeena Husain wins$1.25 million Skoll Award

    Indian American social activist Safeena Husain wins$1.25 million Skoll Award

    WASHINGTON, DC (TIP): Indian American social activist Safeena Husain, 43, was named one of four recipients of the 2015 Skoll Award for Entrepreneurship and accompanying $1.25 million prize.

    Husain won the award after founding the organization Educate Girls, which partners with public schools, trains local champions for girl’s education, and mobilizes communities to create their own action plans to make education more accessible and accountable to girls, according to the Skoll Foundation’s website.

    Since its inception in 2007, Educate Girls has grown from a 50-school pilot project into a large-scale effort reaching 1 million children in 7,500 schools, in India. Over that time the organization has placed 80,000 girls into schools, NPR disclosed.

    Part of Husain’s success with her nonprofit has been convincing young members of India’s largely patriarchal society to realize the status quo must be altered.

    Husain told NPR she remembers a man in his 20s, in India, who said school would encourage girls to “wear short skirts, answer back, and have love marriages.”

    She consequently asked the village headmaster, “Did your daughter have a love marriage,” to which he replied, “We arranged the marriage.”

    “Do you teach them short skirts in school?” Husain asked.

    Of course not, he said. The girls learn to read and write.

    Attitudes toward marriage and garb are shaped at home, not in school, Husain told the naysayer.

    Husain’s efforts are steadily affecting progressive change – she informed the Thomson Reuters Foundation that at present, 60 percent of Educate Girls’ 4,500 India-based volunteers are boys.

    “Having these boys as champions for the girls is absolutely at the core of what we’re trying to achieve,” Husain commented during the Skoll Award gala.

    Husain was raised in Delhi, where she was abused by her stepfather. “I just survived moment by moment,” she told NPR.

    She eventually moved in with her actual father, but the experience of living in the shadow of such a cruel man still haunted her. To escape her demons, instead of going to college,

    Husain retreated to an ashram, living on the banks of the Ganges and reading scriptures.

    The ashram “helped put me together,” she recalled. Afterward, she went on to study in England, and the economics degree she garnered at the London School of Economics got her a job 1995 working for a startup that hoped to develop a 3D internet browser. But after nine months in the heart of Silicon Valley, Hussain knew she “wanted to do something more fulfilling.”

    From 1997 to 2004, she was the Executive Director for Child Family Health International in San Francisco. She was also Board Chair of the International Development Exchange in San Francisco, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable solutions to counter poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

    She subsequently looked for social service organizations with the word “international” in their name since international development work was what she wanted to do, and got offered a job with Child Family Health International.

    Once she started traveling for her new vocation and returned to her homeland on a work-related trip in 2000 and saw the marginalization of young girls firsthand once again, she knew she had to do something about it, and in 2007, she returned to India and started Educate Girls, for which she currently serves as chief executive.

    “Not one girl has said to me I don’t want education, I want to sit at home and look after the cattle,” Husain told Reuters. “Every single girl I meet wants to go to school – and that for me is my biggest, biggest source of hope.”

  • Ruckus in RS over Ramdev’s drug promising male child

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Rajya Sabha plunged into chaos during Zero Hour on April 30 over an Ayurvedic medicine, manufactured by Baba Ramdev’s Divya Pharmacy and purportedly promising birth of male child, with the opposition seeking a ban on the drug and stringent action against its manufacturers.

    The entire opposition joined K C Tyagi (JD-U) when he raised the issue showing a packet of the medicine called ‘putrajeevak beej’, calling it ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’.

    Health minister JP Nadda said the issue relates to the department of Ayush, but assured the government would look into it. “It is a serious matter. Government is serious about gender ratio. All departments are working towards it. PM is himself monitoring ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ programme. I will come back to the House,” he said. “The Government will look into it and proper action will be taken.”

    Displaying the packet of the medicine to the members, Tyagi said despite the Constiutional guarantee of no discrimination on the basis of caste and gender, the medicine will only perpetuate the gender divide. He said he bought the medicine himself. Without taking Ramdev’s name, Tyagi said, “The man has been made brand ambassador of Haryana. It is violation of PM’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. How can a state appoint him as brand ambassador?”

    At this point Sitaram Yechury (CPM) walked up to Tyagi and looked at the medicine. Jaya Bachchan (SP) ook the medicine to Nadda.

    Deputy chairperson PJ Kurien also joined the discussion and said, “If there is an attempt for selection or option of sex, it is against the spirit of the Constitution.” Minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “The issue should not become a topic of discussion. There are many drug-related laws in the country. We will find out if it violates any law.”

    Jaya Bachchan demanded that the licence of the company be cancelled and the product removed from market. Yechury said the medicine also spreads obscurantism and is against the spirit of scientific temper. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad feared the medicine could be spurious and demanded strict punishment.

    In a statement, Patanjali Yogpeeth (Trust) and Divya Yog Mandir (Trust) said the medicine had nothing to do with sex determination. “Some people, due to their ignorance and selfish reasons, are trying to give a bad name to us and to Ayurveda as part of a well-planned campaign. The truth is that ‘putrajeevak aushadhi’ has been used to treat infertility for thousands of years,” it said.

    “Its Hindi name is ‘putrajeevak’ and its botanical name is ‘putranjiva roxburghii’. From Chjarak to Sushruta, all experts of Ayurveda have mentioned in the Ayurveda texts that this medicine treats infertility and has no role in sex determination … The ancient texts use the word ‘putrajeevak’ for child,” it said.

    Patanjali’s medicine is only for treating infertility and not for sex determination, the statement said.

  • Unborn Children and their Constitutional Rights

    Unborn Children and their Constitutional Rights

    A 33-year-old Indian-American woman Purvi Patel has recently been sentenced to 30 years in prison in Indiana for feticide and child maltreatment. The verdict makes Patel the first woman in the U.S. to be charged, convicted and sentenced for “feticide” for ending her own pregnancy, according to the group National Advocates for Pregnant Women (“NAPW”). (The Washington Post April 1, 2015). Writing for The Guardian, columnist Jessica Valenti states, “We may never know what really happened in Patel’s case. She has repeatedly said that she had a miscarriage which, if true, means that the state is sending a woman to jail for not having a healthy pregnancy outcome. But even if Patel did procure and take drugs to end her pregnancy, are we really prepared to send women to jail for decades if they have abortions? Even illegal ones?” (The Hindustan Times April 4, 2015).

    On April 18, 2014, Alabama Supreme Court reaffirmed in Sarah Janie Hicks v. State of Alabama that the word “child” includes “unborn child”. In 2009, Sarah Hicks was charged with using cocaine while pregnant. As per court documents, her child tested positive for cocaine “at the time of his birth”. “Children in the womb should have the same legal standing as other children”, the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled. According to Justice Tom Parker, who wrote the majority decision, “It is impossible for an unborn child to be a separate and distinct person at a particular point in time in one respect and not to be a separate and distinct person at the same point in time but in another respect. Because an unborn child has an inalienable right to life from its earliest stages of development, it is entitled not only to a life free from the harmful effects of chemicals at all stages of development but also to life itself at all stages of development…….”

    These cases (such as Purvi’s and Hick’s) reopen the question of Pro-Choice (Woman’s Right to Choose) v. Pro Life (i.e.; whether unborn children have constitutional rights in the USA) that has been debated in the political arena of this country for long. In Roe v. Wade, (93 S.Ct. 705 (1973) Justice Blackmun, writing for majority concluded, “That the word ‘person,’ as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn.” However, U.S. legal encyclopedia, states:

    “Biologically speaking, the life of a human being begins at the moment of conception in the mother’s womb, and as a general rule of construction in the law, a legal personality is imputed to an unborn child for all purposes which would be beneficial to the infant after its birth.” (42 Am. Jur. 2d, “Infants,” sec. 2.) In 2004, Congress enacted, and President Bush signed, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which recognizes the “child in utero” as a legal victim if he or she is injured or killed during the commission of any of existing federal crimes of violence. One of the provisions in the pending (before House-Judiciary Committee) H.R. 36 – Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, states, “By 8 weeks after fertilization, the unborn child reacts to touch. After 20 weeks, the unborn child reacts to stimuli” In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, (505 U.S. 833 (1992) Chief Justice William Rehnquist in his dissenting note stated, “Roe continues to exist, but only in the way a storefront on a western movie set exists: a mere façade to give the illusion of reality.” The courts agree that the unborn child in the path of an automobile is as much a person in the street as its mother, and should be equally protected under the law. Most courts have allowed recovery, even though the injury occurred during the early weeks of pregnancy, when the child was neither viable nor quick. “Viability, of course, does not affect the question of the legal existence of the unborn, and therefore of the defendant’s duty and it is a most unsatisfactory criterion, since it is a relative matter, depending on the health of the mother and child and many other matters in addition to the state of development”. (Prosser and Keaton on Torts, 2nd ed., sec. 36 (1955).

    Many jurisdictions, including U.S., actively warn against the consumption of alcoholic beverages by pregnant women due to its association with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. In Whitner v. State, 328 S.C. 1, 492 S.E.2d 777 (1997), Cornelia Whitner was charged and sentenced to a charge of criminal child neglect, by Supreme Court of South Carolina, after she was discovered to have used cocaine while pregnant. In 2004, Melissa Ann Rowland of Salt Lake City, Utah was charged with murder in 2004 after her refusal to undergo a caesarean section resulted in one of the two in her twin pregnancy being stillborn. (Sage, Alexandria, April 29, 2004, “Utah C-Section Mom Gets Probation.” CBS News). Medical science recognizes that an unborn child is in existence from the moment of conception. The work of Edwards with test-tube babies has repeatedly proved that human life begins when, after the ovum is fertilized, the new combined cell mass begins to divide. (Jasper Williams, M.D.) According to A. W. Liley, M.D., “Biologically, at no stage can we subscribe to the view that the foetus is a mere appendage of the mother. Genetically, mother and baby are separate individuals from conception.” And according to Micheline Mathews-Roth, M.D., “It is scientifically correct to say that an individual human life begins at conception, when the egg and sperm join to form the zygote, and that this developing human always is a member of our species in all stages of its life.” (Constitutional Personhood of the Unborn Child by Robert C. Cetrulo) United Nations has also recognized pre-natal rights. “The child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.”(United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child” as quoted by Robert C. Cetrulo in ‘Constitutional Personhood of the Unborn Child’)

    Jeremiah 1:5 quotes God saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”  In Sarah Janie Hicks v. State of Alabama, Chief Justice Moore argued that natural rights come from God, not from the government. A child unborn at the time of the death of its parent has also been considered a “child” of the decedent in determining beneficiaries of an award in a wrongful death action or other tort cases in the U.S. The Declaration of Independence affirms that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life & Liberty…” As the U.S. Constitution does not provide limitations upon the “right to life”, therefore, an unborn child enjoys same constitutional right as any other person in this country, the right that is enunciated so strongly in the Declaration of Independence. Even in the state of New York that is considered as one of the most progressive states in the country, known as ‘The Abortion Capital of America’, there are consequences of illegal abortion. (New York Penal Code §125.05, §125.20, §125.40-60; and Pub. Health §4164).

  • Jobless Claims Hit 15-Year Low & Consumer Spending Rises in United States

    The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits tumbled to a 15-year low last week and consumer spending rose in March, signs the economy was regaining momentum after stumbling badly in the first quarter.

     

    The economic outlook was brightened further by another report on April 30 showing a solid increase in wages in the first quarter.

     

    “This morning’s reports all point to an economy that is doing a lot better than the near-stagnation in first-quarter G.D.P. suggests,” said Paul Ashworth, chief United States economist at Capital Economics in Toronto on April 30.

     

    Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 262,000 for the week ended April 25, the lowest reading since April 2000, the Labor Department said.

     

    Though the decline, which far exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for a drop to 290,000, most likely exaggerates the labor market’s health, it bolstered views that March’s sharp moderation in job growth was probably an aberration.

     

    Another report showed that factory activity in the Midwest accelerated in April, pushing further away from a five-and-a-half-year low hit in February.

     

    Private sector wages and salaries increased 0.7 percent after gaining 0.5 percent in the previous quarter. They rose 2.8 percent in the 12 months through March, the biggest gain since the third quarter of 2008.

  • First home HIV test goes on sale

    First home HIV test goes on sale

    The first HIV home testing kit to be approved for use in the UK has gone on sale today.

    The kit, made by the company BioSure UK, can provide results within 15 minutes and does not require a laboratory to check results.

    Available online for £29.95, the package includes a syringe and other equipment and requires a single drop of blood to operate.

    The test administrated by the kit is 99.7% accurate and is the first to bear the European ‘CE’ mark of regulatory approval.

    Although sexual health has become less of a taboo subject, ensuring that people get tested for STDs remains a big issue. The NHS now offers DIY kits for those worried they might have caught something from a partner and don’t want to get tested by a doctor, but home HIV screening has not been possible — at least until today.

    Britain’s first legally-approved HIV test is now on sale, promising 99.7 percent accuracy from three months after a person suspects they may have been exposed to the infection. It requires a drop of blood and can provide a clear result in around 15 minutes.

    It’s hoped that by offering the DIY test, Britons will help lower the risk of passing on the disease to other people. According to the National Aids Trust, almost half of the people living with HIV find out late, meaning they’ve carried the virus for at least four years.

    If the disease is diagnosed earlier, sufferers can receive treatment that makes it more manageable. Right now, the test is only available online for £29.95. Should a test show a positive result, it must then be confirmed with a professional health worker.

    The product is not available in Northern Ireland, where such home kits are outlawed.

    Free HIV tests can be obtained on the NHS across the UK.

  • Nepal Earthquake: Rescuers Struggle to Reach Villages as Toll Tops 3,800

    Nepal Earthquake: Rescuers Struggle to Reach Villages as Toll Tops 3,800

    BHAKTAPUR, Nepal — Rescuers struggled to reach Nepal’s more rural communities on Monday to assess the damage from a devastating earthquake that has left more than 3,800 people dead.

    [quote_box_right]Hit by severe shortage of food, water, electricity and medicines and buffeted by fear, tens of thousands of people are out in the open here as quake-hit Nepal today desperately sought international help to tide over a looming crisis with death toll soaring.[/quote_box_right]

    The 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Saturday, killing thousands and flattening centuries-old buildings in the capital city of Kathmandu. The temblor also sparked a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.

    Kathmandu residents were continuing to sleep outside following two days of powerful aftershocks. The official death toll jumped above 3,800 on Monday, with more than 7,100 others injured, according to Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Center. Aid agencies warned that figure could leap higher once rescuers make it to isolated rural communities.

    “Villages in the areas affected near the epicenter are literally perched on the sides of large mountain faces and are made from simple stone and rock construction,” Matt Darvas, a Nepal-based worker with the Christian charity World Vision, said in a statement from the group.

    More than 48 hours after the 7.9 magnitude temblor shook the Himalayan nation, injuring more than 8,000 people and leaving thousands more homeless, multi-nation rescue teams, including from India, carried out relief works.

    Armed with modern equipment, dumpers and earth removers and aided by sniffer dogs, disaster relief workers were trying to locate possible survivors against fading hopes.
    The quake that flattened homes and buildings and the subsequent powerful aftershocks forced people out to live in the open under plastic tents barely shielding them from cold and rains that pounded the city last night.

    Fuel and medicines were also in short supply. The picture was the same in suburbs of Kathmandu and in other rural areas.

    Nepal’s top bureaucrat Leela Mani Paudel said the immediate and big challenge was relief. “We urge foreign countries to give us special relief materials and medical teams. We are really desperate for more foreign expertise to pull through this crisis,” he said.

    “We are appealing for tents, dry goods, blankets, mattresses, and 80 different medicines that we desperately need now,” he told a press conference.

    Nepal does not have helicopters or the expertise to rescue survivors. It needs help in the form of orthopaedic doctors, nerve specialists, anaesthetists, surgeons and paramedics, Paudel said.

    Hundreds of people are still trapped under tonnes of rubble in capital Kathmandu and some of the worst-affected remote mountainous areas amid concerns that toll could cross 5,000 mark, authorities said.

    “The death toll in Nepal from the earthquake that struck two days ago has risen to 3,726,” Nepalese police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said today.

    Home ministry’s disaster management division said nearly 7,000 people were injured. 1,053 people are reported killed in the Kathmandu Valley alone and 875 in Sindhupalchowk.

    Officials and aid agencies have warned that the casualties could rise as rescue teams reach remote mountainous areas of western Nepal.

    “Villages are routinely affected by landslides, and it’s not uncommon for entire villages of 200, 300, up to 1,000 people to be completely buried by rock falls,” aid agency World Vision spokesman Matt Darvas said.

    The blocked roads, downed power lines and overcrowded hospitals along with fresh tremors are hampering rescue efforts to locate survivors of the quake.

    More than 700 disaster relief experts drawn from the National Disaster Relief Force have been deployed by India.

    India has mounted a major rescue and rehabilitation effort, deploying 13 military aircraft which carried field hospitals, medicines, blankets, 50 tonnes of water and other materials.

    A senior-level inter-ministerial team from India has arrived here to assess how India can assist in the relief operations. Teams of health experts from AIIMS and Safdarjung hospital Delhi have also been deployed.

    Mass cremations are being held here continuously. As the death toll rises, the authorities are working on disposing of the bodies as quickly as possible to prevent a health hazard.
    Nepal has declared a state of emergency in the wake of the disaster, the worst in over 80 years.

    Aid flights are coming in continuously due to which Kathmandu airport is running out of parking bays. Many planes are having to wait before getting permission to land.
    Chaos prevailed in the country’s only international airport here with hundreds waiting to be evacuated.

    While 2,500 Indians have been evacuated so far, scores of people were still waiting outside the Tribhuvan International Airport to board commercial and defence aircraft to head for home.

    UN agencies say Nepal is running out of water and food and nearly one million children urgently need humanitarian assistance as they were particularly vulnerable.

  • Indian American Scientist Sangeeta Bhatia at MIT Wins 250,000 Dollars Heinz Award

    Indian American Scientist Sangeeta Bhatia at MIT Wins 250,000 Dollars Heinz Award

    WASHINGTON:  An Indian-American scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who has developed artificial human microlivers for drug testing, has won a prestigious 250,000 dollars Heinz award for her work in tissue engineering and disease detection.

    Sangeeta Bhatia at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been named the recipient of the 2015 Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy, and Employment.

    The award includes an unrestricted prize of 250,000 dollars. The Heinz Awards annually recognise individuals for their extraordinary contributions to arts and humanities; environment; human condition; public policy; and technology, the economy, and employment.

    “This type of recognition helps to bring science into the public eye so that everyone can appreciate the dedication and innovation that is happening in laboratories all over the country,” said Ms Bhatia, the John J and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

    Ms Bhatia’s team has pioneered the fabrication of artificial human microlivers, which are being used by many biopharmaceutical companies to test the toxicity of drug candidates.

    Ms Bhatia is also using microlivers in the lab to model malaria infection and test drugs that can eradicate malaria parasites completely – even the parasite reservoirs that remain in the liver after a patient’s symptoms subside.

    She hopes to eventually develop implantable liver tissue as a complement or substitute for whole-organ transplant.

    In her study of cancer and the tumour microenvironment, Ms Bhatia’s team has developed synthetic biomarkers that are paving the way for simple, low-cost cancer diagnostics.

    Their engineered nanoparticles interact with tumour proteins in the body and release hundreds of these biomarkers, which can be detected in urine.

    One application relies on a paper-strip urine test that can reveal the presence of cancer within minutes in mouse models.

    Ms Bhatia is also recognised for her passion in promoting the advancement of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

    While a graduate student at MIT, Ms Bhatia helped start Keys to Empowering Youth (KEYs), a programme that engages middle school girls with science and engineering through hands-on activities and mentorship from MIT students.

    “I’m hopeful that the visibility associated with this award can inspire young girls by showing them what a rewarding profession – and life – STEM can yield,” Ms Bhatia said.

    Ms Bhatia will receive her award on May 13 at a ceremony in Pittsburgh. She will be honoured along with the Heinz Award recipients in the four other categories.

    The recipients include Roz Chast, a best-selling illustrator and cartoonist (arts and humanities); Frederica Perera, an environmental health researcher at Columbia University (environment); William McNulty and Jacob Wood, founders of Team Rubicon (human condition); and Aaron Wolf, a geoscientist and professor at Oregon State University (public policy).

  • Ash piles up from eruption of Chile’s Calbuco volcano

    Ash piles up from eruption of Chile’s Calbuco volcano

    ENSENADA, CHILE (TIP): Twin blasts from the Calbuco volcano in southern Chile sent vast clouds of ash into the sky, covering this small town with thick soot and raising concerns on Thursday that the dust could contaminate water, cause respiratory illnesses and ground more flights.

    Ensenada, in the foothills of the volcano, looked like a ghost town but for an occasional horse or dog roaming its only street. Most of the 1,500 residents had evacuated after the initial eruption on Wednesday, with only about 30 people refusing to leave out of worry for their homes and animals.

    Daniel Patricio Gonzalez left with his wife, 7-year-old son and 4-year-old twins, but he returned to town Thursday night to assess the damage. The roof at the restaurant he manages had caved in from the weight of the mounting ash.

    “This hurts a bit, but there’s nothing to do against nature. The important thing is that my family is fine,” Gonzalez said.

    The volcano erupted Wednesday afternoon for the first time in more than four decades, spewing out a plume of ash more than 6 miles (10 kilometers) high. Emergency officials were taken by surprise and had only a few minutes to issue an alert.

    Calbuco had another spectacular outburst early Thursday with lightning crackling through a dark sky turned reddish orange by the explosion.

    As the ash cloud spread Wednesday, “people went into a state of panic,” said Miguel Silva Diaz, an engineer who lives in Puerto Montt, a city about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from the volcano. “Then, at around 1am, I heard a loud noise, as if somebody had detonated an atomic bomb.”

    Winds blew ash in a widening arc across to Argentina. No injuries were reported and the only person reported missing since the eruption was located on Thursday.

    Authorities evacuated 4,000 people as gas and ash continued to spew, and they closed access to the area around the volcano, which lies near the cities of Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt, some 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Santiago.

    “I was shocked. I had just arrived home when I looked through the window and saw the column of smoke rising up. We called our families, posted photos,” said Daniel Palma, a psychologist who lives in Puerto Varas.

    “We woke up today with a blanket of fog and it hasn’t cleared. We have a layer of smoke above us,” Palma said, adding that many were concerned about the possible effects of the ash on their health.

    The Chilean national geology and mining service warned that people should prepare for a third and “even more aggressive eruption.”

    President Michelle Bachelet, who visited the area Thursday, declared a state of emergency.

    “We don’t have any problems with supplies, water or sewage up to now. That’s not the problem,” she said. “Our problem is a respiratory one, from inhaling all of this ash, and the fact that this ash could generate some sort of environmental contamination.”

    The short-term dangers related to the ash include eye and skin infections as well as water contamination, said Bernardo Martorell, a physician and the head of the sanitary planning division at Chile’s health ministry.

    “That’s why the people in the area need to evacuate,” Martorell said.

    The ash continued to fall Thursday in Puerto Montt and other nearby cities. Patricio Vera, director of a local radio station, said that after the initial eruption, hundreds of people rushed to buy gasoline, forcing stations to ration sales, while supermarkets closed early to avoid the risk of looting.

    LATAM and other airline companies cancelled flights to and from Puerto Montt because airborne ash can severely damage jet engines.

    The 6,500 foot (2,000-meter) Calbuco last erupted in 1972 and is considered one of the top three most potentially dangerous among Chile’s 90 active volcanos.

    By Thursday afternoon, ash had made its way to Villa La Angostura, Argentina, a small town about 56 miles (90 kilometers) northeast of Calbuco. Cars and streets were coated with a thin layer of ash, but people were otherwise going about their business.

    “We are praying that the volcanic activity will be as short as possible,” said mayor Roberto Cacault.

  • UP project runner-up at UK award

    LONDON (TIP): First the good news – a rural project in the heart of Uttar Pradesh that plans to use abundantly and cheaply available agricultural waste as feedstock to co-produce reliable and affordable electricity and clean household cooking gas has become the runner up for the first prize floated by world famous Imperial College for its most innovative female student entrepreneurs in science and technology.

    The bad news however is that two female students from India, who had made it to the top five shortlist failed to make it to the winner’s podium.

    The £10,000 Althea-Imperial prize was won by Charikleia Spathi, a PhD student from the faculty of engineering for her idea of creating ultra-waterproof concrete additive that makes buildings less vulnerable to natural hazards like flooding.

    Spathi draws on the use of paper sludge ash, a waste product to create a super waterproof powder.

    The two Indian students – one who has developed a vaccine delivery system and another who is working on a way of enabling citizen scientists to help find potential new antibiotics failed to win the prize.

    Meanwhile the UP project Oorja is by Clementine Chambon, a PhD student which aims to build and install decentralised, easy to operate plants to power off-grid villages in rural India, where it will be owned and leased by micro-entrepreneurs and women’s self-help groups.

    These ‘mini power-plants’ will coproduce renewable energy and biochar from crop residues. Clean and reliable electricity will help increase the time children can study, facilitate mobile phone charging and use of computers and extend business hours beyond daylight. Provision of cooking gas will reduce the time women spend collecting firewood and reduce health hazards.

    Biochar will also help improve soil fertility by improving its water retention capacity, resulting in higher crop yields and enhanced food security.

    Speaking exclusively to TOI, Chambon said, “We are developing an innovative and sustainable technological solution to address the challenges of energy poverty, soil degradation, food security and greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously. Biochar is a natural and safe soil remediation product which will help restore degraded agricultural soils by improving its water and micro-nutrient retention capacity, thereby significantly increasing crop yields and improving farmer incomes. It will reduce the dependence on fertilizers and store up to 80%of organic carbon by mass permanently and safely in the soil, providing negative carbon emissions.”

    Chambon added, “We will pilot our solution in rural Eastern UP where nearly 80% of villages are un-electrified. They rely on fossil-fuels such as kerosene for household lighting, firewood for cooking and diesel for irrigation and commercial power. All of these are expensive and unreliable alternatives and harmful to health and environment, releasing large amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. Here, 75% of people are engaged in agriculture for their livelihood and a major driver of poverty is crop failure, due to soil degradation resulting from frequent droughts and floods, exacerbated by the pernicious effects of climate change. Our mission is to develop locally available crop wastes”.

  • Indian American Vivek Murthy Takes Oath as US Surgeon-General

    Indian American Vivek Murthy Takes Oath as US Surgeon-General

    FORT MYER:  Indian-American Vivek Murthy was today administered the oath for the top post of US Surgeon General by Vice President Joe Biden at a ceremonial ceremony in Fort Myer, becoming the youngest-ever in charge of the country’s public health.

    37-year-old Vivek Hallegere Murthy is now the highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama Administration.

    “To have the opportunity to serve as Surgeon General is an extraordinary honour and a profound responsibility, and I want to thank President Obama for entrusting me with the stewardship of this office,” Dr Murthy said in his address on the occasion.

    Attended by eminent Indian-Americans, who flew in the military bastion from across the country to attend the Commissioning and Change of Command Ceremony, Dr Murthy took the oath on the holy Gita.

    As the US Surgeon-General, Murthy carries the rank of Vice Admiral. The Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell also participated in the event.

    “He is eminently qualified for the job,” Mr Biden said on the occasion and described his family as an “incredible” family in particular his grandmother who was present on the occasion.

    “I am who I am because of my grandmother’s faith, my father’s strength, my mother’s love, my sister’s support and my fiance’s unyielding belief in me. I am blessed to have all of them here with me today. I will always be grateful to them for the sacrifices they have made,” he said, with his parents and family members seated in the audience.

    “My family was never supposed to have left our ancestral village. My father is the son of a farmer in rural India. He was supposed to have been a farmer, as was I. But for my grandfather’s insistence that his son get an education – even if that meant going into debt – we might have never left that village to go out in the world and – as my grandfather also insisted – start fixing what needed fixing,” he said.

    “We were not supposed to have become Americans. My parents stopped in three other countries – including a brutal dictatorship – on their journey to get here. They saved up money and scrounged for information about job opportunities, always knowing that America was the destination,” Dr Murthy said.

    In his first major policy speech, Dr Murthy vowed to improve the public health of the country. “Here’s the thing: even as millions of Americans get covered through the Affordable Care Act, we still have much more to do,” he said.

    “Public health does not exist in a vacuum. It is intrinsically linked to education, employment, the environment and our economy. There is a whole world beyond hospital corridors and clinic waiting rooms where people are struggling with issues of transportation, housing and development,” he said.