Even as cricket-lovers were looking forward to see one of their favourite players, Yuvraj Singh, in action at the T20 World Cup, it was a four-legged Yuvraj who stole the show here at the `Krishi Unnati Mela' (agriculture development fair), inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi at the IARI Pusa campus on 2016-03-19.
Thousands of farmers from across the country thronged the enclosure of Yuvraj -a much-sought-after Murrahbreed donor bull -and his owner Karamvir Singh to convince him to part with some of the animal's semen to help artificially inseminate their milch buffaloes.
They all were, however, told to visit Karamvir's farm in Sunarion village in Kurukshetra, Haryana, where the owner has state-of-the-art facilities to collect semen and store it safely. A single ejaculation of Yuvraj's, trig tion of Yuvraj's, triggered with the help of a teaser animal or by electro-stimulation method, generates between 4-6 ml of semen. It is then diluted and 500 to 600 doses are prepared with it. Karamvir sells a single dose, preserved inside plastic straws and stored in liquid nitrogen containers, for Rs 300. Asked about how much his bull earns for him, Karamvir told TOI that he roughly earned Rs 40-45 lakh per annum but hastened to add that he spent a lot of the cash to keep his prized possession in good health. “I spend roughly Rs 3,000 per day on eight-year-old Yuvraj's food. The money which I earn from Yuvraj helps me to keep my other buffaloes in better condition. I could have charged more for a single dose, but I deliberately keep it low as I want to carry on with this business as a social service,“ said Karamvir.
What had prompted him to name the bull after the cricketer Yuvraj Singh? He said, “Uske sitare cricketer ke beech buland the (he was among the shining star among cricketers).“
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
Obscene act in pvt place no offence, says HC
Any obscene act in a private place causing no annoyance to others does not constitute an offence, ruled the Bombay High court recently while quashing a complaint against 13 men arrested from a private party in an apartment at Andheri (West).
In December 2015, a journalist had complained about scantily-clad dancers making obscene gestures at men who were showering money on them in the flat. A team from Amboli and Oshiwara police stations had raided the flat and filed the FIR.
In December 2015, a journalist had complained about scantily-clad dancers making obscene gestures at men who were showering money on them in the flat. A team from Amboli and Oshiwara police stations had raided the flat and filed the FIR.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Harvard woman elected to Haryana zila parishad
When Haryana - infamous for its skewed sex ratio-decided to fix minimum educational qualification for candidates of the panchayat election concluded in January 2016, nobody would have expected a woman with a Harvard degree to contest the polls and win.
But Yukti Chaudhary's (27) victory is reason enough to change that image of khapland. Yukti who is an LLM in international human rights from Harvard Law School, has been elected to Fatehabad Zila Parishad from ward number 5. The seat was reserved for women. She graduated in law from Campus Law College, Delhi University .
Yukti, who won the poll by a very thin margin of 35 votes after defeating her nearest rival Poonam Sihag, says education will help bring change in the state. "Education will help me and others like me in understanding policies of the state for better implementation of the same," she says, ad ding that her experience in a foreign institute has broadened her perspectives.
Her immediate plan is to resolve drinking water issues in the area. "During the election campaign, I came across the water shortage issue again and again. Now, I will tour all nine villages of my ward again to go through the problems being faced by residents in detail," she told TOI. There are many educated women in our family, but we decided to field Yukti as she is the most educated woman in our clan," says her brother-in-law Akash Godara. When the minimum education clause was imposed by the state government for panchayat polls, people urged the family to field a candidate, Yukti Chaudhary's name came up instantly.
Her grandfather-in-law Mani Ram Godara, who was state home minister during the Bansi Lal government from 1996 to 1999, was also a prominent political figure. Hailing from Jaipur, she married Varun Godara, an assistant jail superintendent at district jail, Sirsa, in December 2014. He was her senior at Stephen's where she did her graduation. After the imposition of education clause, more than 10% sarpanchs are graduates or have higher degrees as compared to 7% in the previous panchayat polls. Panchayat minister Om Prakash Dhankar says this will change Haryana's rural politics. Yukti is not alone on the top. Richa, sarpanch of Sugh village in Yamunanagar, is an MBA. Another MBA, Nitasha Bansal, has been elected to Ellenabad block samiti in Sirsa district.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Goat held for trespassing into garden of a judge in Chhattisgarh
In a bizarre incident, Chhattisgarh police on Monday (2016-02-08) took into custody a goat after a complaint that it ventured into a judge's garden in Janakpur block in Korea district, 250km from here. The goat, which was accused of being a `repeat offender', was released later, but its owner was not so lucky.
Abdul Hasan (40) was arrested and sent to jail on Tuesday on charges of trespass and damaging property , the police said. "My goat scaled the boundary wall again and ate flowers and vegetables in the garden. It was taken to the police station and then police brought me in as well," said Hasan.
Police said the accused had been ignoring warnings given to him for over a week and was eventually detained and charged under Sections 447 (trespass), 427 (damaging and destroying property of others) and 151 (creating public nuisance) IPC on Monday . He was produced in court on Tuesday and sent to jail.
Janakpur station in charge RS Paikra told TO that Hasan had been letting loose his goat into the garden of magistrate S E Ratre for more than a week. He would do so after the magistrate left for office, the officer said. Ratre's gardener, Rajesh Paikra, tried in vain to stop Hasan and then informed police.
Local Congress leader Shailesh Nitin Trivedi slammed the police for the incident, saying: "The arrest of a goat is ridiculous. Chhattisgarh police have made fun of themselves by doing so. Those accused in rape cases are moving freely ."
"The most painful and disappointing aspect is the entry made by an ASI of Chhattisgarh police in the diary that `the goat would graze on the garden, despite warnings'. Chhattisgarh police is communicating with goats!" he added.
Last year, a parrot in Chandrapur in Maharashtra was detained after a woman filed a complaint against it for making obscene remarks. The parrot, named Hariyal, was allegedly trained for two years by its owner, Suresh Sakharkar, to abuse his stepmother, Janabai.
Abdul Hasan (40) was arrested and sent to jail on Tuesday on charges of trespass and damaging property , the police said. "My goat scaled the boundary wall again and ate flowers and vegetables in the garden. It was taken to the police station and then police brought me in as well," said Hasan.
Police said the accused had been ignoring warnings given to him for over a week and was eventually detained and charged under Sections 447 (trespass), 427 (damaging and destroying property of others) and 151 (creating public nuisance) IPC on Monday . He was produced in court on Tuesday and sent to jail.
Janakpur station in charge RS Paikra told TO that Hasan had been letting loose his goat into the garden of magistrate S E Ratre for more than a week. He would do so after the magistrate left for office, the officer said. Ratre's gardener, Rajesh Paikra, tried in vain to stop Hasan and then informed police.
Local Congress leader Shailesh Nitin Trivedi slammed the police for the incident, saying: "The arrest of a goat is ridiculous. Chhattisgarh police have made fun of themselves by doing so. Those accused in rape cases are moving freely ."
"The most painful and disappointing aspect is the entry made by an ASI of Chhattisgarh police in the diary that `the goat would graze on the garden, despite warnings'. Chhattisgarh police is communicating with goats!" he added.
Last year, a parrot in Chandrapur in Maharashtra was detained after a woman filed a complaint against it for making obscene remarks. The parrot, named Hariyal, was allegedly trained for two years by its owner, Suresh Sakharkar, to abuse his stepmother, Janabai.
Fertile young Indian couples have no time to make a baby
Super-busy working couples opt for ART because they don't have enough time for natural conception.
Husband's got the sperm, wife's got the eggs, what they haven't got is the time to make a baby. Not when his job overseas -or on the high seas -takes him out of home most of the year, year after year. Or both work irreconcilable shifts. This is what's pushing fertile young couples to fertility clinics where they conceive through assisted reproductive technologies (ART).
Intra-uterine insemination (IUI) is a popular choice with such couples. In this the sperm is placed inside the uterus to facilitate fertilization. The number of couples seeking this process is on the rise, says Dr Kavitha Gautham, director at Chennai's Bloom Fertility Clinic.
Timing is everything for these assisted pregnancies. "If the husband works abroad, we have to get the wife pregnant within the first couple of months of him leaving. Otherwise questions will be raised as to how she got pregnant when her husband was not around," says Dr Krithika Devi of Nova IVI Fertility Centre. "If she does not get preg nant through the first cycle, we wait till he is in town again, before we begin the next cycle of treatment."
This procedure is less expensive than the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) method used on couples with fertility issues. In IVF, an egg and sperm are fertilized outside the body and then the embryo transferred to the uterus, explains Dr Priya Selvaraj, fertility specialist at GG Hospital in Chennai. While IUI costs around Rs 8,000, an IVF cycle can cost Rs 2 lakh.
In most Indian households, say the doctors, ART is still looked down upon. In the past, it was mostly middle-income couples who approached Selvaraj for a quick pregnancy solution -the husband was generally a blue collar worker in the Middle East. Of late, the affluent too are consulting with her, not wanting to set aside time for procreation lest it got in the way of promotion. Her most recent case was a young merchant navy captain, who said he was setting sail in a few days and wanted to begin the process of having a baby . “His wife told me she was living with his parents while he was away and since they were married for a few years, she was being questioned about why they hadn't conceived yet,“ says Selvaraj. The captain was willing to have his sperm frozen so his wife could conceive while he was sailing.
As in all ART treatments, the couple is counselled through the process, Selvaraj says."I have women breaking down in my clinic because they feel they're all alone even when they are conceiving a child which a couple is supposed to do together," she says.
While most doctors don't recommend ART for fertile couples, they find that they are sometimes left with no choice. Gautham, for instance, says that when a couple comes to her for ART, and she finds their fertility test results are normal, she advises them to try and conceive the natural way .
"But they tell us that they find it difficult to be sexually active even once a month because while they live in the same house, they have different work shifts," says Dr Gautham. Medical studies too state that it takes six months to a year for most couples to get pregnant if they have regular sex without contraception.
"They refuse to give up or change their jobs or slow down their lifestyle, but are willing to start on ART because they are being pressured by family to produce children," she says.
(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-03-15)
Husband's got the sperm, wife's got the eggs, what they haven't got is the time to make a baby. Not when his job overseas -or on the high seas -takes him out of home most of the year, year after year. Or both work irreconcilable shifts. This is what's pushing fertile young couples to fertility clinics where they conceive through assisted reproductive technologies (ART).
Intra-uterine insemination (IUI) is a popular choice with such couples. In this the sperm is placed inside the uterus to facilitate fertilization. The number of couples seeking this process is on the rise, says Dr Kavitha Gautham, director at Chennai's Bloom Fertility Clinic.
Timing is everything for these assisted pregnancies. "If the husband works abroad, we have to get the wife pregnant within the first couple of months of him leaving. Otherwise questions will be raised as to how she got pregnant when her husband was not around," says Dr Krithika Devi of Nova IVI Fertility Centre. "If she does not get preg nant through the first cycle, we wait till he is in town again, before we begin the next cycle of treatment."
This procedure is less expensive than the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) method used on couples with fertility issues. In IVF, an egg and sperm are fertilized outside the body and then the embryo transferred to the uterus, explains Dr Priya Selvaraj, fertility specialist at GG Hospital in Chennai. While IUI costs around Rs 8,000, an IVF cycle can cost Rs 2 lakh.
In most Indian households, say the doctors, ART is still looked down upon. In the past, it was mostly middle-income couples who approached Selvaraj for a quick pregnancy solution -the husband was generally a blue collar worker in the Middle East. Of late, the affluent too are consulting with her, not wanting to set aside time for procreation lest it got in the way of promotion. Her most recent case was a young merchant navy captain, who said he was setting sail in a few days and wanted to begin the process of having a baby . “His wife told me she was living with his parents while he was away and since they were married for a few years, she was being questioned about why they hadn't conceived yet,“ says Selvaraj. The captain was willing to have his sperm frozen so his wife could conceive while he was sailing.
As in all ART treatments, the couple is counselled through the process, Selvaraj says."I have women breaking down in my clinic because they feel they're all alone even when they are conceiving a child which a couple is supposed to do together," she says.
While most doctors don't recommend ART for fertile couples, they find that they are sometimes left with no choice. Gautham, for instance, says that when a couple comes to her for ART, and she finds their fertility test results are normal, she advises them to try and conceive the natural way .
"But they tell us that they find it difficult to be sexually active even once a month because while they live in the same house, they have different work shifts," says Dr Gautham. Medical studies too state that it takes six months to a year for most couples to get pregnant if they have regular sex without contraception.
"They refuse to give up or change their jobs or slow down their lifestyle, but are willing to start on ART because they are being pressured by family to produce children," she says.
(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-03-15)
Monday, March 14, 2016
Indian Railways to wash blankets after every use
Smelly blankets may soon become a thing of the past on trains, with the railways deciding to wash them after every use.
As per the plan, newly designed lightweight blankets made of soft fabric will replace the existing ones and these will be washed after every use, a first in railways.
Currently blankets are washed only periodically - once or twice a month.
“We are procuring blankets designed by NIFT which can be washed after every use and still last longer,“ said a railway ministry official.
National Institute of Fashion Technology has de signed the fabric of the blanket, a mix of wool and cotton, which can withstand daily wash. “Since there were complaints about blankets, we have tried to address the issue. We have approved the NIFT-designed washable blankets. The blankets will be used in a few selected premier trains, to begin with.Later, more trains will be covered,“ said the official.
The railways has also undertaken steps to set up state of-the-art mechanised laundries at many stations to cater to the increased requirement of daily washing of bedrolls, including blankets.
It is not only blankets but the entire bedroll that has been redesigned with new colour combination by NIFT. So bedsheets and pillow covers will all sport a new look.
Passengers prefer coloured bedroll to all-white, according to a survey on passenger preferences, he said.
Besides, the interiors of the coaches are being modified to match the colour of curtains and bedsheets.
The railways recently introduced the e-bedroll facility to enable passengers to opt for bedrolls while booking tickets online. Passengers in sleeper-class coaches can buy takeaway bedroll kits at stations or order online at the time of buying tickets.
The transporter will charge Rs 140 for two bedsheets and a pillow and Rs 110 for a blanket. Together, these can be purchased for Rs 250. Cur rently only AC passengers have free bedroll facility.
Last month, minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha had told Rajya Sabha during question hour that while bedsheets, bedrolls and pil low covers were washed every day , blankets were washed every two months.
His reply followed questions raised by MPs regarding the quality and hygiene of laundry and linen supplied by Indian Railways on trains Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari had quipped that the earlier system of passengers bringing their own linen and pillows for journeys seemed to be better.
(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-03-14)
As per the plan, newly designed lightweight blankets made of soft fabric will replace the existing ones and these will be washed after every use, a first in railways.
Currently blankets are washed only periodically - once or twice a month.
“We are procuring blankets designed by NIFT which can be washed after every use and still last longer,“ said a railway ministry official.
National Institute of Fashion Technology has de signed the fabric of the blanket, a mix of wool and cotton, which can withstand daily wash. “Since there were complaints about blankets, we have tried to address the issue. We have approved the NIFT-designed washable blankets. The blankets will be used in a few selected premier trains, to begin with.Later, more trains will be covered,“ said the official.
The railways has also undertaken steps to set up state of-the-art mechanised laundries at many stations to cater to the increased requirement of daily washing of bedrolls, including blankets.
It is not only blankets but the entire bedroll that has been redesigned with new colour combination by NIFT. So bedsheets and pillow covers will all sport a new look.
Passengers prefer coloured bedroll to all-white, according to a survey on passenger preferences, he said.
Besides, the interiors of the coaches are being modified to match the colour of curtains and bedsheets.
The railways recently introduced the e-bedroll facility to enable passengers to opt for bedrolls while booking tickets online. Passengers in sleeper-class coaches can buy takeaway bedroll kits at stations or order online at the time of buying tickets.
The transporter will charge Rs 140 for two bedsheets and a pillow and Rs 110 for a blanket. Together, these can be purchased for Rs 250. Cur rently only AC passengers have free bedroll facility.
Last month, minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha had told Rajya Sabha during question hour that while bedsheets, bedrolls and pil low covers were washed every day , blankets were washed every two months.
His reply followed questions raised by MPs regarding the quality and hygiene of laundry and linen supplied by Indian Railways on trains Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari had quipped that the earlier system of passengers bringing their own linen and pillows for journeys seemed to be better.
(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-03-14)
Biting a chilli proves fatal for 2-year-old girl
Biting into a chilli pod is painful enough, but it can have far more serious consequences than a flaming tongue and watery eyes.
A two-year-old girl, who accidentally took a bite of the hot fruit, died of respiratory failure despite medical intervention. The AIIMS autopsy said death was caused by gastric fluids getting into the respiratory tract.
The rare incident was reported a few months ago and has been published in Medico-Legal Journal to educate the medical community about the risk of consuming substances with extreme taste.
The report said the girl vomited several times, resulting in fluids getting into the wind pipe. Doctors said it is possible that gastric fluids or vomit aspirated into the windpipe of the girl and choked her. Though doctors at a local hospital managed to revive her initially, the girl died within 24 hours.
Chittaranjan Behera, the surgeon, told TOI: "Aspiration of gastric contents resulting in death due to respiratory failure is not uncommon. However, this is the first such case involving accidental bite of a chilli at our hospital. It is rarely reported in medical-legal literature".
"Our throat has two pipes, one for food and the other for air. The former helps carry food from the mouth to the stomach while the latter allows respiration. The problem occurs when food or gastric fluid enter the wind pipe, as happened in this case. It causes respiratory failure if resuscitation is not conducted immediately", said Dr Sudhir Gupta, professor and head of forensic medicine department at AIIMS.
He added that normally our body protects against such mishaps through the act of coughing. But in the child's case, it is possible that the 'laryngeal cough reflex' was either poorly developed or inactive due to unconsciousness, leading to death.
In adults, Dr Gupta said, death due to aspiration of fluid in the wrong pipe is seen among alcoholics, when lack of consciousness hinders body's reflex mechanism.
Doctors say children cannot differentiate between edible and non-edible substances, so parents should ensure that substances such as chilli are kept away. "If a patient aspirates, his or her head should be placed side ways so that further aspira tion of gastric content is reduced", a doctor said.
(Source: The Times of India, Kolkata edition dated 2016-03-14)
A two-year-old girl, who accidentally took a bite of the hot fruit, died of respiratory failure despite medical intervention. The AIIMS autopsy said death was caused by gastric fluids getting into the respiratory tract.
The rare incident was reported a few months ago and has been published in Medico-Legal Journal to educate the medical community about the risk of consuming substances with extreme taste.
The report said the girl vomited several times, resulting in fluids getting into the wind pipe. Doctors said it is possible that gastric fluids or vomit aspirated into the windpipe of the girl and choked her. Though doctors at a local hospital managed to revive her initially, the girl died within 24 hours.
Chittaranjan Behera, the surgeon, told TOI: "Aspiration of gastric contents resulting in death due to respiratory failure is not uncommon. However, this is the first such case involving accidental bite of a chilli at our hospital. It is rarely reported in medical-legal literature".
"Our throat has two pipes, one for food and the other for air. The former helps carry food from the mouth to the stomach while the latter allows respiration. The problem occurs when food or gastric fluid enter the wind pipe, as happened in this case. It causes respiratory failure if resuscitation is not conducted immediately", said Dr Sudhir Gupta, professor and head of forensic medicine department at AIIMS.
He added that normally our body protects against such mishaps through the act of coughing. But in the child's case, it is possible that the 'laryngeal cough reflex' was either poorly developed or inactive due to unconsciousness, leading to death.
In adults, Dr Gupta said, death due to aspiration of fluid in the wrong pipe is seen among alcoholics, when lack of consciousness hinders body's reflex mechanism.
Doctors say children cannot differentiate between edible and non-edible substances, so parents should ensure that substances such as chilli are kept away. "If a patient aspirates, his or her head should be placed side ways so that further aspira tion of gastric content is reduced", a doctor said.
(Source: The Times of India, Kolkata edition dated 2016-03-14)
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Lee Road rechristened Satyajit Ray Dharani inspired by a political honcho
I am suffering from acute bouts of indigestion and dehydration from the continuous overdose of culture and creativity being inspired and exhaled by the one and only greatest gift of God to present day Bengali mankind.
Lee Road in Kolkata becomes Satyajit Ray Sarani and in less than 2 minutes after the announcement it was rechristened 'Satyajit Ray Dharani' after some impromptu inspiration on 2016-02-29!
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