Monkey enters Parliament on 2016-07-28

The Parliament House library adjoining the Central Hall had an unusual guest on Thursday (2016-07-28) afternoon. A monkey found his way in and remained in the reading room meant for MPs and journalists for a good half an hour. The monkey roamed around the reading room while only two Kerala MPs ­ N K Premchandran of the RSP and M B Rajesh of CPM were present there.

After failing to discover any other exit from the library for about 30 minutes, the monkey made it's way out the main door and through the green carpeted corridor and finally left by the main gate of the building meant for VIPs. The security staff posted at the Central Hall door quickly shut the gates and prevented the monkey from invading the place where MPs, mini sters and journalists, along with catering staff are always present in good number.

The hapless library staff kept calling Parliament security , not knowing what to do in the situation. There was no help forthcoming as there is no way to catch a monkey in Parliament at present in the absence of the earlier employed langoors who used to deal with the recurring simian menace.

'Dhaba' at Ballygunge Phari, Kolkata downs shutters as owners 'retire'

The Dhaba, the landmark food stop at the Ballygunge Phari crossing and one of the oldest tandoori eateries in south Calcutta, has downed shutters. A notice pasted on the closed entrance announces the "complete and permanent closure" of the dhaba that dates back to pre-Independence.

The reason cited on the notice is "physical inconveniences" of the partners who have become "senior citizens" and "non-availability of any of their next kin in the City". The notice is dated June 28 and the closure, it mentions, became effective from 6am the day after.

"We are three brothers. I am 70 and the youngest among us is 64. We want to retire now," said Avtar Singh, the eldest. "Our next generation has migrated to Canada. Those who are here do not want to join the business."

The family had two other dhabas. The Hindusthan Park one was rented out earlier this month .Another, in Bagha Jatin, is functional but Manjinder Singh, the youngest, says he sits there only for an hour in the morning.

The closure of the Ballygunge Phari landmark came as a bolt from the blue for the 42 permanent employees and seven casual workers. "We worked as usual till Monday (June 27, 2016). Tuesday is our weekly closure. On Wednesday, we found this notice on coming here," said Alok Debnath, who worked for 14 years as a table boy.

Kanai Das, the biryani cook, still has his wallet and mobile phone locked inside. They have been offered settlement of their dues but they want their jobs back.

Customers are surprised too. "The Dhaba is one of the places we regularly order food from for our staff room. Who knew they were planning to shut down!" wondered Neelanjana Dasgupta, a teacher of South Point School. She would miss her favourite Keema Stuffed Kulcha that came with a kebab of choice. "I also used to pick up Sarson Ki Saag and Makki Di Roti sometimes for dinner."

Workers insist that footfall was not lacking. "Daily sales would run upto a lakh or so and double on special occasions," claimed Gour Baidya, a waiter at the eatery since 1978. Top picks included Tandoori Chicken, Reshmi Kebab, Mutton Tikka Onion and Do Pyaza. "No one makes tadka in south Calcutta like we do," said Manjinder, a claim enthusiastically echoed by the workers.

"Customers got our rolls packed for relatives before flying to Singapore or London," Manjinder added.

The Dhaba counted several celebrities among its patrons. "Orders came from Tollywood superstar Prosenjit's office across the road. Om Puri dropped by whenever he was in town. Suchitra Sen loved our roll and mentioned that in several interviews. There was a time when she would wait in the car for the delivery," said Manjinder.

Among the other famous faces that dropped by over the years are former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farukh Abdullah, actor and columnist Victor Banerjee and Tolly heart-throb Dev. "Victor Banerjee has had tea on our roof-top on several occasions. The restaurant was single-storeyed then," recalled Manjinder.

The Dhaba was started by Sardar Gurbachan Singh, the father of the present owners, in the 1930s. "He got a trade licence from the British in 1938 which still hangs inside the locked premises," said Manjinder. "My father's bus driver friends used to complain of the lack of a tea stall on their route from Jadavpur to Esplanade."

Thus the place started as a tea shop which also sold milk. Gradually the benches in the single-storeyed structure gave way to tables and chairs and in the late 1970s, a floor was added. Air-conditioned seating was introduced about two decades ago. A Punjabi cuisine specialist, The Dhaba added rolls and then Chinese to its menu around 2001-02. Biryani and other north Indian dishes were added about 10 years ago. "Our biryani was favoured for being less oily. In recent years, we innovated with Babycorn Roll and Diet Roll, which used rumali roti in place of paratha," said Manjinder.

The Bagha Jatin Dhaba does not offer all this. "People here care more for good food than good health," he said, from behind the counter on Sunday morning.

The workers, who gather habitually at The Dhaba every day, feel that the Ballygunge restaurant will reopen in a different avatar. But the owners say they have not decided what to do with the property at such a prime location. For now, they have "long vacations" and "trips to Punjab" on their mind.

(Content courtesy: The Telegraph dated 2016-07-11)

India’s first woman Uber driver found dead

Two years ago, Bharati Veerath became the first woman in India to partner with cab aggregator Uber, and left a lasting impression on thousands of passengers with her positive attitude to life.

But in a tragic end to a tale of inspiration, Ms. Veerath (40) was found dead under mysterious circumstances in her Sanjay Nagar residence on Monday, 27th June 2016.

While neighbours remember her for her cheerful disposition, close friends and her sister say that Ms. Veerath had been battling depression. Her sister, Sarala, who hails from Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, told the police that her depression had been triggered by the death of her parents a few years ago.

While the police suspect it could be a case of suicide, the absence of a suicide note has led them to probe all possibilities.

LGBT activists remember her as a woman who wasn’t afraid to fight conventional social mores. "She was a brave woman who fought many odds to become a taxi driver," said Manohar Elavarthi, member of Sangama, a Bengaluru-based NGO for the LGBT community where Ms. Veerath was a volunteer prior to becoming a taxi driver.

A native of Andhra Pradesh, Ms. Veerath had been living in Bengaluru for many years. News of her success as a driver-partner had spread far and wide, and banks were willing to offer loans to her to purchase a new vehicle.



Uber acknowledged the loss of one of its most well-loved drivers. "We are shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic death of Bharati Veerath. She was an inspiration to many driver partners and riders," an Uber spokesperson said.

(Source: The Hindu)

Gujarat Gramophone in Ahmedabad keeping gramophones alive

Gujarat Gramophone in Ahmedabad keeping gramophones alive in India.

51% students have failed in the Class X exams of Haryana Board in 2016

A whopping 51% students have failed in the Class X exams of 2016 held by the Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE). The result was declared on 2016-05-22.
The overall pass percentage is 48.88%, which is only marginally better (up 3%) than last year's figures. This is despite the tall claims of the BJP government to raise the standard of education, according to reports in the print media. As in the previous year, girls once again outperformed boys with a success rate of 52.62% compared to 45.71% that of boys.
The only silver lining is government schools outperforming private schools, with the pass percentage rising from a mere 30.32% last year to 42.25% this year.
Rural students too performed better than those in cities.
Haryana Board of School Education chairman Dr Jagbir Singh felt that the policy not to fail students up to Class VIII was responsible for the poor show.
Note: ‪#‎EducationAndCareerPundit‬ is an initiative by ‪#‎Marketingpundit‬, virtual space identity of Deep Banerjee.

Delhites denying having voted AAP to power in Delhi

AAP (Aam Admi Party) has supposedly messed up everything in Delhi. People who voted for AAP to rule in Delhi, are now individually denying it.

76% litigation on property, family disputes

Study of 9,000 cases shows 64% get bail In A Month.

Property disputes and family conflicts clog our judicial system and, in a majority of cases, police detain the accused unnecessarily: these are the findings of Daksh, an NGO that analyzes the performance of the judiciary . Around 66% of all cases studied are property-related litigations, and 10% -the second largest chunk -are family matters.

The survey , involving more than 9,000 civil and criminal matters over 300 subordinate courts across the country, boosts the government's call for a "no detention policy" in the near future, where arrest is an exception and not the rule if an accused is available for interrogation and has honoured court summons. In 64% of cases, accused were found to have been granted bail within a month of his or her arrest, probably since the courts did not find enough merit in keeping them behind bars. Another 14% were granted bail between one and six months.

The Supreme Court had, in the past, while supporting 'bail is the rule and jail is exception' theory , observed that police should refrain from arresting an accused if he or she is ready to cooperate in the investigation and there is no fear that the accused would run away from clutches of the law.

During the study , spread over three months, Daksh interviewed 9,329 litigants in both civil and criminal matters from 305 lower courts in 170 districts in 24 states. The wide range of data portrays the need to correct the entire justice delivery system corroded over time, which at present seems to be favouring the rich and influential.

The survey by the Bengaluru NGO was released on Saturday in the capital in presence of Justice Madan B Lokur, senior Supreme Court judge overseeing the implementation of judicial reforms in the country .

The survey also substantiates what National Law University (NLU) - which partnered Daksh in the current survey - had found in an independent study last year. NLU's interviews with 373 death row convicts had found that 75% of those given the death penalty belonged to economically weaker sections, backward classes and religious minorities.

Many were sentenced to death probably because they couldn't defend their case due to their failure to find a competent lawyer to contest their conviction.

The current Daksh study, too, points to a similar picture. Around 31% of those who couldn't avail bail was due to their inability to furnish a bail bond. In 2.8% of cases, the accused couldn't find a guarantor who could stand as surety . Surprisingly , there is no rule that prohibits courts from releasing an undertrial where it feels detention is avoidable. The amended Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides for release of undertrials under personal bond where he is not able to furnish the bond money or surety .

"The Access to Justice Survey is designed to understand the functioning of the judiciary and profile of litigants. The survey interviews current litigants to see if they are able to use the judicial system effectively to resolve their problems. It evaluates how social profile determines ease of access," said Harish Narasappa, co-founder of Daksh.

There's a huge loss of wages while appearing for court hearings and legal fees cost litigants over Rs 80,000 crore a year.

Donor bull `Yuvraj' a cash cow for his owner

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).“

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.

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.

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.

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)

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)

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)

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!
‪#‎HowIndiaTravels‬
‪#‎UnmarketingWestBengal‬
‪#‎BengalDoomed‬
‪#‎BengalisShamed‬

India's Gold reserve in RBI vaults

(Source: 2016-02-16 Times of India, Kolkata)

Mysuru cleanest, Dhanbad dirtiest in survey of cities

Karnataka's Mysuru has retained its position as the cleanest among all state capitals and cities with million-plus population, while Dhanbad in Jharkhand ranks the worst, according to the latest Swachch Sarvekshan of 73 Indian cities released on Monday .
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area has been ranked fourth while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi occupies the 65th slot, says the survey which covered areas only under municipal bodies. For example, in Delhi, four municipal areas were ranked separately .

While two cities each from Gujarat (Rajkot and Surat) and Maharashtra (Greater Mumbai and Pimpri Chinchwad) are in the `Top 10' club, a maximum of three cities from Uttar Pradesh -Varanasi, Meerut and Ghazibad -are among the worst 10. Visakhapatnam, Surat, Rajkot and Gangtok improved their ranks to break into the `Top 10' in this year's survey.

In case of Delhi, South and North Delhi Municipal Corporation improved their ranks from 47 to 39 and 47 to 43 respectively; the position of East Delhi Municipal Corporation deteriorated from 47 in 2014 to 52 this year.

Among the biggest losers are Chennai, Nasik and Navi Mumbai. The Tamil Nadu capital ranked 37 in comparison to its fourth position in 2014. Nasik ended at 31 against its earlier ranking of eight. Bengaluru, which ranked as the cleanest state capital in 2014, slipped to 38th position this year. While releasing the survey findings, urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said: “There is no intention to show any city in poor light by announcing the survey results. This announcement will further foster healthy competition among cities as everything that is measured gets done and competition makes one strive better.“

The survey conducted by Quality Council of India between January 3 and 15 is based on the marks scored by each city in respect of the main components of Swachh Bharat Mission open defecation, sweeping, availability of infrastructure and service levels related to sanitation such as individual household toilets, public and community toilets and collection, transportation and processing of municipal solid waste.

It had three components -service-level status rankings, independent observer and citizen feedback rankings. Maximum weightage was given to solid waste management.

The last cleanliness ranking of cities, done in 2014 before the launch of Swachh, covered 476 cities that have populations of above 1 lakh and results were announced in 2015. “The 73 cities surveyed this year were also ranked-based on the marks they scored in 2014 for arriving at their ranks that year for further comparison with the results of this year's survey ,“ said a spokesperson.

While results of 2014 survey showed how cities in the south and west fared better than those in the north and east, the recent results indicate how cities from north are doing well and can overtake some of their competitors soon.

(Source: 2016-02-16 Times of India, Kolkata)

40% kids in India suffer from constipation

With unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyles taking a toll on children's digestion, doctors say , constipation is no longer an old age problem but afflicts up to 40% of schoolgoing children.

“In any school, nearly 40% of the children suffer from constipation, and the primary reason is lifestyle,“ said Dr Nishant Wadhwa, paediatric gastroenterologist at Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi. He said children eat too much processed and carbohydrate-rich food without drinking enough water.

An ongoing study at the hospital showed that 30-40% of child patients in the outpatient department have recurring bouts of abdominal pain due to constipation, up from 10-20% a decade ago. Besides lack of fibre-rich food and water, family factors also play a role.

Dr Wadhwa said toilet training of children is often delayed in nuclear families with both parents working. As a result, they do not develop the habit of passing stool daily. “Constipation is increasingly prevalent among children to the extent that some pass stool just once in a week,“ said Dr Anupam Sibal, senior paediatric gastroenterologist and medical director at Apollo Hospitals.

Unlike in the movie, constipation is no laughing matter because it affects a child's growth due to reduced appetite, and causes problems like bleeding. Dr Sibal said constipation leads to the problem of soiling in some children who pass stool without realizing it. While doctors prescribe medication in severe cases, they also emphasise the need for more outdoor activities and improved food habits.

Childhood constipation can not only lead to a complicated and prolonged bowel problem but also cause diseases such as piles or haemorrhoids, ulcers, abdominal pain and anal fissures. Due to blood clotting, it can also lead to heart attack and stroke.

Estimates from a study show 14% of people in urban India suffer from chronic constipation, while the incidence is 10% worldwide. 80% of people with chronic constipation look for treatment only after facing the problem multiple times, while 60% seek home remedies.

(Source: Feb 16 2016 The Times of India, Kolkata)

Discussion on Radhe Maa turned violent during live discussion on IBN7

Now watching debates on TV channels will be great fun. Ambulances will have to be kept on standby mode outside TV studios.

Discussion on Radhe Maa turned violent during live discussion on IBN7.
A discussion on 'Radhe Maa and her controversies' on IBN7 show 'Aaj Ka mudda' took a nasty turn when two of the guests ended up having a brawl.
The incident occurred when during the heated discussion astrologer Deepa Sharma slapped swami Omji Maharaj following which he also physically assaulted her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYHZcdC_LM8

(Source: Ibnlive.com dated Sep 13, 2015)

Class 7 boy in Delhi caught passing a stunning note

A class 7 boy of a reputed private school in Delhi was caught passing notes by his teachers. Nothing out of the ordinary, the teachers thought. Kids do that. But when they saw the notes they were left stunned.

The note said: "I am an illegitimate child. My mother is like Indrani Mukerjea. She likes having sex with many men."

(Source: NEWS18 dated 2015-09-03)