22 Jan 2012
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
First Fast-Charging Station for E-Cars Goes Live as Part of “Electric Highway”
By Larry Greenemeier |
December 29, 2011
2011
has turned out to be a groundbreaking year for electric
vehicles—literally. The Washington State Department of Transportation
(WSDOT) earlier this week chose a shopping center in Bellingham as the first location to break ground on the state’s segment of the West Coast Electric Highway, part of a 444-kilometer stretch of road along Interstate 5 between Washington’s borders with Oregon and Canada.
Bellingham will host the Electric Highway’s first direct-current (DC) electric vehicle fast-charging station,
designed by AeroVironment Inc. to provide a 30-minute recharge for
all-electric vehicles. (AeroVironment has deployed fast-charging
stations in other locations nationwide, including Hawaii, as have competitors such as ECOtality Inc.)
The Bellingham charging station will also include a pedestal with a
220-volt alternate-current (AC) outlet that can recharge one plug-in
vehicle at a time at an intermediate rate of about two to eight hours,
depending on the size of the battery. (Currently, some U.S. homes have
220-volt AC outlets installed to power air conditioners and clothes
dryers. Most outlets supply 120-volt AC, which can charge e-cars at the
slowest “trickle” rate.)
AeroVironment’s Electric Highway work with the WSDOT is part of the
larger West Coast Green Highway, a three-state initiative to promote the
use of cleaner fuels along nearly 2,173 kilometers of I-5 from British
Columbia to Baja, California in Mexico. The U.S. Department of Energy is
also adding fast-charging stations along I-5 through its EV Project, a nationwide initiative managed by ECOtality.
In terms of the Electric Highway, the WSDOT awarded AeroVironment a $1 million contract in July to outfit I-5 and U.S. Highway 2 with a network of at least nine fast-charging stations by November 30. The completion date slipped to next year as AeroVironment works out lease agreements for the charging locations.
AeroVironment plans to install six stations every 64 to 97 kilometers
along I-5 in shopping malls, fueling stations and restaurants with easy
access to the highway. Three more stations will be built along U.S. Highway 2 to the north and potentially two more along Interstate 90, near Seattle.
2012 will be a pivotal year for electric vehicles such as the Nissan
Leaf and plug-in electric hybrids such as the Chevy Volt. General Motors
had high hopes for the Volt in its first full year on the market, but
the company expects to miss its sales target of 10,000 cars in 2011,
coming up short by more than 3,800, according to Bloomberg.
Sales were stronger toward the end of the year. The company is
expanding its annual production to 60,000 vehicles starting next month,
even as the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigates lithium-ion battery-pack fires
following tests designed to measure the vehicle’s ability to protect
occupants from injury in a side collision. Neither Nissan nor Tesla
Motors—both of which sell all-electric vehicles powered entirely by
lithium-ion batteries—have reported any fires in either the LEAF or
Roadster, respectively.
Another important issue that remains unresolved heading into the new year—standards for electric-vehicle fast charging.
In the U.S. the Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE) has approved the
J1772 standard that governs slow- to moderate-speed electric car
charging, and most electric car manufacturers have committed to using
J1772 moving forward. Fast-charging standards, however, remain
fragmented. Japanese carmakers Nissan and Mitsubishi have chosen a
fast-charging standard known as CHAdeMO and developed by a consortium of
Japanese companies even as the SAE sets to work on its own standard,
which won’t be ready for the road for at least another year.
CHAdeMO may have some shortcomings
(it uses an older communication standard not expected to work well with
coming smart grid technologies), but it’s the only game in town right
now and is catching on worldwide. As a result AeroVironment’s stations
along West Coast Electric Highway are CHAdeMO compliant.
07 Jan 2012
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
By Larry Greenemeier |
December 29, 2011
| 6
Share 
Email
2011
has turned out to be a groundbreaking year for electric
vehicles—literally. The Washington State Department of Transportation
(WSDOT) earlier this week chose a shopping center in Bellingham as the first location to break ground on the state’s segment of the West Coast Electric Highway, part of a 444-kilometer stretch of road along Interstate 5 between Washington’s borders with Oregon and Canada.
Bellingham will host the Electric Highway’s first direct-current (DC) electric vehicle fast-charging station,
designed by AeroVironment Inc. to provide a 30-minute recharge for
all-electric vehicles. (AeroVironment has deployed fast-charging
stations in other locations nationwide, including Hawaii, as have competitors such as ECOtality Inc.)
The Bellingham charging station will also include a pedestal with a
220-volt alternate-current (AC) outlet that can recharge one plug-in
vehicle at a time at an intermediate rate of about two to eight hours,
depending on the size of the battery. (Currently, some U.S. homes have
220-volt AC outlets installed to power air conditioners and clothes
dryers. Most outlets supply 120-volt AC, which can charge e-cars at the
slowest “trickle” rate.)
AeroVironment’s Electric Highway work with the WSDOT is part of the
larger West Coast Green Highway, a three-state initiative to promote the
use of cleaner fuels along nearly 2,173 kilometers of I-5 from British
Columbia to Baja, California in Mexico. The U.S. Department of Energy is
also adding fast-charging stations along I-5 through its EV Project, a nationwide initiative managed by ECOtality.
In terms of the Electric Highway, the WSDOT awarded AeroVironment a $1 million contract in July to outfit I-5 and U.S. Highway 2 with a network of at least nine fast-charging stations by November 30. The completion date slipped to next year as AeroVironment works out lease agreements for the charging locations.
AeroVironment plans to install six stations every 64 to 97 kilometers
along I-5 in shopping malls, fueling stations and restaurants with easy
access to the highway. Three more stations will be built along U.S. Highway 2 to the north and potentially two more along Interstate 90, near Seattle.
2012 will be a pivotal year for electric vehicles such as the Nissan
Leaf and plug-in electric hybrids such as the Chevy Volt. General Motors
had high hopes for the Volt in its first full year on the market, but
the company expects to miss its sales target of 10,000 cars in 2011,
coming up short by more than 3,800, according to Bloomberg.
Sales were stronger toward the end of the year. The company is
expanding its annual production to 60,000 vehicles starting next month,
even as the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigates lithium-ion battery-pack fires
following tests designed to measure the vehicle’s ability to protect
occupants from injury in a side collision. Neither Nissan nor Tesla
Motors—both of which sell all-electric vehicles powered entirely by
lithium-ion batteries—have reported any fires in either the LEAF or
Roadster, respectively.
Another important issue that remains unresolved heading into the new year—standards for electric-vehicle fast charging.
In the U.S. the Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE) has approved the
J1772 standard that governs slow- to moderate-speed electric car
charging, and most electric car manufacturers have committed to using
J1772 moving forward. Fast-charging standards, however, remain
fragmented. Japanese carmakers Nissan and Mitsubishi have chosen a
fast-charging standard known as CHAdeMO and developed by a consortium of
Japanese companies even as the SAE sets to work on its own standard,
which won’t be ready for the road for at least another year.
CHAdeMO may have some shortcomings
(it uses an older communication standard not expected to work well with
coming smart grid technologies), but it’s the only game in town right
now and is catching on worldwide. As a result AeroVironment’s stations
along West Coast Electric Highway are CHAdeMO compliant.
26 Oct 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Unlocking fuel trapped in ice
By Kirsten Korosec | October 25, 2011, 10:04 AM PDT
Locked
within ice-like cages that are buried in the sediments below thick
Arctic permafrost and beneath the ocean floor, is an immense source of
energy that scientists have studied for more than two decades.
Methane hydrates — gas molecules trapped within a lattice of ice
— could contain more energy than all other known fossil fuels
combined. That is, if folks figure out how to produce volumes of
methane from hydrate beyond a few small-scale field experiments.
Until then, the testing will continue. ConocoPhillips, the Energy Department and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. are conducting the latest round of field experiments, which will focus on a production method that could create an innovative way of storing carbon dioxide.
During the initial field trial set to begin in January 2012, carbon
dioxide will be injected into the methane hydrate-bearing sandstone
formations, which can be located more than 1,500 feet beneath the ocean
floor. Carbon dioxide molecules will be swapped for methane molecules,
and aims to achieve two goals: release the methane gas and permanently
store the carbon dioxide in the formation. This field experiment will be
an extension of earlier successful tests of the technology conducted by
ConocoPhillips and its partners in a laboratory setting, the DOE said.
The tests will use the “Iġnik Sikumi” (Iñupiaq for
“fire in the ice”) gas hydrate field trial well that was installed in
Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay region by ConocoPhillips and the Office of Fossil
Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory earlier this year.
The team will spend another month evaluating an alternative method of
methane production called depressurization, which was successfully
demonstrated during a one-week test in a different location by Japan and
Canada back in 2008.
Photo: Wikicommons; DOE
26 Oct 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
The Little-Known Secrets about Bleached Flour
By Dr. Joseph Mercola on 05/15/2009
Nearly everyone knows that white flour is not healthy for
you, but most people don’t know that when white flour is bleached, it
can actually be FAR worse for you.
It’s generally understood that refining food destroys nutrients. With
the most nutritious part of the grain removed, white flour essentially
becomes a form of sugar. Consider what gets lost in the refining
process:
*Half of the beneficial unsaturated fatty acids
- *Virtually all of the vitamin
- *Fifty percent of the calcium
- *Seventy percent of the phosphorus
- *Eighty percent of the iron
- *Ninety eight percent of the magnesium
- *Fifty to 80 percent of the B vitamins
And many more nutrients are destroyed — simply too many to list.
The Journey of the Wheat Berry
Have you ever wondered how white flour is made?
The website Healthy Eating Politics has an interesting article about the process.
Most commercial wheat production is, unfortunately, a “study in
pesticide application,” beginning with the seeds being treated with
fungicide. Once they become wheat, they are sprayed with hormones and
pesticides. Even the bins in which the harvested wheat is stored have
been coated with insecticides. If bugs appear on the wheat in storage,
they fumigate the grain.
A whole grain of wheat, sometimes called a wheat berry, is composed of three layers:
- *The bran
- *The germ
- *The endosperm
The bran is the layer where you’ll find most of the fiber, and it’s
the hard outer shell of the kernel. The germ is the nutrient-rich embryo
that will sprout into a new wheat plant. The endosperm is the largest
part of the grain (83 percent), making up most of the kernel, and it’s
mostly starch.
White flour is made from the endosperm only, whereas whole-wheat flour combines all three parts of the wheat berry.
Old time mills ground flour slowly, but today’s mills are designed
for mass-production, using high-temperature, high-speed steel rollers.
The resulting white flour is nearly all starch, and even much of today’s
commercially processed whole wheat flour has lost a fair amount of
nutritional value due to these aggressive processing methods.
White flour contains a small fraction of the nutrients of the
original grain, with the heat of the steel rollers having destroyed what
little nutrients remain. But then it is hit with another chemical
insult–a chlorine gas bath (chlorine oxide). This serves as a whitener, as well as an “aging” agent.
Flour used to be aged with time, improving the gluten and thus
improving the baking quality. Now, it is treated with chlorine to
instantly produce similar qualities in the flour (with a disturbing lack
of concern about adding another dose of chemicals to your food).
According to Jim Bair, Vice President of the North American Millers Association:
“Today, the US milling industry produces about 140 million pounds of
flour each day, so there is no way to store the flour to allow it to age
naturally. Plus, there is a shelf life issue.”
It has not been determined how many mills are bleaching flour with
chorine oxide, but we do know the use of chlorides for bleaching flour
is considered an industry standard.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines chlorine gas as
a flour-bleaching, aging and oxidizing agent that is a powerful
irritant, dangerous to inhale, and lethal. Other agents also used
include oxides of nitrogen, nitrosyl, and benzoyl peroxide mixed with
various chemical salts.
The chlorine gas undergoes an oxidizing chemical reaction with some
of the proteins in the flour, producing alloxan as an unintended
byproduct. Bair and other milling industry leaders claim that bleaching
and oxidizing agents don’t leave behind harmful residues in flour,
although they can cite no studies or published data to confirm this.
Why Bleaching Makes White Flour Even Worse
It has been shown that alloxan is a byproduct of the flour bleaching process, the process they use to make flour look so “clean” and — well, white. No, they are technically not adding alloxan
to the flour — although you will read this bit of misinformation on
the Internet. But, they are doing chemical treatments to the grain that
result in the formation of alloxan in the flour.
With so little food value already in a piece of white bread, now
there is potentially a chemical poison lurking in there as well.
So what is so bad about alloxan?
Alloxan, or C4 H2O4N2, is a product of the decomposition of uric
acid. It is a poison that is used to produce diabetes in healthy
experimental animals (primarily rats and mice), so that researchers can
then study diabetes “treatments” in the lab. Alloxan causes diabetes
because it spins up enormous amounts of free radicals in pancreatic beta
cells, thus destroying them.
Beta cells are the primary cell type in areas of your pancreas called
islets of Langerhans, and they produce insulin; so if those are
destroyed, you get diabetes.
There is no other commercial application for alloxan — it is used
exclusively in the medical research industry because it is so highly
toxic.
Given the raging epidemic of diabetes and other chronic diseases in
this country, can you afford to be complacent about a toxin such as this
in your bread, even if it is present in small amounts?
Just How Much is Too Much?
Similar to disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in water, alloxan is formed
when the chlorine reacts with certain proteins remaining in the white
flour after the bran and germ have been removed. Protein makes up
between 5 percent and 15 percent of white flour, depending on whether
it’s cake flour, or high-gluten flour, such as what’s used for pizza
crust or bagels.
So, this would suggest that perhaps 5 to 15 grams of protein per 100 grams of flour could be contaminated.
However, according to Professor Joe Schwarcz, Director of the McGill
University Office of Science and Society, alloxan is the byproduct of
xantophyll oxidation only. Xantophylls are yellow compounds in wheat that react with oxygen, causing flour to turn white.
According to Mr. Schwarcz:
“One of the possible minor side products of xantophyll oxidation is
alloxan. It may therefore be found in small amounts in flour. There is
no available research that shows trace amounts are a problem or that
alloxan builds up in the body. The amounts, if present at all, must be
small because xantophylls themselves only occur to the extent of 1 microgram per gram of flour.”
Alloxan has not been studied in terms of human exposure, particularly
long-term. There is just so much we don’t know, and you know what
assumptions will get you.
Alloxan in Rats vs Alloxan in Humans
Scientists have long known that alloxan produces selective
destruction of the beta cells of the pancreas, causing hyperglycemia and
ketoacidosis in laboratory animals. Alloxan is structurally similar to
glucose, which might explain why the pancreatic beta cells selectively
take it up.
According to Dr. Hari Sharma’s Freedom from Disease, alloxan causes
free radical damage to DNA in the beta cells of the pancreas, causing
them to malfunction and die. When they fail to function normally, they
no longer produce enough insulin.
Even though the toxic effect of alloxan is common scientific
knowledge in the research community, the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) still allows companies to use chemical processes in which the end
result is toxic food. Until they unequivocally prove something is toxic
by way of human deaths, severe side effects, or when the public screams
loudly enough, the FDA is not likely to protect you.
Until then, it is you who must protect yourself.
If you have diabetes, or cancer, have a compromised immune system, or
if you are in some other high-risk category as tens of millions of
North Americans are, you need to know what foods contain hazardous
ingredients so you can avoid them. But in the case of alloxan, there is no way to know, either by reading the ingredient list or by any other means, that it might be in your food!
History of Bleaching Flour — Pillsbury and the FDA
An interesting sideline to this whole flour story lies in the origins of the FDA.
Bleaching and oxidizing agents weren’t developed to produce quick
aging of wheat flour (within 48 hours) until the early 1900s. Prior to
that, it required several months for oxygen to condition flour
naturally.
When bleaching was introduced, it was vehemently opposed.
The first major consumer advocate was Harvey W. Wiley, MD, who
eventually became known as the “Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act”
of 1906. Mr. Wiley was head of the Bureau of Chemistry, which was the
precursor to the FDA. Wiley crusaded against benzoic acid, sulfites,
saccharin, and bleached flour, among other food additives and adulterants.
Dr. Wiley felt so strongly about preventing the bleaching of flour
that he took it all the way to the Supreme Court. They ruled that flour
could not be bleached or “adulterated” in any way. However, it was never
enforced.
Wiley believed that foods posed a greater risk to the public than
adulterated or misbranded drugs. He constantly butted heads with
Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and President Roosevelt over food
regulation.
Soon, Wiley’s personal administrative authority was undercut when
Wilson created the Board of Food and Drug Inspection in 1907 and the
Referee Board of Consulting Scientific Experts in 1908, one of which was
reportedly headed by someone who had been working at Pillsbury,
although I have not been able to verify this addendum.
Finally, in 1912, Dr. Wiley quit as director out of frustration,
although he continued as a vocal consumer advocate for many years.
The government replaced Dr. Wiley with Dr. Elmer Nelson. Dr. Nelson was the polar opposite to Wiley , and was quoted as saying:
“It is wholly unscientific to state that a well-fed body is more able
to resist disease than a poorly fed body. My overall opinion is that
there hasn’t been enough experimentation to prove that dietary
deficiencies make one susceptible to disease.”
Therein lies the foundation of the FDA. Since Dr. Wiley resigned, the
FDA has continued to shift its focus on drugs, since Wiley was never
able to convince the government of the dangers from chemicals in our
foods. He was truly a pioneer and a century ahead of his time!
Food For Thought
The important point to take away is, beware of any processed food
because chemicals are always used. And we simply don’t know what the
long-term effects will be of ingesting chemicals, on top of chemicals,
on top of more chemicals.
Strive to stick to whole unprocessed foods that are as close to their
natural state as possible. If you’re going to eat grains, make sure
they are at the least unbleached, whole, and organic, and eat them in
the proportion that is best for your nutritional type.
23 Oct 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
NEW YORK – One of the richest men in the world took a stroll
among the people of the protest group called Occupy Wall Street who were
encamped like Bedouins in the Lower Broadway park named after him. Not a
soul knew or guessed that John Zuccotti, 74, was that fellow meandering
anonymously along like everyone else.
A
young woman in her late twenties with long, wavy brown hair and the
fresh innocence of a Brown University graduate stood on the sidewalk
before a congregation of hundreds of people and as a “facilitator”
helped conduct a three-hour “General Assembly” in a style dubbed
“consensus democracy.”
A hand-lettered sign on a corrugated box flap proclaimed:
“There are no leaders here. Don’t ask for them. Get used to it!”
Reporters
sought in vain for authorized representatives to answer their
questions, and many groused about not finding any. Without leaders, they
grumped, who is there to question? Who presents the group’s talking
points and expresses cogent demands?
From
the handmade signs bobbing daily in a sea of humanity, interviews with
dozens of protesters and the ongoing public exchanges among the
thousands at Occupy Wall Street emerge the questions that are beginning
to resonate across America:
» Is
it fair for a tiny splinter of the population, allegedly just 1
percent, to own and control half or more of a nation’s wealth?
» Should
corporations be granted the privileges of “personhood,” via a Supreme
Court decision on campaign finance, when corporations don’t have a
conscience?
» Why have the world’s millionaires increased by almost nine percent since 2009?
» Why are bailed-out banks allowed to hoard their cash?
» Why can’t America eliminate the corrupting and destructive links between politicians and corporations?
The
thirst for answers appears to be gaining momentum. An Associated
Press-GfK poll released Friday says 37 percent of Americans back the
people gathered here. And 58 percent of Americans say they are furious
about America’s politicians.
A slender 27-year-old man, who calls himself Kwame, sat on a granite
slab beside a pale, plump, goat-bearded college professor and they mused
about the characteristics of the crowd.
For
one thing, roughly 99 percent of everyone within sight, no matter how
they are garbed, carries a smartphone. Except for a bronze statue of a
businessman hunched over his briefcase, neckties are scarce. Almost as
scarce are people of color.
Kwame,
who’s black, is working on his Ph.D. in music at Stanford University.
The question was raised, “Why is there just one percent black people
among the 99 percenters in the park?”
“Education,”
he said. “The higher their education level, the more likely anyone is
to be here. Blacks in New York are a shrinking minority and their
schools are not up to high standards. But as this goes on, there’ll be
more.”
There are
just about as many males as females. Many people claim to hold one or
more jobs and about two out of 10 say they can’t find one. People who
haven’t showered in far too long rub elbows with well-scrubbed travelers
from abroad. There are blue-dyed mohawks, a few hippie-ish longhairs,
tattoos of all colors, labor union workers, anarchists, musicians,
hundreds of blue tarpaulins, pillars of pizza boxes, plastic bottles of
water that cost more per quart than gasoline, and wave after wave of
curious tourists and “media” who invariably ask the question:
“Why are you all here and what do you want?”
The answer is both super-simple and ultra-complicated:
“Money.”
The
primary issue for almost every soul in the park — whatever their age,
spiritual faith, political leanings, skin shade, gender, ethnicity,
hierarchical rank, IQ level or social class — is an inquiry into what
money actually is, how money truly functions, what money is worth, how
money affects the way we are governed, how money is stolen and by whom,
how money affects the law, how to get money and how to spend it.
What
so fascinates people about the month-old iCreature called Occupy Wall
Street is that the Occupiers have brilliantly directed the searchlight
of world attention on the global subject of money. Almost everybody
cares about money. As Mark Twain put it, “Some men worship rank, some
worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, & over these
ideals they dispute & cannot unite — but they all worship money.”
n Zuccotti Park, the lefties, the righties, the middlies and the
politically perplexed have quite amazingly gathered to consider in a
unique 21st-century style the true role of money. In a wild and almost
weird collision of coincidences, Occupy has become the hottest ticket in
town.
The word “occupy” is now attached
to more than 1,000 cities (including Wilmington), states, nations and
locations globally. Plans are afoot for a massive, Internet-coordinated
“international” occupation of Central Park on the easy-to-remember date
of Friday, 11/11/11. A permit is required for large gatherings in the
city-owned park.
•°°
The
privately owned Zuccotti Park is named for a lively and thoughtful man
whose life story epitomizes the wildest American dreams of avarice.
Before becoming one of the world’s wealthiest real estate developers,
Zuccotti checked hats at a super-swanky 54th Street speakeasy with
zebra-striped decor called El Morocco, where his father, Angelo, was the
suave maitre d’.
Zuccotti
graduated from Princeton, earned his law degree at Yale and became one
of the 500 richest men in the world according to Forbes Magazine. He
served on both the National Republican Congressional Committee and with
Vice President Joe Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign. Zuccotti has paid
incognito visits to the park and friends say he was worried about the
disorder and mess, but he nonetheless smiled while strolling through the
plaza that carries his family name.
Then
there is an Estonia-born writer and documentary filmmaker named Kalle
Lasn, 69, the founder and editor of a popular Canadian magazine called
Adbusters, which probes and satirizes the ideas and consequences of
consumerism, an economic philosophy that Adbusters readers regard as
pernicious and fundamentally evil.
This
story began one day in a Vancouver supermarket. Lasn became infuriated
when he had to pay a quarter to rent a shopping cart. He jammed the coin
in the slot. It was his first act of vandalism against consumerism,
which he sees as an infernal machine that sucks coins from consumers’
pockets and seldom returns fair value. Adbusters soon became one of
Canada’s favorite magazines.
In July 2011, Lasn published an editorial in Adbusters (www.adbusters.org) that called on 20,000 people to “set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months.”
With
what aim in mind? To investigate and eventually sever unscrupulous
links between politics and money and to force the government “to choose
publicly between the will of the people and the lucre of the
corporations.”
A
few dozen “activists” in New York City took note. On Sept. 17, a
Saturday, they showed up at the little–known, granite-paved Zuccotti
Park, about as big as a football field minus the end zones. It is two
blocks up Broadway from Trinity Church, at the top of Wall Street. It
is three blocks from the New York Stock Exchange and four blocks from
Federal Hall, the first capitol of the United States of America, where
George Washington was sworn in as the first president in 1789. Two
blocks to the west, the steel skeleton and glass skin of One World Trade
Center is built up to its 86th floor and will rise eventually to an
altitude of 1,776 feet above the ground on the spot where the North
Tower of the World Trade Center once stood.
Day
by day, that first encampment of vinyl tarps, overstuffed backpacks,
sleeping bags, umbrellas, guitars, drums, a seedy old sofa and
unspeakable mattresses began to grow like the gray matter in a brain
does, neuron by neuron, from person to person, from smartphone to
smartphone, from mind to mind, in a way that the iPeople have come to
call “going viral.”
By
last Monday, Oct. 17, the first month’s anniversary of Occupy Wall
Street’s un-immaculate birth, the “Occupus” had sprouted tentacles in
hundreds of cities around the globe and the number increased each day.
Boston, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, San
Francisco and Los Angeles were “occupied” within a week or so. Within a
fortnight, the estimated numbers in marching crowds and occupied places
was greater on the West Coast than in the East, where Occupy began. Then
London, Rome and Barcelona joined in, and so on round the globe.
In the first few weeks, Occupy was paid scant attention by the media,
which is not surprising because New York City is awash in political
protests and this one seemed to many editors no more significant than
most. Then, on Oct. 6, Paul Krugman, the 2008 winner of the Nobel
Memorial Prize for economics and the “Liberal” op-ed columnist for the
New York Times, wrote:
“What can we say
about the [Occupy Wall Street] protests? First things first: The
protesters’ indictment of Wall Street as a destructive force,
economically and politically, is completely right.”
It
was the equivalent of a rave theater review. Occupy Wall Street
suddenly gained momentum. A squad of uniformed police was positioned
just outside the park, unthreatened and content on overtime pay. “We’re
minding the trust fund babies,” is how one policeman put it.
Now
the more mainstream media began to show up. Reporters immediately
noticed that there are no bathroom facilities in the park and personal
hygiene for the campers is rough. The McDonald’s across Broadway allows
restroom privileges for all (most visitors pay for the kindness by
buying at least a cup of coffee first). So do Trinity Church and an
Episcopal public meeting room called Charlotte’s Place that is decorated
with fresh flowers and offers sparkling-clean bathrooms, Wi-Fi and
tables for computers, and a free conference room where Occupy working
groups meet.
Because
social communication is what Occupy is actually all about, the biggest
obstacle the Occupiers overcame was the police ban on voice
amplification. To hold General Assembly meetings for hundreds of people
alongside the noisy bustle of Broadway without megaphonic help would
have been impossible without Mike Check! Mike is a superhero of Occupy,
which may be leaderless but is not without heroes.
Mike
Check! is the non-electronic human voice amplifier. It works very
simply, and is the primary means of vocal communication among the
participants in the evening plenary sessions, when hundreds of people
form a crescent of participants and onlookers on the Broadway side of
the park. For at least two hours each night, they discuss, decide and
take parliamentary decisions with all words sung full cry in a great
collective voice.
It works this way:
A person shouts: “Mike Check!”
Everyone
who can hear the shout yells back, “Mike Check!” and the crowd even
mimics the inflection and accent of the speaker’s voice.
The person shouts: “There’s a reporter from Coney Island …”
The crowd yells at the top of its voices: “There’s a reporter from Coney Island …”
The shouter: “who wants to interview somebody from Coney Island.”
The crowd: “who wants to interview somebody from Coney Island.”
Shouter: “So if …”
Crowd: “So if …”
Shouter: “you’re from Coney Island …”
Crowd: “you’re from Coney Island …”
Shouter: “Get over here.”
Crowd (laughing): “GET OVER HERE!”
Those
who know how to use Mike Check! best cut to the chase and talk in four-
or five-word bites. If a shouter uses overly long words or too-long
phrases, the crowd garbles them, which makes everything take longer.
Long-winded speakers are warned, “We get it … enough!” by a particular
hand signal from anyone in the crowd (circling hands around each other
like a football referee when he wants to keep the game clock moving).
Occupy
etiquette makes clear that no matter what the shouter says, or how
antithetical the words might be to local or personal beliefs, the crowd
is duty bound to echo the words at top volume.
The
Mike Check! system was born of adversity and is a concept that
fascinates group dynamics people. Mike Check! actually forces people to
listen carefully to what others say and perhaps apprehend precisely what
they are saying before interrupting with a response.
Another
hero of Zuccotti Park is the sanitation volunteer. There is a
cleanliness-is-next-to-godliness attitude among most of the Occupiers
(with a few swinish exceptions), necessary because littering is a
misdemeanor and could give authorities reason to kick everyone out on
public-safety grounds. On Oct. 14, Mayor Michael Bloomberg seemed about
to evict Occupy from the park to have it steam-washed by
“professionals.” But John Zuccotti’s company, the park’s owners, backed
away from asking for a confrontation that might besmirch the name of the
park and the property.
To keep the park clean, the volunteer sanitation squads patrol
incessantly with brooms and trash pans, and warn people to put down
tarps when they paint protest signs because spilling paint on the
granite can get a person arrested.
There
are numerous hand-drawn signs that proclaim, “DON’T DO DRUGS” and “NO
ALCOHOL.” At a General Assembly, one of the volunteer security detail
men holds up a black plastic sack. He shouts Mike Check! “There are
three bottles …
The crowd echoes: “There are three bottles …”
“… of liquor in the bag.”
“… of liquor in the bag”
“Alcohol will get us all thrown out!”
“Alcohol will get us all thrown out!”
“Don’t bring it!”
“Don’t bring it!”
By
day 34 on Friday, the Occupiers were revving up for yet another weekend
of chaotic protests and teach-ins. The nightly General Assemblies
carried on under their rules of consensual democracy and the “lack of
leadership” was being criticized by Bloomberg, who prefers to deal with
an organization that has a hierarchy and a chain of command.
Nobody
knows yet what Occupy will become. Will it get kicked out of the park?
Will it survive until Thanksgiving? Will it grow into an iCreature that
eats plutocrats for lunch? Will Kalle Lasn come to Manhattan to see what
he hath wrought? Will it end well, or end ugly? Millions worldwide are
tuned in to see.
22 Oct 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
“
Longevity Shown for First Time to Be Inherited via a Non-DNA Mechanism
Experiments with worms show that altering an enzyme can not only lengthen their life spans, but that the longevity effect can be carried across several generations
By Sarah Fecht | October 19, 2011 |
Research on nemotode worms is helping to illuminate ways to lengthen their lifetimes. The findings have yet to be replicated in vertebrates, including humans. Image: Wikimedia Commons
In October 2009 Stanford University geneticist Anne Brunet was sitting in her office when graduate student Eric Greer came to her with a slightly heretical question. Brunet’s lab had recently learned that they could lengthen a worm’s lifetime by manipulating levels of an enzyme called SET2. “What if extending a worm’s lifetime using SET2 can affect the life span of its descendants, even if the descendants have normal amounts of the enzyme?” he asked.
The question was unorthodox, Brunet says, “because it touches upon the Lamarckian idea that you can inherit acquired traits, which biologists have believed false for years.” The biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck theorized in 1809 that the traits exhibited by an organism during its lifetime were augmented in its offspring; a giraffe that regularly stretched its neck to eat would father calves whose necks were longer. The idea was largely discredited by Darwin’s theory of evolution, first published in 1859. More recently, scientists have begun to realize that an organism’s behavior and environment may indeed influence the genes it passes to its offspring. The heritability of those acquired traits is not based on DNA, but on alterations in the molecular packaging that surrounds a gene. When Greer approached Brunet in 2009 with his question about worms and SET2, such “epigenetic” inheritance had only been discovered for simple traits such as eye color, flower symmetry and coat color.
Brunet and Greer went ahead with the experiment. The results, published October 19 in Nature, provide the first evidence that some aspects of longevity can be passed from parent to offspring, independent of DNA’s direct influence. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)
“I think this is a fundamentally important finding,” says Matt Kaeberlein of the University of Washington in Seattle, who studies molecular mechanisms of aging. “It demonstrates for the first time that aging can be influenced by epigenetic changes that occurred in prior generations.”
The study used Caenorhabditis elegans worms with very low levels of SET2. The enzyme normally adds methyl molecules onto DNA’s protein packaging material. In doing so, the enzyme opens up the packaging material, allowing the genes to be copied and expressed. Some of those genes appear to be pro-aging genes, Brunet says. Her team knocked out SET2 by removing genes that code for it. This had the effect of significantly lengthening the worms’ life spans, presumably because those pro-aging genes were no longer expressed.
Next, the long-lived, enzyme-lacking worms mated with normal ones. The offspring had the regular genes for making SET2, and even expressed normal amounts of the enzyme, but they lived significantly longer than control worms whose parents both had regular life spans. The life-extending effect carried over into the third generation, but returned to normal by the fourth generation (in the great-grandchildren of the original mutant worms). For the first few generations, having a long-lived ancestor increased life expectancy from 20 days to 25, extending a worm’s longevity by 25 to 30 percent on average.
Brunet and her team have not yet determined the exact mechanism for the lifetime extension, or which molecules are at work. This is one of the study’s imperfections, says David Katz, who researches epigenetic transcriptional memory at Emory University. Regardless, “the effect is clearly epigenetic,” he says, “and it’s probably one of the most complicated traits that has been linked to epigenetic inheritance.”
The knowledge that epigenetics can impact a complex trait like life span has scientists curious to find out what other kinds of traits—such as disease susceptibility, metabolism and developmental patterns—are epigenetically heritable. Because epigenetic effects can be modified by environmental stimuli, Kaeberlein points out, it is possible that some of these traits “could be determined, at least in part, by the environment and lifestyle choices of parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents.”
The study’s results are also exciting because the genes that code for the life-lengthening SET2 enzyme exist in other species, including humans. Brunet says she wants see if the results can be replicated in vertebrates, such as fish and mammals. Those questions will not be answered for many years, because it is unknown whether the SET2 complex has the same function in other species, and because those species have longer generational time frames.
“Worms have very short lives,” Brunet says. “Will the effect apply to mammals that live thousands of times longer? We are excited to find out.”
“
Now this is exciting.
But there could be another reason for the longevity found in certain populations such as the Japanese and Chinese. In these cultures, ancestor worship is common, and importantly, elderly are given much more respect than in other cultures of the world. Being regarded as useful and respected could be a driving factor for the old to live on. In most other cultures world wide, the senior citizens are viewed as a spent force, with little if any possible contributions to society.
Being fawned upon by the younger generation who look to them for guidance and advice could well be a motivating factor to live on. Of course this assumes that a person can give up on life and that outlook itself shortens her lifespan. But this is a reasonable assumption.
Look around you. Most of the people who are surprisingly fit and perky at a great age are, if you study their habits, people who have some driving force behind them.
Iqbal
10 Oct 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
September 10th, 2011
Zihong Guo built this
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pump to prototype a possible cooling mechanism for the
TerraPower nuclear reactor. Almost all
nuclear reactors in use today use water as a
coolant, but one thing that makes the TerraPower design special is that it will use a liquid metal as a coolant.
When an atom fissions, big chunks of the nucleus break off as new, smaller-atomic-number atoms, but extra individual neutrons
also fly out of the nucleus. If you put enough easily-fissionable atoms
close enough together and start them off by shooting some neutrons in,
you can get a self-sustaining reaction:
the first generation of atoms are fissioned, emitting enough neutrons
to fission another generation of atoms, and so on. This is what happens
in nuclear reactors.
Nuclear engineers have a choice about neutrons: do they want fast ones or slow ones? When a neutron hits a nucleus, it can either fission it or be absorbed by it. Slow neutrons
are more likely to fission a given nucleus for any given collision, but
they can only fission very high quality fuel– specifically fissile
nuclides like the uranium 235 isotope. Fast neutrons
are less likely to fission a nucleus for any given collision, but they
can split less-fissionable fuel, they produce more extra neutrons per
fission, and they don’t get absorbed by the smaller fission products as
readily. The extra neutrons produced allow the reactor to breed fissile
Plutonium-239 from typically-uninteresting Uranium-238, allowing fast
reactors to get substantially more energy out of the amount of Uranium
we have on Earth than slow (“thermal”) reactors could.
Loading mercury into the system.
We can keep the neutrons at fast speeds by having only relatively
heavy nuclei in a reactor. Water, the traditional coolant, is made up
of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The oxygen atom is more massive than a neutron by 16 times (because oxygen has 16 nucleons),
but the hydrogen has about the same mass as a neutron, and there are
twice as many of them. Neutrons traveling through a water coolant hit
oxygens, which slow them down a little, and hydrogens, which (on
average) slow them down a lot (by conservation of momentum). The use of
water as a coolant is the reason most reactors today are slow (thermal) reactors.
Thermal reactors can be much smaller than fast reactors because the
neutrons are more readily absorbed by the fissile nuclei. (Imagine a
fissile nucleus as a bar magnet and a neutron as a steel ball….if the
steel ball goes very slowly past the magnet, it’s much more likely to be
attracted to the magnet than if it was zinging by at, say, Mach 3!)
But wait! The neat thing is that there’s no rule that water has to be your coolant. Metals are much more massive than neutrons (how much more massive depends on atomic number),
so when neutrons collide with metal atoms, they retain much more of
their kinetic energy, like a ping-pong ball bouncing off of a bowling
ball. Using metals as coolants can let us build fast-neutron reactors
and use our vast “waste” reserves of depleted U238 uranium in the
reactor to be converted to Plutonium-239.
TerraPower has looked at using liquid sodium metal as a coolant. A big problem with sodium is that as an alkali metal with only one valence electron, sodium is very reactive, and the high temperatures involved would make it even more reactive.
In the pump system, any bits that could let in air or impurities
would give the sodium something to react with. This means, essentially,
that any moving parts would be hazards.
The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pump uses conduction to force the
liquid to circulate, so it has no moving parts at all. As a side effect,
this pump has a totally steady flow.
**Many thanks to Nick Touran from TerraPower for helping explain the
physics with the coolant to me, and to Jon McWhirter for conceiving of
the pump concept and for editorial comments.
How it works:
Moving a charged particle in a magnetic field creates a force on that charge in this way:
where 
is the force on the particle,
q is the charge of the particle,
is the particle’s velocity, and
is the magnetic field.
In Zihong’s pump, the big red anode and black cathode wires in the picture carry current through the system. They aren’t directly connected; the two electrodes are separated by a tube full of mercury (the prototype uses mercury, not liquid sodium, because mercury is liquid under standard conditions
while sodium is not). Conventional current flows from the anode through
the mercury, which is electrically conductive, to the cathode.
On top of and beneath this segment of tube are two magnets. This
means that the mercury, while it is carrying a moving charge, is in a
strong magnetic field. Like all moving charges in magnetic fields, it
experiences a force, and that force pushes it down the tube and through
the system. As long as current flows, this force (and thus the flow of
metal coolant) are maintained. See diagram.
The prototype runs on 101 A at 0.3 V.
10 Oct 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
പുതിയൊരു കുഞ്ഞ് നമ്മിലേക്ക് വരാനിരിക്കുന്നു എന്ന വാര്ത്ത എത്ര
സന്തോഷത്തോടെയാണ് നാം ആസ്വദിക്കാറുള്ളത്! കുടുംബത്തിലേക്ക് പുതിയൊരാള്
വരുന്നു! ആകാംക്ഷയോടെ ആ കുഞ്ഞിന് നല്ലൊരു പേര് കണ്ടുവെച്ച് നാം
കാത്തിരിക്കുന്നു. ഉമ്മയുടെയും ഉപ്പയുടെയും മനസ്സു നിറയെ ആ
കുഞ്ഞായിരിക്കും.
അത്രയും
ആനന്ദവും ആശ്ചര്യവും നിറഞ്ഞ കൈകളിലേക്ക് വന്നുവീണവരാണ്
നമ്മളോരോരുത്തരും. ഇനി, അതിലേറെ വേദനയും വിഭ്രാന്തിയും ബാക്കിയാക്കി
അവരില് നിന്നെല്ലാം മടങ്ങിപ്പോകേണ്ടവരുമാണ് ഈ നമ്മള്.
ജനിക്കുന്നതിനുമുമ്പ് നമ്മെക്കുറിച്ച ഓര്മ കൂടിക്കൂടി വരും; പക്ഷേ
മരിച്ചുകഴിഞ്ഞാല് നമ്മെക്കുറിച്ച ഓര്മ്മ കുറഞ്ഞുകുറഞ്ഞുവരും.
എല്ലാവരും
ജീവിക്കുന്നവരാണെങ്കിലും ജീവിതത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് ചിന്തിക്കുന്നവര്
കുറച്ചേയുള്ളൂ. ആനന്ദത്തിന്റെ ആഘോഷം മാത്രമാക്കി ജീവിതത്തെ
പുണരുന്നവര്ക്ക് കൊച്ചുകാര്യങ്ങളെപ്പറ്റി ചിന്തിക്കാനേ നേരം കാണൂ.
ഭക്ഷണം, വസ്ത്രം, സൗന്ദര്യം, സൗകര്യം അങ്ങനെ വളരെ കുറച്ചുകാര്യങ്ങളുടെ
പിന്നില് അവര് ചുറ്റിത്തിരിയും. ചെറിയ ചെറിയ കാര്യങ്ങളേക്കാള് വലിയ
കാര്യങ്ങള് നിര്വഹിക്കാനുള്ള സന്ദര്ഭമാണീ ജീവിതമെന്ന് തിരിച്ചറിയാന്
സാധിക്കുന്നവര് മഹാഭാഗ്യവാന്മാരാണ്.
സുഖമൊരു
അനുഭവമല്ല. ദു:ഖമാണ് അനുഭവമെന്ന് ദു:ഖിച്ചവര്ക്കൊക്കെ അറിയാം.
രോഗങ്ങളും വേദനകളുമൊന്നുമില്ലെങ്കിലാണ് സത്യത്തില് നമുക്ക് ഭയം
വര്ധിക്കേണ്ടത്. ഈ ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ നിസ്സാരതയെത്രയെന്ന്
തിരിച്ചറിയുമ്പോള് വേദനകളെയും സന്തോഷങ്ങളെയും അതിജീവിക്കാന് നാം
പഠിച്ചുതുടങ്ങും. അലക്കുകല്ലിന്റെ നിയോഗം അടിക്കുക എന്നതല്ല, അടി കൊള്ളുക
എന്നതാണ്. ഒരര്ഥത്തില് നമ്മുടെയും നിയോഗമതാണ്. മരിക്കുന്നതുവരെ
ജീവിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയും ജീവിക്കുമ്പോഴൊക്കെ
പ്രവര്ത്തിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയുമാണ് നമ്മുടെ ദൗത്യം.
അസഹ്യമായ
അനുഭവങ്ങള് വരാനിരിക്കുന്ന ജീവിതമാണ് നമ്മുടേത്. അനിഷ്ടകരമായ
വാര്ത്തകള് കേള്ക്കാനിരിക്കുന്ന കാതും ഹൃദയം തകരുന്ന അലര്ച്ചയോടെ
കരയാനിരിക്കുന്ന കണ്ണുമാണ് നമ്മുടേത്. അത്തരം അനുഭവങ്ങള് വരുത്തരുതേ
എന്ന് പ്രാര്ഥിക്കുന്നതോടൊപ്പം അങ്ങനെ വല്ലതും സംഭവിച്ചാല്
പിടിച്ചുനില്ക്കാനുള്ള കെല്പ്പു തരണേയെന്നും പ്രാര്ഥിക്കുന്നതിലാണ്
തിരുനബി(സ)യുടെ മാതൃക.
യാഥാര്ഥ്യബോധത്തോടെ
ജീവിതാനുഭവങ്ങളെ നേരിടുന്നതിലാണ് നമ്മള് വിജയിക്കേണ്ടത്. കുഞ്ഞ്
മരിച്ചുകിടന്നപ്പോഴും മുഖത്ത് സങ്കടം വിരിയാതെ, ഭര്ത്താവിന് അത്താഴവും
ആനന്ദവും പകര്ന്ന സ്വഹാബി വനിതയെ കേട്ടിട്ടില്ലേ? ധീരമായ ഭക്തിയാണത്.
കണ്ണീരിനെ മുഴുവന് കണ്ണിനു പിന്നില് നിര്ത്തിയ അസാധാരണമായ
സത്യവിശ്വാസമാണത്.
സ്വഹാബികളോടൊപ്പം
യാത്ര ചെയ്യുകയായിരുന്ന തിരുനബി(സ) അവിടെയൊരു ആള്ക്കൂട്ടം കണ്ടു.
എന്താണവിടെയെന്ന് അന്വേഷിച്ചു. `അവിടെ ഒരു ഖബ്ര്
കുഴിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ് റസൂലേ’. ഇത് കേട്ടതോടെ തിരുദൂതര്
വിഭ്രാന്തിയുള്ള മുഖത്തോടെ ആ ഖബ്റിന്നരികിലേക്ക് ഓടി. അവിടെ
മുട്ടുകുത്തിയിരുന്നു. താഴെയുള്ള മണ്ണ് നനയുന്നത്രയും ശക്തമായി കരഞ്ഞു.
എന്നിട്ടിങ്ങനെ പറഞ്ഞു: “എന്റെ കൂട്ടുകാരേ, ഇതുപോലൊരു ദിനത്തെ നേരിടാന്
നിങ്ങള് ഒരുക്കങ്ങള് നടത്തണേ.” (ഇബ്നുമാജ-സുനന് 4195)
ജനങ്ങളില്
ഏറ്റവും ബുദ്ധിശക്തിയുള്ളവന് ആരാണെന്ന ചോദ്യത്തിന് തിരുനബി(സ)യുടെ
മറുമൊഴി ഇങ്ങനെയായിരുന്നു: “മരണത്തെ നിരന്തരം ഓര്ക്കുന്നവര്. അതിനായി
തയ്യാറെടുക്കുന്നവര്. ഇവിടെ മാന്യതയും പരലോകത്ത് മഹത്വവും
നേടിയെടുക്കുന്നവരാണവര്.” (ബൈഹഖി-ശുഅബുല്ഈമാന് 7993, 10550)
മരണത്തെ
ഓര്ത്ത് തയ്യാറെടുക്കുന്നവര്ക്ക് അല്ലാഹു ഹൃദയത്തെ ഉണര്ത്തുകയും
മരണസന്ദര്ഭം എളുപ്പമാക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുമെന്ന് അവിടുന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു. (ദൈലമി:
മുസ്നദുല് ഫിര്ദൗസ്)
`ജീവിച്ച
വര്ഷങ്ങളല്ല, വര്ഷിച്ച ജീവിതമാണ് പ്രധാനം’ എന്ന് ഇംഗ്ലീഷിലൊരു
പഴമൊഴിയുണ്ട്. ആയുസ്സിന്റെ നീളത്തേക്കാള് ആയുസിലെ കര്മങ്ങളിലായിരിക്കണം
നമ്മുടെ ശ്രദ്ധ. നമുക്ക് ഒരു ഏകദേശ ധാരണപോലുമില്ലാത്ത നിമിഷത്തില് ഈ
ജീവിതം അവസാനിക്കും.
ആരോടും
യാത്ര ചോദിക്കാതെ, ആരെയും കാത്തിരിക്കാതെ, എല്ലാവരെയും കരയിച്ച്,
പറയാനുള്ളതും ചെയ്യാന് കരുതിയതുമെല്ലാം ബാക്കിവെച്ച് സുനിശ്ചിതമായ ആ
വലിയ സത്യത്തിലേക്ക് നമ്മള് ഉള്ചേരുകതന്നെ ചെയ്യും. ഒട്ടം
പരിചിതമല്ലാത്ത മറ്റൊരു ലോകത്തെക്ക് യാത്രയാകും. അതോടെ എല്ലാ രസച്ചരടുകളും
പൊട്ടിച്ചിതറും. ഒന്നിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞവര് രണ്ടായി പിരിയും, വാക്കുകളില്
കണ്ണീരു കലരും. ഓര്മകളൊക്കെയും സങ്കടമാവും. നമ്മെ പുണര്ന്നിരിരുന്ന
കൈകള് നമ്മുടെ നേരെ മണ്ണെറിയും; തീര്ന്നു!
ജനിക്കും
മുമ്പ് നമ്മെക്കുറിച്ച ഓര്മ കൂടിക്കൂടിവരും. മരണത്തോടെ ആ ഓര്മ
കുറഞ്ഞുകുറഞ്ഞുവരും. മരിക്കും വരെ ജീവിക്കുകയും ജീവിക്കുമ്പോഴൊക്കെ
പ്രവര്ത്തിക്കുകയുമാണ് നമ്മുടെ നിയോഗം.
ഓര്ക്കുക: ഞാന് ചെയ്തതിന്റെ
ആകത്തുകയാണ് ഞാന്. നിങ്ങളും അങ്ങനെത്തന്നെ.
–
03 Oct 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
ബുള്ളഷ് റാവുവിന്റെ അമ്മയോട് നാമെന്ത് പറയും?
കഴിഞ്ഞ ചൊവ്വാഴ്ച അത്ര
പ്രാധാന്യത്തോടെയല്ലെങ്കിലും മലയാള പത്രങ്ങളില് വന്ന ഒരു
വാര്ത്തയിതായിരുന്നു. ആലപ്പുഴ ജില്ലയിലെ പട്ടണക്കാടിന് സമീപം ഉഴുവ തറമൂട്
റെയില്വേ ക്രോസിനടുത്ത ശ്രീകൃഷ്ണവിലാസം ഭജനമഠത്തിന്റെ നടപ്പന്തലിലെ
മണിക്കയറില് അര്ധരാത്രി ഒരു മുപ്പതുകാരന് പശ്ചിമ ബംഗാളിലെ ജയ്പാല്ഗുഡി
ജില്ലയില് നിന്നുള്ള ബുള്ളഷ് റാവു തൂങ്ങി മരിച്ചു. ഇദ്ദേഹം ഈ സമയത്ത്
എങ്ങനെ ഇവിടെയെത്തി എന്നല്ലേ? വിശദീകരിക്കാം. ചെങ്ങന്നൂരില്
നിര്മാണത്തൊഴിലില് ഏര്പ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്ന ബംഗാളി സംഘത്തില് പെട്ടയാളാണ്
ബുള്ളഷ്. നാട്ടില്നിന്നെത്തിയ രണ്ട് തൊഴിലാളി സുഹൃത്തുക്കളോടൊപ്പം
തീവണ്ടിയില് യാത്ര ചെയ്യുകയായിരുന്നു അദ്ദേഹം. ഉഴുവയില് വെച്ച് ആള്
തീവണ്ടിയില്നിന്ന് പുറത്തേക്ക് തെറിച്ചുവീണ് തലക്ക് മുറിവുപറ്റി.
അര്ധരാത്രി, തനിച്ച്, രക്തമൊലിക്കുന്ന ശരീരവുമായി ആ യുവാവ് അടുത്തുള്ള
വീട്ടില് സഹായത്തിന് കയറി. അവര് സഹായിച്ചില്ലെന്ന് മാത്രമല്ല, ബുള്ളഷിനെ
പറഞ്ഞുവിട്ടു. ഭാഷയറിയാതെ, വഴി തിരിയാതെ ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരന് വീണ്ടും നിരവധി
വീടുകളില് കയറി ദയ യാചിച്ചു നോക്കി. ആരും അര ഗ്ലാസ് പച്ചവെള്ളം പോലും അവന്
നേരെ നീട്ടിയില്ല. അര്ധരാത്രി രക്തമൊലിപ്പിച്ചു നടക്കുന്ന ബുള്ളഷിന് നേരെ
ഒരു പട്ടി കുരച്ച് വന്നപ്പോള് അയാള് അടുത്തുള്ള ഭജനമഠത്തില് കയറി.
അവിടെ തൂങ്ങിക്കിടക്കുന്ന മണിക്കയര് അപ്പോഴാണയാള് കാണുന്നത്. ഈ
മനുഷ്യര്ക്കും പട്ടികള്ക്കുമിടയില് ജീവിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നതില്
അര്ഥമില്ലെന്ന് കണ്ട് ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരന് ഭക്തിയുടെ കയറില് തന്റെ ജീവന്
അവസാനിപ്പിച്ചു. രംഗം നടക്കുമ്പോള് മഠത്തിന് ചുറ്റും കണ്ടുനില്ക്കാന്
ആളുകളുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ആരും ‘അരുത്, ഞങ്ങളുണ്ടിവിടെ’ എന്നു പറഞ്ഞതേയില്ല.
കായംകുളത്തുനിന്ന്
ഞായറാഴ്ച ഒരു റിപ്പോര്ട്ടുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ടിന്ഷീറ്റ് ഷെഡില്
താമസിക്കുന്ന ബംഗാളി തൊഴിലാളികള്ക്കുനേരെ പ്രദേശത്തെ ചില മാന്യന്മാര്
മൊബൈല് ഫോണ് മോഷണത്തിന്റെ പേരുപറഞ്ഞ്, നിര്മാണ സാമഗ്രികള് ഉപയോഗിച്ച്
മൃഗീയമായ ആക്രമണം അഴിച്ചുവിട്ടു. 15നും 30 വയസ്സിനുമിടയിലുള്ള 36
തൊഴിലാളികള് ഇതെഴുതുമ്പോഴും ദേഹം മുഴുക്കെ മുറിവേറ്റ് വിവിധ
ആശുപത്രികളില് ചികിത്സയിലാണ്. മൊബൈല് ഫോണല്ല, കരാറുകാര്ക്കിടയിലെ
കുടിപ്പകയാണ് പാവപ്പെട്ട തൊഴിലാളികള് ആക്രമിക്കപ്പെട്ടതിന്റെ യഥാര്ഥ
കാരണം. സ്ഥലത്തെ പ്രധാന മാന്യന്മാരാണ് ആക്രമണത്തിന് പിന്നിലെന്നത്
കൊണ്ടുതന്നെ പൊലീസ് കാര്യമായ നടപടികള് ഒന്നും ഇതുവരെയും എടുത്തിട്ടില്ല.
‘അന്യസംസ്ഥാന
തൊഴിലാളികള്’ എന്നത് നമ്മുടെ ഭാഷയില് അടുത്തിടെ വന്നുചേര്ന്ന ഒരു
പ്രയോഗമാണ്. നമ്മുടെ ചെറുപ്പക്കാര് നല്ലൊരു ശതമാനം വിദേശത്തുപോവുകയും
ഇവിടെയുള്ളവര് ശാരീരികാധ്വാനമുള്ള തൊഴില് ചെയ്യുന്നത് മടിക്കുകയും
ചെയ്തപ്പോഴാണ് അന്യസംസ്ഥാന തൊഴിലാളികള് നമ്മുടെ തൊഴില് കമ്പോളത്തിലെ വലിയ
സാന്നിധ്യമായത്. നമ്മുടെ നിര്മാണമേഖല ഇന്ന് മുന്നോട്ടുപോകുന്നത്
പ്രധാനമായും ഇവരുടെ അധ്വാനശേഷിയുടെ ബലത്തിലാണ്. സാമാന്യം തരക്കേടില്ലാത്ത
കൂലികിട്ടുന്നതുകൊണ്ട് അവരും സന്തോഷത്തോടെ തൊഴില് ചെയ്യുന്നു. അങ്ങനെ,
ഒഡിഷയിലെയും ബംഗാളിലെയും ബിഹാറിലെയും വിദൂര ഗ്രാമങ്ങളിലെ
പട്ടിണിപ്പാവങ്ങള്ക്ക് കേരളം എന്നത് അവര് കണ്ടെത്തിയ ‘ഗള്ഫ്’ ആയി മാറി.
ഒരു കാര്യമുറപ്പ്, നാളെ അവരെല്ലാം തിരിച്ച് വണ്ടി കയറിയാല് കേരളത്തിന്റെ
ഉല്പാദന, നിര്മാണമേഖല സ്തംഭിക്കും.
പക്ഷേ, ആ മനുഷ്യരെ
മനുഷ്യരായി കാണാനുള്ള മാന്യത പുരോഗമന കേരളം കാണിക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ? അര്ധ
മനുഷ്യരോ താഴ്ന്ന മനുഷ്യരോ ആയല്ലേ നാം പലപ്പോഴും അവരെ പരിഗണിക്കുന്നത്?
ആസ്ട്രേലിയയിലെ ഇന്ത്യന് വിദ്യാര്ഥികള്ക്കുനേരെയുള്ള വംശീയ
വിവേചനത്തിനെതിരെ സായാഹ്ന ധര്ണ നടത്തുമ്പോഴും നമ്മുടെ ഉമ്മറത്തെ
ബംഗാളിയോട് മാന്യമായി പെരുമാറാന് മലയാളിക്ക് കഴിഞ്ഞില്ല. ഗര്വിന്റെയും
അഹങ്കാരത്തിന്റെയും വ്യാകരണവും ശരീരഭാഷയുമാണ് നാം അവരോട് കാണിച്ചത്.
ഗള്ഫിലും മറ്റും ഇതേപോലെ ‘അന്യരാജ്യ’ തൊഴിലാളികളായി ജീവിക്കുന്ന മലയാളി
ചെറുപ്പക്കാര് അയക്കുന്ന കറന്സിയുടെ ബലത്തിലാണ് നമ്മളീ അഹന്തകളൊക്കെയും
കാണിക്കുന്നതെന്ന് നാം മറന്നുപോയി.
അന്യസംസ്ഥാന
തൊഴിലാളികളോടുള്ള അയിത്ത മനോഭാവം മാത്രമല്ല, മറ്റൊരാളുടെയും പ്രശ്നത്തില്
ഇടപെടാനുള്ള മലയാളിയുടെ സന്നദ്ധതയില്ലായ്മ കൂടിയാണ് ബുള്ളഷിന്റെ മരണം
വെളിവാക്കുന്നത്. വാഹനാപകടത്തില് പെട്ട് നടുറോഡില് രക്തമൊലിപ്പിച്ച്
പിടയുന്നവനെ കൈപിടിച്ചുയര്ത്തുന്നതിനുപകരം, ആ രംഗം മൊബൈല് കാമറയില്
ഒപ്പിയെടുക്കാന് വെമ്പുന്ന മനസ്സ് മലയാളിയില് വികൃതമായി
വളര്ന്നുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ്. ഞാന്, എന്റെ കാര്യം എന്ന കുടുസ്സു ചിന്തയില്
എന്തേ നമ്മള് മലയാളികള് ഇന്ത്യയിലെ ഏറ്റവും വിദ്യാസമ്പന്നരായ പുരോഗമന
സമൂഹം പെട്ടുപോയി? ഒരിറക്ക് വെള്ളംപോലും കിട്ടാതെ വേദനകൊണ്ട് പുളഞ്ഞ്,
മനോവേദനകൊണ്ട് തകര്ന്ന് ജീവിതമവസാനിപ്പിച്ച ബുള്ളഷിന്റെ ആത്മാവ്
നമ്മളെക്കുറിച്ച് ഇപ്പോള് എന്തു വിചാരിക്കുന്നുണ്ടാവും? കുടിലിലെ
പട്ടിണിമാറ്റാന് ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരനെ കണെ്ണത്താ വിദൂരതയിലേക്ക് പറഞ്ഞുവിട്ട
ബുള്ളഷിന്റെ അമ്മ നാളെ ഇങ്ങോട്ടുവന്ന് എന്റെ മകനോട് നിങ്ങളെന്തേ ഇങ്ങനെ
ചെയ്തുവെന്ന് ചോദിച്ചാല്, സത്യം, നമ്മളെന്താണ് മറുപടി പറയുക?
വിദൂരദേശങ്ങളില് തീര്ത്തും അന്യമായ സാഹചര്യങ്ങളില് നമുക്ക്
കഞ്ഞിയെത്തിക്കാന് വേണ്ടി ചോരനീരാക്കി പണിയെടുക്കുന്ന നമ്മുടെ
മക്കളോട്/അനുജന്മാരോട് അന്നാട്ടുകാര് ഈ വിധം പെരുമാറിയാല് അവര്ക്കുനേരെ
വിരല്ചൂണ്ടാന് നമുക്കെങ്ങനെ കഴിയും?
ബുള്ളഷിന്റെ മരണം ഒരു
ചൂണ്ടാണി മാത്രമാണ്. നാം, മലയാളികള് എവിടെ എത്തിനില്ക്കുന്നുവെന്നതിന്റെ
ഓര്മപ്പെടുത്തല്. ഈ അപരാധത്തിന് നാം കൂട്ടമായി മാപ്പുചോദിക്കുക.
മുഖ്യമന്ത്രിതന്നെ മുഴുവന് മലയാളികള്ക്കും വേണ്ടി ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരന്റെ
കുടുംബത്തോട് ഖേദപ്രകടനം നടത്തുക. എങ്കില് അതൊരു അനുഭവമായിരിക്കും.
ജനങ്ങള്ക്കിടയില് പുതിയൊരു അവബോധം സൃഷ്ടിക്കാന് അതുപകരിക്കും.
പൊങ്ങച്ചബോധം കുടഞ്ഞു തെറിപ്പിക്കാന്, സ്വന്തത്തെയും കടന്ന് അപരനിലേക്ക്
നീളാനുള്ള ചിന്ത അവനില് കരുപ്പിടിപ്പിക്കാന് അതുപകരിച്ചേക്കും.
ബുള്ളഷ്, നീ ഞങ്ങളോട് പൊറുക്കുക.
–
22 Sep 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Islamic cultural center open in N.Y.
Sep 22, 2011 |
An NYPD officer keeps watch during the Wednesday grand opening of the Park51 Islamic cultural center in New York City. It’s near Ground Zero, and the project has drawn criticism from opponents who say they don’t want a Muslim prayer space near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
28 Aug 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Athletic, Muslim, Fashionable – a Tale of the Sports Hijab
Olympic hopeful, 17-year-old Zeinab Hammoud
Female Muslim athletes who observe a strict Islamic dress code sometimes face the question of whether they will be allowed to participate in major competitions — with their heads and most of their bodies covered. Now, one Iranian-Canadian woman is marketing a product to change that. It complies with the requirements of many major sports, and it’s fashionable, safe and comfortable — while still meeting Islamic requirements.
An Olympic hopeful faces a small obstacle
Seventeen-year-old Zeinab Hammoud has a brown belt in Taekwondo, and dreams of one day making it to the Olympics. But unlike her sister, Rana, Zeinab chooses to wear the Islamic headscarf, or hijab.
This became a problem four years ago. The team’s hard work, passion and hopes were dashed when the Taekwondo Federation of Quebec expelled them from a tournament in 2007. The reason: their hijabs were considered unsafe. “I was really disappointed because I trained really hard for that tournament. When I found out we were expelled I lost all my motivation to continue,” Hammoud said.
Civil rights supporters and sports enthusiasts around the world were enraged. Elham Seyed Javad was one of them. “In my opinion every individual, no matter their religion, should have the same rights as anyone else in society,” he stated. “I mean, sports was made to re-unite people.”
Athletic fashion
Javad was an industrial design student at the time, so she decided to take on the problem as one of her school projects. “At the time, in 2008, when I decided to take on this project, the international federation of Taekwondo didn’t allow its athletes to wear anything under the helmet. So my professor didn’t think there was a point of pursuing it. But my point was, the rule is there because nothing has been invented that is appropriate,” she explained.
Javad spent countless hours with the Hammoud sisters’ taekwondo team and with pattern maker Latifa Boukenda, to make the best product possible. “This was a very exciting project for me. I’ve worked in fashion for many years but this was special because it was beyond fashion,” she said. “It had a more human and social aspect to it. helping young women blossom and follow their athletic dreams.”
Ultimately, they hit upon a design that worked, and a fabric that was stretchy, breathable, and dried quickly. Called a “ResportOn,” the garment was an immediate hit.
Even Zeinab’s sister Rana, who chooses not to wear the hijab, was impressed. “I just tried the Resport hijab and the hair was inside so it doesn’t come out and it’s very comfortable so you can play without trying to put your hair inside all the time,” she noted.
Rules reconsidered, changed
Javad’s invention came at an opportune time. A year later, in response to pressure from the taekwondo community, the World Taekwondo Federation changed its rules to allow for head-coverings.
The Montreal Muslim Taekwondo team was able to compete again.
“I was in the stands and got teary-eyed because since the very beginning my goal was to be able to see the girls on the mats again. When it happened it was like someone gave me the world,” Javad stated.
Javad thought she was just helping Zeinab and her teammates. But when an investor approached her about marketing the product, things changed dramatically. In January, her sports hijab became available to athletes all over the world. She has been busy ever since. “My days start at 2am when my phone goes off with an email from an athlete from the other side of the world. I turn it on and read the email, get happy and go back to sleep,” she said.
While there are other sports hijabs on the market, Javad believes hers has some advantages. Those include a built-in t-shirt that keeps it from pulling loose, and an opening at the back that allows easy access for wearers to adjust their hair.
24 Aug 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര്
റമദാന് മാസത്തില് പ്രത്യേകമായി ശ്രദ്ധപതിപ്പിക്കേണ്ട ഒരു സകാത്ത് ഇസ്ലാം നിശ്ചയിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. അതാണ് വ്രതസമാപന സകാത്ത് അഥവാ സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര്.
“മുസ്ലിംകളിലെ അടിമകള്, സ്വതന്ത്രര്, പുരുഷന്മാര്, സ്ത്രീകള്, ചെറിയവര്, വലിയവര് (എന്നീ വേര്തിരിവുകളില്ലാതെ) എല്ലാവരുടെ പേരിലും ഓരോ സ്വാഅ് കാരക്കയോ ബാര്ലിയോ ഫിത്വ്ര് സകാത്ത് നല്കല് ബാധ്യതയായി അല്ലാഹുവിന്റെ ദൂതര്(സ) നിര്ബന്ധമായി നിശ്ചയിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. പെരുന്നാള് നമസ്കാരത്തിന് ആളുകള് പുറപ്പെടുന്നതിനു മുമ്പായി അത് നല്കണമെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം കല്പിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.” (ബുഖാരി, മുസ്ലിം)
റമദാന് അവസാനിക്കുന്നതോടെയാണ് ഈ സകാത്ത് നിര്ബന്ധമായിത്തീരുന്നത്. ഈദുല്ഫിത്വ്ര് (ശവ്വാല് ഒന്ന്) നമസ്കാരത്തിന് പുറപ്പെടുന്നതോടെ അതിന്റെ സമയം അവസാനിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. ഹ്രസ്വമായ സമയപരിധിക്കുള്ളില് അത് പൂര്ണമായി നിര്വഹിക്കപ്പെടാന് പ്രയാസമാണെങ്കില് വ്രതസമാപനത്തിന് രണ്ടോ മൂന്നോ ദിവസം മുമ്പായി അത് കൊടുക്കുകയും ചെയ്യാം. ഇബ്നു ഉമര്(റ) പറയുന്നു: “അവര് (സ്വഹാബികള്) ഫിത്വ്ര് സകാത്ത് പെരുന്നാളിന്റെ ഒന്നോ രണ്ടോ ദിവസം മുമ്പ് നല്കാറുണ്ടായിരുന്നു.” (ബുഖാരി)
സമ്പത്ത് എന്ന അല്ലാഹുവിന്റെ അനുഗ്രഹം ലഭിച്ചവര്ക്ക് മാത്രം നിര്ബന്ധമാണ് സാധാരണ സകാത്ത്. അതിന് നിശ്ചിത പരിധിയും കൃത്യമായ തോതും കണക്കുമെല്ലാം നിശ്ചയിക്കപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. എന്നാല് സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര് സമ്പത്തിന്റെ മാനദണ്ഡമനുസരിച്ചല്ല നല്കേണ്ടത്. കണക്കനുസരിച്ച് തന്റെ സമ്പത്തിന്റെ സകാത്ത് കൊടുത്തുതീര്ത്തവരും കണക്കനുസരിച്ച് സകാത്ത് കൊടുക്കാന് മാത്രം സമ്പത്തില്ലാത്തവരും സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര് കൊടുക്കേണ്ടതുണ്ട്. നിത്യവൃത്തിക്ക് വകയില്ലാത്തവര് മാത്രമേ ഇതിന്റെ നിര്ബന്ധ കല്പനയില് നിന്ന് ഒഴിവാക്കപ്പെടുകയുള്ളൂ.
മനുഷ്യസഹജമായ താല്പര്യം അംഗീകരിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് അല്ലാഹു നിശ്ചയിച്ച ആഘോഷം എന്ന നിലയില് പെരുന്നാളിന്റെ ആഹ്ലാദം പങ്കിടുവാന് നിത്യവൃത്തിക്ക് കഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നവര്ക്കുപോലും സാധിക്കണമെന്നതാണ് സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര് കൊണ്ട് ലക്ഷ്യമാക്കുന്നത്. ജീവിതത്തില് സൂക്ഷ്മത കൈവരിക്കാനും വന്നുപോയ പാളിച്ചകള്ക്ക് പരിഹാരവും പ്രായശ്ചിത്തവുമായിക്കൊണ്ടുമാണ് സത്യവിശ്വാസി വ്രതമനുഷ്ഠിക്കുന്നത്. നോമ്പുകാരന് വീണ്ടും വിമലീകരണത്തിനുള്ള അവസരം കൂടിയാണ് സകാതുല് ഫിത്വ്ര്. “അനാവശ്യമായ വാക്കും പ്രവൃത്തിയും മൂലം നോമ്പുകാരന് വന്നുപോയ പിഴവുകളില് നിന്ന് അവനെ ശുദ്ധീകരിക്കാനും പാവങ്ങള്ക്ക് ആഹാരത്തിനുമായി റസൂല്(സ) സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര് നിര്ബന്ധമാക്കിയിരിക്കുന്നു.” (അബൂദാവൂദ്, ഇബ്നുമാജ)
കാരക്കയും ബാര്ലിയും മാത്രമല്ല നാട്ടിലെ പ്രധാന ആഹാര സാധനങ്ങളാണ് ഫിത്വ്ര് സകാത്തായി നല്കേണ്ടത് എന്നാണ് സ്വഹാബിമാരുടെ പ്രവര്ത്തനങ്ങളില് നിന്ന് മനസ്സിലാകുന്നത്. അബൂസഈദില് ഖുദ്രി(റ) പറയുന്നു: “ഒരു സ്വാഅ് ഗോതമ്പ്, അല്ലെങ്കില് ഒരു സ്വാഅ് ബാര്ലി, അല്ലെങ്കില് ഒരു സ്വാഅ് പാല്ക്കട്ടി, അല്ലെങ്കില് ഒരു സ്വാഅ് മുന്തിരി എന്നിങ്ങനെയായിരുന്നു ഞങ്ങള് സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര് കൊടുത്തുവന്നിരുന്നത്.” (ബുഖാരി)
സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര് അരി കൊടുക്കണമെന്ന് വിശുദ്ധ ഖുര്ആനിലോ ഹദീസിലോ പറഞ്ഞിട്ടില്ലെങ്കിലും നമ്മുടെ നാട്ടില് അരിയാണ് സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര് നല്കേണ്ടതെന്ന കാര്യത്തില് മുസ്ലിം സമൂഹത്തില് രണ്ടഭിപ്രായമില്ല. അത് മേല്പറഞ്ഞ ഹദീസുകളുടെ അടിസ്ഥാനത്തിലാണ്.
എങ്കിലും സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര് സമൂഹത്തിനുപകരിക്കുംവിധം സംഘടിതമായി നിര്വഹിക്കാന് എല്ലാ മുസ്ലിംകളും ഇനിയും തയ്യാറായിട്ടില്ലെന്നത് ഖേദകരമാണ്.
സകാത്ത് കൊടുക്കുന്ന വ്യക്തി തനിക്കും തന്റെ കീഴിലുള്ള കുടുംബത്തിനും വേണ്ടി അത് നിര്വഹിക്കണം. ശവ്വാല് ഒന്നിന് കാലത്ത് പിറന്ന കുഞ്ഞുള്പ്പെടെ ഒരാള്ക്ക് ഒരു സ്വാഅ് എന്ന തോതില് ധാന്യം അയാള് സകാത്ത് സമിതിയെ ഏല്പിക്കണം. സ്വാഅ് എന്നത് നബി(സ)യുടെ കാലത്തെ അളവാണ്. മെട്രിക് തൂക്കമനുസരിച്ച് രണ്ടുകിലോഗ്രാമും ഏതാനും ഗ്രാമും ആണത്. ആയതിനാല് ആളൊന്നിന് രണ്ട് കിലോഗ്രാം വീതം അരിയാണ് നല്കേണ്ടത്. ശേഖരിച്ച സകാത്ത് റമദാനിന്റെ അവസാനത്തെ ദിവസങ്ങളില് തന്നെ അര്ഹതപ്പെട്ടവര്ക്ക് എത്തിച്ചുകൊടുക്കുക എന്നത് സകാത്ത് സമിതിയുടെ ബധ്യതയാണ്. ഒരുതരത്തില് സമുദായത്തിന്റെ നിര്ബന്ധിതമായ ഒരു റിലീഫ് കൂടിയാണ് സകാത്തുല് ഫിത്വ്ര്.
17 Aug 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Jan Lok Pal is no solution
June 22, 2011 12:00:00 AM
Tackling
corruption requires economic reforms and a popular re-engagement with
electoral politics. We should shun the politics of hunger strikes.
The
idea of a ‘Jan Lok Pal’ is flawed and profoundly misunderstands the
causes and solutions of corruption in India. It seeks to create another
chunk of Government, more processes and rules, to solve a problem that,
in part, exists because of too many chunks of Government, too many
processes and rules.
If the ‘Jan Lok Pal’ presides over the same
system that has corrupted civil servants, politicians, anti-corruption
watchdogs, judges, media, civil society groups and ordinary citizens,
why should we expect that the ombudsman will be incorruptible? Because
the person is handpicked by unelected, unaccountable ‘civil society’
members? Those who propose that Nobel Laureates (of Indian origin, not
even of Indian citizenship) and Ramon Magsaysay Award winners should be
among those who pick the Great Ombudsman of India — who is both
policeman and judge — insult the hundreds of millions of ordinary Indian
voters who regularly exercise their right to franchise. For they are
demanding that the Scandinavian grandees in the Nobel Committee and the
Filipino members of the Magsaysay foundation should have an indirect
role in selecting an all-powerful Indian official.
The argument
that people should be involved in drafting legislation is fine, even if
it misses the point that the Government is not a foreign entity but a
representative of the people. It is entirely another thing to demand
that the legislation drafted by an self-appointed, unaccountable and
unrepresentative set of people be passed at the threat of blackmail. If
we must have representatives of the people involved in law-making, we
are better off if they are the elected ones, however flawed, as opposed
to self-appointed ones, whatever prizes the latter might have won.
The
‘Jan Lok Pal’ will become another logjammed, politicised and ultimately
corrupt institution, for the passionate masses who demand new
institutions have a poor record of protecting the existing institutions.
Where were the holders of candles, wearers of Gandhi topis and
hunger-strikers when the offices of the Chief Election Commissioner, the
Central Vigilance Commissioner and even the President of the Republic
were handed out to persons with dubious credentials? If you didn’t come
out to protest the perversion of these institutions, why are you somehow
more likely to turn up to protest when a dubious person is sought to be
made the ‘Jan Lok Pal’?
But this is us. Given this reality, the
solution for corruption and malgovernance should be one that does not
rely on the notoriously apathetic middle classes to come out on the
streets. The solution is to take away the powers of discretion, the
powers of rent-seeking from the Government and restore it back to the
people. This is the idea of economic freedom. Societies with greater
economic freedom have lower corruption. I have long argued that we are
in this mess because we have been denied Reforms 2.0.
How can we
have Reforms 2.0 if “those politicians” are unwilling to implement them?
The answer is simple: By voting. Economic reforms are not on anyone’s
political agenda because those who are most likely to benefit from them
do not vote, and do not vote strategically. At this point, it is usual
to hear loud protests about how voting does not work, most often by
those who do not vote. This flies in the face of empirical evidence —
when hundreds of millions of people turn up to vote. If it were not
working for them, why would they be voting? They might not be demanding
Reforms 2.0, but something else, and are getting what they want. Instead
of ephemeral displays of outrage — what happened to those post-26/11
candle-light vigils?— it is engagement in the electoral process that is
necessary. There are some innovative ideas — like that of voters
associations — that can be attempted.
There are no better words than those of BR Ambedkar on the place of satyagraha
in India after the Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950:
“…we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we
must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha.
When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving
economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification
for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open,
there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These
methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are
abandoned, the better for us.” Ambedkar was speaking in the Constituent
Assembly.
In my view civil disobedience in general and hunger
strikes in particular must be used in the most exceptional circumstances
where constitutional methods are unavailable or denied, and only till
the time constitutional methods remain unavailable or denied.
Some
contend that the system isn’t working, or has been so perverted by the
incumbent Government that it is necessary to resort to public agitation.
This is a dubious argument. Constitutional democracy is an enlightened
way to make policy by reconciling — to the extent possible — the diverse
interests, opinions and levels of political empowerments of a diverse
population. Any other way amounts to coercion in one form or the other.
If
we are to allow that hunger strikes and street protests do better than
constitutional methods, then how would you decide issues where there are
sharp differences? If two Gandhians go on hunger strike asking for
polar opposites, do we settle the issue by seeing who gives up first?
What if competing groups escalate the agitation to violence against each
other? Should we condone civil war?
The working of those
constitutional mechanisms can and must be improved. By us. The
anti-defection law must go. India does not have a comprehensive law
governing political parties. It needs one. Police reforms have been
stalled for decades. There is a substantial reform agenda that must be
pursued. By us.
However, the inability to implement these
reforms is no excuse for resorting to civil disobedience or, as it
happens in other countries, calling in a dictatorship of the
proletariat, the military or the priesthood.
The ‘Jan Lok Pal
Bill’ is not a solution to the problem of corruption. It risks making
matters worse. Hunger strikes are not the right means to promote a
policy agenda in a constitutional democracy like ours. The promoters and
supporters of ‘Jan Lok Pal’ and the public agitation to achieve it are
profoundly misguided. Their popularity stems from having struck a vein
of middle class outrage against the UPA Government’s misdeeds. That does
not mean that the solutions they offer are right.
I oppose ‘Jan Lok Pal’ and the politics of hunger-strikes as much as I oppose corruption and misgovernance.
Jan Lok Pal: unconstitutional, unnecessary
The battle against corruption must be fought by strengthening existing instruments
The debate on how to eradicate corruption, kick-started by Anna
Hazare’s indefinite fast, has now moved into its second phase. This
involves the drafting of a bill that will provide a foolproof mechanism
to bring the corrupt to book. Here is an examination of the structural
flaws inherent in the Jan Lok Pal Bill
The bill, also known as The Anti Corruption, Grievance Redressal and
Whistleblower Protection Act, 2010 (which will be referred to as the Jan
Lok Pal Bill) is about the most overwhelming piece of legislation since
Independence.
Why the big fuss, you may ask. Don’t we have any laws against
corruption in India? Well, of course, we do. Taking of illegal
gratification by public servants was made a criminal offence way back in
1860 by the repository of all that’s evil—the Indian Penal Code, in
Sections 161-165A.
The Prevention of Corruption Act was first enacted in 1947. In fact,
when the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (the parent
statute of the Central Bureau of Investigation) was enacted, it was
primarily to investigate allegations of corruption against central
government employees.
A “new and improved” Prevention of Corruption Act (PoCA) was enacted
in 1987, complete with special courts and tougher punishments, and with
it, the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code stood repealed.
Photo: V Singh
The new Prevention of Corruption Act is not without controversy, and
the Supreme Court usually has to consider who a “public servant” is
every other month. However, the main issue with the PoCA is that while
it targets employees of nationalised banks, lower level policemen and
similar other members of the government food chain, the higher-ups just
never manage to face the heat, and even if they do, it takes years for
cases to see the light of day.
And all we really want is to see the corrupt thieves in jail, or at
least, not in any position of power. Why is it so difficult to just
throw out corrupt unmentionables? For that, we need to go back to the
hallowed Constitution of India. Article 311 is the party pooper, which
requires that a civil servant can only be dismissed by an authority
equal or superior to that which appointed it. That at least is at the
stage of dismissal. Even for prosecution, the PoCA requires previous
sanction, according to Section 19.
Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, follows suit for
offences committed “in the discharge of official duty”. Obviously, the
public perception is that government officials will always refuse to
accord sanction to protect their minions, perhaps rightly so.
Keeping this in mind, the government proposed the Lok Pal Bill, 2010,
as a mechanism for inquiry into allegations of corruption against
public functionaries. As a response, several public-spirited citizens
countered with their own draft Jan Lok Pal Bill. The latter is so much
broader in scope compared to the government’s draft that it is not even
fair to compare the two. The activist’s Jan Lokpal Bill, version 2.1
doesn’t just stop at inquiry. It goes the whole hog.
It says that the Lok Pal shall consist of one chairperson along with
10 members. These persons should not, at the time of appointment, be
holding any “office of profit” or be a member of parliament or the
legislature of any state. It also bars persons who have even been
charged (not convicted!) under the IPC or PoCA or penalised under the
Central Civil Services Conduct rules.
Out of these 10 members, four must have some “legal background”,
bringing in former judges and lawyers. A maximum of two of these members
can come from a civil services background. Looks like a healthy mix. So
far, so good.
Then there is this requirement: “The members and Chairperson should
have unimpeachable integrity and should have demonstrated their resolve
to fight corruption in the past.”
This is jarring for two reasons: one, it looks like the bill is
leaving a lot of scope for canvassing for these posts, and two, isn’t
impartiality a much more important consideration? The objective of the
Lok Pal ought to be to conduct an honest and fair inquiry. Anyone who
has demonstrated their resolve to fight corruption in the past might end
up being a trigger-happy vigilante in judicial robes (and police
uniform—but we’ll get to that later), especially when empowered in such a
manner.
The cream of the crop, including the chairperson of the National
Human Rights Commission (oh, the irony!) are involved in the selection
process. In fact, a previous version (1.9, apparently) proposed former
Magsaysay award winners and Nobel laureates “of Indian origin” to be
members of this selection committee. The good news is that they have
been shoved aside to accommodate “retired army personnel who are five
star generals”. It is unclear if they asked the 92-year-old Marshal of
the Air Force, Arjan Singh, before adding this post to the list,
considering he’s the only living five star general we have.
Any person can propose the name of a deserving candidate to be
appointed to the Lok Pal, and after initial sifting by the selection
committee, the person recommending a candidate has to provide material
to support his nomination. Thereafter, the names will be put up on the
Internet to solicit public feedback, and the committee can also use “any
means” to collect more information about the background and past
achievements of the shortlisted candidates. Lok Pal members are
appointed by the President of India.
So despite all of this, if a member is found being
less-than-unimpeachable, the Supreme Court of India—yes, the highly
overburdened final court of appeal and protector of the Constitution—in a
bench of five judges, no less (normally known as a “constitutional
bench”), will have to conduct the inquiry.
However absurd an allegation, the Act specifically bars the Supreme
Court from dismissing the petition at the threshold stage. The Supreme
Court can order a report of “investigation” by a Special Investigation
Team and can bench the allegedly errant member while such inquiry is
being conducted. If someone makes a false complaint, they can be
punished with fine and imprisonment.
There is, however, no appeal for a member who may have been wrongly
dismissed. Neither is there is any discretion left with either the Prime
Minister or the President of India to withhold the person’s removal.
So, the President can refuse to sign bills passed by both houses of
Parliament, refuse to sign orders of impeachment of Supreme Court
judges, commute a sentence of death which could have been upheld by four
different courts (including two benches of the Supreme Court in appeal
and review), but she must remove a member of the Lok Pal on the
recommendation of the Supreme Court.
Moving on. What does this wonderfully constituted Committee get to do, anyway?
According to the Bill, the Lok Pal shall be responsible for receiving
complaints for offences under the PoCA, or for “misconduct” which
includes “vigilance angle” which in turn includes the very carefully
worded “Gross or willful negligence; recklessness in decision
making; blatant violations of systems and procedures; exercise of
discretion in excess where no ostensible/public interest is evident;
failure to keep the controlling authority/superiors informed in time”.
Presently, complaints for offences under the PoCA go to the
anti-corruption wings of either the CBI or the local police. The police
investigate, and present their findings to a government authority for
sanction. The government authority is supposed to independently apply
their mind and accord sanction if a case has been made out. The case is
then tried before a special court. The procedure for complaints under
the PoCA now is that the Lok Pal will order an inquiry or investigation,
and only when the Lok Pal is satisfied that a case is made out, will it
direct that prosecution be launched. The procedure for obtaining
sanction prior to prosecution is eliminated, once the Lok Pal orders
investigation it is deemed that sanction is accorded.
The branch of the CBI that deals with investigation and prosecution
of offences alleged to have been committed under the PoCA, will now be
the “Lok Pal Investigation Wing” and be under the direction and control
of the Lok Pal.
To start with, it crosses the line when it comes to the separation of
powers. Each wing of Government—the Legislature, Executive and
Judiciary—keeps checks and balances on the other, and so they must
remain separate, because that’s the only way to ensure that there is no
abuse of power. Here, the Lok Pal, which is a judicial body, for all
practical purposes, will have control of the part of the Executive that
conducts investigations on its behalf. To add to more confusion, the
chairperson, members of Lok Pal and the officers in investigation wing
of Lok Pal are to be deemed to be “police officers” as defined under the
Code of Criminal Procedure, for the purpose of carrying out
investigation.
When a complaint comes before the Lok Pal Committee, they can either
initiate investigation straight away, or conduct a preliminary inquiry.
Interestingly, the Lok Pal can also direct any other person to
make this preliminary inquiry as it deems fit for ascertaining whether
there exists a reasonable ground for conducting the investigation.
An aside here—the whole wording of this bill can get kind of
confusing, because, for example, in criminal law, “Inquiry” is usually
meant for a stage prior to the filing of an FIR, and Investigation
denotes that an FIR has been filed. In this Bill, the Lok Pal can, after
investigation, order that Prosecution be launched, which means an FIR,
after which investigation has to be carried out. Again.
While the complainant is mandated to be kept in the loop regarding
the inquiry into his complaint at all times, the same is not true for
the public servant. In fact, it isn’t very clear when the public servant
is allowed to make his representation, which is slightly disturbing
considering the possibilities at the end of this inquiry/investigation,
which we’ll get to in a bit.
Calling for the say of the public servant at the stage of inquiry is
entirely at the discretion of the Lok Pal. At the stage of
investigation, thankfully, the Lok Pal “shall afford to such public
servant and the complainant an opportunity to offer comments and be
heard”. What is the scope of offering comments, though? Does the public
servant have the right to legal counsel? It is also very disturbing that
there is no provision which prevents the bench of the Lok Pal that
conducts the preliminary inquiry from being the one that conducts the
investigation, which is a necessary safeguard from a “judge, jury,
executioner” situation.
After completion of due investigation, the Lok Pal has several
options, including (besides dismissing the complaint) initiating
prosecution against public servants as well as abetting private parties,
imposing of penalities under the conduct rules, order cancellation or
modification of a licence or lease or permission or contract or
agreement, or even blacklisting the concerned firm or company or
contractor or any other entity involved in that act of corruption.
Pretty harsh punishments, probably what these people who are guilty
of corruption-related offences deserve—but wait—this is all prior to
having been found guilty by a court of law. Since the
inquiry/investigation/what-have-you is in the nature of a civil Inquiry,
the standard of proof is very different than of a prosecution under
criminal law. Take the example of people who are found guilty in
departmental inquiries who often get acquitted by courts in PoCA
offences. In criminal law, the standard of proof is beyond reasonable
doubt. If this standard of proof is not adhered to, and at this stage
which is prior to any independent investigation authority even looking
into the matter (the Lok Pal Investigation Wing not really fitting in
with the concept of “independent”) the ability to blacklist corporations
is absolutely absurd. Another point to ponder—if the Lok Pal decides to
“initiate prosecution”, who is the investigating authority then? Is it
the Lok Pal Investigation Wing again? God forbid!
That’s not all—even at the stage of inquiry (that is before even
concluding their inquiry and referring this case for initiation of
prosecution) the Lok Pal can move for interim measures to restrain him
or his orders from causing further harm. However, even at the stage of
investigation, the Lok Pal can ask for a tabulation and freezing of
immovable and movable assets of the public servant. It is not even
necessary to show that these assets are disproportionate or reasonably
suspected to have been derived from funds which are the subject of
inquiry.
The Lok Pal Bill moves further into uncharted territory with the
possible prosecution of the “bribe giver”. For years, the position of
law as to whether a person could be prosecuted for giving a bribe was
unclear. Under PoCA, a statement made by a person in any proceeding
against a public servant that he offered or agreed to offer any illegal
gratification would not make him liable to face prosecution as an
abettor. The purpose behind this was simple—to encourage reporting of
offences and ensure convictions. It looks like a person who had to give a
bribe may not get this cushion of protection before the Lok Pal.
More absurdity—the act also takes the liberty of amending the
Prevention of Corruption Act. Sections 7 – 15 of the Act which have
minimum punishments of six months to a year and maximum punishments of
5-7 years are now amended to two years minimum imprisonment and a
maximum punishment of life imprisonment. If the accused is an officer of
the rank of joint secretary or above or a minister, a member or
chairperson of the Lok Pal, the minimum imprisonment is ten years. A
fine of five times the “loss caused to the public” will be recovered in
case the beneficiary is a “business entity”, and if the assets of the
company be not enough to recover the amount, it will have to be
recovered from the personal assets of the directors.
Theoretically, this is fine if you have an independent judiciary,
again, the hallmark of a democracy. Already, there are special courts
constituted to handle matters under the PoCA (the Bombay Sessions Court
has four such Courts). The appointment and superintendence of these
judges, who are at the level of district judges, should be by the
governor of the state in consultation with the High Court exercising
jurisdiction in relation to such state, since that’s what the
Constitution of India says.
The Lok Pal Bill pays no heed to such niceties, and instead the
Government (they probably meant “Governor”) has to take advice from the
Lok Pal on the selection procedure of these judges, which one hopes is
not that these judges have shown a zeal for rooting out corruption in
the past.
Never mind, at least there is a provision for appeal. Or is there?
Along with the ignorance of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers, the
other big problem with the Lok Pal Bill and which demonises it
completely is the utter disregard for the right to appeal. It is not
clear, whether a bench of the Lok Pal is to be considered on par with a
magistrate (since it conducts inquiry), a court of sessions, a High
Court (though it is to be treated so for the purpose of the Contempt of
Courts Act), a tribunal or a quasi-judicial body (like the Human Rights
Commission).
Regardless of what it fancies itself to be, by the lack of provision
for appeal, it is unconstitutional. Granted, the Lok Pal itself doesn’t
convict anyone, but that doesn’t mean that there should be no right to
appeal. The right to at least one appeal against an order, which affects
someone adversely, is inherent in the Constitution. There is no
specific clause regarding appeals in the Jan Lok Pal Bill, and that is
unconstitutional, to say the least.
The only mention of an Appeal is in Section 28A regarding disposal of
“Properties deemed to have been obtained through corrupt means” where
appeals against the orders of the Lok Pal shall lie in High Court of
appropriate jurisdiction, which shall decide the matter within two
months of filing of the appeal.”
Gautam Patel, a lawyer, points out, that according to Section 27 (2),
there appears to be a further ousting of the power of the judiciary by
barring any proceedings or decision of the Lok Pal from being
challenged, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court of
ordinary civil jurisdiction. While in my opinion that doesn’t preclude
the interference of the High Court in its extraordinary writ
jurisdiction, thus allowing for judicial review, the section is
extremely high handed.
The bill is also contradictory and confusing when it comes to
inquiries and investigations against various public officials. The big
ticket is of course the judiciary. Special provisions exist only as
regards judges of a High Court or Supreme Court. All complaints
concerning these persons will be subject to a preliminary screening for
prima facie evidence—interestingly, judges will only be considered for
offences under the PoCA and not for “other” offences and misconduct.
Registration of a case will only be done with the approval of a full
bench of the Lok Pal, a majority of the members being from a legal
background. Even after registration, such cases shall be investigated by
a special team headed by an officer not below the rank of a
superintendent of police. This is all well and good, because this makes
absolutely no difference to the Judge who is protected by the rigorous
impeachment method.
The proposed Jan Lok Pal Bill is a knee-jerk reaction to the present
scenario. No doubt, corruption is draining our exchequer as well as our
sense of morality and faith in the system. Like most knee-jerk
reactions, it is not well thought out, and by taking over the
independence of courts and the investigating authorities, leaving no
scheme of appeal, and the ambiguous treatment of the right to be heard,
the bill is absolutely unconstitutional and should not be implemented at
any cost—fast-unto-death or not. The possible implications of its
enactment far outweigh the obviously good intentions that it was drafted
with.
It is always easy to criticise and walk away without any suggestions.
So let me throw in my ideas. Say you remove the unconstitutional and
absurd bits from the Jan Lok Pal Bill, what do you have? A legislation
that prides itself on transparency in its constitution and functioning
and easy accessibility by the public, all of which can and should be
strengthened in existing mechanisms. The provisions regarding protection
to whistleblowers should extend to all endangered witnesses in general,
and should find place in a separate legislation or appropriate
amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code.
The purpose of the Lok Pal Bill should be a transparent means of
pre-trial evaluation of material against public servants, and providing a
more public alternative to the closed door sanctioning process under
the PoCA and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Like it or not, the process
of sanction is a necessary evil especially when dealing with publicly
elected officials. It cannot be the tool of a witch-hunt, and it must
respect the boundaries of due process and constitutionality.
When you already have courts and police personnel devoted exclusively
to unearthing offences under the PoCA, an act which actually places the
burden of proof on the accused, why not expend resources in trying to
strengthen these?
By bringing in the spirit of the Jan Lok Pal Bill and improving
citizen access to complaint mechanisms, ensuring witness protection,
along with a transparent and public process of according sanction for
prosecution, there will be a great improvement in the effectiveness of
the PoCA, which itself would be a huge deterrent.
A relook at the PoCA and its scope, particularly the inclusion of the
private sector, would also not be out of place. Enacting the Jan Lok
Pal Bill in its present form, the appointment of the officials and the
sure-shot constitutional challenges it will face will be a waste of
time, energies and effort. Let’s get to work with what we have.
Why an ombudsman won’t help India
Henry Louis Mencken—the 19th century American essayist and
satirist—once said “For every problem there is a solution which is
simple, clean and wrong”. The proposed Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill, in both
the government and non-government versions, is one such solution to the
problem of corruption. India is high on corruption because it is low on
business freedom. This relationship holds true across the world,
including the Nordic nations from whom the concept of Ombudsman has been
borrowed. The solution lies in changing the nature, and not necessarily
the size, of the Indian state.
Photo: Deepankar Raj
The Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal’s annual Index of
Economic Freedom ranks countries based on ten benchmarks, including
business freedom, trade freedom and property rights. Business freedom is
“a quantitative measure of the ability to start, operate, and close a
business that represents the overall burden of regulation as well as the
efficiency of government in the regulatory process”. There is a strong
correlation between business freedom and Transparency International’s
corruption perceptions index—a measure of the “degree to which public
sector corruption is perceived to exist”. Seven of the world’s ten least
corrupt countries rank amongst top ten in business freedom: New
Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Canada, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. The
ten most corrupt countries have an average business freedom rank of 154,
while the ten least corrupt have an average rank of 12. India has a
business freedom rank of 167, below Burkina Faso, Mozambique,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sierra Leone and Egypt. The correlation
coefficient—a measure of the strength of linear relationship between two
variables—between business freedom and perceived corruption for the
year 2010 is a high 0.68.
The story gets even more fascinating. The relationship between size
of government and corruption is weaker than and opposite to that of the
relation between business freedom and corruption. If we rank countries
starting with the nation with the lowest ratio of government spending to
GDP, the ten most corrupt countries have an average government size
rank of 52, the ten least corrupt have a rank of 129. The correlation
coefficient between size of government spending and corruption is a
negative 0.32. We have a bit of a paradox here. When government
intervention takes the form of lowering the freedom to start and run
businesses we have more corruption, but when government intervention
takes the form of taxation and redistribution we don’t see an increase
in corruption. Why so?
The public choice school of economics tells us that politicians and
bureaucrats are self-interested agents who are likely to exploit profit
making opportunities. Low business freedom corresponds to extensive
government intervention in the form of licenses, permits and quotas
(LPQ). Profit-maximising politicians use LPQ levers to extract rents
from businesses. Entrepreneurs too are profit-maximising agents, but
they operate under the perennial gale of market forces. These forces
play the tune to which entrepreneurs dance to satisfy consumers. It is
for this reason that Adam Smith held that “it is not from the
benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker, that we expect our
dinner, but from their regard to their own self interest.” Thus while
market forces channel the self-interest of private entrepreneurs to
promote social good, making the pie grow larger, the undisciplined
self-interest of politicians extracts a piece of the sweet pie while
hindering its growth. High government taxation and redistribution does
not necessarily create LPQ levers for extraction of rent, and this is
why we do not see a positive relation between size of government and
corruption internationally.
Empirical evidence and economics theory tell us that an ombudsman is
unlikely to solve the problem of corruption in India. In the Nordic
countries all the ombudsman does is fine-tune a well-functioning system.
According to the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsmen Report a total of
6,112 complaint cases were concluded during the period 1 July 2007 to 30
June 2008, of these only one ended with “prosecution and disciplinary
proceeding.” Imagine the number of people such an institution would have
to prosecute in India. A good analogy is that of the anti-trust
commissions in the United States and the European Union who look into
acts of abuse of market power by monopoly firms to promote healthy
competition. The institution is meant to work in a largely free-market
economy. In the same way that a competition commission fine tunes a
market economy an ombudsman too may fine tune a mostly uncorrupt system
but it cannot create one. An ombudsman cannot fix a broken system like
India.
Jakon Svensson writes in a 2005 Journal of Economic Literature
article: “Strikingly, many [of the most corrupt countries] are governed,
or have recently been governed, by socialist governments.” Technically,
India too is socialist. But socialism comes in various flavours; the
command and control philosophy and welfare state philosophy mean very
different things as far corruption goes. Well-designed welfare schemes
in which government plays the role of a financier rather than producer
can go a long way in cutting down on corruption. India needs innovation
in governance; and for lessons on governance, bureaucrats in New Delhi
need not trouble themselves with a flight to Oslo—Patna will do. The
Nitish Kumar government handed out money to parents to buy bicycles for
girl children, rather than use government employees or contractors to
produce and distribute them. This cut out a whole group of parasites.
Publius Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56-117), a senator and historian of the
Roman Empire, in the Annals says “The more corrupt the republic, the
more numerous the laws.” There is no genetic or cultural reason to
presume Indians are less ethical than Norwegians. The difference lies in
legal rules that govern economic activity, and that is what needs to
change.
17 Aug 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Don’t fall for the miracle cure that is being offered. Corruption must be fought differently and it’s not easy.
1. Is Lok Pal is necessary to fight corruption?
No, not only is it unnecessary, it will make the problem worse.
Corruption in India arises because of too much government, too many
rules, too much complexity and too much ambiguity. Adding one more,
huge, powerful layer to an already complex system will make the system
even more complicated. Complexity creates the incentives for
corruption–both on the part of the bribe giver and the bribe taker.
1A. Is the government’s version of the Lok Pal bill better?
No. We don’t need a Lok Pal at all. Making existing constitutional
institutions—like CAG, CVC, CBI and the Election Commission—more
independent will serve the purpose equally well. If we have been unable
to prevent the politicisation and undermining of these instutitions why
would we be able to prevent the Lok Pal from being politicised and
undermined? If we can prevent Lok Pal from being politicised and
undermined, why can’t we restore the independence and credibility of
CAG, CVC, CBI and the Election Commission?
2. What’s the alternative to Lok Pal then?
The alternative is to proceed with second-generation reforms, or Reforms 2.0.
Contrary to conventional wisdom reforms have reduced corruption, albeit
by moving it to higher up the government. In 1989 an ordinary person
would have to pay a bribe to get a telephone connection. By 2005, there
was no need to pay a bribe at all and anyone could get a phone in
minutes. Yes, 2010 saw the 2G scam in telecoms, but that was because the
UPA government reversed the reform process.
In fact, data show that perceptions of corruption are lower in some sectors of the economy, usually those that have been liberalised.
If you are interested in exploring real alternatives, you can start
by reading Atanu Dey’s slim, easily readable and inexpensive new book, “Transforming India”.
3. Doesn’t Hong Kong have an Ombudsman and doesn’t it enjoy low corruption?
This is a specious argument. There is little evidence to prove that
Hong Kong has low corruption because it has an Ombudsman. On the
contrary, there is empirical evidence from across the world suggesting that countries with high economic freedom are perceived to suffer from less corruption.
Hong Kong is one of the freest economies of the world,
and therefore, incentives for government officials to be corrupt are
relatively low. The Ombudsman is useful to address the residual
corruption in economic sectors and in sectors like law enforcement that
do not have discretionary powers over economic sectors.
4. How can we have economic reforms if the corrupt politicians don’t allow it?
We have not really demanded them at all, actually. If we did, they are
bound to register in the national political agenda. We should persuade
politicians that their political future is linked to implementing
economic reforms.
5. Easy to say, but how can we do this?
By voting. The constituencies that stand to benefit from economic
reforms—the middle class—needs to vote in larger numbers. In the absence
of the middle class vote base, politicians appease the poor by giving
handouts and entitlements, and cater to the super rich by allowing the
crony sector to exploit the half-reformed economy. It’s not easy, and we
have to be innovative. See for instance, Atanu Dey’s interesting idea
to form middle-class vote banks to induce good governance.
Whatever may be the claims made by the people promoting Lok Pal,
there is no miracle solution. They are peddling miracle weight-loss
pills. Sadly, such pills usually don’t work and can cause severe damage
to your health. If you are cautioned not to take those pills, you can’t
ask “which other miracle weight-loss pill do you recommend”? The answer
is in diet and exercise, which is hard work.
6. In the meantime, what’s wrong with Jan Lok Pal?
This question has already been answered above, but it’s usual
to encounter it again at this stage. The problem with Jan Lok Pal is
that it’ll make the problem worse. Does anyone seriously think we can
hire tens of thousands of absolutely honest officials who will
constitute the Lok Pal? Who will keep watch on them? Maybe we need a
Super Lok Pal, and then a Hyper Lok Pal to watch over the Super Lok Pal
and so on…This isn’t sarcasm, this is the logical extension of the Lok
Pal argument.
7. Don’t we have the right to protest peacefully? Why do you say that a fast-until-death lacks legitimacy?
Of course we have the right to protest peacefully. But it’s not about
whether we have the right or not. It’s about are we using that right
wisely. (You have the freedom of speech but that doesn’t mean it’s a
good idea to blast Eminem using a loudspeaker at 2am in a residential
district.)
As Ambedkar said while introducing the Constitution in November 1949,
once the Constitution came into force, we should avoid all
non-constitutional methods like protests and satyagraha, for they are the grammar of anarchy.
If two persons go on fasts until death for two opposing reasons, we
cannot decide the issue by allowing one person to die first.
Fast until death is political blackmail. It is a form of theatre
engaged in to coerce the government into doing something that the
agitators want. Whatever may be the cause, a single person cannot be
allowed to dictate laws to the whole nation.
8. Doesn’t Anna Hazare have the right to fast until death?
Anna Hazare has the right to protest peacefully. However to the extent
that his actions amount to an attempt to commit suicide, they are
illegal. The government can legitimately prevent him from killing
himself whatsoever the reason he might have to attempt suicide.
9. You are an armchair intellectual. Shouldn’t we trust activists more?
Pilots don’t design aircraft. Practicing doctors don’t discover new
drugs and treatments. These jobs are usually done by armchair
intellectuals. So being an armchair intellectual is not a
disqualification.
You shouldn’t trust intellectuals or activists because of what they
are. You should examine their arguments and make your own judgement.
Most of the people supporting Lok Pal have not examined what the
proposal is, have not tried to consider opposing arguments and blindly
accept it as a solution because some famous people said so.
11. Aren’t those who oppose Anna Hazare’s agitation supporting the corrupt politicians?
No. It takes an enormous amount of arrogance to claim that Anna Hazare
and his supporters have the exclusive hold on the right way to fight
corruption.
In the real world, it is foolish to expect 100% clean and non-corrupt
politicians. The real world challenge is to achieve good governance
with imperfect constitutions, imperfect institutions, imperfect leaders
and imperfect citizens. This requires us to realise that individuals
respond to incentives. If we remove incentives for taking or giving
bribes, then corruption will be lowered. We can reduce incentives for
corruption by following through with the reforms that started in 1991
but have stalled since 2004.
It is entirely possible to oppose the UPA government’s politics and
policies, while recognising that it is the legitimately constituted
government of the country. Individuals and parties might suffer from a
legitimacy deficit because of flagrant corruption, but the Government of
India as an institution remains the legitimate authority to make policy
decisions for the whole nation.
12. Why is fasting illegitimate when Mahatma Gandhi used it in our struggle for independence from the British?
There is a huge difference in context between 26th January 1950 when the
Constitution of India came into force and the time before it.
Mahatma Gandhi used civil disobedience against laws imposed on India
by the British government. Indians had no say in how the laws were made
and how they were implemented. Indians could not repeal laws we didn’t
want. Civil disobedience was justified in this context.
Gandhi also used it to coerce Indian nationalist leaders too,
including Ambedkar and the Indian National Congress, into accepting his
views. Whatever might be the wisdom of Gandhi’s intentions, this was
undemocratic and created a culture of ‘high command’ that lives on to
this day. Fasting was not justified in this context. This part of Gandhi
receives little attention in the dominant narrative of Indian history.
With the formation of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950,
things changed profoundly. All Indians have a say in how laws are made
and how they are implemented. We can amend or repeal laws that we do not
like. There is, of course, a method to do this, which must be followed.
These are the constitutional methods that Ambedkar referred to in his
grammar of anarchy speech. When constitutional methods are available,
there is no case for non-constitutional methods like satyagraha or
hunger strikes.
There is thus no equivalence between Gandhi’s satyagraha against the
British ruling us and Mr Hazare’s hunger strikes against we ruling
ourselves.
10 Aug 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
London riots
Two nights of
rioting in London’s Tottenham neighborhood erupted following protests
over the shooting death by police of a local man, Mark Duggan. Police
were arresting him when the shooting occurred. Over 170 people were
arrested over the two nights of rioting, and fires gutted several
stores, buildings, and cars. The disorder spread to other neighborhoods
as well, with shops being looted in the chaos. Collected here are
images from the rioting and the aftermath. —
Lane Turner (
26 photos total)
Fire
fighters and riot police survey the area as fire rages through a
building in Tottenham, north London on Aug. 7, 2011. A demonstration
against the death of a local man turned violent and cars and shops were
set ablaze. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP)
A rioter throws a burning wooden plank at police in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
Mounted police officers chase rioters on the streets in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
Riot police officers face off with protesters in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
A masked protester hurls an object toward riot police officers in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
A policeman in riot gear stands guard in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
A
double decker bus burns as riot police try to contain a large group of
people on a main road in Tottenham on August 6, 2011. (Leon
Neal/AFP/Getty Images) #
Police
officers detain a man in Enfield, north London August 7, 2011. Police
said they were called to Enfield, a few miles north of Tottenham, where
youths had smashed two shop windows and damaged a police car. (Stefan
Wermuth/Reuters) #
Fire rages through a building in Tottenham on Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
Riot police officers escort an injured man after arresting him in Tottenham on Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
A protester faces off with riot police officers on the streets in Tottenham on Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
Police officers make their way on the streets in Tottenham on Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #
Buildings burn on Tottenham High Road in London during protests on August 6, 2011. (Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images) #
Protestors face off against riot police lines on Tottenham High Road on August 6, 2011 in London. (Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images) #
Police officers detain a man in Tottenham on August 7, 2011. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters) #
Police officers in riot gear walk past a burning building in Tottenham on August 7, 2011. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters) #
A
shop and police car burn as riot police try to contain a large group of
people on a main road in Tottenham on August 6, 2011. (Leon
Neal/AFP/Getty Images) #
A
woman walks through the debris with two children as riot police try to
contain a large group of people on a main road in Tottenham on August 6
2011. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images) #
A policeman walks past a damaged jewelery shop in Enfield, north London on August 7, 2011. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters) #
A
police officer patrols as firemen continue to dowse buildings set
alight during riots in Tottenham on August 7, 2011. (Luke
MacGregor/Reuters) #
Police cordon off an area on August 7, 2011 during unrest in Enfield. (Karel Prinsloo/AP) #
Animals are taken from a pet store after riots on Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #
Aaron
Biber, 89, assesses the damage to his hairdressing salon after riots on
Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #
Burnt out cars lie in the road after riots on Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #
A man stands next to a burnt out van after riots on Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011 . (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #
Residents watch as a building burns after riots on Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
London riots: in ashes, a firm that survived two world wars
It survived the Depression, two world wars and the deepest recession in a
century.
But House of Reeves, a 144-year-old furniture store in the heart of Croydon,
could do little in the face of 100 or so yobs hell-bent on tearing up this
particular corner of south London.
The shop, a local landmark of such repute that it gave its name to the road on
which it now stands, was razed as youths rampaged through the town’s
streets, smashing doors and windows.
In one of the most searing images of the
London riots, flames tore through the store on Reeves’ Corner on
Monday night, with smoke being seen for miles around. By morning, all that
was left was a charred shell and onlookers were kept well back for fear that
the shattered building could collapse.
It was a crushing blow for a company that was founded in 1867 and has remained
in the Reeves family for five generations. Trevor Reeves, 56, the founder’s
great-great grandson, said: “If we were a computer shop, they would have
just broken in, taken the stock and left. But you can’t very well carry a
three-piece suite through the centre of Croydon can you? It was obvious that
the only thing left for them to do was to set fire to the place.
“It is completely devastating; heartbreaking. The family has been through a
lot; the world wars and the Depression in the 1930s were obviously tough and
the last few years have been particularly difficult, but we have always kept
going.
London riots: Telegraph readers’ photos of the rioting and looted areas of the city
Telegraph readers have been sending us their pictures of the rioting and
looted areas of London. If you have photos related to the recent unrest,
email them to mypic@telegraph.co.uk,
supplying a little info on where and how the pictures were taken, and we’ll
include the best in this picture gallery.
This amazing picture of a car exploding on Mare Street in Hackney was taken
by Telegraph reader Miks Uzans, who writes: “There were around 30
well-equipped rioters. The police didn’t even come close to this; instead
they were blocking the road 200m away.”
08 Aug 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Tata Aria 4×2 in Lavasa
The Tata Aria 4×2 extends the range to new segments and redefines several benchmarks with its design and technologies.
The Aria’s stylish design is inlaid with the
DNA of an SUV, manifested in its stance, power, driveability and safety.
The Aria’s styling is a blend of bold
proportions, uncluttered lines and uncompromising aesthetics.
Its 2.2 litre Direct Injection Common Rail
(DICOR) engine, with variable turbine technology and 32-bit ECU delivers 140 PS
power and 320 Nm torque.
The Aria is equipped with disc brakes on all
four wheels resulting in superior braking effectiveness and better control. The
Antilock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Breakforce Distribution (EBD)
aids steerability and control in emergency braking situations and on slippery
surfaces.
The Aria’s stylish design is inlaid with the
DNA of an SUV, manifested in its stance, power, driveability and safety.
The Tata Aria 4×2 is being launched in three
trim levels – the Aria Prestige at the top end, the Aria Pleasure and the Aria
Pure.
The 2-DIN music system and Bluetooth, along with
steering mounted phone and music controls, helps switch between music and
conversation at the touch of a button.
The
twin chrome exhaust tailpipes adds a sporty appearance to the rear,
however, if you look closer, the exhaust pipes can be seen inside the
chrome rings. Bad!
The suspension is designed to achieve an
optimal balance between ride comfort and control and stability, both on normal
roads and in offroading. Its low-roll characteristics and higher soaking
capacity further ensure a sedan-like ride quality and SUV-like offroading
capability.
Wraparound dual barreled headlamps complement
the signature Tata grille. Chrome detailing on the sides accentuates its premium
class.
The Aria’s frame is constructed with advanced
hydroformed members. Hydroforming enhances their rigidity while reducing weight.
All
seats, except the driver’s, can be flat-folded, giving you lots of luggage
space – even space to stuff in a Tata Nano.
Roof utility bins, a glove-box chiller and
conveniently placed cup holders helps keep every thing you want within easy
reach.
There are seven roof utility bins
on the Tata Aria, a feature that no other auto maker could ever think
of. Moreover, there are cup holders for every passenger in the car.
The Tata Aria 4×2 is being launched in three
trim levels – the Aria Prestige at the top end, the Aria Pleasure and the Aria
Pure.
The interiors reflect the same richness and
elegance in design, layout, and visual appeal.
Premium leather upholstery enhances richly
textured trims in single or dual tone themes.
There is no need to look back even to park – a
Reverse Guide System helps you with exactitude. The Driver Information System
continuously indicates essential drive data, the Automatic Climate Control,
through roof-mounted AC vents, keeps the cabin temperature ambient.
08 Aug 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Want to reduce your belly fat? Eat apples, green peas and beans
Tue, Jun 28, 2011 2:22 PM IST
Washington, June 28 (ANI): Are you tired of having belly fat? Now, eat two small apples, one cup of green peas and one-half cup of pinto beans and exercise vigorously for 30 minutes, two to four times a week.
cording to the researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, vegetables, fruit and beans contain more soluble fiber and will help reduce visceral fat, or belly fat, around the midsection.
They found that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber eaten per day, visceral fat was reduced by 3.7 percent over five years. In addition, increased moderate activity resulted in a 7.4 percent decrease in the rate of visceral fat accumulation over the same time period.
“We know that a higher rate of visceral fat is associated with high blood pressure, diabetes and fatty liver disease,” said Kristen Hairston, assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest Baptist and lead researcher on the study.
“Our study found that making a few simple changes can have a big health impact,” he added.
The researchers examined whether lifestyle factors, such as diet and frequency of exercise, were associated with a five-year change in abdominal fat of African Americans and Hispanic Americans.
At the beginning of the study, which involved 1,114 people, the participants were given a physical exam, an extensive questionnaire on lifestyle issues, and a CT scan. Five years later, the exact same process was repeated.
The researchers found that increased soluble fiber intake was associated with a decreased rate of accumulated visceral fat, but not subcutaneous fat.
“There is mounting evidence that eating more soluble fiber and increasing exercise reduces visceral or belly fat, although we still don’t know how it works,” said Hairston.
The results are published in the June 16 online issue of the journal Obesity. (ANI)
12 Jul 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison]
Projector phone still sounds like a dream, but we already have four
phones launched with that capability. There is no dearth of innovation
in the thought to pack things into one single mobile phone. Intex,
TechBerry and Spice have launched their respective projector phones.
Intex was the pioneer in this field closely followed by Techberry.
But it was the late entrant Spice which popularized projector phone with its “Yeh boat nahin”
ad of Spice Popkorn. The timing of the phone launch and the ad is icing
on the cake. Spice Popkorn ad pops up in the middle of a world cup
match. And the ad surely stands out in the middle of bunch of
thoughtless ads.
Intex V.Show
![VShowIN8810 a1 thumb Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison]](http://thegadgetfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/VShowIN8810_a1_thumb.jpg "Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison] gadget 2")
Intex V.Show uses tiny Pico which is the latest in the LED technology to project on to a36 inch screen size for 3 hours. 20,000 hours of play time on the projector is possible. After
which it will cease to be a projector and starts to be a phone-only. It
is a touch screen phone with 3.2 inch screen size. It is a dual SIM
phone (GSM+GSM). As per mainstream media this is a 3G enabled phone. As per blogosphere this is a dual SIM
phone. It has a dual camera – one in the front, one in the back and it
has dual memory card slots which can read up to 8 GB each.
TechBerry ST 200
![ST200 elevated thumb Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison]](http://thegadgetfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ST200_elevated_thumb.png "Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison] gadget 2")
ST in the phone name stands for Sachin Tendulkar. I am not kidding.
That’s what the press release said. This phone which was launched
immediately after Intex V.show has some amazing double features. In
addition to the projector of course.
It packs in dual-SIM capability, dual memory card capability and dual
camera of 2 megapixel each. ST200 has a 3.2 inch QVGA full touch
screen. ST200 is a GSM phone with Bluetooth on-board.
Spice PopKorn
![spicem9000 thumb Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison]](http://thegadgetfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/spicem9000_thumb.jpg "Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison] gadget 2")
Spice M-9000 is a dual SIM phone with a in-built projector. It also
comes with a analogous TV which will help you stream free-to-air
channels, you know like the good old Doordarshan. There is a document
viewer, in case you want to project a presentation on the side wall in
the middle of a Christopher Nolan movie. Spice M-9000 aka Popkorn, has a 3.2 megapixel camera, FM with recording, Bluetooth, video player and a 6 cm QVGA screen. All of this comes at a measly price of Rs. 6999.
Intex V.Show Mini
![Intex thumb Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison]](http://thegadgetfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Intex_thumb.jpg "Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison] gadget 2")
Intex V.Show Mini has a 2.4 inch QVGA screen, dual SIM capability, 2
megapixel camera and an internal memory of 87 MB. Memory can be jacked
up to 16 GB through a SD card. Bluetooth, 3.5 mm audio jack, FM radio
are on-board. Pre-loaded apps like Facebook and Opera Mini should take
care of the browsing needs. V.Show Mini has a document reader which
would make it easy to project the presentations in case you office
projector acts kinky. Price : Rs. 6300
For the price, features and marketing, Spice Popkorn
should be the winner all the way. It packs in impressive features at
affordable price. With its TV on-board feature, it has went past all
other projector phones. Even if the TV is for free to air channels like
Doordarshan. Phone replacing TV isn’t very far.
06 Jul 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Survey finds ‘News channels biased against Islam’
9:34am Monday 4th July 2011
An independent poll carried out by Consumer PI has found that the
vast majority of British Muslims perceive the three mainstream TV news
channels (BBC, ITV and Sky) to be biased against their
religion when reporting current affairs.
The TV channels’ reporting of terror cases, news pieces on Iraq and
Afghanistan and coverage of the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings have been cited
as examples of anti-Muslim bias.
Furthermore, British Muslims believe that other topical issues such as
the Israeli raid on the flotilla, it’s continued occupation of, and
raids into, Palestinian territories, the dropping of
terror cases by the police as well as positive stories about Islam
generally are either not given enough prominence or simply not covered.
The poll also found that British Muslims were offended by some of the
terminology used in news reports.
Terms such as ‘jihadist’ or ‘moderate Muslims’ are often used in the
wrong context or in a generalised manner, indicating there was a severe
lack of understanding of Muslim communities on the part
of news reporters. Many believe this type of reporting does play some
part in fanning the flames of extremism.
Shakir Ahmed, Director of Passion Islam Media said: “The reporting by
the mainstream TV news channels of stories concerning Muslims is at
times unbalanced, ill-informed and sensationalist. I would
expect this type of coverage in the tabloid press, not from respected
news organisations at the BBC, ITV or Sky. However, this is not entirely
surprising since these three news channels employ very
few reporters who follow the Islamic faith and who would truly
understand the Muslim communities and their culture and practices.
Worryingly, the perception by some British Muslims of an unjust Islamophobic
mainstream media may well fuel radicalism.”
05 Jul 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Sudan’s south will become an independent country on July 9, but fighting
along the ill-defined border has raised tension ahead of the split.
North and south have yet to resolve issues such as how to manage the oil
industry and divide debt. Here’s a look at the current situation in
Sudan through Reuters photographer Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah’s lens.
KERINDING CAMP, Sudan (Reuters) – For many in Sudan’s war-battered Darfur region, the division of the country on Saturday will not be a cause for celebration.
Southerners see secession as the end of a long march toward freedom, but in Darfur, which borders the South, it means the chance of more fighting between the government and rebels, as well as complications for issues like migration and cross-border animal grazing.
”We don’t know what will happen next. There are dangers at every turn,” Hussein Joma, 42, a community leader in the Kerinding camp near the Chadian border, said as women in bright shawls and men in dust-stained shirts and trousers filled plastic cans from a water pump.
”If there is war with the secession, it could affect the living conditions here, the economy — the country as a whole. War increases prices and divisions between people.”
War broke out in Darfur in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Khartoum, complaining the central government had left them out of the economic and political power structure and was favouring local Arab tribes.
Eight years later, hundreds of thousands of people who fled the fighting still live in vast, dusty camps like Kerinding, many in stick and mud huts reinforced with canvas from food aid delivery bags.
The persistent volatility of the situation is evident. An Ethiopian peacekeeping soldier was shot dead on the road between the nearby town of El Geneina and the airport a day after a rare visit by foreign journalists last week.
Though down from its peak, violence has surged since December, forcing tens of thousands more to flee. Qatar-brokered peace talks have meant little on the ground as Darfur’s main rebel groups pulled out or refused to participate.
The war has claimed 300,000 lives, the United Nations says, and complicated Khartoum’s foreign ties after the International Criminal Court indicted President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000, and refuses to recognise the court.
”I don’t think that Doha is going to bring a lasting peace, so the grievances of Darfur are going to persist,” Fouad Hikmat of the International Crisis Group said. “The problems of Darfur are actually the problems of Sudan manifested in Darfur”.
EMBOLDENED REBELS
The war in Darfur — a region of seasonal waterways, jutting cliffs and long stretches of desert dotted with trees — is testament to the diversity and complexity of Sudan’s many, often overlapping conflicts.
The country’s rebels span an array of ethnic and tribal loyalties and territories, but are united in their opposition to a central government they say has concentrated wealth and power in the hands of an exclusive class in the north.
Echoing those complaints, the south fought a long and bloody civil war with the north, ending with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Southerners voted overwhelmingly to secede in a January referendum promised in that pact.
But no deal has so far succeeded in putting an end to the war in Darfur, where rebels say their demands have not been addressed and the government has gradually reasserted control over major towns and other formerly rebel-held areas.
Some analysts say the secession could now harden anti-government fighters’ resolve as they see southerners attain their goal of independence and as Khartoum is economically weakened by the loss of the south’s oil fields.
”In Darfur we may be seeing the reconsolidation of opposition movements which would mirror the reconsolidation of southern opposition groups before the CPA,” Roger Middleton, a researcher at the Chatham House think tank, said.
Other analysts say the newly independent south could be tempted to back a continued insurgency in Darfur, with which they have shared some ideological and political links.
The northern government says it will not allow other regions to separate. In El Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, deputy governor Abou el-Qassim Baraka rejected suggestions the south’s separation could inflame further conflict in Darfur.
”In Darfur, we are tired of war. There is no going back to war, that is the opinion of the entire community,” he said.
LONG-RUNNING CONFLICT
A move by Khartoum to split the region into five states outraged rebels this year who said it was an effort to dilute their influence, echoing the region’s division into three states in the early 1990s that stoked tensions with Khartoum.
Darfur was an independent sultanate for hundreds of years.
But for now analysts say government troops have the upper hand over insurgents, cutting off some of their previous supply routes and pushing them from several central areas.
As the fighting drags on, the camps that started as temporary shelter for people who fled are becoming increasingly more like permanent settlements. Some aid workers say they may soon come to resemble towns.
”I’m old and I’m not well. I need to stay here,” one elderly man at Kerinding said as donkeys wandered down the red dirt path behind him and peacekeepers stood watch over the area.
Joma, the tribal sheikh, said the fear of bandits and local Arab tribes still kept many in Kerinding too afraid to attempt a return home.
”If there was peace, if their villages were secure, people would return, of course,” he said. “But maybe a kilometre outside of here, the troubles start.”
05 Jul 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Kerala Govt offers full support to interest-free Islamic banking | TwoCircles.net
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Submitted by admin4 on 4 July 2011 – 5:38pm
Indian Muslim
By TCN News,
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government will extend full support and cooperation to the interest-free banking system so that it may be used for the development of the state, said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The state will try to attain the central government’s approval for it. He was inaugurating the national seminar ‘Interest-free Institutional Mechanism for Banking, Finance and Insurance’ held in Thiruvananthapuram today.
The CM said that Islamic banking was not a dangerous suggestion. The government would clarify doubts and go forward. The services of the ‘Al Baraka Financial Services’ (the interest-free institution formed during the tenure of the last LDF government aiming at attracting investments from expatriates) would be utilized as one of the ways to increase investments. The government will go forward with the good moves taken by the last government and the Al Baraka was one such move. Some feel discomfort with the term ‘Islamic banking’, but instead of just a name we should see if it will be useful for the society. Large sums of money of expatriate Malayalis are in banks now. It has been a thought for quite a long time as to how to utilize this money creatively for development, he added.
Interest is a main problem that several projects face in the state, said Industries Minister PK Kunjalikkutty, while delivering the presidential address. The arrival of interest-free investment can help find capital for such projects. Kerala has showed several new models to the country and interest-free investment can be yet another one. The ‘Al Baraka’ is a good venture. A system based on interest does not consider the gain and loss in the venture. But in interest-free system, both gain and loss will be shared. While Europe is successfully utilizing Islamic banking, opinion has come in the higher levels itself that India too should utilize this prospect, he added.
Former Finance Minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac, former member of Planning Board CP John, Additional Chief Secretary T Balakrishnan (IAS), Al Baraka Financial Services chairman
Dr P Muhammedali, Alternative Investments and Credits Limited director T Arifali, chief of Sign Human Resources Centre Munawarali Shihab Thangal, and Rabitha Educational Committee regional coordinator Dr Husain Madavoor also spoke.
The seminar was organised as a joint venture of the Department of Islamic Studies in the University of Kerala, the Thiruvananthapuram Chamber of Commerce, the Indian Centre for Islamic Finance, the Indian Association for Islamic Economics, the Al Barakah Financial Services Limited, the Sequra Investment and Management India Private Ltd, the Ecotech Builders and the Alternative Investments and Credits Ltd.
03 Jul 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
| |
Have you ever dreamed of spending a relaxing night at a luxury hotel? Or maybe planning a romantic evening or a honeymoon where you want to impress your beloved? What would you want included? A gorgeous view? A large comfy bed? A Jacuzzi? A personal butler?
Did you know that prices at the best hotel suites have gone up 10% this year? Are you ready to drop about $30,000 for one night? Would you be willing to spend that kind of money on a hotel room? And by the way, none of the nightly room rates includes tax so be prepared to add another 10 – 17% to your bill at checkout.
Here are the 10 most expensive hotel rooms in the world from the last year.
10. The Penthouse Suite, The Martinez Hotel, Cannes
Nightly Rate: $18,000
This is the biggest, most expensive, and the only terraced penthouse suite on the Cote d’Azur. Both of the two suites has a Jacuzzi, plasma screen televisions, DVD library, kitchen, open bar, private butler on call 24/7 (ditto for a limousine), and an option to join both suites into one big apartment. The luxury has no limit here – the design is kept in the Art Deco style, with streamlined furniture, silk curtains and teak parquet floors.
The wraparound terrace is 2,000 square feet with the views of the Lerins Islands as well as the entire Bay of Cannes and can comfortably hold 100 people. One Saudi sheik liked the suite so much he wanted to rent it for five years. The hotel said no. What else can you say? Tres magnifique!
9. Ritz-Carlton Suite, Ritz-Carlton Moscow
Nightly Rate: $18.200
The floor-to-ceiling windows in the Ritz-Carlton Suite will give you the most beautiful views of the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and Christ the Savior Cathedral. The furnishings are in a Classic Russian Imperial style. The 2,500 square-foot suite comes with a spacious living room, dining area, library, office room and boardroom, grand piano, and heated floor.
You will get to enjoy five meals a day and their very own KGB-approved autonomous energy supply system and secure telecommunications array.
8. Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab, Dubai
Nightly Rate: $19.000
The two-story, 8,400-square-foot suite features views over the Arabian sea, marble flooring, a rotating four-poster bed in the master bedroom, dining area, and a private cinema and elevator between the split-level rooms.
The marble bath comes fully stocked with full-sized products from Hermes. Guests are met by a chauffeur driven Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph (or, for a bit extra, by a helicopter). A personal butler stands 24/7 at the ready to fulfill every wish. The Royal Suite is the last word in luxury with a marble and gold staircase, leopard print tufted carpets and Versace linens.
What you can also enjoy is a submarine ride to an underwater restaurant complete with shark-infested aquarium.
7. Imperial Suite, Park Hyatt, Vendôme, Paris
Nightly Rate: $20.000
This pricey suite is located on the 5th floor and takes 200-sq.-meters. A 60-sq.-meter balcony is overlooking the Rue de la Paix, with an outstanding view of the Vendôme column. The Imperial Suite has high ceilings, a dining room, kitchenette, bar, and a mansard roof. It also includes in-suite spa with whirlpool bath, steam room shower and a built-in massage table. Also included are high-speed Internet access and a computer with flat screen monitor, multi-line telephones, and a separate work area to help you enjoy the work process.
6. The Bridge Suite, The Atlantis, Bahamas
Nightly Rate: $22.000
The Bridge Suite is located on top of a bridge that connects the two Royal Towers buildings, so it overlooks the entire resort and marina. An 800 square foot balcony and 12-foot high ceilings throughout with full length windows allow you to enjoy a 360 view of the water, lagoons and pools in Paradise Island. We can make a guess that most of the price is paid for the location of the suite. Forbes reports the suite has hosted guests including Oprah, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, and Bill Gates.
The suite has 10 rooms that are decorated in black, red and gold (including a 22-karat gold chandelier in the dining room). The living room is a 1,250-square-foot room with grand piano and twin entertainment centers. The master bedroom has a sitting area, his-and-hers closets so large that you can park your car there, and hand-painted linens. The kitchen also has its own entrance, so a permanent staff of seven, including a butler and a cook can access the rooms without bothering you.
5. Presidential Suite, Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo
Nightly Rate: $25.000
The suite is located on the 53rd floor above Tokyo with spectacular views that include the Imperial Palace outer gardens and Roppongi Hills.
In the suite’s 3300 sq ft you get pure luxury with a stunning four poster bed in the master bedroom, personal concierge, connected living room/dining room, an oversized marble bathroom with Sony BRAVIA 20 inch flat screen television, and access to indoor pool and fitness studio.
4. Villa La Capula Suite, Westin Excelsior, Rome
Nightly Rate: $29.000
The suite is located on the fifth and sixth floor underneath the cupola of the hotel which was made famous by Fellini’s movies. It covers 6,099 square feet and has an additional 1,808 square feet of balconies and terraces. While it only has two bedrooms, five more can be joined to it. The entire suite was just remodeled in 1998 for a cost of around $7 million. So now you will have all things Roman and excessive – a cupola, a Pompeii-style Jacuzzi pool, frescoes (the painted horizons on the frescoes were designed to match perfectly with the real Roman one), stained glass windows, and almost 2,000 feet of balcony space including a sun deck overlooking the Via Veneto district.
The downstairs also has a private kitchen, and the dining room features an antique Murano glass chandelier, a private wine cabinet with over 150 wines to choose from and a study/library covered in hand-carved wood. And what really makes this suite over the top is a private cinema with Dolby surround sound.
Now that’s living la dolce vita.
3. Ty Warner Penthouse, Four Seasons Hotel, New York
Nightly Rate: $34.000
The $50 million Ty Warner Penthouse at the Four Seasons in NY was designed by legendary architect I.M. Pei, Peter Marino and hotel owner Ty Warner.
The nine-room suite has walls inlaid with mother of pearl, gold and platinum-woven fabrics. The suite is located on the 52nd floor of New York’s tallest hotel with floor-to-ceiling bay windows offering a breathtaking 360 degree view of the City. If that is not relaxing enough you can enjoy a waterfall in the Zen Room, play the grand piano in the library or soak in a tub overlooking Central Park. Full spa treatments, a personal trainer and a 24/7 butler are all included, and if you still find a will to leave, you can choose to be chauffeured in a Rolls Royce or Maybach, and you’re always guaranteed a table at the hotel’s renowned L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon restaurant.
2. Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas
Nightly Rate: $40.000
If anyone knows how to vacation in Las Vegas, that will be Hugh Hefner. Even though he is known as a homebody he has spent a few nights away from the mansion at the Sky Villa. The suite itself was built to model the original playboy mansion; it also incorporates elements derived from a vintage Playboy magazine article about the ultimate bachelor pad. The suite cost roughly $10 million to build but the high-rollers can rent it for a small $40,000 a night. Everything screams S-E-X-Y at the Sky Villa. The two-story 9,000 square foot Villa includes a glass elevator, a rotating bed set beneath a mirrored ceiling, and a glass wall Jacuzzi that extends out over the hotel and offers amazing Strip views, around-the-clock butler service, massage and spa rooms, work-out room and poker table, fireplace, three bedrooms, and pop-up plasma TVs.
Sorry, Bunnies not included.
1. Royal Penthouse Suite, President Wilson Hotel, Geneva
Nightly Rate: $53.000
The Imperial Suite, which is actually an entire top floor of the hotel, is reached via a private elevator and has four bedrooms, six bathrooms with mosaic marble floor, a cocktail lounge and a terrace with a dramatic view through the bulletproof windows over the city, Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc — all of which overlook Lake Geneva. The suite is decorated in a contemporary style, with marble and hardwood floors. The living room has a billiards table, a library and a cocktail lounge with a view of the water fountain, and can accommodate 40 people. The dining room seats 26 people around an oval mahogany table.
The hotel’s staff reassures guests that the security in the Imperial Suite is among the best in the world, ideal for celebrities or traveling heads of state who visit the United Nations headquarters next door at the Palais Wilson.
|
03 Jul 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Mike Tyson and Wife Renew Wedding Vows in Muslim Ceremony
June 28, 2011 07:31:15 GMT
The former Heavyweight boxing
champion and wife Lakiha Spicer invited hundreds of friends to a joint
birthday party in Las Vegas only to surprise them with a wedding
ceremony.
Two years after tying the knot,
and wife Lakiha Spicer have said their “I Do’s” once again. The former
Heavyweight boxing champion and the mother of his two children renewed
their wedding vows in a traditional Muslim ceremony at the M Resort in
Las Vegas over the weekend, TMZ reported.
The retired boxer, who made a cameo on ““,
and his wife allegedly invited hundreds of friends to a joint birthday
party. After the guests arrived, the two disappeared. They then
re-emerged in wedding outfits behind a massive curtain and proceeded
with the vow renewal ceremony. Mike later took to Twitter to share a
photo of him and Lakiha in the wedding outfits.
TMZ dished on that guests dined on a steak or chicken entree, while ET
claimed that the reception included a candy bar that featured gummy
bears, Sour Patch Kids, cherry rock candy, gumballs, chocolate-dipped
cherries and more. The latter also reported that each guest went home
with a goodie bag of Sugar Factory’s special sweets.
Words are, Mike and Lakiha decided to throw the party because they were
the only ones attending back in 2009.
They got married just two weeks after his 4-year-old daughter, Exodus,
in a treadmill accident.
03 Jul 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Speed Up WordPress –
Ultimate Guide To Make Sites Super Fast
A good website should never compromise on the visitor’s experience. 
A Serious web
publisher invests some time and resources to learn everything possible
about optimizing his website for speed. Who likes to browse through a
sluggish slow loading site? Most of the normal visitors leave the site,
unless the visitor is extremely interested in the content and related
things. More over google started considering the sites speed as a factor
in their search engine ranking logarithm. This guide will help you in reducing your sites server load, making your site faster.
Remember speeding up and optimizing your wordpress site
is not an easy process, it take a bit of time to make the changes
properly and safely. But its worth if you can spend the time. The time
taken will depend on your expertise in wordpress. Before making the
following changes my sites were taking around 11 – 15 seconds to load.
After implementing these changes the site takes less than 5 seconds to
load.
Before starting with any thing, first take a complete back up of your theme files and your wordpress database. Now go to http://tools.pingdom.com
and enter your site url and do a speed test to see how long does it
take for your website to load (You do speed test at last, after
implementing the changes in this guide to know the speed gain you have
obtained). Our aim is to reduce the load time and server load to a much
lesser value.
So lets start the Ultimate Guide To Make Your Site Super Fast
1) Remove Unnecessary PHP Queries and Database Access
Almost
all wordpress themes are made in such a way that there is minimal user
effort in configuring them. These themes comes with some generic php
codes, which can be easily replaced after we install it in our blog.
Removing these avoidable php queries will lessen your server load and
also make your site faster.
For this first open the header.php files located in your current themes folder. You can do this by two ways, either by going to Appearence > Editor from wp dashboard or by accessing the file directly using a FTP client and opening in Notepad or Notepad++.
You’ll some thing like this in the header file.
<title><?php bloginfo(‘name’); ?> <?php bloginfo(‘description’);?></title>
<link rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” media=”screen” href=”<?php bloginfo(‘stylesheet_url’); ?>“/>
<link rel=”shorcut icon” type=”image/png” href=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_url’); ?>/favicon.jpg” />
<link rel=”alternate” type=”application/rss+xml” title=”RSS Feed” href=”<?php bloginfo(‘rss_url’); ?>” />
The
bolded items in this code is the php code. These five php commands are
executed each time, when your site gets loaded in the browser. Since we
dont want the theme to be portable anymore, we can replace these php
queries by corresponding html code. That’s about 20 Times Faster Speed.
To do this open your site in any browser for eg in chrome and press Ctrl + U or select View Source From the menu. With reference to the above example, you will see the source code of the site as
<title>Computing Unleashed</title>
<link
rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” media=”screen”
href=”http://iqsoft.co.in/wp-content/themes/amalroy/style.css”/>
<link
rel=”shortcut icon”
href=”http://iqsoft.co.in/wordpress/wp-content/themes/amalroy/favicon.png”
type=”image/png” />
<link rel=”alternate” type=”application/rss+xml” title=”RSS Feed” href=”iqsoft.co.in/feed/rss/” />
Now you might have got an idea about this. Now just copy these codes and replace it in header.php file and save the file and you are done. You can now check for similar queries in footer.php, sidebar.php etc. and replace them.
2) Remove Inactive Plugins
Most
of us are curious to try out new wordpress plugins.We deactivate them
if we are not happy with the results. There is a tendency for us to
leave those deactivated plugins in the plugin directory. Its better to
remove all those inactive plugins that you dont use. Also check for any
plugins that you have activated but not using, these can eat up
resources simply. So make the plugin directory clean and tidy. If you
feel that you might want to use those deactivated plugin later on, then
make a text document in the plugin directory with the list of plugins
you need later and you can safely delete those plugins which are not
needed now.
3) Using a FREE CDN (Content Delivery Network)
A content delivery network is used by almost all popular websites like google, twitter, mashable etc. A content delivery
network (CDN) is a collection of web servers distributed across
multiple locations to deliver content more efficiently to users. The
user’s proximity to your web server has an impact on response times.
Deploying your content across multiple, geographically dispersed servers will make your pages load faster from the user’s perspective.
Using
a CDN network will improve your sites response time to a great extend.
But normal users find it difficult to afford a CDN service. But there
is a free alternative.
CoralCDN allows us to take full advantage
of a powerful CDN without spending a dime. How to use it? Well,
basically, just append `.nyud.net` to the hostname of any URL, and that
URL will be handled by Coral.
With the Free CDN
this job can be done easily. All you need to do is just install the
plugin and activate it. It will rewrite the JavaScripts, CSS, images
etc. for you. PLus it also has option to exclude or include the files
your specify. It can be JavaScript’s, CSS or specific pages.
4) Keep Your WordPress Version Up To Date
With the release of new versions, wordpress keeps on improving on the whole. On each update wordpress developers
put their effort in making wordpress faster and safer. So its very
necessary that you need to upgrade to the latest wordpress version to
get the performance improvements and new features.
5) Compress the CSS Code
Compressing
your CSS Code will make it’s size small and your browser can render it
faster and that results in faster page load times. Compressing the CSS
can be done in two ways. Either by doing it manually by using the
service CSS Drive. You have to manually copy-paste your css code from the style.css file in their website and you will get the compressed version of it which you can paste back on the style.css file.
But if you make changes to your css code at times, then its better to use the WP CSS
plugin. Wp css plugin will automatically remove the white spaces and
compress your css files. Plus you will also have other options to set
expiry time for the files.
6) Optimize the WordPress Database
Just like the hard disks the wordpress database also gets fragmented. So optimizing the wordpress database too can speed up your site.
- For optimizing the wordpress database of your site, visit the cpanel of your hosting provider.
- Use phpMyAdmin to optimize your database: Log in to phpMyAdmin, select all the tables, and then repair and optimize.
7) Compress & Combine Javascript Files
Like the CSS files the javascripts in your template is also a major reason for speed loss.
Try to reduce the javascripts as much as possible.
Javascript Compression Services
8 ) Reduce Image Sizes
Posts
become lively when images are added. But using high resolution images
on your site will put a high load on the server and this is one of the
reasons why some sites go down when a digg front page is reached.
The images can be compressed to a level without much loss in quality.
You can use the WP Smush.it plugin for wordpress to compress the images. It will compress the images to a good extend and your site will load faster now.
9) Disable Hot Linking
Stealing
our websites bandwidth can be referred to as Hot linking. This happens
when others link your sites images in their articles and this puts load
on your server. This not a big issue if one or two sites directly link
your images, but if multiple sites uses this then it might create a
headache.
We can easily prevent the hotlinking by implementing a small code in the .htaccess file.
#disable hotlinking of images with forbidden or custom image option
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http(s)?://(www.)?iqsoft.co.in [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http(s)?://(www.)?google.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http(s)?://(www.)?feeds2.feedburner.com/iqsoft[NC]
RewriteRule .(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$ – [NC,F,L]
Copy-paste the above code in your .htaccess file in the wordpress root directory and then save it. !Important – Replace my sites url and feed with yours.
10) The WordPress Super Cache Plugin
The
super cache plugin is a must have plugin that cache’s the mostly
visited pages on your site and make it available the next visitor
immediately. The plugin generates html files which are served without
ever invoking a single line of PHP.
Download WordPress Super Cache Plugin
But
if you have good experience with plugins and wordpress then I’d
recommend the w3 Total Cache Plugin which tops any of the cache plugin
and is my personal favorite. If you could properly configure the w3
total cache plugin then its the best. It has much better compressions
and caching options than the super cache plugin and definitely save your
websites bandwidth and improve your sites speed. Whats more it has even
got cdn support. This will help you avoid other plugins if you’ve got
a cdn account or an amazon s3 account. This plugin also has separate
caching options for shared hosting and (vps, dedicated hostings). This makes it so special.
Download W3Total Cache Plugin
11) Combining Javascripts and CSS Files with PHP Speedy
As said earlier, minimizing the HTTP requests can speed up the site greatly and the php speedy plugin
will help you further by combining all the javascripts into one single
file and all css files into a single one. Therefore in total the there
will only be two files that are being requested.
The results after using the php speedy plugin.
Download PHP Speedy Plugin For WordPress
12) Preloading the Page Contents
This
is some thing that doesn’t improve the performance much but it enhances
the page load by loading the page progressively. The problem with
putting style sheets near the bottom of the document is that it
prohibits progressive rendering in many browsers, including Internet
Explorer. These browsers block rendering to avoid having to redraw
elements of the page if their styles change. The user is stuck viewing a
blank white page.
So here’s what you have to do. Move the Style Sheets to the header file.
<title>Computing Unleashed</title>
<link
rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” media=”screen”
href=”http://iqsoft.co.in/wordpress/wp-content/themes/amalroy/style.css”/>
Move the css file link near the title in the header.php file.
13) Flushing the buffer
When
users request a page in your site, it can takes around 200 – 500
milliseconds for the backend server to put together the HTML page.
During this time the browser remains idle. The flush() function in php
help you in loading the partially ready html response to the browser and
it can start fetching the components, while the backend server is busy with the rest of the contents.
To inset the flush() function in your wordpress site, Open up the header.php file and find the </head> tag and insert the <?php flush(); ?> function right after it. You may see the eg below.
</head>
<?php flush(); ?>
<body>
14) Using CSS Sprites Technique
It
simply means combining all the images in the site into a single big
image containing all of them and the browser loads the single big image
and display the different images by using background-position.
If
you are using a lot of static images in your site then it is definitely
worth to try the css sprites technique. It not only speed up your site,
but also reduce the http requests. Here you can know about the complete
CSS Sprites and its implementation in here.
15) Add Header Expire To Static Contents
Adding
an expiry time to static images can reduce further HTTP requests when
loading other pages in the site. Adding an expiry time to the images in
the site help in loading the pages faster.
Copy and Paste the Following Code in your .htaccess file.
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType image/gif A28800
ExpiresByType image/png A28800
ExpiresByType image/jpg A28800
ExpiresByType image/jpeg A28800
16) DB Cache Reloaded Plugin
The
DB cache plugin works differently from the super cache plugin by
optimizing your database alone. It caches WordPress’s MySQL queries to a
file. This results in less space being used for caching and faster
performance from the WordPress blog.
Download DB Cache Reloaded Plugin For WordPress
Apart
from all these criteria, the websites speed also depend upon other
factors such as type of hosting you have chosen, the number of
javascripts and css you use etc. VPS hosting will have more speed
compared to the normal shared hosting that many of the wordpress blogs
use.
I am sure that if you can implement these steps properly it will definitely speed up your wordpress blog by a great amount.
There may be many more ways to speed up your wordpress site. I have shared some of my knowledge here to speed up your site.
27 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
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Have you ever dreamed of spending a relaxing night at a luxury hotel? Or maybe planning a romantic evening or a honeymoon where you want to impress your beloved? What would you want included? A gorgeous view? A large comfy bed? A Jacuzzi? A personal butler?
Did you know that prices at the best hotel suites have gone up 10% this year? Are you ready to drop about $30,000 for one night? Would you be willing to spend that kind of money on a hotel room? And by the way, none of the nightly room rates includes tax so be prepared to add another 10 – 17% to your bill at checkout.
Here are the 10 most expensive hotel rooms in the world from the last year.
10. The Penthouse Suite, The Martinez Hotel, Cannes
Nightly Rate: $18,000
This is the biggest, most expensive, and the only terraced penthouse suite on the Cote d’Azur. Both of the two suites has a Jacuzzi, plasma screen televisions, DVD library, kitchen, open bar, private butler on call 24/7 (ditto for a limousine), and an option to join both suites into one big apartment. The luxury has no limit here – the design is kept in the Art Deco style, with streamlined furniture, silk curtains and teak parquet floors.
The wraparound terrace is 2,000 square feet with the views of the Lerins Islands as well as the entire Bay of Cannes and can comfortably hold 100 people. One Saudi sheik liked the suite so much he wanted to rent it for five years. The hotel said no. What else can you say? Tres magnifique!
9. Ritz-Carlton Suite, Ritz-Carlton Moscow
Nightly Rate: $18.200
The floor-to-ceiling windows in the Ritz-Carlton Suite will give you the most beautiful views of the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and Christ the Savior Cathedral. The furnishings are in a Classic Russian Imperial style. The 2,500 square-foot suite comes with a spacious living room, dining area, library, office room and boardroom, grand piano, and heated floor.
You will get to enjoy five meals a day and their very own KGB-approved autonomous energy supply system and secure telecommunications array.
8. Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab, Dubai
Nightly Rate: $19.000
The two-story, 8,400-square-foot suite features views over the Arabian sea, marble flooring, a rotating four-poster bed in the master bedroom, dining area, and a private cinema and elevator between the split-level rooms.
The marble bath comes fully stocked with full-sized products from Hermes. Guests are met by a chauffeur driven Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph (or, for a bit extra, by a helicopter). A personal butler stands 24/7 at the ready to fulfill every wish. The Royal Suite is the last word in luxury with a marble and gold staircase, leopard print tufted carpets and Versace linens.
What you can also enjoy is a submarine ride to an underwater restaurant complete with shark-infested aquarium.
7. Imperial Suite, Park Hyatt, Vendôme, Paris
Nightly Rate: $20.000
This pricey suite is located on the 5th floor and takes 200-sq.-meters. A 60-sq.-meter balcony is overlooking the Rue de la Paix, with an outstanding view of the Vendôme column. The Imperial Suite has high ceilings, a dining room, kitchenette, bar, and a mansard roof. It also includes in-suite spa with whirlpool bath, steam room shower and a built-in massage table. Also included are high-speed Internet access and a computer with flat screen monitor, multi-line telephones, and a separate work area to help you enjoy the work process.
6. The Bridge Suite, The Atlantis, Bahamas
Nightly Rate: $22.000
The Bridge Suite is located on top of a bridge that connects the two Royal Towers buildings, so it overlooks the entire resort and marina. An 800 square foot balcony and 12-foot high ceilings throughout with full length windows allow you to enjoy a 360 view of the water, lagoons and pools in Paradise Island. We can make a guess that most of the price is paid for the location of the suite. Forbes reports the suite has hosted guests including Oprah, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, and Bill Gates.
The suite has 10 rooms that are decorated in black, red and gold (including a 22-karat gold chandelier in the dining room). The living room is a 1,250-square-foot room with grand piano and twin entertainment centers. The master bedroom has a sitting area, his-and-hers closets so large that you can park your car there, and hand-painted linens. The kitchen also has its own entrance, so a permanent staff of seven, including a butler and a cook can access the rooms without bothering you.
5. Presidential Suite, Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo
Nightly Rate: $25.000
The suite is located on the 53rd floor above Tokyo with spectacular views that include the Imperial Palace outer gardens and Roppongi Hills.
In the suite’s 3300 sq ft you get pure luxury with a stunning four poster bed in the master bedroom, personal concierge, connected living room/dining room, an oversized marble bathroom with Sony BRAVIA 20 inch flat screen television, and access to indoor pool and fitness studio.
4. Villa La Capula Suite, Westin Excelsior, Rome
Nightly Rate: $29.000
The suite is located on the fifth and sixth floor underneath the cupola of the hotel which was made famous by Fellini’s movies. It covers 6,099 square feet and has an additional 1,808 square feet of balconies and terraces. While it only has two bedrooms, five more can be joined to it. The entire suite was just remodeled in 1998 for a cost of around $7 million. So now you will have all things Roman and excessive – a cupola, a Pompeii-style Jacuzzi pool, frescoes (the painted horizons on the frescoes were designed to match perfectly with the real Roman one), stained glass windows, and almost 2,000 feet of balcony space including a sun deck overlooking the Via Veneto district.
The downstairs also has a private kitchen, and the dining room features an antique Murano glass chandelier, a private wine cabinet with over 150 wines to choose from and a study/library covered in hand-carved wood. And what really makes this suite over the top is a private cinema with Dolby surround sound.
Now that’s living la dolce vita.
3. Ty Warner Penthouse, Four Seasons Hotel, New York
Nightly Rate: $34.000
The $50 million Ty Warner Penthouse at the Four Seasons in NY was designed by legendary architect I.M. Pei, Peter Marino and hotel owner Ty Warner.
The nine-room suite has walls inlaid with mother of pearl, gold and platinum-woven fabrics. The suite is located on the 52nd floor of New York’s tallest hotel with floor-to-ceiling bay windows offering a breathtaking 360 degree view of the City. If that is not relaxing enough you can enjoy a waterfall in the Zen Room, play the grand piano in the library or soak in a tub overlooking Central Park. Full spa treatments, a personal trainer and a 24/7 butler are all included, and if you still find a will to leave, you can choose to be chauffeured in a Rolls Royce or Maybach, and you’re always guaranteed a table at the hotel’s renowned L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon restaurant.
2. Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas
Nightly Rate: $40.000
If anyone knows how to vacation in Las Vegas, that will be Hugh Hefner. Even though he is known as a homebody he has spent a few nights away from the mansion at the Sky Villa. The suite itself was built to model the original playboy mansion; it also incorporates elements derived from a vintage Playboy magazine article about the ultimate bachelor pad. The suite cost roughly $10 million to build but the high-rollers can rent it for a small $40,000 a night. Everything screams S-E-X-Y at the Sky Villa. The two-story 9,000 square foot Villa includes a glass elevator, a rotating bed set beneath a mirrored ceiling, and a glass wall Jacuzzi that extends out over the hotel and offers amazing Strip views, around-the-clock butler service, massage and spa rooms, work-out room and poker table, fireplace, three bedrooms, and pop-up plasma TVs.
Sorry, Bunnies not included.
1. Royal Penthouse Suite, President Wilson Hotel, Geneva
Nightly Rate: $53.000
The Imperial Suite, which is actually an entire top floor of the hotel, is reached via a private elevator and has four bedrooms, six bathrooms with mosaic marble floor, a cocktail lounge and a terrace with a dramatic view through the bulletproof windows over the city, Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc — all of which overlook Lake Geneva. The suite is decorated in a contemporary style, with marble and hardwood floors. The living room has a billiards table, a library and a cocktail lounge with a view of the water fountain, and can accommodate 40 people. The dining room seats 26 people around an oval mahogany table.
The hotel’s staff reassures guests that the security in the Imperial Suite is among the best in the world, ideal for celebrities or traveling heads of state who visit the United Nations headquarters next door at the Palais Wilson.
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23 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Revival of Muslim empire
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
YUSUF KANLI
Is it not a wild idea to assume that the radical Islamist fantasies of the neo-Ottomanists of the dissolution period of the Ottoman Empire or the mostly Egyptian Arab forefathers of jihadist Islam or the restoration of the Caliphate movement might have a minute chance of coming true?
If we are to take out the fundamental difference between the neo-Ottomanist ideology, which was centered on the creation of a united “Caliphate State” something like today’s European Union, with the caliphate remaining in Istanbul – and the Egypt-centered Arab jihadist or the restoration of the Caliphate movement, that was obsessed with Arabs taking back caliphate to the holy Mecca, there was a common cause: To achieve the united state of the nation of Islam, or the “ummah.”
Creation of the modern, democratic and secular Turkish republic and the March 3, 1924 abrogation of caliphate was a setback to both the neo-Ottomanist and pan-Arabic caliphate movements or aspirations of a united caliphate state of the ummah. [This is a complex discussion as according to many researchers caliphate is not indeed abrogated; its functions were ended while the institution and its powers were transferred to the Turkish Parliament.] The obsession of reviving the state of Islam – like the state that existed during the lifetime of Islam’s Prophet Mohammad and the succeeding first four caliphs – never ever died out and indeed has been one of the fundamental pillars of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement, which this way or the other, under many names, exists all through the Arab geography today. Interestingly enough, though with some slight, yet very meaningful differences, the movement exists in non-Arab Muslim societies, including Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere.
Of course, no one can claim that al-Qaeda and the Nationalist View Movement in Turkey, or the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, are one and the same, though both come from the same tradition of political Islam. No one can claim either that both Hamas and the al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun of Egypt are one and the same. There are national and cultural divides between all these parties, which irrespective whether they officially declare it or not, aspire for the creation of the united caliphate state of the ummah, where shariah or the rule of Quran would strictly prevail.
Could the “Arab Spring” – as is so far said – succeed in creating democratic nation states in the Arab geography and beyond in the lands populated by Muslim people? Or, is there a possibility of the states of Middle East and North Africa turning into Sunni alterations of the Iranian theocracy? Or, as Newsweek asked in its June 20 edition, would the Greater Middle Eastern neighborhood eventually turn to Turkey and help the governance of political Islam there revive the Muslim Ottoman Empire? Though this last scenario was branded as “nightmarish” by the Newsweek and though very few Turks would object utopia of a Turkey-based revival of the caliphate state, it would not be at all easy either for the Turks to forget the “Arabs stabbed Turks in the back” rhetoric or for the Arabs not to remember what was it like for them to live under Ottoman rule. Definitely, there would not be a need for a new “Lawrence of Arabia” for the peoples of this geography to remember the recent history and the strong animosities coated with modern-day political interests.
Political Islam throughout this geography may wish to see their ultimate goal of creation of Muslim empire realized but if that target was so easy to attain it would have been achieved long ago, perhaps when there was still an Ottoman Empire. Like the Greek Megalo Idea, having utopias might help maintain integrity, but putting them into action might bring about farfetched disastrous consequences.
23 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Dispute over hijab in women’s soccer in Canada, as Muslim youth referee barred
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Sarah Benkirane has been barred from refereeing while wearing her hijab. (File Photo)
By JAMES M. DORSEY
AL ARABIYA
A dispute between FIFA and Iranian and Jordanian women soccer
players over the right to wear religious Muslim headdresses during
matches is expanding as it spreads across the Atlantic.
A Canadian soccer referee, Sarah Benkirane, was barred this week by
Quebec’s Lac St. Louis Regional Soccer Association because she wears a
hijab, a religious headdress that covers a woman’s hair, neck and ears
in accordance with conservative Muslim dress code.
The 15-year-old referee had been refereeing games on Montreal’s West
Island and Vaudreuil for the past two years but was informed by
association officials this week that she had been barred because of
world soccer body FIFA rules prohibiting religious garments on the
pitch.
“I always felt like I was
equal growing up in Canada, so I don’t understand why they’re going to
take this right away from me,” Ms. Benkirane, who has worn a hijab since
she was 12, told Canadian broadcaster CBC.
“It’s just a sign of my modesty and how I choose to express myself. I
thought we were free to practice religion in this country if you’re not
hurting anyone else, and I’m not hurting anyone else,” Ms. Benkirane
said.
The banning of Ms. Benkirane comes after Iran earlier this month lost
its chance of reaching the 2012 Olympics when its qualifying match
against Jordan was cancelled because the Islamic republic’s women soccer
team appeared on the pitch wearing a hijab rather than a cap that had
originally had been agreed with the Iranian Football Federation (IFF).
The agreed cap covers a women’s hair but not the neck and ears.
Religious women players have charged that the cap violates Islamic dress
code.
Three Jordanian women players were also banned for wearing the hijab.
Iran charged that FIFA’s decision to disqualify its women’s team constituted an attack on all female Muslim players.
Prince Ali Bin Talal, a half-brother of Jordanian King Abdullah and FIFA
vice president has said he is seeking to resolve the dispute between
Iran and the soccer body. Prince Ali was elected to his FIFA post on a
platform that emphasized women’s rights.
Mr. Benkiran said she has filed a complaint with the Quebec association.
Ms. Benkirane insists that rules have to be adapted as society changes.
The Quebec federation has advised Ms. Benkirane to address her
complaint directly to FIFA.
The Lac St. Louis Regional Soccer Association asserted it was acting in
accordance with rules set out by the Quebec Soccer Federation. For its
part, the Quebec federation said in a statement that it was upholding
FIFA’s rule 4, which prohibits religious statements in team uniforms.
“The situation is clear,” the statement read. “Wearing a hijab is not
allowed on Quebec’s soccer fields just as necklaces, earrings, rings are
prohibited, and we will follow the rule until FIFA says otherwise.”
The federation’s communications director, Michel Dugas, said the group
could not make an exception for Ms. Benkirane because that would create
an untenable situation in which a referee wearing a hijab would have to
tell players that they can’t do the same.
The right to wear a hijab has long been a controversial issue in Canada
with some segments of Canadian soccer supporting women who wear the
hijab.
In February 2007, five Canadian teams walked out of a soccer tournament
in Quebec, because a Muslim girl was ejected for wearing a hijab.
Muslim women have been allowed to wear the hijab in other parts of Canada, including Ontario and British Colombia.
(James M. Dorsey, formerly of The Wall Street Journal, is a senior
researcher at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East
Institute and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East
Soccer. He can be reached via email at: questfze@gmail.com)
23 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Top 10 sexiest science stories of 2010
Whoever said science could never possibly be sexy didn’t have a chance to read this. According to Discovery News, below is the list of the top 10 sexiest stories of 2010.…
Thursday 9 December 2010 10:17 AM IST
Whoever said science could never possibly be sexy didn’t have a chance to read this.
According to Discovery News, below is the list of the top 10 sexiest stories of 2010:
1. The naked dwarf: Known as the “Portrait of Dwarf Morgante,” the subject was a court jester, part of the Medici court in the Florentine Renaissance.
he paintings were grouped into a two-sided canvas, providing onlookers with a front- and rear-view.
Originally painted by Agnolo di Cosimo, better known as Bronzino, around 1553 with a full frontal view, the portrait was altered during the 18th century to hide the subject’s private parts.
2. Why booze makes everyone look attractive: A study found that a few drinks can affect the way you look at a person. Alcohol can inhibit our ability to detect asymmetry in faces. Symmetry is an important aspect of what makes a face attractive.
The study further suggests that men were less prone to losing their symmetry-detecting ability when intoxicated than women.
3. Women like to cozy up after sex: A study published this year in The Journal of Sex Research found that women usually want intimacy after a roll in the hay.
A cozy chat, a caress and other bonding behaviours are what women prefer after sex.
Men, on the other hand, typically want a drink, a smoke-anything that will increase the chances of a second encounter.
But in long-term relationships, both genders think it’s equally important to say, “I love you,” after sex.
4. Note to all single men out there: Wear more red – According to a study published this year in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, women are more attracted to men wearing red and find them more sexually desirable.
Red appears to signal rank in virtually all cultures. The researchers point out that China, Japan and sub-Saharan Africa populations have all tied red to prosperity and elevated status.
5. All a woman needs to attract a man is her natural scent: a study published in the journal Psychological Science found that men who caught the scent of an ovulating woman from a T-shirt had higher testosterone levels than men who smelled either fresh T-shirts or those from non-ovulating women.
6. While humans may not necessarily be enticed by the smell of perfume, big cats are a different story: Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society found that jaguars, pumas and other wildlife were attracted to the smell of Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men.
When around the scent, these cats would repeatedly sniff the source of the smell, lingering around its origin. One pair of jaguars even shows some very rarely seen mating behaviour, so the smell seems to turn these animals on.
7. Frogs sing during sex: Frogs apparently like to hear something smooth when they’re in their groove, according to research published in the journal Animal Behaviour.
In fact, some female frogs are known to sing during sex. The rhythmic click calls of the females are so attractive to males that they move rhythmically back and forth whenever they hear these calls during mating.
The song seems to turn the males on, according to the research.
8. Meet Roxxxy, the robotic companion who will-whether you’re entranced or repulsed by “her”-haunt your dreams.
This sex robot was initially designed to be a health aid, intended to provide extra care to patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions.
The robot didn’t catch on, so the inventors repurposed their design. Instead of a health care worker’s uniform, the robot wears lingerie.
Rather than providing drug information or exercise instructions, the robot’s voice function is used to create a sexy personality: ranging from shy [Frigid Farrah] to adventurous [S and M Susan].
9. Why men cheat: The answer is there’s no one answer, according to Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University.
Fisher divides the brain into three systems: the sex drive, the desire for romantic love and attachment.
Because these systems don’t necessarily need to work together, “the brain is, alas, built to enable us to love more than one person at a time,” Fisher explained.
However, because we all have a different biological map, according to Fisher, some are more susceptible to cheating behaviour than others.
10. Long before human ancestors began pairing up, fish were having sex: Fossils of extinct fish from the genus Materpiscis found in the Gogo Formation of Western Australia suggest that sexual intercourse began as early as 410 million years ago.
Researchers made this connection after discovering a 380-million-year-old female specimen that still retained a single embryo connected by an umbilical cord.
The discovery of this kind of advanced reproductive technique among prehistoric fish fossils has important implications for our understanding of animal evolution. (ANI)
23 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
NEW HOPE FOR A HEALTHY HEART
A miracle pill that repairs tissue damage of a heart attack and a cheek swab that assesses the impact of statins on your body are just two developments likely to improve the prognosis for those at risk of heart disease…
Wednesday 22 June 2011 1:40 PM IST
IMAGINE popping a pill that could repair the damage suffered by your heart after an attack. Or even halt a heart attack in its early stages. You may have to wait a decade for this development, but rest assured that it’s on its way.
British scientists have found a means of repairing cells damaged during a heart attack in mice, leading to expectations that a pill capable to perform this repair in humans would be available in ten years. This breakthrough discovery has created hope for millions of people at high risk of heart attack. Experts predict this would take the form of a preventative drug for people at high risk and may even be effective for people in the early stages of a heart attack.
“The pill to mend a damaged heart sounds like science fiction but might a possibility in a decade,” says Dr Neeraj Bhalla, chairman and HoD, cardiology, BL Kapur Memorial Hospital.
“In the past, several attempts were made but they never worked out. Now, scientists are working on a pill which will directly stimulate the stem cells in the heart and convert them into health muscle cells, which will aid in repairing the damaged heart,” he adds.
Currently, any damage caused during a heart attack is permanent. Though more people survive attacks than in the past due to more effective medication, the damage to the heart is irreversible.
GRIM SCENARIO
NEWS about this pill is welcome in India, especially as the outlook for heart disease among urban Indians bleak. Indians accounted for 60 per cent of the world’s heart disease load 2010, and this figure is slated to rise. Findings of a seven- year study conducted among 1,100 young adults in New Delhi confirm this.
The study, published in the Journal the American College of Cardiology , found that all the risk parameters for cardiac disease including — hypertension, obesity and diabetes rose in this group over the time of study. Such a remarkable rise suggests that young adults in India could have high rates of heart disease and stroke. No wonder, the need to expedite preventive measures of heart risks is being felt like never before.
Is that pill dampening your desires | Get rid of your negative thoughts
MAGIC HEART PILL
COMBINATION of low- dose aspirin, statins and two blood pressure- lowering medicines, the polypill has been promoted as an effective means of reducing the risk heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems across the world. It was first proposed the British Medical Journal eight years ago and has now moved out of labs to the chemists’ stores.
Short- term trials of polypill have shown that it’s as effective as its individual components – aspirin, statin, beta blocker and ACE inhibitor. The one- a- day pill is touted to cut the risk factors for heart diseases.
However, outcome studies are still awaited, which will show how successful is polypill in preventing heart diseases,” says Dr Bhalla.
The good news is that it’s now available in India too, courtesy Cipla and Cadilla. Dr Reddy’s has joined the fray as it’s likely to launch its ‘ Red heart pill’ soon.
Its research wing began work on the ‘ Red heart pill’ ( as it is has been called) in 2005. An international trial of Dr Reddy’s four- inone combination pill has found it can cut the risk of heart disease and stroke by 50 per cent with everyday use. It was also concluded that those with a higher risk of heart disease will be able to get greater benefits from the pill, to the tune of 80 per cent.
But experts say that the pill may not be suitable for everyone so every patient should be assessed and treated on an individual basis. More research is needed to clear the doubts that still exist about it.
All you men! You must know what is PMS
DNA TEST FOR STATINS
ANOTHER development creating a stir among experts is a DNA analysis that can foretell the side effects of statins before you start using them. Statins, as we know, are the most prescribed drugs in the world for reducing cholesterol levels and cutting the chances of a heart attack. On the flip side, they come with certain side effects such as muscle pain and weakness.
About 20 per cent of those who take the drugs often complain of these and the FDA recently issued a warning against a specific statin, Zocor,
DRUGS FOR DAMAGED HEART
ALTHOUGH prevention is being touted as the first step in improving cardiac health, studies are also being directed on finding ways of reducing the damage done to the heart during an attack. A new anti- clotting drug, Ticagrelor, could cut one in five deaths following a heart attack. This finding by the University of Sheffield comes in the wake of cardiologists’ claims that in the last one year, many deaths of patients following a heart attack were largely avoidable.
Anti- clotting drugs have been available for ages but this new one, Ticagrelor, comes with a fillip and is 20 per cent more effective than the older one, Clopidogrel.
What’s more, Ticagrelor works as well on those above 75 years as on younger patients.
However, there are concerns about the cost of the newly licensed drug. It is almost ten times the cost of Clopidogrel. It could also have some serious side effects like shortness of breathing, bleeding and skin allergies.
DID YOU KNOW? These are 5 health mistakes you must never make
BIO-ABSORBABLE STENTS
WHILE the wait for Ticagrelor continues in India, those with cardiac problems can rejoice over bio- absorbable stents that have found their way into the country. Recommended for dilating blocked arteries, metallic stents have been in use for a long period. Arterial blockage has various causes. At times age, chronic diseases, or congenital factors make artery walls weak, causing them to recoil and narrow.
In such cases stents help with dilatation. “ Metallic stents are known to cause infections, recurrence of blockages in the same area or clot formations in the long run,” says Dr Viveka Kumar, senior consultant, interventional cardiology and electrophysiologist, Max Healthcare. In extreme cases a tumour may also develop due to long term presence of the device.
Though medicated stents developed a decade ago have fewer side- effects, they are still not absolutely safe. “Those on stents – whether medicated or non- medicated are supposed to be on blood thinners for the rest of their lives. This makes it difficult for them to undergo surgeries or any medical procedure involving heavy bleeding later in their lives,” says Dr Kumar.
Now, stents made of bioabsorbable materials are being used. Although they are in trail phase currently, large scale commercial usage is likely to begin in a year. “ Unlike the metallic stents, these new stents don’t stay within the artery forever.
Rather, they provide support to the dilated artery walls for a few months and then gradually dissolve in a year,” says Dr Atul Mathur, director, interventional cardiology, Fortis Escorts Hospital.
This naturally chucks the need for blood thinners and also the risks of side effects.
23 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
By Clint Thomas | Yahoo! India News – Tue, Jun 21, 2011
By
early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of
wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that
thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest
green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick
walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild
creepers burst through latente banks and spill across the flooded roads.
Boats ply in the bazaars…thus Arundhati Roy begins her Booker Prize
winner – The God of Small Things. Although the novel – which is set in
Ayemenem village adjoining Kumarakom – does not render the unspeakable
beauty of Kumarakom, aren’t the aforementioned words enough to lure you
to the most beautiful place in Kerala (arguably)? And If I say Kumarakom is the capital of the God’s own country, will you disagree?
Well,
honestly, this is my fourth trip to Kumarakom, with an intention of
doing a photoblog on Yahoo! Strangely, it had been raining all these
four times, maybe, to make me realize that the beauty and majesty of
Kumarakom are at its best during monsoon.
And
this time, I’m in a houseboat, the perfect place for chilling out -and
much more 
. Houseboats are big barges with five-star amenities –air
conditioned bedrooms with contemporary bathrooms, modular kitchens that
prepare the choicest Kerala-style food, home theatre and whatever else
you want. Some of them have as many as five bedrooms, some have
conference halls and some are even double-storied.
Every
here and there you see a fisherman, hounding for Karimeen (pearl spot).
The boat captain excitedly explained to us four different methods to
catch a pearl spot fish and how clinically they do it. Interesting!
At
the prow of the houseboat sits Sreehari, 15, after whose name the boat
is named. He doesn’t just share his name with the boat, but he owns it!
The young guy too has his share of knowledge to impart – about Tiger
Prawns, another taste of the Kumarakom. He flashes his torch into the
water, toward the stone wall of the canal’s side and I see two small
bulbs flashing between two stones. And he says those are the eyes of a
Tiger Prawn. Wow!
Before
I clicked this photo, it never occurred to me that lightning is the
best source of light for night photography. Yes, this photo was clicked
at 11:40 pm, there was lightening and the photo came out like this.
It
may be the company of boatmen, the palatable Karimeen (pearl spot) fry,
mouth-watering tiger prawns curry, a bottle of chilled beer from the
boatmen’s icebox, a romantic night with your other half, or the cruise
across the Vembanad Lake, Kumarakom guarantees you something to cherish
for a lifetime.
22 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
A herbal delight!
Herbs & spices from your kitchen can perk up your sex life…
IT NOT just spices up your curries, but also punches up your sex life.
Researchers
have found that fenugreek or methi can increase the sex drive by a
quarter, according to a report in the Daily Mail. When libido levels of
60 healthy men aged between 25 and 52 who took an extract of the herb
were checked, it was found that their scores were much higher than those
who took dummy pills.
The
tests were carried out by the Centre for Integrative Clinical and
Molecular Medicine in Brisbane, Australia. Fenugreek seeds contain
compounds called saponins which are said to stimulate the production of
male sex hormones including testosterone.
The local grocery store
or even your household kitchen can prove to be the best apothecary for
shooting up the sexual drive, as supplying the right food to the brain
can turn you on. For example, the ubiquitous spices like black pepper, chilly pepper, cumin, fennel, flax seeds, and turmeric powder can work wonders for distraught couples. These and other herbs can stimulate the libido, perking up people’s sex lives.
Experts have since long suggested the use of Chinese herbs such as Ginseng
— a sexual stimulant — and native African Kola nuts — known to be great
energy boosters — among others. These herbal aphrodisiacs are most
sought after, as they are cheap, effective and have minimal side
effects.
Studies have also shown that a diet which includes soy
can raise the temperature in the bedroom as soy is beneficial to the
prostate — a very important male sex organ. A food rich in granola, oatmeal, cashews, walnuts, garlic and onion,
can lead to improved blood circulation, also boosting the male sex
drive. Even a diet rich in iron and zinc can prove helpful for those
having a tough night life.
Many experts say that an unhealthy supply of Vitamin E
can affect the sexual function as well. A diet rich in dopamine can
lead to greater results. Dopamine is a feel good chemical released by
the brain. It motivates people to pursue pleasure and have sex.
- Also,
fish, legumes, cottage cheese, red meat, milk, beetroots and peas if
included in the diet, can increase the sexual stamina.
Ayurvedic experts have their own dose of suggestions. Tribulus, Sarsaparilla, Siberian Ginseng, Saw Palmetto are herbal plants which have a proven record of increasing the sex drive, according to them.
22 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
After The Indian Express exposed the eavesdropping on Pranab Mukherjee’s office, the finance minister brushed it all away, saying the Intelligence Bureau had investigated his complaint and found nothing serious.
That spies could easily walk in and out the finance ministry is scandalous enough. (Were they insiders, and if they were, aren’t we compromising national security by not identifying them and punishing them?) And for our finance minister to say it was just a trifling little matter seems even more scandalous. He first sought a secret investigation and then called in private sleuths to check what was happening. Obvious question: Why didn’t he call in the home ministry’s detectives? (Possible answer three paras on).
Also, is the government trying to hush it all up? One explanation being given out is that adhesive was found under the tables, but it was just some chewing gum. Really? And why would anyone stick chewing gum at 16 strategic spots, and in rooms where India’s top financial policies are discussed and decided? Three chewing-gum adhesives were stuck in Pranab’s room alone. And why were there grooves on those blobs?
Who could have spied on Pranab-da, as he is called in Delhi’s political circles? Were his bosses keeping an eye on what he was doing? And does that explain why he doesn’t want to talk about it? We list some suspects.
P Chidambaram: The BJP believes Home Minister P Chidambaram was up to some mischief. Now, if that were true, it would be logical to conclude that the battle within the cabinet for the No 2 position is being fought behind the scenes, and that the contenders aren’t shying away from employing dirty tricks. Pranab is now the undisputed No 2: Sonia Gandhi’s trusted man for all seasons, and Manmohan Singh’s ready deputy. Why is the No 2 position so coveted? Well, parliamentary elections are due in 2014, and if the UPA wins again, and Manmohan Singh decides he has had enough and would like to retire, No 2 could become the prime minister (if Rahul Gandhi remains on the sidelines, that is). So. Pranab and Chidambaram are also known adversaries, prompting the BJP to make the exaggerated charge that a civil war has broken out. (War within a party is a factional fight, and not quite the same as people of a country killing each other). India Today reports Pranab bypassed the home ministry because of the “fault lines within the government”.
Party bosses: Many in Delhi say Chidambaram couldn’t have ordered surveillance on Pranab without permission from someone higher up, and that means Sonia Gandhi. The finance ministry is a high security area, and not everyone can walk in. The Gandhi family is vaguely wary of Pranab since 1984, the year Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Pranab was then No 2, as he is today, and the family’s grouse is that he projected himself as next-in-line prime minister. The job went to a reluctant Rajiv Gandhi, who didn’t give Pranab a cabinet position. Pranab then quit the Congress and floated a party of his own. It didn’t make any headway. He came back in 1990, and has been a family loyalist since. But suspicions persist, and could have prompted the bugging of his ministry. Journalist D P Satish uses an analogy from princely times to describe the relationship: “Pranab is the dewan of the Congress family. A dewan enjoy huge powers, but he can never be king. It is customary for the royal family to keep a close eye on its most powerful minister.”
Foreign powers: This isn’t as far-fetched as it seems. The Indian government has off and on arrested its own employees on charges of spying. Did someone in some overseas capital get inside information on what India’s finance ministry was thinking at a particular point?And did this country hire Indians working in the finance ministry to place mics so that they could eavesdrop on Pranab’s conversations? Is a larger espionage project afoot to collect information from India’s top leaders? If Pranab can be snooped on, is Prime Minister Manmohan safe? What secrets could have leaked out from Pranab’s office, and who could have benefited is not clear yet. What is stunning is the way the cabinet is taking it all in its stride. No wonder ministers aren’t outraged by private citizens’ complaints of snooping. If powerful ministers in this country are under surveillance, why would they want ordinary citizens spared?
Big business: Lots of very sensitive tapes have come into the public domain recently. They implicate not just the Rajas and the Radias, but also the country’s business icons. It’s possible top ministers clandestinely released these private phone conversations to the media. In the dirty tricks department, what the government can do, the private sector can do better. If the government spies on corporate houses, they can spy right back. Could our business icons have sent undercover agents to find out what was happening behind closed doors? Any advance information from the finance ministry is worth millions at the stock market. Did someone make a killing somewhere using inputs from the country’s financial policy makers? Were the snoopers looking for tip-offs about tax raids?
Political rivals: The BJP has started beating the UPA with the ‘breach of security’ stick. Pranab’s rivals may be tying to dig up enough dirt to keep him out of the top position. But all that’s within the party. Would the opposition BJP snoop on him this way? Theoretically, yes. It’s all possible in the cloak-and-dagger world of Delhi politics, but that party wouldn’t be demanding an investigation so loudly if it were involved in this murky business, would it? Sushma Swaraj has described the incident as India’s Watergate, but we’ll have to wait and see if it brings down the mighty as Watergate did in the US, or if the investigations will go anywhere at all. First Post isn’t surprised by all this: “If the No 2 man in the government, the most powerful cabinet minister in the UPA government who heads several sensitive ministerial committees, can be monitored illegally, it also means that it’s a free-for-all in Delhi’s power game.”
Questions, questions, questions. What’s your conspiracy theory?
21 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Is Turkey the Key?
Of the countries I’ve visited, my favourites happen to share important features. They are all large but not intimidating in size, with proportionate populations. They have a varied landscape, a mostly temperate climate, and enough fertile land not only to feed themselves, but to have evolved exceptional cuisines. They are old civilisations possessed of the cultural self-confidence that comes from having been centres of empires, without the hubris or smugness of perpetual victors. I’m thinking of Spain, France, Turkey and Iran, and would have added Italy to the group, had its citizens been less loud, rude and vain. Turkey, despite all its gifts, and a convenient location straddling Asia and Europe, went off the world’s radar for decades. The Orient Express stopped running, and was replaced in the popular imagination by Midnight Express. Indians, who now flock to Istanbul and Cappadocia in the thousands, had little connection with Turkey between the collapse of the Khilafat movement and Mallika Sherawat’s item number in Guru.
The Khilafat movement: we all read about it in school texts; we learned Mahatma Gandhi supported it; but we never understood what it was really about. Which is not surprising, since I have problems wrapping my mind around it even as an adult. Khilafat activists protested against British rule in India because they felt Britain was mistreating the Sultan of Turkey. You might think there were enough complaints to be made against imperialist behaviour locally, what with millions paid out of the Indian treasury to aid Britain’s war effort, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre; but Mohammad Ali, Shaukat Ali and Abul Kalam Azad were more concerned about the chap in the Dolmabahçe Palace. That’s because the Ottoman ruler, who controlled Mecca and Medina, was the Caliph, or Khalif, symbolic leader of the world’s Sunni Muslims, the latest in a line extending back to the Prophet’s companion and father-in-law Abu Bakr.
At its peak, the tri-continental Ottoman empire encompassed all lands bordering the Black and Red seas, much of the Mediterranean coast and a substantial chunk along the Caspian sea. Turkish rule extended to Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, Baku, Baghdad, Sanaa, Athens, Sofia, Belgrade, Bucharest and Budapest. As the list makes clear, Arab capitals wracked by unrest these past few months were once Ottoman territories. By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the empire had atrophied and its administration decayed. At the outbreak of the first World War, the Ottomans allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary. The opposing Entente powers eagerly drew up plans to dismember the Sultanate, an effort led, needless to say, by the British, who love drawing dividing lines on maps (Scratch a contemporary border dispute and you’ll find a line drawn by a Briton).
The winners of the World War almost had their way. Through the Treaty of Sèvres, much of what is now Turkey was either given to Greece and Armenia, or parcelled out into Italian, British and French zones of influence. The Sèvres agreement would have led to decades of unrest, except that a brilliant General named Mustafa Kemal ignored the Sultan’s orders and fought back. He rallied Turkish troops and defeated Armenians in the east, French forces in the south and Greeks in the west. The allies were forced to negotiate a new treaty in Lausanne, creating an independent nation with borders closely matching those of today’s Turkey. Mustafa Kemal, later to be honoured with the title Atatürk, meaning Father of the Turks, went on to abolish Ottoman rule in favour of a secular republic. This was a catastrophe for the Khilafatists and millions of Muslims around the globe for whom a world without a Caliph seemed inconceivable. Ever since then, radical pan-Islamist movements have promoted the idea of a new Caliphate.
The republic of Turkey did all it could to distance itself from its imperial history. Atatürk commanded that Turkish be written in the Roman script rather than the traditional Perso-Arabic one. The fez was banned, as were headscarves in universities and government offices. After the Second World War, the nation became part of NATO. Though less than 10% of its territory was in Europe, Turkey saw itself as part of that continent rather than Asia. This made qualifying for the football World Cup considerably tougher, but Turkey set itself the loftier goal of qualifying for EU membership.
Unfortunately, the Turkish brand of nationalism and secularism was frequently enforced at gunpoint. Authorities forbade discussion of mass killings of Armenian civilians during the first World War, and tried to squash Kurdish and other minority identities. Atatürk had stressed the need to befriend neighbours, even reaching out to Greeks he had fought; but that legacy unravelled when right-wing Greek Cypriots took over the government of Cyprus. Turkey invaded the island to protect the Turkish population, and the affair ended with a partition in which the southern Greek side was recognised as the legitimate government by the world at large, the northern side by Turkey alone.
At negotiations for full membership of the EU, Turks would be asked, What about the Armenian genocide? What about Kurdish rights? The fact that Bulgaria, hardly a paragon of liberalism, gained full membership of the EU, made Turks wonder if Europeans simply didn’t want a Muslim nation in their Christian club, and were using civil rights as an excuse. When Cyprus was admitted to the European body in 2004, many Turks gave up hope of ever being full-fledged EU citizens.
At the same time, the country’s internal politics led to a shift from its Western focus and hardline secularism. A moderate Islamist group led by Recep Erdoğan, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), won elections after a string of constitutional battles. It liberalised the statist economy and rode an economic boom to two more election victories, the latest coming a little over a week ago. Like India, Turkey had punched below its weight in international fora for decades, weakened by internal troubles. The AKP pitched Turkey not as a wannabe European country, continually slapped on the wrist and sent to the back of the EU queue, but as a Eurasian leader. Critics call the new foreign policy neo-Ottomanism, and view the moderate Islam of the AKP as the thin end of the wedge that will ultimately destroy the secular Turkish state. I am more optimistic. Although I find all communal parties distasteful, I believe the Ottoman’s empire moderation in religious matters and Turkey’s modern liberal civil society will keep fundamentalism at bay. Since the Turkish population is over 99% Muslim, and overwhelmingly Sunni, there’s little scope for sectarian strife arising from the AKP’s policies. The Turkish form of secularism, with its restrictions on headscarves and state control over religious preaching, was neither desirable nor sustainable anyway.
A number of Western analysts are troubled by Turkey’s friendship with Iran, and its worsening relationship with Israel. Prime Minister Erdoğan’s recent words and actions with respect to Syria ought to ease their fears. Erdoğan, a personal friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, threw open Turkey’s borders to Syrian refugees, set up camps to house them, condemned the “savagery” of the Syrian crackdown, and asked Bashar al-Assad to fire his younger brother who has led the assault against protestors. When was the last time you heard such a clear moral line being taken by a leader against a friendly neighbouring regime? It’s a sign that, following the Ottoman empire and Atatürk’s Republic, which served as models to be emulated in earlier eras, Turkey could be the guiding light for newly emergent West Asian and North African democracies in our time.
14 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Congress to Nitish Govt: slaughtering Muslims not “good governance”
Submitted by
admin4 on 13 June 2011 – 6:53pm
By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Congress has strongly criticized the Nitish Kumar
government in Bihar for the Forbesganj firing in which the state police
killed four Muslims including one pregnant woman and one infant on June
3.
Referring directly to the firing in a press conference this
afternoon, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said that Nitish Kumar
had already showed his “good governance” by “slaughtering four members
of minority community.”
Forbesganj police firing victim: Sahil Ansari (6 months)
Tiwari used the firing incident to criticize Anna Hazare who had
praised the governments of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar for their
“good governance.”
“Is this good governance according to Hazare?” questioned the Congress spokesperson.
This is the first time that the Congress party which is ruling at the
center has raised the issue of Forbesganj at the national level and has
come out strongly against the human rights violation of the minority
community under the NDA regime in the state.
Forbesganj police firing victim: Mustafa Ansari (18)
Nitish is already facing huge criticism from the civil society and
the opposition parties in the state over the firing incident and also
over his failure to punish those responsible for the firing.
On 3rd June 2011, residents of Rampur and Bhajanpur villages under
Forbesganj block in Araria district came out, after Juma Prayer, to
protest against blockade of the connecting road between the two villages
for a factory. The police not only opened fire on the protestors but
chased them to their homes, entered in and killed even women and infant
pointblank. Six people including two women and a six-month-old infant of
the two villages of 90% Muslim population were killed.
14 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Weighty issue for Muslim lifter from America
Jun 13, 2011
Kulsoom Abdullah took up weightlifting a couple of
years ago when she was looking to get stronger. She quickly grew to love
the sport, entering local competitions and even allowing herself to
imagine one day making it to the Olympics.
But her dream was crushed last week. Abdullah, a 35 year old from Atlanta,
Georgia, was barred from entering the US championships next month
because her Muslim faith requires that she cover her arms, legs and head
– which violates international rules governing weightlifting attire.
“I’d hate to think that just because you dress a certain way, you can’t
participate in sports,” Abdullah said. “I don’t want other women who
dress like me to say, ‘I can’t get involved in that sport’ and get
discouraged.
“It would be nice to have an environment where it wouldn’t be an issue
of how you dress or having different beliefs and faiths.”
The debate over the attire of Muslim women in sport is not new.
Last week, the
Iran women’s football team had to forfeit an Olympic qualifier in Jordan
because the players wanted to wear the traditional hijab headscarf.
Fifa defended its decision by saying the scarves are banned for safety
reasons; the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Fifa
“dictators and colonists who want to impose their lifestyle on others”
and vowed stick up for the rights of the Iranian players.
Muslim
women have competed in other sports, such as athletics, wearing
neck-to-ankle bodysuits and the hijab, most notably Roqaya al Gassra of
Bahrain, who made it to the semi-finals of the 200 metres at the Beijing
Olympics.
“What we hear all the time is, ‘You’ve got to empower
Muslim women around the world’,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for
the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has taken up Abdullah’s
cause. “Well, how can you empower a Muslim woman more than being a
weightlifter?
“She should be encouraged and helped along in this process.
There shouldn’t be arbitrary roadblocks placed in her path.”
Some sports’ rules designed to keep an athlete from gaining an advantage
could run foul of a particular religion. Swimming, for instance, has
banned high-tech bodysuits that led to a rash of world records, ruling
they compromised the integrity of the sport. Now women can wear only
shoulder-to-knee suits that leave their arms and lower legs exposed.
Abdullah, however, made it clear that she is not trying to gain any sort of
competitive edge. When first starting out, she was allowed to enter
local meets wearing attire that made her comfortable: loosefitting
exercise pants, a tightfitting long-sleeve shirt with a T-shirt over it,
and the headscarf.
As she attempted to move up to higher-level
competitions, she ran up against International Weightlifting Federation
(IWF) rules, which forbid suits that cover either the knees or elbows
because judges must be able to see that both have been locked out to
complete a lift.
But Abdullah said a tightfitting shirt allows
judges to get a good look at her elbows. And, if it meant ensuring a
level playing field, she would be willing to wear a leg covering that
conforms to her religion but allows the judges to determine whether she
has completed a lift. Considering all the advances in athletic apparel,
that should not be a major issue.
Abdullah got a bit of good news last week when USA Weightlifting
agreed to take her case to the IWF this month. If the IWF agrees to
alter its rules, she might still get a chance to do some snatches and
clean-and-jerks at next month’s US championships.
While she is not yet lifting at an Olympic level, she has not given up
on that dream.
“She’s not seeking any kind of advantage. She’s seeking to maintain her
religious principles,” Hooper said. “In an atmosphere of goodwill, these
things can always be resolved.”
08 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
These
are time of scorching heat. Sun is ruthless and the heat wave
unsparing. But these are also the time when exotic fruits bloom in
plenty.
And these fruits can have an immensely chilling effect on us.
But the problem comes when an entire generation falls for Coke and
Pepsi and gets estranged with the bounties of nature. People are quite
oblivious about the health properties of these fruits. And even if they
know, few care about procuring them.
IQSoft recommends these five summer fruits to beat the heat this summer:
Black Plum or Jambul
The fruit is useful in spleen enlargement. The seed of the fruit is
well-known diabetes. It reduces the quantity of sugar in the urine and
quenches the maddening thirst. The fruit is also a good source of
antioxidants.
Litchi
The luscious litchi/lychee or Chinese Hazelnut is a very delicious
fruit. People eagerly wait for its arrival during the summers. May-June
is the best season for the fruit. This sub-tropical fruit has very good cooling, demulcent and aphrodisiac properties. It is also a good thirst-quencher.
Mango
It’s not for nothing that Mango is called the ‘King of Fruits’ in
India. The vastly delicious fruit is a storehouse of vitamins A and C.
The ripe mango tones the heart, improves complexion, stimulates hunger,
improves vision and is greatly helpful in liver disorders, loss of
weight and physical abnormalities. The popular mango powder (amchur)
made from green/unripe mango is very beneficial in scurvy and pyorrhea.
Muskmelon
Muskmelon is a popular tropical fruit which is readily available during
the summers. The fruit contains Vitamin A, B, C and minerals like
magnesium, sodium and potassium. It has zero cholesterol and is safe for
blood cholesterol patients. When consumed with jaggery, it helps in the
curing of skin diseases. It greatly reduces the body heat when consumed regularly.
Watermelon
The succulent, scarlet-red watermelon is a delicious and health-building
fruit. It contains large quantities of easily assimilable sugar. Being
an alkaline fruit, it can be easily enjoyed by persons with acidosis.
Its juice quench the thirst like anything. Rich in vitamin A,B, and C,
products based on its juice can serve as wonderful cooling drinks. The
fruit is also beneficial for combating hypertension.
08 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
There’s
a lot of ingredients in your food whose name you can’t even pronounce.
Those chemicals, disguised as food in your nutrition label are the
tricky uns worth thinking about – most calorie-loaded loads are always
rich in chemical additives, preservatives and artificial ingredients.
However, there’s also the simpler everyday villains in your pantry.
IQSoft tells you about the simple things in your food that will make you fat.
1-Monosodium Glutamate
Known as MSG, or Ajinomoto (the name of the company that produces it),
Monosodium Glutamate is described as the “essence of taste”. And if your
potato chips are flavored,
they contain MSG. MSG tells your brain that the food you are eating is
tasty by exciting your brain cells. It also enters your brain that is
known to correlate to obesity and other disorders (including short
height and sexual issues)
Which in turn will makes you fat.
Secondly, it may also increase your pancreatic insulin, another reason behind obesity.
Directly injecting MSG into rats has increased their appetite and induce obesity.
What contains MSG: Maggi Noodles, along with a lot of other packaged
noodles. MSG awareness is the reason behind the “MSG-free” you might see
on new “Health soups”It’s also in your chips, your salad dressing, It
goes by names like Accent, ‘Aginomoto, ‘Natural Meat Tenderiser,
Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein, and is in ALL your fast food (especially
McDonalds and KFC)
2-Sugar
Sugar, especially of the
refined variety is not good for you. It’s carbs which you may not burn,
and it also spikes your appetite. On nutrition labels, it might be named
as flour, corn syrup, dextrose,Carob powder, Dextrose, Fructose, Fruit
juice concentrate, Maltose.
“Most people probably have no idea
how much sugar they’re taking in,” said Jo Ann Hattner, a San Francisco
registered dietitian who teaches nutrition courses at Stanford
University School of Medicine.
Sugar, by itself isn’t bad. It’s too much of it – more than 12
teaspoons a day. With your nutrition label in front of you, remember
that 4 gram = 1 teaspoonful of sugar. This should include your daily
consumption of juice, chocolate, lemonade, biscuits, and even your ketchup (yes!). Incidentally, if you eat ketchup everyday, you might be eating close to 200 grams of sugar every week.
3-Sugar Substitutes
If sugar is bad for you, surely an alternative to sugar won’t be? Right?
Wrong!
Aspartame, responsible for “over 75% of adverse reactions reported to
the US Food And Drug Administration…” is present in anything that begins
with ‘Diet’ or substitutes sugar, including Diet Pepsi, Diet Coke, Nutrasweet, Equal, Chewing gum, breath mints
Aspartame causes carbohydrate cravings – specifically cravings for the sugar content.
08 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Thursday, 02 June 2011 12:45
Just like nicotine snuck into your system, you have to use the same wily ways to trick it out of your life.
There’s a lot of easy ways of doing this. Get your notepad (or notepad app) ready.
Don’t Buy a Pack
if you buy a packet of chips,
you’ll want to eat most of it (if not all). While it’s not
chip-addiction we’re cracking down on, the formula is the same. If you
buy one cigarette , you’ll channelize your laziness (into buying another
one) to actually reduce your time between cigarettes.
Smoke only Half a Cigarette Each Time
I don’t have to explain the 50% off on your health.
Remove the ashtrays
The tradition of easing into your comfy chair with a cigarette and a
ashtray- nix it. Throw away your lighters too. Make smoking a chore, an
annoying bodily necessity.
Enlist Fellow Quitters
Peer pressure got you into smoking, now use the same devilish social
conditioning to have the pressure of your fellow man’s expectations of
you. You can pool in your anti-smoking resources and motivate each
other.
Exercise
It’s a simple chemical reaction. Smoking => Nicotine => Dopamine in your brain => Happiness. If you’re already feeling good after enjoyable exercise (it can even be jumping with your kids, as long as you love it)
Change your Brand
You’re overriding the love you have of a specific blend of tobacco with something your throat will chemically dislike.
Smoke Alone
If smoking was bonding time
with fellow addicts, smoking alone will force you to have less of a
reason. On a deeper level, it will show it’s reality as an addiction.
Write down each Cigarette Smoked
“Pressure“
motivates a lot of clicks of the lighter. Write down the things that
made you want to light up in the first place. Start addressing those.
Smoke Free Zones
Libraries, cultural centers and cinema halls are all places where
smoking is banned. Hang out at such smoke-free zones – the entertainment
options will distract you from smoking.
08 Jun 2011
by azadpalestine
in Uncategorized
Friday, 03 June 2011 22:3
A major change in your lifestyle cannot happen without changing your life holistically.
We have told some cool ways of sneaking the butt out of your reach and explored the relationship between smoking and weight gain, and this seems a good starting point to pay more attention to foods’ role in reducing, and then quitting smoking.
Reduce Cravings for Cigarettes
Avoid sugary foods, red meat, coffee and alcohol.
Sugar, because it precipitates an eventual crash from the sugar high,
andy you’ll crave another high. Red meat makes cigarettes taste good –
just ask smokers. Coffee’s buzz (and subsequent drop – leading to a
craving for another source of caffeine) and alcohol’s neurobiological
effect on your brain makes you crave a cigarette. And when you’re
drinking, you might not be able to remain firm in your resolution to not
smoke.
1-Apples
Maybe 2-3 apples a day. Apples contain
pectin, which reduces your blood toxin content. In adverse cases, it is
known to use an apple-only diet to completely purge the bloodstream diet
of the toxins from cigarettes.
(Above is Charlize Theron doing it all wrong!)
Apples are also crunchy and sweet, and appeal to smokers who need something to do with their mouth.
2-Cinammon
There are many ways you can use cinnamon as a quit-smoking aid.
cinnamon
Simply inhaling deeply on a cinnamon stick mimics the deep drag on a flavorful cigarette.
Secondy, cinnamon boosts brain activity, reduces nervous tension and memory loss – all the temporary side-effects of quitting smoking.
Cinnamon is also good for, well, everything. Your blood, your stomach – cinnamon is a tonic for most things.
3-Ginger and 4-Garlic
Ginger is hot stuff – literally. It makes you sweat out your toxins.
Garlic stabilizes your fluctuating blood pressure when you quit.
6-Milk and Other Dairy Products
Can you imagine smoking after a glass of milk? It sounds uncool. And, it’ll make your cigarette taste bitter.
Plan your daily dose of Horlicks around your regular sutta break.
6-Vegetables
Carrots, celery, broccoli, cucumbers are all foods that that can delay
your urge to smoke with their sheer crunchiness. They can make
cigarettes taste awful and are also known to reduce cravings for
nicotine
7-Salt
A weird tip that works – lick a wee bit of salt with the tip of your tongue. It’ll extinguish your urge to smoke
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