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PAGES: 68 VOL.6 | ISSUE: 4 MAY, 2018
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VOL:6 I SSUE:4 I MAY, 2018 `30 Editor SUDHAKAR
Special Correspondent D Bal Reddy
Correspondents Mallesh Babu Mattipati Yanadi Reddy Mandha Ravi Kumar G.P. Nagaraju
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EDITORIAL Editorial
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t appears the dissent against TRS Chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his family is picking up pace. As the election year is approaching and KCR is busy forging a federal front in an apparent attempt to try his prospects at becoming the Prime Minister, Telangana Joint Action Committee’s (TJAC) former chairman, M Kodandaram, formally launched his party Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) on May 29, the same day when KCR was busy meeting DMK leaders Karunanidhi and Stalin in Chennai. It also appears that dissent is growing within the party and with the increase in number of people seeking tickets for the next elections. It seems KCR has plans to install his heir in chief minister’s throne while he himself wants to play a bigger role at the centre. The TJS held a massive meeting to formally announce the launch, invited the Dalit victims of Nerella, victims of Mallanna Sagar, farmers who were jailed for protest and families of Telangana martyrs who remained neglected. The TJS leaders equated KCR’s family to ‘tapeworms’. The TJS also slammed KCR for not letting the people protest democratically. Not just TJS, but common people began to notice from day one the autocratic style of functioning of KCR and his family without giving any room for the cabinet colleagues to function. It has become the talk of Telangana, particularly in universities, that the TRS, which used to criticize the rulers for not giving permission to hold rallies and meetings, is now doing the same thing. Further, the TRS government has gone one step ahead by ordering use of police force and registering cases against democratic protests with an intention to create terror among the protestors. In fact, political parties, NGOs and other outfits allege that the atrocities of ‘Dorala Rajyam’ (dictatorial regime) are back with KCR. It appears the dissent is growing among government officials, particularly the police officials, though the higher ups keep praising KCR family. On the whole, dissent is growing among all walks of life in Telangana not against TRS but against KCR and his family. This is something KCR must take serious note. (Sudhakar)
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
4 Contents
SC to hear in July plea for bar on contesting from two seats The Supreme Court will take up final hearing of a case seeking bar on candidates from simultaneously contesting from two constituencies in the first week of July.
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Experts differ over holding simultaneous elections
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Amid ongoing talks over holding simultaneous parliamentary and state elections, an elite panel of constitutional experts, senior politicians and bureaucrats on Saturday joined a brainstorming session to find the best way forward for the country.
Data breach hit over 5.6 lakh Indian users, 20 87 mn worldwide: FB 17 'Women cops hardly get prestigious posts': Roopa IPS THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Scientists accidentally create a plastic-eating enzyme
34 A Japanese waste dump is an unlikely location for what may be a huge breakthrough in the plastics pollution crisis.
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Women more prone to kidney disfunction than men: Study
India, China contribute to over 50% of global deaths due to pollution: Report
Chronic kidney disease in India is more common in women than in men, finds a survey by SRL Diagnostics. The survey showed that abnormality in kidney function was an average of 11.36 per cent higher in women than in men (9.48%)
More than 95 per cent of the world's population is breathing unhealthy air, with India and China jointly contributing to over 50 per cent of global deaths attributed to pollution, a new report has found.
India ends third best CWG show
Nigerians constitute 40% of foreigners held for drug crimes 25 in India in ‘17: NCB
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6 Infantilism
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Rahul Gandhi gives bizarre answers to students in Amethi
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ongress president Rahul Gandhi gave bizarre answers to students while he was on a visit to a government school recently. During his interaction with school children in Amethi, one of the girl students asked: The government has enacted many laws but why are not they properly being implemented in the villages? Rahul smilingly replied: "Yeh aap Modi Ji sey puchiye. Meri sarkar thodi hi hai. Jab hamari sarkar hogi tab hamsey poochna (You ask this
question to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. My government is not there. You should ask this question to us (Congress) when our government comes into power)." The Congress President's answer was supposed to invite laughter and it did so. It is not clear whether Rahul knowingly or unknowingly gave this answer as everybody knows that the Parliament enacts laws and many of them are implemented by the state governments and not by the Union government. When the same student asked question about Amethi, the Congress President shrugged off his re-
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
sponsibilities as an MP and put the blame on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath instead. "Nahi-Nahi. Amethi ko toh Yogi ji chalate hain. Mai to Amethi ka MP hoon. Mera kaam Lok Sabha mey kanoon bananey ka hai. Magar Yogi ji kaa kaam UP ko chalaney ka hai aur Yogi ji doosra kaam kar rahey hain. Bijli kaa kaam nahi kar rahey hain, paani ka kaam nahi kar rahey hain, Shiksha ka kaam nahi kar rahey hain aur krodh faila rahey hain. (No! No!. Yogi governs Amethi. I am MP from Amethi and my work is to enact laws in the Lok Sabha. It is responsibility of Yogi to
Infantilism
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SC to hear in July plea for bar on contesting from two seats
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he Supreme Court will take up final hearing of a case seeking bar on candidates from simultaneously contesting from two constituencies in the first week of July. Earlier, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the court that he would like to assist it in the hearing on the plea. He also told the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that he needed time to file his response to the plea. Giving him time and directing the completion of the pleadings, the court directed that the matter be listed in July when it re-opens after the summer vacations. By its December 11, 2017, order, the court had asked petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay to serve a petition copy on the Attorney General so that the court can get his assistance. Upadhyay is Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit spokesman. The court on Wednesday took on record the Election Commis-
sion's affidavit filed in December 2017 that a candidate should not contest from two constituencies. Upadhyay has challenged Section 33(7) of the Representation of the People Act that allows a person to simultaneously contest elections for Parliament and state assemblies from two constituencies. Section 33[(7) says that "... , a person shall not be nominated as a candidate for election," (a) in the case of a general election to the
House of the People ..., from more than two Parliamentary constituencies." Many politicians contest from more than one constituency and then give up one seat if they get elected from both. Before he became the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi too contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara in Gujarat. He won both, but eventually gave up the Vadodara seat.
govern UP but he is busy doing something else. He is not working on electricity, water, education and spreading anger," Rahul replied and walked away while the students wanted to ask more questions. Apart from role in Parliament, an MP also has an important developmental role in his/her State or constituency. He/She is expected to
spend Rs. 5 crore per year under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for the development of his/her constituency. There is also a provision in the Constitution that allow MPs to represent local bodies and to monitor implementation of government schemes in their constituencies. MPs could also work towards
catalyzing schemes of the State and Central government in their constituencies. Earlier in the day, Rahul began his three-day visit to Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh today. His mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is the Member of Parliament from Raebareli.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
8 National
Experts dier over holding simultaneous elections
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mid ongoing talks over holding simultaneous parliamentary and state elections, an elite panel of constitutional experts, senior politicians and bureaucrats on Saturday joined a brainstorming session to find the best way forward for the country. "Is it a good thing for the country? Is it required?" asked former Attorney General of India Soli J. Sorabjee at the outset of a seminar, titled "Simultaneous Elections for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies", organised here by the
Law Commission of India. Advocating the need to hold simultaneous elections, political scientist Subhash C. Kashyap said thousands of crores of rupees is spent and the governance takes a backseat in case of frequent elections. He said there are vested interests who want to keep the country in election mode all the time and that there are ways to overcome premature dissolution of state assemblies to prevent untimely elections. Former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah stressed the need for electoral reforms. "JustifiTHE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
cation of majority rule in politics does not have ethical superiority and there is no rationale between vote share and number of seats won," he noted. Quoting former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, Venkatachaliah said: "Elections have become the root cause of corruption in the country. After winning elections, the politicianbureaucrat nexus indulges in recovery of the investment and that's where the corruption begins... "If the country is perpetually in an election mode, there is no respite from these evils. Holding simultaneous elections would cer-
tainly help the context." Former Union Minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid said unless people understand elections, there is no point working on holding simultaneous polls. "Here (in India), the Election Commissioner becomes larger than life figure ... (he) can do anything including change the law for 15 days ... no free speech in 15 days ... (but) free speech is essential for our existence ... and we give a discretion to the only tribunal in this country that does not have an appellate tribunal," Khurshid pointed out. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil said although the Constitution does not disallow holding simultaneous elections, it would be better to understand the topic, and even if it cannot be implemented,
there is a need to keep thinking to make things better. "I agree with Soli Sorabjee. If it helps democracy, the country, the people, let's do it," said Patil. Stating that the elected does not necessarily represent the majority, he suggested to hold a follow-up election between the top two candidates in case no candidate secures more than 50 per cent votes. Patil said more than the legal hurdles, the political and practical issues are bigger. Implementation would not be easy without having consensus among political parties, he said. Advocate Jagdeep Singh Chhokar was clear that simultaneous elections is a bad idea for Indian democracy. "Should we look for the cheapest form of
National
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democracy or the best, irrespective of the cost," he asked. Former Chief Election Commissioner H.S. Brahma was completely in favour of holding simultaneous elections. He said the Election Commission has to hold seven elections every five years. In fact, it had to hold 36 by-elections in Andhra Pradesh between 2008 and 2012 and each election costed up to Rs 15 crore. Law Commission of India Chairman Justice B.S. Chauhan said the seminar is an academic exercise. "If (simultaneous elections are) desirable, then how best to proceed and what changes are required," he asked the panel. The Commission has asked for suggestions by May 8, before it forwards its report to the Central government.
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10 Politics
BJP, NDA MPs not to take salary for 2nd half of budget session
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ccusing the Congress of paralysing parliament, BJP and NDA MPs took the high moral ground by deciding not to take salary and allowances for 23 days of the resumed budget session that was completely washed out due to protests by various parties. Announcing the decision, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said it has been decided that the NDA MPs would be giving up their salary and other allowances for 23 days "for which parliament was not allowed to function by the Congress". "The Congress is engaging in anti-democratic politics by stopping important bills from being passed, which is leading to criminal wastage of tax payers money," he
told reporters at a hurriedly-called briefing. Interestingly, Ananth Kumar singled out Congress for the trouble in parliament while there are other parties like AIADMK, TDP, YSR Congress and TRS who had disrupted parliament on various days citing different issues. "It is people's money. MPs have been elected to work for the people. Since no work is being done we have decided not to take money," he said, adding that Congress was indulging in negative politics. "The Congress has become intolerant of the people's mandate given to Narendra Bhai Modi. We will take the issue to the people," he said. Both the government and the opposition have been blaming each other for the wash out of the session THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
ever since it resumed on March 5 for the second part of the budget session. While for the first few days the opposition including Congress had disrupted the house seeking to rake up issues like banking fraud, the protests took a different turn after YSR Congress and TDP brought no-confidence motions on the issue of special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Several other parties inlcluding Congress, TMC, CPI-M tabled similar notices. However, the AIADMK, considered friendly to BJP, took the protest to a new level with its members in both the houses of parliament raking up the Cauvery Management Board issue and disrupting the proceedings without any break for over a fortnight.
Entertainment 11
Mahesh Babu to get wax statue at Madame Tussauds S
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uperstar Mahesh Babu, basking in the success of "Bharat Ane Nenu", is set to get his own wax statue at Madame Tussauds. Mahesh Babu tweeted: "Super happy to be a part of the prestigious Madame Tussauds. Thanks to the team of artistes for their attention to detail. Incredible!" Madame Tussauds is creating a replica of Mahesh Babu and not any of his iconic characters. The superstar personally met the officials and team of artistes involved in the process. His latest film "Bharat Ane Nenu" has been well received. It showcases the journey of a young graduate taking on the state to fight for the rights of his people. The political drama features Mahesh Babu playing the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Casting Couch is
omnipreSent
Accept it or not, but exploitation of women for physical pleasures exists in every sector in the society. Be it entertainment industry, politics, media, multinational companies, public and private sector companies and unorganized sectors such as daily wage earners. And the religious and spiritual institutions are not an exception
Cover story 13
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owever, this exploitation is popular as casting couch in the entertainment industry and people look at this industry with a different approach in view of the vulnerability of the actresses, aspiring actresses and other artistes. Sources say that one actress, who is very popular these days in the Telugu film industry, has been reigning not only for accepting the demands of some people within in the film industry but also for ‘entertaining a popular politician in the state’. The issue of casting couch in Telugu film industry hit the headlines and became the talk of town recently when actress Sri Reddy came in the open and even stripped and staged a protest in Film Nagar, demanding justice for not getting any work in the industry. She leveled allegations against big guns in the industry saying that only the actresses from Northern part of the country were welcome in the Telugu film industry because
they are very open for casting couch. Sri Reddy appeared on television channels and openly said that only those who ‘entertain’ certain people in the industry would get roles and hit stardom, while others will be lying in the dust despite being beautiful and talented. The actress dragged people like Pawan Kalyan into the controversy. The Movie Artistes Association (MAA) was very quick in responding against the actress. MAA ruled out giving membership to her, a day after she caused a flutter by stripping in front of the film chamber, citing her behaviour. "Because of her behaviour, Sri THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Reddy cannot be given membership," Movie Artistes Association (MAA) office-bearer Sivaji Raja told media persons. Several others including Pawan Kalyan and his elder brother Naga Babu criticized Sri Reddy for talking to media. Those who are considered as Telugu film industry’s bigwigs opined that the actress should not have gone to the media. Instead, they wanted her to ‘sort out the issue within the industry’. This attitude of the film industry bigwigs clearly shows that they will not respect right to freedom of speech, expression and right to dignity of their comrades.
14 Cover story
However, some people from the industry find it very convenient to criticize anyone on the earth including the Prime Minister of India. Unfortunately, the very important issue of casting couch in the Telugu film industry has cleverly been side tracked by converting it into ego clashes between a couple of popular actors and others and also by resorting to physical attacks on media persons. But one has to appreciate the courageous step taken by Sri Reddy, even if people have reservations about the genuineness of her cause. She dared to take on the powerful people and even took some of their names while trying to
bring the plight of the actresses to the light, which is evident from the admission of Naga Babu that casting couch is not a new thing and it always existed. One more welcome outcome of Sri Reddy’s courageous step is that senior Congress leader Renuka Chowdary too came forward with a startling statement that ‘political casting couch’ also exists. This was followed by the statement of Bollywood senior choreographer Saroj Khan that casting couch is truth in the film industry. Quick in succession, actor turned politician Satrughan Sinha too
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
came out with a statement that casting couch exists in entertainment industry and politics. In fact, there are many people from different sectors in the society, who admit in private that women are exploited for physical pleasures. While some are compelled, some voluntary for it because of the prospects of growth, they say. Those who come forward either by force or voluntarily to provide physical pleasures to the powerful people in the respective sectors are treated as power centers in that sectors. This happens not only in entertainment industry, politics but in media, multi-national companies, public and private sector companies and unorganized sectors such as daily wage earners. Strong regulatory systems need to be put in place to stop casting couch incidents. At the same time, there is need for moral education to each individual so that greed for power, money and luxuries may not become the priorities for the people.
16 Media Apathy
12 media houses told to pay `10 lakh as compensation for identifying Kathua minor
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he Delhi High Court on April 18 directed 12 media organisations to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for disclosing the identity of an eight-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. Advocates representing the media houses told a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar that the mistake was due to ignorance of law and misconception that they could name the girl as she was dead. As the media houses apologized, the court asked them to deposit the compensation amount with the Registrar General of the High Court within a week and directed that the money be transferred to Jammu and Kashmir to be used for the girl's compensation scheme. The media houses are The Times Of India, The Indian Express, NDTV, The Hindu, Republic TV, Deccan Chronicle, Navbharat Times, The Week, The Pioneer, Firstpost, The Statesman and India TV, court documents showed. The court directed that wide and continuous publicity be given to the statutory provisions of law regarding privacy of victims of sexual offences and punishment for
revealing their identities. The court observed that there were long-term repercussions to the victim's family, especially for the women members, due to such kind of reporting. The court last week issued notices to several media houses for disclosing the girl's identity, saying it violated the law and was punishable under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code. Taking suo moto cognisance of the publication of photographs and the name of the rape victim, the court said that under Section 23 (Procedure for media) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act any person who discloses the identity of a child THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
victim could be sent to a minimum six months' imprisonment. The High Court also said it will take up the issue of social media being used as a tool for revealing and disseminating the identity of victims of sexual violence at a later stage and listed the matter for further hearing on April 25. The minor in Kathua was held captive inside a temple and sedated before being repeatedly raped and murdered. Sanjhi Ram, the caretaker of the temple, has been named the main accused and is said to have planned the heinous crime to instil fear among the Bakarwal community to which the girl belonged.
Hard Truth 17
'Women cops hardly get prestigious posts': roopa ipS
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ndian Police Service (IPS) officer Roopa D Moudgil, who exposed special favours extended to ousted AIADMK leader VK Sasikala in a Bengaluru jail during her tenure as the DIG Prisons in Karnataka, has said sexual discrimination exists in different forms in the Indian bureaucracy, though it is often kept carefully under wraps. In an interview with IANS, the current Inspector General of Police (Home Guards and Civil Defence), Bengaluru, also dwelt on the importance of prison reforms and sen-
sitisation of the officials and talked about her fight to extricate the Indian public servants from the tentacles of VIP culture. "Yes, sexual discrimination is present in Indian bureaucracy, though it is subtle. You can get a feel of it by looking at how many prestigious posts the men are occupying compared to their female counterparts. The gap is stark, though there is not a lot of difference in terms of potential," said Roopa, who was in Kolkata to attend a literary meet. "When I joined service in 2000, the number of female IPS officers THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
was very less. Now more women are coming into the police service. I often felt there is a sense of discrimination, especially when it comes to the place of posting for a female officer. People seem to doubt whether lady officers would be good enough to handle a sensitive or important place." "Also the women in police service are hardly given prestigious posts. Maybe because the most sought-after posts, which involves a lot of power, also have a lot of vested interests involved and those in power think twice before posting a lady officer as they doubt if they would be able to get their work done through her," Roopa said. The officer, who recently declined to accept an award recognising her work from a Karnataka-based private foundation for the "heavy" cash reward it came with, said women officers in high ranks often have to deal with insubordination by male officers and blamed this on the common perception of women in Indian society.
18 Hard Truth
"The immediate line of male subordinates often oppose the order given by a lady officer. There is a general feeling in our society that ladies, no matter how literate or experienced they are, have a lesser idea about the outside world. So there is a tendency to neglect the orders. They would disobey you, argue with you and even lie to you," she said. Roopa, who stirred a hornet's nest last year by going public about the VIP treatment received by Sasikala in Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, said the cases of discrimination inside the jails are a reflection of the discrimination that exists in society. "The people who are considered as VIPs outside are often given VIP treatment inside the prison as well. They avail special facilities. For the poor, the jail is like hell. So the dis-
crimination that exists in society, the same is reflected in the microcosm of prisons. "Corruption has to be tackled, the prison officials involved in such practices have to be dealt with using a carrot-and-stick policy. They should be heavily punished if such behaviour is found and also the officials need to be sensitised about the law because it does not permit any such discrimination," she pointed out. Asked about being transferred 26 times in 17 years of her service, the officer said though she finds it demotivating sometimes, it does not stop her from doing good work. Following the Sasikala expose, Roopa's senior and the then Karnataka DGP (Prisons) HN Sathyanarayana Rao, filed a Rs 50 crore defamation lawsuit against her for accusing him and other prison offi-
cials of taking bribes from the jailed AIADMK leader. However, Roopa says she is confident that the charges of defamation won't stand against her as she had just been doing her duty like a loyal public servant. "I have never criticised the entire state government or defamed anyone. So I am confident that this defamation would not stand against me. I will come out of it clean. I have done my duty in an accountable and transparent manner, in a way every government servant is expected to," she said. "I was not nervous because I did not think about the consequences during the expose. I knew that I have acted as per law. I have nothing to hide. I have no vested interest in this. My courage comes from my righteousness," the officer added.
Meghalaya CM moots work permit to Bangladeshi nationals
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eghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma mooted the idea of issuing work permit to Bangladeshi nationals to address the challenge of infiltration, an official said. Sangma made this proposal to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj when the latter along with State Home Minister James Sangma and Tourism Minister Metbah Lyngdoh called on her recently.
"The Chief Minister has proposed work permit to Bangladeshi nationals to address the challenge of infiltration, to which the External Minister said that it would be discussed and examined," Officer on Special Duty (Media) Saidul Khan said in a press statement. The Chief Minister also sought Sushma Swaraj's intervention on road connectivity between Bangladesh and Meghalaya and mentioned the Shillong-Dhaka and Tura-Dhaka routes. She promised to consider the request. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
She said the issue would be taken up at the North East Chief Minister's Meet to be held in New Delhi. Promising that all central assistance would be extended to Meghalaya and other North Eastern states to improve relations with neigbouring nations to enhance trade and cultural ties, Sushma Swaraj suggested the Chief Minister to take advantage of the good relationship with Bangladesh. Meghalaya shares over 440 km border with Bangladesh.
Hard Truth 19
Legal justice still difficult for sexually assaulted disabled women
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omen and girls with disabilities who have survived sexual violence find it difficult to access legal justice in India, says a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The report says that even in cases of extreme violence, trauma and economic hardship (including due to childbirth following rape), women and girls with disabilities had difficulties in securing compensation. "Since 2013, India has made important legal reforms on sexual violence, but women and girls with disabilities still lack equal access to justice," said report co-author Nidhi Goyal, who is also an activist for the rights of the disabled. The 61-page report, titled "Invisible Victims of Sexual Violence: Access to Justice for Women and Girls with Disabilities in India,"
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details the challenges many women and girls with disabilities face throughout the justice process: reporting abuse to the police, obtaining appropriate medical care, having complaints investigated, navigating the court system and getting adequate compensation. For the report, HRW investigated 17 cases of rape and gangrape from eight states: Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. The victims include eight girls and nine women living with a spectrum of disabilities, including physical, sensory, intellectual and psychosocial disability. Around 111 people were interviewed, including victims of sexual violence, family members, lawyers, officials from mental health institutions and shelter facilities, police, government officials,
disability rights activists and "special educators", the report said. The report suggested that Indian women with physical disabilities may find it more difficult to escape from violent situations. "Those who are deaf may not be able to call for help or easily communicate abuse. Women and girls with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities may not know that non-consensual sexual acts are a crime and should be reported. Stigma related to their sexuality and disability compounds these challenges," it mentioned. According to the report, access to sign-language interpretation, the presence of someone to facilitate communication (a "special educator"), use of simple language, and the option to file reports in braille are needed to improve interaction with the police and the judicial process, women and girls with disabilities.
'SC judges appointed on impression, not performance'
tressing on the need to bring more transparency in the appointment process of Supreme Court judges, Justice J Chelameswar has said the elevation of the High Court judge to the apex court is done on their impression rather than on their performance. Speaking during a panel discussion titled 'The Indian Higher Judiciary: Issues and Prospects', the apex court judge said the one
responsible for the selection process must put "assessment on record", which would "eliminate most of the problems". "An assessment of the performance of a high court judge, I am talking about elevation to the Supreme Court, is hardly done. Generally, the assessment goes by impression," Justice Chelameswar said. During the discussion, Justice Chelameswar, while speaking on reforms re-
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
quired in the apex court, said if it happens then as the sanctioned strength of the top court is 31 judges, each state will stake its claim for a seat. "The SC today has a sanctioned strength of 31. The moment Supreme Court with 31 judges is created, the first thing that happens in this country is every state believes it is entitled to a seat in the top court," he said.
20 Hard Truth
Data breach hit over 5.6 lakh Indian users, 87 mn worldwide: FB
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rivate data of over 5.6 lakh Indian Facebook users was compromised by a private marketing firm that later sold the personal details acquired through a quiz app to Cambridge Analytica, a UK-based company at the centre of a global privacy breach storm. The social media giant informed the Indian government on April 5 about the details of compromised accounts in response to a notice over the user data breach and details of the steps Facebook was taking to ensure safety and prevent misuse of personal data. A Facebook spokesperson said a possible breach of data of 562,455 users happened after 335 Facebook users in India installed a quiz app, "thisisyourdigitallife" between November 2013 and December 2015. The response comes after Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer in a blog post showed country-specific break-up of people affected by the data breach, saying information of up to 87 million people, mostly in the US, may have been "improperly" shared with the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica. The app, developed by University of Cambridge psychology researcher Aleksandr Kogan and his company Global Science Research, pulled out data of not only these 335 users but their friends as well
as friends of friends also. Some 335 people in India were said to have installed the app, which is 0.1 per cent of its total worldwide installs. But this information is limited to people who installed the app throughout its lifetime on the Facebook platform -- from 2013 to December 2015 -when it was suspended from the platform. "We further understand that 562,120 additional people in India were potentially affected, as friends of people who installed the app. This yields a total of 562,455 potentially affected people in India." The social media giant, however, did not reveal the identity or locations of these 335 users. Facebook will inform all 562,455 users that their account privacy had been breached through a link at the top of their news feed so they can see what apps they use and the information they have shared with those apps. Facebook also doesn't know how Cambridge Analytica and THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Global Science Research used the data of Indian users because the firms are not its downstream affiliates and may have made independent decisions regarding the data they obtained. This, Facebook said, was "not authorized and breached our policies". The location of those affected has been identified. But Facebook said the location was "not an indication of voter registration, nationality or citizenship and may not, in some cases, indicate actual place of residence". "We continue to investigate all apps that had access to large amounts of information before we changed our platform in 2014 to reduce data access and we will conduct a full audit of any app with suspicious activity," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said protecting data was "at the heart of everything we do" and require the same from people who operate apps on Facebook. While Facebook says the
Hard Truth 21
Facebook CEO apologises for data misuse F
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acebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Congress in written testimony that he is "responsible for" not preventing the social media platform from being used for harm, including fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech. "We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility and that was a big mistake," Xinhua quoted Zuckerburg as saying in a prepared testimony released by the US House Energy and Commerce Committee. "It was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook, I run it and I'm responsible for what happens here," he said in the remarks he is expected to deliver in a hearing on Wednesday. His apology came after Facebook is embroiled in a widening scandal that a British data firm called Cambridge Analytica had improperly gathered detailed Facebook information on 87 million users, up from a previous estimate of more than 50 million. Also, Facebook revealed on Wednesday that outsiders took number of affected users was "over inclusive", Ankush Johar, Director at Infosec Ventures -- security solutions firm -- didn't agree, fearing the actual figure may be "exponentially bigger".
advantage of search tools on its platform, making it possible for them to collect personal information on most of its 2 billion users worldwide without the users' explicit permission. This was Zuckerberg's latest apology for the personal data leak and he vowed to plug the vulnerabilities while attempting to defend himself by listing the company's measures to protect user privacy in past years. He said Facebook had changed the entire platform in 2014 to "dramatically limit the Facebook information apps could access." Moreover, Facebook banned Aleksandr Kogan, a Cambridge "The quiz app 'thisisyourdigitallife' is not the only application that had hidden data-scraping functionalities and many other apps were exploiting these so-called 'features' provided by Facebook which the THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
University researcher who leaked the data to Cambridge Analytica, from using Facebook data in 2015 and certified that "they had deleted all improperly acquired data," according to Zuckerberg. But he did not explain why and how Cambridge Analytica still managed to misuse the personal data afterwards. Zuckerberg pledged to limit the information the platform developers can access and they have to get users' approval. The leaked data was said to be inappropriately used by Cambridge Analytica in activities allegedly connected with US President Donald Trump's election campaign in 2016. company confirmed itself. "If as small as 350 users in a single app can lead to leakage of over 5 lakh users, the true number can be exponentially bigger than this," Johar said.
22 Hard Truth
Antibiotic kills 7 lakh people per annum: Aetna international
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recent white paper by Aetna International titled 'Antibiotic resistance: Toward better stewardship of a precious medical resource' has highlighted the ill-effects of antibiotic consumption on human health, and has stressed on the need for immediate action to restrain the situation. The white paper state numerous factors such as high burden of disease, poor public health infrastructure, rising incomes and the unregulated sale of cheap antibiotics have increased the risk of antibiotic resistance in India. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is causing around 7 Lakh deaths worldwide and the death
toll may rise up to 1 crore per annum by 2050. In a survey conducted in 12 countries by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015 shows that at least 75 per cent of respondents from four countries including India have consumed antibiotic in the last six months. There is a possibility of an increase in antibiotic consumption in BRICS countries by 99 per cent. One of the contributors to the whitepaper, Dr. Prashant Kr Dash, Chief Medical Officer, vHealth by Aetna said, “The majority of Indians think antibiotics can cure illnesses such as common cold and gastroenteritis, which is a wrong perception. The majority of these infections are caused by viruses and antibiotics have no role in their treatment. This problem of inappropriate antibiotic use is compounded by their easy availability at pharmacies." He added, "In
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
many cases, patients experience unwanted serious side effects of antibiotics like an allergic reaction, diarrhea, vomiting, kidney failure, changes in blood sugar levels and toxic effects on the heart and liver. This persuaded us to collate this study which will create awareness on the issue and draw attention to the alarming health crisis being faced globally." At the same time, Mr. Manasije Mishra, Managing Director of India Health Organisation & Aetna India said, "Antibiotic resistance is a crisis that effects everyone globally. We need to address this issue now with a global, multifaceted strategic solution." "In India, with our vHealth by Aetna tele consultation service, Aetna is taking a three-stage approach that emphasizes antimicrobial stewardship in clinical training audit medical consultations, the identification incorrect antibiotic usage in patients and offers counseling on appropriate usage, dosage, duration and rationale of using antibiotics. By these means, we are initiating steps to help combat the growing threat of AMR in the country, "Mishra said.
Crime & Punishment 23
Asaram sentenced to life in minor’s rape case A
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Special Court in Jodhpur convicted self-styled godman Asaram for raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013 and sentenced him to a prison term for life till his natural death, on April 25. The judgment was pronounced by Special Judge for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe cases, Madhu Sudan Sharma, inside the Jodhpur Central Jail, where Asaram is lodged. The court also awarded 20 years in jail each to Asaram's warden Shilpi and associate Sharad. The court, however, acquitted Asaram's 'sevadar' Shiva and cook Prakash. "Asaram has been sentenced to life imprisonment till natural death... Shilpi and Sharad have also been directed to pay Rs one lakh fine each," defence lawyer Sushma Dhara said. The 77-year-old godman and two others were con-
victed under Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, the 474page judgment said. Dhara said an appeal would be filed in the Rajasthan High Court against the judgment and for Asaram's bail. The defence lawyer said that Asaram appeared normal in the court but became sad and worried when the court convicted him. The police chargesheet against Asaram and four co-accused was filed on November 6, 2013, under the Pocso Act, the Juvenile Justice Act and the IPC. Asaram is facing trial in another sexual assault case in Gujarat. The final arguments in the case were completed in the Jodhpur court on April 7, which reserved the order for Wednesday. Asaram was arrested in 2013 after the teenage girl from Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur, a Class 12 student at his Chhindwara Ashram in Madhya Pradesh, filed a complaint and accused him of rape at his ashram in Manai village on the Jodhpur outskirts on August 15, 2013. Asaram was arrested from Indore and brought to Jodhpur on September 1, 2013. He is under judicial custody since September 2, 2013. He was earlier denied bail by the Supreme Court. Apprehending threat to law and order from the followers of Asaram, high security was in place in Jodhpur, with prohibitory orders enforced in the city.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
24 Crime & Punishment
Salman sentenced for 5 yrs in prison, released on bail
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ctor Salman Khan, who was sentenced to five years of imprisonment by a Jodhpur court on April 5 in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, was released from the prison two days later after being granted bail by sessions court. Salman’s release was ordered on a bail bond of Rs 50,000. The court also allowed suspension of sentence during the pendency of Salman's appeal against his conviction. In addition, the court added a
condition that Khan cannot leave the country without the court's permission. While Salman was handed prison term, other four co-accused actors - Sonali Bendre, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu and Neelam -- were acquitted of all charges. Earlier, Salman, 52, was found guilty under the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for killing two blackbucks, an endangered species, hunting of which is prohibited by law. The incident took place in Kankani village near
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Jodhpur on October 1-2, 1998, during the shooting of Bollywood film "Hum Saath Saath Hain". The trial of the case was in progress since the last 19 years and the judge in a court here had reserved the order after the final arguments on March 28. Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha has protested against the decision of acquitting the other accused stars. Their acquittal will be challenged in the high court, said Shivraj Bishnoi, state president of the organisation.
Drug Cartels 25
Nigerians constitute 40% of foreigners held for drug crimes in India in '17: NCB
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P VISHNUVARDHAN REDDY
igerians constituted about 40 per cent of foreigners arrested for drug crimes in the country last year, according to a latest report by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). According to the data compiled by the NCB for the year 2017, out of the total 397 foreigners arrested in India for drug crimes, 157 were Nigerians, 95 were from Nepal, 46 from Myanmar and 13 from South Africa. Nigerians, as per the data, constitute the highest and account for about 40 per cent of the foreigners arrested for such crimes last year.
The Narcotics Control Bureau, the enforcement agency tasked to coordinate efforts against drug menace, itself arrested 21 Nigerians, while the rest were apprehended by other departments, including various state police units. A senior official in the anti-narcotics establishment said the figures reflect a trend of the involvement of Nigerians and those from other African countries in such crimes. In 2016, he said, 68 Nigerians and 91 Nepalese nationals were arrested across the country for drug crimes, followed by 27 Myanmarese and five from South Africa. "These figures (of arrests of foreign nationals) are by and large
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the same each year. We have found that the challenging and poor socioeconomic conditions of those hailing from the African region are responsible for them being lured into such crimes," the official said. "All these cases are also brought to the notice of local embassies or High Commissions of the respective countries as the proceedings under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) continue," he said. The other countries whose nationals were arrested for drug crimes last year include Bolivia (7), Bangladesh (6), Sri Lanka (6), Uganda and Rwanda (5 each) and Venezuela (4) among others.
26 Sports
India ends third best CWG show
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he star badminton trio of Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth were the centre of attraction as the paddlers continued to snatch medals as the Indian contingent ended its campaign
at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) on a high. India bagged a total of seven medals on the final day. India finished the Games with 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze medals. This year's total of 66 medals is the third highest haul for India in the history THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
of the CWG. In the medal table, India is only behind Australia (198 medals) and England (166 medals). India's best performance till date came at home during the 2010 Delhi Games, which produced a tally of 101 medals -- 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze.
Sports 27
Gold CoASt CWG finAl medAl tAlly
Top 10 positions in the final medals tally of the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) here on Sunday. The list is in the order of rank, nation, gold medal, silver medal, bronze medal and total medals. 1. Australia
80
59
59
198
3. India
26
20
20
66
2. England 4. Canada
5. New Zealand 6. South Africa 7. Wales
8. Scotland 9. Nigeria
10.Cyprus
The second highest medals tally of 69 came at 2002 in Manchester: 30 gold along with 22 silver and 17 bronze. Saina and Sindhu were involved in an intense, high tempo women's singles final. Saina, 28, displayed superb form to clinch a 21-18, 23-21 victory for the second CWG singles title of her career. Her maiden CWG singles gold came at the 2010 Games in New Delhi. For Sindhu, this was the second CWG singles medal of her career, the first being bronze at Glasgow 2014. Srikanth was involved in an equally entertaining men's singles
final against Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei. Although Srikanth dominated the opening game, Lee showed his true class later to register a 19-21, 21-14, 21-14 victory for the fifth CWG title of a glittering career. The last two games were totally one-sided as the veteran Malaysian star handed out a masterclass in placement and deception. Srikanth was virtually reduced to a spectator as Lee piled on the points. The men's doubles team of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also settled for the silver medal after going down 13-21, 1621 to England's Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge. In squash, defending champions Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa settled for the silver medal in women's doubles after losing 9-11, 8-11 to New Zealand's Joelle King and Amanda LandersMurphy. This was Joshna's first and Dipika's second medal at Gold Coast after taking silver in the THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
45
15 13
15 16 11
10 9 9 8
45 40 15 13 12 13 9 1
46 27 46 37
136 82
14
36
6
24
22 5
44 14
mixed doubles with Saurav Ghosal. "Might have fallen short on both my finals but what a magical week it's been for me. Thank you to both my partners for holding me together through these 2 weeks. #cwg2018," Dipika wrote on Twitter. Veteran table tennis star Achanta Sharath Kamal bagged the men's singles bronze medal beating England's Samuel Walker 11-7, 119, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10. It was the veteran's third medal here, after the men's team gold and the silver in the men's doubles. Meanwhile, Manika Batra grabbed her fourth medal at this year's CWG. She bagged bronze in the mixed doubles table tennis competition in the company of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. Manika and Sathiyan defeated veteran compatriots Sharath and Mouma Das 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 in the play-off for the third position at the Oxenford Studios here. India pocketed a total of eight medals in table tennis.
28 Sports
I
CWG: Saina wins women's singles
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ndian star Saina Nehwal defeated compatriot P.V. Sindhu by straight games to win the women's singles title in the badminton competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG). Saina displayed some superb form to clinch a 21-18, 23-21 victory in the final. Saina was fired up and played with power and aggression to put Sindhu under pressure right from the start. Sindhu on the other hand, struggled to match her compatriot although she gave a stiff fight in the second game. Sindhu struggled with her placements during the opening game, her best shot being a wellplaced one into the left corner of Saina's side of the court at 9-12. Saina had forced the lead right at the start of the first game and
continued to increase the advantage at a steady pace. A superb drop shot gave Saina a 19-15 lead before Sindhu fought back to reduce the gap. But Sindhu's poor accuracy let her down once again as she fired an attempted return into the net to give Saina the first game. The second game was a totally different story as Sindhu picked up the tempo. Saina had taken the early lead in the second game as well before she fired one wide to allow Sindhu to draw level at 4-4. Sindhu took two back to back points take a 6-4 lead before Saina reduced the gap with a deceptive smash that totally outfoxed her rival. Sindhu however, and continued to pick up the points bolster her advantage despite excellent play by Saina. Saina continued to fight hard, THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
attempting to chip away at the deficit. Sindhu managed to hold on to the lead for a long time. But the constant pressure by Saina finally paid off when she drew level at 1919. A long rally saw Sindhu retake the lead at 20-19 before she hit one long as Saina drew level once again. Another long rally followed by yet another long hit by Sindhu saw Saina reach game and match point at 21-20. But Sindhu was not to be so easily defeated. She drew level once again with some excellent net play before Saina toook the lead once again with a well placed smash. Saina's patience and fighting spirit finally paid off as an under pressure Sindhu faltered at the net to hit one wide to hand her opponent the gold.
Sports 29
I
CWG 2018: India's golden journey at Gold Coast
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ndia's campaign at the 2018 Commonwealth Games has come to an end, and the nation clinched 66 medals, which include 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze to finish third on medals table. India bettered their tally of medals from 2014 Glasgow Games where they had won a total of 64 medals, including 15 Gold. However, their best performance came during the 2010 Delhi Games where they won 101 medals. The penultimate day of the 2018 CWG saw India winning 6 medals, the biggest one being gold in badminton as Saina Nehwal beat compatriot PV Sindhu in the finals of women's singles. Meanwhile, Kidambi Sikanth, who recently climbed to top of BWF rankings, settled for silver after losing to Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the men's singles badminton final. Interestingly, India bagged most of the medals in shooting(16) with gold medals for Jitu Rai, Anish Bhanwala, Sanjeev Rajput, Manu Bhaker, Heena Sidhu, Tejaswini Sawant, Shreyasi Singh; silver medals for Sidhu, Mehuli Ghosh, Anjum Moudgil, Sawant and bronze medals for Om Mitharwal (two medals), Ravi Kumar, Ankur Mittal and Apurvi Chandela Wrestling was on second position as India won 12 medals in the sport with wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sumit Malik, Sushil Kumar, Rahul Aware winning gold. After wrestling, India won most medals in weightlifting (9), in which
Punam Yadav, Venkat Rahul Ragala, Satish Kumar Sivalingam, Sanjita Chanu, Mirabai Chanu won the gold. In boxing, MC Mary Kom, a five-time world champion, once again made the nation proud by clinching gold in her debut Commonwealth Games. Earlier, Neeraj Chopra and Manika Batra clinched India's first-ever gold medals in men's javelin throw and women's singles table tennis respectively. Meanwhile, 15-year-old shooter Anish created history after winning the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Gold. The teenage shooter became India's youngest-ever medallist in CWG history. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Likewise, 16-year-old Manu Bhaker became the youngest Indian woman athlete to win a gold medal at the Games as she registered a record-breaking 240.9 points in the women's 10m Air Pistol event. However, both the men's and the women's hockey remained medalless as both the teams lost to England in the bronze medal matches. Overall, India were third on medal's tally and they finished behind table toppers Australia and second placed England, who won 197 and 136 medals respectively. Interestingly, the 2018 Games also became India's third best outing ever in the event's history.
30 Sports
‘Age has never been a factor, focused on winning Olympic gold’: Mary Kom
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fter clinching her maiden Commonwealth Games medal, five-time world champion M.C. Mary Kom says she took the Gold Coast Games as a challenge and has urged other athletes to "flush out" the age factor. Mary, 35, clinched the gold in Light Flyweight (48kg) category in Gold Coast, defeating Kristina O'Hara of Northern Ireland in the final. "I never spoke about retirement, these are all rumours. My focus is now solely on that elusive Olympic gold. Whether I win or not is a different thing but I am working hard to achieve that goal," Mary told IANS putting a lid on all talks of her retirement, reiterating that she will continue boxing till her body allows her. "Age has never been a factor for
me, lets flush this 'age factor' out of our minds. I will continue boxing till my body allows me," she said. Kom conceded she had a busy schedule -- as a professional athlete, parent, gym owner and lawmaker -- but sounded a warning to her opponents against assuming she had too much on her plate. "I took the CWG as a challenge and emerged successful since I have always prioritised my training. With this medal I believe I have succeeded in silencing many of my critics. I can challenge anyone when I am on top of my training," she added. Asked about her chances in the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta in August, the London Olympics bronze medallist conceded that the Asiad is a tougher tournament, considering the fact that she will have to compete in a higher weight category.
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Mary, a Rajya Sabha MP, will have to compete in the Flyweight (51kg) category at the Asiad, since the 48kg division is not a part of the Asian Games and the Olympics. "The Asian Games will be a bigger challenge, where I will have to compete in a higher weight category. So whatever the category is, I have to be fully ready and focussed on my training," she said. Mary, who has been competing non-stop for the past five months, starting with the Asian Championships gold in November, has no plans of taking a break. Ahead of the CWG, Mary won a gold medal in the India Open in January before settling for a silver in the Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria in February. When asked about the quality of India's coaching staff, Mary was quick to pick women's High-Performance manager Raffaele Berga-
Sports 31
India on right path to become sporting powerhouse: IOA Chief
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fter the Indian contingent finished third in the medals tally at the just concluded 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG), an elated Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Chief Narinder Dhruv Batra said the nation is on the right path to become a sporting powerhouse. With a total of 66 medals, which included a grand haul of 26 Gold medals, 20 Silver and 20 Bronze at the Gold Coast Games, the Indian contingent surpassed the tally of 64 with 15 golds, achieved at the last edition of the quadrennial event at Glasgow in 2014. Congratulating the athletes, Batra said: "On behalf of the IOA, I would like to congratulate each and every athlete who participated in the Commonwealth Games and brought glory to the country." "Their hard work has paid rich
dividends and I can proudly say that we as a nation are on the right path to becoming a sporting powerhouse," the IOA chief opined. Significantly, the 2018 CWG also became India's third best outing ever in the event's history. Over the entire stretch of the event
at the Gold Coast, Indian athletes shattered 11 CWG records. "I wish all the athletes the very best in this Olympic cycle and hope they continue to improve upon their performance in the lead up to 2018 Asian Games and the 2020 Olympic Games," Batra concluded.
masco and her personal coach Chhote Lal Yadav as a great combination. "Raffaele and Chhote Lal are very good coaches. Rafael is an experienced coach, Chhote Lal is young and can learn a lot from his company. If he continues in the same way, India will not require foreign coaches," she said. Asked about India's bench strength in women's boxing, Mary sounded positive, and also credited the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for the gradual rise of Indian boxers.
"India has a rich bench strength in women's boxing. I have seen a lot of young boxers coming up, thanks to BFI's efforts of introducing new tournaments like the India Open boxing and also raising their hands in hosting international tournaments like the women's Youth World Championships," she said. "Lovleena (Borgohain) is a very talented and promising boxer but unfortunately missed the medal (in 69kg category). But I do hope she keeps training hard and not lose focus. Medals will definitely come
to her kitty one day," she added. After returning with an impressive haul of nine medals from the CWG, the Indian boxing contingent will take a break for a few days before heading to the United States for physical training, while the second string side will participate in a tournament in Serbia. Commenting on the upcoming national camp, Mary said: "It's an 18-day camp, a very good idea by the BFI and the coaches. In boxing it is very important to maintain fitness and strengthening."
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
32 Sports
Lifter Chanu wins gold at Commonwealth Games
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tar weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won the first gold for India at the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games with a powerpacked performance in the women's 48 kilogram category here on April 5. The Manipuri powerhouse left the competition far behind by setting Games and Commonwealth records in the snatch, clean and jerk as well as the total. She registered 86 kg in the snatch and 110 kg in clean and jerk for a total of 196 kg. Such was her dominance that she net a record
record in each of her six lifts in the competition. The reigning world champion thus obliterated the previous Games record of 175 kg set by Nigeria's Augustina Nwaokolo at the 2010 edition by a considerable distance. Her previous personal best was 194 kg which she had set during her title winning run at the World Championships last year. Marie Hanitra of Mauritius finished a distant second with a total of 170 kg while Dinusha Gomes of Sri Lanka took bronze with 155 kg. Chanu started off on a rousing note by breaking the existing Games record with a lift of 80 kg.
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She went on to break the record another two times with successful attempts of 84 kg and 86 kg, the latter being her new personal best. That gave her a massive lead of 10 kilograms over second placed Marie at the end of the snatch session. The Indian star started the clean and jerk session in similar fashion, lifting 103 kg in her first attempt to take the lead straightaway. Another successful lift of 107 kg consolidated her position at the top. The Manipuri went on to post a new personal best with 110 kg in her third and final attempt to close off a dominating performance.
Sports 33
CWG: Srikanth settles for men's singles silver
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ndian star Kidambi Srikanth had to remain satisfied with the silver medal after losing to an inspired Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the men's singles badminton final at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG). Srikanth had a good start as he won the opening game. But the veteran Malay blew him away in the next two games as Srikanth went down 21-19, 14-21, 14-21 in an hour and five minutes. This was the fifth CWG title of the Malaysian star's glittering career which has produced three Olympic silvers and four World Championships medals. Sunday's contest was an absorbing battle between the World No.1 Indian and the World No.7 from Malaysia. Srikanth troubled Lee during the initial stages with his powerful smashes. But Lee shook off his initial troubles to gradually come into own and subdue his younger rival with an awesome performance. Although Lee took the early lead in the first game, Srikanth fought back to draw level at 7-7 before a couple of powerful smashes gave him a 9-7 lead. A series of excellent rallies saw Lee take three consecutive points and take the lead at 15-14 before Srikanth drew level in very next point. A smash into Lee's body gave Srikanth the lead at 16-15 before the Malaysian drew level yet again
with a superb placement. Srikanth took lead once again at 19-17 and although Lee drew level with back to back winners, the Indian took three consecutive points to win the first game. That turned out to be the only bit of celebration that Srikanth and his Indian fans among the sell-out crowd will manage on the day. Lee was on a completely different level in the next game. Srikanth had started well, taking the the lead initially. But Lee took the lead at 11-9 and fought back some ferocious THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
efforts by the Indian to increase his lead slowly but surely until he took the second game to draw level. The Malaysian continued his domination in the third and final game, opening up an early lead. Srikanth had no answer to the superb placements, quickness and accuracy of his illustrous opponent as the two rivals went into the mid game break with Lee in command of a comfortable 11-5 lead. Lee continued to plunder points as will before closing off the game by a comfortable margin to seal the title.
34 Accidental Innovation
Scientists accidentally create a plastic-eating enzyme
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Japanese waste dump is an unlikely location for what may be a huge breakthrough in the plastics pollution crisis. But back in 2016, a team of Japanese scientists sifting through plastic waste found bacteria capable of breaking down and “eating” one of the world’s most popular plastics ? polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. It was hailed as a potential breakthrough at the time. But in a new twist, British and American scientists have announced that while studying this
bacteria, they accidentally created a mutant enzyme that’s even more efficient at breaking down plastic bottles. The discovery came as a team of scientists from the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the U.S. examined an enzyme produced by the Japanese bacteria to find out more about its structure. By shining intense beams of X-rays on it, 10 billion times brighter than the sun, they were able to see individual atoms. Manipulating the structure to better understand how it worked, they ac-
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
cidentally engineered the mutant enzyme. “Serendipity often plays a significant role in fundamental scientific research and our discovery here is no exception,” said John McGeehan, a biology professor at the University of Portsmouth and one of the lead scientists on the research. “This unanticipated discovery suggests that there is room to further improve these enzymes, moving us closer to a recycling solution for the ever-growing mountain of discarded plastics.” The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Pro-
ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, are now working to further improve the enzyme so it can be used on an industrial scale. “The engineering process is much the same as for enzymes currently being used in bio-washing detergents and in the manufacture of biofuels ? the technology exists,” said McGeehan. It’s possible that within the next few years there could be an industrially viable process for turning PET into other substances or back into its “original building blocks” so it can be sustainably recycled, he added. The ability to scale up the process will be crucial. Plastic pollution is fast becoming one of the biggest environmental issues of our time. The mass-produced material is ubiquitous: More than 1 million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute. That’s
Accidental Innovation 35
more than 16,000 every second. Most of these bottles are made from PET, which can take up to 400 years to biodegrade, and many are littering the oceans. Around 8 million tons of plastics enter the oceans each year. PET is relatively easy to recycle, but over half of global PET waste is not collected for recycling, according to research from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and only 7 percent of bottles are recycled into new bottles (most go into lower-value products). Some companies that rely on PET have committed to do more. Coca-Cola, for example, which produces more than 100 billion plastic bottles a year, according to Greenpeace, has promised to increase the recycled content of its bottles 50 percent by 2020. But progress is slow, partly because big businesses have aesthetic concerns about bottles made from 100-percent recycled plastic. The newly discovered enzyme promises to recycle plastic bottles back into new clear plastic bottles, which would require much less virgin plastic. Some environmentalists and scientists say the breakthrough, THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
though promising, is nowhere near enough to solve our pollution crisis. “These enzymes are not abundantly present in nature, so you would need to produce the enzyme first, then add it to the PET plastic to degrade it,” Wim Soetaert, head of the Industrial Biotechnology Centre at the University of Ghent, pointed out. “This is likely to be a slow process. If you have gone through the trouble of collecting the PET waste, then there are clearly far better ways to recycle it or burn it for energy.” He suggested the use of commercially available biodegradable bioplastics would be a better bet. Greenpeace’s senior oceans campaigner Louise Edge pointed to a desperate need to change recycling and consumption systems on a much wider scale. “What we really need are system changes to reduce the volume of throwaway plastic packaging and make sure plastic drinks bottles are collected and separated effectively,” said Edge. “An enzyme alone can’t clean up the complex and widespread legacy of plastic pollution that we have already created.”
36 Pollution
india, China contribute to over 50% of global deaths due to pollution: report
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ore than 95 per cent of the world's population is breathing unhealthy air, with India and China jointly contributing to over 50 per cent of global deaths attributed to pollution, a new report has found. According to the annual State of Global Air Report, published recently by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI), long-term exposure to air pollution contributed to an estimated 6.1 million deaths across the globe in 2016. The report found that India topped China for early deaths from outdoor air pollution with 1.1 million in 2016. While China had made some progress in declining air pollution, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have experienced the steepest increases in air pollution levels since 2010, it added. Air pollution was the fourth-
highest cause of death among all health risks globally, coming in below high blood pressure, diet and smoking, according to the report. "Air pollution takes a huge personal toll worldwide, making it difficult to breathe for those with respiratory disease, sending the young and old to hospital, missing school and work, and contributing to early death," CNN quoted Bob
O'Keefe, vice president of HEI, as saying in a statement on Tuesday. "The trends we report show real progress in some parts of the world -- but serious challenges remain to eliminate this avoidable affliction," he added. The report also took into THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
account those exposed to the burning of solid fuels in their homes, typically used for cooking or heating their houses, resulting in indoor air pollution. In 2016, a total of 2.5 billion people -- one in three of global citizens -- were exposed to air pollution from solid fuels such as wood or charcoal. Tuesday's report is the latest in a string of studies investigating the effects of air pollution on global populations, CNN reported. In April 2017, the World Health Organization said that environmental pollutants cost an estimated 1.7 million lives among children under the age of five. In 2015, nearly one in six deaths, an estimated nine million worldwide, was related to pollution in some form -- air, water, soil, chemical or occupational pollution, according to a study published in The Lancet.
Water Crisis 37
Taps may dry up in India
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new early warning satellite system has revealed that India along with Spain, Morocco and Iraq faces the risk of shrinking reservoirs that can lead to taps going dry. It has highlighted poor rains in 2017 to show the shrinking of the Indira Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh and the Sardar Sarovar reservoir in Gujarat that supplies drinking water to millions. Shrinking reservoirs could spark the next "day zero" water crisis, according to the developers of a satellite early warning system for the world's 500,000 dams, the Gaurdian reported recently. Cape Town grabbed headlines on "day zero". It launched a countdown to the day when taps would be cut off to millions of residents as a result of a three-year drought. Drastic conservation measures have forestalled that moment in South Africa. However, dozens of other countries face similar risks from rising
demand, mismanagement and climate change, said the World Resources Institute (WRI). The US-based environmental organisation is working with Deltares, the Dutch government and other partners to build a water and security early warning system that aims to anticipate social instability, economic damage and cross-border migration. A prototype is due to be rolled out later in 2018, but a snapshot was unveiled on Wednesday that highlighted four of the worst-affected dams and the potential knock-on risks. Tensions have been apparent in India over the water allocations for two reservoirs connected by the Narmada river. Poor rains last year left the upstream Indira Sagar dam a third below its seasonal average. When some of this shortfall was passed on to the downstream Sardar Sarovar reservoir, it caused an uproar because the latter is a drink-
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ing supply for 30 million people. Last month, the Gujarat government halted irrigation and appealed to farmers not to sow crops. Spain has suffered a severe drought that has contributed to a 60 per cent shrinking of the surface area of the Buendia dam over the last five years, the Guardian report said. All the dams are in the mid-latitudes, the geographic bands on either side of the tropics where climate change is expected to make droughts more frequent and protracted. As more reservoirs are scanned, the WRI expects more cases to emerge. "These four could be a harbinger of things to come," said Charles Iceland of the WRI. "There are lots of potential Cape Towns in the making. Things will only get worse globally, as water demands increase and the effects of climate change begin to be felt." Gennadii Donchyts, senior researcher for Deltares, said the reservoir-monitoring service will steadily grow in size as information is added from Nasa and European Space Agency satellites that provide resolutions of between 10 and 30 metres on a daily basis. The petabytes of data are analysed using Google Earth Engine and algorithms to compensate for periods where parts of the surface area are covered by cloud, the Guardian report said.
38 Tech Troubles
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iS internet AddiCtion reAl?
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new research has found out that the Internet addiction among teenagers is real and serious. According to a study conducted by the Kazan University, teenagers are actually dependent on social media and Internet to an extent indecipherable. Regina Sakhieva, one of the co-authors of the research, explained, "We can detect adolescents' dependence on social networks, where everyone can feel interesting and needed. Many people become addicted to communication in social networks and replacing real-life relationships with virtual ones. Even you are aware of your addiction, it's not always easy to get rid of it." The authors
found out that the majority of those questioned had predispositions for Internet addiction. This included weak control over time spent online, over their own activity timelines and priority setting. However, they still could limit their online activities in favour of face-to-face communication with friends and other daily activities, such as studies. A programme of addiction prevention was proposed as a result of questionnaire analysis. The programme, aimed at promoting social experience, selfregulation, and self-management in the information space, critical thinking with regards to content consumption, was tested and proved to be effective. "We see a solution in prevention measures implemented by all the participants of educational relations. That's why the researchers proposed psychological and pedagogical guidance of prevention policies, including organizational efforts for prevention, special courses for teachers and psychologists, and new forms and methods of prevention work," concluded Dr Sakhieva. The findings are published in the journal Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education.
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Cyber Security 39
34 global tech firms sign key accord against cyber attacks
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op 34 global technology and securities firms, led by Microsoft and Facebook, have signed a "Cybersecurity Tech Accord" to defend people from malicious attacks by cybercriminals and nationstates. The watershed agreement will prevent them help governments launch cyber attacks against innocent citizens and enterprises. It will also protect against tampering or exploitation of their products and services through every stage of technology development, design and distribution. The 34 companies include Cisco, HP, Nokia, Oracle, VMware, Dell, CA Technologies, Symantec, Bitdefender, F-Secure, RSA and Trend Micro, among others. "The devastating attacks from the past year demonstrate that cybersecurity is not just about what any single company can do but also about what we can all do together," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement on Tuesday. The "Cybersecurity Tech Accord" is a public commitment among 34 global companies to protect and empower civilians online and to improve the security, stability and resilience of cyberspace. "This tech sector accord will help us take a principled path towards more effective steps to work together and defend customers around the world," added Smith who has been arguing for a "digital Geneva Convention" for
years. The companies made commitments in four areas -- stronger defence, no offence, capacity building and collective action. "The companies will do more to empower developers and the people and businesses that use their technology, helping them improve their capacity for protecting themselves," said cybertechaccord.org. This may include joint work on new security practices and new features the companies can deploy in their individual products and services. The Tech Accord remains open to consideration of new private sector signatories, large or small and regardless of sector, who are trusted, have high cybersecurity standards and will adhere unreservedly to the Accord's principles. "The real world consequences of cyber threats have been repeatedly proven. As an industry, we must band together to fight cybercriminals and stop future attacks THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
from causing even more damage," said Kevin Simzer, Chief Operating Officer, Trend Micro. The victims of cyberattacks are businesses and organisations of all sizes, with economic losses expected to reach $8 trillion by 2022. The cyber attacks in the past have caused small businesses to shutter their doors, hospitals to delay surgeries and governments to halt services, among other disruptions and safety risks. "The Tech Accord will help to protect the integrity of the one trillion connected devices we expect to see deployed within the next 20 years," said Carolyn Herzog, General Counsel, Arm. On Monday, Cyber security representatives from the US and Britain warned of Russian statesponsored cyber-attacks that are targeting network infrastructure devices such as routers and firewalls, to compromise government and private sectors globally.
40 Technology
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you've been charging phone the wrong way all these years
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his might come as a shock, but most of you have been charging the phones and tablets the wrong way. You must have heard or read on WhatsApp about phone on overnight charging blowing up causing injuries to the user while the person was asleep. Well don't worry, the overnight charging wouldn't do that to your phone, but it is also not recommended, according to the findings of Cadax , a company that offers devices that test smartphone and other batteries. According to Battery University, which the company runs for free, the phone needs to charged in short bursts and that
too frequently, if you want to a good overall battery life. It does not matter if you only charge up 10% or 20% as, according to Battery University: "Partial charges cause no harm." Also, if you want to lessen the wear and tear to your battery, do not hit the red zone, which is 15 per cent in most of the phones. Try to keep the device between 65% and 75% -- "the sweet spot" and keep a power bank if you require battery backup. The experts have also recommended that never ever, never ever, never ever charge your battery fully but try to keep it around 95 percent. That's because the modern
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
lithium-ion batteries do "not need to be fully charged, nor is it desirable to do so. The website states: "In fact, it is better not to fully charge, because a high voltage stresses the battery". And now, the last point, which may confuse you. 'You don't need to remove the charger when it's full' What? 'I just read something on the contrary'. Well, yes you are right. But, if it so happens that you have left your phone on charging and it has hit the cent per cent mark, then the charger, according to the website, will automatically turn off. Still, it is recommended that you avoid leaving your phone on overnight charging, hitting the 100 per cent mark and inculcate the habit of juicing up the device frequently and in small doses.
Technology 41
Cellphone-based tech could cut lab visits for blood tests
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esearchers have developed a cellphone-based blood test technology that can provide immediate results in the comfort of one's home or a doctor's clinic, thereby cutting visits to the laboratory. In a paper published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, the researchers detailed a mobile version of the "Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay" (ELISA), the gold standard technique used to detect the presence of an antibody or antigen. "ELISA is an important technology for biochemical analysis of proteins and hormones and is critical for the diagnosis of many diseases, such as HIV and Lyme Disease," said corresponding author Anna Pyayt, Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, US. "But the machines required for the incubation and reading are expensive and bulky," Pyayt said. Instead of sending patients to a laboratory, the new cellphonebased technology - Mobile Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (MELISA) -- allows for the very same test to be conducted in the doctor's office, clinic or even in a remote area. "The MELISA allows patients to undergo testing and obtain
results at point-of-care," Pyayt said. The device accurately measures progesterone levels, a key hormone that impacts female fertility and is indicative of some cancers. It consists of a water bath heater that incubates samples at a target temperature and analyses them via images taken by mobile phone. The device uses colour analysis to determine the RGB (red, green, blue) colour components of each sample. The blue colour component is used for further analysis due to its
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sensitivity to the changes in progesterone concentration. "It is designed to make biomedical testing simple and affordable. When low cost testing can be integrated with routine clinic visits, this would greatly improve the quality of healthcare and detect worrisome signs earlier," Pyayt added. The portable MELISA weighs less than half a kg, and the researchers believe that it has the potential help older patients suffering chronic conditions and those across the world.
42 Education
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University Rankings: IISc Bengaluru tops the list
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he Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, topped the overall rankings in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) released by the Human Resources Development Ministry in New Delhi, on April 3. Four Tamil Nadu colleges also figure in the top 10 colleges in the country - the Bishop Heber College at number 3, Presidency College at number 5, Loyola College at number 6 and Madras Christian College at number 10. The third edition of the NIRF for higher learning institutions had rankings in nine categories this year. Medical and law were added this year. In the top university category, the IISc tops the list again. In the top 10 list, Chennai’s Anna University is ranked fourth, University of Hyderabad fifth, and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore eighth. Other categories of rankings published include architecture, college, pharmacy, engineering and management. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; Miranda
House, Delhi UniverIn the 'Overall' category, the IISc was sity; National Institute followed by Indian Institutes of of Pharmaceutical Edu- Technology, Madras and Bombay at second cation and Research, and third position respectively. Here are the Mohali; Indian Institute top 10 rankings: of Technology, Madras; Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmed- Indian Institute of Technology Madras abad, respectively, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay topped these lists. In terms of manage- Indian Institute of Technology Delhi ment institutes, various Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur IITs and IIMs occupied Jawaharlal Nehru University the top nine spots. Eight IITs also figure in the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur top 10 spots in engineer- Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee ing, with Anna University occupying the ninth Banaras Hindu University position. Anna University The criterion this year also included the total budget National Law School of India and its utilisation, combined metric University, Bengaluru, and the All for quality of publications, univer- India Institute of Medical Sciences, sity examinations and number of New Delhi topped the law and graduating students admitted into medical categories. Over 4000 intop institutions. stitutes reportedly applied for the rankings this year.
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43
The Antarctica ice sheet has lost an area 'the size of London'
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ntarctica has lost a region of ice the size of Greater London between 2010 and 2016. The vast 1,463 square kilometre region of underwater ice has been melted through the influence of warm ocean water currents. A British-led study reveals how the massive ice sheet has started retreating at its edges, which has in turn started causing a multitude of glaciers to erode. Lead researcher Dr Hannes Konrad, from the University of Leeds, said: “Our study provides clear evidence that retreat is happening across the ice sheet due to ocean melting at its base, and not just at the few spots that have been mapped before now. “This retreat has had a huge impact on inland glaciers, because releasing them from the sea bed
removes friction, causing them to speed up and contribute to global sea level rise.” The discovery emerged from satellite tracking of the ice sheet’s “grounding line”, the boundary where the ice sheet’s base leaves the sea floor and begins to float. Grounding lines typically lie a kilometre or more below the ocean surface and are inaccessible even to deep-diving submersibles. Grounding line retreat had been extreme at eight of the locations where the ice sheet’s 65 biggest glaciers flow into the sea, said the scientists. At these points, the ice had retreated by more than 125 metres (410ft) per year. The biggest changes were seen in West Antarctica, where more than a fifth of the ice sheet had retreated across the sea floor faster than the general pace of deglacia-
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tion. The movements were tracked across 16,000 km (9,941 miles) of coastline using the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 orbiting satellite. CryoSat-2 is designed to measure changes in ice sheet thickness, but the information it provides can translated into horizontal motion at the grounding line. The team, whose findings appear in the journal Nature Geoscience, detected some unusual behaviour. While the retreat of the grounding line at Thwaites Glacier had sped up, at neighbouring Pine Island Glacier it had halted. Dr Konrad said: “These differences emphasise the complex nature of ice sheet instability across the continent, and being able to detect them helps us to pinpoint areas that deserve further investigation.”
44 Food
Combat heat with cucumber
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he benefits of cucumber are many. From detoxifying your body to preventing dehydration to bidding good-bye to summer woes, cucumber makes you healthy and enhances your beauty, say experts. Cucumbers are composed of 95 per cent water. They help to keep the body hydrated and replenish it by eliminating toxins. The high water content in cucumber acts as a system cleanser and sweeps waste products out of the system. Cucumbers are rich in fibre, potassium, and magnesium. All these nutrients are effective in lowering blood pressure. Addition-
ally, its mild diuretic properties, owing to its high potassium and water content, also help to regulate blood pressure. It soothes the skin. Apply cucumber juice directly to the skin for instant freshness. Cucumber contains potassium and is ideal for dry skin. It reduces dark circles. Keep cucumber slices on eyes everyday for 8-10 minutes for reducing dark circles and puffiness around the eyes. Or simply apply grated cucumber for a smooth and refreshed skin. Cucumber, due to its high water content and anti-inflammatory properties, helps in treating tanning. Mix cucumber juice with yogurt or lemon juice and leave it on the skin for 10-15 minutes daily. It will lighten the sun tan
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and will treat mild sun burns. Cucumbers help to release excess heat in your stomach, which is said to be a primary cause of bad breath. Hold a slice of cucumber on the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds. The photo-chemicals present in the vegetable kills the bacteria that cause bad breath. Cucumber seeds are storehouses of potassium and Vitamin E that help to reduce wrinkles, fine lines, blemishes and other signs of ageing. Another simple way of keeping your skin happy and glowing is to regularly consume water with added cucumber slices. Cucumbers consist of a generous amount of silica, which is good for nail and hair care. Apart from making fingernails and toenails stronger, eating lots of cucumbers can promote hair growth as well.
Food 45
Protein from nuts, seeds could be good for your heart
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hile eating red meat that is rich in protein is linked with increased risk of heart disease, protein from nuts and seeds could be beneficial for the human heart, suggests a study including more than 80,000 participants. The study, appearing in the International Journal of Epidemiology, found that people who consumed large amounts of meat protein experienced a 60 per cent increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD), while people who consumed large amounts of protein from nuts and seeds experienced a 40-per cent reduction in CVD. "While dietary fats are part of the story in affecting risk of cardiovascular disease, proteins may also have important and largely overlooked independent effects on risk," said Gary Fraser, from Loma Linda University in California. Fraser added that nutritionists have traditionally looked toward what he termed "bad fats" in meats and "helpful fats" in nuts and seeds as causal agents. As a result of being high in unsaturated fat, nuts and seeds are traditionally included in the "good fat" category. However, it is also
possible that "good protein" that also adds to their positive health impact. "This new evidence suggests that the full picture probably also involves the biological effects of proteins in these foods," he said. For the study, the team compared animal proteins versus plant proteins in 81,337 men and women. Associations between the THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
"meat" and "nuts and seeds" protein factors and cardiovascular outcomes were strong and could not be ascribed to other associated nutrients considered to be important for cardiovascular health. Healthy diets can be advocated based on protein sources, preferring low contributions of protein from meat and higher intakes of plant protein from nuts and seeds, the study noted.
46 Research
Women more prone to kidney disfunction than men: Study
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hronic kidney disease in India is more common in women than in men, finds a survey by SRL Diagnostics. The survey showed that abnormality in kidney function was an average of 11.36 per cent higher in women than in men (9.48%) It also showed that kidney function disorders were very common in the elderly, especially those over 85 years. "Women have to face multiple socio-economic challenges that keep the concerns of their health secondary to men or family. They fall behind men in terms of timely diagnosis, accesses to healthcare and receiving treatment. Other than lacking awareness about the disease, the biologic conditions such menstrual cycles and pregnancy are conditions purely unique to women, and all this makes them more vulnerable to chronic kidney disease," according to the study. According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2015, chronic kidney disease was ranked 17th among the causes of deaths globally with an annual death rate of 19•2 deaths per 100,000 population.
In many countries, chronic kidney disease is now among the top five causes of death. In India, chronic kidney disease was ranked as the eighth leading cause of death, the report said. Kidneys are responsible for filtration of harmful fluids and wastes from body. Thus, it is vulTHE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
nerable to damage by a range of conditions and infections affecting the body such as diabetes, hypertension, bacterial or viral infection, toxins, smoking and drugs. "Diabetes and hypertension account for two-third of the causes of chronic kidney disease. However, the disease progresses slowly and silently, without any manifestation or obvious symptoms. The disease is known to show its real signs only in advanced stages, and therefore, it becomes all the more important to get periodic tests done if a person is suffering from these conditions," said Dr. Prem Prakash Varma, Senior Consultant, Venkateshwar Hospital, Dwarka. Symptoms of the disease include, blood in urine, increased or decreased frequency of urination, swelling in legs feet or ankles, feeling tired and fatigued, loss of sleep or trouble sleeping, and episodes of nausea and vomiting, the doctor said. As kidneys start malfunctioning, the levels of these markers go up in blood. When the kidneys are damaged, they have trouble removing creatinine from blood, the doctors said.
Research 47
Mother's stress during pregnancy aects baby's brain
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onfirming a long-held belief that stress during pregnancy is bad for the unborn kid, a new study has found that remaining stress-free during this period helps the brain development of the baby. A mother's stress during pregnancy changes neural connectivity in the brain of her unborn child, according to the study presented at a meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society in Boston, Massachusetts. "We have demonstrated what has long been theorised, but not yet observed in a human, which is that the stress of a mother during her pregnancy is reflected in connectional properties of her child's developing brain," said one of the
researchers Moriah Thomason of Wayne State University in the US. Research in newborns and older children to understand prenatal influences has been confounded by the postnatal environment, Thomason explained. But recent advancements in foetal imaging allowed the researchers to gain insight into a critical time period in brain development never previously accessible. Using foetal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), they examined functional connectivity in 47 human foetuses scanned between the 30th and 37th week of gestation. The researchers recruited the participating mothers from a lowTHE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
resource and high-stress urban setting, with many reporting highlevels of depression, anxiety, worry and stress. They found that mothers reporting high stress had foetuses with a reduced efficiency in how their neural functional systems are organised. The data suggests that the brain does not develop in a sequence from the simplest systems to more complex high-order systems, but perhaps instead first develops the areas that will be most critical in bridging across systems. The researchers found that the cerebellum played a central role in the observed effects, suggesting it may be especially vulnerable to the effects of prenatal or early life stress.
48 Research
Crop burning to up air pollution in delhi to hazardous levels
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he air pollution in Delhi may reach 20 times higher than the safe limits owing to agricultural fires during peak burning season, a team of researchers have warned. In October and November which is a peak burning season in Punjab, about half of all pollution in Delhi can be attributed to agricultural fires on some days, said the study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. "On certain days during peak fire season, air pollution in Delhi is about 20 times higher than the threshold for safe air as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO)," said first author Daniel H. Cusworth from Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts. To model how much of that pollution is coming from the fires, the researchers used satellite data from NASA to identify hotspots corresponding to active fires. The team gathered available data for October and November, 2012 to 2016 and plugged it into a
particle dispersion model -- an algorithm that accounts for geography, wind patterns, and physics to predict how far and in what direction smoke particles travel. During the post-monsoon season, the air in northern India was particularly stagnant, implying that smoke particles don't vent into the atmosphere as they would during other times of the year. "Instead, the black carbon and organic particulate matter slowly permeates throughout the entire region, which is home to 46 million
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people. In urban areas, that smoke mixes with existing pollution from cars and factories creating a thick, deadly haze," the paper highlighted. On average, without fires, urban Delhi experiences about 150 micrograms per cubic metre of fine particulate air pollution. WHO puts the threshold for safe air at 25 micrograms per cubic metre and country's Central Pollution Control Board limits exposure to 60 micrograms per cubic metre, added Cusworth and senior research fellow Loretta J. Mickley. Extreme fires during the postmonsoon season can pump on average about 150 micrograms per cubic metre of fine particulate matter into the city, doubling the amount of pollution and increasing total levels 12 times higher than WHO recommendations and even 20 times higher on some days, the researchers said.
Economy 49
`4 lakh cr npAs have returned due to insolvency system: official
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ess than half of the staggering Rs 9 lakh crore worth of nonperforming assets (NPAs), or bad loans, accumulated by banks had returned due to the system set in place by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, the government said. Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas revealed the figure at the conference on Resolving Insolvency organised by industry chamber CII recently. Noting that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had referred 12 accounts, totalling about 25 per cent of the gross NPAs, for resolution under the IBC in June last year, Srinivas said a "good outcome" on half of these cases would help boost confidence in the system, a key component of which is the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). "If you have 5-6 good outcomes, it will enhance confidence in the system, both domestically and among foreign investors," he said.
on the one hand, it has brought in the iBC which provides for a six-month timebound insolvency resolution process, extendable by another 90 days "Once these 12 get settled, the speed will go up," he said, noting that a second batch of 21 cases sent by the RBI to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) in January were taking time to come through the resolution process.
The government has embarked on a twopronged strategy on bad loans. On the one hand, it has brought in the IBC which provides for a sixmonth time-bound insolvency resolution process, extendable by another 90 days. On the other hand, it has approved a Rs 2.11 lakh crore THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
recapitalisation plan for state-run banks. Noting that the object of the exercise was not just loan recovery but to develop a robust market for stressed assets in India, Srinivas said some of these were drawing good bidder interest for revival, particularly in the steel sector, where the favourable short-term outlook has helped "jack up" steel asset prices. He also said that towards bolstering infrastructure 1,800 insolvency resolution professionals are in place in a period of less than two years. Besides, the government is also considering creation of additional NCLT benches for speedier disposal of cases. Providing statistics, IBBI Chairman M.S. Sahoo said that a total of 650 corporate cases were admitted for resolution, of which 500 are ongoing. Of the rest, 90 have have already exited via the resolution or liquidation routes and around 60 have been closed after review, he said.
50 Fitness
Secret tips to a slim and toned body
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o for regular morning walks, drink lemon water to keep you hydrated and go for simple exercises daily to be fit and fine summer, say experts.
Do a lot core strengthening for those flat abs. Engage your core most of the times in the day and see the result as you will feel your clothes getting loose. Just tuck in your tummy 30 per cent while breathing and talking. Doing this throughout the day tones up your belly. If you want a leaner body, perform a circuit training protocol for the whole body, rather than just your abdominal to burn total body fat. Simple exercises such as lunges, push-ups, pull ups, chest curls and squats can be done in the gym. Do three sets of 15 repetitions. Don't forget to co-ordinate your core exercises with it because that is the key to your flat tummy. A 30-minute walk in the morning can change your life. A morning walk is easy on your joints and heart, and the fresh morning air can help calm your nerves, improve your mood, and keep you energetic and positive for the rest of the day. It is a form of aerobic or cardio exercise which gets all your muscles moving, and keeps you fit. Don't forget to co-ordinate with your core. Engage your core all the time you walk. A healthy mind keeps you calm and composed even at troubled times and THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
this promotes good health. Listen to a soothing music and close your eyes for 10-15 minutes in a day. Doing this on a regular basis gets that glow on your skin and promotes good health. Drink lots of lemon water to keep you hydrated. Eat lots of green leafy vegetables, seasonal fruits and berries. Wear comfortable loose clothing for proper air hydration of body and of course to hide that extra fat. Temperature change may lead to various diseases hence having good immunity is important. Vegetable and fruit smoothies are a good way of improving immunity against diseases as they are rich in vitamins and minerals. Have enough probiotics in the form of curd, idli and khaman dhokla. A course of antibiotic destroys good bacteria with bad ones. So, replenish them with probiotics. Vitamin A is a very important vitamin when it comes to skin. Winter vegetables are full of beta Carotene which is converted to vitamin A in body. Have lot of green leafy vegetables, carrots, beetroot and radish to replenish stores for coming summers. Go on a low glycemic diet to lose some weight around waist to look summer ready.
Life Style 51
Combat bad breath without costing much
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ry natural mouthwashes like cinnamon and clove to maintain oral hygiene. These are alcohol-free, easy to prepare and cost effective, say experts. Cinnamon and clove mouthwash: Take one cup of distilled water, 10 to15 drops each of cinnamon and clove oils. Mix them well. The best part about this natural mouthwash is that it has a long shelf life. Apple cider vinegar mouthwash: Put two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, one cup of salt water
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and vanilla essential oil in a bowl and mix well. Store the mixture in a bottle and swish your mouth with this solution. Peppermint and tea tree oil mouthwash: Add one cup of distilled water, two teaspoons of baking soda, eight to nine peppermint leaves and two drops of tea tree oil. Mix all the ingredients well. Before every use it, make sure you shake the jar well as the baking soda settles down on the bottom. Parsley and mint mouthwash: Take a blender, add two tablespoons of parsley, two tablespoons of mint, one cup of distilled water and blend them all for about two minutes. Pour through a strainer to remove any residual herbs. Pour the clean content in a jar and close tightly.
Rinse your mouth with one tablespoon of the mixture. Salt water mouthwash: This is a simple mouthwash that needs one cup distilled warm water and a tablespoon salt. If preparing a mouthwash is too much for you, try the following suggested by Ushakiran Sisodia, Dietician, Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital: Ajwain (carom seeds): Traditionally, ajwain is used for tooth ache and foul breath. Cumin seeds: Cumin seeds can be used to keep your mouth clean and fresh breath Neem: Neem is an ancient remedy for bleeding gums and to lower the level of harmful bacteria in the mouth. It has therapeutic and anti-bacterial properties. Neem also prevents cavities.
is WhatsApp chat activity being tracked?
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ven as data breach is creating ripples across the globe, there is news about a new app that reportedly tracks a user's chat activity on Facebook-owned WhatsApp. The app titled Chatwatch reportedly lets people in a user's
contact list know when they are available to chat on WhatsApp, whether one's messages are being read, and how often one checks the app, all using WhatsApp's online/offline feature. As per mirror.co.uk, the app can gain access to the above data even if a user has disabled WhatsApp's "Last Seen" feature. The
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Facebook-owned instant messaging app has always advocated user privacy and incorporated encryption of data. WhatsApp is encrypted end-to-end, so the contents of the messages can't be seen. On a related note, Chatwatch has reportedly been taken down from Google Play Store and Apple's App Store.
52 Life Style
Slow down ageing with simple habits in myriad ways Ageing is a natural process that can't be stopped but you can try slowing down its effects from showing by drinking adequate water and using sunscreen every time you step out, suggest experts.
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hronic dehydration is the number one cause for skin ageing. Drinking water helps to restore elasticity of the skin and moisturises on a cellular level, which helps to plump up skin and add a more youthful glow.
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rink at least 8 glasses of water a day to keep yourself hydrated and get luminous, healthy skin.
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tart your everyday skincare regimen with a gentle cleanser suiting your skin type. Look out for ingredients such as calendula or cucumber, which are mild in its approach and have soothing and anti-inflammatory properties.
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ortisol, the stress hormone in your body causes mental and physical fatigue, leading to untimely ageing of skin. To reduce daily stress resort to exercising, meditation, calming massages and aromatherapy. These will instantly charge up your mind body and spirit. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
F
or the next step, apply an effective alcohol-free toner according to your skin type. The toner helps in gently cleansing the facial skin while refreshing it without any harsh synthetic drying agents. A toner also helps tighten the pores
U
Life Style 53
oxidative stress.
se natural oils as they directly seep in through your skin into your blood stream and enhance your beauty inside and out. Oils like lavender, rosehip, geranium, pomegranate and sandalwood have potent moisturising properties that will make the skin look radiant, bright and wrinkle-free.
F
rom parabens to preservatives, toxic chemicals found in many beauty care products, not only increase our toxic load, but also age our skin at a faster rate.
S
and prepares the skin for serum and moisturiser.
F
ollowing the toner is a hydrating serum. Look out for an active and effective serum with ingredients such as pure vitamin C, micro filtered yeast extract or glycerin. A serum is used to intensively hydrate facial skin making it look less dull and tired. It also helps in smoothing the appearance of fine lines and uneven textures.
M
oisturise with a light but effective daily face cream. The use of a moisture helps in replenishing skin hydration by drawing and absorbing moisture from the air, leaving the skin smooth, soft and healthy looking. Look for a moisturising cream with antiageing benefits which has ingredients like hyaluronic acid, jasmonic acid, copper PCA, and calcium PCA.
C
ollagen helps to strengthen our skin, hair and nails. This valuable protein in the body can be restored with inducing more protein in the diet. Adequate protein intake
reduces sagging skin, prevents premature aging and support overall health.
I
ntroduce almonds, broccoli, oats, quinoa, walnuts and tofu and soya milk for repairing and constructing tissue and keep your collagen intact.
T
oxins leech vital minerals and cause premature ageing. Antioxidants like vitamins A, C, E and beta-carotene are essential to restore the lost nutrients from the body. Green vegetables support healthy blood glucose levels, manage blood pressure and reverse
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
I
unscreen is an imperative step in the skin care regimen as UV A and UV B rays are present throughout the year, which emitted by the sun. This can cause a serious damage to the skin and can also lead to pre-mature ageing, deep tissue damage and skin cancer.
t is recommended to pick SPF 50 when the sun is at its peak during the daytime. Opt for some UV filters in the sunscreen and look for mexoryl SX, mexoryl XL and titanium dioxide.
I
t is hard to quit, but giving up your smoking habit is one of the best age-defying gifts you can give yourself.
A
void processed foods as much as possible. Phosphates fuel the aging process, interfering with vitamin D activation and weakening your bones. Genetically engineered food has also been linked to accelerated aging, so if you do choose processed foods, be sure to opt for organic.
54
Indian Army to get over 1.8 L bulletproof jackets A
THE NEWS BUREAU
contract has been signed for procuring 1,86,138 Bullet Proof Jackets (BPJs) for the Army which will provide 360 degree protection to the soldier including from the latest hard steel core bullets, according to an official statement. The contract for effective BPJs was signed after successful conduct of stringent field evaluation trials. "The contracted BPJs have contemporary and state-of-the-art specifications with added protection level and coverage area," the
release said. The concerns for BPJs for the Indian Army have been raised at the highest levels, including in the media, amid heightened security situation along the borders and in the hinterland in the disturbed areas. The statement said that provisioning of this operationally urgent and very critical equipment concerning personal ballistic protection would boost confidence of the soldier and provide moral ascendency to security forces. "The case was processed as a ‘Buy Indian'. Indian manufacturers who were successful in the trials
did the provision of these new BPJs. "This has given an impetus to the ‘Make in India' initiative and provides confidence that the Indian Industry is capable of fulfilling the requirements of Indian Army for its personal protective equipment," it said.
Tejas moves closer to clearance after successful firing of BVR missle
T
THE NEWS BUREAU
he indegenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas achieved another milestone by successfuly test-firing an air-to-air beyond visual range (BVR) missle, bringing it a step closer to final operation clearance, the government said on Saturday. Successfully demonstrating safe operation under the worst case scenario, the missile was launched by Tejas piloted by Wing Commander Siddharth Singh off the Goa coast. "Integration of Derby, a BVR class missile, is one of the major objectives of Final Opera-
tional Clearance (FOC) of LCA Tejas," a defence statement said. Tejas has been designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) autonomous society Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). The aircraft was tracked by two other Tejas aircraft in close formation to capture the firing event in the specially instrumented highspeed cameras for detailed analysis and comparison with the simulation model for validation. "Based on the successful integration and demonstration, Regional Centre for Military
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Airworthiness (RCMA), a unit of DRDO has cleared the series production aircraft of Squadron 45, to be equipped with Derby operational capability," a statement said. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman complimented the DRDO and other agencies involved for making LCA Tejas fighter jet, a world-class aircraft platform. The Indian Air Force (IAF) had ordered 40 Tejas Mark-1 version. A request for proposal was issued to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) by the IAF in December for procurement of another batch of 83 Tejas at a cost of around Rs 50,000 crore.
RAHUL GANDHI
A real Swatch Leader E
ver since BJP government led by Sri Narender Modi came into power, every Indian, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Gujrat to Arunachal Pradesh is living in fear and insecurity. In the last four years, citizens of India have experienced that their fundamental rights are curtailed. Modi government has curtailed the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to all citizens in the last four years, which even the British failed to do so in 200 years of their rule and over 1000 years of Muslim rule in India. The Basic Rights to live, Right to work, Right to Express, Right to
Trade, Right to practice Faith, Right to Speak, Right to Eat, Right to Save money, Right to deposit & withdraw money from the bank have been curtailed while breach of privacy, recording phone calls, intruding social media accounts like FB, Whatsapp, Twitter etc. has become the order of the day. Modi Raj is Identical to British Raj, like divide and rule policy, raising Cow & Pig issues, imposing heavy taxes on essential commodities. The Pradhan Sevak and his party BJP, deceived citizens in the name of Development. The people
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Focus 55
Mohd. Saleem of India voted Modi & BJP to power with a huge majority believing his fake promises. Indians failed to understand his double meaning Jumla’s like, Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas, which in fact was Sangh Ka Saath and Mitroan Ka Vikaas, he introduced Mann Ki Baath on Radio, but in reality it was all Sangh Ki Baath. During his tenure, Modi ji cheated people with a poll Promise of Development but,
56 Focus
acted with a Hidden agenda of Hindutva introduced by RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Vahini and other Hindu organizations. Modi ji utterly failed to fulfill the poll promises he made before the election, instead he implemented which was not promised in the election such as GharWapsi, Award Wapsi, Beef ban, Banned Cow slaughtering, Cow trading, transportation and closure of slaughter houses in UP. Interfering in Personal Law like Triple Talaq, polygamy, Demonetisation, GST, spoiled relations with neighbors, increase in deaths of security personnel on the border. Oil prices and prices of essential commodities have gone soaring. Poor is suffering for his survival while the middle class is struggling for existence in the society. Modi’s friends are dictating the terms and controling Banks and other government institutions. Cost of living has become expensive. Jobs have reduced, industries are closed, Multinational companies are returning back to their countries, exports have dropped, GDP has fallen. In general Modi government failed on all fronts. No citizen is happy with Modi government. Safety and Security has become a major issue for women, children, Dalits and minorities. The incidents in Kathua & Unnao have made us shameful. In fact Modi ji is a “Blood Sucker of the Poor and Protector of the Rich & Absconders”. Like Big Brother Modi ji, his younger brother KCR is also a Prince of all Lies. He made all empty promises to the people in association with minority party AIMIM. He cheated dalits, minorities and farmers by showing
dreams of Heaven. I would like to mention here, Congress party is proud to say that before independence, India was an Import Oriented nation, after 60years, it turned it into an Export Oriented nation. Before Independence India was riding on bullock carts, after 60 years India reached Mars through Manglyan due to the sincere efforts of Congress party leadership. However, the Modi government has derailed Development of Indian economy. Modi government is working towards hidden agenda to target a particular community. The Ideology guiding our Prime Minister is a divisive doctrine, designed to divide India on the lines of religion, region, caste, colour and creed. Hence, I appeal to all my friends to strengthen the hands of Sri Rahul Gandhi Ji, President of All India Congress Party, an honest, sincere, truthful and indusTHE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
trious leader in short a real “swatch leader of Bharat” for the Peace, Progress & Prosperity. A person whose family has sacrificed their lives before and after independence for India. It is high time for all of us to decide between Peace & violence, Jobs & Unemployment, Security & insecurity, development & backwardness, respect & insult, Unity & disunity, Fraternity & Enmity, Education & Illiteracy, safety of Women, Children & Fear. We believe Majority or Minority, Congress is for Humanity. Congress Party is the only True Secular and national party which can unite and lead the people for Prosperity. ……….Jai Hind The author is Secretary, TPCC. He can be followed on Twitter, facebook.com & Whatsapp No. 9059434025 (for messages only please)
Health Tips 57
Lose weight, drink hot water
L
THE NEWS BUREAU
auding the age-old Indian practice of drinking hot water, several global researchers have now agreed to the fact that instead of drinking hot water with lemon, just by consuming hot water on its own would not only help you shed off extra belly fat but keep various health issues at bay. It has further been suggested that the optimum temperature of the hot water should be kept at 120 degrees to avoid damaging the cells and inner skin layers in the mouth. According to media reports, there are seven ways in which drinking hot water could work wonder for our bodies
HelpS in WeiGHt loSS
This is surely the much-needed benefit by all those who have tirelessly hit out multiple gyms, followed torturous diets. Just by drinking a glass of water each on empty stomach could help you get
rid of your stomach by toxins and also feel you filled for a longer time thus replacing the unnecessary snacking.
CleArS SinuSeS
Tired of a chronic ailment like sinus which has given you constant headaches and stuffy nose, guess what just a glass of warm water could help alleviate some of the symptoms of a respiratory tract infection.
eASier on teetH
Your teeth shall also remain healthy for a long time if you shall practice drinking hot water. But make sure that the temperature shall be optimum enough not to damage your gum and enamel. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Better for diGeStion
Are you affected by constant constipation or irregular bowel movements? Again hot water is the solution to it. Warm water has a vasodilator effect, meaning it widens the blood vessels and stimulates the blood flow to rush toward the intestine, aiding the digestive process. Further, the intake of warm water on an empty stomach speeds up the bowel movement. It has a faster hydrating effect, so when it is followed by a meal the temperature helps emulsify fats, making them more digestible
WASH out toxinS
A drink of hot water raises the core body temperature, stimulating the sweating process which is re-
58 Health Tips
quired to push out the toxic elements of our body. In case some of you do not like drinking lemon based-drinks one could also try taking green tea which also has similar benefits as that of the hot water.
pAin reliever
Replace the intake of painkillers with that of intake of water especially for the stomach related pains which are largely caused due to digestive issues. Sometimes pain caused at other body parts are also a result of lack of drinking cold water which causes muscle contraction in the body. Replace the glass of cold water with a hot one and a lot of body pains shall be cured in a period of time.
P
eASeS out ConStipAtion
Constipation has become a rampant health problem among the young generation. This is largely caused due to imbalanced eating habits among the people. If you start each day with a drink of warm
water on an empty stomach you can help improve your bowel movements and reduce the likelihood of constipation. So the next time you think of replacing that cup of coffee and begin your day on the note of warm water.
High Bp patients prefer pill, tea to exercise
eople are more likely to choose a daily cup of tea or a pill over exercise as the preferred treatment to control their high blood pressure, finds a survey. In the survey, 79 per cent of respondents said they would be willing to take a pill for an extra month of life and 78 per cent said they would drink a daily cup of tea for one extra month of life. However, only 63 per cent said they would be willing to exercise for an extra month of life. "Our findings demonstrate that people naturally assign different weights to the pluses and minuses of interventions to improve cardiovascular health," said lead author Erica Spatz, Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Med-
icine in Connecticut. While "we are good about discussing side effects, rarely do we find out if other inconveniences or burdens may be impacting a person's willingness to take a lifelong medication or to exercise regularly". Researchers asked nearly 1,500 US adults to imagine that they had high blood pressure and then asked about their willingness to adopt any of four "treatments" to gain an extra month, year or five years of life. The "treatments" proposed were -- a daily cup of tea, exercise, pills or monthly or semi-annual injections. Only 68 per cent preferred taking semi-annual injections, if it would give them an extra month THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
of life. In addition, a mere 20 per cent wanted to achieve gains in life expectancy beyond what any of the individual interventions could provide. Most survey respondents were under 45 and half were female and most had high blood pressure. Hypertension is a leading risk factor for heart and blood vessel, or cardiovascular, disease. Yet, it is often called the silent killer because it causes no symptoms. The American Heart Association recommends getting regular physical activity, in addition to other lifestyle changes including eating a healthy diet, limiting alcohol, managing stress, maintaining a healthy weight and quitting smoking.
A True Leader
Focus 59
A
from Uttarakhand
living example of his teachings, a successful communicator, Dr. Harak Singh Rawat, is the Minister of Environment, Wildlife & Forest of Uttarakhand. His perfect formula towards Empowerment is “the capacity to translate vision into reality”. He became the youngest minister of U.P state in 1991 after winning assembly election from pauri. Dr. Rawat completed postgraduate work in arts in 1984 and earned his doctor of Philiosophy in Military science from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar 1996. His responsible attitude, aiming at the preservation of the environment in respect of the local population prompted him to launch a great initiative, which was announced in December 2017. A brand, which is
Dr. Harak Singh Rawat
a combination of three important sectors, known as ETETG. It’s all about Eco-Tourism, Enterpreneurship and Techno Governance. It is going to be organised by Uma Entertainment and Advertising. The first portfolio under ETETG is “Paryavaran Gaurav Samaan 2018” to be held in
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Any citizen of India or an Indian organisation engaged in field work in the protection of the environment such as pollution control, conservation of natural resources, creating awareness on environmental issues and for outstanding field work for the enrichment of the environment, and also empowering the entrepreneurship in the field of environmental science. The second portfolio i.e. ETETG National Conclave to be held soon has already partners with Patanjali as Ayurveda partner, Eco Health as Water Treatment partner, Indo Ganga holidays pvt ltd as Adventure partner. The invitees would be Ngo’s, Govt representatives, development authorities, heads of educational institutes & universities, Entrepreneur’s, Industrialist’s from different sectors etc.
60 Business
CRM to become fastest-growing software market in 2018: Report
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THE NEWS BUREAU
he customer relationship management (CRM) market is forecast to become the fastest-growing software market in 2018 and had hit $39.5 billion in 2017, market research firm Gartner has said. The CRM market overtook the database management systems (DBMSs) revenue that reached $36.8 billion in the same period. CRM refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyse customer interactions and data. "In 2018, CRM software revenue will continue to take the lead of all software markets and be the fastest growing software market with a growth rate of 16 per cent," Julian Poulter, Research Director at Gartner, said in a statement. The rise of marketing technology and a recent resurgence in sales technology in the CRM market is attracting many new entrants. However, the major vendors offering CRM suites covering sales, commerce and service are showing
stronger than average growth and are successful at cross-selling additional modules to existing customers. "Organisations are keen to avoid silos of information and to obtain a 360-degree view of the customer," Poulter added.
Health 61
I
new birth control pill for men found safe and eective
THE NEWS BUREAU
n a major step forward in the development of a once-daily "male pill", researchers have found an experimental oral contraceptive to be safe in men with hormone responses consistent with effective contraception. The findings presented at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago showed that the new pill -- called dimethandrolone undecanoate, or DMAU -- appears to be safe when used daily for a month. Like the pill for women, DMAU combines activity of an androgen (male hormone) like testosterone, and a progestin, and is taken once a day, said the study's senior investigator, Stephanie Page, Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. "Many men say they would prefer a daily pill as a reversible contraceptive, rather than longacting injections or topical gels, which are also in development," Page pointed out. Progress toward a male birth control pill has been stymied because, according to Page, available oral forms of testosterone may cause liver inflammation, and they clear the body too quickly for oncedaily dosing, thus requiring two doses a day. However, DMAU contains undecanoate, a long-chain fatty acid, which Page said slows this clearance. The study included 100
healthy men between ages 18 and 50 years. The investigators tested three different doses of DMAU -100, 200, and 400 milligrams, or mg. A total of 83 men completed the study, including giving blood samples for hormone and cholesterol testing on the first and last day of the study. At the highest dose of DMAU tested, 400 mg, participants showed "marked suppression" of levels of their testosterone and two hormones required for sperm production.
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
The low levels, Page said, were consistent with effective male contraception shown in longer-term studies. "Despite having low levels of circulating testosterone, very few subjects reported symptoms consistent with testosterone deficiency or excess," Page said. All groups taking DMAU did have weight gain and decreases in HDL (high-density lipoprotein, or "good") cholesterol, both of which Page said were mild. All participants passed safety tests, including markers of liver and kidney function, the study said. "These promising results are unprecedented in the development of a prototype male pill," Page said. "Longer term studies are currently underway to confirm that DMAU taken every day blocks sperm production," she added.
62 Column
feasibility of product development – make in india
I
ndian economy focused mostly on service industry in the past two decades and it is equally important to focus on product development. With the advent of Start-up concepts, Mudra bank and incubation centers, young entreprenuers and student communities have more opportunities to explore product development. However it is important to measure that the idea or concept is feasible and realizable as a product. This article introduces some important considerations for feasibility of product development. An idea related to developing a useful product has to be practical. Transforming an idea into a product needs substantial evaluation and arrive at the feasibility of product development. This evaluation is called feasibility study and the ideas have to be evaluated with this criteria. Most often young minds come up with an idea and struggle, not knowing the subsequent steps to realize their idea as a practical and workable system or product. Most of them are driven with excitement. Most of them disappear and die down without seeing the final result over a short span of time. Some of them may be very useful and valuable. In order to support ideation feasibility, five simple steps are suggested. Your idea can be evaluated in these five steps.
1. ideA ClASSifiCAtion
1. Classify idea into a Fundamental Research, Applied Research, Import Substitute, Design Improvement. Based on the type of classification, scope of work for feasibility has to be determined.
Srinivas Chamarthy
2. Broad outcomes of the terms mentioned in point 1 Fundamental Research – New theory or concept Applied Research – New methods of implementation of the theory or concept Import Substitute – Develop a competitive product through Innovation (not copying) Design Improvement – Improvement in the specification of existing product (Hardware or Software or both) 3. Build fundamental knowledge in the field of idea. Without strong basics, all ideas are confusing and vague. 4. Depict the outcome of an idea with clear measurable output. Without clarity in outcome or the goal of an idea, feasibility study is not practical. Feasibility study gives clarity on the methods to be followed for transformation of ideas to products. 5. The outcome of an idea is “product under development”
2. teCHniCAl feASiBility
1. The product under development shall be technically viable. This part of the feasibility study focus on the technical aspects of the product. 2. Understand the domain of the product thoroughly and learn if required. 3. Develop a logical model or mathematical model of the product. Divide it into individual clearly defined building blocks 4. Simulate the building blocks through software or low scale working blocks. This saves a lot of ex-
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
perimentation cost and effort. A failure in a software simulation only costs effort. 5. Define the inter block interface parameters of the final product under development. 6. Clearly define the requirements and specifications of product under development. Vague and abstract thought process shall be converged to realizable specifications of the product during feasibility study. 7. Design feasibility consisting of the implementation methodologies of product under development. For example the choice of the hardware components, mechanical design, structural strength, firmware and software, functional testing methodology, Reliability Testing, environmental testing etc.
3. mArket feASiBility:
1. Product developed should be manufactured and marketed for revenue generation. Product without a market is only for academic research. 2. Broadly, the specifications of the product, quality and cost of the product decide the marketability of the product. 3. Understand the existing market trends through online references and understand the market requirement of the product. 4. “Developing a product which has existing market” is preferred than building “market for the product developed” as it is a tedious process and is preferred only if the requirement is very uniqe. 5. Customers’ outlook and orientation is important which is the expected output of the Market Feasibility.
4. deSiGn for mAnufACturABility
1. Design for manufacturability (DFM) is the general engineering practice of designing products to be manufactured and/or economical to manufacture. 2. DFM describes the process of designing or engineering a product in order to facilitate the manufacturing process in order to reduce its manufacturing costs 3. DFM will allow potential problems to be fixed in the design phase which is the least expensive place to address them 4. Various factors may affect the manufacturability such as the type of raw material, the form of the raw material, dimensional tolerances, and second-
Column 63
ary processing such as finishing. Depending on various types of manufacturing processes there are set guidelines for DFM practices specific to the product under development. 5. The process quality methods that are applicable to ensure the quality of final product are also a part of DFM
5. finAnCiAl feASiBility:
1. Finance is the primary requisite for any innovation and product development. The financial feasibility focus on the total project costs from idea to manufacturability of a product. 2. Financial feasibility is measured on the factors of Research and Development costs, Human resource costs, Capital equipment, Testing and Evaluation costs and Manufacturing costs of the complete product 3. There are two approaches for working on Financial feasibility: Having a limited finance and working backward to determine the milestones of product development or Make a product development project and raise the financial funds. 4. Government agencies, banks and incubation centers have set mechanisms and procedures for addressing the financial requirements of the useful projects they shall be understood for the feasibility of the product development. A rightful idea with Feasibility study ensures the completeness of the product development. Most of the products / projects suffer during mid-stage due to lack of proper feasibility study. Young minds shall understand that “Whatever has to work physically has to work in the minds of the creators”. Proper feasibility study not only ensures the success of product development but also gives a perspective of understanding various stages of the product development life cycle. Hence, Feasibility of Product Development study is very essential. The scientists in the government organizations shall start involving in academic activities and share this knowledge of feasibility of product development to the students on a case-to-case basis in their field of expertise. Only then, our dream of Make In India is possible over next decade. “Young minds - wake up” (The author can be contacted at: sch.ajtrs@gmail.com or chat on whats app @: 9160882600 between 11:00 PM to 2:30 AM. Follow him on Facebook: A Journey To Realize SELF)
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
64 Right Advice
S
Proper sleep essential for health
YOGI ASHWINI
leep is very essential for the brain and has even been considered a tonic for the brain. ‘Nidrayatam Sukham’, is a comparison of the state of sleep made by Charak to pleasure, peace and happiness, which indicates that only when both body and mind are diseasefree and at peace, the pleasures of life can be experienced. This state of mind and body cannot be achieved without giving them adequate amount of rest. Sleep also provides natural immunity to people suffering from any disease. That is why rest is recommended to the ailing. Today sleeplessness or insomnia has become common not only
among adults, but among teenagers and children too. In addition to stress, insomnia is a result of over indulgence and lack of discipline in our lifestyles, junk food and excessive use of screens (cell phones, TV, computer etc.). It may start with just one late night and then another and before you know it you start finding it difficult to sleep. Ayurveda (http://www.dhyanfoundation.com/ayurveda. php) prescribes Satapushpi (dill or sowa) to overcome the problem of insomnia. If you have insomnia due to a nervous problem mix equal quantity of chamomile, aniseed and dill. Put 1tsp of the mixture steeped in 1/2 cup boiling water for 3-5
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
minutes. Add some honey and take it at bed time. If it’s simple exhaustion that is causing it, then mix equal quantities of dill, pudina and saunf. Steep 1tsp of this mixture in 1/2 cup boiling water and have it with honey just before sleeping. Massaging the soles of feet induces sleep. Ensure that you don’t do any screen time at least half an hour before bedtime. Take your dinner at least an hour and a half before going to sleep. Sanatan Kriya details the practice of Ujjai Pranayam and Yog Nidra, which are also excellent ways to tackle insomnia. For more, you may write toinfo@dhyan foundation.com
Life style 65
A
Why men want sex in the morning!
THE NEWS BUREAU
lthough there is no good or bad time to have sex as such, mornings are always believed to have that special vigor. While you were sleeping at night, you were actually building up testosterone. Plus, the midnight cuddle makes you feel emotionally attached in the morning. Here is the clock cycle that tells you why men love sex in the morning. Early in the morning: The pituitary gland which produces male sex hormone switches
on in the night increasing the testosterone levels in early mornings. Therefore, the 25-50% raised levels in morning makes men wake up with erections almost thrice a week. The study reveals that long and deep sleep increases the levels of testosterone in men. In the noon: Not sex hormones but it is the nervous system that comes into action in the afternoon. Men having high levels of testosterone are likely to be more flirtatious than the normal one. So if a man sees someone he likes in the afternoon, the sight quickly re-
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
leases neurotransmitters called endorphins and triggers blood flow to a man's genitals. In the evening: Men's level of testosterone start to fall as the evening approaches. But having a evening gym session boosts the libido of both men and women. At night: Watching an important sports match at night? The winning or losing affects a man's testosterone. It is on its lowest level at night. But it is still more than a woman's level. Therefore they are more likely to have sex in the night.
66 Asia
Trial run of first India-Bangladesh container train begins
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THE NEWS BUREAU
he trial run of the first container train between India and Bangladesh was flagged off on April 3. The inaugural train was loaded with 60 containers, mainly carrying de-oiled cake which serves as a raw material for animal feed. It was flagged off from the terminus of the Container Corporation of India (Concor), near Majherhat station in Kolkata. It will travel through Naihati, Ranaghat and Gede in India and Darsana and Ishurdi in Bangladesh before reaching Bangabandhu West, about 117 km from the neighbouring country's capital, Dhaka. After flagging off the trial run
of the container train, the Centre is hopeful of introducing regular container train services between the two countries amid a substantial demand for exporting goods to the neighbouring countries, said an official. "Once the trial run is successful and if Bangladesh gives its clearances, the container train services will be introduced on a regular basis. From our side, we are ready," Eastern Railway's General Manager Harindra Rao told reporters here. The frequency of the train will depend on the demand, he said. The need for container train services between the two countries had been felt by Indian exporters with growing bilateral trade and ca-
THE NEWS YOU LIKE | MAY 2018
pacity constraints that the sea and land routes were grappling with, Railway officials said. "There is demand for exporting goods to Bangladesh. Among items steel, cement, machine parts, food grains and many others are being imported by the neighbouring countries," Container Corporation of India's Chairman and Managing Director Kalyana Rama said. At present, the bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh is largely road-based through the congested Petrapole-Benapole border. According to some exporters, on an average it takes anywhere close to a month for a truck to reach Bangladesh as it takes nearly 25 days for customs clearance at the border.
The News You Like May, 2018
RNI No: APENG/2013/48048 P.R. No. LII/RNP/HD/1187/2017-19 (DOP: 1st of Every Month; DOP: 8/9-5-2018)