Health minister of Indian Government declared that all places of work in the country will be tobacco free. All the government offices are already non-smoking areas. One really wonders what is happening in the world today! Some of the titles seen in the Indian news papers are given below:
1. Smoking may help to ward off Parkinson’s disease
2. No puffs in offices soon
3. Anti-smoking pill curbs drinking
4. Smokers lose more muscle in old age.
5. Cancers such as lung cancer, throat cancer, breast cancer s in humans could
be related to the consumption of tobacco.
6. Smoking may bring on early menopause with increased risk of heart disease.
7. Smoking affects sex life, bad for good sex.
The same news paper also gives Indian statistics on Tobacco such as:
1. India is the second largest producer of tobacco in the world.
2. Tobacco kills 9,00,000 people per year.
3. 14 Crore (140 million) men and 4 Crore (40 million) women in India are
regular tobacco users.
4. Tobacco is consumed as cigarettes, bidi, chewing tobacco, ghutka and snuff.
5. One out of 10 Indian adults is dying of tobacco related diseases
6. Tobacco worth Rs 24,000 Crore is sold annually. The total tobacco
consumption is 4,300 lakh (430 million) kg.
The past experience on the prohibition on alcohol consumption is not very encouraging. In addition to the loss of revenues to the government, the alcohol was sold illegally in black market without any control and quality assurance of the products. Many fatalities occurred due to consumption of adulterated alcohol.
May be, the only way to control is not half-hearted prohibition on tobacco consumption, but spend the money earned for the education of the masses and bring-in awareness about its ill-effects on health, starting at school level. Television can serve as a powerful medium for such purposes.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
EVERYBODY DOWNPLAYED IMMINENT DANGER TO EARTH FROM GLOBAL WARMING
Every one of us, including the government and even the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change downplayed the imminent danger of the earth being perilously close to the dramatic climate change which is being currently witnessed worldwide. We are witnessing unprecedented heat waves and huge fires in Europe, worst kind of floods in England, China, and elsewhere. It is reported that the panel predicted sea level increase between 18 and 59 centimetres due to the melting of glaciers and polar ice sheets.
Intervention at the international level, not less than United Nations, can only save the earth from this gravest threat of climate change. Reliable monitoring for the greenhouse gas levels and the temperature measurements of the atmosphere need to be carried out independently and remedial measures should be taken up on war footing. In addition to doling out money to the developing countries as carbon credits, the so called developed countries should themselves reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels stipulated by Kyoto Protocol. The deadline should be not by 2012 and it should be achieved by 2008.
One more question that is in the back of everybody’s mind is: Whether emission of greenhouse gases is only responsible for global warming? Any comments?
Intervention at the international level, not less than United Nations, can only save the earth from this gravest threat of climate change. Reliable monitoring for the greenhouse gas levels and the temperature measurements of the atmosphere need to be carried out independently and remedial measures should be taken up on war footing. In addition to doling out money to the developing countries as carbon credits, the so called developed countries should themselves reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels stipulated by Kyoto Protocol. The deadline should be not by 2012 and it should be achieved by 2008.
One more question that is in the back of everybody’s mind is: Whether emission of greenhouse gases is only responsible for global warming? Any comments?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
EARTHQUAKE IN JAPAN TIPPED OVER NUCLEAR WASTE DRUMS
It was reported in the media that Japan nuke plant leaks after a powerful earth quake of 6.8 magnitude on July 16, 2007 at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility run by Tokyo Electric. The spokesman for Tokyo Electric said earlier that the quake had caused the reactor to spill radioactive water into the sea.
However, the latest report from the Associated Press indicates that the earthquake tipped over barrels of nuclear waste at a power plant in the site and the officials on Tuesday are investigating whether there were any radioactive leaks. The report said that about 100 drums containing low-level nuclear waste fell over at the plant during Monday's 6.6-magnitude quake and were found a day later, some with their lids open quoting Mr. Masahide Ichikawa, an official with the local government in Niigata prefecture.
It is desirable that media should refrain from reporting the matter in a way that will scare the members of the public without obtaining confirmed official reports on the incident.
However, the latest report from the Associated Press indicates that the earthquake tipped over barrels of nuclear waste at a power plant in the site and the officials on Tuesday are investigating whether there were any radioactive leaks. The report said that about 100 drums containing low-level nuclear waste fell over at the plant during Monday's 6.6-magnitude quake and were found a day later, some with their lids open quoting Mr. Masahide Ichikawa, an official with the local government in Niigata prefecture.
It is desirable that media should refrain from reporting the matter in a way that will scare the members of the public without obtaining confirmed official reports on the incident.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
WHY HI-TECH INDUSTRIES DRAG THEIR FEET IN INDIA?
Simultaneous growth in Hi-Tech industries in India is important to sustain the growth rate and to ensure national security. The sectors are generally controlled, directly or indirectly by the governmental policy. However, the necessary growth in these industries is plagued by the sanctions from the so-called developed countries for decades. Though, this has definitely helped the country in developing technologies indigenously, it has resulted in considerable delay in the all-round progress. Thus, all the time, India has been lagging behind in the areas of interest such as space, atomic energy and micro-electronics.
It is time that the government needs to take hard decisions with respect to the selection of able leadership for defense research and in the science and technology sector. The selection of the Top Leader should be purely based on all-round merit, and not on caste, religion, regional politics or “apna admi” basis.
The government should maintain overall control over the strategic departments and related industries. The applicable civil rules and work conditions may be diluted/ modified / changed to facilitate Public-Private-Partnership so as to:
1. Create openings for the academics to work in national laboratories on sabbaticals and vice-versa.
2. Establishment of more close and transparent interaction/association between defense services, academy and industry.
3. Quality assurance should be given top most priority in all manufactures and procurements.
4. Rules should be made easy to penalize corrupt and in-efficient officials.
5. Hierarchy should be planned in advance to facilitate smooth and timely implementation of the projects. Seniority need not be the only criteria.
6. Procurements should be made less time consuming. Purchases should not be bound by the “accept minimum quotation” basis. This concept not only compromises on quality, but also causes avoidable delay in project implementation.
It is time that the government needs to take hard decisions with respect to the selection of able leadership for defense research and in the science and technology sector. The selection of the Top Leader should be purely based on all-round merit, and not on caste, religion, regional politics or “apna admi” basis.
The government should maintain overall control over the strategic departments and related industries. The applicable civil rules and work conditions may be diluted/ modified / changed to facilitate Public-Private-Partnership so as to:
1. Create openings for the academics to work in national laboratories on sabbaticals and vice-versa.
2. Establishment of more close and transparent interaction/association between defense services, academy and industry.
3. Quality assurance should be given top most priority in all manufactures and procurements.
4. Rules should be made easy to penalize corrupt and in-efficient officials.
5. Hierarchy should be planned in advance to facilitate smooth and timely implementation of the projects. Seniority need not be the only criteria.
6. Procurements should be made less time consuming. Purchases should not be bound by the “accept minimum quotation” basis. This concept not only compromises on quality, but also causes avoidable delay in project implementation.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
ETHICAL ISSUES IN MEDICINE
Often, it is reported that negligence on the part of doctors resulting in fatalities, delay in providing life-saving medical support, delay in admitting seriously injured in accidents, etc. Any loss of life results in irreplaceable losses of various kinds like financial and emotional, to the near and dear ones of the dead.
It is true that doctors are not Gods, but only mere mortals. It is a profession which should be taken only if one has the mentality of providing service to the needy. But today, the profession has lost its godly face and has become overly commercial. What happened to the sacred Hippocratic Oath taken while passing the MBBS degree promising to treat the ill to the best of one’s ability? Medical ethics should be made compulsory in the medical curriculum.
There many bioethical issues which need harmonization efforts at the global level so that a comprehensive protocol / recommendations are brought out for acceptance and implementation by the appropriate national bodies like Medical Council of India. Some of the major ethical issues that need immediate attention are:
1. Clinical research activities, using new drugs or carrying out new procedures on patients without their as well as their relative’s knowledge. The side effects should be fully explained.
2. Use of unnecessary radiological procedures. Radiation dose to the patients should be optimized in consultation with the medical physicists. The side effects of the exposures to high levels of radiation should be explained to the patients.
3. Surgical and other intrusive procedures should be carried out only by the suitably qualified and authorized medical personnel, that too only if it is necessary. Commercial angle should not be the guiding force.
4. Sexual exploitation of female patients by medical and paramedical personnel.
It is planned to collect responses and comments from the readers on this all important issue, analyze and publish it for the information of everybody.
Often, it is reported that negligence on the part of doctors resulting in fatalities, delay in providing life-saving medical support, delay in admitting seriously injured in accidents, etc. Any loss of life results in irreplaceable losses of various kinds like financial and emotional, to the near and dear ones of the dead.
It is true that doctors are not Gods, but only mere mortals. It is a profession which should be taken only if one has the mentality of providing service to the needy. But today, the profession has lost its godly face and has become overly commercial. What happened to the sacred Hippocratic Oath taken while passing the MBBS degree promising to treat the ill to the best of one’s ability? Medical ethics should be made compulsory in the medical curriculum.
There many bioethical issues which need harmonization efforts at the global level so that a comprehensive protocol / recommendations are brought out for acceptance and implementation by the appropriate national bodies like Medical Council of India. Some of the major ethical issues that need immediate attention are:
1. Clinical research activities, using new drugs or carrying out new procedures on patients without their as well as their relative’s knowledge. The side effects should be fully explained.
2. Use of unnecessary radiological procedures. Radiation dose to the patients should be optimized in consultation with the medical physicists. The side effects of the exposures to high levels of radiation should be explained to the patients.
3. Surgical and other intrusive procedures should be carried out only by the suitably qualified and authorized medical personnel, that too only if it is necessary. Commercial angle should not be the guiding force.
4. Sexual exploitation of female patients by medical and paramedical personnel.
It is planned to collect responses and comments from the readers on this all important issue, analyze and publish it for the information of everybody.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
CAN INDIA SUSTAIN ITS ECONOMIC PROGRESS?
One of the important indicators of the Indian economic boom is the growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increasing to over 9% during 2005-06. But, the question is can we sustain this growth? Whether the growth is based on sound fundamentals? What fraction of the population is involved and is benefited by this growth rate?
The major contributors for the growth are reported to be: sustained industrial manufacturing activity and impressive performance of the service sector, particularly the IT services. The largest source of government revenue comes from the service sector (50%), Industry (25%) and agriculture (23%). Banking and financial sector grew at the rate of about 15% per year since 1991.
Over the last three decades, there is continuous growth in service sector, stagnancy prevailed in industrial sector and the share from agriculture is declining! It is true that the telecom revolution is benefiting a wide spectrum of people and is far reaching. India’s total tele-subscriber base is touching 200 million-mark (population around 1100 million). Mobile phone connections are growing at the rate of 6 millions/month and soon going to add up to 500 million. One can see color television sets in almost every urban household. This figures show wide-spread participation of people in the “feel good” prosperity scenario. Quite impressive indeed!
However, can the IT sector alone sustain the growth in the economy? No, not for ever. India needs to concentrate on industrial growth, producing raw materials, chemicals, textiles, etc, etc. Every day, media report government clearances given to close down textile mills, small scale chemical industries, metallurgical industries to make way for residential towers and malls. Agriculture scenario is stagnant. Rural agriculture workers are migrating to urban areas for greener pastures. A real growth of the order of 15% GDP may be possible if the above sectors and the necessary infrastructure development are also nurtured by the government to make India the economic super power.
One of the important indicators of the Indian economic boom is the growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increasing to over 9% during 2005-06. But, the question is can we sustain this growth? Whether the growth is based on sound fundamentals? What fraction of the population is involved and is benefited by this growth rate?
The major contributors for the growth are reported to be: sustained industrial manufacturing activity and impressive performance of the service sector, particularly the IT services. The largest source of government revenue comes from the service sector (50%), Industry (25%) and agriculture (23%). Banking and financial sector grew at the rate of about 15% per year since 1991.
Over the last three decades, there is continuous growth in service sector, stagnancy prevailed in industrial sector and the share from agriculture is declining! It is true that the telecom revolution is benefiting a wide spectrum of people and is far reaching. India’s total tele-subscriber base is touching 200 million-mark (population around 1100 million). Mobile phone connections are growing at the rate of 6 millions/month and soon going to add up to 500 million. One can see color television sets in almost every urban household. This figures show wide-spread participation of people in the “feel good” prosperity scenario. Quite impressive indeed!
However, can the IT sector alone sustain the growth in the economy? No, not for ever. India needs to concentrate on industrial growth, producing raw materials, chemicals, textiles, etc, etc. Every day, media report government clearances given to close down textile mills, small scale chemical industries, metallurgical industries to make way for residential towers and malls. Agriculture scenario is stagnant. Rural agriculture workers are migrating to urban areas for greener pastures. A real growth of the order of 15% GDP may be possible if the above sectors and the necessary infrastructure development are also nurtured by the government to make India the economic super power.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
