Eyecatchers-59: 'Roof Riders"

Indonesian commuters riding on the roofs of trains will be sprayed with colored liquid so that security officers can identify and arrest them, said a recent report. Electric trains link the Indonesian capital and its neighboring towns. These trains are so full during the rush hour that many of them end up sitting on the roof of the train. But this is also a ploy to travel without buying a ticket. The state-owned railway company, PT Kereta Api, has been trying to discourage commuters from traveling on the roof but to no avail. So now they have hit upon a strategy that is sure to discourage the roof riders by dousing them with colored liquid so that they can be identified and punished. At least 53 roof riders have been killed in the past two years, the Post said.

Courtesy: Young World, supplement to The Hindu, Feb.22, 2008

A Thought for Today : February 19, 2008

Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better – John Updike

Eyecatchers-58: 'India: World Diabetes Capital"

Not only is diabetes a leading killer, the type 2 form of the disease is now a deadly epidemic in India. Diabetes affects an estimated 25 to 40 million Indians, according to different estimates and at this rate the number of patients could double by 2030. With more diabetics than any other country – every fourth patient today is an Indian – India is often called the diabetes capital of the world.

Some reasons for the epidemic: Experts say that many Indians are genetically predisposed to the disease. Others attribute it to a rising incidence of obesity, high-fat, high-calorie diets, sedentary lifestyles, lack of exercise and even stress.

Courtesy: Reader’s Digest, February 2008

'Keeping Diabetes at Bay' by Cynthia Dermody

1. Drink Milk

A Scandinavian study found that adding whey, a protein in milk, to high-carbohydrate meals increases insulin secretion and lowers blood sugar levels. Researchers have yet to figure out how whey does this, but they say it may be that whey protein is highly digestible and releases high levels of amino acids in the blood. The acids summon the insulin release that is necessary to control blood sugar. Another report from Harvard found that men who drank the most low-fat milk had a 23% lower risk of developing diabetes than men who drank only a little milk.

2. Snack on Walnuts

People with diabetes and those at risk for the condition are told to eat oily fish like tuna or salmon twice a week because it helps reduce the amount of saturated fats in their diet and because it supplies omega-3 polyunsaturated acids, which protect against heart disease, the No.1 killer of diabetics.

But many people don’t eat that much fish. Australian researchers found that having a daily walnut snack (about a handful) and eating slightly less fish boosted omega-3s and lowered saturated fat better than fish alone.

3. Get some sleep

Boston University researchers recently found that people who slept too little (six hours or less a night) were 66% more likely to have diabetes than those who slept seven to eight hours.

Study author Daniel J.Gottlieb, MD, a professor of medicine, speculates that insufficient sleep causes the release of adrenaline-like substances that induce insulin resistance, though more research in this area is needed.

Excerpt from Reader’s Digest, February 2008

My grateful thanks to Cynthia Dermody and Reader’s Digest.

A Thought for Today : February 18, 2008

Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much - Robert Greenleaf

A Thought for Today : February 17, 2008

Keep five metres from a carriage, ten metres from a horse, and a hundred metres from an elephant; but the distance one should keep from a wicked man cannot be measured – Indian Proverb

Facts & Figures-20 : Mobile Moves

Singapore raised mobile-phone subscriptions to 5.62 million last year after Singapore Telecommunications Ltd and StarHub Ltd offered free incoming calls on pre-paid plans and discounts on high-speed handsets. The city-state added 992,200 wireless users in 2007, the Infocomm Development Authority said on its Website.

The increase means Singapore has more than 1.2 subscriptions for every person, a gain from about 1.03 a year earlier, according to the regulator.

Singapore Telecomm, South-East Asia’s largest phone company, StarHub and MobileOne Ltd lured users by offering free short message services and discounts on Nokia Oyj phones. SingTel had 2.33 million mobile users in its home market as of December 31, 2007. Wireless subscriptions in Singapore, home to one of the highest mobile-phone subscriber rates in Asia, first exceeded its population in March 2006.

Hong Kong had 10.55 million mobile customers in November 2007, representing 152% of its population, according to figures fro0m the city’s regulator.

Singapore added 31% more prepaid users for a total of 2.6 million and gain 49% more high-speed subscribers to end the year with 1.7 million, according to Infocomm.

MobileOne, the smallest of the city-state’s three mobile phone companies, said on January 24 that it had 1.53 million subscribers. - Bloom berg

Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, Feb.11, 2008 (eWorld)

A Thought for Today : February 16, 2008

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humour, to consle him for what he is – The Wall Street Journal

A Thought for Today : February 15, 2008

Genius is the gold in the mine; talent is the miner who works and brings it out - Lady Blessington

Letters-7: Shining Example

(1) I remember with nostalgia my stay at Anandvan – the commune established by Baba Amte for leprosy patients – at a time when it was still at the developing stage. My father was a medical officer there for some time and I stayed with him. Words cannot express the dedication of Baba Amte, his family members and their co-workers towards the development of Anandvan. Over the past few decades, Baba Amte’s mobility was restricted but his activities were not.

A leading light in the field of rehabilitating leprosy patients has been extinguished but his memory will remain forever. - Lt Col G.Kameswara Rao(Retd), Secunderabad

(2) There can no greater service than selflessly helping the sick and the downtrodden. Baba Amte will remain one of the great icons and a shining example for all Indians, perhaps even for the world. - David Peniel, Tiruchi

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, February 12, 2008 (Letters to the Editor)

A Thought for Today : February 14, 2008

Plan ahead – it was not raining when Noah built the Ark – G.F.C. (Reader’s Digest, April 1975)

Encourage Your Baby to Explore

Parents who stop their babies crawling around may permanently harm their mental development, says John Brierly, a British schools inspector and author of books on child development. Encouraging a baby to explore, however, may increase inventiveness in later life.

“A narrow environment with no toys, no stimulus, no affection, inarticulate communication and a prohibitive attitude to children’s natural exploratory activity may permanently retard mental development,” he writes in the UK Department of Education’s publication, Trends in Education.

Such deprivation during the crucial years from birth to five could make thousands of children educationally backward in the early school years.

Security, minimum interference by adults and an environment that invites exploration and experiment provide the best conditions for exploratory learning.

Courtesy: The Guardian, Manchester & Reader’s Digest, April 1975 (News from the World of Medicine)

Sri Visveswarar Medical College Hospital, Trichy Bypass Road, Sriram Nagar, Kottaiyur

All my people know that I seldom have anything good to say about allopathy hospitals and doctors. But here I am complimenting straight from my heart the above hospital and its physician, Dr.Kaveri, M.D.

Let me start from the beginning. First let me remove the misconception - There is no medical college as the name suggests. To my knowledge, it has been so for more than 20 years now. It is easily the biggest hospital, say, in about 50 km radius, with many latest gadgets. Somehow from the beginning it did not attract many patients. Poor management? Honestly I don’t know. Now this hospital management has been taken over by ‘Mata Amirthanandamayi Trust’.

Now the highlights:

· It has a well-qualified and well-experienced physician, viz., Dr.Kaveri, M.D. This soft-spoken and kind lady attends on patients sympathetically. Her diagnosis is good. She does not unnecessarily prescribe unwanted laboratory tests. Whatever medicine she prescribes is generally minimal and cheap.
· The consultation fee is Rs.10/- for, hold your breath, for a month. You may have any number of consultations during this time and you don’t have to pay anything except the initial Rs.10/-.
· There is absolutely no crowd. So you don’t become tense. You relax yourself and get the treatment.
· All charges are nominal – ECG, Scan, X-ray, various lab tests etc are carried out on concessional fee.
· At two places, they have parked vehicles which you can use for going to the hospital, WITHOUT PAYING ANYTHING.

Now, to the painful thing, still there is no crowd. You never see more than two or three patients. I have seen patients thronging many private hospitals, restlessly waiting for hours for their turn. Why don’t they use this hospital? God alone knows! They publicize through local TV channels. On their vehicles, you see banners highlighting the benefits. Yet, painfully, the hospital is, to put it mildly, under-utilized.

Medicine is no longer a service or a profession. It has grown into big business these days. So when you see institutions like Sri Visveswarar Medical College Hospital, you are very much moved and your cynicism is checked a little bit.

I have always been an admirer of Mata Amirthanandamayi. There are many educational institutions, including some of the best institutions of higher-learning, hospitals and many other service facilities run under benevolent guidance.

I touch the Holy-Feet of ‘Mataji’ and pray that the innumerable service activities carried out under her benevolent guidance grow and continue to benefit humanity. My grateful thanks to the local ‘Mata Amirthanandamayi Trust’ who dedicatedly run this hospital.

6th Karaikudi Book Festival

The 6th Karaikudi Book Festival was inaugurated at Kamban Mani Mandapam, Karaikudi, on Saturday, the February 9, 2008 by renowned philanthropist and writer, Nalli Kuppusamy Chetty. Rotarian PHF Muthu.Palaniappan (President, Chamber of Commerce, Karaikudi) welcomed the audience. Writer and Chairman of Organizing Committee, Prof.Dr.Aykann delivered the presidential address. Dr.N.Palaniswamy, Deputy Director, CECRI, offered felicitations. I was honoured at this function as the person mainly responsible for the introducing State-Level Book Festival at Karaikudi and for organizing the first four Book Festivals. While thanking the Organizers and the Executive Committee of FASOHD, I recalled the problems faced in organizing the Book Festivals and the unstinted support received from the Presidents of FASOHD during this period viz., Dr.M.Raghavan, Dr.V.Sundaram, Mr.K.Nakkeeran and Rtn.Muthu.Palaniappan; and the Secretaries of FASOHD during this period, viz., Dr.Visalakshi Ravindran, Dr.R.Srinivasan, Dr.N.Kalaiselvi and Dr.S.Sathiyanarayanan. Dr.A.Muthukrishnan, Controller of Administration, CECRI, Karaikudi, offered the Vote of Thanks. Competitions for students at the college and school levels, Cultural programs, Quiz programs and various other activities are on the card during the Book Festival, which will be concluding on the night of Sunday, the February 17, 2008.

My best wishes for the success of this Book Festival.

A Thought for Today : February 13, 2008

We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart - Blaise Pascal

A Thought for Today : February 12, 2008

Truthfulness is the main element of character - Brian Tracy

A Thought for Today : February 11, 2008

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through - Rosalynn Carter

A Thought for Today : February 10, 2008

Prayer is less about changing the world than it is about changing ourselfves – David Wolpe

A Thought for Today : February 9, 2008

Luck is not chance, it is toil. Fortune’s expensive smile is earned – Emily Dickinson

A Thought for Today : February 8, 2008

People hardly ever make use of the freedom they have, for example, freedom of thought; instead they demand freedom of speech as a compensation – Kierkegaard