Tuesday, 17 December 2019
No country for values
It seems something went seriously wrong during the British Rule and also the post-Independence period. The average Indian male, particularly in the urban centres, has become comparatively aggressive, intolerant and has an indifferent commitment to truth. A number of factors would appear to have contributed to this transformation. Ethical values were ingrained among the new generation at two levels-family and the educational institutions. Both these levels are today in a state of complete disarray. The traditional joint family system has disintegrated and the nuclear families are under considerable strain. Generally, both the husband and wife are working with the result that the child is left to himself. He may be going to a good institution, but he does not get the traditional care and upbringing from the parents. In schools and colleges, with some exceptions, the stress is on getting good marks and being able to qualify in a competitive examination. There is no emphasis on ethical values, being a good citizen, having a healthy attitude towards the opposite sex or imbibing an idea of service to society and the country. Politics has somehow become a dominant feature of our society. It, in fact, influences all the other segments of life. But, unfortunately, it is being increasingly infiltrated by persons of questionable background and has, therefore, become very murky. Such persons are no inspiration-in fact, they provide wrong examples of success to the young generation. On top of all this, the internet with its tremendous advantages is also causing havoc by providing easy access to pornography. More than half a billion people have access to the internet in the country today and we are the third most porn-watching country in the world. What the attitude of the porn watchers would be towards the opposite sex is anybody's guess. (The writer is Chairman, Indian Police Foundation) DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The New Indian Expresshttps://jobboard.lmc.edu/employers/344227-raajdenenews
In search of escape plan
own, down, down. But there is no White Rabbit in sight, no watch, just the feeling of hurtling down with nothing to hold on to, no drink to shrink me so that I can escape, even if into another bad dream. But this is not just a scary dream. It is an endless nightmare, in which we are being strangled by our permanent wordless screams.Only the onion has risen. And inflation. And the jewellery on the women in the Bengali television serials. The last is the only bright thing in our darkening world and I will hold forth on it a bit.So I have been watching the gold (or golden) ornaments that the women, most of them installed in glitteringly Hindu households, wear from head to toe. Starting with sinthis and naths, the jewellery picks up momentum neck downwards, with layers of wide, rope-like necklaces cascading down from the throat to the chest to the waist. Sometimes they wear fat waistbands too. The wrists are sheathed in columns of golden bangles.Such careful toilette provides a welcome break from watching the country burn, or the aftermath of rape. To me, a world where women can take unhurried, unworried baths and then dress up implies a benign social order. But, of late, this little idyll of mine, too, has become disturbed. I am being haunted by a question that I cannot ignore: after all, where do the women find the time to put on so much jewellery?I have been counting the ornaments on the women, and the ornaments far outnumber the plots. Actually there is only one plot, when the serial is not historical-religious-mythological: a tall, fair, handsome and noble man is married to a beautiful, virtuous, talented and noble woman, but the woman is the man's social inferior, and the women in the husband's family, especially the mother (these are all joint families), humiliate the new bride constantly for this inferiority. And the young couple, though full of desire, do not consummate their marriage. The chaste bride, for some reason, wears less jewellery, but I have a feeling the day she loses her virginity it will be replaced by gold.At last count, a particularly vicious mother was wearing 17 pieces of jewellery, one more than the tradition-approved sola shringar (16-item adornment with jewellery). So I wondered how much time she took to wear them. Later she must have taken them off before her afternoon siesta, and kept them back in the jewellery box, and taken them out again in the evening, and put them on again, and taken them off again. (But she must have!)This just leaves her with enough time to be a tyrant with her daughter-in-law, who never protests. But if it is still enough for women in popular culture to be embodied as only these two extremes, a malignant matriarch wearing jewellery, and a submissive, sexy, virginal wife, how can we imagine other women? So how is it that these other women, a poor girl who wants to be a lawyer, a young woman who is a doctor, in Unnao, in Cyberabad, will not be just plucked and raped and burnt and killed?Because in a sense they do not exist. Or should not exist. Still. And because rape is a popular culture. Still. The same one that drapes women in jewellery. Killing rapists will make no difference.I think I will only watch food programmes from next year. 1723764 1700241 DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttps://disqus.com/by/guenshesehs/
Eco crisis: PM must act fast
The slowdown also indicates the failure of the banking system. Of late, the banks found it easier to lend money to NBFCs and microfinance companies than to get their hands dirty by lending to people directly. If banks lend people or businesses directly, the Reserve Bank ensures that lenders don't have excessive exposure to any one sector. But neither the lender's management nor the RBI bothered to check the final destination of NBFC loans, which became an albatross on the economy. The most unpalatable feature of the working paper for the Narendra Modi government is its authors' labelling the current slump as 'India's Great Slowdown' and comparing it with the infamous incident in India's economic history, the 1991 balance of payments crisis. One needn't tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the importance of simple words, if they catch people's imagination. Let's hope Mr Modi takes some immediate remedial measures swiftly to prevent the Great Slowdown from turning into another Watergate for him. ... DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Deccan Chroniclehttps://www.vox.com/users/raajdenenews
Momota trumps badminton greats with record-smashing year
The left-handed Momota has played 73 matches this year, losing just six times, and admits that he has surprised even himself with his blistering form. Malaysia's Lee won 10 titles in 2010, but Momota said: 'Although I broke the record of Lee Chong Wei, I don't think I can be compared to him as a player and as a human being. 'I feel like I am not yet a legendary player but I will work hard in order to play well in future tournaments.' There is now only one major individual title missing from the all-action Japanese player's trophy haul -- Olympic gold. Barring injury, loss of form or more controversy, Momota will be hot favourite to rectify that on home soil in Tokyo next summer. Winning gold would be particularly satisfying for Momota after Japanese badminton chiefs barred him from the Rio 2016 Olympics for visiting an illegal casino. He did not watch any of the Olympics because it was too painful. 'I still feel remorse and cannot be sorry enough for what happened,' he told the Olympic Channel at the weekend, having been forced out of badminton for more than a year. 'I'd be lying if I said I don't think about the Olympics (next year). 'I troubled a lot of people last time. 'For those who supported me when I wasn't playing, I want to repay them somehow at Tokyo.' Momota was down at 282 in the world rankings in July 2017, but his ascension since his return to the sport has been breathtaking. He was seventh in the rankings in August last year when he became the first Japanese man to win the singles title at the World Championships. In August this year, by then the undisputed number one, Momota retained his crown. It is all a far cry from the days when as a youngster he would follow his sister to her badminton practice. 'Before I knew it, I was also playing,' Momota said. Momota's dominance comes as Lin and Lee, two of the biggest names to grace men's badminton, fade from view. In June, Lee, now 37, retired after fighting off nose cancer. His nemesis, the 36-year-old Lin, is desperate to end his career with a tilt at a third Olympic gold but faces a battle to even qualify for Tokyo. Steen Pedersen, Denmark's former chief coach, says Momota is a 'very complete' player. Speaking as a television commentator at the BWF Finals, Pedersen added: 'Momota is right up there in every category of the skill sets for men's singles, very few weak areas.' The Olympics are still seven months away but there is already a clamour in Japan for Momota to turn his dominance into home gold next year. 'Gaining momentum for gold in Tokyo!! A clean sweep of big titles in the pre-Olympic year,' Sports Nippon declared on Monday in a headline. 'He has become the undisputed king by enhancing his speed on top of his solid defence,' the daily added. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttps://www.theverge.com/users/raajdenenews
Ultra-processed foods linked to diabetes risk: Study
Among people in the study who ate the most ultra-processed foods, 166 in every 100,000 developed diabetes, compared with 116 out of every 100,000 people who ate the smallest amounts of these foods. 'We advise people to limit their consumption of ultra-processed foods and privilege unprocessed or minimally processed foods - of course in addition to a nutritionally healthy diet low in salt, sugar, fat and energy density; an optimal BMI; and healthy lifestyle behaviors,' said lead study author Bernard Srour and senior author Mathilde Touvier of Universite Paris 13 in France. In particular, people looking to lower their risk of diabetes should limit their intake of red and processed meats and sodas and other sugary drinks, Srour and Touvier said by email. People should also eat lots of yogurt, vegetables, whole grains and nuts to help decrease their diabetes risk, they advised. For the study, the researchers examined data on more than 104,000 adults without diabetes. Participants were 43 years old, on average, at the start of the study; researchers followed most of them for at least six years. Overall, about 17 per cent of participants' diets consisted of ultra-processed foods. People who consumed more of these foods tended to eat more calories overall, to have lower quality diets, and to be more likely to be obese and inactive. During the study period, 821 people were diagnosed with diabetes. Each 10-percentage point increase in the amount of ultra-processed foods in participants' diets was associated with a 15% higher risk of developing diabetes, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine. The connection between ultra-processed foods and diabetes persisted even after researchers accounted for the nutritional quality of people's diets, any weight gain and other metabolic disorders. The study wasn't designed to determine whether or how ultra-processed foods might directly cause diabetes. It's possible, however, that chemical additives and industrial processing that alters the cellular structure of foods both play a role, Srour said. One limitation of the study is the possibility that some participants with diabetes went undiagnosed, leading to an under count of the number of diabetes cases. Even so, the results add to evidence that ultra-processed foods can lead to health problems, said Priscila Machado, a researcher at Deakin University in Australia who wasn't involved in the study. 'Ultra-processed foods have characteristics that stimulate over consumption and the displacement of healthy foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, including their convenience, accessibility, affordability, big portion sizes, and the aggressive marketing and promotion of these foods,' Machado said by email. People who have the time and resources to avoid ultra-processed foods can spot them pretty easily, however. 'To identify an ultra-processed product, check the list of ingredients,' Machado advised. 'If you see a very long ingredients list with lots of chemical-sounding names, that's probably a good indication that is an ultra-processed food.' DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttps://speakerdeck.com/rebensonim
Why menopause hormones can raise breast risk?
He discussed the new results Friday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The results are from the Women's Health Initiative, a federally funded study that tested pills that doctors long thought would help prevent heart disease, bone loss and other problems in women after menopause. More than 16,000 women ages 50 to 70 were given combination hormone or dummy pills for five to six years. The main part of the study was stopped in 2002 when researchers surprisingly saw more heart problems and breast cancers among hormone users. Women were advised to stop treatment but doctors have continued to study them and have information on about two-thirds. With roughly 19 years of follow-up, 572 breast cancers have occurred in women on hormones versus 431 among those on dummy pills. That worked out to a 29 per cent greater risk of developing the disease for hormone takers. Still, it was a difference of just 141 cases over many years, so women with severe hot flashes and other menopause symptoms may decide that the benefits of the pills outweigh their risks, doctors say. The advice remains to use the lowest possible dose for the shortest time. 'The hormones are stimulating the cells to grow' and it can take many years for a tumour to form and be detected, said Dr C. Kent Osborne, a Baylor College of Medicine breast cancer expert. Women have prescribed hormones in combination because taking estrogens alone raises the risk of uterine cancer. However, one-quarter of women over 50 no longer have a uterus and can take estrogens alone for menopause symptoms. So the same study tested estrogens alone versus dummy pills in more than 10,000 such women, and the conclusion was opposite what was seen with combination hormones. Women on estrogens alone for seven years had a 23 per cent lower risk of developing breast cancer up to 19 years later. There were 231 cases among them versus 289 in the placebo group. These results contradict what some observational studies have found, though, and doctors do not recommend any hormone use to try to prevent disease because of the murky picture of risks and benefits. The federal study only tested hormone pills; getting hormones through a patch or a vaginal ring may not carry the same risks or benefits. The results are another reason that hormone users should follow guidelines to get regular mammograms to check for cancer, said Dr Jennifer Litton, a breast specialist at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. 'Continuing to screen appropriately remains important,' she said. ... DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Deccan Chroniclehttps://jobs.alumni.umich.edu/employers/342016-devakrajints
'Andhra Pradesh may have 3 capitals,' says CM Jagan Reddy
They are required. We have to think on those lines seriously," he said, but added that a final call would be taken only after the expert committee constituted to look into the issue submitted its report. The Committee report is expected in the next few days. Indicating that the government (Secretariat and heads of departments) could shift to Visakhapatnam, the Chief Minister pointed out that the port has the required facilities. "Vizag has all the facilities. Only Metro (rail) is required," Jagan Reddy noted. Stating that development of Amaravati into a full-fledged capital city required at least Rs one lakh crore, the Chief Minister wondered where the money would come from. ... DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Deccan Chroniclehttps://lwccareers.lindsey.edu/employers/341255-guessyleague
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