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Indian films a hit at NEW DELHI, Dec 12: The journey of peoples of India and Pakistan towards peace, harmony and long-lasting friendship continues.....more Doctors alarmed at rise in non-communicable diseases NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Alarmed by the fact that 5 to 10 per cent of the adult population ..more Drought-hit N Karnataka hard hit by Malaprabha project failure NEW DELHI, Dec 12: People in four districts of northern Karnataka, hit by drought for the...more NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Government is planning to introduce ‘health cards’, which would contain medical history on a microchip, for all members of Parliament. .....more |
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Shakthan Thampuran palace to be opened to tourists as museum THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Dec 12: In a bid to offer tourists more than just beaches and ......more Railways rapped for non-utilisation of funds for passenger amenities NEW DELHI, Dec 12: A Parliamentary Committee has rapped the Railway Ministry for not fully utilising ....more Sikkim keen on becoming number one eco-tourism spot KOCHI, Dec 12: The Government of Sikkim has chalked out an ambitious plan to.....more Instant triple Talaq banned in many Islamic countries NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Seeking divorce by uttering the word ‘Talaq’ thrice at one ....more |
Indian films a hit at Pakistan film festival NEW DELHI, Dec 12: The journey of peoples of India and Pakistan towards peace, harmony and long-lasting friendship continues. In what could be seen as a latest example of the oneness of people on both sides of the border, many offerings from the Mumbai film industry proved to be a hit at the recent film festival at Pakistan. Bollywood films ranging from commercial ones to the ‘realistic’ ones- Aditya Chopra’s ‘Dhoom’, Pooja Bhatt’s ‘Rog’ , Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Maqbool’ and Vinta Nanda’s ‘white noise’- were screened to packed audiences at the the Kara film festival at Karachi, trade sources said. Starring Irfan Khan, Rog has been directed by actor-turned filmmaker Pooja Bhatt. ‘Rog’, which is scheduled for release in India shortly, is Pooja Bhatt’s second film in succession to have been premiered in Pakistan. Her first directorial venture,‘Paap’ was premiered at last year’s Kara film festival to full houses . Vinta Nanda’s ‘White Noise’ was another film which evoked a tremendous response at the festival. The film, which was premiered at the festival, was screened to a full house. ‘White Noise’, which is the debut film venture by television filmmaker Vinta Nanda(of ‘Tara’ fame) was hailed by the film critics and lovers as a new kind of cinema for India . As the film’s director Vinta Nanda, who was present during the premiere of the film at Kara Fil festival told UNI:’’ The show was seen by a packed 450 plus audience. Half way through the screening the projector caught fire and the air cons collapsed which led to a 45 minute delay in restarting the film. But nobody from the audience left the show halfway in spite of the delay and sweltering heat and watched the film till the end.’’ According to Vinta, the audience loved ‘White Noise’ as a mainstream film. In fact, during the question-answer session that followed the screening, many from the audience wondered why the film had been made in English and not in Hindi. The film is scheduled for release in India in January next year, Vinta said. Besides ‘Rog’ and ‘White Noise’, films like ‘Maqbool’ and ‘Dhoop’ attracted huge crowds at the festival, which concludes today (Sunday). What makes the public response to the Indian films commendable is the fact that they were among more than 100 movies - 28 feature films, 35 documentaries and 40 short-length movies - from Europe, Latin America and Asia shown at the ten-day festival. Trade sources said the highly encouraging response to the Indian films at the festival showed that there was a huge audience(and market) in Pakistan for Indian films. "People in Pakistan are in live with everything Indian, including Indian food, filmstars as well as film songs and films. In this context, the opening of the Pakistani market to Indian films (presently pirated versions of Indian films are screened in Pakistan) could open up a lucrative source of revenue for Indian filmmakers, "Pakistani pop artist Mehmood Khan told UNI. Says filmmaker Vinta Nanda:"I would love to theatrically release my film in Pakistan if the film market in that country is opened up to Indian films." In this regard, trade sources point out that films like ‘Yash Chopra’s ‘Veer Zaara’, a love story between an Indian boy and a Pakistani girl which shows the Pakistani sentiments in a sensitive manner, had the potential to become blockbusters in Pakistan. "If the film is released in Pakistan, it could run for months together without a break, given the sensitive handling of the Pakistani sentiments in it,"trade analyst Komal Nahata says. Nothing demonstrates the Pakistani peoples’ love for Indian films and songs more than the fact that the visit to Pakistan by actress Urmila Matondkar last year met with a tremendous public as well as media response. This is perhaps why Dupilex Vision Limited, a creative and Performing Arts Academy in Pakistan recently signed an agreement with K Craft, an Indian event management company owned by music director Anand Raj Anand, to organise shows in that country featuring Bollywood stars like Preity Zinta, Urmila Matondkar, Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Raveena Tandon. (UNI) |
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Doctors alarmed at rise in non-communicable diseases NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Alarmed by the fact that 5 to 10 per cent of the adult population in the bigger cities has either diabetes or high blood pressure, medical experts are evolving health strategies to combat the growing incidence of lifestyle diseases. "The lifestyle and behavioural patterns of people are changing rapidly, and these have unfortunately contributed to the rising incidence of diabetes, an iceberg disease, and coronary heart disease," says Dr N P Singh, Professor of Medicine and head of Nephrology, Maulana Azad Medical College. Dr Singh says of late there has been a rapid rise in non-communicable diseases to epidemic proportions. It is increasingly being realised that multifactorial causes contributing to these diseases include sedentary lifestyles, increasing mental stress, smoking, alcohol and recreational drug abuse. "While diabetes and heart diseases have been able to draw significant attention of the medical community, diseases like chronic kidney ailment and hypertension emerge as killers due to relatively indolent initial course and inadequate management. The paucity of rehabilitation facilites in our country limits us to offer only an incomplete cure to patients with debilitating diseases like stroke," he says. Other non-communicable diseases include nervous and mental diseases, arthiritis, blindness, obesity, cancer, bronchitis and asthma. According to Dr S K Agarwal, head of Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, non-communicable diseases contribute to nearly 60 per cent mortality and 43 per cent of the global burden of disease. Dr Agarwal says that based on the current trends, these diseases are projected to account for 73 per cent of deaths and 60 per cent disease burden by 2030. "Indians have a genetic predisposition towards diabetes," Dr Agarwal says. Though conclusive data is not available, isolated studies show the occurrence of heart diseases in India to be 17-22 per thousand population. Realising the potential for making a significant contribution towards promoting better health, the college is organising a three-day conference on the subject. The conference, beginning December 16, will have participation from eminent national and international medical experts. The 400-odd experts will deliberate on some of the burning issues including stroke, acute liver failure, chronic kidney disese and non resolving pneumonia. A highlight of the event will be a session on ethics and clinical trial. Talking about high blood pressure as a growing problem, Dr Singh says the prevalence of high blood pressure in the urban population is as much as 59.9 and 69.9 per thousand among men and women, respectively. Dr Singh says although control of this problem can be successfully achieved by medication, the ultimate goal is to target modifiable risk factors like obesity, salt and saturated fat intake and alcohol abuse. He says another significant contributor to chronic ill health is obesity. As it is a positive risk factor in the development of high blood pressure, diabetes, gall bladder disease, arthiritis and heart disease, prevention and control of obesity is based on a balanced diatery management, increase physical activity and an overall improvement in psycho-social wellbeing of an individual. The leading nephrologist says that with the rising incidence of diabetes and high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease has become one of an important non-communicable diseases. In the absence of renal registry in India, the correct magnitude of the disease is not known. The cost of renal replacement therapy in the form of long-term dialysis or kidney transplant is exhorbitant. Thus planning for prevention on a long-term basis is the only practical solution. But the 700 nephrologists and 400 dialysis clinics in the country are grossly inadequate to meet the magnitude of the problem, Dr Singh says. (UNI) |
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Drought-hit N Karnataka hard hit by Malaprabha project failure NEW DELHI, Dec 12: People in four districts of northern Karnataka, hit by drought for the last five years, are agitated over the failure of the Malaprabha river project, which has led to acute shortage of water in Hubli, Dharwad and several other towns in the region. The solution, they say, lies in linking Mahadayi tributaries—Kalasa and Bandurinala—to the river. The failure of the project, which was launched in 1970 to cater to the drinking water and irrigation needs of north Karnataka, is due to the reduction in the inflow of of water to the river because of which the dam built near Sauandatti in Belagaum is working below its storage capacity. The project, on which Rs 400 crore has already been spent, can be rejuvenated if the surplus water in the Mahadayi river tributaries can be diverted to Malaprabha by linking both the rivers, say representives of the affected people who were here to knock the doors of the Centre for relief. The Malaprabha project encompasses four districts of Dharwad, Gadag, Begaum and Bagalkot besdies nine Talukas which are drought prone areas for a long time. It is supposed to provide drinking water to more than 50 towns and irrigate two 202,000 hectares. The Mahadayi river originates in Khanapur in Karnataka and after travelling 30 km in the state and 51 km in Goa, it joins the Arabian Sea. The major rainfall catchment area is in Karnataka. Nearly 200 TMC of water flows into Arabian Sea without any usage. It is this water that can be utilised to save the Malaprabha project, Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi and state MLC Basawraj Bommai, who led a delegation of the affected people to Union Water Resources Ministry, told UNI. They said that in 1989, the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Goa had agreed to share the water of Mahadayi by building a dam near Khalsa and diverting the water to Malaprabha. However, later the Goa Government made some objections on ground of environmental imbalances due to this project. After several rounds of talks, the matter was referred to the Neeri institute which, in its report, clearly stated that there would be no environmental harm because of the project. However, the Goa Government has not acknowledged the findings of the study. The Central Government gave its in principle approval to this project, allowing diversion of 7.56 tmc of water to Malaprabha in April 2002. However, the order was put to hold at the behest of the Goa Government, Mr Joshi and Mr Bommai alleged. As per the Central Water Commission, Karnataka’s share in the total quantum of water in Mahadayi was 45 tmc but the diversion was only 7.56 tmc. The CWC has said that the 200 tmc water which was flowing into the Arabian Sea without any usage was a colossal national loss. They said the Karnataka Government itself was not serious in getting final clearance from the Centre for the project, showing little concern for the plight of about 20 lakh people of the four northern Karnataka districts. The people have been agitating for the cause for the last several years as Malaprabha was the only source of drinking water and irrigation to them. They said they met Union Minister for Water Resources Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi and apprised him of the situation prevailing in the north Karnataka districts and long-standing demands of the drought affected people. "The people of north Karnataka are waiting with great hope for the minister to keep the promise, to solve the issue, he made to them during his Bangalore visit," they said. (UNI) NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Government is planning to introduce ‘health cards’, which would contain medical history on a microchip, for all members of Parliament. "It will be in the shape of a credit card with a microchip, which when played on a computer, display health history of MPs," Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here last evening at the conclusion of `health awareness week’ for Parliamentarians. Director General of Health Services S P Agarwal, who spoke on the occasion, said the card would help in treatment of MPs, especially aged ones, as it is often difficult to get details of treatment which they might have undergone in the past. The week, organised under the leadership of Agarwal, was attended by 365 MPs including leader of the opposition L K Advani. As many as 214 MPs underwent clinical investigations, he said. "Special arrangements were made to have consultation with the experts in the field of cardiology, endocrinology, nutrition, Indian systems of medicine," Agarwal said adding live yoga demonstrations were conducted and 95 MPs learned the technique. Experts from AOOMS, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, R M L Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College participated in the event. "The event is first of its kind in the country and there will be another such week after six months," Ramadoss said. The objective was to sensitise the MPs on the risk factors of life style diseases and their prevention through simple lifestyle interventions, Agarwal said. "Such sensitisation will help Parliamentarians to be the role model to the community and would help in framing suitable policies for health of people," he added. Ramadoss said the Parliamentarians should be aware of health related matters when making policies. Regretting that the country had not exploited the benefits of yoga fully, which had evolved in the country, Ramadoss said now a reverse trend was being noticed with Indian doctors getting trained in the west and returning to the country. "It is our system, culture and heritage and it must be promoted in the country," he said. An exhibition was also put up on healthy living and lifestyle diseases, the risk factors and their prevention. Lifestyle diseases was on an increase in the country and it would soon overtake the other ailments, Ramadoss said. (PTI) |
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Instant triple Talaq banned in many Islamic countries NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Seeking divorce by uttering the word ‘Talaq’ thrice at one go is banned by law in many Islamic countries, including neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh. As the country debates misuse of ‘instant triple Talaq’ and cases of divorce through telephone and even e-mail have emerged, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has brought out a handbook enlisting the progressive personal laws practised in various Islamic countries. The handbook ‘welfare of Muslim women’ aims at creating awareness among Muslim women in India about their legal and constitutional rights and the changes introduced by various Islamic countries in the ‘Shariat’. Divorce by pronouncing ‘Talaq’ thrice at one go is prohibited in several Islamic nations, including Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the book compiled by NCW member Nafisa Hussain says. In fact, the practice was banned in Pakistan way back in 1961, when family law ordinance was promulgated making registration of all marriages compulsory and making it mandatory for a couple to go through a reconciliatory process under the supervision of a Government official before seeking divorce as a last resort. Divorce can be sought only after the reconciliatory efforts fail, in the form of a written announcement and uttering the word ‘Talaq’ thrice is not sufficient in Pakistan. "The main problem is lack of awareness among Muslim women. While in other countries, women have taken the initiative and raised voice against the practice of giving divorce by simply saying `Talaq’ thrice, Muslim women in India have not shown the same kind of activism on the issue," NCW member Hussain said. "The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, from time to time, expresses concern over the practice and says it wants to take steps in this regard. But everytime, there is some or the other roadblock and nothing happens," Hussain said. The NCW has even planned to approach the Supreme Court to seek directives on triple Talaq in the context of a Muslim couple in Orissa wishing to continue their marriage after the husband uttered ‘Talaq’ thrice in a drunken state. Meanwhile, on the issue of Polygamy, the book informs that while Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, Indonesia, Iraq and Pakistan have put in place strict judicial and administrative regulations on it, the practice is banned in Malaysia and Brunei. Further, while in many Islamic countries, it is the right of a divorced woman to get maintenance money from her husband, in India, she has to depend on the Wakf board for sustenance allowance. (PTI) |
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Urea scam: Accused to show willingness of defence witnesses NEW DELHI, Dec 12: In a bid to expedite the Rs 133-crore urea scam case, a Delhi Court has directed the two Turkish nationals accused in the case to produce by December 21 documents showing the willingness of the foreign witnesses to depose in their favour before an Indian court. Giving a last opportunity to Karsan Ltd’s executives Tuncay Alankus and Cihan Karanci who wished to produce witnesses in their defence, additional Sessions Judge A K Garg ordered them to show the willingness of the witnesses so that their deposition could be started by mid-January. Earlier, on February 19, the court had ordered an end to the examination of prosecution witnesses after only 95 of the 180 witnesses initially listed by the CBI were examined and directed the start of recording of statements of the accused. CBI counsel V N Ojha, however, said most of the witnesses were dropped because they would have proved repetitive. On examination of foreign witnesses, he said, they were crucial to the case but could be produced only if they consented. The CBI had examined three foreign witnesses through video conferencing from abroad, creating a landmark in the Indian legal history for examining the maximum number of witnesses in any case with the aid of the modern technology. The CBI said it had put forward a strong case despite not very encouraging support from foreign witnesses, who could not be examined. Sources said there were as many as 32 foreign witnesses who could be examined through video conferencing and the CBI had even prepared a list of 11 but could produce just three of them. CBI SP B N P Azad, the investigating officer in the case, was the last witness to be examined by the court. Mr Azad, whose deposition started on January 19, was cross-examined at length by the defence. The investigation in the case, in which foreign nationals, in conspiracy with some Indians, cheated the country of a hefty sum, was handed over to the CBI after the matter came to light. The National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) had entered into a contract with Karsan Ltd in October 1995 for supply of 2,00,000 metric tonnes of urea and had advanced Rs 133 crore to the Ankara-based company. However, not even a single grain of urea was supplied by Karsan to NFL. The CBI filed a chargesheet framing former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao’s kin B Sanjeeva Rao, former Union Minister Ramlakhan Singh Yadav’s son Prakash Chandra, Karsan Ltd’s executives Tuncay Alankus and Cihan Karanci, former NFL managing director C K Ramakrishnan, its former executive director Dilbagh Singh, Karsan’s Indian agent M Sambasiva Rao, one D Mallesam Goud and Brazilian national A E Pinto. They have been charged with criminal conspiracy under section 120 B with sections 409 and 420 of the Indian penal code and other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. (UNI) Waitings of early Oriya women writers give insight of their world NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Rebati may have invited misfortune for longing to educate herself in the late 17th century in Orissa, but her plight forced the people to send their daughters to school. The fictional figure Rebati, narrated by father of modern Oriya literature Fakir Mohan Senapati in a short story, had to loose her father, mother, land and even a cow, as she aspired to go to a school. "Rebati, the female protagonist, displays a forbidden desire for learning and thereby seems to invite misfortune upon herself and her community," writes Prof Sachidanand Mohanty in a book called "early women’s writings in Orissa, 1898-1950". The story might be a satire on girls’ education the state in late 17th century, but it ignited the minds of the men in the state for providing education to their daughters. Terming the early women writers as "Rebati’s sisters", Prof Mohanty, who teaches English at Hyderabad university, says, "Fakir Mohan Senapati’s short story ‘Rebati’ published in 1898 began a new tradition and heralded a new breed of women who learned to write and created a literature of their own in Orissa." When Oriya was not recognised as a language and Orissa (the region was a part of Bengal presidency) did not have its own identity till 1936, some women writers had expressed their moments of joy, sorrow, doubts and dilemmas in their poetry, prose, fiction and drama. The book includes writings of Abanti Rao, Sailabala Das, Rama Devi, Kuntala Kumari Sabat, Sarala Devi, Malati Devi, the wife of former Chief Minister Nabkrushna Choudhary, Nirmala Devi, Hemalata Mansingh, the wife of great poet Mayadhar Mansigh and mother of diplomat Lalit Mansingh, Bidyut Prabha Devi, former Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy and Basanta Kumari Pattnaik. Professor Sachidanand Mohanty has done a commendable job by compiling the writings of 20 early women writers of Orissa in the book. The English translation of 29 best writings of illustrious writers finds place in the book. Prof Mohanty, a fulbright scholar and illustrious son of poet Bidyut Prabha, had done extensive study for eight years for bringing out the book in English for the readers, who are alien to the language. During the release of the book by Sahitya Akademi secretary Sachidanandan, publishers organised a seminar to discuss the writers. Many panelists objected the address of women writers as ‘literary domestics’ by the author saying, that the terms were derogatory. To counter the criticism, the author in his introduction says, "by literary domestics, I mean those women who found themselves in a domestic setting and yet had literary aspirations." At the function, Mr Lalit Mansingh said his mother despite being little educated, could express her joy and anguish in literary form sitting in a corner of the room. "She left behind a treasure in a black trunk in 2004," he said. Prof Mohanty gave a insight of his mother who is a will known writer in the state. Most of the women writers had participated in the freedom struggle and raised their voice against the atrocities in their times through their writings. The book portrays the socio-economic political scene and the plight of women in the state in early 17th century till the nation achieved Independence. (UNI) Waitings of early Oriya women writers give insight of their world NEW DELHI, Dec 12: Rebati may have invited misfortune for longing to educate herself in the late 17th century in Orissa, but her plight forced the people to send their daughters to school. The fictional figure Rebati, narrated by father of modern Oriya literature Fakir Mohan Senapati in a short story, had to loose her father, mother, land and even a cow, as she aspired to go to a school. "Rebati, the female protagonist, displays a forbidden desire for learning and thereby seems to invite misfortune upon herself and her community," writes Prof Sachidanand Mohanty in a book called "early women’s writings in Orissa, 1898-1950". The story might be a satire on girls’ education the state in late 17th century, but it ignited the minds of the men in the state for providing education to their daughters. Terming the early women writers as "Rebati’s sisters", Prof Mohanty, who teaches English at Hyderabad university, says, "Fakir Mohan Senapati’s short story ‘Rebati’ published in 1898 began a new tradition and heralded a new breed of women who learned to write and created a literature of their own in Orissa." When Oriya was not recognised as a language and Orissa (the region was a part of Bengal presidency) did not have its own identity till 1936, some women writers had expressed their moments of joy, sorrow, doubts and dilemmas in their poetry, prose, fiction and drama. The book includes writings of Abanti Rao, Sailabala Das, Rama Devi, Kuntala Kumari Sabat, Sarala Devi, Malati Devi, the wife of former Chief Minister Nabkrushna Choudhary, Nirmala Devi, Hemalata Mansingh, the wife of great poet Mayadhar Mansigh and mother of diplomat Lalit Mansingh, Bidyut Prabha Devi, former Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy and Basanta Kumari Pattnaik. Professor Sachidanand Mohanty has done a commendable job by compiling the writings of 20 early women writers of Orissa in the book. The English translation of 29 best writings of illustrious writers finds place in the book. Prof Mohanty, a fulbright scholar and illustrious son of poet Bidyut Prabha, had done extensive study for eight years for bringing out the book in English for the readers, who are alien to the language. During the release of the book by Sahitya Akademi secretary Sachidanandan, publishers organised a seminar to discuss the writers. Many panelists objected the address of women writers as ‘literary domestics’ by the author saying, that the terms were derogatory. To counter the criticism, the author in his introduction says, "by literary domestics, I mean those women who found themselves in a domestic setting and yet had literary aspirations." At the function, Mr Lalit Mansingh said his mother despite being little educated, could express her joy and anguish in literary form sitting in a corner of the room. "She left behind a treasure in a black trunk in 2004," he said. Prof Mohanty gave a insight of his mother who is a will known writer in the state. Most of the women writers had participated in the freedom struggle and raised their voice against the atrocities in their times through their writings. The book portrays the socio-economic political scene and the plight of women in the state in early 17th century till the nation achieved Independence. (UNI) |
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