Are vaccines only for children? It’s a myth, says Dr. Vasant Nagvekar, who believes strongly that adults have an equal need and responsibility to vaccinate themselves against various diseases. Consult your healthcare provider to determine your level of risk for infection and your need for a vaccine, he urges. The two most effective means of preventing disease, disability, and death from infectious diseases have been sanitation and immunisation. The practice of immunisation dates back hundreds of years. Edward Jenner is considered the founder of vaccinology in the West in 1796, after he inoculated a 13-year-oldboy with vaccinia virus (cowpox), and…
Author: oiop
One of the fallouts of children being less physically active is the likelihood of them contracting lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes. Kanchan Naikawadi suggests ways to help our children lead active, diabetes free lives. Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in children and adolescents. When diabetes strikes during childhood, it is usually assumed to be type 1, or juvenile-onset diabetes. The body simply stops producing insulin and the child becomes dependent on an external source of insulin for the rest of his/her life. However, in the last two decades, type 2 diabetes is also increasing among…
Human beings have lost the art of living in balance and harmony with their natural surroundings. The frenetic pace of living and indiscriminate use of resources is slowly pushing us to the brink of ecological and human disaster. It’s time we went back to caring for ourselves and this planet, says Kiri Meili. She also tells us simple ways to do this. Many of the environmental problems confronting humanity today are caused by continuous human intervention in natural processes. The Earth is geared towards life and is always pushing towards more abundance and more life and more beauty, if it’s…
Not many are aware of the existence of the Toastmasters International, a club that helps its members become better speakers, listeners and leaders. A. Radhakrishnan introduces us to its India chapter and also to the term ‘glossophobia’. In a world of communication, whether it is motivating workers, information dissemination to constituents, collaborating with folks inside and outside our organisations, or getting an employer to hire us, better communication skills is a benefit. We can accomplish a lot if we present our point of view more persuasively. Worldwide, people are moving in droves to be members of the Toastmasters International, an…
Arjuna awardee Jitu Rai is the first Indian athlete to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. He is currently ranked World No. 1 in 50m rifle shooting. Rai grew up in Sankhuwa Sabha in Nepal where his family cultivated rice. When his father died in 2006, he had two choices – join either the British Army or the Indian Army, both of whom were recruiting for their Gorkha regiments. Rai had his heart set on going to England, but he could not reach the British Army base camp on the designated day. The next day, he enlisted in the Indian…
Recycling should be the mantra for our times. A nation like Sweden sends only 1% of its waste to landfills while India figures among top twenty polluters of the seas. Usha Hariprasad insists that waste segregration and recycling have to become a way of life. She also profiles some encouraging waste management initiatives in India. Here is something surprising. In Sweden, only 1% of the waste finds its way into the landfills. The rest gets recycled – as new products, energy or simply as raw materials! How’s this possible? One of the reasons is that segregation is followed in most…
A puzzling protest in recent times has been the Jat stir for reservation. They are fairly affluent and are the dominant community in Haryana. Then why are they demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutions? Prof. Avinash Kolhe tells us why, while pointing out that this could be the trigger for other communities. Finally, the Haryana Assembly has passed the Jat Quota Bill on 29th March 2016. Along with the Jats, five other castes will now be eligible for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions as the Assembly unanimously passed the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and…
A soldier of skill and talent (1894-1985) AHardit Singh was born on 23 November 1894 in a prosperous Sikh family in Rawalpindi. He studied at home only till the age of 14 years and was then sent to East Bourne Public School in UK. He joined Balliol College, Oxford, and graduated with honours in 1915. He was a keen sportsman and got blues in golf and cricket. Most of the students in the college had joined the armed forces and Hardit Singh also applied for a commission in the British Army. He was rejected on the grounds that the British…
The health challenges in our rural areas located in chronically underdeveloped states like Chattisgarh are numerous and diverse. But sometimes what it takes is enormous resolution and commitment as shown by the Christian Hospital Mungeli. Gayatri Ganesh recounts the work they do and the unique challenges of our remote villages. Twenty-year-old Shakti (her name means ‘strength’ in Hindi), pregnant and Hepatitis-B positive was rushed to the hospital when she was bitten by a viper, needing anti-venom and ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Nineteen-year-old Asha (her name means ‘hope’ in Hindi) was in her ninth month of pregnancy and had been fainting…
If the purpose of a play or a movie is to make us think, then the play ‘7/7/07’ was very successful, says Prof. Avinash Kolhe. Staged at Mumbai’s iconic NCPA theatre, the brilliantly conceptualised play about an Iranian girl who was hanged for killing the man who attempted to rape her, touched many hearts. The social life of women in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc., is unimaginable as they have to live under innumerable restrictions. As if this was not enough, the women are often subjected to sexual violence. And when they raise their voice against such sexual…