Schoolkids on lake clean-up drive (2)

The students themselves were very excited about the cleanliness drive. Aditi Tusnial, a Class XII student at Modern High School, said: “I had earlier taken part in cleanliness drives as a member of our school’s nature club, but Sunday’s experience was altogether different. I was thrilled to have contributed my bit to keep the lake clean and make it more beautiful,” she said. Aditi promised to return to the lake whenever her services are required.

Bharat Bharech of South Point felt it was his duty to keep the lake clean. “If I can inspire a single person to take up the job, I will feel satisfied. After all, it’s our lake and we have to keep it clean and beautiful,” he said. Bharat considers himself fortunate that he was selected by the school to be a part of the drive.

Green activist Mudar Patheria was all praise for the students, whom he had brought in for the drive. “They are the real tools to spread awareness among the people to protect the environment,” he said.

Members of Bengal Rowing Club, who organized the cleanliness drive, alleged that though the morning walkers cooperated with them to maintain the lake’s cleanliness, a section of revelers throw refuse and non-biodegradable items into the lake.

Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya, who was present at the spot, assured of extending all help on the part of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. He also released fingerlings at the lake in an effort to set the eco-system balance right. “We will do whenever needs to be done to keep the lake beautiful,” Bhattacharya said. - The Times of India

Today is World Digestive Health Day (2)

Although it is not a new phenomenon, many people are now increasingly being diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and the World Gastroenterology Organisation has decided to make the disease the theme of the year, if only to create awareness. “It’s rather a functional disorder, a malfunction of the intestinal system,” he adds.

To rule out other diseases, gastroenterologists screen patients for blood in stool, anaemia and weight loss or gain. “These are not the symptoms of an irritable bowel. Irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic disease that is extremely common. At least 30% of patients in a gastroenterologist’s clinic have it,” says Dr Mohammed Ali, head of medical gastroenterology, GH.

Dr Ali adds that skipping diagnosis of the disorder may not prove fatal. “Since many doctors skip rectal examination either because patients hesitate or because doctors don’t want to, they miss cancerous tumours that are not even 7 cm away from the rectum.” Irritable bowel disease is a chronic disorder that can occur over several episodes. “It’s varied in presentation. Sometimes, people complain of constipation for days; the next time they have frequent loose stools. It’s managed with medicines and lifestyle changes,” he explains.

The problem seen most often in clinics is that of patients coming with complications after self-medication. “They just pop in an OTC (over-the-counter) or a priscription pill, and it worsens their condition. Irritable bowel syndrome is managable, but in case it’s cancer it delays diagnosis and even decreases chances of survival,” Dr Ali points out.

Today is World Digestive Health Day (1)

Good morning friends.  Health is very important to everyone.  With a good body condition, we can do whatever we want, even it’s hard.  With reference to The Times of India, today is the World Digestive Health Day. 

Severe stomach cramps that sometimes send you racing to the toilet may not always be the common bacterial infection that causes a tummy upset. Several people, gastroenterologists say, could be suffering from a less commonly known disease called irritable bowel syndrome.

Bloating of the stomach, abdominal pain, diarrhoea or constipation (sometime they alternate) can lead people to stay put at home. Many of them manage to treat the symptoms on their own and, gastroenterologists, on World Digestive Health Day, say that less than half of them seek medical help.

“This is a dangerous trend. The primary reason for a person to go a doctor is not to get the irritable bowel syndrome diagnosed or treated but to rule out other diseases, including cancer, which can show similar symptoms. The diagnosis of a bowel disorder by a doctor is not the preliminary diagnosis. It’s made after ruling out other possible diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, ulcers, , colitis, Crohn’s disease or colon cancer. In some cases, a colonoscopy is used to examine the insides of a large bowel and it can even be followed up with an abdominal CT scan,” says Dr S M Chandramohan, head of gastroentric surgery, government general hospital.

Schoolkids on lake clean-up drive (1)

Good morning friends. There will be a school kids on lake will have a clean up drive, since the school opening is near. It’s good that they have that kind of activities as they cant do that much when the school starts. And also it’s good for the health of the schoolers.

Morning walkers at Rabindra Sarobar were greeted by an unusual sight on Sunday. Braving the light drizzle, there were about 50 schoolchildren cleaning the surroundings and urging others to follow their lead.

The schoolkids from Modern High School, South Point, Ashok Hall, Birla High, Sree Jain Vidyalaya an Julien Day School were participating in a clean the lake’ drive, and they didn’t mind getting themselves dirty to do their bit. They plucked weeds and plastic packets, removed garbage from the ground adjacent to the lake and urged visitors to follow their example and keep the lake clean.

For the lake regulars, it was a sight for sore eyes. Bidyut Sarkar (65), a resident of Lake View Road, could not conceal his emotion at seeing the young hands in action. “I was pleasantly surprised. This is quite inspiring and, given an opportunity, I wouldn’t mind extending a helping hand to clean up the mess at the lake,” Sarkar, who has been a regular morning walker at Rabindra Sarobar, said.

Rupendra Mohun Lakhotia, the chairman of the rowing committee of Bengal Rowing Club, felt similarly inspired. “It was a wonderful effort by the students and we are indebted to them in many ways. This dedicated bunch has successfully created awareness about the urgent need to clean up the mess around the lake,” he said.

Frequent deposition of garbage, plastic waste and other non perishable materials has made the lake shallower. According to Lakhotia, in the past three decades, the depth of the lake has been reduced from 35 feet to 10 feet. “It is high time we concentrated on dredging the lake,” he added. - The Times of India

Me and Dhyaan at the office

Me and Dhyaan together in my office.  Dhyaan visited me before his birthday.  He likes to be taken some shots, that’s why you can see there that he is not moving. 

Dhyaan’s Special Day

This is my son Dhyaan who is celebrating his 1^st birthday.  He is so playful but very smart kid.  He enjoyed playing with his brother Shivam and with his other cousins.  As he is a little boy, he goes around in every corner of the house. He keeps on biting anything which he picked, because at this age, he is having a small teeth and he likes to bite hard.  I took one of his picture and he is biting his toy.

Photo courtesy:  gettingpersonal

Health guidelines for schools

Good morning friends.  Summer is almost done.  I’m sure everybody was did enjoyed their summer vacation especially all students.  They should now be preparing for the coming school opening.  It’s good to know that there will be health guidelines for every school.  We should always think about the health of our children as they are still young and can easily acquire disease if they were not given a proper health care.

Both aided and unaided schools in the city would soon be given fresh guidelines by the Delhi government on medical preparedness.

The decision was taken after the government-appointed committee submitted its report to the Directorate of Education (DoE) on Wednesday. The report cited lapses on the part of Modern School, Vasant Vihar, in handling the case of Class XII student Aakriti Bhatia who died on her way to hospital following an asthma attack on the school premises on April 21.

“We are preparing the guidelines in consultation with the health department and they will be issued in two-three days,” said education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely.

While the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 under rule 38 mentions the need of a part-time or full-time medical officer, Lovely said: “The new guidelines would be more comprehensive and would be mandatory for schools.”

Meanwhile, a day after the DoE’s report was submitted, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child’s Right (DCPCR) has decided to move Delhi High Court for registration of a criminal case against the school, accusing it of negligence in the matter.

The DoE report, though holding principal Goldy Malhotra responsible, didn’t direct any action against her. Said sources in DoE, “Malhotra came to know of the incident very late. Also we have to take into account how much of `puffs’ she (Aakriti) took, how ill was she the day before, what effect the ongoing construction had on her, among others, before coming to any conclusion.”

Even sources at DCPCR said although being the principal Malhotra should be held responsible for what happened in her school, the principal was informed late about the development. –The Times of India

Expect pre-monsoon activity in a week: Met dept

Good morning friends. Summer is still going on.  Very hot in all places.  It’s very uncomfortable to move.  Just a couple of steps, we feel the heat, we perspire.  With reference to The Times of India, we will be expecting a pre-monsoon activity in a week.

Scorching, sultry afternoons may soon give way to thundershowers and welcome drizzle as weather officials expect pre-monsoon activity to begin in a week’s time.

The city has been witnessing high humidity which was recorded at 70% on Monday morning. Weather officials said this is due to the south-westerly current which leads to more moisture in the environment.

Officials said that if the temperature continues to remain high, the state could expect pre-monsoon activity like thundershowers, winds and even light rains.

It would be a prelude to the monsoon which normally arrives by June 15. The weather department has predicted 90% rainfall.

Meanwhile, officials said that the temperature in most parts of the state are normal. “In most regions of the state, the temperatures are normal. In Ahmedabad, the temperature was recorded at 40.4 degree while the normal temperature at this time is 41 degrees Celsius,” said a weather official.

Officials said that if the temperatures remain consistently high, it will facilitate manifestation of pre-monsoon activity.

Meanwhile, doctors have warned that as the humidity levels have risen in the state, people should increase their water intake to make up for the water-loss through perspiration.

“Since people are not used to humid environs, they should take care to regularly consume fluids like lemon juice to ward off an electrolyte imbalance through excessive perspiration,” a doctor said.

Larget Democratice Exercise of the World

Good morning friends.  The largest Democtatic Exercise in the world has just ended.  This is the most exciting part….the counting of the votes.

The counting of votes will begin on Saturday, three days after the end of a nearly month-long polling to elect a new Lok Sabha.

The Election Commission has put in place an elaborate arrangement for the counting of votes, which would start at 0800 hours tomorrow, both in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

The exercise would take place at 4,260 counting halls in 1,080 centres across the country and would be managed by nearly 60,000 personnel.

The Commission has launched a special website to make available instantly the outcome of the election, considered the largest democratic exercise in the world.

A little over half of the country’s 71.37 crore registered voters exercised their franchise in the election stretched over five phases, which started on April 16 and ended on May 13, to choose from 8,070 candidates belonging to 46 national and state parties registered with the Election Commission.

Elections are held to 543 seats of the 545-member Lok Sabha, as two members are nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. A party or a coalition needs to have at least 272 seats in the Lok Sabha to stake claim to form a government. – NDTV

Arctic explorers find more evidence of global thaw

Good morning friends.  The scientist had forsee the team that they can locate a thick ice which measured 3 meters.  And the thing is that they found a 1.773 meters.  The artic explorers finds more evidence of global thaw.

A team of British adventurers measuring ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic said on Wednesday they did not find the thicker, older ice that scientists expected to be there.

Instead they found only the thinner, predominantly first-year ice that is likely to melt in summer months, in what could be another sign of the impact climate change is having on the Arctic ice sheets.

“Whereas the scientists who had been advising us had predicted it would be a mixture of this (new ice) and the older, thicker, multi-layer ice. We saw no evidence of that,” said Pen Hadow, leader of the Catlin Arctic Survey team.

The scientists had predicted the team would find ice with a thickness of about 3 meters, but the average thickness they found was 1.773 meters, Hadow said.

“That raises more questions than it answers,” he said, in a satellite phone interview with other members of the group that was webcast from the Arctic.

The three-member team was airlifted from the ice on Wednesday, having completed a 73-day trip that covered 434 km over the frozen Arctic Ocean from northern Canada toward the North Pole.

The group had hoped to stay on the ice until late May, but decided to end the mission on Wednesday after determining the weather and ice conditions were better now for the aircraft needed to remove them and their equipment.

“It’s now time to get off the ice,” Hadow said.

Hadow said the group was able to take about 1,500 measurements of the ice thickness and density during the journey, collecting data for scientific analysis.

Some scientists have warned that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, and link the higher temperatures to the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

The sea ice cover shrank to a record low in 2007 before growing slightly in 2008.-Yahoo