My eldest son Shivam Patel.  Look so young and innocent but have a good value of life.

Good morning friends.  Eating has a very special part in our life.   If we dong eat we’ll die.  But  as we eat, we eat all healthy foods.  We should make sure the cleanliness and safeties of the food we eat, especially to our kids as they have weak body yet.

Eating at a roadside eatery could take you to a doctor. There is an alarming amount of adulteration in that lip-smacking dish that you gorge on.

The adulterated ingredients range from chemicals such as ammonia to heavy metals like lead and arsenic. Poor quality of snacks and food products sold at restaurants and sweet shops in the city are hazardous to health too. What’s worse, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) isn’t equipped enough to crack down on food adulteration.

But this is set to change soon. AMC is coming up with a state-of-the-art public health laboratory in Navrangpura to keep a close check on the standard of food items sold in the city. The project will cost Rs 1.25 crore. Deputy municipal commissioner, AMC and in charge of health, IK patel said, “The lab will carry out detailed testing for food additives, pesticides, heavy metal contamination and microbiological presence harmful to human body.”

“In the upcoming AMC budget, funds will be allocated for the setting up of this modern public health laboratory,” added Patel.

The laboratory is also a part of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSSA) enacted by Parliament in August 2006. The Act requires setting up ultra modern centers for food testing across the country.

Chairman of AMC health committee Praful Raval said, “It will be a public health laboratory with advanced technologies for food testing, focusing on infrastructure strengthening and training of personnel to upgrade their existing skills. The building will have a section dedicated to food testing.”

There are 72 food laboratories across the country set up by different state governments. Besides, four Central Food Laboratories have been established by the Central government.

AMC also hopes to get a grant from Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Central government, under a capacity building project for food safety and quality control of drugs.

The new AMC laboratory will be developed as per the requirement of National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

NABL has been authorized by the Central government as the sole accreditation body for testing and calibration laboratories in the country. – The Times of India

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been diagnosed with swine flu. A panel of doctors has been formed to treat him. Dhirendra Pray for Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s Good health. God give him speedy and safe recovery.

We all love you our CM Narendra Modi. GET WELL SOON SIR.

Good morning friends.  We all know that English is the international language which we must all know.  There will be a new project that will teach poor kids to talk in English.  

Imagine walking down a street and the young girl selling flowers round the corner

Rattling off names like a florist on Times Square. 

Imagine, there’s no kid who didn’t know English. That’s a world not too far away in Apnu Amdavad.

First, it was Teach India, a movement that began the empowerment of underprivileged children through education. Now, Times Foundation has partnered city-based NGO, Yuva Unstoppable, to reach English to every child across weaker sections of society.

English Unstoppable — an ambitious, three-month-long project to make underprivileged children read and write English — will be launched in Ahmedabad and Mumbai simultaneously on November 16, with a huge support from the corporate world. India Inc has agreed to send its employees to teach English at municipal schools in the two cities for two hours every week.

“The inspiration is Teach India. Now, we wish to take the initiative forward by focusing on teaching English. We have found a large number of kids dropping out as English suddenly becomes compulsory later in school. The motive is to reduce drop-out rate, build confidence and create a bigger English-speaking population to make India competitive in the long run. We will also impart basic literacy and values,” says Amitabh Shah, founder of Yuva Unstoppable, a partner NGO for Teach India.

As many as 10 corporate have pledged support to the cause in Ahmedabad, including HDFC Bank, HDFC Standard Life, Reliance Communication, Vodafone, Adani Wilmar, Vadilal, Motif, Troika, Evosys and Azure. In Mumbai, the project is supported by HDFC Bank and Nicholas Piramal and more are expected to join.

The campaign, which will go on till February 15, will target sixth and seventh graders in 40 municipal schools in Ahmedabad and many more in Mumbai. While the Ahmedabad Municipal School Board will provide the infrastructure, Calorx Foundation will develop content for the campaign. Calorx, also a Teach India partner, has been spearheading teaching of English by volunteers in government-run schools.

The Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) is the execution partner; with 10 MBA students helping out execute English Unstoppable on the ground.  - The Times of India

Good Morning friends.  It’s a pleasure to know that India will join rich nations’ group to protect forests.  We all know that some forest had been forgotten to protect.  Many will say that forest has no use in our daily life.  Literally yes, but our forest has a big role in nature.  Trees that grew there more than a 100 years helps us when there will be a disaster, like flood.

India, along with five other developing countries, has joined a group of five rich nations to work on a Rs 1,600-crore project to fight climate change through forest management.

The six developing countries — Brazil, Congo, Morocco, Nepal and Romania — have joined the group comprising US, Australia, Britain, Denmark and Norway under the governing body of the Forest Investment Programme (FIP).

This signals the commitment of these countries to a unique partnership to combat climate change through forest management, the World Bank said.

“This new programme will provide much-needed upfront investment to developing countries and forest-dependent communities to help them prepare for and benefit from financial flows for the sustainable management of forests,” said Eduardo Saboia, who represented Brazil in the series of FIP design meetings. The FIP Trust Fund Sub-Committee will meet in Washington for the first time on October 29 to begin implementation of the programme. It will also work on criteria for selecting pilot countries and regions. The FIP governance structure is among the first in a new generation of partnerships among developing and developed countries and other stakeholders which takes account of the need for a level playing field in addressing climate action, the bank said.

“These should lead to replicable models resulting in effective forest management, improved forest governance and information systems, restoration and sustainable management of degraded forests,” it said. Pilot programmes will be chosen by taking into account country distribution across regions.

“Rampant, large scale deforestation produces more carbon emissions than the entire world’s planes, ships and cars combined,” said Douglas Alexander, secretary of state for International Development for UK, which has pledged up to £100 million (Rs 772 crore) for the FIP. – AhmedabadMirror

Happy Diwali to All

Wishing you

all the special joys

of this season.

Wishing you a warm

and wonderful Diwali

and a bright and happy new year.

Diwali Celebration Day

In behalf of my family and friends, I, Dhirendra Patel wishing you all a very Happy Diwali to you and your family.  Let it all shine on!