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Refresher Training of CERT by FOCUS
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Crossing tracks led to most railway deaths
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Friday, September 28, 2012
VISARJAN DAY SURVIVAL GUIDE
It's a day no Mumbaikar can afford to ignore. Ananta Chaturdasi, the day the city's biggest Ganpati idols are immersed, is marked by huge celebrations and enormous traffic jams.
The police and BEST have made special arrangements for today, while various volunteer groups have offered their services to keep Mumbai afloat amid the immersions.The traffic police have urged Mumbaikars to avoid unnecessary travel to avoid the huge traffic snarls expected on visarjan day.
"Our officers will be on the roads from 8am. We appeal to citizens to avoid stepping out unless absolutely necessary. If you do have to travel,www.trafficpolicemumbai.org has all the information you might need," said Vivek Phansalkar, joint commissioner of police (traffic). He added that around 3,000 traffic police will be on the roads to guide people. There have been several meetings to ensure co-ordination between the Ganpati pandals, the police and agencies such as the BMC and MMRDA.
"At almost all important roads and junctions, watchtowers will relay messages to the public. We expect every Mumbaikar to behave responsibly," said Phansalkar. SPIRIT OF MUMBAI
LIFEGUARD GROUPS TO PROVIDE VOLUNTEERS
For the sixth consecutive year, the Girgaum Chowpatty Lifeguard Association will provide free lifeguards at Girgaum chowpatty on the final day of visarjan. A total of 20 lifeguards and 80 volunteers, who have been trained in first aid, will be present.
N M Khan, secretary of the Girgaum Chowpatty Lifeguard association, said, "Every year the beach gets extremely crowded. Sometimes, people caught up in the excitement enter the sea even if they do not know how to swim. We have been providing volunteer lifeguards for many years. There are similiar associations doing this in other parts of the city as well."
STUDENTS TO CLEAN BEACHES AFTER VISARJAN
School and college students across the city have already started cleaning littered, post-visarjan beaches with the help of BMC officials. Many of them have committed to take on the mamoth task of cleaning the beaches after the final day of visarjan as well. At 8am on Sunday, over 60 students from Stds IX to XII of Oberoi International School, Goregaon, will gather at and clean up Aksa and Marve beaches. Another team, of about 80 students from Sanskar India Foundation (SIF), will do the same at Girgaum Chowpatty.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
Advice from Mumbaikars who have been out on the roads on visarjan days in the past
If you plan to go anywhere today, it is best to avoid traveling by road. Taking the trains is the best option. Also, instead of hunting for a taxi or auto for short distances it's best to take a bus or walk to your destination.
- Madhura Lingayat, 25,
editor/photographer
If you're going to travel today, travel light. Carry a bottle of water and some biscuits in case you get stuck somewhere for a long time.
- Amit Suvarna, 30,
marketing manager
If you plan on watching the visarjans, go in a small group to reduce the chances of someone getting lost. Decide on a meeting point and time in case someone does get seperated from the group. Be careful with your belongings, especially wallets and phones. Women need to be extra careful.
- Dania Kabir, 22,
client servicing and marketing
VIEWING GALLERIES
Chinchpokli bridge: Lalbaugcha Raja, Ganesh gully, Chinchpoklicha Chintamani, Tejukaya Mansion Ganpati, Rangari Badak Chawl Ganpati, Kalachowki Ganesh Mandal, Laxmiwadi Ganpati Saat rasta: Delisle Road Ganpati, Nare Park Ganpati, Lakshmi Cottage Ganpati (Parel), Krishna Nagar Ganpati (Parel), Lal Maidan Ganpati (Parel), R K Studio Ganpati (Chembur), Dukes Ganpati (Chembur). Opera House junction:Lalbaugcha Raja, Khetwadi Ganpati, Khotchawadi Ganpati, Girgaoncha Raja, Keshavji Naik Ganpati (the oldest ganpati mandal in Mumbai)
Juhu chowpatty, Girgaum chowpatty:
Two of the biggest tourist attractions on visarjan day, these beach attracts thousands seeking a glimpse of the actual immersions. Lalbaugcha Raja is immersed at Girgaum.
MEDICAL EMERGENCIES Casualty wards
KEM hospital: 24136051 Nair hospital: 23081490 Sion hospital: 24076381 Baghwati hospital: 28932461/2, 328932463
Ambulances
Accident cases only: 102 Mumbai Heart Brigade, BMC: 23079643, 105
ONLINE RESOURCES
Route maps and closed routes trafficpolicemumbai.org Live traffic updateswww.traffline.com/?City=Mumbai INNUMBERS 99 VISARJAN POINTS 4200SARVAJANIK GANPATI IDOLS TO BE IMMERSED 37 ROADS WILL BE ONE WAY 61 ROADS WILL HAVE HEAVY VEHICLES BANNED
The procession starts at 10 am from Lalbaug market and takes the following route: Lalbaug, Bharat Mata Theatre, Lalbaug, Sane Guruji Marg, Byculla Railway Station, Clare Road, Nagpada, Dunkan Road, Don Taki, Sant Sena Maharaj Marg (Kumbharwada), Suthar Gully, Madhav Baug, C.P. Tank, V.P. Road, Opera House, Girgaum Chowpatty
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Aircraft carrying Everest trekkers crashes, 19 killed
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One in 3 Mumbaikars has abnormal lipid levels
Nearly one in three Mumbaikars has unhealthy lipid levels that greatly heighten the risk of heart disease, according to a new survey. The study showed that the country's metros, including Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, have worryingly high burden of dyslipidemia—abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels—that is mostly attributed to sedentary lifestyle and westernised diet.
Mumbai's citizens, the survey revealed, have the worst low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels as compared to the other three cities. A whopping 51% of the 17,655 patients surveyed here between January and July this year had borderline high or high levels of the bad cholesterol. Increased LDL is known to play a significant role in hardening the fat that goes on to choke arteries, which eventually leads to heart attack or stroke.Initiated by diagnostic major Metropolis Healthcare, the survey studied lipid profile investigations—comprising cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels—of 2.7 lakh people in the four metros and found abnormality in as many as 33% cases.
In Mumbai, the survey found about 54% of women—particularly aged 35 to 50 years—had higher cholesterol levels than men. Forty-six per cent of the men here were noticed to have high or borderline high cholesterol. Among children, the survey discovered that over 2% did not have the desired levels of good cholesterol or HDL. A senior cardiologist from a state-run hospital blamed the troubling statistics on the rapid change in eating patterns in urban households. "Weekly outings now mean eating fast food, which is high on cholesterol. Ready-to-eat food could also be a contributing factor," the doctor said.
Experts believe dyslipidemia is a crucial parameter in gauging the burden of heart disease in a nation.
In the survey, Bangaloreans were found to have the worst degrees of cholesterol. While 42.61% of them had abnormal levels, 30% of Mumbaikars had such levels. Interventional cardiologist Dr Vijay Bang, who consults at Bandra's Lilavati Hospital, said the trend is worrying. "It has become imperative that people be pushed to exercise and adopt better dietary habits," he asserted.
The head of interventional cardiology at Breach Candy Hospital, Dr Dev Pahlanji, said almost every patient who meets a heart specialist today has at least one abnormal lipid parameter. "The trick is to watch out for related factors such as genetics, dietary and lifestyle. Hypertension, stress, smoking and diabetes contribute to heart ailments." He recommended that anyone over 50 should be up-to-date on their lipid profiles.
The survey found that 48% of women and 34% men who had high cholesterol levels were above the age of 50. Pahlanji cautioned that, if the heart disease epidemic among Indians has to be controlled, the bar for checking lipid profile should be lowered due to genetic and dietary factors.
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32m patients, but cardiac care heartwarming
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The deafening truth about mobiles
Mumbai: When 21-year-old Hiten, a Dadar resident, started complaining of a whistling sound in his right ear, he thought it was an infection. But ENT specialist Divya Prabhat shocked the youngster with his diagnosis: hearing loss.
"An audiogram revealed that he had significant hearing loss in his right ear, the one he favoured while talking on his phone," said the doctor. While the jury is still out on the connection between shiny new phones, personal listening devices and hearing loss, Dr Prabhat said he found no other reason for Hiten's galloping hearing loss.During World Deafness Week, which this year has ironically coincided with Mumbai's favourite but noisy festival, Ganeshotsav, doctors and activists feel it is time to draw a connection between lifestyle and hearing loss. "Previously, I would get patients with complaints of tinnitus (ringing sound in the ears) in their 60s, but now I have patients in their twenties," said Dr Prabhat.
Overusing mobile phones, say doctors, is also associated with rising incidence of vestibular schwannoma (also referred to as acoustic neuroma or benign tumour growing on the nerve). "It is felt that the incidence of vestibular schwannoma would be 50% higher in mobile users than nonusers," said Dr Prabhat.
A loud warning for youth
Long hours on phone, listening to loud music affects hearing, say docs Today, youngsters hit by ear ailments for long associated with those in their 60s Listening to sounds over 80 decibels for four hours will damage ear, warns WHO Activists say noise pollution must be considered a health problem and awareness created We may turn into a nation of deaf people: Activist
Doctors say hearing problems affecting youngsters these days are due to their favourite habit—hanging on to their phones and music players at loud volumes for several hours a day. "Hearing loss depends on two factors—the decibel of sound and the duration for which one is exposed to it," said Prof Hetal Marfatia from KEM Hospital, Parel. "If one is listening to sounds over 80db for four hours, there will definitely be hearing loss." The World Health Organization has said that noise above 85db is damaging to human ears and a 3db rise above this reduces by half the time needed to cause damage.
But another doctor, Nishit Shah, said rapid hearing loss is only caused by viral i n f e c t i o n s . "Hearing loss o c c u r s o ve r years," he said, adding that the only exception would be instances of terror victims turning deaf on exposure to loud sound.
But Dr Marfatia said an angiogram would be a definite way of understanding if hearing loss is caused by noise pollution, be it exposure to sound in the environment or personal music players.
A study from Tel Aviv University has shown that youngsters who listened to over four hours of music on their MP3 players or iPods could be damaging their hearing. Dr Prabhat remembers a 38-year-old businessman from Surat who suffered complete hearing
loss in one of his ears due to mobile use. "He confessed he was on the phone from morning to evening. It definitely had a result," he said.
Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz Foundation, which works on creating awareness about noise pollution, said, "The levels of noise we are exposed to could turn us into a nation of deaf people. It's high time noise pollution was considered a health problem and solutions worked out accordingly."
WARNING
SOUNDS
A STUDY BY TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY HAS SHOWN THAT ONE IN FOUR TEENAGERS IS AT RISK OF EARLY HEARING LOSS AS A DIRECT RESULT OF LISTENING TO MUSIC ON PERSONAL LISTENING DEVICES (PLDS) LIKE MP3 PLAYERS AND IPODS
DAMAGING DEVICES
PLDs permit users to listen to crystalclear tunes at high volume for hours on end The study found that 21% of the participants were using PLDs from one to four hours and 8% for at least four hours Experts feel that the extent of slow hearing loss will only be felt in 10 or 20 years, by when it may be too late for an entire generation to do something about their hearing
DECIBEL ALERT
Worldwide, 16% of disabling hearing loss in adults is attributed to occupational noise, ranging from 7 to 21% in various sub-regions
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the second most common form of acquired hearing loss after age-related loss
NIHL is generally used to denote the cumulative, permanent loss of hearing that develops gradually after months or years of exposure to high levels of noise. It has long been recognized as a problem in occupations associated with prominent noise
Studies have shown that people who are exposed to noise levels higher than 85 db suffer from NIH
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Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Sr citizen dies as Tardeo bldg flooring caves in
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Monday, September 24, 2012
Skip immersion jams with traffic police site
For the first time, this year motorists can avoid snarls and delays during Ganpati immersion by logging on to the traffic police's website and checking for congested roads. The website — www.trafficpolicemumbai. org—will host a route update link with a colour-coded map. Motorists can enter their point of origin and destination to find out which routes are available for traffic and what is the average speed on these roads. Alternate routes can be found out as well.
"As part of our preparations for Ganpati visarjan, we will be closing down 37 roads completely for vehicular traffic on Tuesday and Saturday between 12pm and 6am the next day. On these two days, 50 roads will be made one-way, parking will not be permitted on 61 roads and heavy vehicles will be banned on 13 roads,"said joint commissioner (traffic) Vivek Phansalkar.
There will be CCTV surveillance at major immersion spots. "A control room was inaugurated at Girgaum Chowpatty, which will be used for bandobast coordination, CCTV operation, a lost-and-found section for kids and senior citizens, coordination with other agencies, lifeguards coordination, monitoring of reserve forces and deployment," said joint commissioner (law and order) Sadanand Date.
There are a total of 99 visarjan points and 4,200 sarvajanik Ganpati idols are expected to be immersed on Saturday. "Police commissioner Satyapal Singh had a meeting with Ganpati mandals in five regions before the festival began and appraised them about security. This made a lot of difference. Security audits were also carried out with prominent mandals where they were asked to deploy private security guards, instal CCTVs and have a proper access control system with metal detectors," Date added.
The traffic police will be coordinating with other agencies such as BMC, MMRDA and Ganpati mandals. "Apart from BMC lifeguards who will be posted at 88 spots, the traffic department will be arranging for 400 additional lifeguards. Around 8,500 volunteers are being roped in, including 4,500 from Aniruddha Bapu's academy of disaster management, 1,000 each from NSS and NCC and 35 Ham radio operators," Phansalkar said. "Thirty-seven watch towers have been erected for making announcements. Drums and ropes will be used to segregate both carriageways. Local police personnel have been provided with binoculars and walkie talkies." TRAVEL GUIDE FOR THE BIG DAY
Roads closed | 37 One-way | 50 No-parking | 61 Heavy vehicles banned | 13 (The above will come into effect on Tuesday and Saturday from 12pm to 6am)
DEPLOYMENT Police constables | 21,500 Police officers | 1,500 Traffic police personnel | 2,500 Rapid Action Force | 2 companies Border Security Force | 1 company
State Reserve Police Force | 4 companies Navy and coast guard will be on alert
Volunteers from Aniruddha Bapu Academy of Disaster Management | 4,500 NSS | 1,000 NCC | 1,000 Ham radio operators | 35 Total volunteers | 8,000 to 8,500
SECURITY
Watch towers 37 BMC lifeguards 88 Other lifeguards arranged by traffic department 400
IMPORTANT ROADS CLOSED
Jagannath Shankar Sheth Marg (Girgaum Road) Thakurdwar Marg Sandhurst Road Nathalal Parekh Marg Pandita Ramabai Marg Dr B A Road Dr E Borges Road Sane Guruji Marg Shivaji Park Road nos 3 and 4 Keluskar Marg (North and South) N C Kelkar Marg Tilak Bridge L B S Marg at Kurla West and Mulund West Ghatkopar Link Road Adi Shankaracharya Marg at Powai Aarey Colony Road and M G Road in Kandivli West
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CRATER MUMBAI
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‘Adopt’ the elderly, Patil tells cops
Home Minister Promises To Take Responsibility For A Senior Citizen Himself
Patil himself has taken assured that he too will "adopt" or take on the responsibility of one senior citizen. "The people in uniform (police) should meet elderly citizens in their jurisdiction and have regular dialogues with them. The practice will not only reduce crime against senior citizens, but also enable them to learn of the problems faced by the elderly. The initiative will help in overcoming the loneliness faced by people (senior citizens) whose children are living far away from them," Patil said.
Patil made Monday's announcement while inaugurating a renovated police chowky at Girgaum Chowpatty. However, earlier in April this year, Patil had admitted in the state legislature that crime against senior citizens was on the rise in Mumbai. According to home department records, four citizens were killed in 2010 and the number rose to seven in 2011. This year, six cases were recorded till September. Patil had then said that police officials have been asked to create a database of senior citizens living in their jurisdiction, meet them regularly and hand them a list of dos and don'ts. The scheme has not been able to do much to prevent crimes against senior citizens.
While Patil's idea, if properly implemented, might bring relief for the city's elderly, several political experts said that the home minister's announcement is nothing but a damage control exercise. "For the last couple of months, Patil and his department are under fire for 'poor performance'. Patil's directives to "adopt" senior citizens is seen as home minister's damage control exercise," a retired bureaucrat said.
It is learnt that NCP chief Sharad Pawar recently summoned Patil to Delhi for the home department's failure to tackle the Naxal issue. Not just Pawar, but for the past few months, Patil is under fire from within the ruling Congress-NCP combine. Even the Opposition has been demanding Patil's resignation over the August 11, 2012, mayhem in South Mumbai.
Mumbai police have a separate helpline for senior citizens. The elderly can either call on 103 (special senior citizen helpline) or on 1090 to lodge a complaint.
Times View: Act on this proposal
We just hope that this is not one more of those promises that politicians come up with when confronted with a difficult situation. For, the situation in Mumbai now is difficult, at least for its citizens. Mobs can just take over the business district for a couple of hours. You can be robbed at any time of the day; and whether you are at home or on a busy street does not make any difference to criminals. The elderly, particularly, have been at the receiving end, ending up as victims of one grisly crime after another. The home minister's proposal, if implemented with honesty, can instil a lot of confidence in senior citizens. The only question is whether the force has this honesty of purpose.
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Sunday, September 23, 2012
Rising Brahmaputra waters threaten Guwahati, Kaziranga
MIGHTY FURY
The second wave of floods has hit 14 districts in the state and over five lakh people have been affected till Sunday. The death toll in the floods has also increased to five after two children drowned in Sivasagar district on Sunday.
In the city, water from the Brahmaputra entered Pandu area in a reverse flow through two drains and inundated several places leaving hundreds of families marooned. The state health department has already shifted five pregnant women from the Greater Pandu area to the nearby First Referral Unit (FRU) at Maligaon.
The current wave of floods in Assam has also taken a toll on animals in the state's national parks. Altogether, eight animals have been killed in Kaziranga National Park and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. The first wave of floods in the state in April-June had claimed the lives of 631 animals in Kaziranga.
Imphal tense after blast
Imphal: Tension gripped the Kwakeithel area along the Airport Road in Imphal after a powerful improvised explosive device, believed to have been planted by rebels, exploded around 12.30 pm on Sunday. No one was injured in the blast.
Militants had also triggered a grenade explosion near the residence of a government engineer on Friday night, damaging the roof of his outhouse. Rebels launched bomb attacks on security forces since September 5 in Imphal Valley, killing an Assam Rifles jawan and injuring 10 central security personnel. TNN
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Curtain that saves you from cell tower radiation
Earlier this month, the government slashed the maximum acceptable cell tower radiation density by a tenth -- from 9,200 milli watt per sq m to 920 milli watt per sq metre. But this didn't stop telecom engineer Anuj Shah, who lives close to a cell tower, from painstakingly surfing the web for days and importing a curtain made of organic cotton and several precious metals to protect his family from cell tower radiations. Why?
The 30-year-old says that his knowledge on the subject makes him aware that even the new 920 milli watt per sq m norm is too dangerous for his family, especially his six-month-old daughter Aaradhya.Shah, who offers services on radiation audit and helps families make their houses radiation-proof, said that it wasn't easy getting a material that could shield his family from cell tower radiation.
"I was looking for solutions in India, but there weren't any products that were effective enough. So I started looking abroad. That is when I learnt about this fabric available in Germany which can be used as a curtain," Shah said.
The fabric is made of organic cotton and precious metals that are radiation absorbers.
Shah says that the curtain reduces the radiation density to the admissible radiation level of 0.7 milli watt per sq metre. The curtain makes me feel safe," he said.
Shah now works full time in spreading awareness against cell tower radiations and supplying the curtain to those who live too close to the radiation towers. His partner Dr Annisuddin Mohamed, an MSc in Telecommunications Engineering from Drexel University, USA, said, "Depending on the radiation intensity, I chose to install it with multi-folds to increase the absorption rate."
Professor Girish Kumar from Electrical engineering department, IITBombay, has been researching the impacts of cell tower radiation across the country for over a decade. He has been vociferously warning against the healh hazard posed by proliferation of cell towers and says that the Union government's new stipulated radiation norm is far from safe.
"I have been repeatedly asking the Union government to be very stringent with permissible radiation norms. Government must bring down radiation density levels to 0.1 milli watt per sq m. Also the mobile tower operators misuse the norms," Kumar said.
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Housing societies, cops wake up to the danger at the gates
Day after Mumbai Mirror exposé, private security agencies in the dock
Angry societies summon agencies, one security in-charge gets the sack
A day after Mumbai Mirror exposed how easy it was to become a security guard in the city without having to undergo any background checks or interviews, the three concerned housing societies have asked their respective security agencies for detailed reports on the verification about their guards emergency meetings and one security agency has sacked the officer in charge of one of the buildings.
The police, too, undertook a random inspection of the security guards manning housing societies in the Western suburbs.Satya housing society in Bandra, where this reporter spent a day as a guard, has called senior officials of its security agency KGF for a meeting on Sunday to discuss whether the building will continue to use its services.
"We have called the security people for a meeting," said a resident. "They have to give us an explanation for how this happened. If we are not satisfied with their response, we will hire a competent agency."
KGF, on its part, said the entire episode was a lesson for the agency and assured that they will take every possible step to ensure that such an incident is not repeated.
"We have learnt our lesson," said Virender Tiwari, a senior official. "We will ensure that such a thing does not happen again." When this reporter went to Samarth Angan at Lokhandwala to speak to the society members and residents, he was chased away by angry security guards who recognised him.
However, Alphanet, which provides security for the society, has initiated action against the chief security officer in charge of the building, Anil Yadav. Agency officials said that Yadav has been asked not to report to work till he can provide a satisfactory report on how the lapse happened. "It is as good as losing my job," Yadav told this reporter.
The third society, Gym View in Khar, has asked the agency to appear before a full society meeting on Sunday with agreement and all the other relevant records and verification records of the security guards manning the building.
Anandini Thakoor, secretary, Khar Resident's Association, said it was shocking that agencies don't even perform a basic background check before hiring guards. "They don't run a background check or anything but hire them at lower cost," he said. "Today, the police came to our society and asked us to keep a check on the security guards and not to allow anyone without proper police verification."
When asked about what steps the police would take to ensure that security agencies do not hire guards without proper checks, Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Vishwas Nangre Patil, said, "We are initiating a drive to check whether security agencies are following the guidelines laid down under the Maharashtra Private Security Guards (Regulation Of Employment And Welfare) Act, and will take action accordingly."
Mumbai has over 250 security agencies, which provide security guards to the city's many housing societies and commercial establishments. Overall, India has an estimated 5.5 million security guards, and about one million new guards are hired every year, according to the Central Association of Private Security Industry.
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Nona Walia finds out about ‘The Slow Movement’ that’s asking people to take a few steps back from the hurdle race, and enjoy every moment of their lives
EACH one of us has felt it — the sheer exhaustion that envelops us as we rush through the day completing chores at home, beating the traffic, meeting deadlines in office and multi-tasking. At the end of the day, we may realise that we have matched the pace of the ticking clock, but lost a lot in the bargain — whether it's peace of mind, our health or the satisfaction that one derives of a job done well or a day spent well. Fareed Zakaria, one of the most-respected journalists in the world, after being recently accused of plagiarism, and being too busy to check the details of his column, said, "It forced me to rethink my heavy workload and slow down." Pop diva Rihanna said in a recent interview that she was so overworked during the making of her recent album that instead of a creative high that every artiste has the right to experience and enjoy, she felt sick. "I realised I needed to cut back on work, slow down," she said. TV actor Sanjeeda Sheikh explains, "People like us in the television industry are always on the run because there is this feeling that if we slow down, we will miss out."
Why go slow?H owe ve r, that life in a hurry is superficial is being felt by people these days, and it's because of this reason that the 'The Slow Movement' (see box), a cultural revolution that began in the West in the mid-1980s, is fast catching up. The basic idea is to cut back on speed, slow down and derive satisfaction out of work, rather than just finishing it in a hurry.
Mumbai-based textile designer Padmaja Krishnan is part of this global movement. "Slow Fashion looks at all that's useless and discarded. I choose techniques that are slow and not fully controllable. I'm against mass consumerism and don't believe that you need 20 outfits. My fashion doesn't follow trends or seasons. I take time and joy in making clothes," says the head of Transit Studio. Jogi Panghaal, a slow design activist from India, says he has bridged the gap between traditional craft and modern design by being a part of the same movement. "I learn the traditional skills of tribal artisans and combine them with modern technique. Our process is slow and we believe in conserving," says the NID graduate.
In 2001, Time magazine rated the Slow Food Movement as one of the 80 ideas that shook the world. The movement has found its takers in India too. Vandana Shiva, who owns Slow Food Café, in Delhi, says, "We make food from organic produce and use ingredients that are fast disappearing from India. For eg, we make pizzas and crêpes from ragi and upma."
Fad or necessity?
Slowing down isn't just a fad or a luxury. Neither does it mean one's inefficient or ineffective. It's more of a necessity. Believing in this movement does not mean one undoes all the advantages technology has offered to make life easier; it simply professes one should live life fully, at a slower pace. It asks each individual to own his existence. The aim is to find the right pace for each part of our daily routine.
In a recent poll, half of the British adult population confessed that their hectic life caused them to lose touch with their friends. Latest neuro-scientific research too suggests that the human brain is not very good at multi-tasking. Says psychiatrist Dr Avdesh Sharma about multi-tasking, which is professed as a super-positive trait in today's world, "There's a tendency for people to be less and less mindful. Texting while driving, eating while talking on the phone, reading and listening to music at the same time… it's exhausting. And you derive pleasure out of none of the activities that are keeping your mind occupied. What's the point?"
In his best-selling book, In Praise of Slow: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed, Canadian journalist and author Carl Honore talks about the negative impact of life in the fast lane. "Today, one can do a course on speed yoga, speed dating, speed meditation, but the fact is that you can't hurry up relationships." He says in the bargain, parents and adults apart, children also suffer. "Children need slowness even more than adults do. It's in the moments of quiet, of unstructured time, of boredom even, that kids learn how to look into themselves, how to think and be creative, how to socialise.We are doing a great disservice to our children by pushing them hard to learn things faster and by keeping them so busy. They need time and space to slow down, to play, to be children."
Rushing against time also has medical repercussions. Cardiologist Dr Anil Bansal explains as we inch closer to the World Heart Day (September 29), "Fast-paced life isn't heart-friendly. Stress increases cortisol in the body and puts one at an increased risk of a heart problem."
Slow is the new fast
The cult of speed actually ends up slowing us down, because a slightest hiccup may stress us to the extent that we lose our temper, and instead of thinking of solutions, we slow our minds down with more problems. Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of Power of Slow, says, "Slow is actually faster whilst fast is merely exhausting! When you slow down long enough to actually think, you make smarter decisions, that leads to better outcomes and thereby saves you time in the long run. You learn the art of managing expectations."
As Gandhi once said, "There's more to life than increasing its speed."
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
SLOW MOVEMENTS
Slow Food strives to preserve regional cuisine making optimal use of the local ecosystem. Slow Design includes materials and processes that are forgotten.Slow Cities are characterised by a way of life that supports people to live in the slow lane. These cities have less traffic, less noise, fewer crowds.Towns in Italy have banded together to form an organization and call themselves the Slow Cities, also known as Cittaslow. These apart, the concept of Slow Mail, Slow Music, Slow Parenting, Slow Homes, Slow Cars, Slow Travel etc.,are also catching up.
DOING IS WORTH DOING SLOWLY"
— Mae West, actress/writer
CULTURE IN WHICH
BEING OVERWORKED
HAS BECOME A STATUS SYMBOL"
— Edgar S Cahn, a pioneer of The Slow Movement, who asks people to invest time, instead of money
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Water Matters
Not only is the human body composed primarily of water but water is one of the fundamental premises for life on earth across life forms; birds, bees and all things that breathe need water. Unfortunately, so do all other things such as agriculture and industry. Simply put, life is water intensive
NILAKSHI SHARMA
Earth is known as the blue planet because of the vast quantities of water that predominate the surface of the planet. It is surmised that life began in those waters. Regardless of how true that assertion is, the fact is that life on this planet is made possible through a combination of factors amongst which water is as critical as say oxygen or sunlight that is filtered to warm the earth without burning it. So having over 70 per cent of the planet's surface covered in water sounds good except that life is sustained on earth through freshwater and all the seas and oceans of the world are filled with saline water. And unlike the seawaters, freshwater is shrinking commodity.
Of the 71 per cent water covering the planet's surface, only 3 per cent is non saline. And that 3 per cent is distributed across the forms; glaciers, rivers, lakes and ground water. Not only is the human body composed primarily of water but water is one of the fundamental premises for life on earth across life forms; birds, bees
and all things that breathe need water. Unfortunately, so do all other things such as agriculture and industry. Simply put, life is water intensive. Possibly the biggest problem we face is one that is entirely man made: pollution of water sources. Urban centres in India and in many other countries are faced with the mammoth task of not only providing access to clean drinking water but of dealing with the waste that is generated. Statistically, one of the biggest challenges in development around the world is posed by the need to provide everyone with access to clean water for consumption. Its lack equals a whole lot of diseases. A disproportionately large number of deaths can be related to water: lack of clean drinking water and sanitation is now the single largest cause of illness worldwide. It is estimated that by 2020, more people will have died due to water borne diseases and the lack of clean water than the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The increasing pollution of our rivers, the overdrawing of water from underground sources which is leading to the lowering of the water table alarmingly, and the constantly increasing demand for access to clean water are all leading to a very severe crisis in the making - water scarcity. So how do we work towards averting that crisis even as we deal with the developmental challenge of providing people with access to clean water?
Conserve water: Every drop conserved is, in the long run more valuable than oil. So, make sure that your taps don't run while you brush your teeth, dripping taps should be fixed immediately and in every activity of daily life that needs water be conscious of how much you actually need and how much you waste thoughtlessly. Remember, water is a finite resource; it will disappear thanks to our interruption of the water life cycle and when that happens you will regret every drop you wasted. On a more optimistic note, if each of us who are lucky enough to have access to running water around the clock undertook to reduce our consumption by a mere 1 litre per day (which, if you actually work it out, is less than the amount you waste in a day), it could make a substantial difference. It would ease the strain on the infrastructure and allow more people access to clean water since the same quantity would be able to serve more people.
Rainwater Harvesting:
It is perhaps the simplest way of not only conserving water but of saving the planet in the long run. Rainwater harvesting is a method of channelling rainwater under the ground, allowing for the replenishment of the ground water table. In urban areas, as a result of concretisation and tarred surfaces, most of the water runs off into the sewage system instead of soaking into the earth. Given that it is our abuse of the water resources that is causing a crisis, it is our duty to do everything that we can to help the water cycle. And rainwater harvesting is amongst the easiest of solution. While it is now mandatory for government buildings, it can easily be implemented at the level of individual households too. And only then can it become effective. The problem is immediate, and if the solutions are not immediate then the future looks extremely dry.
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Thursday, September 20, 2012
Bandh a flop in Mumbai, but may hit prices of vegetables
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
40% of Mumbai’s seniors live alone Helplines For Elderly Getting More Calls
Mumbai: The death of an elderly couple in Kandivli and the murder of an octogenarian in Chembur have yet again put the spotlight on the loneliness and isolation senior citizens in Mumbai contend with every day. At least three senior citizens have been murdered in the city this month alone.
Officials at HelpAge India, a voluntary organisation which works for the welfare of senior citizens, estimate that nearly 39% of the elderly in the Maximum City live alone or with their ageing spouses. "Many of them live, suffer and die alone," says HelpAge's director Prakash Borgaonkar.Borgaonkar points out that many ageing couples' children are working and settled abroad. Or the children have moved out and are living separately in the suburbs, with little regular contact with their parents.
Left confined within the four walls of their homes and devoid of company, many seniors are pushed into a cycle of loneliness and despair. "Loneliness is a major problem among this demographic group and it often leads to depression, which makes senior citizens even more reticent and withdrawn from the society," says Dr S Kinjawadekar, president of the All India SeniorCitizens' Confederation.
The despair is reflected in the growing number of calls received on helplines for the elderly. The police helpline for senior citizens got 24,863 calls in 2011, up from 18,300 in 2008. While this may be an outcome of more awareness about the helplines, counsellors believe it also indicates a growing want among seniors to reach out for help. Both Dignity Foundation and HelpAge India receive about six calls on their helplines daily where the old just want to speak to someone. "Longevity is increasing and those beyond 80 feel more lonely," says Dr Kinjawadekar.
Sheilu Sreenivasan, founder of Dignity Foundation, believes the elderly—even those living alone—can get more positiveness in their lives through willpower and effort. "Much of old age is in one's own hands and unrelated to money or children. It is entirely up to you how you grow old and not get old," she says. Sreenivasan recommends that senior citizens should get out of their homes, seek volunteers' help and enrol in elderly associations and peer groups.
Geriatricians list the host of alternatives available to the elderly. They can join laughter clubs or walkers' groups, where friendships are formed. "Senior citizens should also keep in touch with relatives or neighbours occasionally so that someone would be alerted if they feel unwell or need help," advises Borgaonkar. THE FAMILY Maneklal Shah (76) and his wife Surbala (66) lived in a ground floor flat in Park View building in Kandivli (West).Maneklal was a homeopath doctor but had given up the practice due to old age. Police said the couple mostly ordered food in. Maneklal's elder brother is also a doctor; he lives in Mumbai The Shahs adopted Neeraj from an orphanage when he was two. Now 23, he lived with the couple and perform most of the household chores. He worked in a general
store across the road from the Shahs' residence. According to police officers, Neeraj is mentally unsound
HELP A CALL AWAY 24-hour police helpline for senior citizens | 1090
HelpAge India (toll-free) (Monday-Saturday; 9.30am to 5.30pm) | 1800-180-1253
Dignity Foundation (Monday-Friday; 3pm to 6pm) |
61381111 CARING FOR OUR OLD
Population of senior citizens (above 60) in Mumbai
10 lakh
Estimate of
seniors living
alone in the city
39%
Calls received on
police helpline
in 2011
24,863 WHAT SENIOR CITIZENS SHOULD DO
Inform the local police station so that beat officials can drop by and keep a check
Join a senior citizens' association in the neighbourhood to network with other elderly people
Register the local domestic help with the police station
Lonely elders can call any of the several helplines and anonymously share their concerns
Seek entertainment by joining a laughter club, a walkers' club, a card-playing club, etc.
Keep in touch with neighbours or relatives so that any change in the daily routine is noticed
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