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Sunday, August 31, 2014
Friday, August 29, 2014
Grain bowl staring at severe drought
As of Thursday , the overall deficit was 18%, with ab out 36% of the meteorological subdivisions facing moderate to severe drought.
A drought year is declared when the nationwide monsoon shortfall is more than 10%, and 20% to 40% of the country faces drought conditions. Rain Spotting, P 15 India's grain bowl belt of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh is reeling under a severe drought, with a major monsoon bailout looking unlikely at least in the next week or so.
Punjab and Haryana have run up rain deficits of 65% and 66%, respectively, and are currently the only two states where rainfall has been categorized as `scanty' -that is, 40% or less than normal since the onset of monsoon on June 1.Western UP is only slightly better with a current shortfall of 58%.
IMD defines severe drought in a subdivision if it recieves less than 50% of normal rainfall.
In at least 26 districts across this belt, rainfall has been less than 30% of normal. This includes Barnala in Punjab which has received just 10% rain and Rohtak which was got 11%.
While IMD had predicted that the region would end up with the worst rain deficit in the country, the situation turned critical in the last 20 days. This is when the monsoon weakened, including a seven-day spell from August 15 when it went into a break because of a sustained weather disturbance in the Indian Ocean.
During this weak phase, central and northwest India went largely dry while the east, northeast and the coastal belt continued to get rain. The rain deficit in central India grew. But in Punjab, Haryana and western UP, an already bad monsoon year became worse.
The outlook for the next week or so doesn't look too good. "While this region received scattered rains on Thursday due to the southward shift of the monsoon trough, there is at the moment no strong system in the vicinity that can cause persistent rain," said B P Yadav, director, IMD.
Met officials said a substantial dent in the rain deficit of northwest India can come only if a succession of low pressure systems forms in the Bay of Bengal strong enough to reach so far inland. Thus far, these systems mainly benefitted central India during the active monsoon phase from mid-July to August first week.
The growing deficit has belied IMD's expectations as well. The department in its latest monsoon forecast barely a month ago, had predicted near normal rains for August and September. While downgrading the overall monsoon forecast to 87% (from 93% predicted earlier), it said the two months together were likely to get 95% rainfall of the long term average (with a model error of 8%).
That forecast appears optimistic now. As of August 28, the all India weighted average rainfall for the month stands at 207.9mm against a normal of 261mm for the entire month. This means the deficit, with three days of the month remaining, stands at more than 20%. The rain gap in northwest India as a whole, stands at 34%.
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Friday, August 15, 2014
Indians' craving for salt leading to a rising number of strokes in country
The paper, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on Thursday, found that the average consumption of salt across the globe was 3.95gm per day , nearly double the 2gm recommended by the World Health Organization.
A separate Indian study released a few days ago--the INDIAB study of the Indian Council for Medical Research--found that the mean salt intake in urban India was 7.6gm per day , much higher than the global mean.
"It is well known that salt or sodium is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke," said endocrinologist Dr Shashank Joshi, one of the lead authors of the INDIAB study .
Considering that one in four Indian adults suffers from high blood pressure, one can gauge the extent of heart problems caused by salt.
The highlight of NEJM's study , conducted by a 100-member team of academicians led by Tufts University , is that it's the first to quantify the effect of excess sodium on cardiovascular diseases. The final conclusion was that in 2010 alone, around 1.65 million across the world suffered fatal heart problems aggravated by their high sodium intake.
To arrive at the conclusion, the study--funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation--analyzed existing data from 205 surveys of sodium intake in 66 countries. The effects of sodium on blood pressure and of blood pressure on cardiovascular diseases were determined separately . The researchers then combined these findings with the current rates of cardiovascular diseases around 187 countries to estimate the number of cardiovascular deaths attributable to sodium consumption above 2gm per day .
"This important study reiterates that excess salt intake is equivalent to tobacco intake in terms of human disease and death. India ranks high on the list of countries with excess salt intake and resultant cardiovascular disease and deaths," said senior Delhi-based endocrinologist Dr Anoop Misra. He felt that a reduction in salt intake is not possible without legal restrictions and policy changes. "Salt restriction should be at the top of health policy planning to contain hypertension and heart disease," he added.
The INDIAB study on the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in India published two weeks ago found that Indians have a "salt-preponderance". "We crave salt. We not only reach for packed namkeen stuff and dishes high on salt, we also take hidden salt in pickles, papads, etc," said Joshi.
The explosion of hypertension in the country is higher than diabetes.
"The number of Indians suffering stroke is rising. One of the causes is our high salt intake," said Joshi.
The NEJM study found that four out of five global deaths attributable to higher than recommended sodium intakes occurred in middleand low-income countries. The research team also said the 1.65 million deaths meant that nearly one in 10 of all deaths from cardiovascular causes worldwide was due to higher salt ingestion. It concluded that strong policies are needed to reduce dietary sodium across the world.
Maha On Sodium High The INDIAB study of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released data last fortnight, showing the mean salt intake in urban areas was significantly higher than that in the rural areas (7.6gm per day against 6.8gm per day).
The mean salt intake was highest in Chandigarh (8.3gm per day), followed by Maharashtra (7.2gm per day), Tamil Nadu (6.8gm per day) and Jharkhand (5.9gm per day).
Posted by Unknown at 9:40 PM 0 comments
Saturday, August 9, 2014
1 in 5 patients of rain-related ills runs fever, gets infections
Seeking medical insur ance reimbursements is no longer limited to emergencies of the heart and brain; come monsoon, claims for infectious diseases take centre stage.
V Jagannathan from Star Health and Allied Insurance Co said there is a notable spike in claims due to infectious and vector-borne diseases during monsoon.
Data available from ICICI Lombard General Insurance, one of the largest insurers, showed treatment costs over three years have jumped for most monsoon-related ailments. "The average claim for fever and common infections has increased by around 20% per annum," said ICICI Lombard's Sanjay Datta.
Statistics show one in five patients down with rainrelated illnesses suffered from fever along with infections.
Around one in seven such seasonal patients sought hospitalization for gastroenteritis.
ICICI Lombard's Sanjay Datta said while the average claim for treating fever and common infections has risen 20% per annum, the treatment cost for respiratory tract infections rose 18% and 12% in 2012 and 2013, respectively .
The data shows the maximum claimants are either from the pediatric age group or the most productive 26 to 35 years bracket. "Over 3,000 claims in the last three years came from those in the 26-35 age group and over 1,500 for the 0-5 age group," said Datta.
George C (name changed) was last week surprised to get a bill of Rs 90,000 for his father's hospitalization, which included a two-day stay in the ICU. " After tens of tests, the doctors told me his blood pressure fluctu ations were the result of an infection," he said. George is worried how he would have footed the bill for fever if not for his insurance policy.
Doctors say this increase in the cost of treating monsoon-related illnesses is mainly a reflection of the patient's delay in seeking treatment. "Most cases
of fever or even malaria don't need hospitalization. It is only when the symptoms cannot be controlled for three to four days that the doctor advises hospitalization. Hospitalization means it's serious and needs insurance cover," said Dr Gustad Daver, medical director of Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital in south Mumbai. Incidentally, most rain ailments haven't yet seen a spike this year. "We are seeing the usual number of malaria, dengue and typhoid, but there isn't a surge yet. Leptospirosis is the only disease that seems to have increased," said intensivist Dr Khusrav Bajan from Hinduja Hospital, Mahim.
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Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Message from all faiths is loud and clear: It's the biggest act of giving
Posted by Unknown at 8:33 PM 0 comments
Chembur resident gets state’s first e-challan
Traffic police surprised motorists with a quiet launch of the CCTV-based e-challan system in Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's jurisdiction last month. The drive began with Palm Beach Road, where 24 cameras have been installed at nine locations. "We sent 15 e-challans through registered post. CCTV footage is
used to identify the car number and owner using data updated by the transport department,'' said DCP (traffic), Vijay Patil.
"E-challan will improve discipline among drivers," said K L Prasad, police commissioner,
Navi Mumbai. The city has 262 CCTVs and the police commissioner's office has asked the civic body to install another 400.
While the CCTVs capture traffic images in which the vehicle number is identified, the
command centre at the police commissioner's office takes a screenshot and also keeps the video clipping as evidence. An e-challan is prepared and posted with a covering letter from the traffic inspector. While the e-challan includes an image of the vehicle committing the violation, the covering letter provides details of the offence, the location and the option to pay a compounded fine or approach the court. At present, the fine can be paid at the CBD traffic chowky on the Sion-Panvel highway. It has to be paid within seven days from the receipt of the letter or the department forwards the case to the jurisdictional court at CBD Belapur.
"An online payment gateway will be soon be operational. The defaulter can then pay the fine online," added Patil.
"Delhi too has an evidencebased challan. I am sure it will enable greater compliance," said Rajesh Agarwal, the state government's principal secretary (IT), who chaired the CCTV committee.
Posted by Unknown at 7:26 PM 0 comments
45,000 Indians in countries hit by Ebola
The spread of the disease comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) met in an emergency session in Geneva to decide whether to declare an international crisis.
The latest official toll across west Africa hit 932 deaths since the start of the year, it said on Wednesday , with 1,711 confirmed cases, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The death of a nurse in Lagos, a megacity of more than 20 million people, came as 45 deaths were confirmed across west Africa between Saturday and Monday , with aid agencies saying the terrifying tropical disease is out of control.
In Liberia's capital, Monrovia, where the dead have been left unburied on the streets or abandoned in their homes, Presi dent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf appealed for divine intervention and ordered three days of fasting and prayer.
And in Sierra Leone, troops were sent to guard hospitals to "deter relatives and friends of Ebola patients from forcefully taking them from hospitals without medical consent", a presidential aide said.
Suspected Saudi patient dies in Jeddah hospital A Saudi national, who fell ill after returning from Sierra Leone, died early on Wednesday in his hospital isolation ward where he was being tested for the Ebola virus, said the Saudi health ministry. The 40-year-old returned on Sunday from Sierra Leone and was then hospitalized in Jeddah after showing symptoms of the viral hemorrhagic fever. AP
Posted by Unknown at 7:18 PM 0 comments
Sunday, August 3, 2014
53 trees fell in 24 hrs due to rain last week, activists blame BMC
Besides, the city loses an average of 15-20 trees every day. Experts blamed the civic body for the alarming rate at which trees are uprooted here, pointing out poor maintenance and the fact that the authorities did not give trees enough space to spread their roots by concretizing everything around it. Weak trees crashing down are also a threat to residents. On July 30, a 32-year-old man, Santosh Pande, died when a tree collapsed on him at Jogeshwari (E), where he had halted his bike to answer his cellphone.
He died on the spot.
"Trees these days are tilting and falling because they have no place to grow. With the authorities concretizing and
putting paver blocks really close to the roots, there is absolutely no space for the roots to spread themselves. It is important that at least one-metre area be left free around a tree.
But since that never happens, trees grow weak at the roots and fall. It is unfortunate that someone died because of that," said Stalin Dayanand, environmentalist and project director of NGO Vanashakti.
Sunish Subramanian,
founder of Plants and Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), has a different view. "Many a time, developers deliberately damage the roots by pouring chemicals so that trees wither away after a few weeks. That way , they can clear the path for their parking lot or compound or entrance to a building," said Subramanian. He added that the BMC did plant thousands of saplings in the monsoon but no one knew about their survival rates. "No one knows what happens to that tree that have been planted or transplanted," he added.
Joint municipal commissioner S S Shinde, who is in charge of the gardens department, however, claimed that the BMC trimmed tree branches to avoid collapses.
Posted by Unknown at 9:50 PM 0 comments
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Kosi flash flood fears prompt evacuations
A massive landslide took place on Saturday following heavy rain in Jhure in Sindhupalchok district in Nepal. The landslide is blocking the water flow into the Kosi and the authorities there, to prevent flooding, were planning to detonate the blockade. Should this happen, a sudden gush of water is inevitable which would flow down into an already swelling river on the Indian side.
The Indian embassy in Kathmandu has informed the National Disaster Management Authority about the likely discharge of 25 lakh cusecs of water post blast. In either case, 40% of the discharge will gush into Bihar. The water will take about 12 hours to hit the Kosi barrage which has the capacity of sustaining pressure of only eight lakh cusecs. The flood, if it occurs, would affect a popula , tion of 1.5 lakh in Bihar's eight districts, including 50,000 peo ple in 22 panchayats of Supaul district alone. Bihar has begun to evacuate people from the vil lages within the embankment area in 22 panchayats of Supaul district and 7 other districts.
Cloudburst flattens over 30 houses
Dehradun: Over 30 houses were flattened by a cloudburst in remote Mori village in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district late Friday. However, there were no casualties as all villagers were away at the time of the incident, state chief secretary Subhash Kumar said on Saturday.
Posted by Unknown at 9:34 PM 0 comments
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