5bn people don’t have access to safe surgery: Report

LONDON: A commission launched in London on Monday has found that most of the world's population — almost 5 billion people — don't have access to surgery while 81 million people are becoming impoverished seeking and receiving surgical care. The report found that India is among the countries with the highest proportion of its population without access to safe, affordable surgery and anaesthesia.

Millions of people worldwide are dying from common, easily treatable conditions such as appendicitis, fractures or obstructed labour because they do not have access to or can't afford proper surgical care, according to the Commission written by a group of 25 leading experts from across the fields of surgery and anaesthesia which was published in 'The Lancet'.

It said that of an estimated 312.9 million surgical procedures undertaken worldwide in 2012, only 6.3% were done in countries comprising the poorest 37.3% of the population. An estimated 951 million women are without access to emergency obstetric care should they become pregnant.

Of the 313 million operations done worldwide each year, just one in 20 occurs in the poorest countries. The new estimates found that there is a global shortfall of at least 143 million surgical procedures every year.

http://ift.tt/1ELl4Br Lancet,surgical care,surgery

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

PIO banker uses invisible ink to cheat customer

LONDON: A 37-year-old Indian-origin woman bank executive was on Monday spared jail by a London court after she was found guilty of using invisible ink while drawing more than 14,000 from a customer's account. Vaijawanthi Aneet, a Barclays Bank manager kept meticulous notes of over 20 withdrawals while raiding the customer's account between May and November 2013.

Judge Richard Marks, the common serjeant of London, gave her a three month jail sentence suspended for a year, and ordered her to pay 2,300 court costs. "This has obviously been an extremely traumatic event for you, which has taken a very heavy toll on you and your husband," the judge told her. "I'm quite satisfied this is an offence completely out of character, and not something that will ever occur in the future. You could and should have done something about this when first it happened." According to a report in The Telegraph, Aneet set up a new savings account for customer William Giles in order to carry out the fraud.

She then moved the funds to a dormant account before withdrawing the money from a cash machine, the Old Bailey heard. In order to keep track of the transactions, she used invisible ink, writing entries such as, "To pay back with good interest, asap."

Aneet admitted committing the fraud, but claimed she had been forced into it by a man who had assaulted her and demanded money from her.

http://ift.tt/1pYZfVk Giles,Richard Marks

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

How a photographer chance shot of a young girl in Bhopal transformed both of their lives

On 24 August 2009, as monsoon season arrived in central India, Alex Masi took a picture... and lives changed.

He was in Bhopal, photographing a boy called Sachin Jatev, who had leg paralysis and skeletal deformity, possibly as a result of the 1984 gas leak that devastated the area. "It began to rain very hard," recalls Masi, now 34, an Italian-born, London-based photojournalist who last year also photographed the heavily polluted Bhopal region 30 years after the disaster for The New Review.

"It hadn't rained for a while, so the children went a bit crazy. In that moment, I captured Sachin's younger sister Poonam refreshing in the rain. I was taking shelter under a plastic sheet and she was right in front of me. For a brief moment she took in the rain and then she realised I was taking photos and ran away."

The image showed Poonam, then seven, drenched but ecstatic, face turned to the heavens, haunches trailing in mud. It had, says Masi, "a feeling of freedom and emancipation, despite the setting."

In 2011, it won the Photographers Giving Back Photo Award, instigated to benefit the subjects of photojournalism. Masi received a $5,000 grant, which he used to transform the lives of Poonam and her family, as well as his own. It has created a bond between subject and photographer that is rare and powerful.

"When you photograph people, sometimes you feel you are taking something from them," says Masi. "I try to explain I am not there to help directly, but if they let me take a photograph, maybe somebody will help. I am the bridge between the readers and the subjects. That is my role. I don't want to give them the feeling that if I take their photograph it will change their life. But in this case, it did."

Alex Masi was sheltering during monsoon season when he noticed her dart out to shake off the heat. (Image courtesy: Alex Masi Photography/Facebook)

In collaboration with the family and Neelam Nandan Nagar, a local translator who handled cultural as well as linguistic differences, Masi explored his options. They decided that rather than simply hand over the money, they would find ways to lift the family out of poverty over the longer term. A brick house was constructed to replace their shack of mud and dung. A cart was purchased so that Suresh, their father, could sell vegetables rather than work as a labourer - a simple investment that doubled his regular income. The focus then went on the five children, particularly the youngest three, sisters Poonam and Jyoti and their brother Ravi (now 12, 14 and 15 years old, respectively).

"We put them in a small private school," says Masi. "Ravi has since decided that he wanted to work - we respected that choice and he no longer attends school - but his sisters are still in education. We hope to keep them at school and then college if possible." With the initial grant spent, Masi is crowdfunding their education as well as his own annual visit to India to document the family's progress. Ultimately, he hopes to set up an NGO to educate more children in the area.

It is an extraordinary commitment, but Masi felt he had no choice. "After spending the $5,000, I saw the job was not complete," he says. "I could see the way the family's lives changed. I wanted to stay involved, to see them growing up."

He admits that there are potential concerns: the family may become overly dependent on him, while some may query whether it is right for a Westerner to have such an influence on the lives of a poor Indian family. "We discuss everything," he explains. "We don't tell them what to do: we ask. We don't force them to do anything they don't want and we are not paying for something they could pay for themselves. We don't want them to become addicted to us. Something could happen to us, so they must create a system for themselves."

The sisters enjoy school. "At first, when one was off sick, the other would stay home too, but now they don't want to miss a lesson," says Masi. Their ambition is to become teachers.

The family were initially wary of their benefactor, but Masi believes that they now understand what he is trying to do. "They are pretty friendly with me," he says. "They are pleased to see me, but if I spend too many days in a row taking photographs, they get a little bored." He also benefits from the relationship. "I spend a lot of time seeing people suffering, in desperate situations, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria," he says. "This work allows me to see the opposite, how people can come back from a bad situation. It keeps me sane and shows me that my work can have real impact."

http://ift.tt/1j1QCmH Jatev,Poonam Jatev,Bhopal gas tragedy,bhopal,Alex Masi

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Leaders, charities offer condolences, help after Nepal quake

LONDON: As world leaders and global charities tried to grasp the scope of an earthquake that devastated Nepal, they offered condolences for the nearly 1,400 people killed and readied emergency aid for the survivors. Mountaineering groups struggled to check on climbers, and Nepalese abroad did their best to reach families in the stricken area.

With Internet and cellphone communications spotty, and many roads closed due to damage, the outside world did not yet have a clear picture of what was most needed following the magnitude 7.8 quake Saturday.

But it was clear that help was needed _ and fast.

``We know the damage is extensive and that access into rural areas will be very, very difficult for everybody,'' said Ben Pickering, Save the Children's humanitarian adviser in Britain. ``Children will be affected in many ways. Physical injuries. Separated from families.''

Charities assembled disaster teams but the most convenient pathway into Nepal _ one of the world's poorest countries _ was not available because the international airport in Kathmandu was shut down.

Doctors Without Borders said four teams would leave Sunday morning for Nepal from Bihar state in India, close to the Nepal border. The organization also is sending in 3,000 kits including medical supplies.

AmeriCares sent a team from India and was preparing shipments of medical aid and relief supplies. ''We are prepared to help any way that we can,'' said AmeriCares President and CEO Michael J Nyenhuis.

Handicap International, which had a presence in Nepal with 47 workers before the earthquake, was already busy with the emergency response.

``One of our projects there, because it's earthquake-prone, is to help hospital staffs, physical therapists and others to anticipate the kind of injury we tend to see after a quake,'' said spokeswoman Mica Bevington. ``And we're sharing our resources, like all our wheelchairs are going to two hospitals in need.''

French aid group Doctors of the World (Medecins du monde) said it has mobilized its workers in Nepal to help quake victims. It is sending more staffers and medical aid to the region immediately.

Mercy Corps, based in the United States, was checking on the safety of the large team it already had on the ground in Nepal and assessing conditions.

''As we better understand the needs on the ground, we will respond as appropriately,'' said CEO Neal Keny-Guyer.

Countries around the globe pledged aid while Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims and those working to save them.

``His Holiness commends the souls of the victims to the loving mercy of the Almighty and he offers encouragement to the civil authorities and emergency personnel as they continue their rescue efforts and assistance to those touched by this tragedy,'' Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in a statement.

A 62-member Chinese search and rescue team, plus six dogs, was expected to arrive in Kathmandu midday Sunday by chartered plane, the country's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the China Earthquake Administration.

The European Union was considering ''some budget support'' to Nepal, according to a joint statement by the EU's foreign policy chief, development chief and humanitarian chief. It did not provide details or amounts.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Twitter that Britain ``will do all we can to help those caught up in it.'' Germany, Norway, Italy, France, Monaco and Mexico also pledged help. Mexico suffered an 8.1-magnitude earthquake that killed an estimated 9,500 people in the nation's capital in 1985.

The U.S. Embassy in Nepal announced $1 million in initial aid and the U.S. Agency for International Development activated an urban search and rescue team. The U.S. State Department also set up an email address and phone number for anyone who knows of U.S. citizens needing assistance in Nepal.

``We are working closely with the government of Nepal to provide assistance and support,'' said Secretary of State John Kerry. ''To the people in Nepal and the region affected by this tragedy we send our heartfelt sympathies. The United States stands with you during this difficult time.''

In a neighborhood in New York where many Nepalese people live, Dawa Sherpa said he learned his parents, siblings and other relatives had survived in their village, Helambu.

''My family's all right but my village is really devastated,'' he said. ''All the houses, they're all gone. The temple, the Buddhist temple, the temple is gone.''

Hari Acharya, owner of the Delhi Heights restaurant, said relatives including his mother, wife and children were safe but some friends had been killed.

''It's a really bad thing,'' he said. ''It's a legitimate disaster.''

He said the building where several relatives lived had collapsed and the family was ``sitting outside.''

In New York, Uma Mysorekar, president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, said the disaster requires ``global assistance.''

``We fear the deaths and casualty numbers could go up for days,'' she said. ``We from the temple society will be collecting funds and forwarding them _ as soon when we know where to send them.''

The quake triggered a landslide on Mount Everest, and the Madison Mountaineering company in Seattle, Washington, said it had not heard from some staff on the slopes.

``We don't have everyone accounted for,'' said Madison co-founder Kurt Hunter. ``We have our fingers crossed.''

http://ift.tt/1oXgRBS leaders,nepal earthquake,J Nyenhuis,Doctors Without Borders

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

1st Asian PM will be Tory: Cameron

LONDON: British prime minister David Cameron announced on Saturday that his party will give Britain its first Asian prime minister.

With just 11 days to go before Britain goes into general elections, PM and Conservative party chief Cameron made a last minute dash to rope in the minority vote which could swing the tide in his favour. In 2010, the Conservative Party won only 16% of the ethnic minority vote. This time, their candidate list includes nearly 12 new candidates of Indian origin.

He also pledged that 20% of British armed forces — from 10% at present — would be those from the Asian and minority communities.

Of the 306 Conservative MPs elected in 2010, 11 were black or Asian. In 2015, the party is fielding 56 new candidates from black and Asian communities. Cameron said that in the last parliament, his party increased the number of black and Asian MPs from 2 to 11. "We are the first party to have a female PM, we were the party of the first Jewish PM and I know one day we are going to be the party of the first black or Asian prime minister," he said.

http://ift.tt/1GjgBRj Cameron,Asian prime minister

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Ruff ride: A dog caused chaos in Scotland after driving a tractor on a highway

Delays were caused today on one of Scotland's main motorways "due to a dog taking control of a tractor".

Traffic Scotland said it was "not joking", after reporting delays near Junction 13 of the M74 due to the unusual incident.
The tractor ran on to the motorway after the dog, reportedly named Don, leaned on the controls as the tractor drove through a nearby field.
The vehicle broke through a fence and veered on to the main road at around 8:15 this morning.
Police and a farmer were called to manage the scene, after the tractor had ended up in the central reservation.

Fortunately, the dog and other drivers were unhurt in the incident, which Traffic Scotland called "the weirdest thing we have ever reported."
The route was cleared around 30 minutes after the initial incident, and traffic began moving normally.

Although traffic disruption was minimal, the shaggy dog story gathered a lot of attention on social media, with plenty of terrible dog-based puns making the rounds.

Twitter user Tony T reported: "Police investigating, so far no leads."

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

UP project runner-up at UK award

LONDON: First the good news - a rural project in the heart of Uttar Pradesh that plans to use abundantly and cheaply available agricultural waste as feedstock to co-produce reliable and affordable electricity and clean household cooking gas has become the runner up for the first prize floated by world famous Imperial College for its most innovative female student entrepreneurs in science and technology.

The bad news however is that two female students from India, who had made it to the top five shortlist failed to make it to the winner's podium.

The £10,000 Althea-Imperial prize was won by Charikleia Spathi, a PhD student from the faculty of engineering for her idea of creating ultra-waterproof concrete additive that makes buildings less vulnerable to natural hazards like flooding.

Spathi draws on the use of paper sludge ash, a waste product to create a super waterproof powder.

The two Indian students - one who has developed a vaccine delivery system and another who is working on a way of enabling citizen scientists to help find potential new antibiotics failed to win the prize.

Meanwhile the UP project Oorja is by Clementine Chambon, a PhD student which aims to build and install decentralised, easy to operate plants to power off-grid villages in rural India, where it will be owned and leased by micro-entrepreneurs and women's self-help groups.

These 'mini power-plants' will coproduce renewable energy and biochar from crop residues. Clean and reliable electricity will help increase the time children can study, facilitate mobile phone charging and use of computers and extend business hours beyond daylight. Provision of cooking gas will reduce the time women spend collecting firewood and reduce health hazards.

Biochar will also help improve soil fertility by improving its water retention capacity, resulting in higher crop yields and enhanced food security.

Speaking exclusively to TOI, Chambon said, "We are developing an innovative and sustainable technological solution to address the challenges of energy poverty, soil degradation, food security and greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously. Biochar is a natural and safe soil remediation product which will help restore degraded agricultural soils by improving its water and micro-nutrient retention capacity, thereby significantly increasing crop yields and improving farmer incomes. It will reduce the dependence on fertilizers and store up to 80% of organic carbon by mass permanently and safely in the soil, providing negative carbon emissions."

Chambon added, "We will pilot our solution in rural Eastern UP where nearly 80% of villages are un-electrified. They rely on fossil-fuels such as kerosene for household lighting, firewood for cooking and diesel for irrigation and commercial power. All of these are expensive and unreliable alternatives and harmful to health and environment, releasing large amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. Here, 75% of people are engaged in agriculture for their livelihood and a major driver of poverty is crop failure, due to soil degradation resulting from frequent droughts and floods, exacerbated by the pernicious effects of climate change. Our mission is to develop locally available crop wastes".

"We are in the seed stage and under pre-incubation at the Climate-KIC Greenhouse London. Over the next six months, we hope to raise seed capital to finance the construction of our first full-scale plant to be deployed and tested in UP. We are conducting a field survey for two weeks in May in the district of Behraich n UP. We will then complete prototyping and construction of the first full-scale plant by late 2015. Following completion of the technical proof of concept, we will launch the first field trial in early 2016. The project pilot will take place in eastern Uttar Pradesh where 80% of households lack access to modern energy.

http://ift.tt/SuVud8 project,PhD student,Oorja,Clementine Chambon,Althea-Imperial prize

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Unchecked, 140 flyers walk through UK airport

LONDON: In a major security breach, a plane-load of passengers from Spain walked right through the immigration without a single check in one of Britain's busiest airports last week as none of the counters were manned by border security officers.

On Saturday, Manchester Airport's passport control was unstaffed when a Ryanair flight landed there from Madrid. A video, shot by a passenger, showed about 140 passengers walking through passport control without anybody asking them to show their visas.

The flight was expected to land on Friday night, but didn't do so until Saturday morning. The airport staff blamed the airline saying it is their duty to notify UK Border Force about arrivals from outside UK. Britain's Home Office and security staff at the Manchester Airport have launched a probe into the security breach at UK's third-largest airport.

The airport recently said it has broken its all-time passenger record, with 22.32 million people flying through it in the last financial year.

http://ift.tt/1oBZMMa breach,Ryanair flight,Immigration,border security officers

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Cambridge univ historian Christopher Bayly dead

NEW DELHI: With the death of Cambridge University historian Sir Christopher Alan Bayly, 70, who suffered a huge heart attack in Chicago, the world has lost a top historian who unearthed the roots of Indian nationalism.

"Chris was one of the greatest historians of India," says Shahid Amin. Bayly's path-breaking research analysed how often overlooked players, from peasants to merchants, money-lenders, mofussil gentry, politicians and spies, contributed to the making of modern India.

Themes analysed by Bayly radically reshaped understandings of India's past — and remain deeply relevant today. "Studying Allahabad's intricate local politics, he captured two schools of nationalism — Madan Mohan Malaviya's Hindu kind and Motilal Nehru's Western sort.

From analysing sherwanis and other sartorial styles in the Indian imagination to procuring the entire run of a newspaper edited by Malviya for the National Archives, Bayly's contribution to India was immense," Amin remarks.

Bayly's work was pioneering in linking local histories to the national — and global. Ramachandra Guha comments, "Chris Bayly was a historian who constantly asked new questions. His work explained important continuities across time - for instance, he showed links between Mughal, British and post-colonial styles of intelligence-gathering. He showed 18th century India as creative and enterprising, not in apathetic Mughal decline. Forever excited about new sources, he wrote about the first wave of globalization to impact the world."

Amin says Bayly's sweep broke across cantankerous ideological divides that could narrow historians' vision. "At a time when history is understood to be very 'national', Chris Bayly's work was admired across the world. We became friends in 1973," Amin recounts. "He wasn't a typical Oxbridge don. He was very open-minded, very excited by things around him, deeply committed to teaching a vast numbers of students who looked up to him."

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Almost 1 in 3 people who registered to vote are 16-24 year olds

LONDON: Britain is seeing a sudden revival in the interest youngsters hold in politics.

Latest data released by the electoral commission on Monday - the final day to register for the British general elections coming up on May 7, has revealed that almost 1 in 3 people who registered over the last five weeks to vote are aged 16 to 24 year olds.

There have been over 1.7 million applications to register to vote in the past five weeks.

The data reveals that almost 4,70,000 online applications (469,871) have come from 16-24 year olds.

The Labour Party has already announced in its manifesto that they would make it legal for 16 year olds to vote.

Officials in the Electoral Commission told TOI "It is good to see young people registering to vote. However 16 year olds are still not eligible in UK to vote. They have to be 18-year-of-age. However because they have now registered to vote, they can do so when they turn 18. Registering to vote takes places online and hence it is suited for youngsters. Our role to encourage people to register and take part in general elections".

Youngsters are also being given a chance to study "Britain's most exciting and unpredictable general election in decades" up close.

It is now the focus of a new free online course from the University of Edinburgh.

The three-week course will follow the election and its build up in real time, responding to events on the campaign trail.

"Understanding the UK's 2015 General Election" launches on April 27, 10 days before the vote. This is the latest in a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by the University.

There have been more than 1.3 million sign-ups for Edinburgh MOOCs, with more than a million unique learners, since they were launched in July 2012.

The course, which will take no more than three hours a week to complete, will provide a general introduction to UK politics for an international audience.

Students who successfully complete the class will receive a Statement of Accomplishment signed by the instructors.

Course instructor Dr Alan Convery from the University's School of Social and Political Science said "The 2015 election could be a highly significant moment in British politics. The decline of the Liberal Democrats alongside the rise of UKIP and the SNP has the potential to create constitutional as well as electoral tensions. This course will be an exciting way to keep abreast of all the inevitable twists and turns".

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Cathay Pacific pilot due to fly more than 260 passengers arrested with knives at Heathrow airport

LONDON: Just four weeks after a pilot locked his co-pilot outside the cockpit to crash the Germanwings airline into the French Alps killing 150 people, the police in Britain averted an imminent threat by intercepting the pilot of a Cathay Pacific flight from boarding the plane with several knives in his hand luggage.

The incident took place last Saturday night at Heathrow airport. The flight was grounded till Sunday.

Revealing the incident, the Scotland Yard said on Monday: "On Saturday at around 9.10pm, police at Heathrow Airport were called to a staff search area, and found the knives. Officers, and subsequently the member of flight crew, was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and possession of a knife blade/sharp pointed article in a public place".

They added, "He was taken into custody at a local police station where he was later granted bail to return to the court mid-May pending further inquiries. The CID at Heathrow Airport is investigating the incident".

The 61-year-old pilot was to fly the Boeing 777, was due to take off on Saturday evening with over 260 passengers.

A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said, "We will continue to co-operate with the authorities throughout the investigation. We apologise for the delay and inconvenience caused to the 262 passengers booked on CX254. The airline assisted passengers with overnight accommodation and alternative flight arrangements. CX254 later departed Heathrow at 2.47pm on Sunday and arrived in Hong Kong this morning at 9.31am local time. The incident happened on the ground".

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Boycott “Andaman and Nicobar Islands campaign” in Britain

LONDON: A boycott "Andaman and Nicobar Islands campaign" being spearheaded from Britain has seen 12,300 people from around the world pledge not to visit India's pristine island destination over the treatment of its Jarawa tribes.

In an expose, human safaris were found to treat the ancient Indian tribes on the island "like animals in a zoo" five years back.

Even though the government in Andaman pledged in 2013 to the Indian Supreme Court that they would introduce an alternative sea route to the Andaman Trunk Road which runs through the Jarawa reserve by March 2015, so that there is minimal intrusion into their isolated world, the work has not even started on it.

Now, UK based Survival International has put together a major signature boycott campaign that asks people not to visit the Andaman Islands until the human safaris are stopped.

Sophie Grig, senior campaigner told TOI "we will continue to collect signatures to show the level of international concern that such safaris are still happening. We will use the signature campaign to keep up the pressure on the authorities to complete the alternative route as soon as possible".

"The deadline to put in place an alternative sea route to the Andaman Trunk Road - which has been declared illegal by the Supreme Court - was set by the Andaman authorities in 2013 when they promised that it would be in place by March 2013. But while the tendering process has begun, building work has not yet started, which means it is likely to take a woefully long time for the alternative route to be in place".

Grig told TOI "This means that hundreds of tourists will continue to travel along the Andaman Trunk Road through the Jarawa reserve. The Jarawa have only had peaceful contact with settled Indian society since 1998, and are still very vulnerable to diseases to which they have little or no immunity. They are also vulnerable to exploitation by tourists and poachers. As we saw in videos, Jarawa girls were encouraged by police officers and tourists to dance for food. Only last year, Survival received extremely worrying reports that poachers were entering the reserve to sexually exploit Jarawa women".

Travel agencies and tour operators from across the world have started to withdraw from offering tours to the Andamans as a protest against the degrading "human safaris" to see the Jarawa tribe.

Travelpickr, a global company based in Canada and India and Spanish company Orixa Viatges have become the first operators to withdraw from tours to the Andamans, following Survival's call for a tourism boycott.

The organization is calling on the 200,000 tourists visiting the islands every year to stay away.

Rene Trescases, the head of Travelpickr said "we were appalled to learn about the human safaris and have now withdrawn over 40 tours to the Andaman Islands".

Viatges added "We have removed the Andaman Islands from our list of tourist destinations. We don't understand this kind of tourism - we believe that people and cultures should be treated with respect, rather than used by unscrupulous people making a profit".

Survival has written to over 200 travel companies and websites in 11 countries urging them to stop their tours to the Andaman Islands.

The 400-strong Jarawa tribe are believed to be part of the first human migration out of Africa.

The 'human safaris' had been condemned by the United Nations and thousands of letters have been sent to the Indian government asking for the tours to be stopped.

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

A touch of Bollywood in UK election campaign

LONDON: Britain emulated India by using Bollywood star power for campaigning with actor Abhishek Bachchan garnering support for Labour candidate Keith Vaz before the May 7 general elections.

The junior Bachchan was welcomed at Vaz's home constituency Leicester East by screaming female fans and the sound of loud dhols as he accompanied the Labour party's most influential Asian candidate for a road trip.

Leicester is known to have one of the largest Indian communities in Europe and also the biggest Diwali celebration outside India. "I'm encouraging my fans to come out and vote in who they believe in and I believe in Keith Vaz," he said.

"I know Mr Vaz for over 25 years, when he had hair. He has been an exemplary person in British politics. He is compassionate and charitable and does so much for the Indian community. My father has worked closely with him in his diabetes initiative."

Amitabh Bachchan is the patron of the charity that Vaz set up for diabetes.

On being asked whether he intends to ever join politics, Abhishek said "I don't understand politics. I have enough troubles standing up as an actor. I am a conscious citizen and hence I vote."

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

A comic’s lessons against terror

This Pakistani-origin Londoner calls himself a bad man. The UK police have got to him. But it's all for a good cause. Comedian Humza Arshad, 29, goes from school to school, countering terror propaganda that has been driving hundreds of youths to radical outfits such as the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Among his latest videos is one that shows him in a fictional scenario where his cousin is being lured into extremism, and he tries to stop him from joining a terror group. The video is now being showed in UK schools along with Arshad's talks against extremism.

Arshad first gained popularity through his YouTube channel and is best known for his series 'Diary of a Bad Man'. The comedy series features him talking about everyday life — from living in a desi family, to celebrating festivals, and even watching movies — with his high pitched voice and a flair for drama. "Let me just get straight to the point, yeah?" begin most of his videos.

ISIS has been issuing propaganda through social media, often uploading videos of its victims' beheadings. Arshad, who has been making online videos since 2010, was a popular internet figure when the East Midlands police approached him a year and a half ago. "The audience they wanted to reach and my online audience matched," says Arshad. "Later, the London police noticed the initiative and wanted me to hold talks in the city. I must have visited close to 50 schools by now," adds the comedian.

"Everyone enjoys laughing. Comedy is a great ice-breaker to discuss serious issues with teenagers," says Arshad, who also addressed the students at Quintin Kynaston, the school of the infamous terrorist Mohammed Emwazi nicknamed Jihadi John. "The kids there were definitely more engaged, and they got what we were saying," says Arshad.

In December last year in India, a young man in his 20s from Bengaluru was arrested for spreading ISIS propaganda through his Twitter handle, @ShamiWitness. This year, a 22-year-old with links to the terror outfit was arrested from Hyderabad.

Could comedy as counter-propaganda work in India? "I don't think it is very different (in India). Social media is such a huge part of how they (ISIS) recruit people," says Arshad, who teaches young minds to stay away from "misguided" elements and to approach the police for help. "At the end of the day," says the artiste, "I am just a comedian trying to keep the community safe.

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

'Suicide will soon become India's number 1 killer': Vikram Patel

LONDON: India's foremost mental health expert who spends most of his time between Goa and London has now been named as among TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

Professor Vikram Patel, who has done seminal research on suicides in India hopes that his presence in the list makes the Indian government wake up to the serious shortage of programmes and experts meant specially to deal with mental health problems.

Speaking to TOI from Montreal, professor Patel who teaches at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in UK and heads an organisation called Sangath in Goa said "the vast majority of people with mental disorders do not receive care which can greatly improve the quality of their lives. The treatment gap exceeds 90% for community based psychosocial interventions".

He added " hope very much that this recognition will increase the attention that the world's governments and donors afford to mental health, not just in India where issues like suicide, alcohol abuse, depression, autism and schizophrenia are almost entirely ignored by public health systems leading to enormous unmet needs and human rights abuses".

On being asked whether he thought the government of India was doing enough for mental health problems in India, Patel told TOI "Nowhere near the need, witness the complete absence of public health approach to suicide for example".

An earlier research by professor Patel on suicides in India had thrown up shocking findings. Four of India's southern states — Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnakata and Kerala — that together constitute 22% of the country's population were found to have recorded 42% of suicide deaths in men and 40% of self-inflicted fatalities in women in 2010. Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnakata and Kerala — that together constitute 22% of the country's population were found to have recorded 42% of suicide deaths in men and 40% of self-inflicted fatalities in women in 2010.

Maharashtra and West Bengal together accounted for an additional 15% of suicide deaths. Delhi recorded the lowest suicide rate in the country. In absolute numbers, the most suicide deaths in individuals, aged 15 years or older, were found to be in AP (28,000), Tamil Nadu (24,000) and Maharashtra (19,000).

This was the first national study of deaths in India which was published in the British Medical journal The Lancet.

Patel said suicide has become the second-leading cause of death among the young in India. Of the total deaths by suicide in individuals aged 15 years or older, about 40% suicide deaths in men and about 56% in women occurred in individuals aged 15-29 years. Suicide deaths occurred at younger ages in women (average age 25 years) than in men (average age 34 years). Educated persons were at greater risk of completing a suicide. The risk of completing a suicide was 43% higher in men, who finished secondary or higher education, in comparison to those who had not completed primary education. Among women, the risk increased to 90%.

So what is professor Patel who is also from the Centre for Chronic Conditions and Injuries, Public Health Foundation of India, working on now?

He told TO "I am working in five major areas - developing psychological treatments which can be delivered by community health workers, working in rural communities to increase awareness about and strengthen community responses to mental health problems, working with colleagues in cardiology and diabetes to develop integrated approaches for the care of chronic conditions, working with neuroscientists and computer engineers to develop novel diagnostic tools for brain disorders and working with government departments of health to scale up evidence based interventions for mental disorders through the district mental health programme".

The TIME 100 list describes Prof Patel as a "well-being warrior" and includes a tribute from Dr Barbara Van Dahlen, a psychologist and the founder of Give an Hour, a network of volunteer mental-health professionals, as well as the Campaign to Change Direction. She writes "It is hard to imagine a more difficult challenge than addressing the unmet needs of those from resource-poor countries who live with and suffer from mental-health disorders. And yet Vikram Patel has spent his career doing just that. He is a gifted psychiatrist, a dedicated researcher, a successful author of books and academic papers, and he is an effective communicator. In fact, he seems to have an unending supply of these critical skills. And as a co-founder of the NGO Sangath and the Centre for Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, he helps spread the simple yet profound idea of mental health for all. He provides hope that mental illness and trauma make us neither weak nor unworthy of love and respect".

http://ift.tt/1pZXaqt Patel,Time magazine,Suicide

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Soon, delivery could arrive by pipe

While companies such as Amazon are hoping to deliver parcels by air using drones, one British firm is exploring the equally high-tech concept of using a vast underground network of pipes in a bid to bypass the UK's ever more congested roads.

The idea of underground freight deliveries using magnetic fields for propulsion may sound like something from a mediocre science fiction novel, but it is being taken seriously enough to be given development funds by the department for the environment, food and rural affairs.

Cambridge-based Mole Solutions is looking at whether its new concept could be used in Northampton. If it decides it could, a small-scale scheme would be piloted in the area and within a few years the ground beneath the town could be criss-crossed with cargo travelling in capsules through subterranean pipelines. The capsules would be powered by electricity, producing magnetic fields that propel them along the pipe.

"Clean water is taken into homes and dirty water is taken away and we never really see it, while huge amounts of oil and diesel are transported by pipes underground. Now we want to do something similar with freight," said Mole Solutions' head Roger Miles, a former supply chain analyst at Esso, who has spent much of his life analysing the relative merits of pipes, roads and boats.

"Congestion is a global issue and we could take a significant volume of traffic off the roads, not just in the UK but in countries like China and India. The bounds of this are limitless," Miles said. Even the world's fastest train — Shanghai Maglev Train — is propelled using the principle of magnetic levitation - or Maglev.

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Anti-Islamic graffiti scrawled on gurdwara in Scotland

LONDON: An anti-Islamic graffiti along with a Nazi symbol has been found scrawled on the wall of one of the newest gurdwaras in Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city.

The 15-million pound Central Gurdwara in Glasgow is due to open to worshippers in the coming months.

Its committee found the words 'Islam No Sharia!' next to a Nazi swastika symbol daubed on one of its walls in green paint and reported the matter to the police last week.

Scotland police has now appealed for information from the public.

Chief Inspector Simon Midgely, the area commander for Glasgow West End, said: "There is no room in our society for racial abuse and it is not acceptable to treat people in such a manner.

"I have no doubt that this incident caused individuals considerable distress, but I would like to reassure them that this matter is under investigation. I would like to thank the gurdwara who contacted police to report the matter, indicating clearly that people in Scotland will not tolerate racism.

"If anyone has any additional information or knowledge, please do get in touch with us," he added.

Police believe the actual incident, being treated as vandalism, took place in the last week of March.

"The Sikh community completely abhors the hateful ideology of Islamophobia. We are in complete shock that such disgraceful words were put on the walls of this great Gurdwara," said Surjit Singh Chowdhary, vice-president of Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha.

Charandeep Singh, general secretary of Glasgow Gurdwara, added: "These words represent ignorance at its worst. Unfortunately in this climate of rampant Islamophobia, members of the Sikh community have fallen victim too.

"This sad incident should energise our political leaders and fellow citizens to continue the campaign to root out such hateful beliefs. We will continue our dialogue with the police, local and national politicians to create an inclusive society and celebrate the contributions made by Scottish Sikhs to our country."

The Labour leader for Scotland, Jim Murphy, also joined in the appeal on Twitter: "The Sikh community is a vital part of Scotland. It's shameful that the iconic gurdwara has been vandalised. Call the police if you have information."

http://ift.tt/WdKlzP police,labour,Islamophobia,gurdwara in Scotland,Gurdwara

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Pioneer of natural childbirth movement passes away at 86

LONDON: Anthropologist and childbirth expert Sheila Kitzinger, whose books helped people around the world begin new lives as parents, has died. She was 86.

Her publisher, Pinter & Martin, says Kitzinger died on Saturday at her home near Oxford in southern England after a short illness.

Kitzinger was an early leader of the natural childbirth movement and sought to empower women during pregnancy and birth. She wrote more than two dozen books, including 'The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth,' 'The Experience of Childbirth' and 'Ourselves as Mothers.'

Daughter Celia Kitzinger said her mother was "so much more than a 'natural birth guru'," and had campaigned on issues including an end to female genital mutilation.

Celia said her mother taught her from an early age that "the personal was political". She said: "As I was growing up I learnt from her campaigns for freedom and choice in childbirth that passionate and committed individuals can create social change.

Her autobiography, 'A Passion for Birth,' is due to be published next month.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/followceleb.cms?alias=Sheila Kitzinger,natural childbirth movement

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Titanic deck chairs to go under the hammer

LONDON: Deck chairs from the first class of the Titanic are going under the hammer and are expected to cash in as much as £80,000 each.

Titanic deck or steamer chairs are one the rarest types of Titanic collectable.

Auctioneers Henry Aldridge said they will auctioning the Nantucket Titanic Deck Chair on April 18th, one of only a handful of fully provenanced and documented examples in existence.

Collecting authentic Titanic memorabilia have become a massive craze globally.

Recently, a violin played by Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley on board the ill-fated liner sold for a whopping £1.1 million. The instrument, which was discovered in 2006, was played by second-class passenger Wallace Hartley on Titanic's fateful night of April 14th, 1912.

A letter written on board the Titanic and dated the day it struck the iceberg in 1912 - eight hours before the collision was also auctioned recently. Survivor Esther Hart wrote the letter to her mother in East London, but it was never sent. Hart had found the letter in her husband Benjamin's pocket after she and her seven-year-old daughter, Eva, were rescued. Benjamin was one of more than 1,500 people who perished in the tragedy.

Although the Titanic sank over 102 years ago, demand for memorabilia from her shows little sign of abating.

The chairs were owned originally by Julien Lemarteleur, a French cable ship captain working in Halifax at the time of the disaster, who stated to his friend, Captain N Robin Lee to whom he later gave the chair that it had come from the deck of Titanic.

The auctioneers checked with the log book and confirmed that the crew not only picked up deck chairs but that the ships carpenter spent time repairing some of them. The chairs are in fragile condition and can't be sat on.

http://ift.tt/17RB6L7 collectable,titanic,Deck chairs

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More

Lithuania’s minister sets an example, joins a village school after end of Cabinet term

LONDON: For a man who has been a Cabinet minister for a good many years, he is uncannily shy.

Round glasses clinging on to his broad nose and wearing a moss green chord trouser, a simple cotton shirt with a bag slung over his shoulder, Vaidas Bacys looked his present day part perfectly - that of a village school teacher. Bacys however is widely regarded as one of Lithuania's most respected ministers.

Having served a full term as the minister of state for education between 2009-2012, Bacys has now become a global example - instead of clinging to a high powered designation, he embarked on a mission that has already started to bear fruit - improve enrolment of students in local village schools at the grassroots level.

Soon after the end of his tenure as minister, he joined back as a regular teacher in a village school.

On being asked why he decided to work in the grassroots, Bacys who is now a history teacher and head master of the Aukstelke village grammar school in Siauliai city jokingly told TOI "for the long holidays. As a minister I would get 30 days of annual leave. As a teacher I get 56 days instead".

He also added with a wry smile "As a minister, I had a secretary. Here in the school, I have two deputies and one secretary".

On a serious note, he added "I feel it is my mission to teach. Before I became a minister, I spent 14 hours a day teaching history to my students. What I love about being a teacher is the constant engagement with young people. I care more for the respect that I get from my students who later become successful as against a fancy government position".

Lithuania has about 500 village schools. Every year, the country enrols three lakh students of which over one lakh go to village schools. The Education Commission of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the first official ministry of education in Europe set up on October 14, 1773.

Lithuania's education system improved immensely during Bacys' tenure. "We dramatically cut down red tape in schools, paperwork for enrolment and functioning of institutions was slashed and more autonomy was given to schools. Pre-school education was given a major boost in rural areas. Even during the global economic meltdown, the salaries of teachers in Lithuania weren't slashed. The attendance in higher secondary education improved dramatically," Bacys who now teaches history and civic education to ninth grade students said.

Bacys is now a member of the City Council and is working tirelessly to improve admissions to village schools.

"I have been a teacher all my life which made my life a lot easier when I was a minister. While framing policies, experts often would argue with me but because of my understanding of ground realities, it was easier for me to take the decisions," Bacys said.

His school has now become the public meeting spot for the local community. "I want to make this school home for parents and students".

Bacys has also introduced a path breaking new legislation that stipulates a day in every week where students and teachers come together to talk freely about their life, the challenges they face as students in a session moderated by the principal.

Almost 90% of the students who visit the village school are also served a free meal supported by the state.

http://ift.tt/1ylwCsD Bacys,Lithuania,Education minister

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Read More