Bleached Flour Causes Diabetes?

The Little-Known Secrets about Bleached Flour

By Dr. Joseph Mercola on 05/15/2009
Nearly everyone knows that white flour is not healthy for

you, but most people don’t know that when white flour is bleached, it
can actually be FAR worse for you.

It’s generally understood that refining food destroys nutrients. With

the most nutritious part of the grain removed, white flour essentially
becomes a form of sugar. Consider what gets lost in the refining
process:

*Half of the beneficial unsaturated fatty acids

*Virtually all of the vitamin
*Fifty percent of the calcium
*Seventy percent of the phosphorus
*Eighty percent of the iron
*Ninety eight percent of the magnesium
*Fifty to 80 percent of the B vitamins

And many more nutrients are destroyed — simply too many to list.

The Journey of the Wheat Berry

Have you ever wondered how white flour is made?

The website Healthy Eating Politics has an interesting article about the process.

Most commercial wheat production is, unfortunately, a “study in

pesticide application,” beginning with the seeds being treated with
fungicide. Once they become wheat, they are sprayed with hormones and
pesticides. Even the bins in which the harvested wheat is stored have
been coated with insecticides. If bugs appear on the wheat in storage,
they fumigate the grain.

A whole grain of wheat, sometimes called a wheat berry, is composed of three layers:

*The bran
*The germ
*The endosperm

The bran is the layer where you’ll find most of the fiber, and it’s

the hard outer shell of the kernel. The germ is the nutrient-rich embryo
that will sprout into a new wheat plant. The endosperm is the largest
part of the grain (83 percent), making up most of the kernel, and it’s
mostly starch.

White flour is made from the endosperm only, whereas whole-wheat flour combines all three parts of the wheat berry.

Old time mills ground flour slowly, but today’s mills are designed
for mass-production, using high-temperature, high-speed steel rollers.
The resulting white flour is nearly all starch, and even much of today’s
commercially processed whole wheat flour has lost a fair amount of
nutritional value due to these aggressive processing methods.

White flour contains a small fraction of the nutrients of the

original grain, with the heat of the steel rollers having destroyed what
little nutrients remain. But then it is hit with another chemical
insult–a chlorine gas bath (chlorine oxide). This serves as a whitener, as well as an “aging” agent.

Flour used to be aged with time, improving the gluten and thus

improving the baking quality. Now, it is treated with chlorine to
instantly produce similar qualities in the flour (with a disturbing lack
of concern about adding another dose of chemicals to your food).

According to Jim Bair, Vice President of the North American Millers Association:

“Today, the US milling industry produces about 140 million pounds of
flour each day, so there is no way to store the flour to allow it to age
naturally. Plus, there is a shelf life issue.”

It has not been determined how many mills are bleaching flour with

chorine oxide, but we do know the use of chlorides for bleaching flour
is considered an industry standard.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines chlorine gas as
a flour-bleaching, aging and oxidizing agent that is a powerful
irritant, dangerous to inhale, and lethal. Other agents also used
include oxides of nitrogen, nitrosyl, and benzoyl peroxide mixed with
various chemical salts.

The chlorine gas undergoes an oxidizing chemical reaction with some
of the proteins in the flour, producing alloxan as an unintended
byproduct. Bair and other milling industry leaders claim that bleaching
and oxidizing agents don’t leave behind harmful residues in flour,
although they can cite no studies or published data to confirm this.

Why Bleaching Makes White Flour Even Worse

It has been shown that alloxan is a byproduct of the flour bleaching process, the process they use to make flour look so “clean” and — well, white. No, they are technically not adding alloxan
to the flour — although you will read this bit of misinformation on
the Internet. But, they are doing chemical treatments to the grain that
result in the formation of alloxan in the flour.

With so little food value already in a piece of white bread, now
there is potentially a chemical poison lurking in there as well.

So what is so bad about alloxan?

Alloxan, or C4 H2O4N2, is a product of the decomposition of uric
acid. It is a poison that is used to produce diabetes in healthy
experimental animals (primarily rats and mice), so that researchers can
then study diabetes “treatments” in the lab. Alloxan causes diabetes
because it spins up enormous amounts of free radicals in pancreatic beta
cells, thus destroying them.

Beta cells are the primary cell type in areas of your pancreas called
islets of Langerhans, and they produce insulin; so if those are
destroyed, you get diabetes.

There is no other commercial application for alloxan — it is used
exclusively in the medical research industry because it is so highly
toxic.

Given the raging epidemic of diabetes and other chronic diseases in
this country, can you afford to be complacent about a toxin such as this
in your bread, even if it is present in small amounts?

Just How Much is Too Much?

Similar to disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in water, alloxan is formed
when the chlorine reacts with certain proteins remaining in the white
flour after the bran and germ have been removed. Protein makes up
between 5 percent and 15 percent of white flour, depending on whether
it’s cake flour, or high-gluten flour, such as what’s used for pizza
crust or bagels.

So, this would suggest that perhaps 5 to 15 grams of protein per 100 grams of flour could be contaminated.

However, according to Professor Joe Schwarcz, Director of the McGill
University Office of Science and Society, alloxan is the byproduct of
xantophyll oxidation only. Xantophylls are yellow compounds in wheat that react with oxygen, causing flour to turn white.

According to Mr. Schwarcz:

“One of the possible minor side products of xantophyll oxidation is
alloxan. It may therefore be found in small amounts in flour. There is
no available research that shows trace amounts are a problem or that
alloxan builds up in the body. The amounts, if present at all, must be
small because xantophylls themselves only occur to the extent of 1 microgram per gram of flour.”

Alloxan has not been studied in terms of human exposure, particularly
long-term. There is just so much we don’t know, and you know what
assumptions will get you.

Alloxan in Rats vs Alloxan in Humans

Scientists have long known that alloxan produces selective
destruction of the beta cells of the pancreas, causing hyperglycemia and
ketoacidosis in laboratory animals. Alloxan is structurally similar to
glucose, which might explain why the pancreatic beta cells selectively
take it up.

According to Dr. Hari Sharma’s Freedom from Disease, alloxan causes
free radical damage to DNA in the beta cells of the pancreas, causing
them to malfunction and die. When they fail to function normally, they
no longer produce enough insulin.

Even though the toxic effect of alloxan is common scientific
knowledge in the research community, the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) still allows companies to use chemical processes in which the end
result is toxic food. Until they unequivocally prove something is toxic
by way of human deaths, severe side effects, or when the public screams
loudly enough, the FDA is not likely to protect you.

Until then, it is you who must protect yourself.

If you have diabetes, or cancer, have a compromised immune system, or
if you are in some other high-risk category as tens of millions of
North Americans are, you need to know what foods contain hazardous
ingredients so you can avoid them. But in the case of alloxan, there is no way to know, either by reading the ingredient list or by any other means, that it might be in your food!

History of Bleaching Flour — Pillsbury and the FDA

An interesting sideline to this whole flour story lies in the origins of the FDA.

Bleaching and oxidizing agents weren’t developed to produce quick
aging of wheat flour (within 48 hours) until the early 1900s. Prior to
that, it required several months for oxygen to condition flour
naturally.

When bleaching was introduced, it was vehemently opposed.

The first major consumer advocate was Harvey W. Wiley, MD, who
eventually became known as the “Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act”
of 1906. Mr. Wiley was head of the Bureau of Chemistry, which was the
precursor to the FDA. Wiley crusaded against benzoic acid, sulfites,
saccharin, and bleached flour, among other food additives and adulterants.

Dr. Wiley felt so strongly about preventing the bleaching of flour
that he took it all the way to the Supreme Court. They ruled that flour
could not be bleached or “adulterated” in any way. However, it was never
enforced.

Wiley believed that foods posed a greater risk to the public than
adulterated or misbranded drugs. He constantly butted heads with
Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and President Roosevelt over food
regulation.

Soon, Wiley’s personal administrative authority was undercut when
Wilson created the Board of Food and Drug Inspection in 1907 and the
Referee Board of Consulting Scientific Experts in 1908, one of which was
reportedly headed by someone who had been working at Pillsbury,
although I have not been able to verify this addendum.

Finally, in 1912, Dr. Wiley quit as director out of frustration,
although he continued as a vocal consumer advocate for many years.

The government replaced Dr. Wiley with Dr. Elmer Nelson. Dr. Nelson was the polar opposite to Wiley , and was quoted as saying:

“It is wholly unscientific to state that a well-fed body is more able
to resist disease than a poorly fed body. My overall opinion is that
there hasn’t been enough experimentation to prove that dietary
deficiencies make one susceptible to disease.”

Therein lies the foundation of the FDA. Since Dr. Wiley resigned, the
FDA has continued to shift its focus on drugs, since Wiley was never
able to convince the government of the dangers from chemicals in our
foods. He was truly a pioneer and a century ahead of his time!

Food For Thought

The important point to take away is, beware of any processed food
because chemicals are always used. And we simply don’t know what the
long-term effects will be of ingesting chemicals, on top of chemicals,
on top of more chemicals.

Strive to stick to whole unprocessed foods that are as close to their
natural state as possible. If you’re going to eat grains, make sure
they are at the least unbleached, whole, and organic, and eat them in
the proportion that is best for your nutritional type.

October 26, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

Occupy Wall Street

NEW YORK – One of the richest men in the world took a stroll
among the people of the protest group called Occupy Wall Street who were
encamped like Bedouins in the Lower Broadway park named after him. Not a
soul knew or guessed that John Zuccotti, 74, was that fellow meandering
anonymously along like everyone else.

A
young woman in her late twenties with long, wavy brown hair and the
fresh innocence of a Brown University graduate stood on the sidewalk
before a congregation of hundreds of people and as a “facilitator”
helped conduct a three-hour “General Assembly” in a style dubbed
“consensus democracy.”

A hand-lettered sign on a corrugated box flap proclaimed:

“There are no leaders here. Don’t ask for them. Get used to it!”

Reporters
sought in vain for authorized representatives to answer their
questions, and many groused about not finding any. Without leaders, they
grumped, who is there to question? Who presents the group’s talking
points and expresses cogent demands?

From
the handmade signs bobbing daily in a sea of humanity, interviews with
dozens of protesters and the ongoing public exchanges among the
thousands at Occupy Wall Street emerge the questions that are beginning
to resonate across America:

» Is
it fair for a tiny splinter of the population, allegedly just 1
percent, to own and control half or more of a nation’s wealth?

» Should
corporations be granted the privileges of “personhood,” via a Supreme
Court decision on campaign finance, when corporations don’t have a
conscience?

» Why have the world’s millionaires increased by almost nine percent since 2009?

» Why are bailed-out banks allowed to hoard their cash?

» Why can’t America eliminate the corrupting and destructive links between politicians and corporations?

The
thirst for answers appears to be gaining momentum. An Associated
Press-GfK poll released Friday says 37 percent of Americans back the
people gathered here. And 58 percent of Americans say they are furious
about America’s politicians.
A slender 27-year-old man, who calls himself Kwame, sat on a granite
slab beside a pale, plump, goat-bearded college professor and they mused
about the characteristics of the crowd.

For
one thing, roughly 99 percent of everyone within sight, no matter how
they are garbed, carries a smartphone. Except for a bronze statue of a
businessman hunched over his briefcase, neckties are scarce. Almost as
scarce are people of color.

Kwame,
who’s black, is working on his Ph.D. in music at Stanford University.
The question was raised, “Why is there just one percent black people
among the 99 percenters in the park?”

“Education,”
he said. “The higher their education level, the more likely anyone is
to be here. Blacks in New York are a shrinking minority and their
schools are not up to high standards. But as this goes on, there’ll be
more.”

There are
just about as many males as females. Many people claim to hold one or
more jobs and about two out of 10 say they can’t find one. People who
haven’t showered in far too long rub elbows with well-scrubbed travelers
from abroad. There are blue-dyed mohawks, a few hippie-ish longhairs,
tattoos of all colors, labor union workers, anarchists, musicians,
hundreds of blue tarpaulins, pillars of pizza boxes, plastic bottles of
water that cost more per quart than gasoline, and wave after wave of
curious tourists and “media” who invariably ask the question:

“Why are you all here and what do you want?”

The answer is both super-simple and ultra-complicated:

“Money.”

The
primary issue for almost every soul in the park — whatever their age,
spiritual faith, political leanings, skin shade, gender, ethnicity,
hierarchical rank, IQ level or social class — is an inquiry into what
money actually is, how money truly functions, what money is worth, how
money affects the way we are governed, how money is stolen and by whom,
how money affects the law, how to get money and how to spend it.

What
so fascinates people about the month-old iCreature called Occupy Wall
Street is that the Occupiers have brilliantly directed the searchlight
of world attention on the global subject of money. Almost everybody
cares about money. As Mark Twain put it, “Some men worship rank, some
worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, & over these
ideals they dispute & cannot unite — but they all worship money.”
n Zuccotti Park, the lefties, the righties, the middlies and the
politically perplexed have quite amazingly gathered to consider in a
unique 21st-century style the true role of money. In a wild and almost
weird collision of coincidences, Occupy has become the hottest ticket in
town.

The word “occupy” is now attached
to more than 1,000 cities (including Wilmington), states, nations and
locations globally. Plans are afoot for a massive, Internet-coordinated
“international” occupation of Central Park on the easy-to-remember date
of Friday, 11/11/11. A permit is required for large gatherings in the
city-owned park.

•°°

The
privately owned Zuccotti Park is named for a lively and thoughtful man
whose life story epitomizes the wildest American dreams of avarice.
Before becoming one of the world’s wealthiest real estate developers,
Zuccotti checked hats at a super-swanky 54th Street speakeasy with
zebra-striped decor called El Morocco, where his father, Angelo, was the
suave maitre d’.

Zuccotti
graduated from Princeton, earned his law degree at Yale and became one
of the 500 richest men in the world according to Forbes Magazine. He
served on both the National Republican Congressional Committee and with
Vice President Joe Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign. Zuccotti has paid
incognito visits to the park and friends say he was worried about the
disorder and mess, but he nonetheless smiled while strolling through the
plaza that carries his family name.

Then
there is an Estonia-born writer and documentary filmmaker named Kalle
Lasn, 69, the founder and editor of a popular Canadian magazine called
Adbusters, which probes and satirizes the ideas and consequences of
consumerism, an economic philosophy that Adbusters readers regard as
pernicious and fundamentally evil.

This
story began one day in a Vancouver supermarket. Lasn became infuriated
when he had to pay a quarter to rent a shopping cart. He jammed the coin
in the slot. It was his first act of vandalism against consumerism,
which he sees as an infernal machine that sucks coins from consumers’
pockets and seldom returns fair value. Adbusters soon became one of
Canada’s favorite magazines.
In July 2011, Lasn published an editorial in Adbusters (www.adbusters.org) that called on 20,000 people to “set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months.”

With
what aim in mind? To investigate and eventually sever unscrupulous
links between politics and money and to force the government “to choose
publicly between the will of the people and the lucre of the
corporations.”

A
few dozen “activists” in New York City took note. On Sept. 17, a
Saturday, they showed up at the little–known, granite-paved Zuccotti
Park, about as big as a football field minus the end zones. It is two
blocks up Broadway from Trinity Church, at the top of Wall Street. It
is three blocks from the New York Stock Exchange and four blocks from
Federal Hall, the first capitol of the United States of America, where
George Washington was sworn in as the first president in 1789. Two
blocks to the west, the steel skeleton and glass skin of One World Trade
Center is built up to its 86th floor and will rise eventually to an
altitude of 1,776 feet above the ground on the spot where the North
Tower of the World Trade Center once stood.

Day
by day, that first encampment of vinyl tarps, overstuffed backpacks,
sleeping bags, umbrellas, guitars, drums, a seedy old sofa and
unspeakable mattresses began to grow like the gray matter in a brain
does, neuron by neuron, from person to person, from smartphone to
smartphone, from mind to mind, in a way that the iPeople have come to
call “going viral.”

By
last Monday, Oct. 17, the first month’s anniversary of Occupy Wall
Street’s un-immaculate birth, the “Occupus” had sprouted tentacles in
hundreds of cities around the globe and the number increased each day.
Boston, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, San
Francisco and Los Angeles were “occupied” within a week or so. Within a
fortnight, the estimated numbers in marching crowds and occupied places
was greater on the West Coast than in the East, where Occupy began. Then
London, Rome and Barcelona joined in, and so on round the globe.
In the first few weeks, Occupy was paid scant attention by the media,
which is not surprising because New York City is awash in political
protests and this one seemed to many editors no more significant than
most. Then, on Oct. 6, Paul Krugman, the 2008 winner of the Nobel
Memorial Prize for economics and the “Liberal” op-ed columnist for the
New York Times, wrote:

“What can we say
about the [Occupy Wall Street] protests? First things first: The
protesters’ indictment of Wall Street as a destructive force,
economically and politically, is completely right.”

It
was the equivalent of a rave theater review. Occupy Wall Street
suddenly gained momentum. A squad of uniformed police was positioned
just outside the park, unthreatened and content on overtime pay. “We’re
minding the trust fund babies,” is how one policeman put it.

Now
the more mainstream media began to show up. Reporters immediately
noticed that there are no bathroom facilities in the park and personal
hygiene for the campers is rough. The McDonald’s across Broadway allows
restroom privileges for all (most visitors pay for the kindness by
buying at least a cup of coffee first). So do Trinity Church and an
Episcopal public meeting room called Charlotte’s Place that is decorated
with fresh flowers and offers sparkling-clean bathrooms, Wi-Fi and
tables for computers, and a free conference room where Occupy working
groups meet.

Because
social communication is what Occupy is actually all about, the biggest
obstacle the Occupiers overcame was the police ban on voice
amplification. To hold General Assembly meetings for hundreds of people
alongside the noisy bustle of Broadway without megaphonic help would
have been impossible without Mike Check! Mike is a superhero of Occupy,
which may be leaderless but is not without heroes.

Mike
Check! is the non-electronic human voice amplifier. It works very
simply, and is the primary means of vocal communication among the
participants in the evening plenary sessions, when hundreds of people
form a crescent of participants and onlookers on the Broadway side of
the park. For at least two hours each night, they discuss, decide and
take parliamentary decisions with all words sung full cry in a great
collective voice.
It works this way:

A person shouts: “Mike Check!”

Everyone
who can hear the shout yells back, “Mike Check!” and the crowd even
mimics the inflection and accent of the speaker’s voice.

The person shouts: “There’s a reporter from Coney Island …”

The crowd yells at the top of its voices: “There’s a reporter from Coney Island …”

The shouter: “who wants to interview somebody from Coney Island.”

The crowd: “who wants to interview somebody from Coney Island.”

Shouter: “So if …”

Crowd: “So if …”

Shouter: “you’re from Coney Island …”

Crowd: “you’re from Coney Island …”

Shouter: “Get over here.”

Crowd (laughing): “GET OVER HERE!”

Those
who know how to use Mike Check! best cut to the chase and talk in four-
or five-word bites. If a shouter uses overly long words or too-long
phrases, the crowd garbles them, which makes everything take longer.
Long-winded speakers are warned, “We get it … enough!” by a particular
hand signal from anyone in the crowd (circling hands around each other
like a football referee when he wants to keep the game clock moving).

Occupy
etiquette makes clear that no matter what the shouter says, or how
antithetical the words might be to local or personal beliefs, the crowd
is duty bound to echo the words at top volume.

The
Mike Check! system was born of adversity and is a concept that
fascinates group dynamics people. Mike Check! actually forces people to
listen carefully to what others say and perhaps apprehend precisely what
they are saying before interrupting with a response.

Another
hero of Zuccotti Park is the sanitation volunteer. There is a
cleanliness-is-next-to-godliness attitude among most of the Occupiers
(with a few swinish exceptions), necessary because littering is a
misdemeanor and could give authorities reason to kick everyone out on
public-safety grounds. On Oct. 14, Mayor Michael Bloomberg seemed about
to evict Occupy from the park to have it steam-washed by
“professionals.” But John Zuccotti’s company, the park’s owners, backed
away from asking for a confrontation that might besmirch the name of the
park and the property.
To keep the park clean, the volunteer sanitation squads patrol
incessantly with brooms and trash pans, and warn people to put down
tarps when they paint protest signs because spilling paint on the
granite can get a person arrested.

There
are numerous hand-drawn signs that proclaim, “DON’T DO DRUGS” and “NO
ALCOHOL.” At a General Assembly, one of the volunteer security detail
men holds up a black plastic sack. He shouts Mike Check! “There are
three bottles …

The crowd echoes: “There are three bottles …”

“… of liquor in the bag.”

“… of liquor in the bag”

“Alcohol will get us all thrown out!”

“Don’t bring it!”

By
day 34 on Friday, the Occupiers were revving up for yet another weekend
of chaotic protests and teach-ins. The nightly General Assemblies
carried on under their rules of consensual democracy and the “lack of
leadership” was being criticized by Bloomberg, who prefers to deal with
an organization that has a hierarchy and a chain of command.

Nobody
knows yet what Occupy will become. Will it get kicked out of the park?
Will it survive until Thanksgiving? Will it grow into an iCreature that
eats plutocrats for lunch? Will Kalle Lasn come to Manhattan to see what
he hath wrought? Will it end well, or end ugly? Millions worldwide are
tuned in to see.

October 23, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

Artificially Induced Longevity can be Inherited?

Scientific American article reports

“

Longevity Shown for First Time to Be Inherited via a Non-DNA Mechanism

Experiments with worms show that altering an enzyme can not only lengthen their life spans, but that the longevity effect can be carried across several generations

By Sarah Fecht | October 19, 2011 | 2

Research on nemotode worms is helping to illuminate ways to lengthen their lifetimes. The findings have yet to be replicated in vertebrates, including humans. Image: Wikimedia Commons

In October 2009 Stanford University geneticist Anne Brunet was sitting in her office when graduate student Eric Greer came to her with a slightly heretical question. Brunet’s lab had recently learned that they could lengthen a worm’s lifetime by manipulating levels of an enzyme called SET2. “What if extending a worm’s lifetime using SET2 can affect the life span of its descendants, even if the descendants have normal amounts of the enzyme?” he asked.

The question was unorthodox, Brunet says, “because it touches upon the Lamarckian idea that you can inherit acquired traits, which biologists have believed false for years.” The biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck theorized in 1809 that the traits exhibited by an organism during its lifetime were augmented in its offspring; a giraffe that regularly stretched its neck to eat would father calves whose necks were longer. The idea was largely discredited by Darwin’s theory of evolution, first published in 1859. More recently, scientists have begun to realize that an organism’s behavior and environment may indeed influence the genes it passes to its offspring. The heritability of those acquired traits is not based on DNA, but on alterations in the molecular packaging that surrounds a gene. When Greer approached Brunet in 2009 with his question about worms and SET2, such “epigenetic” inheritance had only been discovered for simple traits such as eye color, flower symmetry and coat color.

Brunet and Greer went ahead with the experiment. The results, published October 19 in Nature, provide the first evidence that some aspects of longevity can be passed from parent to offspring, independent of DNA’s direct influence. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)

“I think this is a fundamentally important finding,” says Matt Kaeberlein of the University of Washington in Seattle, who studies molecular mechanisms of aging. “It demonstrates for the first time that aging can be influenced by epigenetic changes that occurred in prior generations.”

The study used Caenorhabditis elegans worms with very low levels of SET2. The enzyme normally adds methyl molecules onto DNA’s protein packaging material. In doing so, the enzyme opens up the packaging material, allowing the genes to be copied and expressed. Some of those genes appear to be pro-aging genes, Brunet says. Her team knocked out SET2 by removing genes that code for it. This had the effect of significantly lengthening the worms’ life spans, presumably because those pro-aging genes were no longer expressed.

Next, the long-lived, enzyme-lacking worms mated with normal ones. The offspring had the regular genes for making SET2, and even expressed normal amounts of the enzyme, but they lived significantly longer than control worms whose parents both had regular life spans. The life-extending effect carried over into the third generation, but returned to normal by the fourth generation (in the great-grandchildren of the original mutant worms). For the first few generations, having a long-lived ancestor increased life expectancy from 20 days to 25, extending a worm’s longevity by 25 to 30 percent on average.

Brunet and her team have not yet determined the exact mechanism for the lifetime extension, or which molecules are at work. This is one of the study’s imperfections, says David Katz, who researches epigenetic transcriptional memory at Emory University. Regardless, “the effect is clearly epigenetic,” he says, “and it’s probably one of the most complicated traits that has been linked to epigenetic inheritance.”

The knowledge that epigenetics can impact a complex trait like life span has scientists curious to find out what other kinds of traits—such as disease susceptibility, metabolism and developmental patterns—are epigenetically heritable. Because epigenetic effects can be modified by environmental stimuli, Kaeberlein points out, it is possible that some of these traits “could be determined, at least in part, by the environment and lifestyle choices of parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents.”

The study’s results are also exciting because the genes that code for the life-lengthening SET2 enzyme exist in other species, including humans. Brunet says she wants see if the results can be replicated in vertebrates, such as fish and mammals. Those questions will not be answered for many years, because it is unknown whether the SET2 complex has the same function in other species, and because those species have longer generational time frames.

“Worms have very short lives,” Brunet says. “Will the effect apply to mammals that live thousands of times longer? We are excited to find out.”

“

Now this is exciting.

But there could be another reason for the longevity found in certain populations such as the Japanese and Chinese. In these cultures, ancestor worship is common, and importantly, elderly are given much more respect than in other cultures of the world. Being regarded as useful and respected could be a driving factor for the old to live on. In most other cultures world wide, the senior citizens are viewed as a spent force, with little if any possible contributions to society.

Being fawned upon by the younger generation who look to them for guidance and advice could well be a motivating factor to live on. Of course this assumes that a person can give up on life and that outlook itself shortens her lifespan. But this is a reasonable assumption.

Look around you. Most of the people who are surprisingly fit and perky at a great age are, if you study their habits, people who have some driving force behind them.

Iqbal

October 22, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

Reverse Magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) Pump

September 10th, 2011

Zihong Guo built this magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pump to prototype a possible cooling mechanism for the TerraPower nuclear reactor. Almost all nuclear reactors in use today use water as a coolant, but one thing that makes the TerraPower design special is that it will use a liquid metal as a coolant.

When an atom fissions, big chunks of the nucleus break off as new, smaller-atomic-number atoms, but extra individual neutrons
also fly out of the nucleus. If you put enough easily-fissionable atoms
close enough together and start them off by shooting some neutrons in,
you can get a self-sustaining reaction:
the first generation of atoms are fissioned, emitting enough neutrons
to fission another generation of atoms, and so on. This is what happens
in nuclear reactors.

Nuclear engineers have a choice about neutrons: do they want fast ones or slow ones? When a neutron hits a nucleus, it can either fission it or be absorbed by it. Slow neutrons
are more likely to fission a given nucleus for any given collision, but
they can only fission very high quality fuel– specifically fissile
nuclides like the uranium 235 isotope. Fast neutrons
are less likely to fission a nucleus for any given collision, but they
can split less-fissionable fuel, they produce more extra neutrons per
fission, and they don’t get absorbed by the smaller fission products as
readily. The extra neutrons produced allow the reactor to breed fissile
Plutonium-239 from typically-uninteresting Uranium-238, allowing fast
reactors to get substantially more energy out of the amount of Uranium
we have on Earth than slow (“thermal”) reactors could.

Loading mercury into the system.

We can keep the neutrons at fast speeds by having only relatively
heavy nuclei in a reactor. Water, the traditional coolant, is made up
of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The oxygen atom is more massive than a neutron by 16 times (because oxygen has 16 nucleons),
but the hydrogen has about the same mass as a neutron, and there are
twice as many of them. Neutrons traveling through a water coolant hit
oxygens, which slow them down a little, and hydrogens, which (on
average) slow them down a lot (by conservation of momentum). The use of
water as a coolant is the reason most reactors today are slow (thermal) reactors.
Thermal reactors can be much smaller than fast reactors because the
neutrons are more readily absorbed by the fissile nuclei. (Imagine a
fissile nucleus as a bar magnet and a neutron as a steel ball….if the
steel ball goes very slowly past the magnet, it’s much more likely to be
attracted to the magnet than if it was zinging by at, say, Mach 3!)

But wait! The neat thing is that there’s no rule that water has to be your coolant. Metals are much more massive than neutrons (how much more massive depends on atomic number),
so when neutrons collide with metal atoms, they retain much more of
their kinetic energy, like a ping-pong ball bouncing off of a bowling
ball. Using metals as coolants can let us build fast-neutron reactors
and use our vast “waste” reserves of depleted U238 uranium in the
reactor to be converted to Plutonium-239.

TerraPower has looked at using liquid sodium metal as a coolant. A big problem with sodium is that as an alkali metal with only one valence electron, sodium is very reactive, and the high temperatures involved would make it even more reactive.

In the pump system, any bits that could let in air or impurities
would give the sodium something to react with. This means, essentially,
that any moving parts would be hazards.

The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pump uses conduction to force the
liquid to circulate, so it has no moving parts at all. As a side effect,
this pump has a totally steady flow.

**Many thanks to Nick Touran from TerraPower for helping explain the
physics with the coolant to me, and to Jon McWhirter for conceiving of
the pump concept and for editorial comments.

How it works:

Moving a charged particle in a magnetic field creates a force on that charge in this way:

where $\vec {F}$ is the force on the particle,

q is the charge of the particle,

$\vec{v}$ is the particle’s velocity, and

$\vec{B}$ is the magnetic field.

rhr diagram

In Zihong’s pump, the big red anode and black cathode wires in the picture carry current through the system. They aren’t directly connected; the two electrodes are separated by a tube full of mercury (the prototype uses mercury, not liquid sodium, because mercury is liquid under standard conditions
while sodium is not). Conventional current flows from the anode through
the mercury, which is electrically conductive, to the cathode.

On top of and beneath this segment of tube are two magnets. This
means that the mercury, while it is carrying a moving charge, is in a
strong magnetic field. Like all moving charges in magnetic fields, it
experiences a force, and that force pushes it down the tube and through
the system. As long as current flows, this force (and thus the flow of
metal coolant) are maintained. See diagram.

mhd pump drawing

MHG photo diagram

The prototype runs on 101 A at 0.3 V.

October 10, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

ഇത്രേയുള്ളൂ; ഇത്രമാത്രം!

പുതിയൊരു കുഞ്ഞ്‌ നമ്മിലേക്ക്‌ വരാനിരിക്കുന്നു എന്ന വാര്‍ത്ത എത്ര
സന്തോഷത്തോടെയാണ്‌ നാം ആസ്വദിക്കാറുള്ളത്‌! കുടുംബത്തിലേക്ക്‌ പുതിയൊരാള്‍
വരുന്നു! ആകാംക്ഷയോടെ ആ കുഞ്ഞിന്‌ നല്ലൊരു പേര്‌ കണ്ടുവെച്ച്‌ നാം
കാത്തിരിക്കുന്നു. ഉമ്മയുടെയും ഉപ്പയുടെയും മനസ്സു നിറയെ ആ
കുഞ്ഞായിരിക്കും.

അത്രയും
ആനന്ദവും ആശ്ചര്യവും നിറഞ്ഞ കൈകളിലേക്ക്‌ വന്നുവീണവരാണ്‌
നമ്മളോരോരുത്തരും. ഇനി, അതിലേറെ വേദനയും വിഭ്രാന്തിയും ബാക്കിയാക്കി
അവരില്‍ നിന്നെല്ലാം മടങ്ങിപ്പോകേണ്ടവരുമാണ്‌ ഈ നമ്മള്‍.
ജനിക്കുന്നതിനുമുമ്പ്‌ നമ്മെക്കുറിച്ച ഓര്‍മ കൂടിക്കൂടി വരും; പക്ഷേ
മരിച്ചുകഴിഞ്ഞാല്‍ നമ്മെക്കുറിച്ച ഓര്‍മ്മ കുറഞ്ഞുകുറഞ്ഞുവരും.

എല്ലാവരും
ജീവിക്കുന്നവരാണെങ്കിലും ജീവിതത്തെക്കുറിച്ച്‌ ചിന്തിക്കുന്നവര്‍
കുറച്ചേയുള്ളൂ. ആനന്ദത്തിന്റെ ആഘോഷം മാത്രമാക്കി ജീവിതത്തെ
പുണരുന്നവര്‍ക്ക്‌ കൊച്ചുകാര്യങ്ങളെപ്പറ്റി ചിന്തിക്കാനേ നേരം കാണൂ.
ഭക്ഷണം, വസ്‌ത്രം, സൗന്ദര്യം, സൗകര്യം അങ്ങനെ വളരെ കുറച്ചുകാര്യങ്ങളുടെ
പിന്നില്‍ അവര്‍ ചുറ്റിത്തിരിയും. ചെറിയ ചെറിയ കാര്യങ്ങളേക്കാള്‍ വലിയ
കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ നിര്‍വഹിക്കാനുള്ള സന്ദര്‍ഭമാണീ ജീവിതമെന്ന്‌ തിരിച്ചറിയാന്‍
സാധിക്കുന്നവര്‍ മഹാഭാഗ്യവാന്മാരാണ്‌.

സുഖമൊരു
അനുഭവമല്ല. ദു:ഖമാണ്‌ അനുഭവമെന്ന്‌ ദു:ഖിച്ചവര്‍ക്കൊക്കെ അറിയാം.
രോഗങ്ങളും വേദനകളുമൊന്നുമില്ലെങ്കിലാണ്‌ സത്യത്തില്‍ നമുക്ക്‌ ഭയം
വര്‍ധിക്കേണ്ടത്‌. ഈ ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ നിസ്സാരതയെത്രയെന്ന്‌
തിരിച്ചറിയുമ്പോള്‍ വേദനകളെയും സന്തോഷങ്ങളെയും അതിജീവിക്കാന്‍ നാം
പഠിച്ചുതുടങ്ങും. അലക്കുകല്ലിന്റെ നിയോഗം അടിക്കുക എന്നതല്ല, അടി കൊള്ളുക
എന്നതാണ്‌. ഒരര്‍ഥത്തില്‍ നമ്മുടെയും നിയോഗമതാണ്‌. മരിക്കുന്നതുവരെ
ജീവിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയും ജീവിക്കുമ്പോഴൊക്കെ
പ്രവര്‍ത്തിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയുമാണ്‌ നമ്മുടെ ദൗത്യം.

അസഹ്യമായ
അനുഭവങ്ങള്‍ വരാനിരിക്കുന്ന ജീവിതമാണ്‌ നമ്മുടേത്‌. അനിഷ്‌ടകരമായ
വാര്‍ത്തകള്‍ കേള്‍ക്കാനിരിക്കുന്ന കാതും ഹൃദയം തകരുന്ന അലര്‍ച്ചയോടെ
കരയാനിരിക്കുന്ന കണ്ണുമാണ്‌ നമ്മുടേത്‌. അത്തരം അനുഭവങ്ങള്‍ വരുത്തരുതേ
എന്ന്‌ പ്രാര്‍ഥിക്കുന്നതോടൊപ്പം അങ്ങനെ വല്ലതും സംഭവിച്ചാല്‍
പിടിച്ചുനില്‍ക്കാനുള്ള കെല്‍പ്പു തരണേയെന്നും പ്രാര്‍ഥിക്കുന്നതിലാണ്‌
തിരുനബി(സ)യുടെ മാതൃക.

യാഥാര്‍ഥ്യബോധത്തോടെ
ജീവിതാനുഭവങ്ങളെ നേരിടുന്നതിലാണ്‌ നമ്മള്‍ വിജയിക്കേണ്ടത്‌. കുഞ്ഞ്‌
മരിച്ചുകിടന്നപ്പോഴും മുഖത്ത്‌ സങ്കടം വിരിയാതെ, ഭര്‍ത്താവിന്‌ അത്താഴവും
ആനന്ദവും പകര്‍ന്ന സ്വഹാബി വനിതയെ കേട്ടിട്ടില്ലേ? ധീരമായ ഭക്തിയാണത്‌.
കണ്ണീരിനെ മുഴുവന്‍ കണ്ണിനു പിന്നില്‍ നിര്‍ത്തിയ അസാധാരണമായ
സത്യവിശ്വാസമാണത്‌.

സ്വഹാബികളോടൊപ്പം
യാത്ര ചെയ്യുകയായിരുന്ന തിരുനബി(സ) അവിടെയൊരു ആള്‍ക്കൂട്ടം കണ്ടു.
എന്താണവിടെയെന്ന്‌ അന്വേഷിച്ചു. `അവിടെ ഒരു ഖബ്‌ര്‍
കുഴിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ്‌ റസൂലേ’. ഇത്‌ കേട്ടതോടെ തിരുദൂതര്‍
വിഭ്രാന്തിയുള്ള മുഖത്തോടെ ആ ഖബ്‌റിന്നരികിലേക്ക്‌ ഓടി. അവിടെ
മുട്ടുകുത്തിയിരുന്നു. താഴെയുള്ള മണ്ണ്‌ നനയുന്നത്രയും ശക്തമായി കരഞ്ഞു.
എന്നിട്ടിങ്ങനെ പറഞ്ഞു: “എന്റെ കൂട്ടുകാരേ, ഇതുപോലൊരു ദിനത്തെ നേരിടാന്‍
നിങ്ങള്‍ ഒരുക്കങ്ങള്‍ നടത്തണേ.” (ഇബ്‌നുമാജ-സുനന്‍ 4195)

ജനങ്ങളില്‍
ഏറ്റവും ബുദ്ധിശക്തിയുള്ളവന്‍ ആരാണെന്ന ചോദ്യത്തിന്‌ തിരുനബി(സ)യുടെ
മറുമൊഴി ഇങ്ങനെയായിരുന്നു: “മരണത്തെ നിരന്തരം ഓര്‍ക്കുന്നവര്‍. അതിനായി
തയ്യാറെടുക്കുന്നവര്‍. ഇവിടെ മാന്യതയും പരലോകത്ത്‌ മഹത്വവും
നേടിയെടുക്കുന്നവരാണവര്‍.” (ബൈഹഖി-ശുഅബുല്‍ഈമാന്‍ 7993, 10550)

മരണത്തെ
ഓര്‍ത്ത്‌ തയ്യാറെടുക്കുന്നവര്‍ക്ക്‌ അല്ലാഹു ഹൃദയത്തെ ഉണര്‍ത്തുകയും
മരണസന്ദര്‍ഭം എളുപ്പമാക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുമെന്ന്‌ അവിടുന്ന്‌ പറഞ്ഞു. (ദൈലമി:
മുസ്‌നദുല്‍ ഫിര്‍ദൗസ്‌)

`ജീവിച്ച
വര്‍ഷങ്ങളല്ല, വര്‍ഷിച്ച ജീവിതമാണ്‌ പ്രധാനം’ എന്ന്‌ ഇംഗ്ലീഷിലൊരു
പഴമൊഴിയുണ്ട്‌. ആയുസ്സിന്റെ നീളത്തേക്കാള്‍ ആയുസിലെ കര്‍മങ്ങളിലായിരിക്കണം
നമ്മുടെ ശ്രദ്ധ. നമുക്ക്‌ ഒരു ഏകദേശ ധാരണപോലുമില്ലാത്ത നിമിഷത്തില്‍ ഈ
ജീവിതം അവസാനിക്കും.
ആരോടും
യാത്ര ചോദിക്കാതെ, ആരെയും കാത്തിരിക്കാതെ, എല്ലാവരെയും കരയിച്ച്‌,
പറയാനുള്ളതും ചെയ്യാന്‍ കരുതിയതുമെല്ലാം ബാക്കിവെച്ച്‌ സുനിശ്ചിതമായ ആ
വലിയ സത്യത്തിലേക്ക്‌ നമ്മള്‍ ഉള്‍ചേരുകതന്നെ ചെയ്യും. ഒട്ടം
പരിചിതമല്ലാത്ത മറ്റൊരു ലോകത്തെക്ക്‌ യാത്രയാകും. അതോടെ എല്ലാ രസച്ചരടുകളും
പൊട്ടിച്ചിതറും. ഒന്നിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞവര്‍ രണ്ടായി പിരിയും, വാക്കുകളില്‍
കണ്ണീരു കലരും. ഓര്‍മകളൊക്കെയും സങ്കടമാവും. നമ്മെ പുണര്‍ന്നിരിരുന്ന
കൈകള്‍ നമ്മുടെ നേരെ മണ്ണെറിയും; തീര്‍ന്നു!

ജനിക്കും
മുമ്പ്‌ നമ്മെക്കുറിച്ച ഓര്‍മ കൂടിക്കൂടിവരും. മരണത്തോടെ ആ ഓര്‍മ
കുറഞ്ഞുകുറഞ്ഞുവരും. മരിക്കും വരെ ജീവിക്കുകയും ജീവിക്കുമ്പോഴൊക്കെ
പ്രവര്‍ത്തിക്കുകയുമാണ്‌ നമ്മുടെ നിയോഗം.

ഓര്‍ക്കുക: ഞാന്‍ ചെയ്‌തതിന്റെ
ആകത്തുകയാണ്‌ ഞാന്‍. നിങ്ങളും അങ്ങനെത്തന്നെ.

–

October 10, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

ബുള്ളഷ് റാവുവിന്റെ അമ്മയോട് നാമെന്ത് പറയും?

കഴിഞ്ഞ ചൊവ്വാഴ്ച അത്ര
പ്രാധാന്യത്തോടെയല്ലെങ്കിലും മലയാള പത്രങ്ങളില്‍ വന്ന ഒരു
വാര്‍ത്തയിതായിരുന്നു. ആലപ്പുഴ ജില്ലയിലെ പട്ടണക്കാടിന് സമീപം ഉഴുവ തറമൂട്
റെയില്‍വേ ക്രോസിനടുത്ത ശ്രീകൃഷ്ണവിലാസം ഭജനമഠത്തിന്റെ നടപ്പന്തലിലെ
മണിക്കയറില്‍ അര്‍ധരാത്രി ഒരു മുപ്പതുകാരന്‍ പശ്ചിമ ബംഗാളിലെ ജയ്പാല്‍ഗുഡി
ജില്ലയില്‍ നിന്നുള്ള ബുള്ളഷ് റാവു തൂങ്ങി മരിച്ചു. ഇദ്ദേഹം ഈ സമയത്ത്
എങ്ങനെ ഇവിടെയെത്തി എന്നല്ലേ? വിശദീകരിക്കാം. ചെങ്ങന്നൂരില്‍
നിര്‍മാണത്തൊഴിലില്‍ ഏര്‍പ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്ന ബംഗാളി സംഘത്തില്‍ പെട്ടയാളാണ്
ബുള്ളഷ്. നാട്ടില്‍നിന്നെത്തിയ രണ്ട് തൊഴിലാളി സുഹൃത്തുക്കളോടൊപ്പം
തീവണ്ടിയില്‍ യാത്ര ചെയ്യുകയായിരുന്നു അദ്ദേഹം. ഉഴുവയില്‍ വെച്ച് ആള്‍
തീവണ്ടിയില്‍നിന്ന് പുറത്തേക്ക് തെറിച്ചുവീണ് തലക്ക് മുറിവുപറ്റി.
അര്‍ധരാത്രി, തനിച്ച്, രക്തമൊലിക്കുന്ന ശരീരവുമായി ആ യുവാവ് അടുത്തുള്ള
വീട്ടില്‍ സഹായത്തിന് കയറി. അവര്‍ സഹായിച്ചില്ലെന്ന് മാത്രമല്ല, ബുള്ളഷിനെ
പറഞ്ഞുവിട്ടു. ഭാഷയറിയാതെ, വഴി തിരിയാതെ ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരന്‍ വീണ്ടും നിരവധി
വീടുകളില്‍ കയറി ദയ യാചിച്ചു നോക്കി. ആരും അര ഗ്ലാസ് പച്ചവെള്ളം പോലും അവന്
നേരെ നീട്ടിയില്ല. അര്‍ധരാത്രി രക്തമൊലിപ്പിച്ചു നടക്കുന്ന ബുള്ളഷിന് നേരെ
ഒരു പട്ടി കുരച്ച് വന്നപ്പോള്‍ അയാള്‍ അടുത്തുള്ള ഭജനമഠത്തില്‍ കയറി.
അവിടെ തൂങ്ങിക്കിടക്കുന്ന മണിക്കയര്‍ അപ്പോഴാണയാള്‍ കാണുന്നത്. ഈ
മനുഷ്യര്‍ക്കും പട്ടികള്‍ക്കുമിടയില്‍ ജീവിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നതില്‍
അര്‍ഥമില്ലെന്ന് കണ്ട് ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരന്‍ ഭക്തിയുടെ കയറില്‍ തന്റെ ജീവന്‍
അവസാനിപ്പിച്ചു. രംഗം നടക്കുമ്പോള്‍ മഠത്തിന് ചുറ്റും കണ്ടുനില്‍ക്കാന്‍
ആളുകളുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ആരും ‘അരുത്, ഞങ്ങളുണ്ടിവിടെ’ എന്നു പറഞ്ഞതേയില്ല.

കായംകുളത്തുനിന്ന്
ഞായറാഴ്ച ഒരു റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ടുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ടിന്‍ഷീറ്റ് ഷെഡില്‍
താമസിക്കുന്ന ബംഗാളി തൊഴിലാളികള്‍ക്കുനേരെ പ്രദേശത്തെ ചില മാന്യന്മാര്‍
മൊബൈല്‍ ഫോണ്‍ മോഷണത്തിന്റെ പേരുപറഞ്ഞ്, നിര്‍മാണ സാമഗ്രികള്‍ ഉപയോഗിച്ച്
മൃഗീയമായ ആക്രമണം അഴിച്ചുവിട്ടു. 15നും 30 വയസ്സിനുമിടയിലുള്ള 36
തൊഴിലാളികള്‍ ഇതെഴുതുമ്പോഴും ദേഹം മുഴുക്കെ മുറിവേറ്റ് വിവിധ
ആശുപത്രികളില്‍ ചികിത്സയിലാണ്. മൊബൈല്‍ ഫോണല്ല, കരാറുകാര്‍ക്കിടയിലെ
കുടിപ്പകയാണ് പാവപ്പെട്ട തൊഴിലാളികള്‍ ആക്രമിക്കപ്പെട്ടതിന്റെ യഥാര്‍ഥ
കാരണം. സ്ഥലത്തെ പ്രധാന മാന്യന്മാരാണ് ആക്രമണത്തിന് പിന്നിലെന്നത്
കൊണ്ടുതന്നെ പൊലീസ് കാര്യമായ നടപടികള്‍ ഒന്നും ഇതുവരെയും എടുത്തിട്ടില്ല.

‘അന്യസംസ്ഥാന
തൊഴിലാളികള്‍’ എന്നത് നമ്മുടെ ഭാഷയില്‍ അടുത്തിടെ വന്നുചേര്‍ന്ന ഒരു
പ്രയോഗമാണ്. നമ്മുടെ ചെറുപ്പക്കാര്‍ നല്ലൊരു ശതമാനം വിദേശത്തുപോവുകയും
ഇവിടെയുള്ളവര്‍ ശാരീരികാധ്വാനമുള്ള തൊഴില്‍ ചെയ്യുന്നത് മടിക്കുകയും
ചെയ്തപ്പോഴാണ് അന്യസംസ്ഥാന തൊഴിലാളികള്‍ നമ്മുടെ തൊഴില്‍ കമ്പോളത്തിലെ വലിയ
സാന്നിധ്യമായത്. നമ്മുടെ നിര്‍മാണമേഖല ഇന്ന് മുന്നോട്ടുപോകുന്നത്
പ്രധാനമായും ഇവരുടെ അധ്വാനശേഷിയുടെ ബലത്തിലാണ്. സാമാന്യം തരക്കേടില്ലാത്ത
കൂലികിട്ടുന്നതുകൊണ്ട് അവരും സന്തോഷത്തോടെ തൊഴില്‍ ചെയ്യുന്നു. അങ്ങനെ,
ഒഡിഷയിലെയും ബംഗാളിലെയും ബിഹാറിലെയും വിദൂര ഗ്രാമങ്ങളിലെ
പട്ടിണിപ്പാവങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് കേരളം എന്നത് അവര്‍ കണ്ടെത്തിയ ‘ഗള്‍ഫ്’ ആയി മാറി.
ഒരു കാര്യമുറപ്പ്, നാളെ അവരെല്ലാം തിരിച്ച് വണ്ടി കയറിയാല്‍ കേരളത്തിന്റെ
ഉല്‍പാദന, നിര്‍മാണമേഖല സ്തംഭിക്കും.

പക്ഷേ, ആ മനുഷ്യരെ
മനുഷ്യരായി കാണാനുള്ള മാന്യത പുരോഗമന കേരളം കാണിക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ? അര്‍ധ
മനുഷ്യരോ താഴ്ന്ന മനുഷ്യരോ ആയല്ലേ നാം പലപ്പോഴും അവരെ പരിഗണിക്കുന്നത്?
ആസ്‌ട്രേലിയയിലെ ഇന്ത്യന്‍ വിദ്യാര്‍ഥികള്‍ക്കുനേരെയുള്ള വംശീയ
വിവേചനത്തിനെതിരെ സായാഹ്ന ധര്‍ണ നടത്തുമ്പോഴും നമ്മുടെ ഉമ്മറത്തെ
ബംഗാളിയോട് മാന്യമായി പെരുമാറാന്‍ മലയാളിക്ക് കഴിഞ്ഞില്ല. ഗര്‍വിന്റെയും
അഹങ്കാരത്തിന്റെയും വ്യാകരണവും ശരീരഭാഷയുമാണ് നാം അവരോട് കാണിച്ചത്.
ഗള്‍ഫിലും മറ്റും ഇതേപോലെ ‘അന്യരാജ്യ’ തൊഴിലാളികളായി ജീവിക്കുന്ന മലയാളി
ചെറുപ്പക്കാര്‍ അയക്കുന്ന കറന്‍സിയുടെ ബലത്തിലാണ് നമ്മളീ അഹന്തകളൊക്കെയും
കാണിക്കുന്നതെന്ന് നാം മറന്നുപോയി.

അന്യസംസ്ഥാന
തൊഴിലാളികളോടുള്ള അയിത്ത മനോഭാവം മാത്രമല്ല, മറ്റൊരാളുടെയും പ്രശ്‌നത്തില്‍
ഇടപെടാനുള്ള മലയാളിയുടെ സന്നദ്ധതയില്ലായ്മ കൂടിയാണ് ബുള്ളഷിന്റെ മരണം
വെളിവാക്കുന്നത്. വാഹനാപകടത്തില്‍ പെട്ട് നടുറോഡില്‍ രക്തമൊലിപ്പിച്ച്
പിടയുന്നവനെ കൈപിടിച്ചുയര്‍ത്തുന്നതിനുപകരം, ആ രംഗം മൊബൈല്‍ കാമറയില്‍
ഒപ്പിയെടുക്കാന്‍ വെമ്പുന്ന മനസ്സ് മലയാളിയില്‍ വികൃതമായി
വളര്‍ന്നുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ്. ഞാന്‍, എന്റെ കാര്യം എന്ന കുടുസ്സു ചിന്തയില്‍
എന്തേ നമ്മള്‍ മലയാളികള്‍ ഇന്ത്യയിലെ ഏറ്റവും വിദ്യാസമ്പന്നരായ പുരോഗമന
സമൂഹം പെട്ടുപോയി? ഒരിറക്ക് വെള്ളംപോലും കിട്ടാതെ വേദനകൊണ്ട് പുളഞ്ഞ്,
മനോവേദനകൊണ്ട് തകര്‍ന്ന് ജീവിതമവസാനിപ്പിച്ച ബുള്ളഷിന്റെ ആത്മാവ്
നമ്മളെക്കുറിച്ച് ഇപ്പോള്‍ എന്തു വിചാരിക്കുന്നുണ്ടാവും? കുടിലിലെ
പട്ടിണിമാറ്റാന്‍ ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരനെ കണെ്ണത്താ വിദൂരതയിലേക്ക് പറഞ്ഞുവിട്ട
ബുള്ളഷിന്റെ അമ്മ നാളെ ഇങ്ങോട്ടുവന്ന് എന്റെ മകനോട് നിങ്ങളെന്തേ ഇങ്ങനെ
ചെയ്തുവെന്ന് ചോദിച്ചാല്‍, സത്യം, നമ്മളെന്താണ് മറുപടി പറയുക?
വിദൂരദേശങ്ങളില്‍ തീര്‍ത്തും അന്യമായ സാഹചര്യങ്ങളില്‍ നമുക്ക്
കഞ്ഞിയെത്തിക്കാന്‍ വേണ്ടി ചോരനീരാക്കി പണിയെടുക്കുന്ന നമ്മുടെ
മക്കളോട്/അനുജന്മാരോട് അന്നാട്ടുകാര്‍ ഈ വിധം പെരുമാറിയാല്‍ അവര്‍ക്കുനേരെ
വിരല്‍ചൂണ്ടാന്‍ നമുക്കെങ്ങനെ കഴിയും?

ബുള്ളഷിന്റെ മരണം ഒരു
ചൂണ്ടാണി മാത്രമാണ്. നാം, മലയാളികള്‍ എവിടെ എത്തിനില്‍ക്കുന്നുവെന്നതിന്റെ
ഓര്‍മപ്പെടുത്തല്‍. ഈ അപരാധത്തിന് നാം കൂട്ടമായി മാപ്പുചോദിക്കുക.
മുഖ്യമന്ത്രിതന്നെ മുഴുവന്‍ മലയാളികള്‍ക്കും വേണ്ടി ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരന്റെ
കുടുംബത്തോട് ഖേദപ്രകടനം നടത്തുക. എങ്കില്‍ അതൊരു അനുഭവമായിരിക്കും.
ജനങ്ങള്‍ക്കിടയില്‍ പുതിയൊരു അവബോധം സൃഷ്ടിക്കാന്‍ അതുപകരിക്കും.
പൊങ്ങച്ചബോധം കുടഞ്ഞു തെറിപ്പിക്കാന്‍, സ്വന്തത്തെയും കടന്ന് അപരനിലേക്ക്
നീളാനുള്ള ചിന്ത അവനില്‍ കരുപ്പിടിപ്പിക്കാന്‍ അതുപകരിച്ചേക്കും.

ബുള്ളഷ്, നീ ഞങ്ങളോട് പൊറുക്കുക.

–

October 3, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

Civil Disobedience: Muslim women flout French ban of veil

Kenza Drider, wearing an Islamic face veil announces in front of Meaux court house, east of Paris that she will be candidate for the 2012 French presidential elections Thursday Sept. 22, 2011. Drider declared her longshot candidacy Thursday, the same day that a French court fined two women who refuse to remove their veils. All three are among a group of women mounting an attack on the law that has banned the garments from the streets of France since April, and prompted similar moves in other European countries. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

PARIS—Kenza Drider’s posters for the French presidential race are ready to go, months before the official campaign begins. There she is, the “freedom candidate,” pictured standing in front of a line of police — a forbidden veil hiding her face.

Drider declared her longshot candidacy Thursday, the same day that a French court fined two women who refuse to remove their veils. All three are among a group of women mounting an attack on the law that has banned the garments from the streets of France since April, and prompted similar moves in other European countries.

They are bent on proving that the ban contravenes fundamental rights and that women who hide their faces stand for freedom, not submission.

“When a woman wants to maintain her freedom, she must be bold,” Drider told The Associated Press in an interview.

President Nicolas Sarkozy strongly disagrees, and says the veil imprisons women. Polls show that most French people support the ban, which authorities estimate affects fewer than 2,000 women who wore the veil before the ban.

Drider declared her candidacy Thursday in Meaux, the city east of Paris run by top conservative lawmaker and Sarkozy ally Jean-Francois Cope, who championed the ban.

“I have the ambition today to serve all women who are the object of stigmatization or social, economic or political discrimination,” she said. “It is important that we show that we are here, we are French citizens and that we, as well, can bring solutions to French citizens.”

Two other women arrested wearing veils in Meaux — while trying to deliver a birthday cake to Cope — were fined in court Thursday, one euro120, the other euro80.

They want to push their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

“We cannot accept that women be punished because they are openly practicing their religious convictions. We are demanding the application of European rights,” said one of those convicted, Hind Ahmas.

With Islam the second religion in France and numbers of faithful growing, there are worries that veiled Muslim women could compromise the nation’s secular foundations and undermine gender equality and women’s dignity. There are also concerns that practices like wearing full veils could open the door to a radical form of Islam. Lawmakers banned Muslim headscarves in classrooms in 2004.

Few Muslim women in France cover their faces. Most who veil themselves wear the “niqab,” a filmy cloth attached to the headscarf that covers all but the eyes. The law also affects the burqa, with just a mesh covering over the eyes, worn largely in Afghanistan.

Belgium passed a similar face veil ban that took effect in July, and the Netherlands announced Friday it has drawn up legislation to outlaw Muslim face veils. A draft law has been approved in Italy.

In France, the veil ban was also seen as a political maneuver by the unpopular Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party, which Cope chairs, to entice deeply conservative and far-right voters.

Flouting the French measure outlawing face veils in all public places can lead to a fine of euro150 and, in some cases, citizenship classes. However, thus far there have been few legal consequences.

According to the Interior Ministry, 146 women have been given citations by police but only a handful have reportedly been forced to take the next step — appear before a judge for a possible fine. The Justice Ministry says figures are not yet available.

“I tried to understand this law and what I understood is that this is a law which puts us under house arrest,” Drider said, referring to women who choose to stay home rather than remove their face veils, or risk arrest.

What the law has done, she says, is give citizens the right to insult veiled women.

Drider and others say that many women who refuse to remove their veils become shut-ins rather than go outside and risk a citation, or insults. One woman in a long black robe was seen recently in a chic Paris neighborhood wearing a surgical mask on her face — one of several tricks developed to get around the ban.

Drider, 32, who has worn a face veil for 13 years, hasn’t shirked from denouncing the ban in the past. She was the only veiled woman to testify before an information commission of lawmakers studying a potential ban before the law was passed.

With four children, Drider says she goes about the southern city of Avignon, where she lives, facing down insults but left alone by police.

Ahmas, 32, from Aulnay-Sous-Bois, a northeast Paris suburb, looked for trouble when she tried to deliver an almond cake to Cope, the mayor of Meaux, with another veiled woman. The gesture was not without a touch of humor: in French, “almond” sounds like “fine.”

The women, while intent on showing the power behind the veil, have a male backer. Rachid Nekkaz, a wealthy businessman revolted by the street ban, has promised to pay fines for women sanctioned for breaking the law. With his association, Don’t Touch My Constitution, he heads Drider’s support committee for the presidency.

For Nekkaz, the Meaux case will be the first in France in which a conviction for veiled women could stick. He wants to see an appeal eventually go to the highest French court, then on to the European Court of Human Rights and calculates that this could happen in 2014.

Drider has obstacles to overcome, too, like getting 500 mayors to back her candidacy, a requirement for anyone running for the presidential elections in April and May. With more than 36,000 mayors in France, she thinks this is doable — despite her status as a lawbreaker.

Both women insist that neither Drider’s candidacy for the presidential race nor the Meaux court case are a provocation because their aim is to set aright a measure they say has skewed French values and compromised women’s rights.

“My candidacy is to say the real problem in France is not us … The real problem in France is really women’s freedom … whatever their religion,” she said. “So let’s not focus on what I wear. Let’s deal with the real problems. My candidacy is really for that, to say don’t stop at what I wear but go much deeper.”

September 22, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

Islamic cultural center open in N.Y.

Sep 22, 2011 |

An NYPD officer keeps watch during the Wednesday grand opening of the Park51 Islamic cultural center in New York City. It’s near Ground Zero, and the project has drawn criticism from opponents who say they don’t want a Muslim prayer space near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

NEW YORK — The developer of an Islamic cultural center that

opened Wednesday evening near the site of the terrorist attacks that
leveled the World Trade Center says the biggest error on the project was
not involving the families of 9/11 victims from the start.

People crowded into the center, where a small orchestra played traditional
Middle Eastern instruments and a photo exhibit of New York children of
different ethnicities lined the walls. The enthusiasm at the opening
belied its troubled beginnings.

“We made incredible mistakes,” Sharif El-Gamal told the Associated Press in an earlier interview.

The building at 51 Park Place, two blocks from Ground Zero, includes a
mosque that has been open for two years. El-Gamal said the cultural
center is modeled after the Jewish Community Center on Manhattan’s Upper
West Side, where he lives.

“I wanted my daughter to learn how to
swim, so I took her to the JCC,” said the Brooklyn-born Muslim. “And
when I walked in, I said, ‘Wow. This is great.’ “

The project has drawn criticism from opponents who say they don’t want a Muslim prayer
space near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The center is open to all faiths and will include a 9/11 memorial, El-Gamal said.
He called opposition to the center — which prompted one of the most
virulent national discussions about Islam and freedom of speech and
religion since Sept. 11 — part of a “campaign against Muslims.”

Last year, street clashes in view of the trade center site pitted supporters against opponents of the center.

When the center was first envisioned, several years ago, activist Daisy Khan
and her husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, played a major, vocal role.
But they soon left the project because of differences with the
developer. El-Gamal, 38, confirmed Wednesday that they parted ways because “we had a different vision.”

The couple said they had discussed plans for Park51, as the center is
known, with relatives of 9/11 victims, first responders and others. But
El-Gamal said he wishes victims’ families had been involved earlier —
before the center became a point of contention. “The biggest mistake we
made was not to include 9/11 families,” El-Gamal said, noting that the
center’s advisory board now includes at least one 9/11 family member.

El-Gamal also noted that the featured photographer in the “NYChildren” exhibit is Danny Goldfield, who is Jewish.

Goldfield said he didn’t want to pass judgment on the center’s opponents. But he
said he’d like them to see the show “more than anyone.”

El-Gamal said that fund-raising is under way to complete the 15-story building
that also is to include an auditorium, educational programs, a pool, a
restaurant and culinary school, child care services, a sports facility, a
wellness center and artist studios.

The mosque is needed in lower Manhattan, he said, because thousands of Muslims either work or live in the area.

September 22, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

Athletic, Muslim, Fashionable

Athletic, Muslim, Fashionable – a Tale of the Sports Hijab

Tala Hadavi | Montreal

Olympic hopeful, 17-year-old Zeinab Hammoud

Female Muslim athletes who observe a strict Islamic dress code sometimes face the question of whether they will be allowed to participate in major competitions — with their heads and most of their bodies covered. Now, one Iranian-Canadian woman is marketing a product to change that. It complies with the requirements of many major sports, and it’s fashionable, safe and comfortable — while still meeting Islamic requirements.

An Olympic hopeful faces a small obstacle

Seventeen-year-old Zeinab Hammoud has a brown belt in Taekwondo, and dreams of one day making it to the Olympics. But unlike her sister, Rana, Zeinab chooses to wear the Islamic headscarf, or hijab.

This became a problem four years ago. The team’s hard work, passion and hopes were dashed when the Taekwondo Federation of Quebec expelled them from a tournament in 2007. The reason: their hijabs were considered unsafe. “I was really disappointed because I trained really hard for that tournament. When I found out we were expelled I lost all my motivation to continue,” Hammoud said.

Civil rights supporters and sports enthusiasts around the world were enraged. Elham Seyed Javad was one of them. “In my opinion every individual, no matter their religion, should have the same rights as anyone else in society,” he stated. “I mean, sports was made to re-unite people.”

http://serve.a-widget.com/service/getWidgetSwf.kickAction

Athletic fashion

Javad was an industrial design student at the time, so she decided to take on the problem as one of her school projects. “At the time, in 2008, when I decided to take on this project, the international federation of Taekwondo didn’t allow its athletes to wear anything under the helmet. So my professor didn’t think there was a point of pursuing it. But my point was, the rule is there because nothing has been invented that is appropriate,” she explained.

Javad spent countless hours with the Hammoud sisters’ taekwondo team and with pattern maker Latifa Boukenda, to make the best product possible. “This was a very exciting project for me. I’ve worked in fashion for many years but this was special because it was beyond fashion,” she said. “It had a more human and social aspect to it. helping young women blossom and follow their athletic dreams.”

Ultimately, they hit upon a design that worked, and a fabric that was stretchy, breathable, and dried quickly. Called a “ResportOn,” the garment was an immediate hit.

Even Zeinab’s sister Rana, who chooses not to wear the hijab, was impressed. “I just tried the Resport hijab and the hair was inside so it doesn’t come out and it’s very comfortable so you can play without trying to put your hair inside all the time,” she noted.

Rules reconsidered, changed

Javad’s invention came at an opportune time. A year later, in response to pressure from the taekwondo community, the World Taekwondo Federation changed its rules to allow for head-coverings.

The Montreal Muslim Taekwondo team was able to compete again.

“I was in the stands and got teary-eyed because since the very beginning my goal was to be able to see the girls on the mats again. When it happened it was like someone gave me the world,” Javad stated.

Javad thought she was just helping Zeinab and her teammates. But when an investor approached her about marketing the product, things changed dramatically. In January, her sports hijab became available to athletes all over the world. She has been busy ever since. “My days start at 2am when my phone goes off with an email from an athlete from the other side of the world. I turn it on and read the email, get happy and go back to sleep,” she said.

While there are other sports hijabs on the market, Javad believes hers has some advantages. Those include a built-in t-shirt that keeps it from pulling loose, and an opening at the back that allows easy access for wearers to adjust their hair.

August 28, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍

റമദാന്‍ മാസത്തില്‍ പ്രത്യേകമായി ശ്രദ്ധപതിപ്പിക്കേണ്ട ഒരു സകാത്ത്‌ ഇസ്‌ലാം നിശ്ചയിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്‌. അതാണ്‌ വ്രതസമാപന സകാത്ത്‌ അഥവാ സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍.
“മുസ്‌ലിംകളിലെ അടിമകള്‍, സ്വതന്ത്രര്‍, പുരുഷന്മാര്‍, സ്‌ത്രീകള്‍, ചെറിയവര്‍, വലിയവര്‍ (എന്നീ വേര്‍തിരിവുകളില്ലാതെ) എല്ലാവരുടെ പേരിലും ഓരോ സ്വാഅ്‌ കാരക്കയോ ബാര്‍ലിയോ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ സകാത്ത്‌ നല്‍കല്‍ ബാധ്യതയായി അല്ലാഹുവിന്റെ ദൂതര്‍(സ) നിര്‍ബന്ധമായി നിശ്ചയിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. പെരുന്നാള്‍ നമസ്‌കാരത്തിന്‌ ആളുകള്‍ പുറപ്പെടുന്നതിനു മുമ്പായി അത്‌ നല്‍കണമെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം കല്‌പിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.” (ബുഖാരി, മുസ്‌ലിം)
റമദാന്‍ അവസാനിക്കുന്നതോടെയാണ്‌ ഈ സകാത്ത്‌ നിര്‍ബന്ധമായിത്തീരുന്നത്‌. ഈദുല്‍ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ (ശവ്വാല്‍ ഒന്ന്‌) നമസ്‌കാരത്തിന്‌ പുറപ്പെടുന്നതോടെ അതിന്റെ സമയം അവസാനിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. ഹ്രസ്വമായ സമയപരിധിക്കുള്ളില്‍ അത്‌ പൂര്‍ണമായി നിര്‍വഹിക്കപ്പെടാന്‍ പ്രയാസമാണെങ്കില്‍ വ്രതസമാപനത്തിന്‌ രണ്ടോ മൂന്നോ ദിവസം മുമ്പായി അത്‌ കൊടുക്കുകയും ചെയ്യാം. ഇബ്‌നു ഉമര്‍(റ) പറയുന്നു: “അവര്‍ (സ്വഹാബികള്‍) ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ സകാത്ത്‌ പെരുന്നാളിന്റെ ഒന്നോ രണ്ടോ ദിവസം മുമ്പ്‌ നല്‍കാറുണ്ടായിരുന്നു.” (ബുഖാരി)
സമ്പത്ത്‌ എന്ന അല്ലാഹുവിന്റെ അനുഗ്രഹം ലഭിച്ചവര്‍ക്ക്‌ മാത്രം നിര്‍ബന്ധമാണ്‌ സാധാരണ സകാത്ത്‌. അതിന്‌ നിശ്ചിത പരിധിയും കൃത്യമായ തോതും കണക്കുമെല്ലാം നിശ്ചയിക്കപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. എന്നാല്‍ സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ സമ്പത്തിന്റെ മാനദണ്ഡമനുസരിച്ചല്ല നല്‍കേണ്ടത്‌. കണക്കനുസരിച്ച്‌ തന്റെ സമ്പത്തിന്റെ സകാത്ത്‌ കൊടുത്തുതീര്‍ത്തവരും കണക്കനുസരിച്ച്‌ സകാത്ത്‌ കൊടുക്കാന്‍ മാത്രം സമ്പത്തില്ലാത്തവരും സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ കൊടുക്കേണ്ടതുണ്ട്‌. നിത്യവൃത്തിക്ക്‌ വകയില്ലാത്തവര്‍ മാത്രമേ ഇതിന്റെ നിര്‍ബന്ധ കല്‌പനയില്‍ നിന്ന്‌ ഒഴിവാക്കപ്പെടുകയുള്ളൂ.
മനുഷ്യസഹജമായ താല്‌പര്യം അംഗീകരിച്ചുകൊണ്ട്‌ അല്ലാഹു നിശ്ചയിച്ച ആഘോഷം എന്ന നിലയില്‍ പെരുന്നാളിന്റെ ആഹ്ലാദം പങ്കിടുവാന്‍ നിത്യവൃത്തിക്ക്‌ കഷ്‌ടപ്പെടുന്നവര്‍ക്കുപോലും സാധിക്കണമെന്നതാണ്‌ സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ കൊണ്ട്‌ ലക്ഷ്യമാക്കുന്നത്‌. ജീവിതത്തില്‍ സൂക്ഷ്‌മത കൈവരിക്കാനും വന്നുപോയ പാളിച്ചകള്‍ക്ക്‌ പരിഹാരവും പ്രായശ്ചിത്തവുമായിക്കൊണ്ടുമാണ്‌ സത്യവിശ്വാസി വ്രതമനുഷ്‌ഠിക്കുന്നത്‌. നോമ്പുകാരന്‌ വീണ്ടും വിമലീകരണത്തിനുള്ള അവസരം കൂടിയാണ്‌ സകാതുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍. “അനാവശ്യമായ വാക്കും പ്രവൃത്തിയും മൂലം നോമ്പുകാരന്‌ വന്നുപോയ പിഴവുകളില്‍ നിന്ന്‌ അവനെ ശുദ്ധീകരിക്കാനും പാവങ്ങള്‍ക്ക്‌ ആഹാരത്തിനുമായി റസൂല്‍(സ) സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ നിര്‍ബന്ധമാക്കിയിരിക്കുന്നു.” (അബൂദാവൂദ്‌, ഇബ്‌നുമാജ)
കാരക്കയും ബാര്‍ലിയും മാത്രമല്ല നാട്ടിലെ പ്രധാന ആഹാര സാധനങ്ങളാണ്‌ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ സകാത്തായി നല്‍കേണ്ടത്‌ എന്നാണ്‌ സ്വഹാബിമാരുടെ പ്രവര്‍ത്തനങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്ന്‌ മനസ്സിലാകുന്നത്‌. അബൂസഈദില്‍ ഖുദ്‌രി(റ) പറയുന്നു: “ഒരു സ്വാഅ്‌ ഗോതമ്പ്‌, അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ ഒരു സ്വാഅ്‌ ബാര്‍ലി, അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ ഒരു സ്വാഅ്‌ പാല്‍ക്കട്ടി, അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ ഒരു സ്വാഅ്‌ മുന്തിരി എന്നിങ്ങനെയായിരുന്നു ഞങ്ങള്‍ സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ കൊടുത്തുവന്നിരുന്നത്‌.” (ബുഖാരി)
സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ അരി കൊടുക്കണമെന്ന്‌ വിശുദ്ധ ഖുര്‍ആനിലോ ഹദീസിലോ പറഞ്ഞിട്ടില്ലെങ്കിലും നമ്മുടെ നാട്ടില്‍ അരിയാണ്‌ സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ നല്‍കേണ്ടതെന്ന കാര്യത്തില്‍ മുസ്‌ലിം സമൂഹത്തില്‍ രണ്ടഭിപ്രായമില്ല. അത്‌ മേല്‍പറഞ്ഞ ഹദീസുകളുടെ അടിസ്ഥാനത്തിലാണ്‌.

എങ്കിലും സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍ സമൂഹത്തിനുപകരിക്കുംവിധം സംഘടിതമായി നിര്‍വഹിക്കാന്‍ എല്ലാ മുസ്‌ലിംകളും ഇനിയും തയ്യാറായിട്ടില്ലെന്നത്‌ ഖേദകരമാണ്‌.
സകാത്ത്‌ കൊടുക്കുന്ന വ്യക്തി തനിക്കും തന്റെ കീഴിലുള്ള കുടുംബത്തിനും വേണ്ടി അത്‌ നിര്‍വഹിക്കണം. ശവ്വാല്‍ ഒന്നിന്‌ കാലത്ത്‌ പിറന്ന കുഞ്ഞുള്‍പ്പെടെ ഒരാള്‍ക്ക്‌ ഒരു സ്വാഅ്‌ എന്ന തോതില്‍ ധാന്യം അയാള്‍ സകാത്ത്‌ സമിതിയെ ഏല്‌പിക്കണം. സ്വാഅ്‌ എന്നത്‌ നബി(സ)യുടെ കാലത്തെ അളവാണ്‌. മെട്രിക്‌ തൂക്കമനുസരിച്ച്‌ രണ്ടുകിലോഗ്രാമും ഏതാനും ഗ്രാമും ആണത്‌. ആയതിനാല്‍ ആളൊന്നിന്‌ രണ്ട്‌ കിലോഗ്രാം വീതം അരിയാണ്‌ നല്‍കേണ്ടത്‌. ശേഖരിച്ച സകാത്ത്‌ റമദാനിന്റെ അവസാനത്തെ ദിവസങ്ങളില്‍ തന്നെ അര്‍ഹതപ്പെട്ടവര്‍ക്ക്‌ എത്തിച്ചുകൊടുക്കുക എന്നത്‌ സകാത്ത്‌ സമിതിയുടെ ബധ്യതയാണ്‌. ഒരുതരത്തില്‍ സമുദായത്തിന്റെ നിര്‍ബന്ധിതമായ ഒരു റിലീഫ്‌ കൂടിയാണ്‌ സകാത്തുല്‍ ഫിത്വ്‌ര്‍.

August 24, 2011 | Categories: Islam | Leave A Comment »

Say No to Jan Lok Pal

Jan Lok Pal is no solution
June 22, 2011 12:00:00 AM

Tackling
corruption requires economic reforms and a popular re-engagement with
electoral politics. We should shun the politics of hunger strikes.

The
idea of a ‘Jan Lok Pal’ is flawed and profoundly misunderstands the
causes and solutions of corruption in India. It seeks to create another
chunk of Government, more processes and rules, to solve a problem that,
in part, exists because of too many chunks of Government, too many
processes and rules.

If the ‘Jan Lok Pal’ presides over the same
system that has corrupted civil servants, politicians, anti-corruption
watchdogs, judges, media, civil society groups and ordinary citizens,
why should we expect that the ombudsman will be incorruptible? Because
the person is handpicked by unelected, unaccountable ‘civil society’
members? Those who propose that Nobel Laureates (of Indian origin, not
even of Indian citizenship) and Ramon Magsaysay Award winners should be
among those who pick the Great Ombudsman of India — who is both
policeman and judge — insult the hundreds of millions of ordinary Indian
voters who regularly exercise their right to franchise. For they are
demanding that the Scandinavian grandees in the Nobel Committee and the
Filipino members of the Magsaysay foundation should have an indirect
role in selecting an all-powerful Indian official.

The argument
that people should be involved in drafting legislation is fine, even if
it misses the point that the Government is not a foreign entity but a
representative of the people. It is entirely another thing to demand
that the legislation drafted by an self-appointed, unaccountable and
unrepresentative set of people be passed at the threat of blackmail. If
we must have representatives of the people involved in law-making, we
are better off if they are the elected ones, however flawed, as opposed
to self-appointed ones, whatever prizes the latter might have won.

The
‘Jan Lok Pal’ will become another logjammed, politicised and ultimately
corrupt institution, for the passionate masses who demand new
institutions have a poor record of protecting the existing institutions.
Where were the holders of candles, wearers of Gandhi topis and
hunger-strikers when the offices of the Chief Election Commissioner, the
Central Vigilance Commissioner and even the President of the Republic
were handed out to persons with dubious credentials? If you didn’t come
out to protest the perversion of these institutions, why are you somehow
more likely to turn up to protest when a dubious person is sought to be
made the ‘Jan Lok Pal’?

But this is us. Given this reality, the
solution for corruption and malgovernance should be one that does not
rely on the notoriously apathetic middle classes to come out on the
streets. The solution is to take away the powers of discretion, the
powers of rent-seeking from the Government and restore it back to the
people. This is the idea of economic freedom. Societies with greater
economic freedom have lower corruption. I have long argued that we are
in this mess because we have been denied Reforms 2.0.

How can we
have Reforms 2.0 if “those politicians” are unwilling to implement them?
The answer is simple: By voting. Economic reforms are not on anyone’s
political agenda because those who are most likely to benefit from them
do not vote, and do not vote strategically. At this point, it is usual
to hear loud protests about how voting does not work, most often by
those who do not vote. This flies in the face of empirical evidence —
when hundreds of millions of people turn up to vote. If it were not
working for them, why would they be voting? They might not be demanding
Reforms 2.0, but something else, and are getting what they want. Instead
of ephemeral displays of outrage — what happened to those post-26/11
candle-light vigils?— it is engagement in the electoral process that is
necessary. There are some innovative ideas — like that of voters
associations — that can be attempted.

There are no better words than those of BR Ambedkar on the place of satyagraha
in India after the Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950:
“…we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we
must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha.
When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving
economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification
for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open,
there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These
methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are
abandoned, the better for us.” Ambedkar was speaking in the Constituent
Assembly.

In my view civil disobedience in general and hunger
strikes in particular must be used in the most exceptional circumstances
where constitutional methods are unavailable or denied, and only till
the time constitutional methods remain unavailable or denied.

Some
contend that the system isn’t working, or has been so perverted by the
incumbent Government that it is necessary to resort to public agitation.
This is a dubious argument. Constitutional democracy is an enlightened
way to make policy by reconciling — to the extent possible — the diverse
interests, opinions and levels of political empowerments of a diverse
population. Any other way amounts to coercion in one form or the other.

If
we are to allow that hunger strikes and street protests do better than
constitutional methods, then how would you decide issues where there are
sharp differences? If two Gandhians go on hunger strike asking for
polar opposites, do we settle the issue by seeing who gives up first?
What if competing groups escalate the agitation to violence against each
other? Should we condone civil war?

The working of those
constitutional mechanisms can and must be improved. By us. The
anti-defection law must go. India does not have a comprehensive law
governing political parties. It needs one. Police reforms have been
stalled for decades. There is a substantial reform agenda that must be
pursued. By us.

However, the inability to implement these
reforms is no excuse for resorting to civil disobedience or, as it
happens in other countries, calling in a dictatorship of the
proletariat, the military or the priesthood.

The ‘Jan Lok Pal
Bill’ is not a solution to the problem of corruption. It risks making
matters worse. Hunger strikes are not the right means to promote a
policy agenda in a constitutional democracy like ours. The promoters and
supporters of ‘Jan Lok Pal’ and the public agitation to achieve it are
profoundly misguided. Their popularity stems from having struck a vein
of middle class outrage against the UPA Government’s misdeeds. That does
not mean that the solutions they offer are right.

I oppose ‘Jan Lok Pal’ and the politics of hunger-strikes as much as I oppose corruption and misgovernance.

Jan Lok Pal: unconstitutional, unnecessary

The battle against corruption must be fought by strengthening existing instruments

The debate on how to eradicate corruption, kick-started by Anna
Hazare’s indefinite fast, has now moved into its second phase. This
involves the drafting of a bill that will provide a foolproof mechanism
to bring the corrupt to book. Here is an examination of the structural
flaws inherent in the Jan Lok Pal Bill

The bill, also known as The Anti Corruption, Grievance Redressal and
Whistleblower Protection Act, 2010 (which will be referred to as the Jan
Lok Pal Bill) is about the most overwhelming piece of legislation since
Independence.

Why the big fuss, you may ask. Don’t we have any laws against
corruption in India? Well, of course, we do. Taking of illegal
gratification by public servants was made a criminal offence way back in
1860 by the repository of all that’s evil—the Indian Penal Code, in
Sections 161-165A.

The Prevention of Corruption Act was first enacted in 1947. In fact,
when the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (the parent
statute of the Central Bureau of Investigation) was enacted, it was
primarily to investigate allegations of corruption against central
government employees.

A “new and improved” Prevention of Corruption Act (PoCA) was enacted
in 1987, complete with special courts and tougher punishments, and with
it, the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code stood repealed.

Photo: V Singh

The new Prevention of Corruption Act is not without controversy, and
the Supreme Court usually has to consider who a “public servant” is
every other month. However, the main issue with the PoCA is that while
it targets employees of nationalised banks, lower level policemen and
similar other members of the government food chain, the higher-ups just
never manage to face the heat, and even if they do, it takes years for
cases to see the light of day.

And all we really want is to see the corrupt thieves in jail, or at
least, not in any position of power. Why is it so difficult to just
throw out corrupt unmentionables? For that, we need to go back to the
hallowed Constitution of India. Article 311 is the party pooper, which
requires that a civil servant can only be dismissed by an authority
equal or superior to that which appointed it. That at least is at the
stage of dismissal. Even for prosecution, the PoCA requires previous
sanction, according to Section 19.

Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, follows suit for
offences committed “in the discharge of official duty”. Obviously, the
public perception is that government officials will always refuse to
accord sanction to protect their minions, perhaps rightly so.

Keeping this in mind, the government proposed the Lok Pal Bill, 2010,
as a mechanism for inquiry into allegations of corruption against
public functionaries. As a response, several public-spirited citizens
countered with their own draft Jan Lok Pal Bill. The latter is so much
broader in scope compared to the government’s draft that it is not even
fair to compare the two. The activist’s Jan Lokpal Bill, version 2.1
doesn’t just stop at inquiry. It goes the whole hog.

It says that the Lok Pal shall consist of one chairperson along with
10 members. These persons should not, at the time of appointment, be
holding any “office of profit” or be a member of parliament or the
legislature of any state. It also bars persons who have even been
charged (not convicted!) under the IPC or PoCA or penalised under the
Central Civil Services Conduct rules.

Out of these 10 members, four must have some “legal background”,
bringing in former judges and lawyers. A maximum of two of these members
can come from a civil services background. Looks like a healthy mix. So
far, so good.

Then there is this requirement: “The members and Chairperson should
have unimpeachable integrity and should have demonstrated their resolve
to fight corruption in the past.”

This is jarring for two reasons: one, it looks like the bill is
leaving a lot of scope for canvassing for these posts, and two, isn’t
impartiality a much more important consideration? The objective of the
Lok Pal ought to be to conduct an honest and fair inquiry. Anyone who
has demonstrated their resolve to fight corruption in the past might end
up being a trigger-happy vigilante in judicial robes (and police
uniform—but we’ll get to that later), especially when empowered in such a
manner.

The cream of the crop, including the chairperson of the National
Human Rights Commission (oh, the irony!) are involved in the selection
process. In fact, a previous version (1.9, apparently) proposed former
Magsaysay award winners and Nobel laureates “of Indian origin” to be
members of this selection committee. The good news is that they have
been shoved aside to accommodate “retired army personnel who are five
star generals”. It is unclear if they asked the 92-year-old Marshal of
the Air Force, Arjan Singh, before adding this post to the list,
considering he’s the only living five star general we have.

Any person can propose the name of a deserving candidate to be
appointed to the Lok Pal, and after initial sifting by the selection
committee, the person recommending a candidate has to provide material
to support his nomination. Thereafter, the names will be put up on the
Internet to solicit public feedback, and the committee can also use “any
means” to collect more information about the background and past
achievements of the shortlisted candidates. Lok Pal members are
appointed by the President of India.

So despite all of this, if a member is found being
less-than-unimpeachable, the Supreme Court of India—yes, the highly
overburdened final court of appeal and protector of the Constitution—in a
bench of five judges, no less (normally known as a “constitutional
bench”), will have to conduct the inquiry.

However absurd an allegation, the Act specifically bars the Supreme
Court from dismissing the petition at the threshold stage. The Supreme
Court can order a report of “investigation” by a Special Investigation
Team and can bench the allegedly errant member while such inquiry is
being conducted. If someone makes a false complaint, they can be
punished with fine and imprisonment.

There is, however, no appeal for a member who may have been wrongly
dismissed. Neither is there is any discretion left with either the Prime
Minister or the President of India to withhold the person’s removal.
So, the President can refuse to sign bills passed by both houses of
Parliament, refuse to sign orders of impeachment of Supreme Court
judges, commute a sentence of death which could have been upheld by four
different courts (including two benches of the Supreme Court in appeal
and review), but she must remove a member of the Lok Pal on the
recommendation of the Supreme Court.

Moving on. What does this wonderfully constituted Committee get to do, anyway?

According to the Bill, the Lok Pal shall be responsible for receiving
complaints for offences under the PoCA, or for “misconduct” which
includes “vigilance angle” which in turn includes the very carefully
worded “Gross or willful negligence; recklessness in decision
making; blatant violations of systems and procedures; exercise of
discretion in excess where no ostensible/public interest is evident;
failure to keep the controlling authority/superiors informed in time”.

Presently, complaints for offences under the PoCA go to the
anti-corruption wings of either the CBI or the local police. The police
investigate, and present their findings to a government authority for
sanction. The government authority is supposed to independently apply
their mind and accord sanction if a case has been made out. The case is
then tried before a special court. The procedure for complaints under
the PoCA now is that the Lok Pal will order an inquiry or investigation,
and only when the Lok Pal is satisfied that a case is made out, will it
direct that prosecution be launched. The procedure for obtaining
sanction prior to prosecution is eliminated, once the Lok Pal orders
investigation it is deemed that sanction is accorded.

The branch of the CBI that deals with investigation and prosecution
of offences alleged to have been committed under the PoCA, will now be
the “Lok Pal Investigation Wing” and be under the direction and control
of the Lok Pal.

To start with, it crosses the line when it comes to the separation of
powers. Each wing of Government—the Legislature, Executive and
Judiciary—keeps checks and balances on the other, and so they must
remain separate, because that’s the only way to ensure that there is no
abuse of power. Here, the Lok Pal, which is a judicial body, for all
practical purposes, will have control of the part of the Executive that
conducts investigations on its behalf. To add to more confusion, the
chairperson, members of Lok Pal and the officers in investigation wing
of Lok Pal are to be deemed to be “police officers” as defined under the
Code of Criminal Procedure, for the purpose of carrying out
investigation.

When a complaint comes before the Lok Pal Committee, they can either
initiate investigation straight away, or conduct a preliminary inquiry.
Interestingly, the Lok Pal can also direct any other person to
make this preliminary inquiry as it deems fit for ascertaining whether
there exists a reasonable ground for conducting the investigation.

An aside here—the whole wording of this bill can get kind of
confusing, because, for example, in criminal law, “Inquiry” is usually
meant for a stage prior to the filing of an FIR, and Investigation
denotes that an FIR has been filed. In this Bill, the Lok Pal can, after
investigation, order that Prosecution be launched, which means an FIR,
after which investigation has to be carried out. Again.

While the complainant is mandated to be kept in the loop regarding
the inquiry into his complaint at all times, the same is not true for
the public servant. In fact, it isn’t very clear when the public servant
is allowed to make his representation, which is slightly disturbing
considering the possibilities at the end of this inquiry/investigation,
which we’ll get to in a bit.

Calling for the say of the public servant at the stage of inquiry is
entirely at the discretion of the Lok Pal. At the stage of
investigation, thankfully, the Lok Pal “shall afford to such public
servant and the complainant an opportunity to offer comments and be
heard”. What is the scope of offering comments, though? Does the public
servant have the right to legal counsel? It is also very disturbing that
there is no provision which prevents the bench of the Lok Pal that
conducts the preliminary inquiry from being the one that conducts the
investigation, which is a necessary safeguard from a “judge, jury,
executioner” situation.

After completion of due investigation, the Lok Pal has several
options, including (besides dismissing the complaint) initiating
prosecution against public servants as well as abetting private parties,
imposing of penalities under the conduct rules, order cancellation or
modification of a licence or lease or permission or contract or
agreement, or even blacklisting the concerned firm or company or
contractor or any other entity involved in that act of corruption.

Pretty harsh punishments, probably what these people who are guilty
of corruption-related offences deserve—but wait—this is all prior to
having been found guilty by a court of law. Since the
inquiry/investigation/what-have-you is in the nature of a civil Inquiry,
the standard of proof is very different than of a prosecution under
criminal law. Take the example of people who are found guilty in
departmental inquiries who often get acquitted by courts in PoCA
offences. In criminal law, the standard of proof is beyond reasonable
doubt. If this standard of proof is not adhered to, and at this stage
which is prior to any independent investigation authority even looking
into the matter (the Lok Pal Investigation Wing not really fitting in
with the concept of “independent”) the ability to blacklist corporations
is absolutely absurd. Another point to ponder—if the Lok Pal decides to
“initiate prosecution”, who is the investigating authority then? Is it
the Lok Pal Investigation Wing again? God forbid!

That’s not all—even at the stage of inquiry (that is before even
concluding their inquiry and referring this case for initiation of
prosecution) the Lok Pal can move for interim measures to restrain him
or his orders from causing further harm. However, even at the stage of
investigation, the Lok Pal can ask for a tabulation and freezing of
immovable and movable assets of the public servant. It is not even
necessary to show that these assets are disproportionate or reasonably
suspected to have been derived from funds which are the subject of
inquiry.

The Lok Pal Bill moves further into uncharted territory with the
possible prosecution of the “bribe giver”. For years, the position of
law as to whether a person could be prosecuted for giving a bribe was
unclear. Under PoCA, a statement made by a person in any proceeding
against a public servant that he offered or agreed to offer any illegal
gratification would not make him liable to face prosecution as an
abettor. The purpose behind this was simple—to encourage reporting of
offences and ensure convictions. It looks like a person who had to give a
bribe may not get this cushion of protection before the Lok Pal.

More absurdity—the act also takes the liberty of amending the
Prevention of Corruption Act. Sections 7 – 15 of the Act which have
minimum punishments of six months to a year and maximum punishments of
5-7 years are now amended to two years minimum imprisonment and a
maximum punishment of life imprisonment. If the accused is an officer of
the rank of joint secretary or above or a minister, a member or
chairperson of the Lok Pal, the minimum imprisonment is ten years. A
fine of five times the “loss caused to the public” will be recovered in
case the beneficiary is a “business entity”, and if the assets of the
company be not enough to recover the amount, it will have to be
recovered from the personal assets of the directors.

Theoretically, this is fine if you have an independent judiciary,
again, the hallmark of a democracy. Already, there are special courts
constituted to handle matters under the PoCA (the Bombay Sessions Court
has four such Courts). The appointment and superintendence of these
judges, who are at the level of district judges, should be by the
governor of the state in consultation with the High Court exercising
jurisdiction in relation to such state, since that’s what the
Constitution of India says.

The Lok Pal Bill pays no heed to such niceties, and instead the
Government (they probably meant “Governor”) has to take advice from the
Lok Pal on the selection procedure of these judges, which one hopes is
not that these judges have shown a zeal for rooting out corruption in
the past.

Never mind, at least there is a provision for appeal. Or is there?
Along with the ignorance of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers, the
other big problem with the Lok Pal Bill and which demonises it
completely is the utter disregard for the right to appeal. It is not
clear, whether a bench of the Lok Pal is to be considered on par with a
magistrate (since it conducts inquiry), a court of sessions, a High
Court (though it is to be treated so for the purpose of the Contempt of
Courts Act), a tribunal or a quasi-judicial body (like the Human Rights
Commission).

Regardless of what it fancies itself to be, by the lack of provision
for appeal, it is unconstitutional. Granted, the Lok Pal itself doesn’t
convict anyone, but that doesn’t mean that there should be no right to
appeal. The right to at least one appeal against an order, which affects
someone adversely, is inherent in the Constitution. There is no
specific clause regarding appeals in the Jan Lok Pal Bill, and that is
unconstitutional, to say the least.

The only mention of an Appeal is in Section 28A regarding disposal of
“Properties deemed to have been obtained through corrupt means” where
appeals against the orders of the Lok Pal shall lie in High Court of
appropriate jurisdiction, which shall decide the matter within two
months of filing of the appeal.”

Gautam Patel, a lawyer, points out, that according to Section 27 (2),
there appears to be a further ousting of the power of the judiciary by
barring any proceedings or decision of the Lok Pal from being
challenged, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court of
ordinary civil jurisdiction. While in my opinion that doesn’t preclude
the interference of the High Court in its extraordinary writ
jurisdiction, thus allowing for judicial review, the section is
extremely high handed.

The bill is also contradictory and confusing when it comes to
inquiries and investigations against various public officials. The big
ticket is of course the judiciary. Special provisions exist only as
regards judges of a High Court or Supreme Court. All complaints
concerning these persons will be subject to a preliminary screening for
prima facie evidence—interestingly, judges will only be considered for
offences under the PoCA and not for “other” offences and misconduct.

Registration of a case will only be done with the approval of a full
bench of the Lok Pal, a majority of the members being from a legal
background. Even after registration, such cases shall be investigated by
a special team headed by an officer not below the rank of a
superintendent of police. This is all well and good, because this makes
absolutely no difference to the Judge who is protected by the rigorous
impeachment method.

The proposed Jan Lok Pal Bill is a knee-jerk reaction to the present
scenario. No doubt, corruption is draining our exchequer as well as our
sense of morality and faith in the system. Like most knee-jerk
reactions, it is not well thought out, and by taking over the
independence of courts and the investigating authorities, leaving no
scheme of appeal, and the ambiguous treatment of the right to be heard,
the bill is absolutely unconstitutional and should not be implemented at
any cost—fast-unto-death or not. The possible implications of its
enactment far outweigh the obviously good intentions that it was drafted
with.

It is always easy to criticise and walk away without any suggestions.
So let me throw in my ideas. Say you remove the unconstitutional and
absurd bits from the Jan Lok Pal Bill, what do you have? A legislation
that prides itself on transparency in its constitution and functioning
and easy accessibility by the public, all of which can and should be
strengthened in existing mechanisms. The provisions regarding protection
to whistleblowers should extend to all endangered witnesses in general,
and should find place in a separate legislation or appropriate
amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code.

The purpose of the Lok Pal Bill should be a transparent means of
pre-trial evaluation of material against public servants, and providing a
more public alternative to the closed door sanctioning process under
the PoCA and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Like it or not, the process
of sanction is a necessary evil especially when dealing with publicly
elected officials. It cannot be the tool of a witch-hunt, and it must
respect the boundaries of due process and constitutionality.

When you already have courts and police personnel devoted exclusively
to unearthing offences under the PoCA, an act which actually places the
burden of proof on the accused, why not expend resources in trying to
strengthen these?

By bringing in the spirit of the Jan Lok Pal Bill and improving
citizen access to complaint mechanisms, ensuring witness protection,
along with a transparent and public process of according sanction for
prosecution, there will be a great improvement in the effectiveness of
the PoCA, which itself would be a huge deterrent.

A relook at the PoCA and its scope, particularly the inclusion of the
private sector, would also not be out of place. Enacting the Jan Lok
Pal Bill in its present form, the appointment of the officials and the
sure-shot constitutional challenges it will face will be a waste of
time, energies and effort. Let’s get to work with what we have.

Why an ombudsman won’t help India

Henry Louis Mencken—the 19th century American essayist and
satirist—once said “For every problem there is a solution which is
simple, clean and wrong”. The proposed Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill, in both
the government and non-government versions, is one such solution to the
problem of corruption. India is high on corruption because it is low on
business freedom. This relationship holds true across the world,
including the Nordic nations from whom the concept of Ombudsman has been
borrowed. The solution lies in changing the nature, and not necessarily
the size, of the Indian state.

Photo: Deepankar Raj

The Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal’s annual Index of
Economic Freedom ranks countries based on ten benchmarks, including
business freedom, trade freedom and property rights. Business freedom is
“a quantitative measure of the ability to start, operate, and close a
business that represents the overall burden of regulation as well as the
efficiency of government in the regulatory process”. There is a strong
correlation between business freedom and Transparency International’s
corruption perceptions index—a measure of the “degree to which public
sector corruption is perceived to exist”. Seven of the world’s ten least
corrupt countries rank amongst top ten in business freedom: New
Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Canada, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. The
ten most corrupt countries have an average business freedom rank of 154,
while the ten least corrupt have an average rank of 12. India has a
business freedom rank of 167, below Burkina Faso, Mozambique,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sierra Leone and Egypt. The correlation
coefficient—a measure of the strength of linear relationship between two
variables—between business freedom and perceived corruption for the
year 2010 is a high 0.68.

The story gets even more fascinating. The relationship between size
of government and corruption is weaker than and opposite to that of the
relation between business freedom and corruption. If we rank countries
starting with the nation with the lowest ratio of government spending to
GDP, the ten most corrupt countries have an average government size
rank of 52, the ten least corrupt have a rank of 129. The correlation
coefficient between size of government spending and corruption is a
negative 0.32. We have a bit of a paradox here. When government
intervention takes the form of lowering the freedom to start and run
businesses we have more corruption, but when government intervention
takes the form of taxation and redistribution we don’t see an increase
in corruption. Why so?

The public choice school of economics tells us that politicians and
bureaucrats are self-interested agents who are likely to exploit profit
making opportunities. Low business freedom corresponds to extensive
government intervention in the form of licenses, permits and quotas
(LPQ). Profit-maximising politicians use LPQ levers to extract rents
from businesses. Entrepreneurs too are profit-maximising agents, but
they operate under the perennial gale of market forces. These forces
play the tune to which entrepreneurs dance to satisfy consumers. It is
for this reason that Adam Smith held that “it is not from the
benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker, that we expect our
dinner, but from their regard to their own self interest.” Thus while
market forces channel the self-interest of private entrepreneurs to
promote social good, making the pie grow larger, the undisciplined
self-interest of politicians extracts a piece of the sweet pie while
hindering its growth. High government taxation and redistribution does
not necessarily create LPQ levers for extraction of rent, and this is
why we do not see a positive relation between size of government and
corruption internationally.

Empirical evidence and economics theory tell us that an ombudsman is
unlikely to solve the problem of corruption in India. In the Nordic
countries all the ombudsman does is fine-tune a well-functioning system.
According to the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsmen Report a total of
6,112 complaint cases were concluded during the period 1 July 2007 to 30
June 2008, of these only one ended with “prosecution and disciplinary
proceeding.” Imagine the number of people such an institution would have
to prosecute in India. A good analogy is that of the anti-trust
commissions in the United States and the European Union who look into
acts of abuse of market power by monopoly firms to promote healthy
competition. The institution is meant to work in a largely free-market
economy. In the same way that a competition commission fine tunes a
market economy an ombudsman too may fine tune a mostly uncorrupt system
but it cannot create one. An ombudsman cannot fix a broken system like
India.

Jakon Svensson writes in a 2005 Journal of Economic Literature
article: “Strikingly, many [of the most corrupt countries] are governed,
or have recently been governed, by socialist governments.” Technically,
India too is socialist. But socialism comes in various flavours; the
command and control philosophy and welfare state philosophy mean very
different things as far corruption goes. Well-designed welfare schemes
in which government plays the role of a financier rather than producer
can go a long way in cutting down on corruption. India needs innovation
in governance; and for lessons on governance, bureaucrats in New Delhi
need not trouble themselves with a flight to Oslo—Patna will do. The
Nitish Kumar government handed out money to parents to buy bicycles for
girl children, rather than use government employees or contractors to
produce and distribute them. This cut out a whole group of parasites.

Publius Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56-117), a senator and historian of the
Roman Empire, in the Annals says “The more corrupt the republic, the
more numerous the laws.” There is no genetic or cultural reason to
presume Indians are less ethical than Norwegians. The difference lies in
legal rules that govern economic activity, and that is what needs to
change.

August 17, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Top 12 reasons Why Anna Hazare is wrong and Lok Pal a bad idea

FAQ: Why Anna Hazare is wrong and Lok Pal a bad idea

08.14.2011 · Posted in Public Policy

Don’t fall for the miracle cure that is being offered. Corruption must be fought differently and it’s not easy.

1. Is Lok Pal is necessary to fight corruption?

No, not only is it unnecessary, it will make the problem worse.
Corruption in India arises because of too much government, too many
rules, too much complexity and too much ambiguity. Adding one more,
huge, powerful layer to an already complex system will make the system
even more complicated. Complexity creates the incentives for
corruption–both on the part of the bribe giver and the bribe taker.

1A. Is the government’s version of the Lok Pal bill better?

No. We don’t need a Lok Pal at all. Making existing constitutional
institutions—like CAG, CVC, CBI and the Election Commission—more
independent will serve the purpose equally well. If we have been unable
to prevent the politicisation and undermining of these instutitions why
would we be able to prevent the Lok Pal from being politicised and
undermined? If we can prevent Lok Pal from being politicised and
undermined, why can’t we restore the independence and credibility of
CAG, CVC, CBI and the Election Commission?

2. What’s the alternative to Lok Pal then?

The alternative is to proceed with second-generation reforms, or Reforms 2.0.
Contrary to conventional wisdom reforms have reduced corruption, albeit
by moving it to higher up the government. In 1989 an ordinary person
would have to pay a bribe to get a telephone connection. By 2005, there
was no need to pay a bribe at all and anyone could get a phone in
minutes. Yes, 2010 saw the 2G scam in telecoms, but that was because the
UPA government reversed the reform process.

In fact, data show that perceptions of corruption are lower in some sectors of the economy, usually those that have been liberalised.

If you are interested in exploring real alternatives, you can start
by reading Atanu Dey’s slim, easily readable and inexpensive new book, “Transforming India”.

3. Doesn’t Hong Kong have an Ombudsman and doesn’t it enjoy low corruption?

This is a specious argument. There is little evidence to prove that
Hong Kong has low corruption because it has an Ombudsman. On the
contrary, there is empirical evidence from across the world suggesting that countries with high economic freedom are perceived to suffer from less corruption.

Hong Kong is one of the freest economies of the world,
and therefore, incentives for government officials to be corrupt are
relatively low. The Ombudsman is useful to address the residual
corruption in economic sectors and in sectors like law enforcement that
do not have discretionary powers over economic sectors.

4. How can we have economic reforms if the corrupt politicians don’t allow it?

We have not really demanded them at all, actually. If we did, they are
bound to register in the national political agenda. We should persuade
politicians that their political future is linked to implementing
economic reforms.

5. Easy to say, but how can we do this?

By voting. The constituencies that stand to benefit from economic
reforms—the middle class—needs to vote in larger numbers. In the absence
of the middle class vote base, politicians appease the poor by giving
handouts and entitlements, and cater to the super rich by allowing the
crony sector to exploit the half-reformed economy. It’s not easy, and we
have to be innovative. See for instance, Atanu Dey’s interesting idea
to form middle-class vote banks to induce good governance.

Whatever may be the claims made by the people promoting Lok Pal,
there is no miracle solution. They are peddling miracle weight-loss
pills. Sadly, such pills usually don’t work and can cause severe damage
to your health. If you are cautioned not to take those pills, you can’t
ask “which other miracle weight-loss pill do you recommend”? The answer
is in diet and exercise, which is hard work.

6. In the meantime, what’s wrong with Jan Lok Pal?

This question has already been answered above, but it’s usual
to encounter it again at this stage. The problem with Jan Lok Pal is
that it’ll make the problem worse. Does anyone seriously think we can
hire tens of thousands of absolutely honest officials who will
constitute the Lok Pal? Who will keep watch on them? Maybe we need a
Super Lok Pal, and then a Hyper Lok Pal to watch over the Super Lok Pal
and so on…This isn’t sarcasm, this is the logical extension of the Lok
Pal argument.

7. Don’t we have the right to protest peacefully? Why do you say that a fast-until-death lacks legitimacy?

Of course we have the right to protest peacefully. But it’s not about
whether we have the right or not. It’s about are we using that right
wisely. (You have the freedom of speech but that doesn’t mean it’s a
good idea to blast Eminem using a loudspeaker at 2am in a residential
district.)

As Ambedkar said while introducing the Constitution in November 1949,
once the Constitution came into force, we should avoid all
non-constitutional methods like protests and satyagraha, for they are the grammar of anarchy.
If two persons go on fasts until death for two opposing reasons, we
cannot decide the issue by allowing one person to die first.

Fast until death is political blackmail. It is a form of theatre
engaged in to coerce the government into doing something that the
agitators want. Whatever may be the cause, a single person cannot be
allowed to dictate laws to the whole nation.

8. Doesn’t Anna Hazare have the right to fast until death?

Anna Hazare has the right to protest peacefully. However to the extent
that his actions amount to an attempt to commit suicide, they are
illegal. The government can legitimately prevent him from killing
himself whatsoever the reason he might have to attempt suicide.

9. You are an armchair intellectual. Shouldn’t we trust activists more?

Pilots don’t design aircraft. Practicing doctors don’t discover new
drugs and treatments. These jobs are usually done by armchair
intellectuals. So being an armchair intellectual is not a
disqualification.

You shouldn’t trust intellectuals or activists because of what they
are. You should examine their arguments and make your own judgement.
Most of the people supporting Lok Pal have not examined what the
proposal is, have not tried to consider opposing arguments and blindly
accept it as a solution because some famous people said so.

11. Aren’t those who oppose Anna Hazare’s agitation supporting the corrupt politicians?

No. It takes an enormous amount of arrogance to claim that Anna Hazare
and his supporters have the exclusive hold on the right way to fight
corruption.

In the real world, it is foolish to expect 100% clean and non-corrupt
politicians. The real world challenge is to achieve good governance
with imperfect constitutions, imperfect institutions, imperfect leaders
and imperfect citizens. This requires us to realise that individuals
respond to incentives. If we remove incentives for taking or giving
bribes, then corruption will be lowered. We can reduce incentives for
corruption by following through with the reforms that started in 1991
but have stalled since 2004.

It is entirely possible to oppose the UPA government’s politics and
policies, while recognising that it is the legitimately constituted
government of the country. Individuals and parties might suffer from a
legitimacy deficit because of flagrant corruption, but the Government of
India as an institution remains the legitimate authority to make policy
decisions for the whole nation.

12. Why is fasting illegitimate when Mahatma Gandhi used it in our struggle for independence from the British?

There is a huge difference in context between 26th January 1950 when the
Constitution of India came into force and the time before it.

Mahatma Gandhi used civil disobedience against laws imposed on India
by the British government. Indians had no say in how the laws were made
and how they were implemented. Indians could not repeal laws we didn’t
want. Civil disobedience was justified in this context.

Gandhi also used it to coerce Indian nationalist leaders too,
including Ambedkar and the Indian National Congress, into accepting his
views. Whatever might be the wisdom of Gandhi’s intentions, this was
undemocratic and created a culture of ‘high command’ that lives on to
this day. Fasting was not justified in this context. This part of Gandhi
receives little attention in the dominant narrative of Indian history.

With the formation of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950,
things changed profoundly. All Indians have a say in how laws are made
and how they are implemented. We can amend or repeal laws that we do not
like. There is, of course, a method to do this, which must be followed.
These are the constitutional methods that Ambedkar referred to in his
grammar of anarchy speech. When constitutional methods are available,
there is no case for non-constitutional methods like satyagraha or
hunger strikes.

There is thus no equivalence between Gandhi’s satyagraha against the
British ruling us and Mr Hazare’s hunger strikes against we ruling
ourselves.

August 17, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

London riots

August 8,2011

London riots

Two nights of
rioting in London’s Tottenham neighborhood erupted following protests
over the shooting death by police of a local man, Mark Duggan. Police
were arresting him when the shooting occurred. Over 170 people were
arrested over the two nights of rioting, and fires gutted several
stores, buildings, and cars. The disorder spread to other neighborhoods
as well, with shops being looted in the chaos. Collected here are
images from the rioting and the aftermath. — Lane Turner (26 photos total)

Fire
fighters and riot police survey the area as fire rages through a
building in Tottenham, north London on Aug. 7, 2011. A demonstration
against the death of a local man turned violent and cars and shops were
set ablaze. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP)

A rioter throws a burning wooden plank at police in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

Mounted police officers chase rioters on the streets in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

Riot police officers face off with protesters in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

A masked protester hurls an object toward riot police officers in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

A policeman in riot gear stands guard in Tottenham Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

A
double decker bus burns as riot police try to contain a large group of
people on a main road in Tottenham on August 6, 2011. (Leon
Neal/AFP/Getty Images) #

Police
officers detain a man in Enfield, north London August 7, 2011. Police
said they were called to Enfield, a few miles north of Tottenham, where
youths had smashed two shop windows and damaged a police car. (Stefan
Wermuth/Reuters) #

Fire rages through a building in Tottenham on Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

Riot police officers escort an injured man after arresting him in Tottenham on Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

A protester faces off with riot police officers on the streets in Tottenham on Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

Police officers make their way on the streets in Tottenham on Aug. 7, 2011. (Lewis Whyld/PA/AP) #

Buildings burn on Tottenham High Road in London during protests on August 6, 2011. (Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images) #

Protestors face off against riot police lines on Tottenham High Road on August 6, 2011 in London. (Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images) #

Police officers detain a man in Tottenham on August 7, 2011. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters) #

Police officers in riot gear walk past a burning building in Tottenham on August 7, 2011. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters) #

A
shop and police car burn as riot police try to contain a large group of
people on a main road in Tottenham on August 6, 2011. (Leon
Neal/AFP/Getty Images) #

A
woman walks through the debris with two children as riot police try to
contain a large group of people on a main road in Tottenham on August 6
2011. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images) #

A policeman walks past a damaged jewelery shop in Enfield, north London on August 7, 2011. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters) #

A
police officer patrols as firemen continue to dowse buildings set
alight during riots in Tottenham on August 7, 2011. (Luke
MacGregor/Reuters) #

Police cordon off an area on August 7, 2011 during unrest in Enfield. (Karel Prinsloo/AP) #

Animals are taken from a pet store after riots on Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #

Aaron
Biber, 89, assesses the damage to his hairdressing salon after riots on
Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #

Burnt out cars lie in the road after riots on Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #

A man stands next to a burnt out van after riots on Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011 . (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #

Residents watch as a building burns after riots on Tottenham High Road on August 7, 2011. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

London riots: in ashes, a firm that survived two world wars

It survived the Depression, two world wars and the deepest recession in a
century.

Firefighters battle a large fire that broke out in shops and residential properties in Croydon

Image 1 of 3

Firefighters battle the fire that broke out at House of Reeves furniture store in Croydon

By Graeme Paton

7:30AM BST 10 Aug 2011

But House of Reeves, a 144-year-old furniture store in the heart of Croydon,
could do little in the face of 100 or so yobs hell-bent on tearing up this
particular corner of south London.

The shop, a local landmark of such repute that it gave its name to the road on
which it now stands, was razed as youths rampaged through the town’s
streets, smashing doors and windows.

In one of the most searing images of the
London riots, flames tore through the store on Reeves’ Corner on
Monday night, with smoke being seen for miles around. By morning, all that
was left was a charred shell and onlookers were kept well back for fear that
the shattered building could collapse.

It was a crushing blow for a company that was founded in 1867 and has remained
in the Reeves family for five generations. Trevor Reeves, 56, the founder’s
great-great grandson, said: “If we were a computer shop, they would have
just broken in, taken the stock and left. But you can’t very well carry a
three-piece suite through the centre of Croydon can you? It was obvious that
the only thing left for them to do was to set fire to the place.

“It is completely devastating; heartbreaking. The family has been through a
lot; the world wars and the Depression in the 1930s were obviously tough and
the last few years have been particularly difficult, but we have always kept
going.

London riots: Telegraph readers’ photos of the rioting and looted areas of the city

Telegraph readers have been sending us their pictures of the rioting and
looted areas of London. If you have photos related to the recent unrest,
email them to mypic@telegraph.co.uk,
supplying a little info on where and how the pictures were taken, and we’ll
include the best in this picture gallery.

This amazing picture of a car exploding on Mare Street in Hackney was taken
by Telegraph reader Miks Uzans, who writes: “There were around 30
well-equipped rioters. The police didn’t even come close to this; instead
they were blocking the road 200m away.”

August 10, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Tata Aria 4×2

Tata Aria 4×2 in Lavasa

The Tata Aria 4×2 extends the range to new segments and redefines several benchmarks with its design and technologies.

Photography: Clint Thomas, Yahoo! India News

The Aria’s stylish design is inlaid with the
DNA of an SUV, manifested in its stance, power, driveability and safety.

The Aria’s styling is a blend of bold
proportions, uncluttered lines and uncompromising aesthetics.

Its 2.2 litre Direct Injection Common Rail
(DICOR) engine, with variable turbine technology and 32-bit ECU delivers 140 PS
power and 320 Nm torque.

The Aria is equipped with disc brakes on all
four wheels resulting in superior braking effectiveness and better control. The
Antilock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Breakforce Distribution (EBD)
aids steerability and control in emergency braking situations and on slippery
surfaces.

The Aria’s stylish design is inlaid with the
DNA of an SUV, manifested in its stance, power, driveability and safety.

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The Tata Aria 4×2 is being launched in three
trim levels – the Aria Prestige at the top end, the Aria Pleasure and the Aria
Pure.

The 2-DIN music system and Bluetooth, along with
steering mounted phone and music controls, helps switch between music and
conversation at the touch of a button.

The
twin chrome exhaust tailpipes adds a sporty appearance to the rear,
however, if you look closer, the exhaust pipes can be seen inside the
chrome rings. Bad!

The suspension is designed to achieve an
optimal balance between ride comfort and control and stability, both on normal
roads and in offroading. Its low-roll characteristics and higher soaking
capacity further ensure a sedan-like ride quality and SUV-like offroading
capability.

Wraparound dual barreled headlamps complement
the signature Tata grille. Chrome detailing on the sides accentuates its premium
class.

The Aria’s frame is constructed with advanced
hydroformed members. Hydroforming enhances their rigidity while reducing weight.

All
seats, except the driver’s, can be flat-folded, giving you lots of luggage
space – even space to stuff in a Tata Nano.

Roof utility bins, a glove-box chiller and
conveniently placed cup holders helps keep every thing you want within easy
reach.

There are seven roof utility bins
on the Tata Aria, a feature that no other auto maker could ever think
of. Moreover, there are cup holders for every passenger in the car.

The Tata Aria 4×2 is being launched in three
trim levels – the Aria Prestige at the top end, the Aria Pleasure and the Aria
Pure.

The interiors reflect the same richness and
elegance in design, layout, and visual appeal.

Premium leather upholstery enhances richly
textured trims in single or dual tone themes.

There is no need to look back even to park – a
Reverse Guide System helps you with exactitude. The Driver Information System
continuously indicates essential drive data, the Automatic Climate Control,
through roof-mounted AC vents, keeps the cabin temperature ambient.

August 8, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Want to reduce your belly fat?

Want to reduce your belly fat? Eat apples, green peas and beans
Tue, Jun 28, 2011 2:22 PM IST

Washington, June 28 (ANI): Are you tired of having belly fat? Now, eat two small apples, one cup of green peas and one-half cup of pinto beans and exercise vigorously for 30 minutes, two to four times a week.

cording to the researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, vegetables, fruit and beans contain more soluble fiber and will help reduce visceral fat, or belly fat, around the midsection.

They found that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber eaten per day, visceral fat was reduced by 3.7 percent over five years. In addition, increased moderate activity resulted in a 7.4 percent decrease in the rate of visceral fat accumulation over the same time period.

“We know that a higher rate of visceral fat is associated with high blood pressure, diabetes and fatty liver disease,” said Kristen Hairston, assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest Baptist and lead researcher on the study.

“Our study found that making a few simple changes can have a big health impact,” he added.

The researchers examined whether lifestyle factors, such as diet and frequency of exercise, were associated with a five-year change in abdominal fat of African Americans and Hispanic Americans.

At the beginning of the study, which involved 1,114 people, the participants were given a physical exam, an extensive questionnaire on lifestyle issues, and a CT scan. Five years later, the exact same process was repeated.

The researchers found that increased soluble fiber intake was associated with a decreased rate of accumulated visceral fat, but not subcutaneous fat.

“There is mounting evidence that eating more soluble fiber and increasing exercise reduces visceral or belly fat, although we still don’t know how it works,” said Hairston.

The results are published in the June 16 online issue of the journal Obesity. (ANI)

August 8, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Top 3 Projector Mobile Phones

Projector Mobile Phones in India [Comparison]

Projector phone still sounds like a dream, but we already have four
phones launched with that capability. There is no dearth of innovation
in the thought to pack things into one single mobile phone. Intex,
TechBerry and Spice have launched their respective projector phones.
Intex was the pioneer in this field closely followed by Techberry.

But it was the late entrant Spice which popularized projector phone with its “Yeh boat nahin”
ad of Spice Popkorn. The timing of the phone launch and the ad is icing
on the cake. Spice Popkorn ad pops up in the middle of a world cup
match. And the ad surely stands out in the middle of bunch of
thoughtless ads.

Intex V.Show

Intex V.Show uses tiny Pico which is the latest in the LED technology to project on to a36 inch screen size for 3 hours. 20,000 hours of play time on the projector is possible. After
which it will cease to be a projector and starts to be a phone-only. It
is a touch screen phone with 3.2 inch screen size. It is a dual SIM
phone (GSM+GSM). As per mainstream media this is a 3G enabled phone. As per blogosphere this is a dual SIM
phone. It has a dual camera – one in the front, one in the back and it
has dual memory card slots which can read up to 8 GB each.

TechBerry ST 200

ST in the phone name stands for Sachin Tendulkar. I am not kidding.
That’s what the press release said. This phone which was launched
immediately after Intex V.show has some amazing double features. In
addition to the projector of course.

It packs in dual-SIM capability, dual memory card capability and dual
camera of 2 megapixel each. ST200 has a 3.2 inch QVGA full touch
screen. ST200 is a GSM phone with Bluetooth on-board.

Spice PopKorn

Spice M-9000 is a dual SIM phone with a in-built projector. It also
comes with a analogous TV which will help you stream free-to-air
channels, you know like the good old Doordarshan. There is a document
viewer, in case you want to project a presentation on the side wall in
the middle of a Christopher Nolan movie. Spice M-9000 aka Popkorn, has a 3.2 megapixel camera, FM with recording, Bluetooth, video player and a 6 cm QVGA screen. All of this comes at a measly price of Rs. 6999.

Intex V.Show Mini

Intex V.Show Mini has a 2.4 inch QVGA screen, dual SIM capability, 2
megapixel camera and an internal memory of 87 MB. Memory can be jacked
up to 16 GB through a SD card. Bluetooth, 3.5 mm audio jack, FM radio
are on-board. Pre-loaded apps like Facebook and Opera Mini should take
care of the browsing needs. V.Show Mini has a document reader which
would make it easy to project the presentations in case you office
projector acts kinky. Price : Rs. 6300

For the price, features and marketing, Spice Popkorn
should be the winner all the way. It packs in impressive features at
affordable price. With its TV on-board feature, it has went past all
other projector phones. Even if the TV is for free to air channels like
Doordarshan. Phone replacing TV isn’t very far.

July 12, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Top 20 Handpainted wallpapers

Art Wallpapers

July 11, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Survey finds ‘News channels biased against Islam’

9:34am Monday 4th July 2011

An independent poll carried out by Consumer PI has found that the

vast majority of British Muslims perceive the three mainstream TV news
channels (BBC, ITV and Sky) to be biased against their
religion when reporting current affairs.

The TV channels’ reporting of terror cases, news pieces on Iraq and

Afghanistan and coverage of the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings have been cited
as examples of anti-Muslim bias.

Furthermore, British Muslims believe that other topical issues such as

the Israeli raid on the flotilla, it’s continued occupation of, and
raids into, Palestinian territories, the dropping of
terror cases by the police as well as positive stories about Islam
generally are either not given enough prominence or simply not covered.

The poll also found that British Muslims were offended by some of the
terminology used in news reports.

Terms such as ‘jihadist’ or ‘moderate Muslims’ are often used in the
wrong context or in a generalised manner, indicating there was a severe
lack of understanding of Muslim communities on the part
of news reporters. Many believe this type of reporting does play some
part in fanning the flames of extremism.

Shakir Ahmed, Director of Passion Islam Media said: “The reporting by

the mainstream TV news channels of stories concerning Muslims is at
times unbalanced, ill-informed and sensationalist. I would
expect this type of coverage in the tabloid press, not from respected
news organisations at the BBC, ITV or Sky. However, this is not entirely
surprising since these three news channels employ very
few reporters who follow the Islamic faith and who would truly
understand the Muslim communities and their culture and practices.

Worryingly, the perception by some British Muslims of an unjust Islamophobic
mainstream media may well fuel radicalism.”

July 6, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Sudan splits!!

Sudan’s south will become an independent country on July 9, but fighting
along the ill-defined border has raised tension ahead of the split.
North and south have yet to resolve issues such as how to manage the oil
industry and divide debt. Here’s a look at the current situation in
Sudan through Reuters photographer Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah’s lens.