Wednesday 26 June 2019
Saturday 26 May 2012
"Health special" Kerala slaps total ban on tobacco-based products
In a powerful reaffirmation of its commitment to public health, the Kerala government has imposed a blanket ban on the manufacturing and sale of gutka and pan masala (tobacco-based products) in the state.
Announcing this at a Press conference here on Friday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the state government had enforced the ban on gutka and pan masala under the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011. “Violators of the law can be imprisoned for up to six years and a fine of Rs500,000 will be imposed on them,” Chandy said.
“I have come across several oral cancer patients and in person realised the pain and trauma that they and their family members undergo.Though our state has advanced centres and experts for cancer care, use of gutka and pan masala is inviting unwarranted sufferings,” he said.
The increasing incidence of gutka-induced diseases like oral cancer prompted the government to act. “The government would spare no efforts to enforce the ban on gutka and pan masala and will take strong measures to maintain and improve the health of our people,” the chief minister said, hoping that this Kerala model in the public health would be another precedent.
Chandy had written to the prime minister in July seeking a total ban on gutka and pan masala across the country. The Federal Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in last week of April this year, replied that states had the jurisdiction to ban gutka and pan masala under the Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011. The Health Department initiated steps immediately in this regard following this.
The notification banning gutka and pan masala in Kerala issued by Commissioner of Food Safety, Kerala on 22 May prohibits the manufacture, storage, distribution and sales of these products that contain tobacco and nicotine, in whatsoever name it is available in the market today.
The chief minister pointed out that a coordinated effort was needed to strictly enforce the ban. “The ban will be successful only if it is implemented in both letter and spirit. We will work with all stakeholders — police, teachers, health personnel and voluntary associations to achieve this,” he said.
Health Minister V S Sivakumar, who was present in the Press briefing, said that the government was aware and concerned about the wide use of tobacco and nicotine in gutka and pan masala nowadays.
“The use of gutka and pan masala begins as a mouth freshener or stress reliever. But quickly, people get addicted to these products due to the tobacco and nicotine in them and very soon develop painful oral diseases,” he said. “Such products are not just favoured by people from poor socio-economic background; today school and college going students are the biggest victims.”
“The health ministry will work with the education department to ensure that the ban is strictly implemented and monitored with the help of three-tier committees formed for monitoring sale of tobacco products around schools,” the minister added. Tobacco-based gutka and paan masala is already banned in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.
source:khaleejtimes
Announcing this at a Press conference here on Friday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the state government had enforced the ban on gutka and pan masala under the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011. “Violators of the law can be imprisoned for up to six years and a fine of Rs500,000 will be imposed on them,” Chandy said.“I have come across several oral cancer patients and in person realised the pain and trauma that they and their family members undergo.Though our state has advanced centres and experts for cancer care, use of gutka and pan masala is inviting unwarranted sufferings,” he said.
The increasing incidence of gutka-induced diseases like oral cancer prompted the government to act. “The government would spare no efforts to enforce the ban on gutka and pan masala and will take strong measures to maintain and improve the health of our people,” the chief minister said, hoping that this Kerala model in the public health would be another precedent.
Chandy had written to the prime minister in July seeking a total ban on gutka and pan masala across the country. The Federal Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in last week of April this year, replied that states had the jurisdiction to ban gutka and pan masala under the Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act, 2011. The Health Department initiated steps immediately in this regard following this.
The notification banning gutka and pan masala in Kerala issued by Commissioner of Food Safety, Kerala on 22 May prohibits the manufacture, storage, distribution and sales of these products that contain tobacco and nicotine, in whatsoever name it is available in the market today.
The chief minister pointed out that a coordinated effort was needed to strictly enforce the ban. “The ban will be successful only if it is implemented in both letter and spirit. We will work with all stakeholders — police, teachers, health personnel and voluntary associations to achieve this,” he said.
Health Minister V S Sivakumar, who was present in the Press briefing, said that the government was aware and concerned about the wide use of tobacco and nicotine in gutka and pan masala nowadays.
“The use of gutka and pan masala begins as a mouth freshener or stress reliever. But quickly, people get addicted to these products due to the tobacco and nicotine in them and very soon develop painful oral diseases,” he said. “Such products are not just favoured by people from poor socio-economic background; today school and college going students are the biggest victims.”
“The health ministry will work with the education department to ensure that the ban is strictly implemented and monitored with the help of three-tier committees formed for monitoring sale of tobacco products around schools,” the minister added. Tobacco-based gutka and paan masala is already banned in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.
source:khaleejtimes
Friday 27 April 2012
"Fact News" India Successfully launched Its First Radar Imaging Satellite
India on 26 April 2012 launched it’s first indigenous all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1). The satellite, whose images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, was launched successfully on board the PSLV-C19 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the satellite took ten years to be functional. The newly launched satellite can capture images of the earth during day and night as well as in cloudy conditions.
Thus far, India was dependent on a Canadian satellite for images as existing domestic remote sensing spacecraft are not able to capture images of earth during cloud cover. Besides use in the agriculture sector, RISAT-1 could also be used to keep round-the-clock vigil on the country's borders, but this satellite would not be used for defence applications as RISAT-2, primarily a spy spacecraft, is already doing that job.
RISAT-1 was launched using the state-of-the-art new Mission Control Centre for the first time after its inauguration by President Pratibha Patil in January 2012. ISRO used PSLV-XL, high-end version, only third such instance, for the launch of RISAT-1. The XL version was earlier used for Chandrayaan-1 and GSAT-12 missions.
The RISAT – 1 Launch is the 20th successive successful flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). India in April 2009 had launched an imported Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) with all weather capability. The satellite was bought from Israel for 110 million dollar largely for surveillance purposes.
A whopping 498 crore rupees were spent on the project. While the development of satellite took 378 crore rupees, 120 crore rupees were spent on building the rocket (PSLV-C19).
Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the satellite took ten years to be functional. The newly launched satellite can capture images of the earth during day and night as well as in cloudy conditions.
Thus far, India was dependent on a Canadian satellite for images as existing domestic remote sensing spacecraft are not able to capture images of earth during cloud cover. Besides use in the agriculture sector, RISAT-1 could also be used to keep round-the-clock vigil on the country's borders, but this satellite would not be used for defence applications as RISAT-2, primarily a spy spacecraft, is already doing that job.
RISAT-1 was launched using the state-of-the-art new Mission Control Centre for the first time after its inauguration by President Pratibha Patil in January 2012. ISRO used PSLV-XL, high-end version, only third such instance, for the launch of RISAT-1. The XL version was earlier used for Chandrayaan-1 and GSAT-12 missions.
The RISAT – 1 Launch is the 20th successive successful flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). India in April 2009 had launched an imported Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) with all weather capability. The satellite was bought from Israel for 110 million dollar largely for surveillance purposes.
A whopping 498 crore rupees were spent on the project. While the development of satellite took 378 crore rupees, 120 crore rupees were spent on building the rocket (PSLV-C19).
Wednesday 25 April 2012
"Fact news" Wipro aiming to grow faster than industry average, says Kurien
The company has a respectable amount of projects in the pipeline and is also planning to announce a wage hike in 2013. It said that it expects revenue from IT services to be between US $ 1.52 and 1.55 billion in the first quarter. The company's fourth quarter net profit has increased 7.7 per cent to Rs 1,481 crore. The net sales of the company were up 19 per cent to Rs 9,836.3 crore.
The company had disappointed the market with a flat guidance for the first quarter but Kurien pointed out that the flat guidance is mainly due to the slowdown in the company's India business.
On projects in pipeline, he said that, "As far as our pipeline is concerned on a global basis, it remains robust. In Q1 of the calendar year which is our Q4, we saw a little bit of a slowdown in terms of proactive deals closing. But that is now behind us and we are seeing disclosures starting in our Q1.
To that extent, on a full year basis, looking at our pipeline, we are not unduly concerned about growth." Kurien also said that the company does not announce full year guidance and only said that Wipro will strive to grow ahead of the market.
Saturday 7 April 2012
"Fact News"Delhi has highest number of insomniac executives, survey
According to a new survey, Delhi tops the list of the cities with most number of corporate employees suffering from insomnia.
The reasons for the high number of sleepless executives in city include high stress level and challenging working schedules. The national capital was ranked first by the survey followed by Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai.
The survey conducted by ASSOCHAM on the occasion of World Health Day, found that about 78 per cent of the corporate employees sleep less than six hours a day and this causes sleep disorders. It also found that women who sleep less face more problems than compared to men.
D S Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM said, “Loss of sleep has wide ranging effects including daytime fatigue, physical discomfort, psychological stress, performance deterioration, low-pain threshold and increased absenteeism.”
About 36 per cent of the sample population for the survey suffered from obesity while 21 per cent suffered from depression, according to the findings. Researchers had selected more than 200 employees in age bracket of 20 to 69 years from each of the city
Source:topnews.in
The reasons for the high number of sleepless executives in city include high stress level and challenging working schedules. The national capital was ranked first by the survey followed by Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai.
The survey conducted by ASSOCHAM on the occasion of World Health Day, found that about 78 per cent of the corporate employees sleep less than six hours a day and this causes sleep disorders. It also found that women who sleep less face more problems than compared to men.
D S Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM said, “Loss of sleep has wide ranging effects including daytime fatigue, physical discomfort, psychological stress, performance deterioration, low-pain threshold and increased absenteeism.”
About 36 per cent of the sample population for the survey suffered from obesity while 21 per cent suffered from depression, according to the findings. Researchers had selected more than 200 employees in age bracket of 20 to 69 years from each of the city
Source:topnews.in
Friday 6 April 2012
"Fact News" Larry Page published letter on Google+ marking one year as CEO
Page said that his plans for the company are aimed at increasing the company's velocity, improving its focus and also focusing on big initiatives that have the power to change the world around. He pointed out that his priority as a CEO of the company is to provide a simpler, more intuitive experience to the customers across all its services so as to allow the users to find exactly what they need on the right time.
He also talked about a shakeup in the company's management team that saw elimination or consolidation of more than 30 products. "Google has so many opportunities that, unless we make some hard choices, we end up spreading ourselves too thin," he said.
Page said that the remaining services of the company including its flagship search service were given cleaner and a more beautiful look. He plans include integrating Google+ network into the company's other offerings such as search, Gmail and YouTube.
"I have always believed that technology should do the hard work discovery, organization, communication so users can do what makes them happiest: living and loving, not messing with annoying computers," he wrote.
He claimed that Google+ has more than 100 million users and the social networking platform is getting more active.
"Fact News" India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board became the 11th Member of MEDP
India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was admitted as the 11th member of MEDP (Multinational Design Evaluation Programme) on 4 April 2012. The other members of this body are China, Finland, Japan, Korea, South Africa, USA, UK, Canada, France and Russia.
MDEP is a multinational initiative taken by national safety authorities to develop innovative approaches to leverage the resources and knowledge of the national regulatory authorities who are currently or will be tasked with the review of new reactor power plant designs.
It was launched in 2006 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the United States and the French Nuclear Safety Authority. The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) acts as the Technical Secretariat for the MDEP. The International Atomic Energy Agency participates in many of the MDEP activities, including the harmonisation efforts.
MDEP is a multinational initiative taken by national safety authorities to develop innovative approaches to leverage the resources and knowledge of the national regulatory authorities who are currently or will be tasked with the review of new reactor power plant designs.
It was launched in 2006 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the United States and the French Nuclear Safety Authority. The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) acts as the Technical Secretariat for the MDEP. The International Atomic Energy Agency participates in many of the MDEP activities, including the harmonisation efforts.
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