Polio breakthrough: India marks disease-free year

Way to go, India!
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Posted: 13 January 2012

NEW DELHI - India marked a year since its last new case of polio on Friday, a major milestone in a country once considered the epicentre of the disease and one that gives hope the scourge can be eradicated worldwide.

There were 150,000 cases of the highly contagious virus in India in 1985, but the country has now gone 12 months since discovering a new case - in an 18-month-old girl in the eastern state of West Bengal.

India, which until recently accounted for half of all the polio cases in the world, is one of four countries - with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria - where the disease is still officially endemic.

But if all laboratory tests for the wild polio virus return negative in January, India will follow recent success stories Niger and Egypt and be removed from the endemic list by the World Health Organisation by mid-February.

There was cautious optimism in New Delhi as health workers and the government celebrated the milestone while stressing that the virus - which mainly affects young children and can cause paralysis and deformed legs - could resurface at any time.

"We are excited and hopeful, at the same time, vigilant and alert," Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said in a statement to mark the occasion.

Since the last new case was reported on January 13 last year, another vast effort to immunise children has seen 2.3 million vaccinators travel across India to deliver 900 million doses.

"What India has achieved is reaching a first milestone in a very important process," Lieven Desomer, head of the polio unit at UN children's agency UNICEF in India, told AFP.

"It's not the end of the road, but it's something to be very proud of.

"Achieving this milestone is going to instil confidence in polio eradication efforts globally. If it can be done here, it can be done everywhere."

India will only be judged to have eradicated the disease if it stays polio-free for another two years.

Polio was one of the most feared diseases of the 20th century for children, but it has been successfully controlled through a programme of vaccination in most countries.

UNICEF figures show India, where the crowded and impoverished northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have historically been the hotspots, had 150,000 cases of the disease in 1985.

This had fallen to about 6,000 in 1991, to 741 in 2009 and to just 42 in 2010.

The decline worldwide, through a concerted effort by governments, UN agencies and private donors, has raised hopes polio might go the way of smallpox, the only disease successfully eradicated globally.

"If we can achieve that it will be of great benefit to the children of the world," said Desomer. "But the last bit is the toughest."

The precipitous fall in polio cases in India is attributed by UNICEF to a huge campaign by the Indian government, which is often pilloried by critics for its failure to tackle malnutrition and poor sanitation.

It represents a rare public health success story in a country where four in 10 children under five are underweight due to malnutrition and only a third of people have access to toilets.

"India's success (with polio) is arguably its greatest public health achievement," said World Health Organisation Director-General Margaret Chan.

Desomer estimated the Indian government contribution to polio eradication to be about $2 billion over the last 10-15 years.

The other two important factors in combating the virus were a new, more efficient oral vaccine introduced in 2010 and partnership comprising the government, private donors and UN agencies.

He singled out the Rotary International charity for helping kick-start efforts to eradicate polio in the 1980s, as well as more recent donations from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

- AFP/al


Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Polio breakthrough: India marks disease-free year

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PSLE results show the inner person

Image by goh-wz.livejournal.com via Flickr28-Nov-2011

Last week, specifically 24th November, the results for PSLE was out. The many feelings and emotions. Mixed. Varied. Elation. Depression. Name it, and you have it (or others have it).

One student was very brave and forward-looking, the kind of spirit that can survive crises. Although the result indicated failure, the child did not - and was looking forward to making good the next time around.

And many posted their numbers and categories at Facebook.

And their arrogance!

Well, I was keeping my quiet, and my wife and I, we were discussing how some achieved, and some others simply failed.

A remark said on one’s result: “Mana!” (Genetics!)

It was proven come Sunday school class. Whatever triggered the discussion, each one who took the PSLE told of their score in class. And surprisingly (or should I say NOT surprisingly), one boy said out loud, “I got 2xx and the highest in my class is 2xx!”

The figure is the same, so you know what the boy was telling.

Everybody was quiet, until another boy said, “Don’t boast lah!”

And everyone in the class LOL!

Later at home evening time, my daughter told about that incident, and we were all laughing. I was telling her, you should have answered back, “That score is the lowest in our school!”. Okay, okay, that is just an exaggeration, but it is a way to slap the arrogant person, figuratively…

My wife relayed that incident later on to another church mate, and the reply was, “The father is known for that same mark – arrogance.”

So the remark is correct: “Mana talaga!” (Really genetics!).

And these are the kind of leaders we elect… I’m just glad that I had no participation whatsoever in the election…

May God forgive me for being arrogant myself… sometimes… I mean, you don’t have to be the one telling how great you are – wait for others to do that, especially the Lord.

Ps 75:5: God is the judge. He decides who will be important. He lifts one person up and brings another down.

Jer 9:24: but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

 

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Encephalitis in India kills 430

This is a late post, and just chronicling...
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Posted: 16 October 2011

NEW DELHI: At least 430 people, mainly children, have died from an outbreak of encephalitis in a deeply neglected region of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Saturday.

K.P. Kushwaha, chief paediatrician at the BRD Medical College in the state's hardest-hit Gorakhpur district, said it was one of the worst outbreaks of encephalitis in the impoverished region, which borders Nepal.

"The situation is grim and the epidemic is worse than previous years and with so many patients there are no empty beds at the hospital," Khuswaha said.

"We count such cases since January but most of these casualties have occurred since July."

He said more than 2,400 patients have been admitted to government hospitals in the region so far this year of which at least 430 have died.

"Until Saturday, 336 children and 94 adults have died," Kushwaha told AFP by telephone from the overcrowded hospital where patients were lying two to a bed.

He said 262 patients were undergoing treatment in the state-run facility.

"Everyday between 30 and 40 patients are being brought in for treatment," he said.

Some 215 people, a majority of them children, succumbed to encephalitis in Gorakhpur last year while the death toll from the disease in 2005 was more than 1,400 in Uttar Pradesh.

Eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh are ravaged by encephalitis each year as malnourished children succumb to the virus, officials say.

Encephalitis causes brain inflammation and can result in brain damage. Symptoms include headaches, seizures and fever.

Health experts say 70 million children nationwide are at risk of encephalitis.

Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, has been struggling for years with an encephalitis prevention programme, vaccinating millions of children against the virus.

- AFP/wk


Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Encephalitis in India kills 430

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A bovine blunder on Twitter

Image via Wikipedia

Some lines just can't be crossed… if you do, you'll pay the price…

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MINISTER 'S GAFFE

India's Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor. AFP

NEW DELHI - A row about Twitter went to the top of India's ruling party yesterday, when an Internet-savvy junior minister who made a joke about "holy cow" politicians was called to explain himself.

The Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor (picture), a former United Nations communications chief believed to be the only Twittering minister, held a meeting with Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi about the controversy.

Some news reports suggested he might even lose his job, though television station IBN-CNN said that Mrs Gandhi had "pulled him up" over the issue.

Mr Tharoor has been caught up in a row about austerity measures in the government that saw ministers taking economy-class air travel.

Asked on Twitter if he was travelling economy on a trip to the southern state of Kerala, he replied: "Absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!"

Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India and Mr Tharoor faced resignation calls from the opposition and the Congress chief minister of the large state of Rajasthan.

Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was asked to comment on the row, called the remark a "joke" on Monday.

Mr Tharoor made no comment to reporters as he left the meeting with Mrs Gandhi, but the lesson appears to have been learnt in a country where social media such as Twitter are taking off - albeit slowly - in the political class.

On Sept 17 he tweeted: "I now realise I should not assume people will appreciate humour and you shouldn't give those who would wilfully distort your words an opportunity to do so (sic)." AFP

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 23-Sep-2009

Monkey Theory

If you have difficulty understanding the current world financial situation, the following should help...

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Once upon a time in a village in India , a man announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10.

The villagers seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their efforts. The man further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to $25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as buyer, on his behalf.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when he returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50.'

The villagers squeezed together their savings and bought all the monkeys.

Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!

Welcome to WALL STREET.

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India enters deflation as economy slows

Posted: 18 June 2009 1510 hrs

A spice market in Mumbai

NEW DELHI: India's annual inflation rate slipped into negative territory, official data showed on Thursday, with the slowing economy cutting into demand.

Inflation stood at minus 1.61 per cent for the week ended June 6, down from 0.13 per cent the previous week, according to the Wholesale Price Index, India's most watched cost-of-living measure.

Less than a year ago, inflation in India touched dizzying 13-year highs, but a period of deflation had been expected as rates tumbled, reflecting slackening growth in Asia's third-largest economy.

Deflation – in which falling prices prompt consumers to delay buying, deepening a downturn – has become a growing concern across the globe as demand for goods has dried up.

India's inflation crash was a symptom "of a deeper malaise" with an "adverse environment" for jobs, salaries and business, prompting a fall in prices, HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua said earlier this year.

The country's inflation rate has tumbled from 12.91 per cent last August also partly because of a dive in the global price of oil and other commodities.

- AFP/so

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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Redefining leadership

Zul Othman

As one of the first books to collectively address the challenges faced by many multinational companies in their Asia-Pacific operations, Redefining Leadership is - in a word - insightful.

There is no greater risk or reward than leading a team across borders to do business. Authors Gerry Davis and Stephen Langton - seasoned business consultants - are well aware of this.

They say there is no magic formula for success in the fast-changing Asia-Pacific region. But to thrive, firms have to be culturally sensitive while working with the same multinational mindset of their executives. This is increasingly important, the writers argue, as international barriers to workforce mobility decline and the net to catch outstanding employees is spread across national borders.

One way to increase productivity is through constant dialogue. Reviews of executive practices need to be done regularly to stay competitive.

And bosses should not be tyrants in the process. "Keep your mind clearly focused on the future for your people," say the authors. "Offer them the opportunity to clean up for themselves. Forgive those who falter initially. They are probably doing the best they can". The same also applies when companies hand out promotions.

It is an often repeated mantra but the writers note that a happy worker is a productive one.

Messrs Davis and Langton write: "Ensure open communication. Honestly address concerns. Being open and transparent will go a long way toward bringing issues into the open and retaining people".

Also included in the book are insights into regional markets - such as the growing domestic and international economic might of China and India.

"Asian business is coming of age at a time when technology and globalisation are rewriting the rules for 21st century businesses," say Davis and Langton.

From TODAY, Business –Monday, 15-Jun-2009

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Wal-Mart says to launch India store on Saturday

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

It would seem that despite the worldwide recession where everybody is affected, Wal-Mart defies the world trend by being able to stand tall – and expanding at that!

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Reuters - Thursday, May 28

NEW DELHI, May 28 - Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it would open its first cash-and-carry store in India on Saturday in the northern city of Amritsar.

Bharti Wal-Mart, the joint venture between the American retailer and India's Bharti Enterprises, was scheduled to launch the store on Tuesday but had deferred following riots in the Punjab state related to an attack on a Sikh temple in the Austrian capital Vienna. [ID:nLP30824]

The store, named Best Price Modern Wholesale, will be the first of between 10 and 15 planned wholesale facilities in India, measuring about 50,000-100,000 sq ft each, and employing about 5,000 people over the next seven years.

The entry of multinational retailers into India's fragmented and tightly controlled retail industry is mired in controversy, and Wal-Mart's entry is seen as a sign of foreign investors' confidence in the country after the ruling coalition was re-elected two weeks ago.

India's retail industry, currently estimated at $500 billion, is seen rising to more than $800 billion by 2013 but less than 5 percent of the market is in the hands of modern retailers.

From Yahoo! News; see the source article here.

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India Business Checklists: An Essential Guide to Doing Business

BRAIN FOOD

Rupa K Bose

 

With a population of over a billion, India is one of the world’s largest markets. In recent years, its economy has been expanding at a rate of 6 to 8 per cent annually and companies are rushing in to tap this growth.

But for foreigners unfamiliar with its culture and federal system, doing business in India presents many obstacles.

Not to worry. Help comes in the form of a new book published by John Wiley and Sons (Asia) and written by international business consultant Rupa K Bose.

An easily accessible and practical guide, the book starts by introducing the reader to India’s history and culture and shows how its financial system evolved.

Targeted at the busy expatriate professional who may otherwise be floored by the complexity of doing business in India, the book takes the reader through the process of setting up a business, such as getting the needed documents, approaching the relevant authorities, meeting regulatory requirements and as well as observing proper etiquette.

Also included are travel tips, climate information as well as a list of holidays.

And for those looking to live in India for an extended period, the book provides practical advice such as getting student visas for their children and the need for a backup electricity system because of the frequent power outages.

Case studies of multinational companies, such as Coca-Cola, that have set up offices in India, are also provided to give detailed real-life examples of the issues involved in doing business in the country.

With its extensive explanation of all aspects of doing business in India in short, easy-to-read chapters, the book is an essential resource for foreigners looking to take part in the country’s growth.

ONG DAI LIN

From TODAY, Succeed – Monday, 20-April-2009