New Delhi, February 1 With India’s senior citizen population set to cross the estimated 100-million mark in 2013, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today approved the constitution of the National Council for Senior Citizens to advise the Centre and state governments on issues related to the welfare of this segment.

The council, an offshoot of the 1999 National Policy for Older Persons, which has failed to make much impact on ground, is expected to help the governments implement policies, programmes and legislative measures related to old persons. The PM’s approval comes at a time when evidence is mounting of the elderly being clearly unaware of their rights and entitlements under the law.

A recent survey conducted by HelpAge India revealed that only 18 per cent of the 60-plus people had heard of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, and 11 per cent knew of the 13-year-old National Policy on Older Persons. The survey also found that 55 pc of the older persons still had remittances from children as the major source of income followed by 35 per cent who depended on pensions. Hardly any evidence of constructive engagement of the old came to the fore though proof of their abuse was ample, with daughters-in-law being named as the principal abusers by 63.4 pc elderly.

The newly approved council will be headed by the Social Justice Minister and promises to promote physical and financial security, health and productive living of the elderly. The council would be anchored in the Social Justice Ministry which had proposed it.

The move will determine how well India can use its fast greying population. Projections for 1996-2016 made by the Technical Group on Population Projections have already said that the 60-plus population will cross the 100-million mark in 2013. Projections beyond 2016 made by the United Nations say that India will have 198 million persons over 60 years in 2030 and 326 million in 2050.

In fact, the 25-year period between 1991 and 2016 will witness an increase of 55.4 million 60-plus persons which is nearly the same as the entire population of old persons in 1991.

Further, close to six-tenths of the population in the age group of 60 to 69 years can be expected to be in reasonably good physical and mental health, free of serious disability and capable of leading an active life while one third of the population aged from 70 to 79 years can be expected to be fit. This means avenues have to be made available to engage them constructively.

growing OLD

• India’s old population count set to cross 100-million mark by 2013
• Men outnumber women in India even after 60 yrs of age
• The trend to continue in 2016 when India will house estimated 57 million males and 56 million females over 60 years
• Six-tenths of the population aged between 60 and 69 years will be fit to engage actively

Link Here :

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120202/nation.htm#4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGyJxAKaMQ4&feature=youtu.be

Watch below video to confirm this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isNBBQ2kEVg

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/indian-couples-children-taken-away-by-norway-authorities-160375?pfrom=home-otherstories

B01 – The Book

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEq68TQWquE

The Book

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUjUCeu9u8g                                  Part 1 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI2PlZhHj4g                                  Part 2 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hiNmKl94j4                                  Part 3 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnCUJibycLU                                Part 4 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u3AHJZY-9I                                 Part 5 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-01jhXJmeNY                                Part 6 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs_aHHExCzc                                Part 7 of 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyOTol2GOw0                                Part 8 of 8

Ten men are not chasing a single woman — as was anticipated after the drastic fall in the number of baby girls born over the last decade. The worst-case- scenario painted by the demographers may still be some time away. So far it is the same old wife versus mistress story, retold in the communist yet capitalist Republic of China, where a typical wife in the fastest growing economy is unhappy sharing the wallet of her husband with his mistress. Apart from sharing the conjugal rights! Despite the enviable economic growth achieved by both sexes, the social matrix still seems to be in favour of men — as they continue to enjoy the affections of the two – the wife and the mistress, both vying for the men in power. Keeping mistresses had always been the prerogative of the rich and powerful and China seems to be no exception. The anti-mistress association founded by Liu Zhixian, who failed to persuade her husband to abandon his mistress is now seeking to provide an online platform to other distressed sisters, to share the agonies of wifehood.

The chances of mistresses creating a similar platform may be thin due to social stigma attached to their status. The Chinese sisters would do well if they learnt a thing about Indian law, which, by a recent intervention of the apex court, recognised the live-in relationship as legal and also allowed a woman who has lived in a relationship for a considerable amount of time benefits of maintenance under Section 125 of the Cr P C. After all, in a global village things travel fast, and China is not far.

They may also get some solace from the fact that in India it is not only the weaker sex that suffers from such agonies of spouse betrayal, in a rare example of gender equality this country launched a forum created by harassed husbands, christened hypocritically as ‘Save India Family Foundation’, with branches in 50 cities of 20 states and an enviable following by the battered men. Ms Zhixian and the wives club could also draw some succour from the fact that many American counsellors suggest extra- marital relationship to save a marriage. Their marriage is on solid ground — going by these parameters.

Link Here :

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111026/edit.htm#3

NEW DELHI: A man’s  second marriage cannot be a ground for denying him custody of his child, a Delhi court has said while granting guardianship of a 10-year-old boy to his father who remarried after his wife’s death.

The boy had been living with his maternal grandparents since his mother’s death. Guardian judge  Gautam Manan rejected the grandparents’ contention that it would not be in the child’s interest to live with his stepmother.

“The second marriage of the petitioner cannot be held to be a disability,” the court said, noting that the man’s elder daughter was living with him and being brought up well by her stepmother.

“There is no evidence that the stepmother of the child has maltreated the sister of the minor… (who) is getting a good education,” the judge said, allaying the grandparents’ fears.

‘Dad can impart moral values to child’

The court said the man, a resident of Begumpur in south Delhi, “being the natural father of the minor, is more likely to impart moral and ethical values in the child”. It added the company of the child’s elder sister will be “fruitful” in his growth.

The man, earning Rs 12,000 a month, had approached the court seeking permanent custody of his son, who had been living with his maternal grandparents since he was seven months old.

Agreeing with his arguments, the court said the grandparents themselves were old and had to support their five unmarried children, none of whom had come forward to take responsibility for bringing up the boy.

The court also said the aged couple had failed to demonstrate how they were ensuring the boy got a good education. It said there was a huge age difference between the aged couple and the child, due to which they could face difficulty in taking care of him.

The grandparents have been granted visitation rights to the child twice a month.

Link Here :

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2nd-marriage-no-ground-to-deny-childs-custody-Court/articleshow/10636548.cms

Bridegroom, kin
land in police station
Sushil
Manav/TNS

Fatehabad, October 18
Due to a skewed sex ratio in this part of the country, getting brides for youths has become a tedious job, particularly for those belonging to economically weaker sections and having lesser landholdings.

“Procuring” brides for a premium is common practice in villages and smaller towns due to the availability of a lesser number of girls as compared to the boys.

In one such incident, a quarrel over the payment of an agreed amount to a “go-between” at Ratia town landed the ‘baratis’ as well as the bride in the police station on Sunday, where the matter was resolved after a lot of persuasion by the police.

The incident occurred in a marriage palace on Tohana Road of Ratia town, when the bride refused to go with the bridegroom after the Anand Karaj ceremonies, until his family paid the agreed amount to her widowed mother and a “go-between”, who negotiated the “deal” for the marriage.

The bridegroom’s father, Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Nikuana village of the district, said he had “struck a deal” with a mediator, Gurmeet Singh, for the marriage of his son, Jaskirat Singh, with Komal, daughter of a widow, Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Nehar Colony at Ratia.

He said under the deal, he had agreed to pay Rs 30,000 each to the bride’s mother as well as the mediators, Gurmeet Singh and two others, including a woman.

A quarrel erupted when the bridegroom party tried to leave for their village along with the bride and the mediators refused to allow them to take away the girl till their money was paid.

The mediators took away the car’s ignition key and called the police for intervention in the matter.

Kuldeep Singh said he had already paid Rs 30,000 to the girl’s mother and would pay the mediators’ “fee”, when the girl settled in their house for a few days.

The matter was later resolved in the police station, when the bridegroom’s father, Kuldeep Singh, gave a written undertaking that he would pay the money on October 24, when his family would host a party in the village to celebrate the marriage.

While the incident points towards the difficulties villagers are facing for finding brides for their marriageable youths, it also reveals that in some societies, even a reverse dowry system has started due to scarcity of marriageable girls.

Link Here :

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111019/haryana.htm#10

New Delhi, October 8
Expressing concern over misuse of penal provisions for harassment to women for dowry and subjecting them to cruelty, a Delhi court has counselled women to get out of the sour marital relations rather than being revengeful.

The court’s concern and advice found a place in a ruling by Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau upholding the acquittal of a man and his three family members from the charges of harassing his wife. She expressed concern over the misuse of dowry laws citing a Supreme Court verdict which termed it as “legal terrorism.”

“I may observe that Section 498A (subjecting woman to cruelty) of the IPC in the recent years has become a consummate embodiment of gross human rights violation, extortion and corruption and even the apex court had acknowledged this abuse and termed it as legal terrorism,” ASJ Lau said.

The court counselled women to get out of discordant marital relations, quoting Sahir Ludhianvi.

“Taaruf rog ho jaaye to usko bhoolna behtar; Taalluk bojh ban jaaye to usko todna achcha; Wo afsaana jise anjaam tak laana na ho mumkin; Use ek khoobsoorat mod dekar chhodna achcha,” the court said.

The court gave the order upholding a magisterial court order which acquitted woman’s husband Sanjay Kumar, his father Vijay Kumar, mother Beena Devi and brother Ranjeet of the charges of subjecting his wife to cruelty for dowry. – PTI

Link Here :

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111009/delhi.htm#9

New Delhi, September 29
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) being used in the Indian market could have major health implications for unsuspecting consumers, a significant new study on mercury contained in these energy efficient devices has shown.

Although mercury (a highly toxic heavy metal) is integral to the functioning of CFLs, the fact that Indian laws do not mandate caps on its content in these devices makes them hazardous.

Mercury leak from a broken CFL or an improperly disposed (India has no CFL collection, recycling or disposal rules) lamp could, over a period of time, adversely impact vital human organs like the liver and cause neurological problems; unregulated disposal of mercury from lamps could potentially contaminate the environment and the food chain.

New evidence from the testing of 22 samples of four leading CFL brands in India has now revealed shocking facts — the average mercury content per unit of CFL is 21.21 milligram (mg) in India — four to six times higher than that in the developed world where manufacturers are required to adhere to mandated mercury limits in CFLs and also follow safe technologies which cost more. Back
in India, leading CFL producers, mainly MNCs, are adhering to low cost and old droplet technology which has been phased out in
most of the developed world.

Released in the capital by Toxics Link today, the study titled, “Toxics in that glow”, found 50 per cent of the analysed samples containing average mercury ranging from 12.25 mg to 39.64 mg. This range is much higher than the 3 to 12 mg mercury range in Indian CFLs which the Central Pollution Control Board declared in its report on the subject in 2008.

In the sampled CFLs, the overall range of mercury content was 2.27 mg to 62.56 mg; the latter being extremely unsafe. Compare this with the situation in the west – in the US, members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association voluntarily capped mercury content in CFLs at 4 mg per CFL for units up to 25 watts and 5 mg/CFL for units above 25 watts. In the European Union too, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) law mandates mercury capping at 5 mg/CFL.

But in India, there is no mandatory cap. The study also found the CFLs with the same wattage containing different levels of mercury. The highest mercury content – of 62.56 mg was found in 11 watt CFLs which are most purchased in India.

“Worse still, the Indian manufacturers have been resisting any pressure to follow mandatory mercury caps or recycling regulations. The Indian CFL industry is exploiting the new market opened up by climate change crisis and putting the consumers at risk. The Government is procrastinating on mandating a CFL collection and recycling system. Sadly, business interests are bypassing health concerns,” Ravi Agarwal, Director, Toxics Link said.

At present, the CFL has a market share of 21 pc with over 300 million units annually in India. The average penetration of CFLs in the Indian lighting market has been growing at an annual 36 pc. Moreover, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh having announced the Bachat Lamp Yojana in February 2009 to phase out incandescent lamps altogether, CFL share is set to cross 400 million units annually by 2012.

As the CFL market expands, we must think — where are the unusable and broken CFLs going? Where is their mercury going? Why are manufacturers not investing in new technology?,” Agarwal asks. Toxics Link estimates that 8.5 tonnes of mercury from CFLs and 8 tonnes of mercury from fluorescent lamps are entering the environment in the absence of recycling and safe disposal rules.

The new E-Waste Rules which the government released this May 18 also strangely leave out the lighting industry.

Link Here :

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110930/main5.htm

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111001/edit.htm#3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuxzCVVyPtc&feature=player_detailpage

No matter how old (or young) you are, the only way to stay on top of
your game is to know your risk factors and take the right steps to avoid
problems down the road. Here is everything you need to know to guarantee your
ticker stays stronger longer.

In Your 20s

There is a common problem among men in their twenties: they don’t know
they’re vulnerable Your twenties are the prefect time to establish heart-healthy
diet and exercise habits that’ll extend your expiration date and keep those
extra years healthy and worth living too . That means 30 minutes of aerobic
exercise five times a week and maintaining a normal blood pressure, healthy
weight and lipid profile.

Your 20s Checklist:

l 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five
times a week. Useful hint : bhangra is the best heart healthy aerobic exercise

lAnnual physicals

lEKG

lEchocardiogram if indicated

lBlood pressure: 119/ 79 mm Hg or lower

l Lipid profile: Triglycerides less than
150 mg/dL , LDL between 70 – 100 mg/dL and HDL greater than 40 mg/dL

lFasting blood sugar between 70-100 mg/dl

l Have a hobby / sport which interests you
- this is important for overall health and a good rounding of personality

l Learn yoga – this is one stress buster
which you can continue doing for the rest of your life

In Your 30s

Although most heart conditions are strongly hereditary, they may not manifest
till the 30′s. So along with your standard health check, schedule another
echocardiogram 10 years after the first one (if the first was normal)
-especially if you’re regularly weight lifting, wrestling, playing football,
cricket or participating in any sport with short bursts of activity or have a
profession which entails stress (actually which one doesn’t ? !!). Men older
than 35 should also have an electrocardiogram (EKG), which traces the electrical
waves of the heart every five years.

Your 30s Checklist

l30 minutes of exercise five times a week

lAnnual physicals

lEchocardiogram, 10 years after the first

lBlood pressure: 119/79 mm Hg or lower

l Lipid profile and blood sugar : as
before

It has been seen that happily married couples have a lower incidence of heart
disease – so make sure that you get along well with your spouse! This is also
the time that you should pass on healthy lifestyle habits to your children.

In Your 40s

When you hit 40, your doctor should additionally start monitoring the overall
degree of inflammation within your body with C-reactive protein (CRP) testing.
The higher your CRP level, the higher your risk of cardiovascular disease. But
there’s no need to make an extra appointment for this one-just an additional
tick on the same lab form as the blood test that checks your cholesterol levels
measures CRP levels. The best way to keep CRP levels in check? Regular exercise.

Your 40s Checklist:

l30 minutes of exercise five times a week

lAnnual physicals

l Echocardiogram, 10 years after your last
one

lEKG, 5 years after your last one

l Cholesterol: LDL less than 160 mg/dL and
HDL greater than 40 mg/dL

lBlood pressure: 119/79 mm Hg or lower

l Lipid profile and blood sugar : as
before

l C-reactive protein: Less than 1 mg per
liter

In Your 50s

Fifty is the typical age men develop coronary heart disease. An exercise
stress test — sometimes called a treadmill test, monitors how well your heart
handles work. If this test is positive or if you have symptoms (chest pain) your
doctor may decide on getting an angiogram done.

Your 50s Checklist:

l 30 minutes of exercise five times a week
: less strenuous than before, less of high impact

lAnnual physicals

l Echocardiogram, 10 years after your last
one

lEKG, 5 years after your last one

l Exercise stress test (tread mill test or
TMT)

l Lipid profile and blood sugar : as
before

l C-reactive protein: Less than 1 mg per
liter

l A nuclear perfusion scan and a CT
angiogram in carefully selected cases

Post-retirement

One is still quite young at age 60 years. Physical and mental activity must
continue – though at a slightly more dignified pace – although there are quite a
few ‘elderly’ people I know (including my father ) whose level of enthusiasm and
activity beats most ‘younger’ people like me! Make sure you have some form of
exercise – just a brisk walk for 20 minutes – has heart healthy advantages.

At Any Age

If you experience chest pain or shortness of breath, get to the hospital
right away. These are the two primary symptoms of heart disease and should never
go unchecked. A good percentage of heart attacks can be prevented and the
morbidity and mortality associated with this disease can be greatly reduced by
lifestyle changes, control of the risk factors and surgery where indicated.

The writer is Head, Cardio-Vascular Endovascular & Thoracic Surgery, at
the Christian Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana

Link Here :

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110930/edit.htm#7