105 child malnutrition deaths from April-June in Melghat

AMRAVATI: The Melghat region of Vidarbha is presently a picture of despair and what sounds a discordant note is the cries of kid dying due of malnutrition. A total 105 infants have died between April and June 2009 in Melghat.

Despite efforts by the government and non-government agencies and after spending a large amount of money, the infant deaths in this tribal region are unabated. Health department sources said that about 69 children are reported to be in stage IV of malnutrition in Chilkhaldhara and Dharni tehsils of Melghat region.

Sources said over Rs 80 crore have been spent on various schemes implemented in the region but results are far from satisfactory. In 2007-08, till July 15,2007, 102 children died of malnutrition, the figure till July 15 2008 was 95. MLA Rajkumar Patel told TOI said that there are many schemes for tribal welfare but these do not reach them.

Staff crunch in PHCs, sub district hospitals has hit the health care machinery. District administration officials however blame the lack of awareness and illiteracy among tribals as reasons for high child mortality rate. Health department sources said that tribals are unwilling to shed old beliefs and prefer that the women deliver at home only. Bandu Sane, president, Khoj, an NGO, told TOI that the administration is not sensitive towards the tribals problem.

“Though it is mandatory to appoint pediatrician and gynaecologist in all 11 PHCs in Melghat on a permanent basis but only three pediatricians, one gynaecologist have been appointed and that too for only amonth. As per a GR children in stage III and IV of malnutrition should be admitted to hospitals, but this is not the case,” he alleged.

ZP CEO Omprakash Bakoriya said, “Child marriage is rampant and as girls become mothers at a very young age. The infants are often weak making them vulnerable to various diseases. All infant deaths reported are not malnutrition deaths,” Bakoriya maintained. All 105 deaths of children in age group of 0-6 are not due to malnutrition but children fail pray to the various diseases like hypoglycemia, hypothermia, pneumonia, neonatal sepsis, premature babies etc, health department sources said.

TOI

Tirupati's Lord Venkateswara weighed down by crowns

TIRUPATI: To paraphrase the bard, ‘Heavy lies the head that wears too many crowns.’ This is the predicament of Lord Venkateswara, the reigning deity of Tirumala, who is weighed down by the heavy crowns donated by his rich devotees. Though a case of too much of a good thing, it’s creating a headache for the priests who are worried about the safety of the Lord.

Consider this. Not less than seven magnificent crowns make up for the jewellery kitty of Lord Venkateswara, including 11 tonnes of gold, ornaments and other precious jewels. But, what is bothering the priests and Vedic pundits is the overweight of the offerings, particularly the crowns.

A temple priest said the 8-ft Moola Viraat (the principal idol of the Lord) is adorned by not less than 60-70 kg of gold ornaments on any given day. “If the crown itself weighs over 30 kg, the chances are that cracks may develop on the presiding deity’s idol,” he said. Exacerbating the situation, temple authorities are also running out of stock of punugu (civet) and chandana (sandal) which prevent the cankers and give life to the Lord’s idol.

To lighten the burden on the Lord’s head, a priest suggested that instead of going for record-breaking crown offerings, devotees should think of donating jewels. “It’s not easy for a single priest to hold the heavy crown and place it on the Lord’s head. Lest something happens, it will hurt the sentiments of lakhs of devotees,” he pointed out.

In fact, the heavy crown headache has a past. A retired TTD official revealed that they had to remodel a “vajra kireetam” (diamond-studded crown) in 1986 to protect the deity. “The crown’s weight was around 20 kg which we thought would be a heavy burden on the Lord and reduced it to 13 kg,” he said.

He felt the devasthanams should issue an universal appeal to the devotees not to donate heavy crowns made up of gold, diamonds and precious jewels.

Even as TTD mandarins were gloating over the rich offer from an anonymous devotee from Chennai who donated a 20-kg, Rs 7.5 crore worth “vajra kireetam” sometime back, came the heaviest of them all when mining baron and Karnataka tourism minister Gali Janardhan Reddy donated a crown worth over Rs 42 crore made out of 34 kg of pure gold, studded with 70,000 diamonds and a 890-carat emerald in June this year.

TOI

Azad warns against excessive use of cell phones

NEW DELHI: How addicted are you to your cell phone? According to the health ministry's admission on Wednesday, talking for too long on a cell phone could be seriously affecting your health.

Quoting a small-scale PGI Chandigarh study, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday that sensorineural deafness could occur in 30% of people using mobile phones for more than two hours a day over a two-year period.

Azad said people should not talk on their mobile phone continuously for more than one hour a day.

According to Azad, the use of hands free technology could reduce the side effects of excessive use of mobile phone on users, including hearing defects. "In a research study done in PGI, excessive use of mobile phones was found to cause deficient hearing and tinnitus (ringing in the ears)," Azad said.

Meanwhile, the ministry's admission should finally be able to make the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sit up and approve the proposal to conduct a large study to gauge the exact effect cell phone use has on human health.

ICMR has been sitting on the proposal to study the effects of radio frequency radiation (RFR) from mobile phones on humans for over a year now.

Indian scientists had found during animal studies that radiation emitted from mobile phones caused DNA damage, low sperm count leading to infertility and reduction in testis size in rats.

ICMR DG Dr V M Katoch told TOI on Wednesday, "The project protocol has been sanctioned. Discussion on how much money will be allocated to the study is also in its final stages. The study should start soon."

To be spearheaded by the ICMR, the five-year study is to be conducted by JNU's School of Environmental Sciences and the departments of obstetrics and gynaecology, neurology and biochemistry of AIIMS.

The study will look at the effect RFD has on neurological disorders like cognitive function and cognitive impairment, depression and sleep related disorders.

Scientists will look at whether excessive mobile phone use changes the white matter of the brain and causes physiological abnormalities. The team will also study RFD's effect on reproductive health like menstrual cycle, hormonal changes in women, its effect on male reproductive functions and whether it causes abnormalities in the male reproductive tract.

The study will recruit 4,000 subjects, who will be divided into five groups —heavy exposure male group (1,000 men who talk on the mobile phone for more than 4 hours a day), moderate exposure male group (1,000 men who speak for more than 2 hours and less than 4 hours), control group (1,000 men who don't use a cell phone), 500 heavily exposed females and 500 female control group.

Speaking to TOI, an ICMR scientist said, "We will calculate the specific absorption rate (SAR) — how much RFD is absorbed by our body when we speak on the cell phone — and the power density — power generated by the phone both inside and outside our head when we talk. This will help us quantify the magnitude of damage caused by radiation. We will also measure the wave length and frequency of RFD emitted from various types of cell phones used in India."

At preset, India has 391 million cell phone users. By the end of 2010, India is estimated to have 500 million cell phone users.

TOI

State can’t fund pilgrimages: High Court

HYDERABAD: Just two months before the Haj season is to begin, a verdict of the AP High Court on Wednesday, which held that the state cannot fund any
pilgrimages, sent the YSR government into a tizzy.

Responding to two PILs challenging the government’s order allocating Rs 2 crore for Christians to undertake a pilgrimage to holy sites including Jerusalem, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Anil Ramesh Dave and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan set aside the GO No 29 issued on July 21, 2008. While petitioners Satish Agarwal and G Raghava Reddy wanted the GO to be quashed on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, the second PIL wanted similar facilities to be extended to Hindus going on a pilgrimage to Mansarovar, etc.

The bench, however, made it clear that though the petitioners questioned only the state sponsorship of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, their order was not limited to it. “Our order covers every religion. We will not allow the tax-payers money to be spent on such activities,” the Bench ruled.

Legal sources told TOI that this order would jeopardise AP’s Haj plans. In fact, after the Bench gave its verdict, additional advocate general A Satya Prasad had submitted to the court that Haj falls within the purview of the Haj Committee Act 2002, which is a central Act. “Hence, the court cannot pass an order without hearing the Centre on the issue,” he said. However, the Bench said it would consider this matter during further hearings.

For this year’s Haj, the state has been allotted a quota of 6,222 pilgrims with another 150 on the waiting list. Some lawyers were of the view that the HC order would not affect the Haj. “The subsidy given for the pilgrimage to Mecca is a central subject and therefore it cannot be affected,” said Shafeeq Rahman Mahajir, a lawyer specialising on minority issues. The Centre spends about Rs 400 crore every year on pilgrims going on Haj from India.

But, state government legal sources said the HC order had wider ramifications. “While the state does not directly fund the Haj as such, it shortlists the pilgrims every year, and looks after all their arrangements including their boarding and lodging at the Haj House in Hyderabad. The state spends up to Rs 50 lakh every year in providing these facilities. Now, as per the HC order, we will not be able to do it,” said sources.

Realising the gravity of the issue, the government sought a written copy of the order by Wednesday evening itself so that it can mull further action, including going in for an immediate appeal in the Supreme Court. “However, the court informed us that the order will be ready only by tomorrow evening or the day after,” Satya Prasad said.

TOI