Indian women puff their way to the top.

Indian women puff their way to the top 

Kounteya Sinha | TNN August 27 2009, Times of India Bangalore.

New Delhi: Indian women are among the worst in the world when it comes to smoking . According to the latest Tobacco Atlas, the country ranks third in the top 20 female smoking populations across the globe.
Only the US with 2.3 crore female smokers and China with 1.3 crore women smokers are worse off than India in this chart. However, as far as percentage of women smoking is concerned, it is below 20% for India. Among Indias immediate neighbours, only Pakistan figures in this infamous list, but right at the bottom at 20th with around 30 lakh female smokers.
Published by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation, the Atlas makes another serious observation female smokers in India die an average eight years earlier than their nonsmoking peers.
According to the Atlas, about 250 million women in the world are daily smokers 22% being from high resource countries and 9% from low and middle resource countries.  

H1N1 vaccine ready, India napping.

H1N1 vaccine ready, India napping 

August 30 2009, Times of India Bangalore.

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Several countries have booked millions of doses of anti-flu shots. But India is yet to place its first order with any company foreign or local Rupali Mukherjee | TNN
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New Delhi: The first batches of swine flu vaccine rolled out from Baxter Inc labs on Friday but theres little to cheer for India. While the first supplies from Baxter went to the British health network, subsequent batches from Baxter and other pharma companies have been booked by countries such as the US and the UK which are stockpiling the vaccine to ward off a harsher bout of swine flu. 

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While huge quantities 195 million and 90 million doses respectively are going to the US and the UK India is still miles from getting vaccines because the government has not entered into any pre-booking contracts with Novartis , GlaxoSmithKline or any others. More alarmingly, India also may not have its indigenous vaccine ready by February-March next year. 

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Neighbouring China has some 20-odd companies racing to get the vaccine in the market, with Sinovac Biotech perhaps the first company worldwide to complete clinical trials for influenza A vaccine.
The WHO said recently that countries in the northern hemisphere alone had ordered more than one billion doses of swine flu vaccine , sparking warnings about shortages , given the intense demand and production delays.
Developing an anti-flu vaccine (against the H1N1 virus) is the only way to protect people against the disease , which may become severe with the onset of winter and the even more dire possibility of the H1N1 virus mutating. Despite the swine flu touching 90, Indian health authorities have failed to move fast enough.

Giving It Their BEST SHOT
Has booked 195m anti-H 1N1 shots in all. Mass vaccinations to start by mid-October . 45m doses will be available at the start, followed by 20m doses every week

UK:  

Has booked 90m doses. Baxter to supply 30m, has begun delivery to govt

China:
Has booked 10m doses from Sinovac Biotech. Plans to inoculate 50% of urban population

France:
94m doses

Mexico 

40 m doses

India:
Yet to book a single dose. Indian firms unlikely to produce vaccine before May next year . 

UPDATING THIEVES :: Networking sites help burglars home in.

UPDATING THIEVES
Networking sites help burglars home in.

August 30, 2009 , Times of India Bangalore
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Scraps, Tweets Inform Not Only Friends But Also Criminals That Users Are Away On Holiday
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Sydney: Facebook users enthusing about an upcoming holiday or a recently purchased high-tech gadget may not just be telling their friends but also potential burglars, warns an insurance company.
A survey of 2,092 social media users by British-based Legal & General found 38%, or nearly four in ten, of people using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter post details about holiday plans and 33% details of a weekend away.
Coupled with the finding that an alarmingly high proportion of users are prepared to be friends online with people they dont know, this presents a serious risk to the security of peoples home, said the insurer.
In a report called The Digital Criminal, Legal & General said that people used social media sites to connect with people who were essentially strangers , which could provide potential thieves with vital, personal information.
To test how readily people accepted friends online, Legal & Generals survey, conducted by European market researcher Opinion Matters, involved sending out 100 friend or follow requests to strangers selected at random. Of those 13% were accepted on Facebook and 92% on Twitter without any checks.
But despite these new friends, the survey found that 64%, or nearly two-thirds , of 16-24 year olds shared their holiday plans, with younger users the most likely to give away information about their whereabouts.
Men were found to be quite relaxed about giving personal information online, with 13% including their mobile number on their profile compared with 7 % of women. About 9% of men also posted their address compared to 4% of women.
This reaction could result in a complete stranger potentially being able to learn about a persons interests, location and movements in and out of their home, said Legal & General.
Reformed burglar Michael Fraser, who appears in BBCs Beat The Burglar series and helped Legal & General prepare the report, said this kind of information was being used by professional burglars to establish a list of targets.
I call it internet shopping for burglars. It is incredibly easy to use social networking sites to target people, and then scope out more information on their actual home ... all from the comfort of the sofa, said Fraser. REUTERS 

Researchers can detect a lie through handwriting.

Researchers can detect a lie through handwriting.

August 30 2009, Times of India Bangalore
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New York: For years, experts have been trying to crack the code of handwriting characteristics, in order to detect an individuals personality traits, or in most cases, gauge their innocence in the case of a crime.
Now, a team at the University of Haifa has come up with a computerised handwriting tool which it claims can provide ease and increased accuracy over common , verbal-based methods to detect a lie.
Researchers have utilised a computerised tablet that measures the physical properties of the subjects handwriting , which are difficult to consciously control, for examplethe duration of time the pen is on paper versus in the air, length and height and width of each writing stroke, the pressure that is implemented on the writing surface etc.
They have found that these handwriting characteristics differ when an individual is in process of writing deceptive sentences as opposed to truthful sentences.
According to researchers, the handwriting tool has the potential to replace, or work in tandem, with popular, verbal-based lie detection technology such as the polygraph to ensure greater accuracy and objectivity in law enforcement deception detection.
Additionally, polygraphs are often intrusive to the subject and sometimes inconclusive . PTI

Indian natural herb Tulsi to fight back swine flu..

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/242/20090812/1512/tls-indian-natural-herb-tulsi-to-fight-b_1.html

Ayurveda, the traditional 'science of life', has a remedy for diseases when every other stream of medicine fails. Now, at a time when swine flu is spreading like wildfire across the world, Ayurveda has the remedy in the form of the miraculous herb, the basil leaves commonly known as Tulsi.

Tulsi, the purest and most sublime plant, has been known and worshipped in India for more than five millennia for its remarkable healing properties. Considered as an 'Elixir of Life', this wonder herb has now been claimed to keep the deadly swine flu at bay and help fast recovery in afflicted persons.

"The anti-flu property of Tulsi has been discovered by medical experts across the world quite recently. Tulsi improves the body's overall defence mechanism including its ability to fight viral diseases. It was successfully used in combating Japanese Encephalitis and the same theory applies to swine flu," Dr U K Tiwari, a herbal medicine practitioner says.

Apart from acting as a preventive medicine in case of swine flu, Tulsi can help the patient recover faster.

"Even when a person has already contracted swine flu, Tulsi can help in speeding up the recovery process and also help in strengthening the immune system of the body," he claims.

Dr Bhupesh Patel, a lecturer at Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar is also of the view that Tulsi can play an important role in controlling swine flu.

"Tulsi can control swine flu and it should be taken in fresh form. Juice or paste of at least 20-25 medium sized leaves should be consumed twice a day on an empty stomach." This increases the resistance of the body and, thereby, reduces the chances of inviting swine flu," believes Patel.

As its name suggests, Tulsi has again proved to be the 'the incomparable' medicine - this time, in the prevention and cure of swine flu.

The symptoms of the H1N1 flu virus in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with novel H1N1 flu virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting. The high risk groups for novel H1N1 flu are not known at this time, but it's possible that they may be the same as for seasonal influenza. However, Please consult a practitioner in case of any such symptoms. Doctors have strictly advised against self medication.

(With PTI inputs)

Keep Yourself Updated with Rediff SwineFlu Updates..

Link: 

[[[ http://news.rediff.com/news/sflu-2009-commtry.html ]]]

Friends, today's sad news is that Swine Flu had destroyed a total of 17 lives in India... In continuation to my previous post stating how to stay alert and vigil over Swine Flu.. here in this Post i present a Rediff.com's Swine Flu Commentary...  Visit the above mentioned site to keep a record of the deaths and infected people.

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Apart from that stay updated on various areas like:

1.  List of govt hospitals authorised to treat swine flu  
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2. Everything you need to know about swine flu 
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3.  How to prevent getting and spreading H1N1
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4.  Guidelines for schools, colleges and institutions
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5.  More ways to prevent swine flu
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6. List of Isolation facilities
. 
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Link: 

[[[ http://news.rediff.com/news/sflu-2009-commtry.html ]]]

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Stay Healthy, Stay Vigil.

Debaroon Gupta

Blog Admin. 

Swine Flu :: What You should know...

Hello Friends...
Its hardly couple of days and India is already gripped by the infectious palm of Swine Influenza. A death in Pune, then several detected positive of this Virus. Pune, West Bengal, Mangalore and now Gujarat... The Swine Flu's Reign is expanding slowly.. 

Without taking much of your healthy time, Here i am listing out some links which would be helpful for you to understand this epidemic and also to stay away from it.. Do go through and shield yourself of the effects of this flu.

Link 1: World Health Org.: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/ 

Link 2: Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza
Link 2.1: Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic 

Link 3: Rediff.com: http://news.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/aug/07/slide-show-1-faq-on-swine-flu.htm

Link 4: SwineFluIndia: www.swinefluindia.com

Link 5: SwineFlu India: http://www.swineflu.co.in

Link 6: Google Search Results: http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=swine+flu+india&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq= 

Take Care. Take good care of Swine Flu.
- Blog Administrator. 

More.. Indians and H1N1 (Swine Flu).

Govt: Pune girl got H1N1 vaccine late
Kounteya Sinha | TNN | Times of India Bangalore, August 4, 2009

India recorded its first H1N1 case in Hyderabad on May 16 and since then the virus has spread to almost 22 cities across the country. Explaining the series of events that led to the death of the 14-year-old girl from Pune, Maharashtras health secretary Sharvari Gokhale told TOI, On July 21, the girl first showed symptoms. She then consulted a general practitioner and kept attending school till July 23. Two days later, she reported high fever. She was then admitted to Jehangir hospital , a private nursing home on July 27. Her condition worsened following which she was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit and was put on a ventilator on July 29.
On July 31,her throat and nose swab was sent to National Institute of Virology (Pune) which confirmed that she was infected with H1N1.The same day,almost 10 days after her symptoms first appeared, she was administered the first dose of Tamiflu , which was too late, Gokhale said. Inspite of telling people, day in and day out that in case they show symptoms of H1N1, they should immediately report only to stipulated government hospitals, the instructions are not followed. We are sending a team tomorrow to trace all contact cases in the school, Gokhaleadded.
 
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Indian woman dies in Singapore
TNN | Times of India Bangalore, August 4, 2009

A 29-year-old Indian woman suffering from swine flu died in Singapore on Monday, becoming the sixth victim of the dreaded disease in two weeks in the country, according to media reports. The woman had no underlying medical conditions other than being obese. All five others who have so far died had pre-existing illnesses or chronic conditions. TNN 

Indias first swine flu death .. Victim: A 14 Year girl.

Indias first swine flu death   
14-Year-Old Girl From Pune Dies In Tough Battle 
Kounteya Sinha | TNN | Times of India Bangalore, August 4, 2009

New Delhi: India on Monday reported its first death due to H1N1 flu infection, with a 14-year-old-girl from Pune succumbing to the deadly influenza virus. The girl, a student of class IX from St Annes High School, showed symptoms of H1N1 infection sore throat, running nose and headache on July 21. 
 
But a crucial delay in being tested for H1N1 infection and being administered Tamiflu, because she was admitted in a private hospital instead of the stipulated government isolation ward meant for both suspected and confirmed H1N1 patients, may have been the cause of her death. 
Whats bothering the Union health ministry is that the girl had attended school till July 23, raising serious fears that the virus may have jumped to other students and teachers in the school besides everybody she came in contact with from July 20-23 . Shockingly, Lymette Wilson , the schools physical education teacher, said the state health department had not even informed the school that a student was found to be infected with H1N1. This is why the school hasnt started looking for similar H1N1 symptoms in other students till now. The Maharashtra health department is upset with the National Institute of Virology for not informing them that a positive sample was sent to them. 
M S Devnikar, head of Punes Joint Coordination Committee for Containment of H1NI, told TOI: We were not aware that a patient with symptoms of swine flu was admitted to a private hospital.