The Shiv Sena on Monday appealed to the BJP-led government to save the life of social activist Anna Hazare whose hunger strike entered its sixth day.
The 81-year-old anti-graft crusader has been on hunger strike in his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar, over 240 kilometres from here, since Wednesday.
Hazare, the face of the Lokpal movement, has been demanding the appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers’ issue.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, the Sena said, “Anna faces criticism for being adamant and stubborn. It is said to be the trait of selfless people. Similar characteristics are found in Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well, but it is portrayed as his greatness,”
In its editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Monday, the Sena said, “First you should save Anna’s life and then we can see what is to be done later.”
“If the government is wishful of Anna losing his life in this battle, then it is a sign of the state’s culture getting morbid,” the Sena editorial alleged.
It also hit out at the Union government for the PMO’s letter to the Gandhian which his supporters claimed was “terse” and amounted to giving him the cold shoulder.
“Your letter was received, thank you and best wishes”, read the letter, purportedly sent by the PMO, which was shown to some reporters by an aide of Hazare on February 2.
“His fast is for the Lokpal, appointment of Lokayukta and farmers’ issues and the Prime Minister has sent a letter wishing him luck for his fast unto death,” the Sena editorial claimed.
The BJP’s ally in the Maharashtra and Union government also alleged that the ruling dispensation had “managed” the media at the national level to ensure coverage of Hazare’s stir was kept at a “low level”.
“If Anna’s agitation spreads across the country like last time, then there will be chaos in the country. The government is trying to keeping the coverage at a low level,” Sena alleged.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India has declined 11 per cent to $22.66 billion during April-September period of the current fiscal, according to commerce and industry ministry data.
The foreign fund inflows during April-September 2017-18 stood at USD 25.35 billion.
Key sectors that received maximum foreign investment during the first six months of the fiscal include services ($4.91 billion), computer software and hardware (USD 2.54 billion), telecommunications ($2.17 billion), trading ($2.14 billion), chemicals ($1.6 billion), and automobile industry ($1.59 billion).
Singapore was the largest source of FDI during April-September 2018-19 with $8.62 billion inflow, followed by Mauritius ($3.88 billion), the Netherlands ($2.31 billion), Japan ($1.88 billion), the US ($970 million), and UK ($845 million).
FDI had increased at a five-year low growth of 3 per cent at $44.85 billion in 2017-18.
A decline in foreign inflows could put pressure on the country’s balance of payments and may also impact the value of the rupee.
Union minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar on Monday claimed that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on a dharna to save herself from the CBI. Banerjee began her sit-in protest at a city landmark on Sunday night over the CBI’s attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, insisting it stifled the spirit of “Constitution and federalism”.
In a dramatic showdown with the Modi government, the furious Trinamool Congress chief began a sit-in right in front of the Metro Cinema to protest “insults” she faced at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, hours after a CBI team that had gone to question Kumar was detained in a rare face-off between the police establishments of the Centre and the state.
The West Bengal chief minister had on Sunday said that she would not attend the presentation of the state Budget at the state Assembly on Monday and described the evolving situation an “emergency”. Hitting back, Javadekar, at a press conference said, “This is not Narendra Modi’s emergency but Mamata Banerjee’s emergency in Bengal. She is on dharna to save herself from the CBI.”
The Union HRD minister claimed that constitutional order has completely broken down in the state, but stopped short of demanding imposition of President’s rule in West Bengal.
“We would say both law and order and Constitutional order has completely broken down in the state,” Javadekar said. On whether the BJP would demand imposition of President’s rule in the state, he said, “We won’t say anything as of now.
French auto major Renault on Monday launched a new range of its entry-level small car Kwid equipped with enhanced safety features in India in the price bracket of Rs 2.67-4.63 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The new Kwid range will be available in both 0.8 litre and 1 litre petrol engines in manual and automated transmission options, Renault India said in a statement.
It complies with advanced safety regulations, including pedestrian safety and is now equipped with other features such as anti-lock braking system with electronic brakeforce distribution (ABS with EBD). Other features include driver airbag and driver and co-driver seat belt reminder and speed alert as standard across all variants.
Besides, the new range is equipped with a 17.64 cm touchscreen media and navigation system with capacitive touchscreen, which is compatible with both Android and Apple Carplay with ‘push to talk’ feature, the company said.
The Kwid has been one of the most successful models for Renualt in India selling more than 2.75 lakh units.
Maharashtra cabinet on Monday approved the centre’s scheme of 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker section among the general category in government jobs and educational institutions across the state.
With this, Maharashtra has become seventh state after Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam to have approved the bill to implement the reservation.
The Parliament recently passed the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, approving a 10 per cent reservation for economically backward upper castes in government jobs.
The Maharashtra state Assembly, in November, had passed a Bill proposing 16 per cent reservation under Socially and Educationally Backward Class, paving way for reservation to Marathas in the state.
Former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) supremo HD Deve Gowda on Monday said that the mega-showdown in Kolkata where CBI went to arrest the city’s police commissioner Rajeev Kumar is a “misuse” of the central investigative agency and termed the development as much worse than the Emergency period.
In a scathing attack, Gowda asserted that the events which followed after the unprecedented development showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “overacted by using the CBI”, which in turn will not help him for gaining political benefits.
“CBI went to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner yesterday, this is a misuse of CBI. It is much worse than Emergency. The way the events have unfolded (in West Bengal) since last night shows the Prime Minister has overacted by using the CBI. This won’t help him,” he told agencies.
Echoing similar resonance, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that the country is in danger of becoming dictatorial.
“Her (Mamata Banerjee) allegation is right. This country is in danger as it is becoming dictatorial. They (Central government) are not masters of this country, people are,” he told reporters in the national capital.
Mehbooba Mufti, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and PDP chief, also expressed her disapproval to the move, saying: “It is unfortunate that institutions like the CBI are used to settle personal political scores. Earlier, we saw what happened in the cases of Akhilesh (Yadav) and Mayawati. We, in Jammu and Kashmir, have an experience of NIA. In the current crisis, my party and I are with Mamata Ji. If these things continue, it will have an impact on the fine balance of Center-State relationship in our federal structure.”
Amidst high political drama in West Bengal, Chief Minister Banerjee, who is currently on her ‘Save the Constitution’ dharna, said that a memorandum has been signed by all the opposition parties which will be submitted to the Election Commission later in the day.
The dharna began on Sunday night after a CBI team moved to arrest the state police commissioner. They were denied entry to Kolkata Police chief’s residence, following which five CBI officers were detained by the police. The officials were released later.
A 1989-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, Kumar was heading a SIT on the Saradha and Rose Valley scams. The CBI wanted the top officer to hand over the seizure list made during his probe, sources said.
Reportedly, the top cop was to be questioned regarding missing documents and files but was not responding to notices to appear before the agency.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court warned of strong action if the Kolkata Police Commissioner was found “even remotely thinking of destroying” evidence in the Saradha chit fund scam as the Centre moved the top court for arresting him. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will hear the matter tomorrow.
While the BJP-led central government accused Banerjee of not allowing CBI to function independently in the state, a number of opposition leaders including, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Yadav, his son Tejashwi Yadav, National Conference chief Omar Abdullah, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, among others have expressed solidarity with the West Bengal Chief Minister.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also hit out at the BJP, accusing the party of misusing CBI to silence its political opponents ahead of the general elections.
He further extended his support to Banerjee’s dharna, saying that his party is with the TMC supremo.
“With the elections nearing, BJP is misusing CBI. It is not just I or SP saying this, the entire Opposition is saying it. BJP’s roots have not reached West Bengal yet. They are deliberately doing this,” Akhilesh told reporters in Lucknow.
Hitting out at state chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s ‘thokna’ remark, the SP chief asserted that such language is used only by the BJP.
“Look at Yogi ji, he said in the Legislative Assembly ‘I will shoot down all opposition leaders’. This type of language is used by the BJP. Why they cannot debate on unemployment and inflation instead? They are using CBI to silence the Opposition. Does this happen in a democracy?” Akhilesh added.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut also said that if a Chief Minister was sitting on a ‘dharna’, then it was a “serious matter”.
“If a Chief Minister of a big state as West Bengal is sitting on a dharna, then it is a serious matter. Is this CBI vs Mamata Banerjee or Mamata Banerjee vs BJP, we will find out soon. If CBI is being misused, it is a matter of dignity of the nation and prestige of the agency,” Raut told agencies in Delhi.
Today most people are aware that oils & fats create blockages in our heart. We also keep hearing words like trans fats (TFA), saturated oils, unsaturated oils, monounsaturated oil, hydrogenated fats (vanaspati), lipids, cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDL) or “bad”, cholesterol, High-density lipoproteins (HDL) or “good” cholesterol, very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), triglycerides (TG or TRIG), essential fatty acids, etc., with little or no understanding from all and sundry.
Oil manufacturing companies to sell their produce join the clutter with their misleading advertisements claiming that their product is superior to all others available in the market enticing all of us to consume more and more oils and fats. Medical experts, researchers, nutritionists, keep professing their opinions basing it on the latest research papers that crop up on a regular basis completing the confusion on consumers. This paper will try explaining these medical terms in an easy to understand simple language enabling us to take an informed decision.
The foods that we consume contain oils and fats. Oils and fats, in turn, have cholesterol, triglycerides, and trans fats. Excess cholesterol in our blood leads to the formation of blockages in coronary arteries. Cholesterol, triglycerides that are present in oils and fat, combine with proteins in our body during our metabolism and form LDL, HDL, and VLDL. It is important to note that none of our foodstuffs, including oils and fats, contains LDL, HDL, or VLDL.
CHOLESTEROL
Chemically cholesterol is a long chain fatty acid and plays a very significant role in heart ailments. Excess cholesterol in blood builds up the walls of our arteries causing atherosclerosis Cholesterol buildup makes the arteries narrow, blocking the blood flow to the heart muscles eventually leading to heart disease. A normal individual has 130-200 mg of cholesterol per 100 ml of blood serum. Cholesterol increase in our blood serum is mainly due to two reasons. One is through food intake and the other due to its formation in our liver during metabolism. Animal food like meat, fish, eggs, milk, and milk products largely contribute our cholesterol intake.
Vegetables and plant products do not contain cholesterol they are all cholesterol free. Only animal products contain cholesterol. This point is very important to remember as some vegetable oil and non-animal or plant produce manufacturers highlight the absence of cholesterol in their product as a unique selling point (USP) to make higher sales. This ‘zero cholesterol’ promotion by unscrupulous food product manufacturers is only to mislead the consumer to consume more and more of the product they market.
Indiscriminate vegetable oil consumption may not lead to increased cholesterol levels in blood serum, but it can surely increase triglyceride content in blood serum to unacceptable levels. Likewise, nuts like almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts, and groundnuts may be free of cholesterol however, they are loaded with triglycerides.
Avoiding animal foods is one the best ways to prevent excess cholesterol in our blood serum. In the case of vegetarians 70 per cent to 80 per cent, of their body cholesterol requirement is from liver manufacturing and the remaining is due to intake of milk and milk products. Consuming skimmed milk is one simple option to reduce cholesterol intake for vegetarians.
Cholesterol is a waxy substance present in our body cells, that is required by our body to make Vitamin D, hormones, etc., and help in the digestion of food. Cholesterol plays a major role in producing body hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, aldosterone, and cortisone. Cholesterol helps the body in producing vitamin D when sun rays fall on our skin surface. Cholesterol produces bile acids, aiding digestion, help absorption of vitamins, in the creation and maintenance of human cell membrane.
The human liver manufactures cholesterol from oils, fats and other foods we consume. The liver produces cholesterol, as much as necessary by our body. However, in some persons, the liver produces cholesterol in much excess. Although the exact reasons for this are unknown, it could also be due to their family genes. Thus, people not consuming any animal product may still have high cholesterol content in their blood and end up in the high-risk category for getting heart disease. In all these cases, an overworking liver is a culprit. Proper control and medication will only be able to keep check of excessive cholesterol levels in the blood.
WHY EXCESS CHOLESTEROL AND TRIGLYCERIDES ARE HARMFUL TO HEART?
Excess lipids like cholesterol, triglycerides, and their sub-products namely LDL & VDL over a period of 20-50 years, deposit on the inner arterial wall of the heart causing Atherosclerosis. This process starts with the White Blood Corpuscles (WBC) in our blood mistaking the various above lipids to be foreign bodies attacking and taking them inside their cell structure. Slowly excess fat keeps increasing within these WBC, forming foam cells, which then sticks to the wall of the heart blood vessels creating blockages. When foam cells lead to more than 80% blockages we call this condition as Angina. When these blockages break the covering membrane, it forms a clot leading to heart attacks.
Dr. Sitaram Dixit
(The author of the article is the Chairman of CGSI.)
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
MNS chief Raj Thackeray and noted water conservationist Rajendra Singh on Monday met social activist Anna Hazare, who has been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike over his demand for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
On the sixth day of Hazare’s fast, Thackeray met the 81-year-old anti-graft crusader at his protest site in Ralegan Siddhi village of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra and extended his full support to his agitation and asked him not to sacrifice his life for the “useless” government.
He asked Hazare to end his protest and conduct a joint tour of the state with him to “bury” the BJP-led government. The MNS leader and Hazare held a closed door meeting at a room in the Yadavbaba temple premises for around 20 minutes. After the meeting, Thackeray addressed the gathering at Hazare’s protest site and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “cheating” the nation and not following his party’s own poll manifesto. He quoted some tweets and speeches of Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign in which, Thackeray said, “the prime minister had praised Hazare for his honesty and moral attitude. I have appealed Anna not to sacrifice his life for these useless people. I have also asked him not to trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi and any of his promises.”
Thackeray claimed that Modi had on December 18, 2013 tweeted in favour of the Lokpal Bill. “Now, almost five years of the Modi government is completed but no action has been taken so far. Today, the people in power are there because of Anna’s agitation in 2013. They should not forget it,” he said.
Thackeray said that he was surprised that even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was part of Hazare’s agitation some years back and came into national limelight from there, had not visited the activist or enquired about his health. The entire country got to know Kejriwal because of Anna’s agitation. Now, he (Kejriwal) is in power and not showing concern towards Anna’s health.
The MNS leader said that he had told Hazare that they are “dishonest” people. “You should quit the fast and we will jointly tour the state and bury this government. My party is extending support to Anna’s cause,” Thackeray said.
Hazare has been on a hunger strike since last on Wednesday, demanding appointment of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states where such statutory anti-corruption watchdogs do not exist, and resolution of farmers’ issues.
He has also been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides electoral reforms. Earlier in the morning, water activist Rajendra Singh also met Hazare and expressed concern over the activist’s health. Singh along with some social activists discussed the issues plaguing the farmers and “flaws” in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act-2013.
After the meeting, Singh said the central government will play the same “game” which it had played with activist G D Agarwal, who had sat on a huge protest in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand in support of his demand for a clean Ganga river last year and later died.
He extended his support to Hazare and his agitation and said that some NGOs would also be joining his protest in a day or two, as everybody has realised the “insensitivity and cruelty” of the Modi government. Singh, known as the ‘Waterman of India’, is credited with reviving rivers in his home state of Rajasthan and was conferred the Stockholm Water Prize for his work in 2015. He had also won the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra, had on Sunday extended his support to Hazare, urging him to emulate socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and lead an agitation against corruption. Hazare had earlier warned that if the Modi government did not fulfil its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan award.
With the blossoming of electronic communication tools and platforms, news organisations have discovered a plethora of new opportunities in information delivery, as well as the challenge of interweaving data privacy and security with innovation.
This era of aggressive digital evolution has made data one of the most valuable commodities in existence today, leading to a renewed focus on collecting, processing, and using the information to curate targeted content specific to each and every consumer. As a result, the ability to strike a careful balance between transparency, privacy, and security, while utilising the immense potential of data and technology, assisted by intelligent innovation, is what will set apart a news organisation in this brilliant new age of possibilities.
The recent spurt in the number of mediums available to broadcast news also sheds light on the need for collaborations and the incredible opportunities they present. Several forms of information delivery besides the traditional article format, such as videos, slideshows, podcasts, map mashups, VR-modules, and the like, now exist, which completely redefine the experience of the end user, providing a more interactive experience. Furthermore, cloud-based voice services are able to read out news to the consumer, running entirely on voice commands, thereby providing the added advantage of multitasking, eliminating language barriers, and more.
It is time to increase readership of news as the reading habit is slowly dying down among the young generation.
The emergence of live video platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and the like have also proved to be a boon for news reporting, opening up a range of high-traffic avenues for delivering information to consumers. On the other hand, innovative graphical representation like the one used by The Weather Channel to highlight the impact of Tsunami is the best example!
As of now, as many as 80 per cent of the Indians consume news on the Internet, primarily through social media and instant-messaging services. The large-scale use of services like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube has allowed news organisations to offer regular updates to consumers on current events, bypassing barriers of time and accessibility. In fact, advancements made in chat-bots have also made it possible to deliver curated news, stock market updates, and other relevant information, tailored specifically for the individual consumer, on WhatsApp and Messenger.
The print media is going far ahead with innovations and the news media following suit with recent developments. It allows editors at the news organisation to create several experiences for a story, with varying headlines, blurbs, and thumbnail photos. Once the stories are live, it automatically identifies the best-performing version, displaying it more frequently to the consumers, while making appropriate improvements to the rest. Catch captions carry weight and attract the readers as a front cover attraction.
It is time to increase readership of news as the reading habit is slowly dying down among the young generation. Newspapers play a pivotal role in bringing out the best news available from time to time.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
On Sunday, an all-out war broke out between the Centre and the Mamata Banerjee government, with the feisty West Bengal leader beginning her dharna in front of Metro Cinema in Kolkata over the issue. Support from opposition leaders poured in for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee whose sit-in over the CBI’s attempt to question the Kolkata Police commissioner in connection with chit fund scams continued on Monday.
Support for Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress chief, poured in even as the CBI moved the Supreme Court accusing Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar of destroying evidence related to the case and him of indulging in contempt of court.
“Distressed by the news out of Bengal. A complete breakdown of trust in institutions under an authoritarian Modi Govt obsessed with regaining power at all costs. Mamata Ji is resisting & has the support of all those who understand the agenda behind these moves,” tweeted Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) vice-president Jayant Chaudhary.
Speaking to reporters, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that he had given a notice in the Rajya Sabha for suspension of business and demanded discussion on the “misuse of the CBI”. TMC spokesperson Derek O’ Brien said that all the opposition parties will go to the Election Commission later on Monday over the issue in Bengal.
“Inside the House (parliament) and outside the House we will all move together. Whatever action we take will do together. This is not the CBI; it’s the parrot of Amit Shah and Modi. We have to save the Constitution, the country and the federal structure. Later today, all opposition parties will go to the Election Commission,” O’ Brien said.
“What happened in West Bengal is an attack on a state’s federal rights guaranteed by our constitution. We stand with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Karnataka CM @hd_kumaraswamy tweeted this morning.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that he will hold discussions with opposition party leaders in Delhi on Monday and draft an action plan on a nation-wide movement. TDP MPs will strongly protest along with other opposition leaders today on the CBI issue.
Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Jha said that the opposition’s protest was against the pride of the Modi government. After the Alok Verma incident CBI does not have any credibility. After the elections, we will see who will go to jail.
The Shiv Sena on Monday appealed to the BJP-led government to save the life of social activist Anna Hazare whose hunger strike entered its sixth day.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India has declined 11 per cent to $22.66 billion during April-September period of the current fiscal, according to commerce and industry ministry data.
Union minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar on Monday claimed that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on a dharna to save herself from the CBI. Banerjee began her sit-in protest at a city landmark on Sunday night over the CBI’s attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with chit fund scams, insisting it stifled the spirit of “Constitution and federalism”.
