 |
Tuesday,
August 21, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
Militancy and amnesty Bonanza for MPs Nepal’s assurance |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Growing dominance of English in India
Prizes, surprises and consolation
prizes
Fostering cult of
hatred
Ganesh utsav from Wednesday
Mobile phones & electric heating can be
harmful
|
Militancy and amnesty THE decade of militancy in Punjab spanning the eighties and early nineties is a dark chapter in the recent history of the state. Guns spoke out to make a point or crush a violent tendency. Thus it became a horrible dialogue between guns, some held by killers and others by the killers of the killers. The killers of the unarmed have melted into history and the police force which neutralised them is on the legal radar screen. Some Punjab policemen, and not the Army and the BSF, face criminal cases for what they did, or were ordered to do, during the worst days of militancy. They got their medals but now they are getting court notices. The court notices are threatening. The affected cops, all lower-level officers, threatened to return their medals but wisely changed their mind at the last minute. That action marked a temporary respite, not a lasting solution. In fact, there cannot be an acceptable solution given the complexities of the situation. On the one side there are the militants, outlaws, operating outside the system. On the other are the police and paramilitary forces strictly bound by the laws of the system. As one military analyst aptly remarked, Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka against the LTTE was ordered by the Indian government by “tying its hands behind the back”. Similar was the case with the Punjab police until Julius Ribeiro and KPS Gill took over and made “bullet for bullet” the official policy. Home Minister Advani’s promise to look into the case and examine the possibility of a blanket amnesty is addressed less to Punjab policemen (just about 600) than to the thousands who are fighting fierce militants and terrorist killers in the Kashmir valley and the North-East. He realises that witchhunting and a narrow legalistic view on the past Punjab happenings will demoralise the forces fighting militants elsewhere. That is the compulsion of the Union Home Minister. There is another compulsion apart from what the Minister says about the constitutional bounds. It should be admitted that in a no-holds-barred fight with militants some rules are broken and success is measured by the ends and not by the means. But later a balance-sheet has to be drawn and the border line of what is right and what is illegal has to be demarcated. It is premature to undertake the exercise in Punjab now in view of the happenings elsewhere. The targets of later-day human rights violations should go to the top and not languish at the bottom. It is well to remember that justice is indivisible. Instead of a blanket amnesty, probably it will be better to examine each case objectively and on merit. After all, we need to learn our lessons from past failures in totality and at all levels. Our endeavour has to be to create a just, humane and civilised order for tomorrow without causing demoralisation among the guardians of law.
|
|
Bonanza for MPs IF
there is any subject on which the honourable members of Parliament have no difference of opinion, it is their own
well being. This has been demonstrated in the three-fold increase in their monthly pay packet — from Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000 — plus highly liberal perks. The total that will come to their pocket, according to one
estimate, will cross the Rs 2-lakh figure per month. The hefty perks cover a big house, the telephone facility (including the mobile one), electricity supply, entertainment of guests, travel, etc, and they have nothing to worry about the limit. They have any number of well-wishers prepared to oblige them in times of crisis, which comes rarely though. Then they get Rs 2 crore in the name of constituency development without the burden of maintaining any accounts for spending such a big amount. There are allegations that a major portion of the fund, credited to their account, goes to benefit the MPs' families or relatives. If the money had been spent honestly for launching development programmes, the face of rural India would have undergone a sea-change by now. But the MPs no longer believe that taking care of the people's interests is their primary responsibility and that the membership of a legislature involves public service. The concept of public service has been given a decent burial. It is self-service today, as politics has ceased to be a mission. It is like any other profession. Who bothers about the spirit of the Constitution when money has become the main driving force for everything in life, even for our parliamentarians? Nobody would grudge the hefty hike in the monthly package for the MPs, finalised by the Union Cabinet on Friday, if decisions on handling people's problems were taken as quickly as was the case with the demand of their representatives. The tragedy is that even genuine grievances of the people are not shown the urgency they deserve. There are unending debates and excuses are found to delay a decision. The fate of the Bill for women's empowerment through the reservation of seats for them in legislatures and the Lokpal Bill comes immediately to one's mind. No one can say with certainty when the two crucial Bills will become Acts of Parliament. But there is no doubt about the passage of the Bill seeking to amend the MPs (Salaries and Allowances) Act, 1952, likely to be tabled in Parliament today. There are indications that the MPs Bill will be adopted immediately and quietly, adding a burden of Rs 23.78 crore on the national exchequer at a time when the economy is in a severe recession. Only three years ago (1998) the MPs had got a raise in their pay and perks. Is there any other section which can hope to multiply its earnings in such a short time through an Act of Parliament? The journalist and non-journalist employees of newspapers and news agencies had to wait for a long time even for the mandatory notification by the government for the implementation of their wage board's recommendations. But who can be equal in importance to our honourable members of Parliament? The system is such that the voters can do very little to teach a lesson or two to their representatives for being careless about the people's grievances. All MPs are united and the people have to suffer in silence. What a pitiable situation, indeed! |
|
Nepal’s assurance TO
say that the relations between India and Nepal are not what they should be is to state the obvious. External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh's three-day visit to the Himalayan Kingdom should, therefore, be seen as an over-due initiative for putting life back into the lukewarm Indo-Nepalese ties. The fact that his was the first such visit to Kathmandu by a high-ranking leader since the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance came to power sums up Delhi's attitude to a strategically important neighbour. His statement at the conclusion of the visit, in the course of which he shared with the Nepalese leadership India's regional concerns in the context of the use of Nepalese territory by Pakistan's ISI for implementing its anti-India agenda, held out the promise of improved relations between the two countries. However, extracting diplomatically correct assurances from Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba should not be seen as a major triumph. The political leadership's promises and assurances may not add up to much if a serious effort is not made by both India and Nepal to win the trust and unqualified friendship of the people of the Himalayan Kingdom. Remember the nationwide mayhem over the anti-Nepalese remarks attributed to upcoming Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan? Although he denied having made the offensive remarks, the hostility at the ground level against India and Indians has not evaporated. It was obvious that Hrithik's remarks provided merely an excuse to the people to let off steam. The reasons why they do not seem to like Indians lie elsewhere. Mr Jaswant Singh's visit should be seen as merely an essential first step for launching a major diplomatic offensive for winning over the love and friendship of the seemingly simple people of Nepal. This is where the Indian leadership is likely to run into unseen stumbling blocks. Why? Because South Block simply does not have a roadmap for taking the process initiated by Mr Jaswant Singh to its logical conclusion. Comment on Mr Deuba's assurance that the Nepalese territory would not be allowed to be used for anti-India activity should be reserved until such time as may be necessary for putting the appropriate mechanism into place. Besides, the launching of anti-India activity by ISI agents from Nepal at no point of time enjoyed official backing. It flourished because at least a section of the subjects of the only Hindu Kingdom appear not to have any problem in doing business with Pakistan. And making them fall in line is not going to be an easy task for the Nepalese leadership. |
Growing dominance of English in India WITH his penchant for self-deprecatory humour, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee set aside his prepared English speech at a women’s gathering in New Delhi recently to suggest that he had been accused of murdering the English language. He added for good measure that Britain, the colonial power, abandoned India because of the manner in which Indians treated the English language. The latter was, of course, said in jest and as far as Mr Vajpayee’s proficiency in English is concerned, he could only be referring to his tendency to read out an English text as if he were declaiming in Hindi. Yet the English language has come at the centre of things in India because it is not merely at the heart of the digital divide in the Internet world but is increasingly coming in the way of our politicians communicating with the rest of the world. And in a country in which the use of Hindi is still far from universal, it is also exacerbating regional tensions. It is universally acknowledged that, together with Indians’ talent for computer software creation, their felicity in the English language gave them a headstart in going places in the world of the web. As Mr Vajpayee himself acknowledged, China is having to send students abroad to learn English while there has been a ready pool available in India, at least in states that were not hasty in switching over to the regional language for higher studies while downgrading the importance of English. As the promotion of Hindi and the regional languages is gathering pace, the country is being increasingly divided between politicians of all stripes at home only in their own language or Hindi and the upwardly mobile professionals in the making who realise that fluency in English, in addition to specialised skills, is the key to a successful career. States that have missed out on the Internet revolution are now seeking to reverse gears, but educating a new generation in the nuances of the English language does not happen overnight. It is right that Hindi and the regional languages should be promoted in the country; a people’s genius is linked to the mother tongue. Increasingly, there are software computer programmes available in the Indian languages, and it stands to reason that if the computer is to become an essential tool of developing village India, it has to be in the language of the people. There is no contradiction between promoting Hindi and the regional languages in computer software and on the Internet and the need to persevere with learning English, the nearest thing to an international language, well. Since historical circumstances have given India the advantage of an English background, it would be foolish to throw it away. Yet at the political level, we have already lost that advantage to a great extent in international gatherings. Even without counting ministers at the state level, most federal ministers give the impression of being uncomfortable with English, often unable to express themselves fully with English. Speaking through interpreters is hardly the most effective method of diplomacy. Take the talk shows that pepper the proliferating television channels. As against the Law Minister, who is articulate and cogent in English, any number of other ministers fumble in the language of our old colonial masters, with the Information and Broadcasting Minister often having to relapse into Hindi during an English interview to explain her point. Some of the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders do not ever attempt to speak English on television, replying in Hindi to the questions posed to them in English. The BJP is by no means the only culprit. For good reasons, Bengali pride in mastering the nuances of the English language was justified over generations. Yet during the crisis facing the Trinamool Congress following its tempestuous exit from the National Democratic Alliance, the manner in which a spokesman sought to explain the party’s stand was a parody of the English language. Not to be left behind, in the tug of war between the two Dravidian parties of Tamil Nadu, brought to New Delhi at one stage, the manner in which the AIADMK explained its case seemed to be a take on comedian Peter Sellers. As if sections of the print media are not wreaking enough havoc on non-Hindi speakers by relapsing into Hinglish — apparently a new North Indian yuppie affection — even English news bulletins on television are so liberally spiced with Hindi that they become incomprehensible without a Hindi dictionary. We seem to be in an in-between stage with English phrases and sentences peppering. Hindi conversation and English often abandoned in midstream for a flood of Hindi elocution. There are several Indias, but a divide that will come to haunt the country is the world represented by the politician whose remoteness from being a role model needs no explanation. The other world is of the Indian Institute of Technology, of exclusive private schools in India and colleges and universities abroad. The latter is of the aspiring professional eager to take his or her place in the new wired world. They are men and women proficient in English because it is the language of international access and success. Politicians and professionals have different roles to perform, but they must not pull in different directions if the country is to prosper. Secretly, the politician pays homage to the professional’s world by sending his son or daughter for higher studies abroad so that he or she can be well equipped for the future. It can be argued that 54 years after the country gained independence, everybody should have learnt the national language. This is far from the case and in the new, increasingly Hindi-oriented politics as it is being played out at the federal level, the southern Indian, for one, feels alien. Perhaps the time has come to start English classes for politicians because, due to policies adopted by their states or the method of teaching they underwent, they have missed out on an essential tool of the modern world. It would be unfortunate if some of them saw English as an alien influence on their world of smugness and self-satisfaction. |
Prizes, surprises and consolation
prizes “IF women did not exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning”, said Onassis. He courted and wed Jackie Kennedy. Women are of three types — Prizes, Surprises and Consolation Prizes. For Onassis, Jackie was a prize. Mid-wifed by media, Jackie’s glamour acquired an ethereal quality. She was camera-born and a living image of tasteful conspicuous consumption. Onassis basked in this prized possession. Media lapped this relationship. It was the stuff of instant legend. He projected an image of rugged ease with his media-genic celebrity trophy. A male is always in quest for a fresh creative fizz. Marlyn Monroe defined a husband as “A man who is chiefly a good lover when he is betraying his wife”. Marlyn Monroe must be acutely conscious of this when she was purring in her husky voice “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy. Picasso said: “Women are either goddesses or doormats”. Marlyn Monroe was a goddess of sex, comet of unrestrained passion and charm. She had a raw sensuality and feral sexuality. For Kennedy, Marlyn Monroe was a prize. People like Kennedy and Onassis seriously take Chinese sage Tao’s advice to men: “He must know how to feel his woman’s nine erotic zones.” Somerset Maugham said: “No woman is worth more than a fiver unless you are in love with her. Then she is worth all that she costs you.” Most husbands get into the messiness of life and matrimony due to disorders of desire. Infidelity is nature’s way. Flirting is a daily male agenda and most of the men work earnestly for this. God gives every bird his worm, but he does not throw it into his nest. Sometimes something worth doing is worth overdoing. The first desire of a man was pleasure. And if he is wise, that is always his desire. Desire is a natural stimulus to active life. Wages of sin is sheer physical delight. Surprises are women whose lives start in a swirl of glamour and end with gloom. Products of affluent loneliness, they are a privileged lot. Privilege breeds boredom and boredom breeds empty people. Love at first sight and divorce at hindsight is the essence of their high powered romantic lifestyle. Divorce is “fission after fusion” says a Hollywood actress. Princess Diana fitted in this category. In a fairytale wedding her youth, innocence, virginity and purity were loudly publicised. She made a surprising journey from virginity to adultery. Adultery has a narcotic thrill. Adultery activates and fabricates fantasies, loosens the bonds of domesticity, redefines lives and follows the rainbow of unfulfilled desires, dreams and beliefs. People said that Diana lacked depth. Famous Hollywood Actress Zsa Zsa Gober remarked: “The only place men want depth in the women is the cleavage”. The myth of a romantic love with the same individual is a lie. Romance is a passing phase. All soulmates become ordinary spouses after some time. Its substitute is another partner, bottle, pill or a needle. Such women are junkies by prescription, hedonists by inclination and profligates by longings. They consider a baby as a nine months interest on a small deposit. They live in a world of institutionalised lust and exude an odour of wet adulterous bed. Lin Yutang wisely says: “Women’s fashions are an eternal struggle between the admitted desire to dress — and the unadmitted desire to undress”. Women — from breast to cradle to cuddle — can hypnotise men as no other thing can. The essence of women who fall in the category of consolation prizes is — virginity before marriage and fidelity afterwards. They are the marrying kind and staying married kind. Their lives are prosaic and loveless. They are lonely souls with tired, used and fatigued bodies. They are generally saddled with unimaginative, crude husbands and stillwater environment. Loneliness and neglect is the common glue. Most of the Indian women fall in this category. An Indian husband wants his relationship with his wife like between man and God — from the heart but fearful. Indian male is timid and is a poor lover. He is primarily a mama’s boy who is generally uneasy with his body. Indian males pose virtue. Virtue is generally a reflection of lack of opportunity rather than abundance of morals. When I look back at the lost weekend of my youth, I find that I have encountered many Prizes, whom I admired from a distance. Some Surprises have surprised me, but I remained content with my Consolation Prize, which gave me stability and balance. In my case, a dutiful husband got bullied by his docile wife. |
Fostering cult of
hatred AMIDST all our preoccupation with hard politics and a crumbling economy, we tend to overlook certain highly disturbing trends on the social front. Issues like Muzaffarnagar and Jalalabad or burning and bashing of nuns and the clergy do come up in Parliament. But our own very mindless media trivialise them and simply dismiss them as a fracas between the opposition and the ruling BJP to score political points. The sheer number of such incidents and their magnitude are terrifying. A closer look will reveal a certain pattern. Scanty media coverage emboldens the perpetrators of communal violence to be more abrasive and conceals the factors that lead to the growing creed of intolerance. Look at the series of incidents in the past few weeks. Curfew was imposed in Muzaffarnagar after an attack on a mazar. Two BJP leaders were arrested in connection with the throwing of inflammatory pamphlets at a place of worship. Twenty persons were injured in police firing in Jalalabad outside a temple where an idol was found damaged. Apart from Mathura, tension prevailed in Jahanabad town of Fatehpur district in UP. A fire mysteriously broke out in a mosque at Garhi Guarwal. A village temple at Dhadedhu in Charthawal area was found desecrated. There were at least four incidents of communal violence in Bhilwada within a span of three weeks, including the demolition of a mosque and burning of the Quran. Two months back three crude bombs were hurled at St John’s church in the heart of Muzaffarnagar town. Earlier, there was an attempt on the life of a Methodist Church priest at Khatauli. About 25 Bajrang Dal men attacked St John Baptist church in Thane and assaulted Father Oscar Mendonca. In Orissa’s Kandhmal district, workers of the Missionaries of Charity were attacked and their vehicle pushed into a ditch by Bajrang and RSS men. A nun was shot at and seriously injured by four ‘miscreants’ on the Ujjain-Dewas road. This week, a Christian priest was attacked at Pipalwada in Gujarat and a service disrupted at Dharavi in Mumbai. The new surge in religious attacks differs from the conventional communal clashes in many respects. These are no more spontaneous nor are they born out of innocuous incidents. Earlier, riots, once broke out, led to widespread communal violence which lasted several days. Now they are all localised, and all sides make it a point to restore normalcy once the purpose is served. Localisation of communal violence helps avoid national publicity, which in worse cases, can invite the ire of the NDA allies. Second, much of the present communal attacks have been taking place either in the safer domains of the BJP-ruled states or in states where the Congress is in power. Orissa, whose inconsequential Chief Minister will not protest in any way, may be an exception. Those like Chandrababu Naidu, who has a strong secular support base, will not tolerate the spread of religious hatred. In Congress-ruled states they ensure double dividend. It will keep up the anti-minority fanaticism and the vote bank based on it without causing any embarrassment to the multi-party coalition at the Centre. Simultaneously, apart from raising law and order problems, communal polarisation will cause tactical dilemma for the Congress. Third, the new generation fanatic attacks are more of an arrogant display of majoritarian exclusivism. It bases on the thesis that minority communities shall, and should, ‘respect’ the sentiments of the majority. This is an antithesis to India’s age-old religious tolerance and recognition of polarity. In Asind in Rajasthan, the annual ‘urs’ procession was forced to take a different route this year admittedly to ‘respect’ the sentiments of the majority community. At Thane, Father Mendonca was forced to issue a protest against the killings of some RSS workers by Christian groups in Tripura. In Muzaffarnagar, the attackers of the mazar made it clear in their pamphlets that their action was in “retaliation” to the killings of Hindus in Jammu. It was the same majoritarian privileges that gave the RSS outfits special rights to firearms training in open grounds. While this has been going on at the parivar level, some of the government actions give rise to fears that the official machinery is also being used to further widen the “us-&-them” divide. Traditionally, Muslim minorities have always been careful about their vulnerability to the alien tag. They had played an active role in mainstream political parties and barring a couple of local outfits, they had avoided political assertion of their religious identity. Of late, in predominantly saffron areas they go in for strategic voting for the most winnable non-BJP candidate. Even in the worst of times after partition, there was no occasion to doubt the integrity of the minority masses. They had firmly stood by the nation. This strong nationalist bond that had sustained the secular fabric is now coming increasingly under strain. Before the BJP came to power, there was hardly any ISI foothold in the minority settlements. Others figured in all major or minor cases of espionage. Now over three years in power, the ISI tentacles have spread far and wide, deeper into the interior areas. It could effortlessly reach right up to the union home ministry’s north block. If some misguided elements now fall victims to the ISI trap, the RSS parivar and its government should bear much of the blame. The hatred and harassment are such that some on the lunatic fringe fall for them. Curiously, there seems to be a kind of convergence of interests on either side of the border. While the other side wants to suck up the minority elements, this side is bent on proving their disloyalty. Earlier every bomb blast was attributed to the ISI. Now the new Home Ministry line is to put the blame on minority organisations like the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). For over a year, official agencies have been regularly feeding the media with horror stories about the SIMI. Recently, the home secretary himself called the press to announce a nationwide crackdown on the organisation. Two dozen terrorist cases have been reportedly cracked. The SIMI has a claimed support of over a lakh members. If it collaborates with militant groups such as the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, and is engaged in bomb blasts and recruitment of terrorists for the ISI, it is a serious matter. So far no mainstream minority outfit - save isolated groups or individuals - has ever been involved in aiding the Kashmir terrorists or ISI. On its part, SIMI repeatedly asserts it has nothing to do with terrorism. None of those arrested nationwide had any association with it. It admits its national secretary has now been arrested but on ‘false’ charges. This is not to prejudge the role of the SIMI or any other outfit. What is reprehensible has been the unconcealed official joy at ‘proving’ the Hindutva thesis that minorities are always suspect and need special watch. If the North Block is really serious about the charge, it should provide solid evidence. The present actions will only cause further alienation and help provide fertile ground for those bent on destroying our social fabric. Misguided elements, if any, could be dissuaded by political education and with the cooperation of the saner elements within the community. This week, the prime minister refuted the charge that madrasas had become centres of ISI activity. But his own colleagues seem bent on establishing linkages between the minority youth, madrasas, mosques and Mujahideens. This has been the message of the recent spurt in the cult of hatred. |
Madras  |
|||||
Ganesh utsav from Wednesday COME August 22, the whole of Maharashtra will once again reverberate with the cries of “Ganapati Bappa Morya”. Ganesh utsav, once a house-hold affair, was built into a mass festival by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who used it as a platform to spread the message of freedom. The tradition has been nurtured through years of freedom. Says Sonali Bendre, an actress: “For us it’s our special festival so it means a lot but somehow we’ve never kept the Ganesh puja in our own house but in my chacha’s house. It’s usually for five days and the whole family meets there. For us, it’s a period of joy and great fun because everybody visits the place. I often dress up in a traditional saree or sometimes in a salwar kameez. I’m not a jewellery person but I end up wearing some jewellery then. Mum makes sure we wear new clothes. We make modaks and other sweets. My favourite though are modaks. For us Ganpati is very auspicious-it is the start of everything we do and it means a lot to us-this festival”.
PTI
DNA fingerprinting: great potential Chromosomes of a criminal provide clinching evidence of his involvement in a crime and are increasingly becoming the delight of forensic experts. But the method itself, called DNA fingerprinting, is yet to gets its pride of place in the Indian law. DNA fingerprinting can be used as a vital input and sometimes the only decisive clue in some of the most complex cases, where all other evidence is lost or destroyed. “But India’s archaic Evidence Act is yet to include it as a proof on which final verdict can be given”, says Dr Lalji Singh, Director, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. Dr Singh has visited hundreds of court rooms across the country to be tried as “witness”, and says his experience has been “unpleasant” and “full of suspicion.” He had even been accused of “playing on the ignorance of the judge.” “This technology has mindboggling potential in criminal investigation. But then, we have to educate the judiciary of its vital import.” And the cases he helped investigate include Rajiv Gandhi assassination, Naina Sahni murder (popularly known as tandoor murder case), exposure of Swami Premananda and Priyanka Mattoo murder case. DNA fingerpriting, says Dr Singh, has nothing to do with fingerprints except that like, fingerprints, no two persons can have the same DNA. “But in the case of identical twins, the DNA is same.”
PTI
Breathing in steam & bacteria A recent outbreak of legionnaires’ disease in Spain has once again drawn attention of the risk of legionella bacteria that grow especially in air-conditioning systems and whirlpools. The safest way to prevent infection is by regularly cleaning and servicing hot water systems and tanks. The weak or elderly, smokers and people whose immune systems have been weakened by medication are at greatest risk from the disease. The illness is caused by legionella bacteria which live in single cell water organisms such as amoebae or paramecia, says the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. The hosts and their germs can increase quickly in the warm water systems of large buildings. But they are usually only a danger to health when large numbers of the bacteria are breathed in by a spray of steam such as in showers or whirlpools.
DPA
Mothers who make children ill A growing number of mothers are being diagnosed with a baffling psychological problem called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP), also known as “ disease forgery”. Munchausenian mothers do things, including inflicting harm and tampering with laboratory specimens, to lead others into believing that they or their children have serious medical problems in order to draw attention to themselves. Experts feel that this bizarre disorder is a chilling reflection on the position of women in society, virtually across the globe. An infant had nail polish remover poured down the feeding tube. Another healthy child was given an insulin injection. Many a baby has been knocked out by a rough hand muffling her breath.
WFS |
|
|
Mobile phones & electric heating can be
harmful YOU cannot see it or smell it, but many experts fear that electrosmog could be damaging our health. Despite its misleading name, electrosmog has nothing to do with the kind of pollution that fills many cities each summer. It is “the possible effect on health from electric, magnetic or electro-magnetic fields” from electronic devices, explained Olaf Schulz of the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The experts say there are two forms of this radiation: low frequency electric and magnetic fields given off by washing machines, vacuum cleaners and dish washers, and high frequency electro-magnetic fields that radiate from mobile phones. Electronic devices create electro-magnetic fields which can result in headaches, lack of concentration, allergies or general immune weakness in people who are electro-sensitive. An expert warns of possible “long-term damaging effects” of electro-magnetic radiation”. Some experts believe it can cause cancer, although there is no scientific proof for this. The German Federal Office for Radiation Protection therefore warns against over-reacting to the possible threat from electrosmog. But it takes seriously reports from the general public who believe their health problems can be put down to electrosmog. Schulz said there is enough “existing scientific uncertainty” to exercise caution, and he recommends “avoiding unnecessary high fields”. In the home this means keeping electric heating away from a child’s bed, for example. But most fears centre on high frequency radiation, such as that radiating from mobile phones. “Calls by a mobile phone should be kept as short as possible,” said Schulz. He recommends using a headset to keep people further away from the antenna. Nearly everyone is exposed to all kinds of high and low frequency fields in the course of each day without being disturbed by them. But some people who describe themselves as electro-sensitive, attribute health effects to these fields in everyday levels. Dieter Kuesters of the environmental analysis office Biolog, based in Muenster, says low frequency radiation fields up to 50 hertz alternating current can cause discomfort. He says the increase of electronic devices and therefore electro-magnetic fields to which man and animals are exposed on a daily basis, could be problematic. Kuesters carries out measurements in households and offers advice on how to cut down electrosmog. He said electronic devices should be kept out of bedrooms as much as possible. But he said even electrical cables in walls could cause problems. He therefore recommends installing special switches to cut off the electrical supply between the mains switch and electrical circuits in the house at night. He also advises blocking electronic cables behind special wallpaper or tiles.
DPA |
Though destiny decrees that one's deeds will, fail, the wages for determined work are always paid. *** Those who strive with tireless exertion and remain undaunted will live to behold the backside of retreating fate. — The Tirukural, 611-620. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's translation *** Enthusiasm is the glory and hope of the world. It is the life of sanctity and genius; it has wrought all miracles since the beginning of time. *** Hope deifies man; it is the apotheosis of the soul; the prophecy and fulfilment of her destinies. The nobler her aspirations, the sublimer her conceptions of the Godhead. *** As the man so is his God; God is his idea of excellence; the complement of his own being. *** The grander my conception of being the nobler my future. *** There can be no sublimity of life without faith in the soul's eternity. Let me live superior to sense and custom, vigilant always, and I shall experience my divinity. —
Amos Bronson Alcott (1790-1888), Orphic Sayings *** Work quietly, silently, untroubled by any idea of success or failure. —A Chinese
saying *** The hypocritical men and the hypocritical women are all alike; they enjoin evil and forbid good and withhold their hands; they have forsaken Allah; so he has forsaken them; surely the hypocrites are the transgressors. Allah has promised the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women and the unbelievers the fire of hell to abide therein; it is enough for them; and Allah has cursed them and they shall have lasting chastisement. — The Holy Quran *** Saith Nanak, the saints are always happy; By heartening to the Name Sorrow and sin are destroyed. — The Japji, 10
(Guru Granth Saheb JI) *** The mesh of illusion is cut as under And the ocean of life evaporates, When one is attached to the Name of the Lord. — Sant Tuka Ram, Gatha 3113 |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
