The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

State as a broker
Profiteering invites Supreme Court wrath

It is hard to believe that a state government can act as a profiteering broker. In 2007 the UP government acquired 156 hectares of land from farmers near Greater Noida for “industrial purpose” and handed it over to house builders. The land was taken over at a rate of Rs 800 per square metre and sold to builders at Rs 12,000, making a profit of Rs 1,747 crore. Farmers were denied a hearing since the land takeover was under an emergency clause. First the state high court and now the Supreme Court has scrapped the obnoxious land deal. The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, which carried out the dirty work, has been fined Rs 10 lakh. The authority even bypassed its own legal department.

The Supreme Court’s dressing down of the UP government is understandable and justifiable. “Even the worst of criminals, habitual offenders and even drug peddlers get a hearing. But you take farmers’ land without giving them an opportunity to be heard”, observed the court. But why blame the Greater Noida authority or the UP government alone? There are governments in various states and their agencies that are acting as property dealers and raising cash to fund the extravagant ways of ruling politicians and bureaucrats. The Punjab government no longer builds affordable houses for people. It auctions prime lands, commercial and residential plots to raise resources since the depleted exchequer cannot finance politicians’ profligacy.

Land is the only source of livelihood for many farming families. Acquiring land for a “public purpose” like building a road or a hospital, or laying a rail track is understandable. But buying land for building malls, spas and elite housing projects certainly does not constitute a “public purpose”. The UP government has now framed a land policy, which assures some safety and a good deal to farmers. But still Nandigram-type protests break out, often over compensation. The Supreme Court is expected to put to notice all shady land acquisitions and housing projects, and check the politician-official-builder nexus proliferating in and outside UP.

Health Minister’s diagnosis
“Homosexuality is a disease” creates furore

During his 2007 visit to the US, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was greeted with howls and boos by the Columbia University students when he declared, “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country.” Back home, none other than the Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad devised a better way of self- denial of this kind when he declared men having sex with men (MSM) is not only a ‘disease’ but also ‘unnatural’. Incidentally, if our health minister has made the diagnosis, our celebrated Yoga Guru, Baba Ramdev, never shy of quoting Spanish psychiatrist Enrique Rojas to support his stand, contends the ‘disease’ is curable. While the happy curative duo are busy eradicating the ‘disease’ a few anomalies have cropped up!

Amidst this over-amplified celebratory declaration of the disease and the cure, the patient, already on-the-defensive gay community of India, which has struggled to decriminalise homosexuality for years, is flabbergasted. This is despite the fact that the health minister is rather protective about his ‘patients’ because he also added,” This disease has come to India from foreign shores,” which, in a sense proves innocence of the Indian gay community, who got the contagion from other bad countries of the west. These statements were made by the minister on Monday last. Since the minister is a qualified doctor he should know that the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of recognised mental disorders in 1973 and the World Health Organisation followed suit in 1992. So, biological or psychological, homosexuality is not a disease.

Sex is a means to an end, not an end in itself. In Darwinian terms it is used for evolutionary purpose. From this perspective, same-sex relationships should be selected out. But, they are not. Jerome Goldstein, director of the San Francisco Clinical Research Centre, concluded after a study that sexual orientation is not a matter of choice, but is primarily neurobiological at birth. He also made evidences available of other animals from the animal kingdom like birds, bees, penguins and albatrosses who are found to have life-long same- sex relationships. The study concludes, homosexuality is not curable since it is not a disease. Our minister should know!

Thought for the Day

Vulgarity in a king flatters the majority of the nation. — George Bernard Shaw

ARTICLE

Nuclear double-dealing again
India has got to hit back
by Inder Malhotra

TO nobody’s surprise Anil Kakodar, a former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and a key negotiator of the Indo-US nuclear deal, is among those who have called the June 24 decision of the Vienna-based 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) to “strengthen” its guidelines on the export of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technologies an act of “betrayal”. The description is apt. For, not only does the latest NSG decision undo its own 2008 “clean waiver” to India but also causes acute uncertainty about the bilateral agreements with the United States, France and Russia on “full civil nuclear cooperation”.

The commitment to let India have unrestricted access to nuclear fuel, equipment and technologies, including ENR, is clearly enshrined in the India-US deal, alternately called 123 Agreement and the Hyde Act. At various levels the Obama Administration has claimed that the NSG’s new decision — to deny ENR to countries that haven’t signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) — is “not inconsistent” with the India-US bilateral agreement. But this is neither here nor there. There is no reaffirmation that the US (and thus other nuclear suppliers such as Russia and France) would stand by their commitment regardless of the additional restrictions now decided upon but not yet fully publicised by the nuclear cartel. The best we have heard from the departing US ambassador to this country, Timothy Roemer, is the pious hope that things “would move in the positive direction”.

Incidentally, the NSG always functions on the basis of consensus. So, it was easy for the US to prevent the confusion that has been created. However, throwing politeness to the winds, let me add that doubts about American intentions should have arisen even earlier. For, at successive meetings of the G-8, the US has been a party to repeated pronouncements of the rich nations’ club that the export of ENR technologies must be prohibited.

Come to think of it, all through the eight years of Clinton presidency, the US made ceaseless efforts to “first cap, then reduce over time and finally eliminate” India’s nuclear capability. The inevitable hyphenation with Pakistan did form part of this policy, but it was meaningless. For China’s nuclear might was the main threat to India, and it was made much graver by China’s brazen help to Pakistan to build the Bomb. America’s role in this was of unabashed acquiescence. The Shakti series of nuclear tests in May 1998 and India’s straightforward declaration that it was a nuclear weapons power invited a slew of sanctions. Clinton went to China where he and his hosts jointly ranted against nuclear India.

Whatever his countrymen might think or say about him, President George W. Bush was the one to realise, if during his second term, the need for befriending democratic India and the importance of this country having its due place in the security architecture of Asia. By July 2008 the Indo-US nuclear deal was signed and sealed, and thanks to Bush’s indefatigable efforts, the NSG gave this country the “clean waiver”.

Ironically, it was at this very moment that a glitch appeared on the American scene. Washington is infested with nonproliferation ayatollahs, including important senators. Having failed to resist the nuclear deal with India, they raised strong objection to the inclusion of ENR technologies in it. The then Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, assured them that the NSG would deal with this matter. Can anyone be blamed for suspecting that the NSG’s current decision is the first step towards honouring Condi’s assurance?

If so, this is indeed a betrayal or, as some others have put it, backstabbing. When the ENR issue was raised at the White House, Bush had responded by saying that in future ENR should be provided to only those countries that already had it and denied to all others. That would cause us no problem because this country has had facilities for enriching uranium and reprocessing spent fuel for a long time. But what the NSG has proposed now is objectionable and indeed India-specific. This is so because the cartel wants to deny ENR to those countries that haven’t signed and wouldn’t sign the NPT. There are only three such countries, the other two being Pakistan and Israel. These two do not have any ENR capability at all. So, today’s denial, if implemented, would affect India alone.

There is another reason why America might be trying to take back by one hand what it had given by the other: despite all the rhetoric about “defining partnership” during President Barack Obama’s visit to India in November 2010, the US is very unhappy about the nuclear liability law passed by Parliament because American suppliers anxious to sell their reactors to this country do not want to be held responsible for even those nuclear accidents that occur because of defective equipment. What has made the US even angrier is the exclusion from the short list of the two American firms that had bid for the whopping $10 billion contract for the purchase of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMCA) needed by the Indian Air Force.

As against this, the broad position of Russia and France is encouraging. With Russia, India has a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation. Although the text of this agreement, unlike that of the Indo-US deal, is not in the public domain, it is known that on ENR Moscow wants to sign a separate bilateral agreement. According to reports, one round of talks for this purpose has already taken place. For his part, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at one of G-20 summits that his country would not be bound by the decisions of G-8 and the NSG. These assurances need to be firmed up and fulfilled.

In this rather melancholy situation, there is one source of hope and optimism. Foreign Secretary Nirupma Rao’s two-point statement in a TV interview has come as a breath of fresh air. First, the precise details of the NSG are not yet known. Secondly, and more importantly, India is not without leverage. It has a huge demand for nuclear reactors. After all, we are planning for the production of 60,000 Mwe of nuclear power by 2050, as against about 4,000 Mwe at present. Any country coy about selling us ENR must not get an order even for a single reactor.

MIDDLE

Summer guests!
by Manika Ahuja

If summer comes, can guests be far behind! Like the Siberian birds who flock to distant lands during summers, these guests keep looking for their victims who believe in “atithi devo bhava”.

As a student of literature I have read Charles Lamb who aptly coined pithy epigrams for these guests who are known by their knock and calls these poor relations “a Lazarus at your door, a lion in your path, a frog in your chamber, a fly in your ointment, pain in your neck and a preposterous shadow in the noontide of our prosperity”. I had the first-hand experience of these guests when I was a student in Chandigarh.

The summer break had begun and we were waiting for the plus two results and simultaneously preparing for competitive entrance examinations for AIEE, IIT, and Law School and so on. We had drawn a perfect plan for the holidays by bifurcating the break in two halves for competitive examinations and a sojourn to Mussoorie and Dehradun.

Like Lamb’s poor relations that are known by their knock, my mother could smell trouble when the door bell rang at dinner time. Barged in a not very familiar family from Delhi. Before we could welcome them, they pulled the dining chairs proclaiming that every morsel has the prospective eater’s name written on it. We almost sunk in when told that they would stay put for a fortnight. Our suggestions that a hill station would be a better option fell on deaf ears when they retorted that they could visit a nearby hill station for a day and come back in the evening. Our holiday plans went haywire. Guests from Lucknow, Karnal and Ropar too poured in as if the city beautiful had suddenly become a hill station.

My mother had an even more harrowing experience of summer guests. She tells me that when posted in Dehradun, on a particular day, she had 24 guests, including a serving IAS couple of Haryana. All keen on admission of their wards in Dehradun’s Doon and Welham schools had “obliged” us by staying put in our house. Little doubt there was complete chaos at home with my parents sleeping on the floor and allowing the luxury of beds to the summer guests. As usual the maid had escaped the trauma by taking a summer break, leaving my mom to take care of guests.

Now when summer comes, it is not the heat that scares us but the flow of dreaded intruders. I wonder why P.B. Shelley only wrote “if winter comes, can spring be far behind” and why not “if summer comes, can summer guests be far behind”.

OPED HEALTH

According to recent studies, there may be a possible connection between frequent cell phone use and male infertility
Cell phones and fertility
Shivani Sachdev Gour

George Melson, a 31-year-old married man working as a marketing manager in a company was facing issues of infertility for the past one year when he planned to visit a clinic. As usual the couple was expecting some problem in his wife but after a series of tests on both it was found that George was infertile and not his wife. George was curious about the reason. On examining it was found that the reason of his infertility was unexplained. It could be environmental toxins or an unexplained factor or could be because of his excess usage of cell phone. Being a marketing person, it was natural to use cell phone more often than usual. Knowing this, it stressed him but he was not able to change his job. He was advised to lessen the usage of mobile, use landlines instead and text rather than talking over the phone and keep the phone switched off when not in use along with general health measures like avoiding alcohol and smoking etc

Have you been trying for quite some time now and still to your dismay, not been able to start a family? May be its time you get off the cell phone. It's been diagnosed by the Canada Queen's University experts recently that, men with poor sperm quality and less sperm count could have been spending too much time on cell phones. Researchers have found that while cell phone use appears to increase the level of testosterone circulating in the body, it may also lead to low sperm quality in terms of motility and concentration, thereby decreasing the chances of fertility.

It's been speculated that the electromagnetic waves (EMW) emitted by cell phones may have a dual action on male hormone levels and fertility. Where the electromagnetic waves may increase the number of cells in the testes that produce testosterone; the LH levels excreted by the pituitary gland takes a dip. The waves may also intrude with the conversion of basic circulating type of testosterone to the more active, powerful form of testosterone responsible for sperm production and fertility.

Though more in-depth research is needed to determine the exact ways in which EMW affects male fertility, the British government has already advised its citizens to prefer text messages and hand free over direct calls to avoid the possible negative effects. While the government also confirms no substantial results have been apprehended, it's also been estimated that not enough time has passed for such occurrence in heavy numbers.

In the research, it was found that frequent users of the cell phones who are always on the phone or in close proximity, had their sperm counts reduced by nearly 30 per cent. Many of the sperm that did survive showed abnormal movement thereby reducing fertility.

It is a known fact that the long-term use of cell phones lead to a higher risk of brain tumors, although this study is not conclusive. So, does the electromagnetic radiation from cell phones harm the body? In a recent study there may be a possible connection between frequent cell phone use and male fertility.

The researchers have also grown to believe that cell phones may cause damage while in stand-by mode. Although not in use, they make regular transmissions to maintain contact with the nearest radio masts. Hence simple ways to avoid the impairment of mobile phones is to avoid carrying phones in a belt holster or trouser, and rather carry them in a bag or a briefcase away from physical contact, with a definite NO to cell phones when not in use.

Direct association

There have been many studies that have analyzed the cell phone usage of men and the effect on the subsequent provided semen. One such study concludes that just carrying a cell phone affects human sperm; the study claims that the storage of cell phones close to the testes had a significant negative impact on sperm concentration and the percentage of motile sperm. These trends suggest that recent concerns over long-term exposure to the electromagnetic irradiation emitted by cell phones should be taken more seriously, given the growing trend for deterioration in the male germ line

A study done in 2008 titled "Effect of cell phone usage on semen analysis in men attending infertility clinic: an observational study' said that the use of cell phones by men is linked to a decrease in semen quality. The decrease in sperm count, motility, viability, and normal morphology is related to the duration of exposure to cell phones.

Researchers inferred from the results that there is an association between frequent cell phone use and the quality of sperm. However, there is no proof on the cause and effect relationship. To shed more light on the issue, there are currently many studies underway.

Over the recent years, with regard to the potential damaging effects on the male reproductive system, several researches have been carried out on animals as well. These studies revealed a wide spectrum of possible effects that range from an insignificant effect to variable degrees of testicular damage and reduction of different sperm parameters.

Radio frequency

In a 2005 Hungarian study titled 'Is there a relationship between cell phone use and semen quality', Dr Fejez analyzed the impact of cell phone use on the semen of 371 men. This study concluded that the more frequent and long the usage of cell phone on a daily basis, the larger the effect on the sperm quality. Longer exposure resulted in larger percentage of slower sperm, which may be caused by "electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phones"

The studies that have been mentioned thus far, all indicate that cell phone use is a cause of infertility in man. The study that is mentioned below was performed on mice and looks into the impact cell phone radiation has on the DNA of sperm, and the subsequent impact on the conceived offspring.

In 2005, a study titled 'Impact of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation on DNA integrity in the male germ line' was published in the 'International Journal of Andrology'. Andrology deals with male health, particularly relating to the problems of the male reproductive system and urological problems that are unique to men. This study on mice suggests that the microwave radiation emitted by cell phones causes significant damage to the cellular DNA of maturing sperm. Normally, DNA damage is repaired by the female reproductive system, between fertilisation and the first cell division.

Mistakes at this point have the potential to create mutations that could disrupt the normality of embryonic development and the health and well being of the offspring.

DNA damage to maturing sperm caused by cell phone radiation can results in damaged DNA in a newborn. This phenomenon is called 'male-mediated developmental toxicity', making the offspring more prone to genetic disease, birth defects and childhood cancer.

Negative impact

The microwave radiation exposure used in this study was much less than the radiation emitted by cell phones: As a consequence, the reproductive health risks associated with [microwave radiation] exposure may be even more serious than those reported in this study.

In conclusion, according to many studies cell phone use has a negative impact on sperm quality. The longer one uses a cell phone per day, the greater the impact on the sperm. Cell phone use can therefore be considered to be a cause of infertility in man.

I see about 30 couples with infertility every month, out of these male factor is approx 35 - 40 % cases. Most of the time reason for this is unknown. Several postulated reasons related to male infertility were environmental toxins.

Further research is required on cell phones being one of the factors because it is a very day to day activity for all of us and if this research is confirmed then implications can be quite alarming.

So, if you are trying to have that little bundle of joy in your life, perhaps limiting cell phone use to very important calls will help.

Dr Shivani Sachdev Gour is Director and Fertility consultant, ISIS IVF Centre, and visiting consultant Fortis La Femme, Delhi

Serious concerns

A Polish study titled 'Evaluation of the effect of using mobile phones on male fertility' was conducted from June 2004 until May 2006 and used 304 men. The analysis of the effect of cell phone equipment on the semen was noted that an increase in the percentage of sperm cells of abnormal morphology is associated with the duration of exposure to the waves emitted by the cell phone. It was also confirmed that a decrease in the percentage of sperm cells in vital progressing motility in the semen is correlated with the frequency of using cell phones

The final conclusion of the study showed that

z A decrease in the percentage of live sperm cells in a vital, progressive motility in semen is correlated with the frequency of usage of cell phones.

z An increase in the percentage of sperm cells with abnormal morphology is associated with the duration of exposure to the waves emitted by [cell phone] equipment.