E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Tight squeeze
If you belong to the generic "salaried class" category, get ready to breathe less and pay more through your nose because the Union Finance Minister has chosen to target the perennial whipping boy yet again, and severely. 

Carnage in Gujarat
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's decision to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Australia because of the carnage in Gujarat provides some clue about the serious nature of the crisis the nation has been plunged into because of the acts of communal provocation by a handful of fanatics. 

FRANKLY SPEAKING

HARI JAISINGH
Big challenge ahead in Punjab
Will Capt Amarinder Singh deliver the goods?
The Congress is back in the saddle in Punjab. Its electoral success, however, remains to be tested on the touchstone of governance. A number of questions are already in the air. Will Capt Amarinder Singh's senior colleagues work as a team? What about the party's factionalism?

MIDDLE

Democracy — made in Pakistan
V. N. Kakar
Run up to the first barbed wire fence. Run fast. For you will have to cover a distance of two miles in 10 minutes. Reaching the fence, run parallel to it. Somewhere in the middle, in the beginning or at the end, you will find a green spot.

ANALYSES

Priorities before new govt in Punjab
G.S. Aujla
Punjab is one of the states to have a new government to handle its affairs as the election process is already over. As is usually witnessed, when the next government takes over, people have high hopes and are over optimistic about quick solution of all their problems, including poverty, unemployment, improvement in the standard of living, better health, education, civic amenities etc as per the manifesto of the party assuming power. 

Of stone miners & stone-hearted
Rajbir Parasher
Now it is almost one month and the agitation of the Khanak stone mines labourers is not coming to an end. The district administration has claimed that it is over and what is remaining of it is a politicised vestige of a non-issue. But it is contrary to be facts.

Obese women often harm foetus
Obese women planning to go the family way will have to think twice now before conceiving. Birth defects, premature birth, and other severe health problems in tomorrow’s babies are linked to the soaring rates of obesity among women of childbearing age, said a report in the New England journal of Medicine.

TRENDS & POINTERS

Bachelors at disadvantage
Elderly unmarried men who are childless suffer significantly higher rates of loneliness and depression than elderly unmarried women, according to Penn State researchers. Zhenmei Zhang, a doctoral student in sociology at Penn State, said, “Marital status, rather than parental status, is a more salient factor influencing loneliness and depression in old age”.

• Smokers tend to survive heart attacks

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Tight squeeze

If you belong to the salaried class , get ready to breathe less and pay more through your nose because the Union Finance Minister has chosen to target the perennial whipping boy yet again, and severely. The unmistakable message that goes out is that you should be in a very high income bracket if you want Mr Yashwant Sinha to spare a thought for you. How to reach there? Don't ask him! The middle class has been left gasping on the ropes with a combination of left-right punches. For one thing, the prices of several essential items like LPG, ration sugar, postal services and kerosene have been hiked, which will send the household budget rocketing through the roof. At the same time, he has reduced the 20 per cent tax rebate on savings to 10 per cent for those earning between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. That means that the common man has virtually no incentive to save something for the rainy day. And there is no relief on the income tax front either. As if all that is not enough, he has slapped a national security surcharge on incomes above Rs 60,000. Everybody wants to share the burden of the prolonged deployment on the frontiers, but since this responsibility comes coupled with other harsh measures, it is going to pinch quite a lot. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has called the Budget "bold". If that is how he interprets boldness, the common man would like to beseech him to be a lot less brave. An attempt has been made to project agriculture as an engine of growth. But the substantial increase in the prices of fertilisers and diesel engines up to 10 horse power, coupled with only a marginal decline in the prices of diesel, would make the "growth engine" splutter. The series of measures involving the removal of controls, greater mechanisation and more availability of funds is not forceful enough to eliminate numerous bottlenecks in production, transportation, storage and distribution of foodgrains. Traditional farming has stopped being very remunerative and the vision needed to explore new avenues is, unfortunately, not to be seen.

There is a considerable hike of 15 per cent in the Defence Budget taking it up to Rs 65,000 crore. This is almost Rs 8,000 crore more over the last year's revised estimate of Rs 57,000 crore. But in real terms the hike is no more than 4.8 per cent (Rs 3,000 crore) over last year's allocation of Rs 62,000 crore. Last year, the Ministry of Defence was cautious in making new purchases, reeling as it was under the Tehelka onslaught and had returned Rs 5,000 crore as unutilised. The mobilisation of troops on the border, which is costing the country more than Rs 400 crore per month, has forced the government to revise its priorities. That indicates that the long-postponed modernisation and upgradation of the country's defence apparatus will at last be taken up with some crucial purchases like AWACS, ground sensors and weapon-sensing radars getting the green signal. During the Budget presentation, Mr Sinha asserted twice that in case of need, he would not hesitate to provide more funds. What it would mean to other arms of the government is apparent. Last year, the budgetary allocation was 2.6 per cent of the GDP and has now jumped to 3.1 per cent.

Through his second-generation reforms, Mr Sinha is moving towards his 2005 tryst with "Asian levels" of customs duties. As expected, he reduced the peak customs duty from the present 35 to 30 per cent. The move will be welcomed particularly by the steel and information technology sectors. At the same time, the corporate tax on foreign companies has been reduced from 48 to 40 per cent. That is aimed at attracting foreign investment. Now if only the bureaucracy could unroll the red carpet the way it is expected to do! Indian industry, which is in the grip of a demand recession, is not exactly going to be enthused by the proposals. The blueprint for revival is hardly visible despite the tackling of macro-level issues like a cut in the subsidy and dismantling of the administered price regime in the petroleum sector. There are some benefits for the shipping and steel industries, but not much for sectors like cement and automobile. The small-scale sector too won't be too pleased at the shape of things to come. Interestingly, even share markets have not been enthused by the Budget. Rather, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex fell by as much as 107 points immediately after the announcements. Amidst general gloom, there is something to cheer for on the infrastructure front. Mr Sinha has sought to develop core sectors like power, roads, ports and airports in a big way. States and the private sector will be given a leading role in the task that is essential for fuelling overall economic development. A step in the right direction is the decision to give access to the states to the funds on the basis of agreed reforms programmes. Major ports are to be corporatised. The private sector will get several concessions to participate in greenfield airports.

The Opposition is in an upbeat mood after the big reverses suffered by the NDA government during the recent elections. Various scandals and controversies in which ministers have been found to be involved have also buoyed them. So, the criticism of the Budget is going to be concerted, sharp and shrill. In any case, the government has given them many sticks to beat it with. The fiscal deficit is a yawning Rs 1,35,524 crore, a full 5.3 per cent of the GDP. Tardy economic growth is alarming. Trade and industry are downbeat. But keeping in mind the public mood, the most withering focus is likely to be on ground-level decisions like taxing items of daily use such as LPG and kerosene. This is Mr Sinha's fifth Budget. He has the reputation of being a "rollback minister". The next few days will show whether he manages to shod this tag. 

Carnage in Gujarat

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's decision to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Australia because of the carnage in Gujarat provides some clue about the serious nature of the crisis the nation has been plunged into because of the acts of communal provocation by a handful of fanatics. This barbaric act deserves severe condemnation by all sane citizens of this great country. The communal temperature threatens to get out of control because of the burning alive of kar sevaks inside the Sabarmati Express near Godhra on Wednesday. The fire of hatred has already spread to communally sensitive areas. The political leadership's primary concern should be to step up the scale of vigil across the country, particularly in and around Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh as also the route the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-sponsored kar sevaks may take for reaching Ayodhya. Playing the blaming game can wait. The scale of the nationwide sense of insecurity that the barbaric incident has caused can be gauged from the reaction of ordinary citizens. Rail reservations from and to sensitive destinations have been cancelled en mass. Gujarat is burning. Maharashtra and UP are tense. The Prime Minister's address to the nation was sharp and firm. But the VHP leaders' initial response was to reject Mr Vajpayee's plea to put their plan on hold. The VHP must help the government explore the possibility of negotiating a settlement with Hindu and Muslim community leaders for ending the dispute over the ownership of the land that it claims is the Ram Janmabhoomi. It is clear that the Centre would have to take a more tough line for bringing down the communal temperature. Union Home Minister L. K. Advani has said that no one would be allowed to violate the law. He did not rule out stern action even against the VHP leaders. Most political parties have been careful in their public reaction to the carnage in Gujarat. They deserve praise for their mature response to an explosive situation.

The ball is now in the Prime Minister's court. He commands the trust and respect of a wide spectrum of people. He has to ensure that the wave of communal violence does not spread to other regions. Only he can do it. He must also take into confidence leaders of the opposition parties and share with them the plan of action the government has put into place for restoring normalcy in the country. He should also hold consultations with community leaders and seek their views on how to handle the delicate situation. The unhappy fallout of the VHP's Ayodhya campaign has understandably made both Hindus and Muslims feel very insecure. Even a false alarm can start a full-scale communal conflagration. The political leadership must evolve a two-track policy. One should seek the involvement of community leaders in restoring normalcy. The second should include the putting into place certain confidence-building measures by the government itself. However, once the communal temperature returns to normal, the Centre should adopt a more "pro-active" policy for solving the Ayodhya tangle without further delay. Otherwise the demon of communalism may raise its head again. We must not overlook the fact that ISI agents have reportedly been active particularly in Gujarat.

FRANKLY SPEAKING

Big challenge ahead in Punjab
Will Capt Amarinder Singh deliver the goods?
HARI JAISINGH

The Congress is back in the saddle in Punjab. Its electoral success, however, remains to be tested on the touchstone of governance. A number of questions are already in the air. Will Capt Amarinder Singh's senior colleagues work as a team? What about the party's factionalism? How different will be the new set-up from the SAD-BJP establishment? It is all right for the new leader to promise a clean-up of the system, but can he do it? Has he done enough homework on the extent to which the rot has set in in the system?

The Chief Minister will have to learn as well as unlearn a number of things. For, Punjab's political culture is not the same as it was. Even the bureaucracy has lost its moorings. It is no longer development and work oriented.

I am not trying to belittle the importance of the Congress victory. It is, however, in the interest of the party leaders to keep their feet on the ground and not allow themselves to be carried away by the euphoria of the victory. The political setting in Punjab is certainly changing. The Congress today is no longer politically untouchable as it was during the past 15 years or so.

It is not easy to understand the socio-political and economic complexities in Punjab. Simple arithmetic does not work here except in personal life. The social setting is diverse. There are gaps between what people want and what they get. The instruments of governance are rusted. So, the system has to be overhauled on modern lines.

Also, it needs to be kept in mind that everything in Punjab has to be seen in a historical perspective and objectively, in tune with the changing ground realities. Leaders will have to properly grasp the changing socio-economic and political equations at different levels. Indeed, Punjab's is a unique case where routine political theories cannot be applied.

The Green Revolution and subsequent developments in the state have thrown up new forces which demand constant attention. Even the profile of the Punjabi youth is changing. While jathedars continue to enjoy tremendous politico-religious clout, the expectations of the urban and rural youth have soared skyhigh and understandably so. They want a new deal for better life and proper opportunities for growth.

I travelled more than 900 km in Punjab during the elections. It was remarkable to see a quiet grassroot revolution in the state. People are more assertive now than ever before. They seem to relish their democratic right to accept or reject their representatives.

I wrote about the unique phenomenon of "yeh dil mange more". Indeed, the people in Punjab want more and more facilities and benefits for their areas. That is why they rejected several stalwarts belonging to the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP and opted for Congress candidates in the hope of better attention from them.

Whether it is acknowledged or not, people resent power-centric corruption. They want clean, open and good governance. This probably was the main reason for the SAD-BJP setback at the hustings.

Corruption is an issue and it will continue to be so whichever government comes to power. The Congress can overlook this point only at its peril. However, the issue cannot be settled by pursuing the path of vindictiveness.

The politics of negativism, for that matter, can hardly help improve the atmosphere. Of course, the Chief Minister has to set an example by conducting himself transparently and with a degree of accountability. This has to be applicable to his ministerial colleagues as well. Herein lies the real test.

The people, however, may not have much expectations on this count. They feel that the system has become corrupt and that corruption has become a way of politico-administrative life. So, there are no shortcuts to fighting corruption. Even if the new Chief Minister sets a good example for himself and does not allow persons around him to make easy money, this in itself will be quite an achievement.

It is nothing but shameful that certain categories of government jobs are manipulated by operators and middlemen on considerations other than merit. A number of persons asked me why I published the letter of a highly qualified unemployed girl (Ms Nisha Kaura of Raikot in Ludhiana) a day before the polling (February 13) in Punjab.

My answer was simple: "I wanted to put this harsh reality of a highly educated unemployed girl running from pillar to post in search of a job which could be got only after paying a certain amount as bribe."

Nothing can be more shameful than this for a civilised society like ours. I know for certain that such things are happening in other states as well. It is time we understood the gravity of the situation because of corrupt practices.

If someone pays Rs 5 lakh for a post, he will extract at least five to 10 times more than the amount he pays as bribe. If there is a premium on bribery, not on merit, what sort of society are we creating? I deliberately highlighted the case of Ms Nisha Kaura to underline the sickening face of governance. This should prick the conscience of every patriotic Indian. Middlemen must not be allowed to exploit youngsters to fill their personal and family coffers at the cost of sacred public faith.

How the new Chief Minister will handle this problem is difficult to say. The message for him is candid and clear: unless he takes the right initiative in this direction, he himself might be sucked in by the stinking system.

The long battle against corruption apart, the real challenge for the new government will be revival of the economy. Punjab has been lagging far behind after its remarkable success in agriculture, the small-scale sector and related areas. Punjab has all the potentialities to emerge as top state in the country. All that is required is to work out a time-bound plan of action.

It needs to be appreciated by all, irrespective of political affiliations, that the challenge before Punjab is grim. I would like to quote from a recent statement issued by the Sikh Core Group comprising some of the community's bignames in the fields of agriculture, social sciences and non-governmental initiatives: "The situation is very explosive and fraught with dangerous possibilities of widespread upheaval, crime and wave of lawlessness and demands urgent and radical measures to preserve peace and tranquillity in the state."

This may sound alarmist. But looking at the problems ahead, it is better to err on an overstatement than on an understatement.

Nothing is lost yet. Everything can be put in order provided the new government musters political will and sets the pace for faster economic growth. This is not a tall order. Punjabis in all parts of the world have worked wonders on the economic front wherever they got the right opportunity for growth.

Mr Parkash Singh Badal did his best in certain areas in rural Punjab. We now have to take a broader view of problems and new bold initiatives to tackle them. This will not be easy.

One redeeming feature of the new government is that Capt Amarinder Singh has been doing homework with experts with a view to reviving the state's economy. If he really means business and is true to his election-eve vows, he will earn support from the people, if not from vested interests. The choice before him is: he either performs or just hovers around his chair.

The Maharaja is on test. He will have to prove himself. His priorities are obvious: a new-look agricultural plan of action with due stress on agro-industries and rural indebtedness; a special deal for the growing needs of the rural areas considered the lifeline of Punjab; a revamp of agricultural universities in tune with the changing times and needs; development of infrastructure of power, drinking water, highways with approach roads; special stress on industrial growth; modernisation of the small-scale sector; ensuring a regular supply of raw material with an assured market; generating job opportunities for youth by encouraging new ventures in futuristic areas of growth; the modernisation of facilities in urban centres, especially sanitary and hygienic conditions (Punjab must not be allowed to become a land of slums); modernisation of the education system, particularly primary schools; creating infrastructure for health care, etc.

It is not necessary for the government to dabble in every area of economic activity. The stress has to be on decen- tralisation and making panchayats responsible and accountable for rural development at the grassroots. Several areas of development can be left to the entrepreneurship spirit of the people. All that is required is to keep a check on malpractices and an unfair drain on public resources.

The land of five rivers needs massive investment. It has to develop infrastructure for faster growth. It has to modernise its agriculture in a big way and make it globally competitive. Punjab farmers can do it. All they require is proper guidance and assistance.

Even information technology requires special attention. What is needed for this is quick decisions not with a view to extending patronage to undesirable characters but to keep the problems of people and their expectations constantly in mind.

This will, of course, require a responsive bureaucracy. If the government means business and the Chief Minister is sure of doing what he wishes to, the administrative machinery will fall in line. The people of Punjab want faster development, a reasonably clean administration and good governance at all levels. Over to Capt Amarinder Singh and his team.

MIDDLE

Democracy — made in Pakistan
V. N. Kakar

Run up to the first barbed wire fence. Run fast. For you will have to cover a distance of two miles in 10 minutes. Reaching the fence, run parallel to it. Somewhere in the middle, in the beginning or at the end, you will find a green spot. That is the point where the fence is shortest in height. And you can jump over it.

Jump. See that you don’t get entangled. Reaching the other side, run further. Faster than before. Three miles ahead, you will find the second fence. Wider than the first. Never mind. Run parallel to this fence also.

Keep your eyes wide open. For in the fence you will find a big hole. That hole is not easily visible. For it is camouflaged. Take the help of your m.g. (magnifying glass) fitted to your AK-47. Walk into the hole. You will find a tunnel ahead. Run through this tunnel. It will be dark and dingy. But never mind. Here and there, you will come across some buttons. Small. Dim. Visible only from a distance of one yard.

Locate one of these buttons. Press it. Light will come. But only for one minute. In that light, you will see a 20-feet wide canal. Full of water. Running through it. Take off your clothes. But keep your AK-47 with you. Swim across the canal. As you reach the other end, grab whatever clothes you think will suit you best. These will be available in abundance. Take what fits you.

Put it on. Thus dressed, run further. Faster than before. Like a bullet from your AK-47. In 15 minutes to the dot, you will come to the third fence.

Don’t touch it. But run parallel to it also. Come to the end of the fence. Be careful all the while. For the fence is electrified. And the current is on.

But never mind. Use your m.g. That will help you in locating the small gate through which you can pass without much difficulty. Without being electrocuted. Without the fear of anyone detecting you. Anyone shooting you down.

Pass through this gate. It will open automatically as you reach it. And close automatically as you leave it. Just in front of it you will find a small box. Made of steel. Locked and sealed. Cast your vote in that box and get lost.

“But, Sir,” said the man at the receiving end, “Why should I go through all this drill? I am only a voter and surely there must be an easier way to enable me to exercise my franchise. I am not a soldier, And certainly not a commando. Why should I have to cross through three dangerous fences in order to cast my vote?”

“No question, man,” shouted the fellow in command, “don’t you want to have democracy in Pakistan?”

“I do want to have it, Sir,” submitted the voter respectfully.

“Then that is the only way,” roared the fellow in command, “you can have it. Take it or leave it. The choice is yours. Waste not my time.”

ANALYSES

Priorities before new govt in Punjab
G.S. Aujla

Punjab is one of the states to have a new government to handle its affairs as the election process is already over. As is usually witnessed, when the next government takes over, people have high hopes and are over optimistic about quick solution of all their problems, including poverty, unemployment, improvement in the standard of living, better health, education, civic amenities etc as per the manifesto of the party assuming power. Accordingly, the politically aware people of Punjab had the following expectations from the new government at the time of exercising of their franchise in its favour on the day of the poll:

(i) The government will make sincere and quick endeavour to put the state economy facing a perennial liquidity crunch back on the right track by taking recourse to strict austerity measures starting from the top i.e. keeping the size of the new ministry almost half of the previous one, proper check on the expenses on telephone, petrol, tours and refreshments.

(ii) Downsizing of the government which should start from the top echelon of the bureaucracy at least by 50 per cent, but at the lower level the axe should not exceed 10 per cent to provide regular employment to the vast army of educated unemployed.

(iii) Payment of subsidies/concessions be confined to the minimum i.e. only merit subsidies need to be retained, that too for a specific period, rather than making these a perennial feature and as a matter of right.

(iv) The government must take recourse to the early mobilisation of resources after a thorough assessment of the capacity to pay of various sections of the people as the provision of good governance/better services, sound infrastructural base/merit incentives, employment opportunities for the unemployed are not possible without a sound liquidity base. The people need to be convinced in this regard through the media prior to initiating any such measure.

(v) A congenial atmosphere needs to be created to motivate the farmers to diversify a sizeable area from the high water-taking ecologically degrading wheat-paddy rotation to the commercial/value-added/less water-taking/eco-friendly crops, including fruits and vegetables, floriculture, maize, oilseeds and pulses through strengthening of the R&D base, post-harvest handling, grading, packaging, cold store chain, refrigerated transport, processing, marketing and export infrastructure to help Punjab farmers favourably compete in the overseas market.

(vi) Radical promotion and support measures required to be taken to make the allied occupations of dairy, poultry, fisheries bee-keeping, mushroom cultivation, lucrative/quality rich and low cost to withstand the stiff competition from the technologically advanced countries in the modern era of liberalisation.

(vii) Timely measures need to be adopted to save the small scale units, particularly in the sphere of hosiery, machine tools, auto-parts, sports, leather goods and engineering goods through assured/uninterrupted supply of inputs i.e. raw material, power, credit, technology and marketing facilities at the reasonable rates.

(viii) As Punjab is far from the ports and coal fields and is having a long border with an unfriendly country, adequate steps need to be taken to avail the ports of the country by building necessary port infrastructure along with keeping the power, roads and I&T network in good health.

(ix) In the end, the government must pay adequate attention to upgrade the skills of its manpower through some meaningful programme for human resources development through active involvement of NRI Punjabis.

I earnestly hope that the new government would must come up to the aspirations of the Punjabis and leave no stone unturned to bring this state on a par with the agricultural/technologically advanced countries.

Of stone miners & stone-hearted
Rajbir Parasher

Now it is almost one month and the agitation of the Khanak stone mines labourers is not coming to an end. The district administration has claimed that it is over and what is remaining of it is a politicised vestige of a non-issue. But it is contrary to be facts.

This movement, which has attracted wide public attention and involvement of various political and non-political organisations, is indicative of the resentment that prevails in the region. Instead of listening to their genuine demands, the district administration is awfully becoming repressive and undemocratic.

More than 10,000 families are dependent on the workers fighting for their rights. This population of workers to the distress of the state machinery is well organised and equipped with an awareness about their rights. Scattered in more than 35 villages, this labour class has experienced humiliation, injustice and exploitation by the contractors who are openly patronised by the highly powerful. They demand registration of all workers, better policy on minimum wages and liberation from the contractors.

The district administration behaved in an undemocratic way. On February 2, 2002, the whole Khanak area was converted into a police camp. Hundreds of old men, women and workers were beaten up by the police. Even children were not spared. These repressive methods were executed with a total denial of public meetings or even small gatherings of workers in the region. Still more, the workers leaders, who were invited for talks, were arrested and manhandled. The legal and ethical dimensions of such manipulative and disgraced behaviour of the bureaucracy is essentially shocking.

The whole episode is eye-opening in one respect. There is a general feeling in the state that the present government has bought its stability by empowering not the common masses, but the anti-social and black money earners. The methodology is undoubtedly subtle, but not new in the national scenario.

In Haryana the nexus between the highly powerful and the mafia of various kinds is gradually gaining ground. Its manifestations are many. Some times in the form of grabbing public land & property, other times it is in the form of a Khanak-like situation where state machinery has reduced itself to the servitude of this nexus.

Recently, the Chief Minister made a statement that justice will be done to all parties in this connection. But it is difficult to believe his words as in “Kandela”, before being brutally treated, the farmers there were given similar assurances. Now it is the turn of the workers of the Khanak region. Let’s believe good sense will prevail.

Obese women often harm foetus

Obese women planning to go the family way will have to think twice now before conceiving. Birth defects, premature birth, and other severe health problems in tomorrow’s babies are linked to the soaring rates of obesity among women of childbearing age, said a report in the New England journal of Medicine.

Richard J. Deckelbaum, Professor, Nutrition, Columbia University, said: “Weight before pregnancy matters much more than people realise, even health professionals. For the norms, there are serious complications such as gestational diabetes, dangerously high blood pressure, and hospitalisation; and for the babies, prematurity, serious birth defects and other severe problems. And when these babies grow up, they are more likely to suffer from obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health problems. Obesity is particularly dangerous for women of child-bearing age because it creates a life cycle of serious problems that can be passed from generation to generation.”

Deckelbaum urged women to prepare for their future children by eating “family-friendly” or “baby-friendly” portion sizes to reduce caloric intake, limiting second helpings, and getting more physical exercise. ANI

TRENDS & POINTERS

Bachelors at disadvantage

Elderly unmarried men who are childless suffer significantly higher rates of loneliness and depression than elderly unmarried women, according to Penn State researchers.

Zhenmei Zhang, a doctoral student in sociology at Penn State, said, “Marital status, rather than parental status, is a more salient factor influencing loneliness and depression in old age”.

“Compared to women, men have much smaller social support networks outside of the immediate family, a circumstance that may be worsened by childlessness combined with being unmarried,” Zhang added.

Zhang is the lead author of the paper, “Childlessness and the Psychological Well-Being of Older Persons,” which appeared recently in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.

“Although parental status was not statistically associated with psychological well-being, marriage appears to bring substantial psychological benefits. Married persons had lower rates of loneliness and depression compared with all other marital groups,” Hayward said.

Among the elderly, higher levels of education, better physical health and more economic resources help considerably to reduce the odds of loneliness and depression, the Penn State researchers concluded. ANI

Smokers tend to survive heart attacks

A new study reveals that a smoker is not only more likely than a non-smoker to suffer a heart attack, but also more likely to survive it.

The reason is mainly that the smoker is much younger at the time of the attack. The research has been published in the February issue of Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

Previous studies have established that smokers with acute heart attacks are younger than non-smokers, tend to have fewer illnesses and exhibit fewer cardiac risk factors.

However, past researchers have not been able to agree on how much these differences account for the lower mortality from heart attacks among smokers.

The current study finally explains the smokers’ paradox by examining the largest group of heart attack patients to date, more than seven times the size of the largest previously studied group. ANI

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

If you practise the real Name of God,

all bliss will be yours, O Bahu,

in this world and the world beyond.

The Lord will purify you of your sins, O Bahu,

if you practice the real Name of God.

They even deny themselves their night sleep

so absorbed are they

in their practice of God's Name.

— Sultan Bahu, Bait, 115-116, 123

Practise the word with devotion

and subduing the mind,

fix your attention in sahaj

on the state of perfect equipoise.

— Saar Bachan, 19:20

Devotion is like the head;

Duty is like the trunk;

Discipline is the foot.

If devotion be linked with duty

and led by discipline

Then success is certain.

Devotion is not a uniform to be worn on certain days when you gather for worship and then be laid aside when the service is over.

Devotion is something sweet and soothing, refreshing and restoring.

It gives you all the strength and energy.

It must confer patience and fortitude.

Devotion to God does not mean merely offering worship in a shrine or taking part in bhajan or sankirtan. One must recognise the form of Divine in the images one worships, or human beings one serves.

— From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba

In the Word God has manifested

the three worlds.

In the Word is

the knowledge of the Veda.

In the Word is

Learning, memory and Tradition.

In the Word lies the secret

and mystery of the sound.

In the Word is fear and delusion,

attachment and emancipation.

In the Word are attained duty,

purity and good deeds.

In the Word exists

whatever is seen,

The Supreme Brahma remains unaffected.

— Bawan Akhre