SOURCE  FROM  --   http://www.deccanherald.com/content/236729/octogenarian-green-activist-agrees-end.html 

Octogenarian green activist agrees to end fast

New Delhi, March 23 (IANS)

Environmentalist G.D. Agarwal, 80, who is on a fast-unto-death since Jan 15 to save the Ganga river, Friday agreed to end his fast after the government agreed to  his demands, his supporters said.

"He will break his fast today (Friday) as we got a communiqué from the government accepting our demands," Tarun Agarwal, G.D. Agarwal's nephew, told IANS.

He said Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy will meet the 80-year-old activist Friday afternoon at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where he was shifted from Varanasi Monday.
Agarwal had stopped taking water from March 9.

A former Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) professor, Agarwal is unhappy over unsatisfactory and ineffective functioning of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), a central government constituted body for cleaning the Ganga. 

Besides, Agarwal is against ongoing construction of dams/barrages/tunnels on Ganga which he says would totally destroy the natural flow and quality of the river water; the "total failure" of regulatory agencies in controlling discharge of urban and industrial wastes into the Ganga and "complete lack of sensitivity" of the government on these issues.

Anna Hazare Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to immediately call a meeting of the NGRBA in the wake of the deteriorating condition of Agarwal.

Agarwal has served as secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board, the country's premier anti-pollution body, and helped put together environmental legislation in India. This is his third fast-unto-death in the last four years.

--
V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,

20, DESCANSO, APRT 1321,

SAN  JOSE,

CALIFORNIA - 95134. USA.

518-261-7075

AIR INDIA MUM ON DENYING RETIREMENT BENEFITS TO FORMER EMPLOYEE

SOURCE  FROM  --  http://www.mid-day.com/news/2012/mar/230312-mumbai-AI-mum-on-denying-retirement-benefits-to-former-employee.html

AI mum on denying retirement benefits to former employee

By: Bipin Kumar Singh   Date:  2012-03-23   Place: Mumbai

The former chief flight purser had discovered through an RTI plea that other ineligible workers benefited under a special Voluntary Retirement Scheme, while his application --though deserving -- was rejected He's been waging a lone battle for about four years now. Pradeep Khanna (57), a former chief flight purser with Indian Airlines (now part of Air India), believes he is facing reprisal for exposing irregularities in the national carrier's golden handshake scheme.  Blow to the whistle-blower: Pradeep Khanna had earlier filed an  RTI plea questioning the VRRS 2007 benefits of Neelam Rudy " wife  of BJP leader and former civil aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy (below) Despite his eligibility being proven in 2010 by the vigilance department, Air India is yet to respond on  why his application for special VRS was rejected.  MiD DAY report on May 17, 2010 Nightmare Khanna's nightmare can be traced back to his retirement in 2008, when he was denied advantages of the airline's Voluntary Rehabilitation / Rejuvenation Scheme (VRRS) 2007. Even the vigilance inquiry report (copy with MiD DAY) submitted in 2010 authenticated that Khanna was deserving of availing the scheme. However, others -- allegedly ineligible -- got benefited. With no adequate reply on this issue, Khanna decided to approach Indian Audit and Accountant Department (IAAD) in 2010. The airline hasn't responded to the department in the last 15 months.  Tight-lipped The RTI reply sent to Khanna by IAAD on February 24, 2012 reads: "Information has been called from the management of Air India vide letter number GAP/IAL/51/2004-05/169 on December 2, 2010, which is still awaited. A reminder for the same has been issued on February 2, 2012. After the receipt of information from the management, the audit party will suitably examine the issue."  Khanna had earlier filed an RTI plea questioning the VRRS 2007 benefits of Neelam Rudy -- wife of BJP leader and former civil aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy -- the sole conferee of the programme in Northern India. MiD DAY had reported the issue on May 17, 2010 (Did minister's wife net perks?).  In its reply, AI had said that it received a total of 18 applications. Thirteen could not be approved under the scheme, three had been withdrawn by the applicants, and one had expired, leaving Neelam the only beneficiary.   After MiD DAY's report on the irregularities, the Air India management had written back to Khanna threatening to scrap his retirement benefits ('Expose AI, lose retirement benefit', October 28, 2010). Air India failed to reply despite our queries being sent in advance.   The case After Khanna's complaint in 2009 about alleged inconsistencies in the scheme, the vigilance department of  Air India probed the allotments and admitted that the scheme benefited even those who were not eligible for it. The vigilance commission also maintained that Air India incurred irregular expenditure of Rs 50 lakh because of this.   Behind time Thanks to the ill-preparedness of the airlines, passengers continue to remain a worried lot at Mumbai airport. As per the On-Time Performance Report (OTP) data of February submitted to the aviation ministry, out of a total 6,950 departures 1,999 flights got delayed by more than 15 minutes. Reasons like crew shortage, late catering and lack of spare parts still remain the major contributors to the delays. As per the February data (copy With MiD DAY) more than 500 flights got delayed due to crew shortage -- some of the reasons given are 'crew did not report on time', 'no standby crew' or 'awaiting crew from flight which has not yet landed'. More than 250 flights were delayed due to 'lack of planned standby aircraft', 'lack of staff to repair breakdown', 'late release of aircraft from the scheduled maintenance' etc. Another 60 flights were behind time due to 'incorrect catering orders' and 'sales booking error'. In terms of numbers, Kingfisher is on top with 428 delays against 903 flight departures. MiD DAY had highlighted on March 3 (1 out of 3 flights from Mumbai delayed) the large number of delays by domestic airlines.

V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,

20, DESCANSO, APRT 1321,

SAN  JOSE,

CALIFORNIA - 95134. USA.

518-261-7075

New blood to improve life of artificial joints

Source  From  --  http://www.physorg.com/wire-news/93953821/new-blood-to-improve-life-of-artificial-joints.html

Hip and knee replacements are becoming increasingly common in the ageing world, yet most artificial implants have a limited lifespan due to gradual wear and tear.

Understanding why some joint implants fail and others are successful is the key research focus of Flinders University's new Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Mark Taylor (pictured), who has just moved to Adelaide from the University of Southampton in the UK.

Appointed to Flinders under the University's Strategic Professorship scheme, Professor Taylor will use computational modelling to assess the performance of new and existing designs for hip and knee replacements in a bid to reduce the risk of future failures.

"On the whole joint replacements are pretty good, they have about 90-95 per cent survivorship at 10 years but that does mean that approximately 8,000 joints fail each year in Australia and need to be revised," Professor Taylor said.

"Unfortunately, we do get designs that have a 10 per cent failure rate at five years, so there is a real need to screen out those poor designs before they get to clinical practice," he said.

Professor Taylor said the key to his research was to understand how the forces were transferred from the artificial implant to the supporting bone.

"The hip and knee joints carry very large loads due to the combination of a patient's weight and the action of their muscles.

"The expectation is that the artificial joint will outlast the patient, which can be 20-plus years and this is a challenging engineering problem.

"Unlike a car, which is regularly serviced, an artificial hip or knee joint is expected to take millions of steps every year without any form of maintenance.

"So what we're trying to understand is how the forces are transferred from the artificial joint to the supporting bone in order to try and predict the lifetime of implants in this demanding environment."

Before moving to Adelaide with his family, Professor Taylor worked for 13 years at the University of Southampton, initially as a lecturer before being promoted to Professor of Bioengineering and head of the Bioengineering Sciences Research Group, which he also founded.

He credited Flinders close relationship with the nearby medical centre, and Adelaide's strong orthopaedics research community, as reasons for the move.

"From a professional point of view the environment in Adelaide is very appealing because the orthopaedics field spans right from the early stages of basic research to animal facilities and clinical trials," Professor Taylor said.

"Being so close to both Flinders Medical Centre and the School of Medicine, I'm also looking forward to having more direct contact with the clinical work that goes on here.

"One of the problems with computer work is that it can be a bit removed from reality so hopefully I can be more involved in the clinical studies to see whether some of these computational models do actually work."

Provided by Flinders University 

--
V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,

20, DESCANSO, APRT 1321,

SAN  JOSE,

CALIFORNIA - 95134. USA.

518-261-7075

TURMERIC COMPOUND MAY HOLD KEY TO PARKINSON'S CURE

SOURCE FROM --  http://kaumudiglobal.com/innerpage1.php?newsid=17962 

Turmeric compound may hold key to Parkinson's cure

WASHINGTON: Curcumin, a compound found in popular Asian spice turmeric, may offer a potential cure for Parkinson's disease as it appears effective in targeting a protein associated with the degenerative disorder, a new study has claimed.

Researchers at Michigan State University in the US found that curcumin is very effective at preventing clumping of a slow-wriggling alpha-synuclein protein which is known as the first step of diseases such as Parkinson's which affects over four million people worldwide.

"Our research shows that curcumin can rescue proteins from aggregation, the first steps of many debilitating diseases," said Lisa Lapidus, a MSU associate professor who co-authored the study with researcher Basir Ahmad. "More specifically, curcumin binds strongly to alpha-synuclein and prevents aggregation at body temperatures," she said.

According to researchers, proteins are chains of amino acids that do most of the work in cells. Though scientists understand protein structure, they don't know how they are built -- a process known as folding.

In the new study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Lapidus and her team have shed light on the process by correlating the speed at which protein folds with its tendency to clump or bind with other proteins.

When they attached curcumin to alpha-synuclein, they found that it not only stopped clumping, but it also raised the protein's folding or reconfiguration rate.

By bumping up the speed, curcumin moves the protein out of a dangerous speed zone allowing it to avoid clumping with other proteins, the researchers said.

Finding a compound that can fix a protein when it first begins to misfold can lead scientists to identify drugs that can treat certain diseases, Lapidus said.

"Curcumin's usefulness as an actual drug may be pretty limited since it doesn't go into the brain easily where this misfolding is taking place," she said.

"But this kind of study showcases the technique of measuring reconfiguration and opens the door for developing drug treatments."

Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the central nervous system which results from the death of dopamine-generating cells in the certain brain area. Currently, there is no cure for the condition.

--
V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,

20, DESCANSO, APRT 1321,

SAN  JOSE,

CALIFORNIA - 95134. USA.

518-261-7075

POVERTY NUMBERS - GOVERNMENT SCHEMES LINKED

SOURCE  FROM  --  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Poverty-numbers-govt-schemes-linked/articleshow/12374820.cms

Poverty numbers, govt schemes linked

NEW DELHI: The poverty line is not just a statistical exercise. The Centre uses it to decide access to social security benefits. Pension schemes for the old, widows and economically disadvantaged disabled provide Rs 11 a day for rural beneficiaries and Rs 17 a day in urban areas. That not even Rs 22 and Rs 28 Planning Commission feels are subsistence expenses.

The consequence of such cut offs is that in the case of old age pension (Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme or IGNOAPS) of the 81 lakh eligible poor over the age of 60 most may not qualify. This is so if you accept the abysmal low poverty line figures Planning Commission has now produced at face value.

Under the scheme old age people below the poverty line are paid Rs 200 per month as pension. But the restrictions imposed by the old poverty line ensure that if any poor person over the age 60 who spends more than Rs 11 in rural India per day or Rs 17 per day in towns is not eligible.

This is how the planning commission poverty line acts to cut off or include people in the social security schemes for the poor.

The states undertake detailed surveys to identify the poor based on a list of parameters. Once identified these people are given BPL (Below Poverty Line) cards. Ideally all those who have been identified as BPL should then be provided benefits under schemes meant for the poor. But here lies the catch. The Planning Commission steps in. It undertakes a statistical exercise sitting in Delhi to calculate the percentage of people it considers poor in each state. It decides a certain minimum monthly expenditure per person as a cut off. Anyone spending above this it decides cannot be declared poor.

It then tells the state government that regardless of the number of poor it has identified, it will only give central funds for the percentage it considers poor based on its statistics. If the state governments want to extend the benefit to those beyond its cut off they can do so out of their own pocket. This is exactly what has happened with the pension schemes.

The Supreme Court food commissioners 9th report notes: "the Government of India uses the poverty ratio of 28 per cent (based on the Rs 11 and Rs 17 poverty line), instead of the earlier 36 per cent, in making the allocations under this (old age pension) scheme". This is despite the fact that the 36% cut off has been accepted for distributing food grains under PDS based on Supreme Court orders.

Based on these old and extremely low statistical poverty lines, the SC commissioners note that in 2006 the scheme was extended only to 1.28 crore people. If the government had updated the poverty percentage to 36% the Centre would have been required to provide assistance for 1.86 crore people - only 68.7% of the poor and old those eligible actually get central support.

Today, if one was to take the current population levels as per the latest census and latest planning commission poverty line cut offs, roughly 2.28 crore people are eligible for the scheme. As per the latest government records only 1.46 crore old age people benefit from the scheme at the moment because of this artificial cut off imposed by the Union government.

The old age pension scheme is just one of the numerous schemes where the planning commission's poverty line is used as criteria to decide the number of beneficiaries the Central government will support in the states regardless of the poor actually identified. This is why the poverty line matters and is not just a debatwing point for economists.

--
V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,

20, DESCANSO, APRT 1321,

SAN  JOSE,

CALIFORNIA - 95134. USA.

518-261-7075

Lakshadweep UT gives 20% discount to senior citizens in ship travel

Administration of the

Union Territory of Lakshadweep

(Directorate of Port, Shipping and Aviation)

Kavaratti-682555

F. No. 13/19/2003-Port (OPI)(1)    Dated: 24.11.2011.

ORDER

The Administrator, U.T. of Lakshadweep is pleased to formulate the

following scheme for providing concession to Senior Citizens in passenger fare

in ships/vessels operated by U.T. of Lakshadweep Administration.

Application :  All types of journeys in ships/vessels of UTL Administration

   operated between mainland-island and inter-island.

Fares : 20% concession in all class of accommodation.

Documentation : Senior Citizen's discount will be offered on submission any

   one of the following documents alongwith the prescribed ship

   ticket application form.

   (a) Resident identity card issued to islanders by Sub Division

   Officers/Deputy Collectors of concerned islands having

   specified date of birth of the card holder.

   (b) Valid Indian Passport.

  (c) Certificate from employer from Government Organization

       or Public Sector Undertaking where the senior citizen was

       employed.

Eligibility :  Male/Female senior citizens residing permanently in

   Lakshadweep and who have completed the age of 60 years

   on the date of commencement of journey.

The Senior Citizen will have to produce the proof of identity and age at

the time of checking-in/boarding point/and during the journey on demand by the

authority. In case of senior citizens travelling on concession, who do not produce

a g e   p r o o f   o n   d e m a n d ,   t h e   d i f f e r e n c e   o f   c o n c e s s i o n a l   f a r e   p a i d   a n d

non-concessional fare payable shall be charged.

This issues with the approval of Administrator vide Diary No. 5353 dated

14-11-2011.

Sd/-

   (Dr. M.S. SAYED ISMAIL KOYA)

              Director (Port, Shipping and Aviation)

===========

http://intralak.nic.in/laktimes/December-14.pdf

Dr P Vyasamoorthy, 30 Gruhalakshmi Colony Secunderabad 500015 Ph 040-27846631 / 9490804278. 

FAMILY PENSION WILL GO TO WIFE EVEN IF THE DECEASED GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE NOT DECLARED

Family pension can be granted sans nomination too, says HC

SOURCE  FROM  --  http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/article3026782.ece

MOHAMED IMRANULLAH S.

SHARE  ·   PRINT   ·   T+  

The Madras High Court Bench here has reiterated that the wife of a dead government pensioner can be granted family pension by relaxing the relevant rules even if her husband had not declared her as his nominee before his death.

Justice K. Chandru made the observation while ordering family pension to an aged widow who managed to get a divorce decree, originally obtained by her husband in 2003, reversed by the High Court in August last year though her husband died in January 2010 itself.

The widow Malarvizhi had filed the present writ petition in 2010 seeking a direction to the Accountant General's office to grant family pension to her towards services rendered by her husband as a secondary grade teacher in an elementary school in Sivaganga district until his retirement in February 2002.

Filing a counter affidavit in the case in March 2010, the Tiruppattur Treasury Officer stated that a nominee entered in the government employee's service register was the only person eligible to receive family pension.

But the petitioner's husband did not nominate anyone till his retirement.

The officer also pointed out that the petitioner's husband Poovalingam had filed a divorce case against the petitioner before the Sivaganga Sub-Court and obtained a favourable decree in March 2003.

The decree was also confirmed by the Sivaganga District Court in December 2003.

However, the judge pointed out that pursuant to the filing of the counter affidavit in the present writ petition, the High Court allowed a second appeal filed by the petitioner and reversed the divorce decrees passed and confirmed by the courts below.

Therefore, in the light of the subsequent development there was no legal impediment in holding that the petitioner was the wife of Poovalingam.

In so far as the absence of her name in the nominee's column was concerned, the judge said that he had decided a similar issue in another case in 2007 itself.

In that case, the judge held that family pension could not be denied on technicalities such as the pensioner's failure to nominate especially when the object of the family pension scheme was to enable the family of the deceased Government servant to survive even after his death.

"As such when a welfare measure has been introduced with the purpose to enable the family of the deceased Government to survive that cannot be defeated by standing on mere technicalities," the judge said and ordered the officials to grant family pension to Malarvizhi within twelve weeks.

--
V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,

20, DESCANSO, APRT 1321,

SAN  JOSE,

CALIFORNIA - 95134. USA.

518-261-7075