 World
OBAMA VICTORY INFUSES FRESH HOPE IN OVERSEAS INDIANS
As Obama's father was from Kenya, Indian Kenyans are ecstatic about his victory, considering him as one of their own. However, they cannot hope for the top office in the county as no Kenyan Indian has been elected to parliament in the last few elections -although soon after independence in 1962, an Indian was elected as speaker and another an assistant minister for tourism.
While an Indian MP was elected MP in the 1970s, the Indian community in Kenya abandoned all hopes after repeated defeats at the polls since then.
Talking about improving Indo-US relations, Anil Madan, a senior lawyer from Boston, said: "In a way, (late prime minister) Indira Gandhi set the stage for distancing India from the US. Much of that has changed. If a guy like George W. Bush can forge a more cordial relationship with India - albeit from concerns born of national security and terrorism containment - why would Obama seek to chill them?"
What is in store for Indians in the US under the Obama presidency?
C.K. Sharma from the US replied: "On immigration, taxes, jobs, business... I feel that there would really be no perceptible effect on the American Indians. After all, this is just politics. Republicans or Democrats, they have their task cut out of running the US in the best possible manner, as they see it; and this does not really affect any particular community over here.
-By Kul Bhushan
Politics
THE SAFFRON BROTHERHOOD BECOMES A HYDRA-HEADED MONSTER?
On the political front, the upsurge of hawkish sentiments has not only marginalized the small group of moderates in the BJP but also carries the possibility of making the party appear yet again as a militant, rightwing organisation as at the time of the Ramjanmabhoomi agitation, which led to the demolition of the Babri masjid in 1992.
Riding on the crest of that movement, the BJP assumed power at the centre, first for 13 days in 1996 and then for six years in 1998. However, the negation of the hopes of the hardliners that the party will implement its pro-Hindu agenda after coming to power has evidently made them adopt their present combative posture.
The alleged involvement of saffron (the sacred colour associated with Hindus) of activists in terrorism is an evident fallout of the feeling of anger and frustration among them that the BJP's moderate line, which was preferred by Atal Bihari Vajpayee earlier and now by Advani, is a betrayal of the party's and the RSS-led Sangh Parivar's dream of establishing a theocratic Hindu 'rashtra' (state) in India.
-by Amulya Ganguli
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Society
FATHER, SON GIVE DIGNIFIED LAST JOURNEY TO UNCLAIMED BODIES
Mahadeva's journey to the burial ground accompanying unclaimed bodies in Bangalore began pretty early in his life. In 1970 when he was about eight years old, Mahadeva lost his mother at the government-run Victoria Hospital in Bangalore due to illness. She had walked out on her husband four years earlier following a quarrel and taken Mahadeva with her.
An elderly man named Krishnappa who stayed at the Victoria Hospital premises making a living by burying unclaimed bodies took Mahadeva under his charge. The boy began helping Krishnappa and took over the task after Krishnappa died a few years later.
Mahadeva began taking the bodies in push carts and later with the help of some well- wishers bought a horse carriage, then a three-wheeler auto rickshaw.
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-by Maitreyee Boruah
| Medical & Health
EXERCISE IMPROVES LIFE FOR HEART FAILURE PATIENTS
The average age of the patients was 59 while 28 percent were women.
Upon enrolment, patients filled out the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), a 23-item measure shown to be responsive to underlying clinical changes in patients with heart failure.
At three months, patients in both groups showed improvement, with patients in the usual care group registering a three-point gain on the KCCQ score and those in the exercise group showing a five-point gain. Previous reports had defined a five-point gain as clinically significant.
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 Crime
WHO KILLED AARUSHI-HEMRAJ? SIX MONTHS LATER, NOBODY KNOWS
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the case May 31, pointed the needle towards Krishna, Rajesh Talwar's medical assistant, Raj Kumar, who worked for the Talwar's friends, and Vijay Mandal, another domestic help in the neighbourhood. The allegations could not be backed by evidence in court and the three were also let out on bail.
The then CBI director Vijay Shankar had said on July 9: "The breakthrough is going to come soon." Later, once the CBI investigators charged Krishna and his friends, Vijay Shankar had said: "I am hundred percent confident that the case is closed and the killers have been caught."
But six months and four arrests later, the investigation into the twin murder that had the nation riveted seems to be in a dark alley headed nowhere.
| World
A SLICE OF INDIA IN THE MALDIVES
The India Club brings together government agencies like SBI and Indian Airlines and eminent local personalities for the betterment of the community and the development of Indo-Maldivian relations, says A.K. Pandey, India's high commissioner to the Maldives.
The envoy, who is clearly seduced by myriad charms of the Maldives, organized a function at Kurumba Resorts, a 15-minute boat from Male, to honour visiting Vice President Hamid Ansari in the presence of the Indian community. Informally interacting with prominent Indians, Ansari also lauded the enormous contribution of the Indian community to the life and economy of Maldives.
The India Club also helps Indian labourers in distress who sometime face harassment at the hands of their employers.
-by Manish Chand
| Entertainment
I WON'T MIND DOING A FILM LIKE 'BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN': ABHISHEK BACHCHAN
Of course! I think any parent's illness is extremely disturbing to any child. I'm not an exception. We hope our parents will never fall ill. But they do. I love my father immensely. I dealt with his illness as best as I could. And I hope I'm half as good a son as he was to his parents.
| Medical & Health
CLOUDED VISION COULD BE POINTER TO DIABETES
According to Sachdev, a lot of diabetics don't know that their eyes can be adversely affected and don't come for annual check ups. Even in advanced countries like the US, diabetes is a leading cause of eye problems.
Around four to five diabetics are diagnosed for the condition when they come to an opthalmologist with an eye problem.
"When patients come with dimmed and cloudy vision, we ask for a test of the blood sugar level, and many turn out to be diabetics," he said.
The Centre for Sight has six centres in the National Capital Region (NCR) and will hold camps Friday, where they will have free eye screenings and free tests for blood glucose levels to detect diabetes. The team consists of 30 eye specialists, including six who were with AIIMS earlier.
According to Sachdev, 15 percent of the urban Indian population is estimated to have diabetes.
"Delhi has a population of 1.2 crore (12 million), and an estimated 15 percent of them have diabetes. In rural areas, four to five percent of the population is said to have diabetes.
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Entertainment
'DOSTANA IS ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND NOT GAY SEXUALITY'
But the film is not about gay sexuality. Its basically about friendship and its ups and downs." 'Dostana' stars Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra, Shilpa Shetty and has Bobby Deol in a special appearance.
Abhishek plays a male nurse in a Miami hospital, while John is a photographer who has illegally migrated to the country. Priyanka, on the other hand, works with a magazine. Tarun, who is also the scriptwriter, says his boarding days in school inspired him to write the film. "Its a tribute to my friends with whom I used to share whatever I wanted to," he adds.
He feels that since he began writing the script, he has got whatever he had expected. "Its like a dream come true for me. While writing the script I had John and Abhisekh in my mind. And I got them in the lead roles," he says.-by Nikhil Agarwal
| Documents
DIGEST OF DOMESTIC NES FOR THE WEEK NOV 8- NOV 14, 2008
India and six other countries of South and East Asia decide to put in place a joint mechanism to combat terrorism and vowed to step up cooperation to deal with the challenges posed by global financial crisis and food and energy security....The Centre decides to extend the ban on NDFB and ULFA and a Meghalay -based group whose role came into fore in last month's serial blasts in Assam, to two years....India's national tricolour on the Moon marks the country's physical presence after Chandrayaan-1's Impact Probe landed on the lunar surface when the unmanned spacecraft successfully ejected the instrument in a giant leap for the country's space programme.
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November 19th
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