Recognise the rights of differently-abled children, says UN report

New Delhi:Kartik Sawhney can't stop smiling. He's just scored 96% in Class 12 exams of the Central Board, topping the category of differently-abled students. And now he is all set to go to the Stanford University in the US on a full scholarship to pursue his computer science degree.

What's ironic is that Kartik, who is visually impaired, always wanted to study at the IITs. But he couldn't take the exam since he wasn't given any special assistance he needed to appear for the IIT-JEE exam.

"Why can't we understand the practical difficulties that differently-abled students face and why can't we accommodate such students and let them compete?" Kartik told.

Kartik's concerns are exactly those reflected in the UNICEF's latest 'State of the World Children' report that focuses on the obvious but urgent need to allow differently-abled children to hone their talents. The report also points to the need to recognize the rights of such children.

The lack of such recognition affects a large number of children in India. Census 2011 figures for the differently-abled are still being computed, but the last Census says there are 22 million persons with disabilities in India of which 5.7 million are children, and one in every four children in India is disabled.

UNICEF India representative Louis Georges Arsenault blames "social stigma" for the lack of opportunities for the differently-abled in the country. "There is social stigma...parents themselves don't give information about it. So they (children with disabilities) don't exist, they don't have a birth certificate, they don't attend school and are not part of the census. So we have to start from the beginning."

Disability rights activists in India have for long been fighting for inclusive education. The Right to Education, they say, is often forgotten when it comes to children who need it most.

Just like we find it hard to understand sign language without someone explaining what the gestures mean, children with disabilities also need us to recognize their needs, dreams and aspirations, so that examples like Kartik's are not exceptions but mainstream achievers.

Cool morning in Delhi, day will be partly cloudy

Delhi: It was a cool, pleasant morning in the capital on Saturday with the minimum temperature settling a notch below average at 26.7 degrees Celsius. The Met Office has forecast a partly cloudy day ahead.

"The skies will become partly cloudy in the day and the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 40 degrees Celsius," an official of the India Meteorological Department said.

Humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 69 percent.

Friday's maximum temperature was 40.6 degrees Celsius - average for this time of year, and the minimum was three notches below average at 24.8 degrees Celsius.

Kottayam girl topped AIIMS exam

Kottayam: When she was a child, Bhagya would be taken to paediatrician Dr Jayakumar near her home for treatment. She would watch in wonder how the doctor was administering medicines and giving hope to the patients. Now, she’s a top rank-holder in the field of medicine.

In fact, S. Bhagya, who topped the post graduate entrance examinations to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, had personally come across a second doctor only when she went in for her MBBS course at the Kottayam medical college hospital five years ago. The aspiration to be a doctor was ingrained in her by no great physician, but the same doctor who was next to her house, she says.

The girl from Thekkumgopuram near Kottayam would stroll across the corridors of AIMS by July. “A doctor should excel in various spheres. Apart from having a deep knowledge in the profession, he or she should even be able to diagnose even the emotional and psychological levels of the patient," she told DC.

Her mother, Kala P.P., an employee at the United India Insurance, Kottayam division, had given all the support to her. Her father is late Shaji Babu, who was a manager with SBT, while her younger sister, Kavya, has completed Class Ten.

Gutka ban: Spit it out or cough it up

Bengaluru: The state government has finally woken up to the dangers of tobacco use. State Food Safety Comm, V.B. Patil, who is also the Commissioner for Health and Family Welfare, issued a notification on Wed­nesday prohibiting the manufacture, storage, sale and distribution of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine ingredients with immediate effect in the state. “It will take us another ten days to clear stocks from all the shops,” said Madan Gopal, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department.

Announcing the government initiative at an event to commemorate  World No Tobacco Day on Friday, Health Minister U.T. Khader said, “People in the age group of 26-50, considered the most productive, are the worst hit. Following the ban,  we will start counselling sessions at primary health centers and smaller hospitals across the state.” Mr Khader said, “Gutka products contain very little amount of areca and the growers will not be affected that badly.”

The circular was issued to all the designated food safety officers and district health officers on Friday. The food safety commissioner is chalking out a plan to implement the ban in coordination with the State Health and Family Welfare Department. The Supreme Court, while declaring gutka and pan masala food products, has ruled that they cannot contain tobacco or nicotine ingredients.

Madan Gopal said, “We should have taken this step much earlier. About 25 states and two Union Territories have already banned gutka and pan masala. The effects of the ban will be visible 2-3 weeks. We are still working out the penalties for the violators.”

Russia starts ambitious smoking ban

Moscow : Russia's ambitious smoking ban, which aims to cut the number of smokers in half and improve public health, has gone into effect amid doubts that its measures can be fully enforced.

The first stage of the so-called anti-tobacco ban makes it illegal to smoke on buses, trams and other municipal transport, at railway stations and airports, on lifts and bus stations, near metro and rail stations, in administrative buildings and at education and health facilities.

From June 1, 2014, the ban will be stepped up to also include ships, long-distance trains, train platforms, hotels, cafes and restaurants - places where Russians still smoke plentifully.

Cigarette advertising and sales will also be curbed significantly.

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The Kremlin initiated the public health initiative last year in a bid to halve the country's smokers.

An estimated 44 million Russians use nicotine on a daily basis.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said last year that smoking-related diseases killed an estimated 400,000 people in Russia every year, and that increasingly younger people were picking up the habit.

According to a survey carried out by Levada Centre last year, 81 per cent of the Russians polled were in favour of banning smoking in public places.

However, doubts have been cast about the authorities' ability to enforce the law, and many people have said that the government should focus more on helping people kick the habit rather than adopting repressive measures.

Smokers have also launched a country-wide movement to fight for their rights.

"The government's policies often turn the fight against smoking into the fight against smokers," the All-Russia Movement For The Rights of Smokers said on its website.

The Duma last month passed in an initial reading the bill, setting up fines for violating the law, which start from 1000 rubles ($A32.25) for smoking in forbidden areas and go up as high as 500,000 rubles ($A16,650) for illegal tobacco advertising.

According to the World Health Organisation, Russia in 2010 had the fourth most smokers of any country in the world, accounting for 4.4 per cent of the world's smokers.

However, it was still well behind China, which accounted for 28 per cent of the world's smokers.

Source : TheAge

Festival sheds light on Fed Square

Melbourne : Looming 13 meters tall in the center of Federation Square, a mass of steel and lights has emerged as the visual centerpiece of the square’s annual Light in Winter program.

Designed by renowned light artist Bruce Ramus, the Tree of Light, or Helix Tree, weighs 11 tonnes, is 17 meters wide, and is comprised of 21 curved steel beams fitted with LED lights which illuminate in response to the volume and pitch of the human voice.

Ramus, who was commissioned by curator Robyn Archer to create a piece that would act as a beacon drawing visitors to the square, says he was attracted  to the connotations of the form. “Helixes don’t impose on each other, they are always in harmony. That really appealed to me,” he says. The brief also asked that a connection be made between light and power, which inspired Ramus to craft the helix into a tree. “Trees symbolize power without resistance. They bend, they sway, in harmony with their environment.”

At dusk every night over the month of June, various Melbourne choirs will perform “Singing Up the Tree”, their voices activating colourful lights that will emit from the branches of the structure. Visitors, too, will be able to create their own light shows, but song, rather than speech, is recommended for best results.  “We need to make it quite sensitive to cut out the ambient noise from pedestrians and the like, so you do have to sing out,” says Ramus. “ I don’t imagine it’s for the shy.”

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Other attractions on the Light of Winter program include the Solstice Celebration on June 22nd, a feast of music, performance and food from more than twenty of Melbourne’s ethnic communities, and Sound to Light: Crossing Borders, an exhibition at No Vacancy Project Space that pairs Melbourne and Hobart-based sound and light artists and will be simultaneously streamed at Hobart’s Dark Mofo.

The Light in Winter is at Federation Square until June 30. All events free. 

Source : TheAge

Tourists go rural, ditch hotels for homestay units

MANALI: Kullu villages are buzzing with activity these days with most tourists opting to stay in the secure, healthy and natural atmosphere of rural areas. Despite some hotels in Kullu-Manali trying their best to retain tourists, homestays and other accommodation options in villages are attracting visitors in large numbers.

Tourism industry sources said that the search for new, unspoiled culture of hills and friendly attitude of villagers is making the tourists land in villages. Kullu district has 196 registered homestay units, which are doing a brisk business. Influenced by the changing trend in tourism that is shifting from towns to villages, many villagers have applied for registration of their households as homestay units. Mushrooming concrete structures in towns, besides pollution and noise, are turning tourists increasingly towards villages, they said.

"You can see that rooms in hotels are vacant, but most homestay units are occupied. The tastes of tourists are changing with time," chairman of Himachal Homestay Association, Sanjay Dutta, said. The accommodation in homestays is much cheaper than hotels as no luxury or service taxes are applicable here, he said.

"Tourists get fresh food and generally extend their stay. Staying in calm and serene atmosphere of villages help tourists fight the stress of modern living and relax. They also get to know about how the villagers grow vegetables and grains, how they prepare for winters and also about their tough but simple living," Dutta said.

Despite heavy rush of tourists to Kullu valley, occupancy in many hotels was not more than 70%, sources said. On the other hand, tourists were exploring untouched and new areas, especially homestay units, they said.

"Tourists love their stay with us. Generally, most of them learn 'pahadi recipes' from us and cook their food in our kitchen. We watch television together and discuss our lifestyle and culture with them. We need no marketing, our guests refer their friends and relatives," owner of Himalayan Cottage Homestay, Ankush Bhardwaj, said.

Not only homestays are promoting village tourism but are also strengthening the economy of villages as consumption of products like milk, fruits and vegetables has increased manyfold. The homestay units are also attracting high end tourists from abroad with Naggar, Batahar, Sarsei, Karjan, Shanag, Simsa, Katrain, Tosh, Kasol, Jibhi, Aleo, Prini and Shuru, among others, being the top selling villages recently, sources said.

Source : TOI