Indian pilots and alcohol

“Don’t drink and fly!”

That is what the Indian authorities are telling their pilots. But still, pilots in India often fail alcohol tests.

A flight from India’s capital, Delhi, to the eastern city of Patna was canceled Saturday after a routine medical test on crew members revealed the pilot had consumed alcohol.

According to Indian civil aviation authorities out of 4,500-5,000 commercial pilots around 50 pilots are being grounded each year because they had consumed alcohol before taking a flight. (reuters)

Weight loss game

The alarming number of overweight folks are affixed either to their work, or TV, or computer with not much time for physical activities.

Canadian video game developer from Toronto has an idea to cash on these unhealthy habits of the video gamers. Well, it is a game for hand held device; but don’t expect to loose weight in the bus/train on your way to work even though the game is made for the Nintendo DS personal hand held gaming system. It is only a motivating device to make you eat healthy and be more active to loose weight.

It is told that “My Weight Loss Coach,” the new game, deals with healthy weight loss and provides users a way to track eating and exercise. It allows its users to design and chart a course toward healthier habits and eating lifestyles, including weight, age and objectives that are set up for people of their age and sex. The single user game allows the user to enter personal information and to design their own personal profile that will assist them in weight loss and healthy eating. (source)

World’s Fattest Countries

In a latest study, Nauru tops the list of countries with the greatest percentage of overweight people, with an alarming 94.5% of its adult population (ages 15+) classified as such, based on the most recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nepal ranked 189, 6th from the bottom, with 8.5% of the population overweight. US ranked 9th with 74.1% overweight population.

Want to check what your country ranks in the list? Here is the full list of 194 countries.

Indian toilet cleaners and New York catwalk

Vimla Atwal, 35, and 29 other female toilet cleaners are going to take part in a fashion show in New York. Thanks to a rehabilitation program run by a local firm, Sulabh International, these ladies are participating in a series of events by the United Nations to mark the International Year of Sanitation.

During their stay in New York, the 30 women will present a short film on their lives too.

Under UN’s Millenium Development Goal target, it hopes to reduce half the proportion of people lacking access to basic sanitation by 2015.

Gaint skeleton – Fake news

Gaint skeleton found in India… The discovery was made by National Geographic Team (India Division) with support from the Indian Army since the area comes under the jurisdiction of the Army. The exploration team also found tablets with inscriptions that stated that our Gods of Indian mythological yore, ‘Brahma’ had created people of phenomenal size the like of which He has not created since.

But it turned out to be a big FAKE

Former king of Nepal handed over his crown to the government

In a historic declaration, Nepal was converted to a newest republic of modern time. The former king was told to leave the palace within 15 days and he has left the palace within the given time frame. Before he left he delivered a lengthy press statement, in which he told that he has no plans to leave the Himalayan country, amongst a huge crowd of press personals.

The former king Gyanendra Shah Wednesday relinquished the crown and Narayanhiti palace to move to the western outskirts of the capital, to the retreat at Nagarjun forest.

Before leaving the former palace of the Shah kings, he said that the country imagined and established 240-years ago by his ancestors is passing through a serious transitional phase and that he has no plans to leave the country. He also said the crown and sceptre has been handed over to the government for safekeeping.

As per the government’s decision, a total of 75 security personnel—50 Armed Police Force and 25 Nepal Army—will be providing security to Gyanendra.

The former King had been residing at the Narayanhiti palace after he ascended the throne in 2001 following a palace massacre in which a gunman, allegedly the then crown prince, assassinated King Birendra and other royal family members.

Cow urine anti-diabetic ?

Do you know Hindu people drink cow urine for therapeutic and religious purposes? Sounds awkward but it is true. Now, researchers are trying to prove it is not a mere myth.

But it is not to be forgotten that urine is a product excreted through kidneys and contains the waste metabolites. It can also contain the bacteria, bovine tuberculosis for example, and other harmful germs and metabolic products.

Researchers of pharmacology and toxicology department, Veterinary College, Hebbal, India are conducting a study on ‘pharmacological and therapeutic evaluation of cattle urine’. In the first year of study, cow urine, which has traditionally been used only in clinical applications, has shown anti-diabetic properties. (times of india)

In another news, Uttarakhand (Indian province) Government in Feb 2008 announced that it will procure cow’s urine, on the pattern similar to the procurement of milk by dairies, refine it and sell it to Ayurvedic pharmacies. (tmmkonline)

Apart from cow urnine there are some who claim magic healing powers of drinking one’s own urine, called Shivambhu. Some claim that it contains antibodies which act against the harmful diseases affecting our body, but analytically and biochemical it has not been proven so far.

In one more news from Indian Express, Mumbai edition (published on the January 14, 2000 – clip attached), states that Gomutra (gomutram) or the Cow’s Urine highly beneficial in the treatment of Asthma, headache and tooth problems.

Read the rest of this entry »

Overweight air hostesses grounded in India

The Delhi High Court, India, recently upheld the policy of Indian Airlines to ground overweight air hostesses. A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri dismissed the petition filed by some Indian Airlines air hostesses, who were grounded due to putting on weight excessive to the limit fixed by the airlines.

The court had on May 5 reserved it’s judgment on a bunch of petitions of Indian Airlines’ air hostesses challenging their grounding for being overweight.

The petitioners had also challenged the Airlines’ circular of withdrawing permissible overweight limit of 3 kg over and above the upper limit as laid down for the cabin crew.

Challenging the grounding of air hostesses due to their weight, advocate Arvind Sharma appearing for the petitioners had contended that the action was arbitrary and illegal.

“There is no connection between weight and performance of duty when one is medically fit. Weight is not a criteria of fitness,” Sharma had contended.

The petitioners had challenged the judgment of single bench of the High Court which had upheld the Airlines’ policy of grounding overweight air hostesses. (HT)

It is told that their contract has a clause to terminate their job in case they put on weight above the permissible limit.

Couple Divorced for 10 years without knowledge

What do you do when you realize that you have been divorced for the last ten years without your knowledge and that too being happily married all the time? Well, that was what happened to a couple in India who realized that the government record show they have been divorced for a decade.

Meena Verma, a mother of two children, tried to file a case against her in-laws for violence, only to be told by a court in Haryana state that she had been divorced for a decade.

Her husband Virender told the Times of India his brother, a lawyer, had apparently forged the divorce a decade earlier, when the couple were contemplating making a similar complaint.

“It seems the divorce was doctored to defeat Meena’s possible complaint,” he said.(Reuters)

The couple filed a petition accusing Virender’s brother, Surinder Verma, and four associates, of forgery.