Tuesday, November 30, 2010

National conference of paediatric endo-surgeons in early March next

LudhianaThe Department of Paediatric Surgery at the Christian Medical College & HospitalLudhiana is one of the few paediatric surgery departments in the country that does a variety of endoscopic surgeries in the country both in the chest and abdomen. The department has been given the honor hosting the national conference of paediatric endo-surgeons in early March next year.This was also disclosed here in a press conference at CMC Ludhiana.
During this conference a camp of endoscopic surgery will be held where the best surgeons from the United Kingdom, China & India will be performing common as well as complicated procedures. Those parents whose children need surgical procedures should contact the Department of Paediatric Surgery, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana as soon as possible and make use of this opportunity to be operated by the best surgeons from around the world. Dr.Abrahim G Thomas, Director CMC&H said that Paediatric Surgery Department is always looking to provide cutting edge surgical technology to children of North India.-Rector Kathuria  

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Waiving Off the Second Wave

Was the second wave of feminists who ran rampant in the sixties and seventies all washed up before they got going? What did they actually accomplish other than try to change the balance of power in the name of women’s rights? Does the current Minister of Family in Germany pay them homage or does she have her own view on why women can do what they do today without their help?
When in an interview published in 2009, I expressed my differences in ideas with Simone De Beauvoir, I found not only Indian feminists, but some western feminists came forward to protest my comments. One of known second-wave western feminists also asked me what I have done in my lifetime before protesting such eminent feminist like Beauvoir.But recently an interview with German Family Minister Kristina Schroder, which made a wave of controversy in Germany, made me more enthusiastic that a whole new kind of struggle is emerging throughout the world.
I invite you to my blog Sense & Sensuality to share more with me at


http://sarojinisahoo.blogspot.com/

Regards

Sarojini
(Sarojini Sahoo)


SENSE & SENSUALITY

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Parveen Shakir (Poetess of Feminine Feelings) Birthday

Today (24 Nov)

Poetess Parveen Shakir  was born on 24 November 1952 in Karachi, Pakistan. Perveen Shakir was highly educated. She received two undergraduate degrees, one in English literature and the other in linguistics, and obtained MA degrees in the same subjects from the University of Karachi. She also held a PhD, and another MA degree in Bank Administration. In 1982, Shakir sat in, and passed, the Central Superior Services Examination. Incidentally, her unique honour was a question, in the examination, on her own poetry. In 1991, she did an MA in Public Administration from Harvard University, USA. Perveen Shakir married a Pakistani doctor, Naseer Ali, with whom she had a son, Syed Murad Ali—but the marriage did not last long and ended in a divorce. 
On Dec 26th, 1994, Shakir's car collided with a truck while she was on her way to work in Islamabad. The accident resulted in her death, a great loss to the Urdu poetry world. Fans of Parveen Shakir have woven conspiracy theories around her death, believing she was murdered, seeing the event in the background of Shakir's involvement in government affairs and her relations with high-profile government and political figures.
Shakir started writing at an early age and published her first volume of poetry, Khushbu [Fragrance], to great acclaim, in 1976. She subsequently published other volumes of poetry - all well-received - including Inkaar [Refusal], Sad-barg [Marsh Marigold], Khud Kalami [Conversing with the Self] and Kaf-e-Aa'ina [The Edge of the Mirror], besides a collection of her newspaper columns, titled Gosha-e-Chashm [The Sight Corner], and was awarded one of Pakistan's highest honours, the Pride of Performance for her outstanding contribution to literature. 
Shakir started writing at a young age, penning down both prose and poetry, and contributing columns in Urdu newspapers, and a few articles in English dailies. Initially, she wrote under the pen-name, Beena
Shakir's first book, Khushbu (Fragrance), was published in 1976 and won Pakistan's Adamjee Award. She subsequently published Sad-barg (Marsh Marigold), Khud kalami (Conversing with the Self), Inkaar (Refusal), Maah-e-Tamam (Full Moon) and Kaf-e-Aa'ina (The Edge of the Mirror), all to great acclaim. 
Shakir employed mainly two forms of poetry in her work, one being the prevalent ghazal [plural: ghazalyaat], and the other being free verse. The most prominent themes in Shakir's poetry are love, feminism, and social stigmas, though she occasionally wrote on other topics as well. Her work was often based on romanticism, exploring the concepts of love, beauty and their contradictions, and heavily integrated the use of metaphors, similes and personifications. 
Arguably, Shakir can be termed the first poetess to use the word larki(girl) in her works—the male-dominated Urdu poetry scene seldom employs that word, and uses masculine syntax when talking about the 'lover'. Similarly, she often made use of the Urdu first-person, feminine pronoun in her verses which, though extremely common in prose, was rarely used in poetry, even by female poetesses, before her. 
Shakir's ghazalyaat are considered "a combination of classical tradition with modern sensitivity," and mainly deal with the feminine perspective on love and romance, and associated themes such as beauty, intimacy, separation, break-ups, distances, distrust and infidelity and disloyalty.
Most of Shakir's ghazalyaat contain five to ten couplets, often - though not always - inter-related. Sometimes, two consecutive couplets may differ greatly in meaning and context [For example, in one of her works, the couplet 'That girl, like her home, perhaps/ Fell victim to the flood is immediately followed by 'I see light when I think of you/ Perhaps remembrance has become the moon'.
Shakir's ghazalyaat heavily rely on metaphors and similes, which are repeatedly and thought-provokingly used to bring force and lyricism in her work. A fine example of this is seen in one of her most famous couplets, "Wo tou khushbu hai, hawaon main bikhar jaye ga/ Masla phool ka hai, phool kidher jayega?"Translation: He is fragrance and would waft in the air/ the trouble lies with the flower - where shall the flower go?] where Shakir relates 'fragrance' to an unfaithful lover, 'air' to the unfaithful's secret loves, and 'flower' to the person being cheated. Other metaphors Shakir commonly uses are titli [butterfly] for a Romeo, badal [cloud] for one's love, baarish [rain] for affection, and andhi [storm] for difficulties.
Some of Shakir's ghazalyaat or, more specifically, couplets, have gained an iconic status in Urdu literature. One of her most famous couplets if the one given above. Another famous, Shakir couplet is "Jugnuu ko din kay wakt parakhne ki zid karain/ Bachchay hamaray ehed kay chaalaak ho gaye" [They insist upon evaluating the firefly in daylight/ The children of our age, have grown clever], which is often quoted to comment on the often surprising knowledge and awareness of the 21st century child.
As compared to her ghazalyaat Shakir's free verse is much bolder, and explores social issues and taboos, including gender inequality, discrimination, patriotism, deceit, prostitution, the human psyche, and current affairs. It is also much more modern and up-to-date.
Shakir is known for having employed the usage of pop culture references and English words and phrases, that have mixed up with Urdu, in her free verse - a practice that is both generally considered inappropriate, and criticized, in Urdu poetry. An example is the poem Departmental Store MeiN [In a Departmental Store], which is named thus despite the fact that there the term 'departmental store' could easily have been substituted with its Urdu equivalent, and where words like 'natural pink,' 'hand lotion,' 'shade,' 'scent' and 'pack' are brought into use, and references made to cosmetics brands like, Pearl, Revlon, Elizabeth Arden, and Tulip. Other examples are her poems Ecstasy, Nun and Picnic. 
Shakir's free verse also contains a few, credited translated or inspired works i.e. poems that are translations of, or inspired by, other authors. Examples are Wasteland, a poem inspired by Elliot's poem of the same name,[13] and Benasab Wirsay Ka Bojh [The Burden of Illegitimate Inheritance], a translation of W.B. Yeats's Leda and the Swan. 
Shakir's poetry was well-received, and after her untimely death she is now considered one of the best and "most prominent" modern poets Urdu language has ever produced. Hailed as a "great poetess," her poetry has drawn comparisons to that of Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad, and she is considered among the breed of writers "regarded as pioneers in defying tradition by expressing the "female experience" in Urdu poetry." 
A source states, "Parveen ... seems to have captured the best of Urdu verse ... Owing to [her] style and range of expressions one will be intrigued and ... entertained by some soul-stirring poetry." Another praises "her rhythmic flow and polished wording." 
Literary figure Iftikhar Arif has praised Shakir for impressing "the young lot through her thematic variety and realistic poetry," for adding "a new dimension to the traditional theme of love by giving expression to her emotions in a simple and pellucid style," and using a "variety of words to convey different thoughts with varying intensities." 
The Delhi Recorder has stated that Shakir "has given the most beautiful female touch to Urdu poetry."
Shakir's first book, Khushbu, was awarded the Adamjee Award. Later, she was awarded the Pride of Performance, one of Pakistan's highest honours.
Upon her death, the Parveen Shakir Trust was established by her close friend, Parveen Qadir Agha. The Parveen Shakir Trust organizes a yearly function and gives out the "
Following is a list of Shakir's published books. A translation of each's title follows in italics.
Volumes of Poetry
• Khushbu (1976) - Fragrance
• Sad-barg (1980) - Marsh Marigold
• Khud-kalaami (1990) - Talking to the Self
• Inkaar (1990) - Refusal
• Maah-e-Tamaam (1994) - Full Moon
• Kaf-e-Aa'ina - The Edge of the Mirror
Prose
• Gosha-e-Chashm - The Sight Carner

               --0--  By--Iftikhar Chaudri (Lovers of Fine/ performing Arts,Poetry,Literature& Music of Sub-Continent)

Monday, November 22, 2010

what is beauty

Beauty  is neither a thing nor an ideal but it is an emotion.
It is a feeling of being beautiful.
Only those with a pure and pious heart can see the beauty in nature and admire it.
It can be seen in the hardships of a tiny ant, in the leisurely walks of a giant elephant.
Beautiful,may look,the cries of an innocent child or the wrinkles of an old man or woman.
Every nook and corner of the earth is filled with beauty.
when, where and how  to locate it depends on each one of us.
As it is rightly said '" beauty lies in the eyes of beholder"

Friday, November 19, 2010

Every year about 2 lakh children in India are born with a congenital heart defect

Every year about 2 lakh children in India are born with a congenital heart defect, but only 5,000 get treated.This was stated at CMC $ H during the inaugural function of 1st Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Programme-2010. Programme-2010."The Heart of a Champion" Organized by the Department of Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, CMC & H, Ludhiana on Friday.

The Govt of Punjab under the National Rural Health Mission chose the Christian Medical College  & Hospital in Ludhiana  to be one of the few hospitals in Punjab to conduct surgeries for any Govt or Govt aided school going child totally free of cost. This is in view of the fact that there is an alarmingly high incidence of heart defects from birth (called congenital heart defects) in India. The incidence is about 8 cases in every 1000  births. Every year about 2 lakh children in India are born with a congenital heart defect, but only 5,000 get treated. In India the valves of children get damaged by rheumatic fever and quite a few of them need surgery – but again most do not get treated in time.The reason for non treatment is a combination of ignorance and a lack of finances. Most heart defects can be treated in a single hospitalization with a good chance that the person will grow to be a normal productive adult. The CMC & H was chosen in view of the excellent infrastructure of CMC and the expertise and skills of the cardiac team.
Dr Harinder Singh Bedi – Head of Cardio Vascular & Thoracic Surgery at CMC & H – has had extensive experience of treating children with complex heart diseases in his tenure at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Chidren in Sydney, Australia and at the Escorts Heart Institute New Delhi where he started the paediatric heart surgery programme after returning from abroad. Incidentally Dr Bedi’s surgical team has recently successfully completed the surgical treatment of 1000 cases of children with heart disease. Under the NRHM 50 cases have so far been operated in CMC & H. No case has been refused surgery. 95% of the cases have been operated upon within 2 days of referral. There were a few cases who were refused surgery by other reputed Institutes. One of these was Miss Gurmukhi from Gurdaspur. She had a large hole in the heart with severe damage to the heart and lungs and was refused surgery all over India. In her, Dr Bedi devised a new technique of putting in an innovative valve system in the hole so that it would open up in cases of emergency. Gurmukhi has made a remarkable recovery and is a happy and active child now. The other members of Dr Bedi’s surgical team are Dr A Joseph, Dr A Gupta, Dr V Tewarson, Sr Sanjiv , Dr Meenu and Dr Prashant.
Dr Bedi said that most heart defects can be fully treated so that the child has a normal life and an active lifestyle. In fact some of Dr Bedi’s operated patients are officers in the Indian Army and pilots. Their hearts - according to Dr Bedi - are the hearts of champions as they have overcome all odds to be productive members of the country.
Dr Bedi added that :
the aim at CMC & H is:  ‘To  give each child a childhood';
and our dream is To to give each a normal adulthood’.
The function – titled “The Heart of a Champion” – is basically a Thanksgiving to the Almighty and to the Govt of Punjab and to the Health Minister who has initiated this life giving programme. The aim is also to create awareness about Heart Disease and its treatment and to give tips to the parents and the children about basic dental hygiene and nutrition. Dr Bedi said that after congenital heart defects the most important problem in children was of bad lifestyle habits which get inculcated in them at a young age – these include junk food, overindulgence by parents, reduced physical activity and addiction to drugs and tobacco.
The children who had been operated under this scheme gave a lively and spirited performance of dance and songs which was greatly appreciated by all. An educative brochure was released by the Health Minister – Prof Laxmi Kanta Chawla -  on the occasion. The Hon’able Minister said that she was very impressed with the excellent surgical results of CMC and the performance by the children.
The Guest from Govt. were Principal Secretary Health Mr Satish Chandra Dr.K.S. Dhillon Asstt. Director School Health,  Director of Family Health Dr Ashok Nayyar, Dr.J.P.Singh, Director Health Services and Dy Dir Dr KS Dhillon were also present on the occasion.
Dr.Kanwal Masih, Medical Superintendent, CMC& H, Dr.William Bhatti, Principle Christian Medical College and Hospital were also present on the occasion.
The Principal Secretary Health Mr Satish Chandra and the Director of Family Health Dr Ashok Nayyar and Dy Dir Dr KS Dhillon were also present on the occasion.
Dr Abraham G Thomas – Director – told that CMC & H is committed to bringing International level care to the children of this region rate so that no child should be denied therapy just because of cost.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Amnesty International Urges China to Release Woman Sentenced to a Year in Labor Camp Over Tweet

Cheng Jianping (courtesy:Globalvoices)
Washington, D.C.:  Amnesty International today urged the Chinese authorities to release a woman sentenced to a year in a labor camp for retweeting a supposedly anti-Japanese message. 

Chinese online activist Cheng Jianping was sentenced to one year of ‘Re-education Through Labor’ on Monday for “disturbing social order”, having retweeted a satirical suggestion on October 17 that the Japanese Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo be attacked.   

“Sentencing someone to a year in a labor camp, without trial, for simply repeating another person’s clearly satirical observation on Twitter demonstrates the level of China’s repression of online expression
,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s director for the Asia-Pacific

Cheng disappeared ten days later, on what was to be her wedding day, her whereabouts unknown until it emerged this week that she had been detained and sentenced by local police. 
The offending tweet was originally posted by Cheng’s fiancé Hua Chunhui, mocking China’s young nationalist demonstrators who had smashed Japanese products in protest over a maritime incident between China and Japan involving the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku islands.   

Hua’s original tweet said “Anti-Japanese demonstrations, smashing Japanese products, that was all done years ago by Guo Quan [an activist and expert on the Nanjing Massacre].  It’s no new trick.  If you really wanted to kick it up a notch, you’d immediately fly to Shanghai to smash the Japanese Expo pavilion.” 
Retweeting the comment as ‘wangyi09’, Cheng Jianping added the phrase “Angry youth, charge!”  The tweet has only been retweeted by three people. 

Cheng may be the first Chinese citizen to become a prisoner of conscience on the basis of a single tweet. Her fiancé Hua Chunhui, who tweets as ‘wxhch’, is not known to have been detained. 
“It is possible that Cheng Jianping may have been targeted for her online activism over the last few years and her expressions of support for other Chinese dissidents and activists,” said Zarifi.

According to other Chinese activists on Twitter, Cheng had participated in low-level online activism, including support for imprisoned Nobel Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo and imprisoned consumer rights advocate Zhao Lianhai, as well as fundraising in support of other activists. 
Twitter is blocked in China but is widely accessed and used, particularly by human rights defenders and their supporters who often use the social-networking platform to quickly organize in support of human rights activists who are detained or tried in court. 

Re-education through labor is an administrative punishment that can deprive an individual of their liberty for up to four years through a decision by the police without a trial by an independent court. 

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. 


# # #

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Aung San Suu Kyi is Released !

Posted on : Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 1:38 AM
"The release of political prisoners is the most important thing for all those who truly wish to bring about change in Burma."
— Aung San Suu Kyi

Dear Rector,

Aung San Suu Kyi was freed today!

Suu Kyi, a human rights and pro-democracy leader who has been held in detention or house arrest in Myanmar for 15 of the last 21 years, spoke with a crowd of supporters outside her home shortly after her release.

Amnesty International has been advocating for this Nobel Laureate over the course of two decades. Although she was recently barred from participating in the first elections her country has held in 20 years, we welcome the news of her freedom today.

Thank you for your work on Suu Kyi's case — your letters, public demonstrations, phone calls and discussions with friends, family, and colleagues.

Suu Kyi's release is welcome news for a country that routinely imprisons people who engage in peaceful political dissent, but others are still at risk.

Donate to support Amnesty International's continued work on behalf of prisoners of conscience.

Buddhist monk U Gambira is currently serving a 63 year sentence at a prison in Myanmar for his part in monk-led demonstrations in 2007. While in jail, he has been tortured and denied access to medical treatment. U Gambira is in poor health and should be released immediately. He is one of more than 2,000 political prisoners being held in Myanmar.

©2002 Getty Images

Myanmar should never have arrested Aung San Suu Kyi or other prisoners of conscience in the first place, locking them out of the political process. HelpAmnesty fight to free prisoners of conscience worldwide.
Donate Now!


Your gift ensures we can continue to advocate for the release of prisoners of conscience in Myanmar.


Larry CoxSincerely,
Larry Cox
Larry Cox
Executive Director
Amnesty International USA


Donate now











Saturday, November 13, 2010

Oh Bapu .....

Son of motherland India, Vijay Mallya showed his true spirit as an Indian, and brought Gandhi Bapu back home

                          
                             
The very fact that the poor were being driven out of Delhi during CWG by the robust stick and stick policy confirms that we donot want to showcase the world the real India, which we all know as an emerging 'economic power'.  It lowers our status if such poor and shabby people are noticed on the roadside by our reluctant foreign guests.

While doing so are we not acting as wardens of a child Orphanage? Whenever any rich man has to visit the orphanage dirty clothes and bed sheets are concealed. All orphans are given new clothes, good shoes/chappals, baloons are hanged, good books and toys are placed ,good food served  and a cultural show is organised. All this prompts the visitor to donate whole heartedly and enables the wardens to pocket the donation, but the plight of orphans remains the same.

We may boast ourselves to be an emerging 'economic power', an economic power where 95 per cent  of people are living below poverty line, where   75 % of people are illiterate, which cannot build a few yards of foot over bridge. Yes, India is an enconomic power captured by 5 percent of people. Earlier these five percent were either Mughals or British and now these five percent are Indians. But the plight of the poor still remains the same.  Our freedom fighters came out from these 95 percent. These poor were victim of Apartheid in South Africa. Earlier these poor were not allowed in temples, trains, Royal functions, Govt. Offices, polo grounds by the British and now they are being whisked away by the so called 5 percent "economic power" of India. Earlier, Queen's people beat the poor, now the Queen's baton has arrived.

But the question is who these 5 percent are?  Gandhiji drove the earlier 5 percent out? India has remained slave for about hundreds of years and it has gone in our blood to be like slaves and be contended. The slavery of years has taught 95 percent of us to be contended, do not revolt, bow before the baton and accept everything as God's wish. The slavery of years has crippled our thought process and courage and we have been taught to accept everything as our fate, as a part of God's wish and tend to forget that God helps those who help themselves. Is it not high time that we wake up and again throw away these Indian five percent. ?, who are corrupt, slothful, incompetent, chaotic, unwilling and unconcerned. Who receive the Queens baton and beat poor Indians. Thanks God, only the baton has arrived, what will happen if the Queen arrives. ? British have physically left, but mentally they still rule us.

Earlier some intelligent and wicked people had been exploiting us by killing our thought process and courage to revolt and kept us engaged fighting each other in the name of language, caste, creed and religion. Today, much has not changed. The same Ram Mandir, the same Hindu, Muslim, Christian, territory /language disputes,  separate states  and the same 5 percent of "economic power" ruling the rest of 95% of humanity. Today also Chairs are ruling the chairs, positions are ruling the positions and  batons rule the mindset. What has been lost in between is Human Being,  the man, the manifestation of God. 

There emerged a human being who moved out of these 95 of poor and challenged the 5 percent of "economic power", who's thought process and courage to revolt could not be crippled by the five percent of economic power, and He became the man of the Century, do you remember his name? Mahatama Gandhi.  And what happened next, is something to be emulated.  Is it not the hightime that history should repeat
itself ?

 Unfortunately 95% of our decision making, value system, work culture is in the hands of five percent people. The latest projection of which is the statement made by somebody that hygiene and cleanliness is a subject matter of differing standards and that CWG as an Indian Marriage, where chaos and confusion are bound to be there.  How this type of mentality would accept sanctioning and disbursing crores of Rupees without filling their own pockets, this way or that way. Otherwise why else do you think the foot over bridge gave way, why that much filth, dirt and defame?

But irony of the fate is that we Indian believe in luck not in effort. If anybody dies of disease at the age of 18, it is God's wish, if he lives up to 90 years of age it is God's wish. We will not think of means for countering the disease and misery by our wisdom and effort. We don't believe in the theory of cause and effect. We have been taught to blindly follow, be contended with whatever we have, your share will come to you. Close your eyes and believe this, don't doubt. If you doubt you is not a true follower. Don't invent but only believe. But the people who preached all this have gone to graves and we are living beings. Life throws new challenges to us everyday. But here old is gold. We cling to the old and do not have the courage to let the new come in. Old people, old mindset, old corrupt culture and old stinky values.  We must have courage to destroy the old, and then only the new light will come in. Old man dies after giving birth to new child, old tree dies after leaving the new seeds, old leaves drop and new come, old flowers vanish and new blossom. Age has no correlation with wisdom. A man of of 80 years may be wrong and a child of 8 years may be right. We must pave way for the new generation, the new thinkers, the new engineers, the new doctors, the new politicians the new philosphy and the new mindset

Today, countries have build townships under the sea, 36kms of  bridge over the sea, colony on the moon, towers talking to skies and we fail in making a few yards foot over bridge on earth. A live example of their capabilities is Delhi's Metro. Tomorrow their children will live on moon and our children will not get a respectable space on earth. 

We import latest foreign technology, foreign machinery, foreign machinery, foreign banking, foreign insurance, foreign direct investment, foreign education, foreign planes,
foreign security systems, , foreign minds, foreign value system (take example of Rabindranath Tagore and Kiran Bedi, they were first honoured by foreigners) , foreign character and now [ Foreign people?, whom Bapu had driven out? ]. Now the question is will we act or wait ? Think wait for whom?

I am sure, after seeing all this, Bapu will be repenting and   If asked by the God he may wish to be reborn in "Foreign". ---     Rajinder Kumar Kathuria                                                                
                                          

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Gate to the construction site of a radio station and media center

Click to download the publication quality image in a new window.U.S. Army Pfcs. Nicholas Sudano, right, and Nicholas Querzoli, both assigned to the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team, secure the gate to the construction site of a radio station and media center while engineers inspect the project site in Qalat, Afghanistan, Nov. 6, 2010. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson, U.S. Air Force/Released)