About India - By A Pakistani Author

Dr. Farrukh Saleem ( Sept 12, 2007)

Twenty-five thousand years ago, haplo group R2 characterized by genetic marker M124 arose in southern Central Asia. Then began a major wave of human migration whereby members migrated southwards to present day India and Pakistan - Genographic Project by Natl Geographic Soc - http://www.nationalgeographic.com. Indians and Pakistanis have the same ancestry and share the same DNA sequence.

Here's what is happening in India. The two Ambani brothers can buy 100 percent of every company listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and would still be left with $30 billion to spare. The four richest Indians can buy up all goods and services produced over a year by 169 million Pakistanis and still be left with $60 billion to spare. The four richest Indians are now richer than the forty richest Chinese. In November, Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex flirted with 20,000 points. As a consequence, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries became a $100 billion company (the entire KSE is capitalized at $65 billion). Mukesh owns 48 percent of Reliance.

In November 07, comes Neeta's birthday. Neeta turned forty-four three weeks ago. Look what she got from her husband as her birthday present: A sixty-million dollar jet with a custom fitted master bedroom, bathroom with mood lighting, a sky bar, entertainment cabins, satellite television, wireless communication and a separate cabin with game consoles. Neeta is Mukesh Ambani's wife, and Mukesh is not India's richest but the second richest. Mukesh is now building his new home, Residence Antillia (after a mythical, phantom island somewhere in the somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. At a cost of $1 billion this would be the most expensive home on the face of the planet.

At 173 meters tall Mukesh's new family residence, for a family of six, will be the equivalent of a 60 storeyed building. The first six floors are reserved for parking. The seventh floor is for car servicing and maintenance. The eighth floor houses a mini theatre. Then there's a health club, a gym and a swimming pool. Two floors are reserved for Ambani family's guests. Four floors above the guest floors are family floors all with a superb view of the Arabian Sea. On top of everything are three helipads. A staff of 600 is expected to care of the family and their family home.

In 2004, India became the 3rd most attractive foreign direct investment destination. Pakistan wasn't even in the top 25 countries. In 2004, the United Nations, the representative body of 192 sovereign member states, had requested the Election Commission of India to assist the UN in the holding elections in Al Jumhuriyah al Iraqiyah and Dowlate Eslami-ye Afghanistan. Why the Election Commission of India and not the Election Commission of Pakistan? After all, Islamabad is closer to Kabul than is Delhi. Imagine, 12 percent of all American scientists are of Indian origin; 38 percent of doctors in America are Indian; 36 percent of NASA scientists are Indians; 34 percent of Microsoft employees are Indians; and 28 percent of IBM employees are Indians. For the record: Sabeer Bhatia created and founded Hotmail. Sun Micro Systems was founded by Vinod Khosla.

The Intel Pentium processor, that runs 90 percent of all computers, was fathered by Vinod Dham. Rajiv Gupta co-invented Hewlett Packard's E-speak project. Four out of ten start-ups are run by Indians. Bollywood produces 800 movies per year and six Indian ladies have won Miss Universe/Miss World titles over the past 10 years. For the record: Azim Premji, the richest Muslim entrepreneur on the face of the planet, was born in Bombay and now lives in Bangalore. India now has more than three dozen billionaires; Pakistan has none (not a single dollar billionaire). The other amazing aspect is the rapid pace at which India is creating wealth.

In 2002, Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh and Anil Ambani's father, left his two sons a fortune worth $2.8 billion. In 2007, their combined wealth stood at $94 billion. On 29 October 2007, as a result of the stock market rally and the appreciation of the Indian rupee, Mukesh became the richest person in the world, with net worth climbing to US$ 63.2 billion (Bill Gates, the richest American, stands at around $56 billion). Indians and Pakistanis have the same Y-chromosome haplo-group. We have the same genetic sequence and the same genetic marker (namely: M124). We have the same DNA molecule, the same DNA sequence. Our culture, our traditions and our cuisine are all the same. We watch the same movies and sing the same songs. What is it that Indians have and we don't?

Indians elect their leaders.

Farrukh Saleem .... The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist.

Dear friends,

Don’t you think we ought to thank Farrukh Saleem (imagine that too) a Pakistani for making us realize what a wonderful country we live in. Three cheers to him ….

On a humorous note .... Pakistanis can tell us “Per hamaare paas MAAA, mera matlab America Maaa ....hai…” (LOL)

Nina

Mass-media violence and its impact on children

Children inform themselves, from early ages about the surrounding world. The sources they rely on are different and various like: parents, teachers, friends and mass media. A plus in attention must be accorded to information gained from the TV, radio and internet. These mass media are a valuable informational base. At the same time we have to consider the fact that on numerous occasions the news therein may be aggressive, characterized by violence or touching upon delicate issues.

Materials that are related to natural catastrophes or kidnappings, homicides, attacks of theorists groups, school violence or amorous relationships of politicians can create confusion in a child’s mind, which can then develop into a deformed perception of society regarding it as a confused and hostile environment.

As a parent you may have to think on how to contra-attack the effect this sort of news and information, as well as the images that go with it. The easiest way to deal with this is through dialogue. And hopefully the little one will in time will create a protective “shield” that will avoid the apparition of an emotional mis balance.

Some practical piece of advise:

• Get your child used to read publications designated to his age category and to watch television programs of the same kind. They are less aggressive.
• Customize him to analyze carefully all that he hears and to not consider that all information are necessarily real just because their way of presentation is a spectacular one.
• Try to identify the child’s predilections when it comes to news and his habits as a media consumer.
• If you might consider the respective show is not appropriate for the child, then just turn off the TV. But remember this is just a momentary solution. In order to keep your kid out of the media violence, you must impose a tight rule about television programs and always keep an eye open on your child’s everyday activities.

If these few things are borne in mind and adhered to, you may rest assured that you will be bringing up a healthy child both in mind and body.

Preventing High Blood Pressure - DR's Advise

No doubt, there are number of treatments and medicines available for the treatment of high blood pressure. But as the saying goes, “Precaution is better than cure”. So, we must remember this saying and follow the recommended rules in order to prevent high blood pressure. Blood pressure is directly proportional to the body weight; it means that if your weight increases the blood pressure also rises. Overweight people have an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and other illnesses. Losing weight reduces the risk. Even if you don't have high or low blood pressure problems due to being overweight, a healthy weight can help you feel active and lower your risk of blood pressure and other diseases.

It's not just how much you weigh that's important: It also matters where your body stores extra fat. Just like the other things your body shape is also inherited from your parents. Some people are “Apple-shaped”; these have extra fat at the waist while others are “pear shaped” having more fat at their hips and thighs. The former have higher health risks than the later. Anyways, wherever that extra weight is you can still prevent it and control your blood pressure. Even if you are already captured by the high blood pressure; no problem ...just start losing weight and it will help you lower your blood pressure. To lose weight, you should use up more calories than you eat. You need to use up the day's calories and some of the calories stored in your body fat.

Eating 300 to 500 calories less per day, may lead to losing between one and two pounds per week. This is a realistic weight loss. It may seem slow, but would add up to a weight loss of more than three stone in a year. Increase your physical activity if you really want to loose your weight. Being active controls your weight 10 times by eating less. Besides losing weight, there are other reasons to be more active: Being physically active can help lower high blood pressure and your total cholesterol level while raising HDL-cholesterol, and reduces your risk for heart disease. Physically active people have a lower risk of getting high blood pressure (20% to 50% lower) than inactive people.

You are not being asked to join a gym but at least try to fit various physical activities into your daily routine in small but important ways. If light physical activities done on regular basis can reduce the risk of blood pressure and heart disease. Do at least 30 minutes of exercise like swimming or running. If you don't have 30 minutes for exercising, try to find two 15-minute periods or even three 10-minute periods. Try to do some type of aerobic activity in the course of a week or try brisk walking, most days of the week. These exercises can condition your heart and lungs and can prevent you from diseases. Most people don't need to see a doctor before they start exercising, since a gradual, sensible exercise program has few health risks.

But in case of any health problem like, heart disease, blood pressure problem or any other you should first consult your physician. Your doctor or other health worker can help you set sensible goals based on a proper weight for your height, build and age and help you prevent high blood pressure. Men and very active women may need up to 2,500 calories daily. Other women and inactive men need only about 2,000 calories daily. A safe plan is to eat 300 to 500 fewer calories a day to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Values And Value Based Education

Urgent need of the hour

When one thinks of values …. few emotions conjures up instantly in mind viz., love, peace, respect, tolerance, humility, honesty, co-operation, brother-hood, responsibility and many more such old world ideas. Well, you may say why these are considered as old world ideas. That is because most of these ideas seem to be slowly vanishing from the present cut-throat competitive world. It requires yeomen effort to hang on to these ideas today. Following this path is difficult indeed, requiring an iron will and determination. Only those who have gone through this know the immense sacrifices they have had to make in its adherence, but at the end of the day only such a person is a truly satisfied and a happy person within.

Any institution which imparts all the above mentioned moral values and succeeds in planting the seed permanently in a young budding brain at a tender age and inspires that person enough to follow it through in life, may be considered to have had a true value-based education and not those colleges or schools having one or two classes on moral science which is by-hearted and then poured ad verbatim during examinations and promptly forgotten the next day. In fact any institution which guides a student to be an agent of positive change and transformation in society can rightly be said to have succeeded in imbibing value-based education.

In what ways it may be imparted ?

Well theoretically speaking it may be imparted in the form of living value education a kind of value based education program, which is in force in several educational institutions across the country. It offers a variety of experiential values activities and practical methodologies to teachers and facilitators to enable children and young adults to explore and develop 12 key personal and social values viz.,

Cooperation, Freedom, Happiness, Honesty, Humility, Love, Peace, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Tolerance, Unity. In simplified terms it could be any education system which teaches you the following: How to live life well? How to find happiness? How to make others happy? How to manage all kinds of people and happenings as well. How to grow and succeed in the right manner?

Which is more important academic education or value education?

This is a moot question ... which is more important - academic education or value education ? …… Well the answer is: Both are equally important. Without formal education, you will not be able to read or write. Without these skills, you cannot get a good job or manage even the simple things of daily living.

Value education is equally important. If a highly qualified, well- employed person does not know how to behave properly, all that he or she does has little meaning and will not serve him or her well. Fruitful education is the kind used for our welfare as well as that of others. This can only happen only when you have both academic and value education. Value education helps you both in difficult moments and in happy ones.

Many people with education and power take success for granted and everything goes their way. But the minute something goes wrong and they face failure, they go to pieces. You have heard of some of the world richest men taking their lives when faced with crisis situations. Even renowned kings with vast kingdoms and riches have had their share of low times. A number of them collapsed. But a few others approached spiritual masters and learned about a life of values. They changed themselves, began to follow a good way of living and became even greater than before.

Degradation of values in society:

The call for values is currently echoing more incessantly throughout our country as educators, parents and even children are increasingly concerned about and affected by violence, growing social problems, and the lack of social cohesion. Educators are, once again, forced to address issues which have arisen due to lack of values within our societies.

Examples:

One case which instantly comes to mind is that of two Class 8 students of Euro International School, a Delhi suburban school gunning down their class mate Abhishek Tyagi by pumping 5 bullets on Dec 12, 2007 in a cold-blood and pre-meditated manner, as he had been reportedly bullying them. But what makes even school-going kids barely 14 years of age resort to taking the law into their hands at such a tender age. The amount of rage and anger within in some ways may be directly attributed to exposure to violence on screen both big and small, as well as internet along-with what is happening in real life as also lack of proper values inculcated at home.

Another case is that of a teachers resorting to so-called disciplining leading to a student’s death as it happened in a school in North, when a student was ruthlessly canned for an apparently frivolous reason as putting his feet out of his seat during exams. Although on the face of it, it may look a silly reason for such extreme punishment, but it indicates the level of frustration, anguish and pressure inherent within the teaching faculty living life on edge with low salaries, unable to cope with day to day living and making ends meet in this highly materialistic society. But above all it indicates the erosion of ethical values within the very segment which has the responsibility on its shoulder to impart it to tender impressionable minds. This is indeed a frightening scenario.

Conclusion:

Both these contrasting examples of violence inherent within the teaching and taught segment, makes one do a lot of rethinking on where our esteemed values have disappeared and where our society heading towards …well only posterity can answer this question. In the meantime, we need to do a lot of rethinking before the rot stems in, and we have no means to redeem it. The time is ripe now for all right thinking, well-meaning individuals, educationists, politicians, social thinkers, leaders, NGOs, and even the man on the street to put on their thinking caps and come up with new ideas and fresh streams of thought to stem the rot (so to speak), before it is too late. The time for action is NOW.