India donates Medicine worth Rs. 20 million

The Indian Government has donated drugs worth Rs. 20 million to the Health Ministry for the use of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Mullaitivu and IDPs temporarily sheltered in social welfare villages in cleared areas, the Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva said. He pointed out that it was a magnanimous gesture of the Indian Government to donate valuable stock of drugs required by a large number of IDPs who were fleeing to Government controlled areas from Mullaitivu.

Minister de Silva added that the Health Ministry and Social Welfare Ministry had coordinated their relief measures provided to IDPs and the Health Ministry had ensured that medical and nursing staffs were supplied adequate stocks of drugs and coordination activities in welfare villages had been provided to meet any type of emergency.

Yoga

Definition & Types


Yoga can be defined as a way of life that includes ethical precepts, dietary prescriptions, exercises and other relevant practices. Yoga is also described as a practice for the development of body, mind and spirit. Hindu scriptures like the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and many others describe the usefulness and practices of Yoga.

There are six branches of Yoga, these are: Hatha Yoga or Yoga of Postures, Bhakti Yoga or Yoga of Devotion, Raja Yoga or Yoga of Self-Control, Jnana Yoga or Yoga of the Mind, Karma Yoga or Yoga of Service and Tantra Yoga or Yoga of Rituals. In India yoga is seen as a means to both physiological and spiritual mastery. Outside India, Yoga has become primarily associated with the practice of asanas (postures or exercises) of Hatha Yoga. Hatha yoga is what people know as yoga today.


Advantages

Why should we practice yoga? The very precise answer is that yoga makes you feel better. Practicing the postures, breathing exercises and meditation makes you healthier in body, mind and spirit. Yoga makes you live comfortably and without any disease, for a longer time.

For initial learners, yoga is good for what ails you. Intensive research has revealed that yoga helps manage, control or cure anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, headaches, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, stress and other conditions and diseases.


Organizations

* Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India
* Central Council of Indian Medicine
* International Yoga Federation
* International Classical Yoga Federation
* Yoga Alliance India International
* International Gurukulam, Yogabhavan of India & USA
* International Yoga Institute of Europe
* International Yoga College of USA World Academy of Ayurveda
* Brahman International Federation
* Universal Sanatan Dharma Foundation
* International Yoga Sports Federation
* Yoga Integral® International
* International Yoga Academy of India
* International Yoga Centre of Tokio, Japan
* International Yogatherapy Association
* International Association of theYoga Science Centres (Greece)
* International Society Of Yoga Education (Canada)
* International Ayurveda College (Italy)
* International Academy of Ayurveda (India)InternationalCentre for Yoga Education and Research of India
* World Vaishnava Association India
* World Yoga Council
* World Yoga Federation
* World Clinical Yoga Society (India)
* World Yoga Society (India)
* World Movement of Yoga
* Atman, World Federation of Yoga and Meditation


Organizations recognized by the International Yoga Federation

1) Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission (SwamiVivekananda)

2) Self-Realization Fellowship(Swami Yogananda)

3) Ramana Maharsri (Sri Ramana)

4) Sri Auroibndo Ashram (Sri Aurobindo)

5) Auroville (Aurobindo City)

6) Divine Life Society (Swami Sivananda)

7) International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres (Swami Vishnudevananda)

8) Yasodhara Ashram (Swami Sivananda Radha)

9) 3HO International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association (Yogi Bhajan)

10) Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) (Yogacharya Iyengar)

11) Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute (Yogacharya Jois)

12) International Siddha Yoga Centres

13) Ananda Shanga (Swami Kriyananda)

14) Himalayan Institute Teachers Association (HITA) (Swami Rama)

15) International Yoga Teachers' Association Inc of Australia

16) California Yoga Teachers Association

17) Yoga Teachers Association of Australia

18) Dharma Central of U.S.A.

19) American Yoga Association

20) Yoga Federation of France

21) Danish Yoga Association

22) Yoga Teachers Federation of Ontario

23) Yoga Schools Federation of Luxemburg

24) Swiss Yoga Association

24) Hatha Yoga Federation of France

25) International Association of Yogatherapists YREC

26) International Centre For Yogic Arts and Sciences

27) National Yoga Confederation of Italy

28) Kiev Yoga Federation (Ukraine)

29) Yoga In Daily Life Organizations

30) International Yoga Studies of U.S.A.

31) European Yoga Union (Europe)

32) BKS Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States

33) Scottish Yoga Teachers' Association

34) International Black Yoga Teachers Association USA

35) Yoga Schools Federation of France

36) Integral Yoga International & Yogaville USA

37) International Yoga Teachers Association of Spain

38) Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University

39) Independent Yoga Network U.K.

40) Yoga Bharati Assocation USA

41) Friends of Yoga of Autralia

42) Yoga Teachers Fellowship of South Africa

43) Yoga Research Foundation of USA

44) Amrit Yoga Institute of USA

45) Bikram Yoga College of India

46) Yoga Vidya Teacher's Association of Germany

47) Ananda Ashram Yoga Association of Italy

48) Yoga Alliance of U.S.A.

49) Italian Gitananda Yoga Federation

50) Hindu Union of Italy

51) Asanga Yogatherapy Centre of Spain

52) Art Of Yoga Slovenia Association

53) Assoc. Rezonance of Chezch Republic

54) Samata Yoga Centre of USA

55) The Yoga Institute (Sri Yogendra)

56) Vivekananda Yoga Anusadhana Samasthana

57) Kaivalyadhama Lonavla (Subodh Tiwari)

58) Yoga And Pshycotherapy Association of India

59) Swami Veda Bharati Organization

60) International Sri Deep Mdhavananda Ashram Fellowship Yoga in daily life.org

61) International Yoga Institute of Poland

62) International Yoga Institute of Canada

63) International Yoga Institute of Hong Kong, China

64) International Yoga Society India

65)International Yoga Association

66) Kali Ray International Yoga Association of Tri Yoga USA

67) World Yoga Foundation USA

Medicine

If reputation is the key, then All-India Instiute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has since its inception in 1956, has always been considered as the premier medical college. It remains there, according to its director Professor P.K. Dave, for a number of reasons-a small number of undergraduates (50 every year for MBBS) ensure plenty of personal attention from staff of high calibre; its reputation draws the creme de la creme among students; excellent library facilities and unique, liberal, holistic methods of teaching act as growth tonics for the students' intellect.
AIIMS owes its uniqueness in some measure to the autonomy it enjoys. It was the fulfilment of Jawaharlal Nehru's dream of a centre of medical excellence and a role model for south Asia, and unlike other medical colleges it was conferred the status of an autonomous institution of national importance by an act of Parliament. This also places the institute in a privileged financial position-last year it received more than Rs 250 crore from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as well as additional grants for various programmes. As a result, it can frame its own curriculum and select the best faculty and the best research facilities without interference from other quarters.

Top 10 Colleges
Of India

MEDICINE
1) AIMS Delhi
2) AFMC Pune
3) Lady Hardinge Medical College Delhi
4) Maulana Azad Medical College Delhi
5) Kasturba Medical College Manipal
6) JIPMER, Pondicherry
7) CMC Vellore
8) KEM Mumbai
9) Madras Medical College Chennai
10) St John's Bangalore

Not surprisingly one of AIIMS's strong points is the excellent and internationally acclaimed research in biomedical sciences. It also offers an unmatched atmosphere. "Being with the best students and learning from ace clinicians is extremely inspiring," says Priyank Jain, an intern. It's this inspiration that keeps AIIMS hale and hearty and flying high.

India's best Medical colleges

Right outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), someone has planted a foot-long god. See the top 25 Medical colleges

You can"t tell which but a deity no less, going by the fresh garland of flowers and the bowl of loose change.

AIIMS trains students to take leadership in healthcare
AIIMS trains students to take leadership in healthcare
A little prayer of hope to get you going. Inside, a different type of religion resides. With 453 faculty and 1,200-plus junior doctors handling 15,28,238 outpatients, 83,852 admissions and 77,631 surgeries, while teaching 1,661 students, investigating 381 projects and publishing 1,424 scholarly papers last year"one can say work is worship at India"s best medical institution.

With such startling statistics, AIIMS once again grabbed the top slot in the INDIA TODAY survey of academic excellence in medicine, jumping ahead of competitors by a significant 20.6 points.

The Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, and the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune"no strangers to rankings"fought neck-to-neck to retain the second and third slots. Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, and Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, also retained last year"s position.

Here's a detalied list of the best colleges and where they stand

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The Madras Medical College, Chennai, moved up ahead of Grant Medical College while Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai, overtook Kasturba Medical College, Manipal.

What makes a medical college a topper? A bright workforce and brighter technology? Of course, but not just. "A great hospital is different because of its internal culture of excellence," says Dr Ramesh Chandra Deka, who has just become the director of AIIMS.

"Students here get trained in a different philosophy, ethics and patient management that"s hard to find anywhere else. And they carry that with them wherever they go," says the man who joined AIIMS as a student in 1971. Values define CMC, too. "Our motto is to make advanced medical technology affordable and serve ordinary people. We don"t sell education like a marketable commodity," says Dr Surajan Bhattacharji, director, CMC.

But this is the era of cash-rich corporates and singing paeans to the market: look at hospitals as branded products, offer hotel-like facilities, "poach" the best doctors, get the latest technology and make consumers pay through the nose.

Will "inner values" work now? "In the post-WTO era, we are trying to ensure that our students pick up not just knowledge, skill and attitude," says Deka, "but also take leadership in healthcare and engage in globally-competitive research." In real terms, that means foraying into new specialisations, research and treatment modalities.

Ramesh Chandra Deka
In the post-WTO era,we have to ensure that students don"t just pick up knowledge, skills and attitude. They have to be made ready for leadership in healthcare and globally competitive research.
"Ramesh Chandra Deka, Director, AIIMS, Delhi
CMC, which occupies the second place, believes in staying ahead of the curve. The Wi-Fi enabled campus and state-of-the-art labs are an icing on a cake rich with specialisation"cardio-thoracic, neuro-sciences, urology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, haematology.

"Through interdisciplinary approach, attempts are being made to bring together diverse fields"engineering, zoology, botany, biotech, nutrition"on a single platform called "new medicine"," explains CMC principal, George Mathew.

The college spends Rs 4.8 lakh per annum on a student. AFMC, the third ranker, has invested in training its students in medical simulation for emergencies. It has also set up new centres for bionic ear and anti-retroviral therapy.

CMC, Vellore, is bringing together inter-disciplinary fields on a single platform called ‘New Medicine’
CMC, Vellore, is bringing together inter-disciplinary fields on a single platform called ‘New Medicine’
Back at AIIMS, just hop on to a battery-operated free parikrama van, weaving a trail around the campus every 15 minutes.

And you are sure to bump into a speciality centre at every turn: the towering cardio-neuro centre; the dental research unit near the hostels; India"s apex eye referral, R.P. Centre; Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital; the country"s first full-fledged trauma unit at Jai Prakash Narayan Trauma Centre; Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation; the Centre for Community Medicine near the old OT block.

"With 50 departments and superspeciality centres, we are equipped to handle practically all types of diseases," says Y.K. Gupta, head of pharmacology and spokesperson for AIIMS. With it all, the institute spends Rs 31.31 lakh on a undergrad per year per course.

From the Nehruvian vision to liberalisation, from Bhore Committee"s (1946) dream of "socially committed" doctors to "brain drain""it has been a long march for India"s medical schools. Caught between the extremes are institutions that believe in "inner values". "India has around 290 medical colleges, but the purpose of the MBBS has not been realised," says Deka.

"The need of the hour is to create a new category of health-care professionals, lower than the MBBS, equipped for preventive and promotive healthcare in rural India." That would free up top colleges from patient overload and allow them to hone their students in cutting-edge research and best clinical practices. A dream that will open up a new chapter for most of the toppers on our list.
"with Mahalingam Ponnusamy

Nuclear medicine - The future of diagnosis
NUCLEAR MEDICINE

Calm down if the word “nuclear” psyches you up. The term “nuclear medicine” has nothing to do with nuclear bombs or nuclear warfare. It is a speciality which involves use of target specific or locally-instilled radioisotopes in the human body for early diagnosis and treatment of diseases like differentiated thyroid cancer, hyperthyroidism, neural crest tumors and refractory rheumatoid arthritis. This branch of medicine should also not be confused with traditional anatomical imaging like ultrasound, CT scan or MRI owing to its molecular/metabolic nature of functional medical imaging.

In fact, there can’t be a better path to professional satisfaction than the one promised by nuclear medicine. That is because it has the potential for early detection of diseases compared to anatomical imaging modalities like ultrasound or MRI which show the progress of the disease at a relatively advanced stage. Dr Rajesh Kumar, associate professor, department of nuclear medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, says, “Nuclear Medicine imaging provides vital information about the functional status of the diseased organ which helps understand the effectiveness of treatment.”
You can become a nuclear medicine specialist over the course of eight to nine years. After completing MBBS, you can opt for a DRM (Diploma in Nuclear Medicine), an MD in nuclear medicine or Diplomate NB (Nuclear Medicine). You can also take up a high-commitment sub-specialisation like emergency nuclear medicine or nuclear cardiology. Since the patient risks getting cancer during the introduction of radioisotopes in the body, radiation-safety principles and protection strategies are taught in detail during the course. One is required to get licensing clearance from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre or the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Mumbai, to practice Nuclear Medicine. You can get Rs 35,000 per month as starting salary.

Though there is lack of awareness about nuclear medicine, this is one area which will be in great demand. Says Dr Dhan Raj Jangid, associate director, Nuclear Medicine & Cardiac Imaging, Escorts, New Delhi, “Nuclear medicine’s potential stays underutilised in India because of costly instruments, stringent radiation safety regulations and issues regarding import of radioisotopes.” Yet, he adds, things are looking up as more and more hospitals are coming up with nuclear medicine departments, thereby ensuring a steady absorption of nuclear medicine specialists. This is indicative of the prospects that this field will offer in the years to come.

Revisiting the low-cost PC market

A computer at nearly one-third of current prices is a dream for most Indians. And yet, buyers are not holding their breath for these devices. For experience has proved that expectations are seldom met. However, this time around, those propagating low-cost computing solutions have taken a different route. Chris Ann Fichardo elaborates on the difference
The buzz is in the air again. PC manufacturers are excited. Users are expectant. Even institutions like the IITs are enthusiastic. The reason: India’s dream of an affordable PC (priced below Rs 10,000) is ready to hit the market. For nearly a decade this dream has struggled to become a reality. India Inc. has made many noteworthy attempts in the past to introduce low-cost computing solutions, but in vain. Be it Wipro’s Janata PC, iNabling Technologies’ e-mail device, iStation, or the much-talked about handheld device, the Simputer—all brilliant concepts that have not quite made it commercially yet.

So why is the market still bullish about a low-cost computing solution? The answer is simple—because the customer still needs an affordable computer. None of the earlier products have been successful in filling the void.

Rajesh Jain, whose company Netcore is doing groundbreaking work to make possible the Rs 5,000 PC (5KPC), says that if the price point of a PC comes down between Rs 5,000 to 10,000 per user, India has the ability to absorb 10-20 million PCs a year for the next several years. This potential gains further significance when one realises that the present market size is just two million PCs a year! In the last 20 years the installed base has barely crossed six million PCs in India.

It’s difficult to ignore a goldmine like this, especially when the overall market conditions are depressed. Numerous vendors have set their sights to tap into the potential. VIA has tied up with its partners Priya and eSys, to introduce PCs starting at Rs 9,990. HCL too is eyeing this segment with the launch of the Ezeebee brand of low-priced PCs. Not to be outdone, IBM too has announced that it will soon introduce a low-cost version of its desktop PC, at a very competitive price.

Richard Brown, director for International Marketing at VIA attributes this sudden interest by vendors to the "real growth potential" of the low-cost PC market. "I remember five to seven years ago when the first $1,000 PC appeared (introduced by Compaq), people wondered if the price point was for real. And since then there has been a continuous push down in the price points for PCs, which is a sign of commoditisation of the industry. For a long time the industry has resisted moving to lower price points, and now they are actually seeing that there is demand in that space and they are buying into it," he says.

The legitimate advantage

Being a price-conscious market, the Indian PC market is dominated by assemblers. At present, assemblers account for over 60 percent of the PC market. One main advantage of these white box manufacturers is the zero cost incurred on software, as they install pirated software. Though branded PC manufacturers get the discounted OEM rate on software loaded on their machines, they find it difficult to compete with this zero-cost advantage.

To overcome this problem, proponents of low-cost PCs have taken the Linux route. As the Linux code is open source, manufacturers are free to install Linux on the machines. Thus, effectively nullifying the assembler’s advantage. In this way the user is also at ease as he/she is using a legitimate copy of the software, and the PC manufacturer is happy, as he does not have to incur any software-related expense. Another option to lower the software cost is the thin-client route. This route is currently being explored by IIT Bombay at its newly launched Affordable Solutions PC Lab. The lab, which was set up in technical collaboration with VIA, is equipped with about 60 computers of various capacities and is well equipped to test software functionalities and hardware requirements. Prof Deepak B Pathak, head of the Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology (KReSIT) at IITBombay, says, "India’s PC penetration level is low. And players are looking for validation that the sub-Rs 10,000 PC market exists; we aim to provide that validity. We believe that decreasing costs to this level might not increase penetration overnight but will at least get people interested to buy."

The lab at Powai will be vendor- and technology-neutral and will have a dedicated team to test technology and products that have the potential to become mass computing devices. Pathak stresses that while IIT will not be proactively involved in marketing any of products emerging from the lab, vendors can leverage the IIT endorsement in marketing campaigns. "Our endeavour is to try and dig out solutions that are affordable," Pathak emphasises.

Jain also strongly advocates the thin-client-thick-server option. According to him, his 5KPC is actually a PC terminal, connecting to a server via a network. All the processing and storage is done on the server, with the 5KPC essentially being a display and user interface machine. "I want to target the non-customers or the next 90 percent of the market, those who cannot even afford to think about a PC today. Educational institutions, homes, TeleInfoCentres (rural areas), bank branches, SMEs and the government are my target segments," says Jain.

From non-buyer to buyer

The irony is that while the PC market in India struggles for growth, only 10 percent of the population currently has access to a PC. The current price points have limited PC buying. VIA’s Brown says that while India adds two million PC units a year, China adds 10 million units. The reason for this disparity in the figures can be explained better when one realises that in India a PC costs approximately 24 months of per capita income, in China it’s 4 months and in the US it’s 12 days (Source: Nasscom). India’s need for a low-cost computing system is further stressed in Nasscom Strategic Review 2003, which says that every 50 percent reduction in price can lead to a three-fold increase in demand.

In its new avatar, the low-cost PC seems to have ironed out the technical snags faced by its predecessors. This time round there is a robust, technically-savvy, smart looking product that has hit the stores. Realising that consumers are discerning enough not to interpret "low-cost as cheap PCs," vendors are striving to give the best for the least price. But will their best be good enough to restore the confidence of a market that has seen one two many failures in the past?

Market analysts like Sameer Kochhar, managing director of the market research firm Skoch Consultancy are not so sure. "There have been several initiatives in this regard from as early as 1992, companies that have talked of a sub-10K PC. Most such efforts failed due to poor go-to-market strategies as well as lack of relevant applications for such a device. Today, more than ever there may be an outside chance of such devices taking off in the medium- to long-term, due to initiatives like the Affordable Solutions lab at KReSIT, which is looking at cracking the applications part as well… It is not just price point but also an applications issue that has to be tackled. Having said that, I would also say in the short-term this looks highly theoretical and impractical."

Striving to make things better

The one main difference between earlier attempts to bring cheaper computing devices into the market and the current endeavour is that this time around there is a right mix between academia and the industry. Most of the past attempts in this area were lab products that were being experimentally tried in the real world. Without adequate industry backing, these ventures failed to live up to the dream of becoming successful commercial ventures. Now, however, it’s the industry that is providing the hardware, while institutions fine-tune the solutions.

Maybe in a more bullish scenario, PC vendors might not have worked so hard at commercialising the low-cost PC concept. But in the current depressed market, these low-cost devices seem to be the mantra that will bring new life to the industry. For if these attempts are successful, a PC priced between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 is the best news India Inc. has had in a long long time.

India as a global power?

India is a potential world power.

India’s stable democratic political system,huge middle-class population, immense military clout in South Asia, risingeconomic fortunes and global ambitions make it a potential power that could playa very important role in world affairs.But it still must address numerous challenges. In order to become aneconomic powerhouse, India must tackle several structural issues, such as reiningin the runaway fiscal deficit, freeing its manufacturing sector from antiquatedlabour laws, selling state-owned assets and using the freed-up cash for investmentsin physical infrastructure.

India’s relations with Pakistan, the US and China will be crucial.

Peaceand stability will be critical in attracting and keeping foreign investment. If Indiafollows a pragmatic foreign policy and lets its economic priorities dictate foreignpolicies, it will reap the dividends of peace.

India’s policies embody a blend of pragmatism and nationalism, andits goals include both close relations with the US and recognition as one of theleaders in a more multipolar world. India’s economic growth and ability to manageits key diplomatic relationships will determine the size of the international role itcrafts over the next fifteen years. Its leaders’ skill in balancing the competingobjectives of its foreign policy will help shape the direction taken by both Indiaand the world.