Saturday, January 28, 2017

Turmeric, Neem, Tulsi, Yoga & More - "Biopiracy of India's way of Life"

Bit shocked when I saw an article saying Everybody Needs To Stop With This Turmeric Molecule. That’s not the only one, there are numerous articles making round-ups in the last few months. The irony is: these were the same journals/blogs which were advocating all goodness and medicinal use of turmeric for years. Now, suddenly what happened to them? What made them to conduct “A new study saying turmeric has 'no specific therapeutic benefits'”?

This made me to do go-through the curious case of India-US Patent War for Turmeric.

Here's the story: The turmeric war actually began in 1995, when the US Patent Office granted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (#UMMC) a patent [#5,401,504] for "Use of Turmeric in Wound Healing.". Soon the US pharma companies started creating medicines using Turmeric (Curcuma), especially for Arthritis and cancer; and their media started trumpeting the goodness of turmeric all over the world.

Fortunately The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (#CSIR) of India submitted prior art evidences in the form of references in books from 18th century to the 20th century citing evidences that turmeric has been part of Indian life, in our food, cosmetics, medicines and tradition.

The US Patent Office had no choice than acknowledging Indian’s prior knowledge of Turmeric in Wound healing and cancelled the patent awarded to the Mississippi Medical Centre in 1997.

This Patent win completely disappointed the business plans of the US pharma sector; but they did not have any better exchange for the turmeric. Now after nearly 15 years of continuous research, they have reduced or almost stopped using Curcuma (turmeric) component ; and their media started to campaign against the turmeric.

You may find it strange to link the story of 20 years old patent win, but that’s the only logical reasons for these new studies and articles looming against the use of turmeric.

SO WHAT’S THE TAKE AWAY ?


This is not the story of just turmeric. The war against bio-piracy endures for #Neem , #Basmati Rice, #Darjeeling Tea, Indian #wheat, and even for our own #Yoga postures😦; Can you believe that we're fighting claims to about 40 products all over the world.

Enough said, the whole story gives me only resolution. If we don’t appreciate and safe-guard our tradition and traditional products, foreigners will find ways to put their name and monetize it. Then we’ll end-up paying hefty royalty to a foreign company - for the knowledge that our ancestors practiced and full-grown for years!!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Why Indian Media is so "biased"

India is country of 70,000+ newspapers and over 500+ satellite channels, but still hard to find one genuine, unbiased, progressive Newspaper & TV channel 😞. Howmany of us get frustrated by the way, a same news is presented differently on different channels?

The words ‘bias’ and “paid news” are inseparable from the Indian media. Even a child can understand who is batting for whom.

It’s mainly because most of our media is dominated by corporates and political parties–for their advantage. I am not going to write about it, please do your research to find who owns your news company; you’ll find the motives of their story!

Remember, the media was not always wrong, their role in independence struggles was commendable. But post-independence, we diversified our media tools; there was hardly one newspaper per town earlier, but now we have thousands. Everyone of us wants to see the news in the way we like it. We abandoned genuine journals; made loyal journalist become poor and jobless. So they became loyal to the corporates and politicians who pay them.

After all, the public is interested only in the “sensational / breaking news,” right? There’s no wonder these news media making it as a business for their profit.

CAN WE FIX THE ISSUE?
No…, I say "No..not-at all", It's virtually impossible to curb the “bias” in the media because there's no such thing as "non-bias." When you believe a media source as “unbiased,” it is only because it mirrors your views; all the other sources will look “biased” from your perspective. It’s human nature; hardly you can do anything about it.

But, what we can do is: Urge the media to behave more socially responsible. Let’s raise our concern when they write/telecast some crap - just to make it “sensational.” Instead of just believing their words and getting emotional, please do a minute of your research to find the truth. Never hesitate to let them down when they telecast something only for their #TRP.

In the end, as rational citizens, we are responsible for searching out the truth and thinking for ourselves, just as we are responsible for voting. It’s our job, not the media’s, to grasp and react to the content of the news. #biasedmedia #fakenews #Corruptmedia #press

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Why people support Jallikattu Protests

It’s disappointing to see some fellow Indians ask “Why are so many Tamilians shamelessly supporting Jallikattu?”. Let me say it again: It’s not just the issue of Tamilnadu, what they fight is for the whole India.

People still don’t get the fact that India is not a homogeneous nation, but a mosaic of cultures and nation of immense diversity. With a sheer diversity of languages, ethnic groups, religions and demography, India is an One Country with many nations in it. It’s everyone’s responsibility to respect each other’s tradition and culture.

After all: Not just trees, even human needs strong "roots":like culture, Tradition and Language; they are your identity, you can’t afford to loose them.  
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Ok, coming out of the emotional ground, let me explain the logical reasons for protecting our bulls.

By this time, everyone aware of what is A1 and A2 milk and their effects; I am not going to write about it again. But, still many of us are not aware of the politics behind the A2 Milk yet. Let me say it again.

There’s an A2 Milk Companywith its presence in the US, Australia, and in New Zealand. They own the patents on genetic tests to determine what form of beta-casein cows produce in milk, and hugely investing on research of artificial insemination of A2 gene bull’s semen.

Not just this one company, there are numerous other western companies spending billions of euros/dollars on the research of suppressing dominant A1 gene and makes even a western cow to produce A2 milk.

If all native breeds in India are destroyed, then we may have to survive only with A1 milk or we may have to pay a hefty royalty to A2 Milk company for using its patented technique to produce cows rich in A2 gene.

This is what is bothering the youth and all educated, socially-aware people. When our breeds are perfectly capable of producing A2 milk, why must we force ourselves to be a slave to some other MNC company holding a patent for this.

This is why everyone supports Jallikattu, they are not shameless nor illiterate. They are responsible citizens. These protests are not just about the tradition, this is a show of everyone's fears about globalization/corporate mafias, about loss of identity, living, and culture - and against the authorities who don't care.

If you're not able to understand the depth of issue, you don't need to support. But, don't talk abuse at least. #savejallikattu #saveimdiaslivestock #AmendPCA

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Save the River - Thamirabarani

What I am writing here is not JUST about the river Thamirabarani, it’s the concern for most of the rivers/lakes/water sources all over India - which are being vandalized and moving towards the edge of extinction. So please don’t overlook because you haven't even heard of this name “Thamirabarani”, a perennial river flowing in the corner of Tamilnadu.

The Thamirabarani river originates from the #pothigai hills and flows through #tirunelveli and #tuticorin districts of the Tamil Nadu. It serves as the primary source for drinking water and irrigation, for ~120 square kms of agricultural lands. But, eversince the government (SIPCOT) allowed the Coco-Cola company to tape-out water from the riverbed (1 Million litres everyday), the people of these districts started facing water scarcity, and agriculture started moving in downside.

In this situation, the other giant Pepsi Co was also given a license to suck another 1.5 Million litres from the river for 99 years! That’s were only a small set of sensitive people& farmers woke-up and started protesting for their water.

The protests weren’t widespread; were in really low-lights (thanks to our paid media who doesn't have time to think about farmers), but the issue in-itself is intense, and it is a fortunate that the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court understood the danger of river extinction and ordered a stay - restraining Pepsi and Coca-Coca to use the water of the Thamirabharani river.

But what is now shocking is: A recent RTI filed by a local resident & activist Ramiah Ariya is revealing that it’s not just the Coco-Cola and Pepsi, there 27 more industries are sucking millions of litres water everyday even now!.

Some companies are drawing out far more water than Pepsi or Coca Cola, and many of them more than their allotted limitsPlease look at the amount of water slurped every day by these industries below. 

WHAT I URGE YOU TO THINK:

While I am not clear on the nature of contracts between these companies and SIPCOT, and have no solution for the loss of these companies when they are banned, still drawing more water than the allotted limits is necessarily a violation of the contracts. 

Why no one ask about this violation?, why all the activism and legal action focused only on Coca Cola and Pepsi? Why not other companies are included in the trail? Why there’s no media coverage on this issue? 

The stay order against Pepsi, albeit a temporary, we all know the money power of giant companies, it is just a matter of dragging the case to different levels for them, but for the people, it’s the lifeline.

Sucking the scarce water for business and profit, while diminishing the residents and farmers, particularly in this time of drought - is irrational and dangerous for the future of our country. Can we drink Pepsi everyday instead of water?? We can’t and we should not. 

#GoBackPepsi #Thamirabarani #TamilNadu #savetheriver

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Value your Meal - Child Malnutrition

“Lose Weight” has been one of the top New Year's resolutions all over the world every year. Isn’t it?. How many of us have been struggling to cut-down our food intake and lose a few extra kilograms ? For people like us, It’s difficult to even understand the issues of malnutrition and to realize on what a blessing it is to have a full healthy meal every day.
It was shocking to know the tragedies and impacts of “malnourished children”; and to know that one third of them are in the world lives in India. Everyone wants India to become a “Super Power”, but the hunger and undernourishment data on Indian citizens especially among children comes as big shock. The Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC) was conducted by the ministry of women and child development with  technical support from UNICEF. It found:- 
  • Underweight (low in weight for their age)  = 29.4 % (aged < 3 yr.)
  • Wasted (low weight for their height)           = 15 %
  • Stunted (low in height for age)                    = 38.7%
The latest NFHS (National Family Health Survey -2015) shows the malnutrition numbers are reducing; but in par with our population and GDP, the numbers are still scary and worrisome😢 .

Reason behind such poor malnourishment  figures are numerous factors, however primary among them are  – poor pre & post-natal care of women leading to anemic women giving birth to under weight babies, lack of public healthcare infrastructure to give proper healthcare services to our citizens. Still most of the people in rural villages are less aware of the importance and implications of proper nutrition.

Because so much development occurs in the first few years of life, nutrient deficiencies can have major short-term implications in young children. Malnourishment can greatly compromise a child’s immune system, making them more susceptible to infectious diseases. Additionally, a deficiency in one nutrient may lead to a deficiency in another nutrient and as a result the overall growth gets distorted.

As these kids grow, they face a multifold of growth and cognitive issues : such as Attention deficit disorder, Impaired school performance, Decreased IQ, Memory deficiency, Learning disabilities, Reduced social skills..etc. Don’t we still see many unaware parents still yelling at their kids for their poor performance in schools, without checking their health & nutrition 👀.

I am not qualified to give a suggestion; but I strongly believe that any comprehensive strategy for resolving the problem of child malnutrition must include actions to address both its underlying and basic causes. Creating a lot of awareness  and focus more on the Women health will have a greater improvement.

Ignoring hunger and malnutrition will have significant costs to any country’s development. Government must step-forward to allocate more funds in efficient channels to curb this dangerous issue.  Every rupee invested on curbing malnutrition will definitely give a greater return to the growth of the country in future.

Let’s take a resolution to contribute for curbing hunger & child malnutrition – be it through your money (donation), time (volunteering), or mere thinking and spreading the word,… every effort will help the country.