How to stay fit in flu season

Washington, Sept 20 (ANI): As cold and flu season approaches, giving up junk food for more healthy options would help maintain a strong immune system.

Dr Ara DerMarderosian, professor of pharmacognosy for University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and an expert in nutraceuticals and natural foods, have provided guidance to change how you eat and break habits that pack on the pounds and compromise immunity.

? Don’t play “food police”

Be conscious of what and how much you eat, but don’t overdo self-monitoring to the point that a healthy lifestyle shifts from being a choice to becoming overwhelming, pushing other activities away and interfering with relationships.

? Pay attention to true hunger

Listen to your hunger signals and refrain from eating when you’re not hungry. Eating when your body doesn’t need food can cause you to overindulge.

? Eat slowly

Eat like a gourmet – enjoy each bite to have, chewing methodically, and truly enjoy the taste of your food. Eating slowly gives your body time to break down the food, which can prevent post-meal indigestion and feeling bloated.

? Focus on eating

Do not watch television, read or work while you eat. When you’re not focused on eating, it’s unlikely you’ll notice how much is going in your mouth.

? Avoid eating when stressed

Stress is a well-known cause of overeating and digestive issues, such as heartburn. A relaxing atmosphere, enjoyable company and conversation, and not feeling rushed for time makes for a healthy meal.

? Everything in moderation

Eating food is pleasurable, so enjoy a few morsels of candy, but limit the quantity. (ANI)

Oz bosses bringing back 1950s style of management

Melbourne, Sep 10 (ANI): A survey has shown that bosses are cutting costs and dropping the collaborative management style of the early 2000s in favour of the 1950s-style.

Social researcher and leadership expert Avril Henry said that employers are doing everything from cutting out biscuits to banning hot food from the office.

They are also telling employees to snack on fruit outside in a bid to cut cleaning costs and cope with strained budgets, and are also micromanaging and bossing their staff around, rather than engaging with them.

“It sends a signal to employees that ‘I don’t trust you can do the job without being closely supervised’, it equates not seeking input from anybody below senior executive level,” News.com.au quoted Henry as saying.

The South African-born public speaker and author of Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders Today says examples of tight, bossy behaviour began emerging at the end of last year amid the deepening financial crisis.

“In the process of cutting costs we often do things that alienate the employees,” she said.

“You can cut the biscuits and you can tell people ‘we’re not providing tea and coffee, bring in your own’, but we still pay senior executives and CEOs huge bonuses,” she stated.

Henry says the leadership style is putting bosses on a direct collision course with Generation Y.

“Gen Y just go ‘I’m not working for a boss like that’,” she said of the generation born between 1980 and 1995.

“Gen Y will leave a job without another job to go to even in the current environment.

“They will do a job with less money, not necessarily in the same industry they were in, or equating to what they’re qualified to do, to work in environment where they are happy and they feel valued, not only as employees but as human beings,” she said.

Many generation X-ers (born 1965 to 1979), now in management roles, see this as “entitlement mentality”, but Henry thinks it’s a positive backlash to “toxic” workplace conditions.

“I think that (attitude is) what’s going to change workplace culture,” Henry, who is also a trained accountant, said.

“We have too many workplaces which are toxic, by toxic I mean people aren’t valued.

“Every organisation says ‘people are our greatest asset’ – my immediate response to that is then why do most organisations treat their employees like liabilities?” she stated.

“Bosses who cop a pay cut or ask their staff for thrifty suggestions show they’re ‘willing to share the pain’,” she added. (ANI)

Britain is culturally sexist, says equality watchdog

London, Sep. 6 (ANI): The Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, has declared that Britain is ‘culturally sexist,’ and yet to reach a consensus about whether women are equal to men.

According to Phillips, most bosses still operate on the pretext that their workers are male, and even organisations with vast resources into countering discrimination remain biased.

“There is still a huge argument to settle. As a nation, we haven’t quite got a consensus about whether women really are equal or not,” The Times quoted him, as saying.

“We have a culture which produces bias, even when people don’t mean it to, even when they are doing their damnedest to make things change,” he added.hillips said “serious culture change and institutional reform” was needed to put women on an equal footing with men.

His comments coincide with a time when the latest government-commissioned investigation is expected to show pay gaps of up to 60 percent for some women doing the same jobs as men.

Tomorrow’s report is expected to reveal that women are “locked out” of top jobs in the City because employers “massively and preferentially” hire and promote staff between the ages of 25 and 40.

“It’s like Hollywood. There’s no role for women over 40,” Phillips said.

“The fact is, most offices, no matter how enlightened the bosses are, still operate on the premise that the average ‘normal’ worker is male, that someone will look after his children if he has them, that he will be able to work 9am-5pm most days – that’s how we organise things. Doesn’t work for most women,” he added.

He named the BBC and the Metropolitan police as two institutions that had failed to eradicate sexism despite ploughing resources into the problem.

“These organisations have tried very hard. But at some point we are going to need radical cultural change and institutional reform if we’re not going to get stuck at a place where in 20 years’ time we’ll still be saying, ‘why haven’t we got any women on boards?’ (ANI)

Govt. to pay remaining arrears of Sixth Pay Commission

New Delhi, Aug 25(ANI): The Central Government on Tuesday announced that it would pay the second installment of the Sixth Pay Commission arrears to its employees, estimated to be about five million employees.

The step will put a burden of over Rs 17,500 crore on the exchequer.

The Government has so far paid only 40 per cent of the arrears, and in a notification, it asked employees to apply for the remaining 60 per cent of the arrears, which has to be paid as the government implemented the new pay scales with effect from January 1, 2006.

“As in the case of the first installment of the arrears, government servants would be permitted to deposit their arrears in their GPF (General Provident Fund) accounts,” said a Finance Ministry’s office memorandum.It has now been decided that the remaining 60 per cent of the arrears may now be paid to the concerned government servants,” the memorandum added.

About 3.8 million Central Government pensioners (excluding armed forces) as estimated by All India Central Government Pensioners Association (AICGPA) will also get their final installment of arrears.

The memorandum, however, didn’t mention any date on which the arrears would be paid. (ANI)

IIT-Delhi professors go on mass casual leave demanding pay hike

New Delhi, Aug 25 (ANI): Faculty members of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in Delhi went on mass casual leave on Tuesday protesting disparities in pay.

Earlier, professors at IIT-Madras went on a mass causal leave on Friday, while their colleagues in IIT-Bombay boycotted classes on Monday.

Professors alleged that the Ministry has completely ignored the Mehra Committee recommendations which recommended hikes in pay scale of apex technical educational institutions.

On Friday, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had said he will discuss the issues raised by IIT professors with officials. (ANI)

Bookies menace is rife in India

London/Brisbane, Aug.20 (ANI): Though the International Cricket Council (ICC) is investigating a report made by the Australian team that one of its players was approached by a suspected bookmaker at their London hotel after the Lord’s Test, the problem of illegal bookies approaching cricketers is rife in India, a source has said.

“This (match fixing and bookies approaching) is a massive problem that has its tentacles at all the high levels of the game,” he added.

Therefore, the targeting of one of the best-paid international cricketers in the world to influence the most prestigious series in the game only shows the growing audacity of illegal bookmakers, whose criminal operations include murder, death threats and entrapment.

However, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, any scrutiny is unlikely to discourage illegal bookmakers, who will continue to feed off cricket so long as there is such disparity in pay among the game’s international elite.

Australian players earn up to 10 times more than peers from other Test-playing nations. If the Ashes can be targeted, what chance the new Twenty20 leagues?

Already there is widespread innuendo, all unsubstantiated, that matches in the Indian Cricket League were fixed.

Some Australian players also have concerns that bookmakers influenced a high-profile international star during the first Indian Premier League season.

“People also need to understand that this is not about match-fixing directly influencing a result, it’s about spread betting. It could be about bowling a wide with the fourth ball of the 16th over, losing a wicket at a certain time in the match. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars here. This is heavy stuff, like the mafia,” said one highly placed source.

Officials are remaining tight lipped about the Australian player episode, which is said to have taken place in the lobby of the Royal Kensington Garden Hotel.

“We did everything to the letter of the law,” Australian captain Ricky Ponting said.

England captain Andrew Strauss said there had been no approaches made to his team. (ANI)

Sympathetic, kind men unlikely to end up as bosses

Melbourne, July 15 (ANI): Being sympathetic, kind, co-operative and warm may lower men’s likelihood of becoming bosses, according to a study.

The same may also apply to women to a certain extent, say the researchers behind the study.

According to reports, this study has provided firm evidence of the link between personality and job choice.

“People who aren’t very nice are more likely to become managers,” theage.com.au quoted study co-author Michelle Tan, a researcher in the economics program at the Research School of Social Science, at Australian National University, as saying.

The results further showed that men and women tended to enter different occupations, even when they had similar personality traits and skills.

The findings also revealed that despite having the same occupations, similar men and women took home widely different pay packets.

The study used a sample of 5397 men and women drawn from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, and sought to understand the extent to which personality determined occupation and whether this could explain the gender pay gap.

The authors say that women were found to report overall higher levels of extroversion, agreeableness, emotional stability, and conscientiousness than did men.

According to them, men reported higher levels of “openness to experience”, and there was no difference in men’s and women’s sense of being able to control the events in their life.

The study also revealed that men’s personality traits closely linked to some occupations: the more “agreeable” men rated themselves on a personality test, the less likely they were to be managers or business professionals; and the more “open to experience” men were, the more likely they were to be in business or education.

The extent to which women were “open to experience” was the main influence on the jobs they held.

Just like their male counterpart, the more agreeable women tended to be the less likely they were to be managers. However, unlike men, extroversion was associated with women entering managerial ranks.

While similar men and women often ended up in different occupations, this did not explain the gender pay gap. (ANI)

Nostalgic, internet-weary young adults heading back to old times

Melbourne, July 14 (ANI): Young adults in Australia are increasingly getting nostalgic and pining for simpler times, as they have got sick of the internet and partying.

A study of young adult culture has revealed that the 16-30 year olds have had enough of chatting with friends since a year ago, and now they want to spend more face-to-face time with loved ones.

And they increasingly prefer to do that at home rather than going out to noisy, potentially dangerous pubs and nightclubs.

The annual Urban Market Research survey compiled by youth marketing agency Lifelounge, was conducted on 1600 young adults.

It was found that those still living with their parents (about half) had noticed the global financial crisis’s impact on the family, and pared back their lifestyle in response.

The survey also showed that the youngsters were no longer intrigued by technology, as the time spent online had gone down 30 minutes a week from last year, while their consumption of newspapers increased by the same amount.

Facebook and Twitter are also still on the rise, but losing some of their cachet.

“Nostalgia and simplicity … (are) influencing the styles they’re adopting, the products they’re purchasing and their entertainment choices,” The Australian quoted Lifelounge chief executive Dion Appel as saying.

“Parents’ vinyl records are suddenly interesting and vintage clothes are de rigueur.

“And they want more connections with their friends that aren’t digital, that are tangible. They’re starting to question the authenticity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

“They want technology to assist rather than dominate the way they communicate,” added Appel.

The study found that overall spending on music, entertainment, travel, fashion, and sport was down more than 5 billion dollars in the year to March, from 47.5bn dollars to 42.4bn dollars.

It also found declines in time spent on the Internet (down almost half an hour from last year to 8.6 hours a week) and free-to-air television viewing, down 1.3hours to 4.4hours a week.

However, young adults average another five hours a week watching DVDs and four hours on pay-TV. (ANI)

UP Roadways employees on strike

Lucknow, July 14 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Roadways employees have gone on strike since this morning.

This is the second time in last five days that the employees have gone on strike. Earlier UP Roadways workers had gone on a 24-hour ‘chakka jam’ on July 10.

According to sources the employees are on strike after the government refused to consider their demand for implementing the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, and increase in the retirement age.

The transport service in all the 17 divisions of UP Roadways is badly affected by the strike.

The UP Roadways however claims that the strike has had a partial affect, and all arrangements have been made to restore the service.

The state Government has warned of taking strict action against the agitating employees. State Transport Minister Naresh Agarwal said the Government would not bow down to the unjust demands of employees union.

The state government had terminated the service of 898 contractual employees and suspended 892 regular employees. It has also filed a charge sheet against 39 and registered cases against 554 workers.

Employees unions also threatened to launch an indefinite strike from August 15, it their demands are not met. (ANI)

Aggressive, not nice, women earn big bucks at work

Washington, July 14 (ANI): Being a nice girl would not take you ahead of others in the professional race, for a new study suggests that being aggressive and having a masculine approach is what makes you earn big bucks at workplace.

The academic study has shown that “alpha male” women earn an average of 40,000 pounds more over their lifetime than female colleagues who are “nice”.

It was found that personality traits are just as important as intelligence in determining how much people earn in their career.

The team found “alpha male” women earn 4 per cent more than those who are deemed to be “passive”-this amount to 40,000 pounds over a lifetime, based on a 40-year career with a 25,000 pounds annual wage.

Scottish businesswoman Michelle Mone, chief executive of the Ultimo lingerie company, agreed that having an assertive manner had aided her success.

Led by Guido Heineck, the study titled ‘Does it Pay to be Nice?’ also showed that “conscientious” women, who display self-control and persistence, generally earn 5 per cent more than sloppy colleagues.

Heineck, from the Institute for Employment Research in Nuremberg, Germany, said personality traits such as “agreeableness” were not beneficial in the workplace.

“Our statistics show that being nice does not pay for women, whereas working hard does. This is probably, in part, because agreeable people are too passive in conflict situations and poorer in wage negotiations,” The Scotsman quoted him as saying.

He added: “Traditionally, women are more passive and likeable at work. This (research] shows that to be successful in the workplace women have to adapt a more alpha male-like behaviour.”

The study was presented at a conference at Essex University. (ANI)

UPSC ~ Jobs in UPSC ~ UPSC Recruitment ~ Union Public Service Commission Recruitment 2009 ~ Jobs in Union Public Service Commission at www.upsc.gov.in ~ Union Public Service Commission

UPSC ~ Jobs in UPSC ~ UPSC Recruitment ~ Union Public Service Commission Recruitment 2009 ~ Jobs in Union Public Service Commission at www.upsc.gov.in ~ Union Public Service Commission

Job Vacancy in UPSC-Union Public Service Commission Advt. No. 13/2009

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

Advt. No. 13/2009

Applications are invited by UPSC for the following posts:

1. Computer Programmer
Vacancy: 01 posts
Department: Soil and Land Use Survey of India, Deptt. of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture
Pay Scale : PB-3 Rs.15600-39100 Grade Pay Rs.6600
Age Limit : 40 years.
2. Master (Computer Science)
Vacancy: 01 post
Department: Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, Ministry of Defence
Pay Scale : Rs.15600-39100 Grade Pay Rs.5400
Age Limit : 35 years.
3. Sr. Scientific Officer Gr.I (Instrumentation)
Vacancy: 01 post
Department: Directorate General of Quality Assurance, Department of Quality Production, Defence Quality Assurance Service, Ministry of Defence
Pay scale : Rs.10000-15200
Age Limit : 40 years.
4. Sr. Scientific Officer Gr.I (Armament)
Vacancy: 04 posts
Department: Directorate General of Quality Assurance, Department of Quality Production, Defence Quality Assurance Service, Ministry of Defence
Pay scale : Rs.10000-15200
Age Limit : 40 years.
5. Sr. Scientific Officer Gr.I (Gentex)
Vacancy: 02 posts
Department: Directorate General of Quality Assurance, Department of Quality Production, Defence Quality Assurance Service, Ministry of Defence
Pay scale : Rs.10000-15200
Age Limit : 40 years.
6. Sr. Scientific Officer Gr.I (Engineering)
Vacancy: 07 posts
Department: Directorate General of Quality Assurance, Department of Quality Production, Defence Quality Assurance Service, Ministry of Defence
Pay scale : Rs.8000-13500
Age Limit : 40 years.
7. Sr. Scientific Officer Gr.I (Electronics)
Vacancy: 01 post
Department: Directorate General of Quality Assurance, Department of Quality Production, Defence Quality Assurance Service, Ministry of Defence
Pay scale : Rs.10000-15200
Age Limit : 40 years.
8. Specialist Gr.II (Psychiatry)
Vacancy: 01 post
Department: Department of Health CHS (Non-Teaching specialist Sub-cadre) Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Pay scale : Rs.15600-39100Grade Pay Rs.6600 + NPA
Age Limit : 48 years.
9. Assistant Professor (Neurology)
Vacancy: 02 posts
Department: Specialist Gr.II of CHS (Teaching Specialist Sub-Cadre), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Pay scale : Rs.15600-39100 Grade Pay Rs.6600
Age Limit : 50 years.
10. Junior Analyst (Technical)
Vacancy: 04 posts
Department: Deptt. of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology
Pay scale : Rs.9300-34800 grade pay Rs.4600
Age Limit : 30 years.
11. Research Officer (Engineering)
Vacancy: 05 posts
Department: Central Soil and Materials Research Station, Ministry of Water Resource,
Pay scale : Rs.15600-39100 grade pay Rs.5400
Age Limit : 35 years.
12. Assistant Executive Engineer (Civil)
Vacancy: 83 posts (SC-12, ST-6, OBC-22)
Department: General Reserve Engineer Force of BRO, Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways
Pay scale : Rs.8000-13500
Age Limit : 35 years.
13. Assistant Executive Engineer (Electrical & Mechanical)
Vacancy: 22 posts (SC-3, ST-2, OBC-6)
Department: General Reserve Engineer Force of BRO, Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways
Pay scale : Rs.8000-13500
Age Limit : 35 years.

Last date is: 30/07/2009

(More detailed information
http://www.upsc.gov.in/recruitment/advt/2009/advt1309.htm

ERNET India ~ ERNET India 2009 Recruitment ~ Jobs Opportunities in ERNET India in eis.ernet.in

ERNET India ~ ERNET India 2009 Recruitment ~ Jobs Opportunities in ERNET India in eis.ernet.in

ERNET India, an autonomous scientific society under Department of Information Technology invites applications for the following posts :

1. Senior Manager : 01 post, Pay Scale : Rs.37400-67000 Grade Pay Rs.8700
2. Manager : 02 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.15600-39100 Grade pay Rs.7600
3. Technical Assistant : 02 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.9300-34800 grade pay Rs.4200
4. Private Secretary : 01 post, Pay Scale : Rs.9300-34800 grade pay Rs.4200
5. Assistant : 02 posts, pay scale : Rs.9300-34800 grade pay Rs.4200
6. Stenographer : 05 posts, Pay Scale : Rs.5200-20200 grade pay Rs.2400

How to Apply :

Application in the prescribed format should be send with in 45 days with copies of certificates.

Visit http://www.eis.ernet.in/ for more details and application form.

Taller men ‘make more money’

Washington, July 13 (ANI): Taller men are able to earn more money than their shorter counterparts, according to a study.

The study suggests that taller people make more money simply because they are perceived to be more intelligent and powerful.

The study, conducted in Australia, found that men who are 6-foot tall had annual incomes nearly 1,000 dollars more than men two inches shorter.

“Our estimates suggest that if the average man of about 178 centimetres [5 feet 10 inches] gains an additional five centimetres [2 inches] in height, he would be able to earn an extra 950 dollars per year – which is approximately equal to the wage gain from one extra year of labour market experience,” Live Science quoted study co-author Andrew Leigh, an economist at the Australian National University, as saying.

Arianne Cohen, author of ‘The Tall Book’ said: “The truth is, tall people do make more money. They make 789 dollars more per inch per year.”

Cohen says there’s nothing else that differentiates these people other than their height.

“They’re not nicer. They’re not prettier. They’re not anything else. But they’ve sort of gotten a halo in society at this point,” Cohen said.

Cohen crafted out her book using a 2003 review of four large U.S. and UK studies led by Timothy Judge, a management professor at the University of Florida.

Judge and his colleague concluded that someone who is 7 inches taller – for example, 6 feet versus 5 feet 5 inches – would be expected to earn 5,525 dollars more per year.

Height was found to be more important than gender in determining income and its significance doesn’t decline with age.

Judge said that being tall might boost self-confidence, helping to make a person more successful and also prompting people to ascribe more status and respect to the tall person.

Of course all such studies generate averages. A shorter person can certainly beat the odds, and not every tall person is raking it in.

Cohen says the pay advantage is conferred partly because taller people tend to exude leadership.

“Tall people tend to act like a leader from a very young age because other children relate to them like a slightly older peer. In the workplace, when you’re automatically acting as a leader, that’s really important when it comes time for promotion,” she said.

The study has been published in The Economic Record by Wiley-Blackwell. (ANI)

Seven Indian barbers claim Malaysian boss abused them for four years

Penang/Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), July 2 (ANI): Seven Indian nationals have lodged a complaint with the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, accusing their employer in Penang of abusing them and failing to pay their salaries regularly for the past four years.

According to The Star, the men, aged between 20 and 28, were employed at a barbershop in Paya Terubong.

They alleged that their employer made them work 12 hours daily with only a 10-minute break for meals. They were not given any day off, except on Deepavali.

Vadivel Rajan, from Madurai, said they were hired for a monthly salary of RM1,000 and that the employer had told them their pay would be forwarded to their families every month.

He claimed his employer only paid him RM10 daily as food allowance.

According to him, the employer withheld the workers’ salaries for five months to renew their working permits, but had not done so.

He claimed that their employer would hit them whenever they asked him about their salaries or work permits.

Vadivel said they decided to run away after finding out that their permits had not been renewed for the past two years.

They saved the money from their food allowance to travel to Kuala Lumpur to file their complaint and also to make a police report at the Sentul police station. (ANI)

Airline offers flights ‘cheaper than a carton of beer’!

Melbourne, June 24 (ANI): Low-cost airline Tiger Airways is offering travellers flights to destinations around Australia that are cheaper than a carton of beer.

The airline launched the “Just Pay Taxes and Charges” sale as its latest discount scheme against rivals Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue.

According to The Advertiser, flyers can pay as little as 25.51 dollars for one-way flights from Sydney to Melbourne, or 23.33 dollars for Gold Coast to Melbourne or 22.78 dollars for Adelaide to Perth, reports News.com.au.

The 30,000 seats for several destinations, however, must be taken on a Tuesday or a Wednesday between August 4 and March 24.

The fares include up to 7kg of carry-on luggage, but travellers would be charged 10 dollars for up to 15kg and 35 dollars for up to 25kg of check-in luggage.

Tiger commercial director Steve Burns said: “For the price of a couple of movie tickets or a few beers you can travel some of Tiger Airways’ most popular routes midweek.

“While everyone’s tightening their belts in the current economic climate, it’s nice to know you can still take a short break or get that work-life balance back on track with incredible deals like this.” (ANI)

Civic body employees’ strike disrupts normal life in Uttarakhand

Dehradun, June 19 (ANI): Normal life has been badly disrupted following an indefinite strike by civic body employees, causing acute water shortage and leading to growing garbage dumps in various parts of Uttarakhand.
Tourists and local residents are bearing the brunt of the ongoing strike as there is acute water shortage and accumulation of garbage dumps in the city.

“We are facing lot of problems. Water comes in the morning and that too for one hour. After one hour it stops coming and the water pressure is also very less. We don’t get any water to drink. There is growing garbage dump and no cleanliness. Also, there is power shortage. What should we do in such condition?” said Sushma, a local resident in Dehradun.

Even the supply of drinking water bottles in the market has run out due to heavy demand.

On Thursday, striking employees gathered at Gandhi Park in Dehradun city and raised anti-government slogans.

The agitating employees demanded implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and pledged to continue the strike until their demands were met.

“Our demands are first, that there should be no disparity in the payments or salaries of employees and recommendations of sixth pay commission should be implemented. Second, daily wage workers and PTC workers should be regularised. Third, pension and other allowances of all civic body workers should be at par with the state employees. Fourth, appointment should be made for all vacant posts that are vacant for past several years,” said Bhupindar, State President of Local Bodies Association.

The employees belonged to Uttarakhand civic bodies Dehradun Municipal Corporation, Jal Sansthan, and Panchayats. (ANI)

Prolonged strike by doctors in Lucknow Medical Institute

Lucknow, May 30 (ANI): Hundreds of patients in Lucknow have been forced to suffer as the authorities of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) have shut down the institute due to the prolonged strike by the doctors.

The doctors have gone on a strike to register their protest against non-payment of their arrears as per the Sixth Pay Commission, which they claim to be their rightful dues.

Another demand by the doctors is that be their hospital should be assigned the same status as that of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

“Our demand is that the status given to AIIMS and the facilities provided to AIIMS should be given to this hospital as well. The status of a Referral Centre should be maintained,” said Dr. nurag Gupta of Sanjay Gandhi, SGPGIMS

Amidst these claims and demands by the doctors, the patients have had to bear the brunt. They said that the concerned doctors have turned a blind eye and deaf ears to their miseries by not attending to the ailing persons.

Even emergency services had been terminated at the hospital, they said.I have got a transplant done. I am here to meet the concerned doctor but the nurses, staff and police are not letting me meet him. They are saying that the hospital is closed in spite of the fact that the doctor is sitting inside,” said Kamini, a patient.

Meanwhile, Rita Bahugana Joshi who heads the Uttar Pradesh unit of Congress party came out in support of the doctors and other staff members.

She slammed the state government for not paying heed to the genuine demands of the doctors.

“The Uttar Pradesh government has got money to erect elephant statues, build structures, make a park worth 45 thousand millions but it does not have money to pay arrears to 25000 employees. This is unbelievable,” said Joshi.

Doctors said that it was the administration, which was to be blamed for shutting down the hospital by pointing out that they are ready to provide treatment to the people by running parallel emergency services. (ANI)

A call centre for farmers in Punjab

Abohar (Punjab), May 20 (ANI): In a first of its kind initiative in the country, a call centre named Zamidara Farmsolutions has started functioning in Punjab.

Located in the border district of Fazilka in Ferozepur district, the call centre offers latest updates to the farmers on agricultural techniques and developments.

Besides discussing their problems with the call centre executives, the farmers can also get expensive farming instruments on rent, which they otherwise cannot afford.

Vikram Ahuja, owner, who himself is a farmer said that he was aware of the problems faced by the farmers and tried to ease their problems by making the expensive machine available to them on ‘Pay for use’ basis.

“We have tried to make the expensive machinery available to the farmers on ‘Pay for use’ basis rather than ‘pay for ownership’. In this the farmer has to pay for what he uses and nor for what he owns,” said Ahuja.

Elaborating on the use of the call center, Khushal Chand a farmer from Begawali village who recently hired a machine for water leveling said it made more sense in hiring these machines rather than buying them.

“Main reasons for taking this machine on hire was that it is very expensive. It costs 6,285 dollars and it becomes very impractical for small farmers like us to shell out this kind of money for single use and after that this machine becomes a liability,” said Chand.

Nearly two-thirds of India’s billion-plus population depends on agriculture for a living and efforts such as these will really benefit the small farmers. By Avtar Singh Gill(ANI)

India test-fires nuke-capable Agni-II missile

Bhubaneswar, May 19 (ANI): India on Tuesday successfully tested the nuclear capable Agni-II missile at Wheelers Island near Balasore in Orissa.

According to a senior Defence Ministry official, Agni-II missile is the surface-to-surface missile with a range of over 2,000 km.

“It was a user trial. The aim of the test is to give the Army confidence to fire the missile on its own,” the official said.

The Agni II missile, which is 20 metres long and 16 tones heavy, can carry a payload of around 1,000 kg and its range can also be increased to 3,000 km by reducing the pay load.

“It can be fired from both rail and road mobile launchers. It takes only 15 minutes for the missile to be readied for firing,” the official added.

The missile has been developed with technical assistance from the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization for the Indian Army. (ANI)