Archive for June, 2010
Commonwealth Games: Corruption and Pride, A Debate
After seeing the dirty pictures of the toilets of commonwealth games village in Delhi this month, the feeling of pride which Indians had in their mind turned somewhat into a feeling of shame. And the only thing the media and people could blame on were corrupted organizers, lack of inter department coordination and at some point of time people themselves and media for only covering and reporting the negative aspect of the games. Just to make our discussion easily readable we are classifying two sides as Panel I and Panel II.
[Panel I] “Why would you want to add fuel to fire!!!!!! please delete this post!!!” A person said that on our discussion board on the shared pictures of filthy commonwealth village.
Making into the front-page and ticker of every newspaper and news channel in India, the games were defamed and termed flop and criticized internationally before even they could take off. When asked various people in India they said now they have a mixed feeling of proud and shame. But still hoping it will be a successful event.
[Panel II] “It’s good to share such news[criticizing] let everyone know… where our TAX money goes!!” She further added, “I am afraid nobody has an answer for this question.”
[Panel I] “our tax money is going to the right place at-least they did a good job in a very short time. It’s easy to point out something have you done anything to make it right????” Was a reply from the crowd.
[[Panel II] “Given a chance I would! what have you done???” She retorted.
Later on the debate, we saw a perfect balance between “for” and “against” side. It’s left to you which side you choose. No side is wrong, only the perception is different.
[Panel I] “I didn’t add fuel to fire…. if u can’t do anything, then we have to shut our mouth… you can do one thing you can thank those people who have been working day and night to make it possible”
[Panel I] I know the preparations have missed some deadlines. All the college students have been working there as volunteers and my friends say they have never seen such a mess anywhere in the village.”
He Further added, “Feel proud that India was able to defeat the developed nations, Canada in particular, in the bidding. After all this mess, All the major participating countries have given thumbs up to the village. You should see the picture of the commonwealth games venues. You will be really amazed that such infrastructure exists in India. India has been working since 2004 on this, and deadlines were missed due to corruption. Which is a global problem. Even in Melbourne commonwealth, players were forced to live in hotels as their village was not ready. XIX Commonwealth games is the wealthiest game and greenest as well. Many earlier commonwealth games ran out of money during preparations.”
[Panel II] “It is this callous ‘chalta hai’ attitude / ‘let us be happy with what we have’ or what people proudly call ‘jugaad’ is the bane of India. 60% of all agricultural produce in India is wasted before it reaches consumers, India tops the list in everything from poverty, AIDS, Cancer, et al. Farmers who provide food to the whole nation die without food. But we still want to appreciate very few good things the Government does, which as a matter of fact is their job! Yes, I am a capitalist. I believe only capitalism and market oriented policies will bring change. And for that we need such attractions as games. Those are signs of a maturing economy. But that was not the intention or not even developing local talent. Many proposals were made to build national level and state level competitions aka NBA and so on. But it was ignored, less scope for large scale corruption there. Politicians won by this games bribing (or openly gifting) and using the diplomatic clout. It was not awarded on merits. It was so badly managed and the cost overshot by many multiples. It’s a national shame, but few people want to celebrate it. We should mourn it so that there will be a change, there is a realisation. Unless we Indians don’t accept we **** at choosing politicians, or participating in politics, India will remain a land of miseries and contradictions.
Above all everybody has their right to their opinion, if one has read the very first chapter in Civics in middle school. Nobody can ask anybody to shut their mouth. It’s called Right to Speech. ‘What have you done?’ is an irrelevant question, rather a nonsensical defence. I voted for him to do that job. Now I will go ahead and fire him by not casting my vote. I have my job to focus. Each minute of every Citizen adds to building the nation!”
Sucking at choosing politicians, that’s what people think now. I have myself heard and read on several other blogs and forums. “India is a nice country with Strong economy and military, but ugly government.” Despite having a huge number of political parties, Indians are unsatisfied with options available to them for choosing a government. Some don’t cast their vote and some do caste paid votes.
[Panel I] Continuing the discussion, one person said: “I have read the report showing that India bribed other commonwealth nations to win the bid. But the report also said that our main competitor Canada was not so innocent as well, they offered bribe of 70K where as India offered bribe of 100K. Nobody then talked about that report again. So I feel it may be a fake too. But I won’t be surprised if it is true because I acknowledge the problem of corruption.
In 1947 English left us wiping and ******* everything from this rich land with a gift of Pakistan. We had to start from the scratch. And we are at good position now, though we are nowhere in comparison with Japan, China and Singapore which also had tough times in 1940s. But during recession, when America and other markets were down, companies were getting bankrupt and people were loosing jobs. India launched its mission to moon worth 384 crore with a GDP of 7+. It is not so easy maintaining such a big nation with various religions and ethnicity. Even America is having problems where central states and native Americans time to time comes up with a demand for independence. But American media doesn’t show all that negative things. But we are trying that’s a good thing. With so many evils in our societies still if we are able to make in the list of top five superpowers and top fifteen economy, I can’t just imagine what will be our position if we just normalize our condition, if not excellent. I hope they will learn from commonwealth mistakes.”
Difficulties and hurdles did come in the way of preparations. But India at the end has done its job completely, earning the thumbs up and praise from those who strongly blamed the organizers is a big achievement. It’s one opportunity which India wouldn’t like to lose to project its power to the world. Unsuccessful games will add to the long list of failed games earning a mark of failure forever.
By: Sanskar Shrivastava
About the Author:
Sanskar Shrivastava is the author of the website The World Reporter, where he does analysis and gives opinion on the news which has global impact.
Improving Health and Nutrition: What You Need To Know About Food Allergies
Food allergies can be a common source of discomfort and symptoms often go undiagnosed. Many people experience the daily effects of food allergies without realizing their unease is actually a food allergy symptom. One of the most common symptoms of a food allergy is weight gain. In the body, water is retained as a way of attempting to protect the body from the irritation of poisonous substances and food allergens. Fat cells also expand to provide a buffer and protect the body. When loosing weight, water is often shed, but the body retains the fat because it is necessary to protect you from these toxins and allergens.
A food allergy specialist will often first ask a patient to write down their three favorite foods and then eliminate those from the diet. A study published in the Lancet found that common food allergens act like morphine-line drugs. This can result in us actually being addicted to the foods that make us sick! The cravings experienced for these foods are based on the same neurochemical responses that lead to drug additions. Removing the three favorite foods from the diet can not only reveal food allergies, without the need for expensive tests, but it can quickly make us feel great after the short period of “withdrawal” to the addictive substances is over.
If tests are required, a blood test is the easiest way to determine food allergies and one blood sample can be used to test with hundreds of foods. The most common blood tests for food allergies are as follows.
RAST (Radio-Allergo-Sorbent Test) ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorben Assay) ELISA/ACT (Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay/Activated Cell Test)
Not all food allergies result in immediate symptoms and blood tests can detect delayed symptoms as well as immediate symptoms. If the simple elimination approach does not detect the sources of a food allergy, a blood test may be the only way to find it.
Foods contain literally thousands of substances. Many of these substances change form depending on how it being raw or heated, how it was heated, how fresh it is, what other ingredients it is combined with and even natural “ebbs and tides” in your own immune system. Because of this, no blood test can be 100 percent accurate.
Other common causes of food allergies include poor digestion, nutrient deficiencies, too narrow a food selection in the diet and leaky gut syndrome. Food allergy relief can often be achieved by applying greater awareness of the need for a broad selection of whole foods, and the limitation or elimination of processed foods.
Quercetin, a flavonoid, and glutamine, an amino acid can bring relief to symptoms of food allergies by acting as an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy agent and restoring intestinal membrane integrity. Adding glyconutrients to the diet can provide additional benefit by supporting the “parts” required for proper cell-to-cell communication and therefore proper immune system function. While some people may be able to reintroduce foods which once caused allergy symptoms, as they improve their diet and focus on an improved state of wellness, variations in genetics leave some people with permanent allergies to certain foods. In such cases, elimination is the only true “cure” for such food allergies.
By: Dave Saunders
About the Author:
Dave Saunders is a wellness coach and national speaker. Discover more vital truths about health and wellness at www.glycowellness.com and www.glycoblog.com.
