Keeping clean has been a human habit for ages. Washing and cleaning differentiates us from other animals. Ever wondered how soaps came into being? It is interesting to know how our ancestors got clean.
Pre-historic man used only water as a cleanser. Then around 2800 B.C., in ancient Babylon, wood ashes were burnt along with animal and vegetable fats. The Greeks used clay and pumice as cleansers. The origin of the word 'soap' can be traced back to 'Mount Sapo' in Rome, where animals were sacrificed. The rain mixed animal fat residue with the burnt wood on the clay, which initiated a chemical reaction. The substance thus produced turned out to be an excellent cleanser.
Soaps, as people know today, could not have been made, had it not been for Nicholas Le Blanc's efforts. He was a French man who discovered an inexpensive way of making Sodium Hydroxide in the 18th century. The early Americans made soap through a process called the 'Cold Process', whereby animal fat and sodium hydroxide (or lie) extracted from wood ashes were boiled. Modern day soap-makers do not use animal fats any longer since they clog pores and aggravate skin diseases. Instead lie is added to vegetable alkali such as palm oil, coconut oil or olive oil. The mixture is pored into a mold, where the 'curing process' takes place for 3-8 weeks.
In 1898, Celeb Johnson's company in Milwaukee introduced soaps made of palm and olive oils, known as 'Palmolive'. The success of this soap was such that the company changed its name to Palmolive in 1917. In India, Lux was the first soap to be positioned as a beauty soap.
Today the market is flooded with innumerable soap brands. Even the forms of soaps are varied. There are liquid soaps, gels, bars, solutions, et al. They are available in all shapes, sizes, colours and fragrances. So the next time you wash yourself with a soap, this soap saga must be remembered and credit given to the ones who contributed towards its discovery.
Friday 12 February 2010
Monday 8 February 2010
Straying from the visionary concept
According to Section 3 of the University Grant Commissions (UGC) Act, 1956, a ‘deemed’ university is one which is administratively autonomous in the sense that it does not need to abide by the rules and regulations of any other university on administrative matters. It can also award degrees under its own name, instead of that of a university to which it is affiliated. Moreover, a deemed university cannot be a purely teaching institution. Research has to be an integral part of its activities.
From 1956 to 1990, in the initial 35 years, only 29 institutions were granted the deemed university status. In the last 15 years, 63 institutions were declared deemed universities and particularly in the last 5 years, 36 institutions excluding Regional Engineering Colleges have been notified as deemed universities. As per the record of the Department of Higher Education, Government of in India, there are more than 109 deemed universities in India today.
As is very conspicuous from the aforementioned statistics, deemed universities have mushroomed all over our country now. This has, in turn, caused the efficiency of the education system in India to go swooping down. A visionary concept of having them has fallen prey to narrow personal interests today. The provision in the UGC Act for granting deemed university status has not been followed in spirit. Section 3 of the UGC Act confers wide and unguided power on the executive, which was in violation of the Act. The fresh news is that as many as 44 of these universities are on the brink of being de-recognized. 16 of these universities belong to Tamil Nadu alone, 15 of them private and one government sponsored. The government has ruled that these are not worthy of their ‘deemed university’ status and should be de-recognized. The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry, however, is confident that it has a foolproof case in the apex court. Highly placed sources have said the 44 deemed universities should not hope that a clean chit by UGC's review committee (separate from the HRD ministry's panel) can help them challenge the recommendation seeking removal of `deemed' status. The Supreme Court recently issued notices asking the Centre to respond to a petition seeking to end the UGC’s powers to accord deemed university status.
All this has come after several complaints were made, questioning the quality and authenticity of many of the deemed universities. According to reports, these institutions, which have been recognized as deemed universities, in turn, indulge in conferring degrees by making profit instead of being interested in imparting education to the students enrolled with them. This leaves the serious students feeling deceived by a body which was not able to educate them in the first place. The course structure of these universities was never up to the mark. The worst part of the story is that the students who enroll themselves in such universities are charged exorbitant amounts in the name of fees. For such varsities, education has become like a full-fledged and an extremely profitable business. They have compromised on the quality and cost-effectiveness, thereby inviting trouble for themselves. Most of them have turned out to be low grade physical structures, without impressive intellectual caliber.
Although the HRD minister has assured the students of these 44 universities that they have no cause for worry as they will be granted their degrees. Around two lakh students who study in these universities feel that the ministry is making false claims and are playing with their careers. To an extent, their argument is valid. If these universities are eventually de-recognized, its students will be placed in a very precarious situation. In fact this is an irony that they had taken admission here to build their careers, but unfortunately these institutions are now on the verge of ruining their academic lives.
Amidst all the controversies related to the deemed universities, we must not forget that not all of them are of low grade. Some of them, like the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, etc., are renowned for imparting high quality education to its students. Students from overseas too flock in these universities to study. While doing away with the bad ones, the government must not harass the good ones. The need of the hour is to keep an eye on the functioning of all the deemed universities, reward the ones which are doing well and eliminate the ones which are engaging themselves in fraudulent activities. This will ensure that they do not stray from the visionary concept, with which they were brought into existence.
From 1956 to 1990, in the initial 35 years, only 29 institutions were granted the deemed university status. In the last 15 years, 63 institutions were declared deemed universities and particularly in the last 5 years, 36 institutions excluding Regional Engineering Colleges have been notified as deemed universities. As per the record of the Department of Higher Education, Government of in India, there are more than 109 deemed universities in India today.
As is very conspicuous from the aforementioned statistics, deemed universities have mushroomed all over our country now. This has, in turn, caused the efficiency of the education system in India to go swooping down. A visionary concept of having them has fallen prey to narrow personal interests today. The provision in the UGC Act for granting deemed university status has not been followed in spirit. Section 3 of the UGC Act confers wide and unguided power on the executive, which was in violation of the Act. The fresh news is that as many as 44 of these universities are on the brink of being de-recognized. 16 of these universities belong to Tamil Nadu alone, 15 of them private and one government sponsored. The government has ruled that these are not worthy of their ‘deemed university’ status and should be de-recognized. The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry, however, is confident that it has a foolproof case in the apex court. Highly placed sources have said the 44 deemed universities should not hope that a clean chit by UGC's review committee (separate from the HRD ministry's panel) can help them challenge the recommendation seeking removal of `deemed' status. The Supreme Court recently issued notices asking the Centre to respond to a petition seeking to end the UGC’s powers to accord deemed university status.
All this has come after several complaints were made, questioning the quality and authenticity of many of the deemed universities. According to reports, these institutions, which have been recognized as deemed universities, in turn, indulge in conferring degrees by making profit instead of being interested in imparting education to the students enrolled with them. This leaves the serious students feeling deceived by a body which was not able to educate them in the first place. The course structure of these universities was never up to the mark. The worst part of the story is that the students who enroll themselves in such universities are charged exorbitant amounts in the name of fees. For such varsities, education has become like a full-fledged and an extremely profitable business. They have compromised on the quality and cost-effectiveness, thereby inviting trouble for themselves. Most of them have turned out to be low grade physical structures, without impressive intellectual caliber.
Although the HRD minister has assured the students of these 44 universities that they have no cause for worry as they will be granted their degrees. Around two lakh students who study in these universities feel that the ministry is making false claims and are playing with their careers. To an extent, their argument is valid. If these universities are eventually de-recognized, its students will be placed in a very precarious situation. In fact this is an irony that they had taken admission here to build their careers, but unfortunately these institutions are now on the verge of ruining their academic lives.
Amidst all the controversies related to the deemed universities, we must not forget that not all of them are of low grade. Some of them, like the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, etc., are renowned for imparting high quality education to its students. Students from overseas too flock in these universities to study. While doing away with the bad ones, the government must not harass the good ones. The need of the hour is to keep an eye on the functioning of all the deemed universities, reward the ones which are doing well and eliminate the ones which are engaging themselves in fraudulent activities. This will ensure that they do not stray from the visionary concept, with which they were brought into existence.
Wednesday 3 February 2010
Pregnancy: A boon or a bane?
Pregnancy is not a disease or illness. Yet more than half a million women and girls die every year because of pregnancy, childbirth, and unsafe abortions. Health experts determine that about 75% of these maternal deaths are preventable. Unwanted pregnancy and pregnancy related problems have always been an area of concern for India. In spite of some of the best medical institutes and practitioners, the rate of death of women during child birth is the highest in India. The statistics present a sorry picture for the state of women’s health in the country.
According to reports, in the world, 190 women face unwanted pregnancies every minute. What is even more alarming is that in India, 1,21,000 women die per year owing to delivery related complications. These digits point towards the fact the facilities available for pre-natal and post-natal care is dismal in this country. Almost all the states are affected due to this. The BIMARU states are the ones where the situation is worse than the others. The state of affairs in child birth is incredibly shocking as more than 300 maternal deaths occur for every 100,000 live births in India which is six times worse than that of the neighboring competitor, China.
One of the factors that account for these untimely deaths of mothers and infants is illiteracy. People in rural areas are not acquainted with the modern facilities for child-birth. Owing to this ignorance, they still adhere to the age-old practice of delivering a child at home. In India, 65% of all births occur at home. This, in turn, means giving birth in unhygienic conditions, resulting in complications and eventually deaths. A large percentage of births do not take place under the supervision of trained mid wives, leading to no respite in cases of unexpected complications.
Another reason why the infant mortality rate is so abnormally high in this country is that women go for child-births at regular intervals. Before they can recuperate from the previous delivery, they conceive. This automatically makes them weaker, giving way to complications. If the mother is not hale and hearty, it obviously implies that the child too will be weak. Many times the newborn kid does not survive due to the lack of nourishment and care. This is clear from the fact that for every 1000 live births, 39 infants die.
It has been found that the rates of maternal death are high in the economically weaker sections of the society. With poor nutrition and lack of obstetrics care, most poor women continue fighting for their lives with every delivery. In India, women, on an average, tend to get pregnant very early and have little control over their sexual or reproductive health. Low income makes access to better medical facilities difficult and social customs and traditions make post natal care a taboo.
This was the situation in rural India. In urban areas, what is more common is unwanted pregnancy. These days even unsafe abortion has become a growing concern. Callous teenagers do not bother to use contraceptives, thereby landing themselves in precarious situations. The only option left for them then is abortion. In the world, every minute, 40 women have unsafe abortion. There are innumerable abortion centres in all cities. These are mostly run by untrained physicians who charge nominal rates. More and more teenagers flock such centres, thereby exposing themselves to infections and hazardous diseases.
The Indian government has included private sector hospitals in its schemes to enhance institutional deliveries among below poverty line (BPL) mothers and pay them for each delivery. Most of these hospitals are in urban and semi-urban areas. Needless to mention, under the arrangement certified private hospitals are extending facilities of Janani Express Yojana, Janani Sahayogi Yojana and other health welfare schemes to card holders. State government's attempts to post specialists in rural areas have met with failure over the years and dais conducting traditional deliveries has been banned around a year ago, leaving villagers with no option but to go for totally unsafe, unprofessional delivery at home. India created a flagship program, the National Rural Health Mission, in 2005 to improve rural health, with a specific focus on maternal health. But the system is not working as it should in many cases, Human Rights Watch research showed.
It must be remembered that pregnancy is the happiest phase of a woman’s life. Let us all strive to make it enjoyable for her rather than turning it into a curse. The best part of it all is that all pregnancy related problems are preventable and cost only US $2. Hence, we must try to mitigate this problem as much as possible and set an example for other developing countries.
According to reports, in the world, 190 women face unwanted pregnancies every minute. What is even more alarming is that in India, 1,21,000 women die per year owing to delivery related complications. These digits point towards the fact the facilities available for pre-natal and post-natal care is dismal in this country. Almost all the states are affected due to this. The BIMARU states are the ones where the situation is worse than the others. The state of affairs in child birth is incredibly shocking as more than 300 maternal deaths occur for every 100,000 live births in India which is six times worse than that of the neighboring competitor, China.
One of the factors that account for these untimely deaths of mothers and infants is illiteracy. People in rural areas are not acquainted with the modern facilities for child-birth. Owing to this ignorance, they still adhere to the age-old practice of delivering a child at home. In India, 65% of all births occur at home. This, in turn, means giving birth in unhygienic conditions, resulting in complications and eventually deaths. A large percentage of births do not take place under the supervision of trained mid wives, leading to no respite in cases of unexpected complications.
Another reason why the infant mortality rate is so abnormally high in this country is that women go for child-births at regular intervals. Before they can recuperate from the previous delivery, they conceive. This automatically makes them weaker, giving way to complications. If the mother is not hale and hearty, it obviously implies that the child too will be weak. Many times the newborn kid does not survive due to the lack of nourishment and care. This is clear from the fact that for every 1000 live births, 39 infants die.
It has been found that the rates of maternal death are high in the economically weaker sections of the society. With poor nutrition and lack of obstetrics care, most poor women continue fighting for their lives with every delivery. In India, women, on an average, tend to get pregnant very early and have little control over their sexual or reproductive health. Low income makes access to better medical facilities difficult and social customs and traditions make post natal care a taboo.
This was the situation in rural India. In urban areas, what is more common is unwanted pregnancy. These days even unsafe abortion has become a growing concern. Callous teenagers do not bother to use contraceptives, thereby landing themselves in precarious situations. The only option left for them then is abortion. In the world, every minute, 40 women have unsafe abortion. There are innumerable abortion centres in all cities. These are mostly run by untrained physicians who charge nominal rates. More and more teenagers flock such centres, thereby exposing themselves to infections and hazardous diseases.
The Indian government has included private sector hospitals in its schemes to enhance institutional deliveries among below poverty line (BPL) mothers and pay them for each delivery. Most of these hospitals are in urban and semi-urban areas. Needless to mention, under the arrangement certified private hospitals are extending facilities of Janani Express Yojana, Janani Sahayogi Yojana and other health welfare schemes to card holders. State government's attempts to post specialists in rural areas have met with failure over the years and dais conducting traditional deliveries has been banned around a year ago, leaving villagers with no option but to go for totally unsafe, unprofessional delivery at home. India created a flagship program, the National Rural Health Mission, in 2005 to improve rural health, with a specific focus on maternal health. But the system is not working as it should in many cases, Human Rights Watch research showed.
It must be remembered that pregnancy is the happiest phase of a woman’s life. Let us all strive to make it enjoyable for her rather than turning it into a curse. The best part of it all is that all pregnancy related problems are preventable and cost only US $2. Hence, we must try to mitigate this problem as much as possible and set an example for other developing countries.
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