Night owls at greater risk of piling on pounds - India

19 june 2011

Night owls at greater risk of piling on pounds

Staying up late can make you pile on the pounds and is fraught with other negative health consequences.

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Late sleepers consumed 248 more calories a day, twice as much fast food and half as many fruits and vegetables as those with earlier sleep times, according to a study by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
They also drank more full-calorie sodas. Late sleepers consumed the extra calories during dinner and later in the evening when everyone else was asleep. They also had a higher body mass index, a measure of body weight, than normal sleepers.
The study is among the first in the US to explore the relationship between the circadian timing of sleeping and waking, dietary behaviour and body mass index, the journal Obesity reports.
"The extra daily calories can mean a significant amount of weight gain - two pounds per month - if they are not balanced by more physical activity," said study co-author Kelly Glazer Baron, health psychologist and neurology instructor at the Feinberg School, according to a Feinberg statement.
The study shows that the number of calories you eat are important, but so is when you eat them -- and that's linked to when you sleep and when you wake up, added Phyllis Zee, professor of neurology at Feinberg.
"Human circadian rhythms in sleep and metabolism are synchronised to the daily rotation of the earth, so that when the sun goes down you are supposed to be sleeping, not eating," Zee said.
"When sleep and eating are not aligned with the body's internal clock, it can lead to changes in appetite and metabolism, which could lead to weight gain," said Zee.

Iran to send more satellites to orbit - India

18 june 2011

Iran to send more satellites to orbit

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Tehran:  Iran announced it plans to send three more home-made satellites to orbit in coming months.

The announcement came after Tehran successfully sent its second domestically-made satellite named 'Rasad' (Observation) into orbit, re-displaying the country's independence in its space program.
       
Speaking to the Islamic republic news agency, Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli said that following successful launch of Rasad, the satellites of Kavoshgar 5 (Explorer 5) that will carry animals, Fajr and Navid will be launched into space.

The official added that Kavoshgar 5, with a weight of 285-kg, will be launched in Mordad (fifth month of the Iranian calendar, July 22 - August 22).

Rasad, designed and built by ISA, was launched by the Safir-e-Rasad satellite carrier on Wednesday.

Iran has recently taken wide strides in aerospace. The country sent the first bio-capsule of living creatures into space in February, using its home-made Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.

Iran announced in February that it plans to unveil and send two recently-built satellites into space in the near future.
      
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had also earlier announced that the country plans to send a home-made measurement satellite into orbit in the near future.

Omid (hope) was Iran's first research satellite that was designed for gathering information and testing equipment.

After orbiting for three months, Omid successfully completed its mission without any problem.

It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on April 25, 2009.

After launching Omid, Tehran unveiled three new satellites called Tolou, Mesbah II and Navid, respectively.

Indian-American candidate wins city council seat in Texas - India

17 june 2011

Indian-American candidate wins city council seat in Texas

Houston:  An Indian-American has edged past a candidate of Pakistani-origin to win a city council seat in Sugar Land, Texas.
   
In unofficial results, Harish Jajoo edged Pakistani-American attorney and investment manager Farha Ahmed on June 11 in the run-off election for the city council seat in District 4 in Sugar Land.

Jajoo secured 1,473 or 52.38 per cent of the total votes, while 1,340 or 47.62 per cent polled for Ahmed. Jajoo had a 915-724 advantage in pre-election Day balloting, while Ahmed polled better on voting day, getting 616 votes to 559 for her opponent.
 
The tight contest was marred by a flier, circulated before the election and quoting a Pakistani newspaper, erroneously insinuated that Ahmed would represent Afia Sidique, a woman dubbed as "Lady Al Qaeda," in a criminal case.

Siddiqui is a US-educated Pakistani Neuroscientist who was sentenced to 86 years in prison in a New York District Court in 2010 for trying to shoot US soldiers at a police station in Afghanistan in 2008. She was shown on the flier in two grainy mug shots along with Ahmed's photo.
     Ahmed issued a statement saying she is a civil litigation attorney and could not represent Siddiqui in a criminal case.

Ahmed did say, however, that she was approached a few years ago "by attorneys and human rights groups to help gather information to find two missing American children who were believed to have been kidnapped overseas."

"It is inappropriate for me to discuss the details of the case any further other than to state that the children were found. I would also like to humbly request that the identities of the children be safeguarded for their protection," she said.
  
Ahmed did not issue any further clarification to indicate if this work involved Siddiqui or her children.
  
Jajoo, through a statement said that, "I want to assure you that my campaign had nothing to do with this mailer, and I do not condone this type of tactic. I also believe that the voters deserve to hear from my opponent on this issue as well."

On results, Jajoo said, "This culminates a tough race and validates that my campaign was based on right message, right priorities and right approach. I am humbled by the support and enthusiasm of my district voters."

Jajoo also said he received a call from Ahmed the night of June 11 after the results were declared "to congratulate me and I invited her to work with me on the issues important to her."

He said in a press statement that his priorities as a member of the council would be "public safety, infrastructure and quality of life" in Sugar Land.
   
The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for June 21. Jajoo and his wife, Shashi, have two children.

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

7 saving tips to plan early for your dream home - India

16 june 2011

7 saving tips to plan early for your dream home!

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Owning a home gives you a sense of pride and liberty, but also many responsibilities. For a first timer, it would be a rather complicated process, especially ‘saving’ for down payments. The savings for a home purchase can be started at any time, much before you seriously start shopping for a home.  With the RBI increasing the down payment limit to 20% of the actual price of the property for loans above Rs.20L, an early start in saving for your downpayment is the best option.


Planning is the most important step for buying your first home as in with any other purchase. And here, the key for planning is an honest financial self-appraisal with a budget planner. The idea of budgeting may be distasteful to those who have not tried it. However, budgeting is a fabulous diagnostic instrument to analyse your income-expenditure patterns and thereby your true financial position. It helps you to identify and eliminate discretionary expenses.

House ownership typically involves multiple costs like down payments, loan repayments, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, interior designing, stamp duty, etc.  So, if you don’t fix your overspending before you buy a home, you will not be able to protect yourself from the cash flow problems which may affect you.
Also, tracking your income and expense patterns will give a realistic picture of what you can afford to repay each month, considering your other living expenses. Once you understand exactly what you can borrow, start looking out for a home like a shrewd shopper.
Aim for a home you can really afford to pay. Loans can be good friends in the hour of need but an inconvienient burden, if not properly managed. It is wise to restrict your monthly loan repayments to 40-45% of your monthly income. Real estate values are always on increasing trend, except for a few mid term hiccups. So, even if you buy a small house now, in a year or two the prices will double, especially if you live in the city giving you the option of liquidating it and opting for a better residence.
Banks will finance upto 80% of the property value. So, the remaining 20% are expected to be shelled out of your pockets. If your savings allows, it is always better to make the maximum down payment possible, to reduce your monthly financial burden in the form of an EMI.
Familiarize yourself with available options

It is crucial to find the right lender and the right loan in the process of buying a home. It is always good to know the basics of loan terms and clauses from your friends or through online sources, before you speak to the lender.
Compare the EMI payable for different tenures with your monthly income. Higher the loan tenure, lesser the EMI, but at the same time you will be shelling out more interest. There are also schemes like step up loans, where EMIs accelerate every year in proportion to the increase in your income, however it comes with a certain amount of risk. Banks even allow the customers to switch the current EMI options to longer loan tenures, if they are unable to take it forward.
Banks sanction in-principle loan based on the customer’s eligibility for those who have not yet decided on the property. This helps home buyers guage the loan amount that a bank would be able to give them and the the money they will have to manage. This will help set a budget limit before looking out.
Few saving tips

• Those who started planning early can slowly save and invest in good investment schemes. But you need to make sure that your savings are working for you. Money that is put in a savings account earns less and will not help you much to reach your goal faster. Look forward for a high-yield savings or low risk investment in debt funds. Investing in share markets is a good option, but not a guaranteed one. However if you stay invested for a long term and make your exit at the right moment, it will immensely help you in meeting your money requirements.

• Those who save late also have many options like gathering additional sources like tax refunds, bonuses, dividends etc. Immediate money requirements can be arranged from sources like- gold loan, personal loan, borrowing from relatives, collateral security etc.

• If you are selling your current home for a new one, do it right when the real estate market is up. Or if you have already done it, invest the money in low risk investments which have a flexible liquidity option.

• If you are servicing multiple loans, if possible clear the costlier loans or try to pay off most of them. Personal loans, credit card debts and business loans are costlier, while home loan is the cheapest among them and the tax advantages on home loans is an additional benefit. You can also make part prepayments for all loans whenever you have excess money which will directly bring down your outstanding prinicipal amount.

• Individuals often take personal loans to bridge the immediate finance requirements. The average interest rate of a personal loan is 16-30%. Ideally you should go for other loans such as loans against property, collateral security loans, top up loans, loans against fixed deposits, gold loan, with lower interest rates for immediate requirement of funds.

• Always say a strong ‘no’ to borrowing on credit cards. Always pay off all your credit card dues on or before the due dates, as it is the most difficult one to break off if debts mount.

• While planning, consider not only your current position but also the future changes that could impact your situation like changes to your income, expected costs etc.

Once you begin to understand all the parts of the home buying journey, you’ll feel confident. No matter how a home buyer accumulates funds to purchase a home, careful planning will always make the road to home ownership smooth.

Secrets to a long-distance relationship - India

15 june 2011

Secrets to a long-distance relationship

Relationships can be difficult and adding the considerable strain of long distance can make it considerably harder. But if two people love each other enough, then distance shouldn’t matter, right? Yet despite all the ways technology can help us stay in touch, long distance relationships frequently fail to work out. We sat down with leading relationship experts to find out the secrets to maintaining long distance love and why it so often fails.

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Solving communication
According to clinical psychologist, Dr. Rob Dobrenski, the largest barrier of long-distance relationships is lack of face-to-face communication. Couples invariably need not just emotional and physical intimacy, but also the ability to resolve conflicts. This is significantly easier when you can see your partner's facial expressions and non-verbal communication. Phone, text, email, Skype, Morse code, Instant Messaging, Facebook updates and carrier pigeons all still require a lot of guesswork to really gauge what's going on with your partner. This is especially true if couples aren't already the greatest at directly and confidently stating their feelings. Video chatting is a better option than a traditional phone call, as it allows you to read some of your partner's non-verbal communication. Aside from just talking to each other regularly; use technology to do other things together, like play games online - this is a creative and fun exercise that can promote bonding. "Loneliness will happen but it is important that you acknowledge and attempt to alleviate those feelings. Phone sex works wonders!"
Encounters
Dr. Barton Goldsmith PhD, says "one of the things that keep a relationship together is real chemistry. Touching keeps the brain chemicals, like Oxytocin (also known as the cuddle hormone) and Serotonin (as well as several others that make us happy and feel connected) flowing through our brains and bodies. When you don't get to connect, it's harder to feel the love because you're not able to produce enough these happiness chemicals to make you feel good and most people start to look for ways to get their 'brain-chemical fix' from those who are physically available." This is why it is essential to keep the physical chemistry just as alive as the emotional chemistry. Plan to see one another as often as possible. That may mean costly travelling every now and again so you can tend to your long-distance relationship. It's not easy and both partners need to commit equally but in the end you might be grateful that you did.
Increasing trust
Unfortunately, over time, many long-distance relationships experience a degradation of trust and confidence. As you and your partner develop increasingly independent tendencies, your roles in each other's lives will change. New friends and colleagues will be entering both your lives and this can lead to partners quickly becoming jealous. Jealousy can lead to fights, resentment and eventually the demise of your relationship. It is important to prepare for these changes early on and commit yourself to becoming as trusting and as trustworthy as possible. The increased independence can be a good thing, if you let it, enabling you to continue growing as individuals while still remaining a couple. Eventually, the goal is for one or both of you to relocate to be together and, if you have trust in each other, you can get there.
Keeping a plan
Maintaining a healthy long-distance relationship is all about establishing and sticking to regular achievable goals that you have mutually agreed upon so you both feel like you are working towards something. Never make promises or agree to goals you can't keep. Your word is your bond. A healthy plan and set of goals should include: a daily schedule for communication, a mandatory minimum on Snail mail and small gifts per month, frequency of virtual dates, a schedule for somewhat regular visits and, most importantly, deciding on your monogamy. Remember, things won't always go according to the plan you've set so it is important to anticipate changes and deal with them together as they come up. While, absence may make the heart grow fonder, don't let your relationship linger in this state for years - have an end date in mind in case neither of you can relocate back to the other within a reasonable timeframe.

Four students to represent India at 22nd Intl Bio Olympiad - India

14 june 2011

Four students to represent India at 22nd Intl Bio Olympiad

Mumbai: Four students will represent India at the 22nd International Biology Olympiad (IBO) to be held at Chinese Taipei from July 10-17.

The four--Pritish Patil from Nashik, Maharashtra; Saloni Kapoor from Jaipur, Rajasthan; Sanchit Kumar,Chandigarh, Haryana and Twinkle Parekh, Rajkot, Gujarat-- were selected after their performance in the orientation-cum-selection camp for the IBO, Dr Vijay Singh, the National Coordinator for Science Olympiads said on Monday.
The delegation leaders will be Prof MM Chaturvedi from Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi and Dr Ujwala C Bapat from St Xavier's College, Mumbai while Vikrant Ghanekar of Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education will go as an observer.
All the four students were given special merit award of Rs 5,000 each. Twinkle Parekh was adjudged as Best Performer in Theoretical as well as in Experimental programme and was given a cash award of Rs 6000 (in books and cash) for the same, Singh said.
Around 10,000 students registered from across the country for the first level of examination conducted by Association of Teachers in Biological Sciences (ATBS) out of which 328 were selected for the second round of examination which is also called National Biology Olympiad, he said.
But 35 students were selected for orientation-cum-selection camp and finally four were selected, he added.

Indian Hacker group fighting corruption not on facebook now - India

13 june 2011

Indian hacker group kicked-out by Facebook

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

The Indian arm of a hacker group 'Anonymous' - called Anonymous Operation India - has been removed from Facebook and Twitter. Both the 'Operation India' Facebook page and '@operationindia' Twitter handle are no more accessible.

'Anonymous'  is a 'hacktivist' group that has been linked to the recent attack on Sony as well as against the governments of Iran, Spain, New Zealand and Colombia. Their operations started in India recently and came into the limelight when they claimed to have hacked the National Informatics Centre website and the Indian Army website last week .

The NIC site on the URL  http://informatics.nic.in/oldnewsonline/abc.html was defaced with graffiti  that said: "We exist without nationality. We exist with humanity. NIC took 3 mins."

In a similar hack, the Indian Army's website was reportedly taken down for about an hour.  According to www.hackernews.com, the hackers also released password/ login information and forensic logs of indianarmy.nic.in. The Denial of Service (DoS) attack reportedly did not harm the site and there was no data loss. The site also quotes a message from them that states, "We took Down Indian Army Official Site and NIC knows more what we did."

In a message posted on their IRC (Internet Relay Chat) group, Anonymous claimed responsibility for both hacks saying, "The NIC hack, was merely a taste of what may come...The time has come now, when we'll wage a war of independence - from corruption and we promise to fight till the end."

After the attacks the group has placed its demands that include taking strong and decisive measures to root-out corruption and stem the rot plaguing Indian politics, the expeditious passing of the Lokpal Bill and prescription of severe punishment for corrupt officials. Find below the complete message from the hacking group.

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India