Indian minister warns of fruit and veg hormone injections

Indian farmers are injecting a hormone sometimes given to women during childbirth into vegetables and fruits to make the produce ripen sooner and gain weight, an Indian minister has warned.

In a letter to health ministry officials seen by AFP, junior health minister Dinesh Trivedi demanded a nationwide crackdown on the illegal use of the prescription drug Oxytocin, which he said can cause serious health problems if taken over a long period.

"These hormones may cause irreparable damage to our health, if taken through these vegetables, over a period of time," he stated, listing heart disorders, sterility, nervous breakdowns and memory loss as possible side effects.

He said the hormone, used to induce childbirth and lactation in women, is injected in pumpkin, watermelon, aubergine and cucumber plants to make them bear bigger fruit.

The injection can also be administered to fruit and vegetables just before they come to market to make them appear more plump and fresher.

Though the drug is banned for use in animals, it is often illegally used in cattle to boost milk production.

India's health ministry banned Oxyotocin for public sale after a series of media reports about the drug being administered to underage girls in rural Rajasthan to make them look older before their marriages.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, sex workers are often given the steroid drug Oradexon, a form of Oxytocin, for the same reason.

Despite the ban on public sales of the drug in India, the hormone is still easily available from fertiliser and pesticide vendors, an official in the health ministry told us.

Vodafone Brings Solar Powered Handset To India

To be priced at Rs.1500

Vodafone has announced the launch of its first solar powered handset in India.

The phone, known as the VF 247, is targeted at India's huge rural mobile phone market. The solar powered device would be a boon to many users who face shortage of electricity in the villages of India. They will no longer be required to be near an electrical outlet to charge their phones.

The VF 247's launch comes almost a year after Samsung launched its first Solar powered phone in India the Guru 1107. According to Vodafone, the VF 247 solar powered phone charges by itself, by exposure to ambient light. Sun Boost, the special inbuilt hardware and software, ensures that the phone charges also in a room, under normal daylight. This means one doesn't require exposure to direct sunlight. Normal ambient light should be enough to power this one. The phone requires eight hours of direct sunlight to be fully charged. Once charged, it will last for more than eight days and offer about four hours of talk time. As for the features, it boasts of an FM radio, color screen and a powerful torch light. More details are yet to be unveiled by Vodafone.

The phone is expected to be priced at around the Rs.1,500 mark and would be available across India starting next month.

Ravi Baswani's last interview

In his last interview to Times Of India, actor Ravi Baswani had talked about why he is still remembered by Chashme Buddoor and Jaane Bhi..., but hasn’t been able to secure a permanent citizenship of tinseltown.

Your directorial debut revolves around a 10-year-old orphan. Why did you choose to write and direct a children’s film?
The child is in the desolate hills and his life revolves around his daadi and his friends. His life is a ball and then something begins to happen. Anything more would let the cat out of the bag. There is no rape, no mujra, no action. It’s a simple, innocent story. Let me clarify that it’s not a children’s film. Hopefully, it will appeal to everyone. It’s about how things affect children, a world that’s cut off, and how you aspire for things. There’s a big gap between the real world and such an innocent world. It’s a lost world that has four houses, no electricity and no room for a big bus.

The project has taken so long to materialise. After Chashme Buddoor and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
Ask ask, I know what you’re getting at...

Why do you not have a more stable and successful career graph?
Firstly, let me accept it. If you begin with cinema like that, where do you go from there? I was quite determined that if I was going to work, it has to be good work. Secondly, I don’t like the label of a comedian. We’ve done a lot of theatre; I felt that we were capable of doing, hopefully, all kinds of roles. I cannot play a villain for example. But I did some serious, emotional roles and I stuck to my guns. I will wait, I will die without making my film. But I will not begin with a compromise.

Let’s go further back when Naseer, Om and Raj Babbar had made it in theatre. They’d say, “Tu kya kar raha hai, yaar? Aaja, bahut kaam hai.” I said, “With a face like mine ... ?” I had decided agar mere naseeb mein films hogi, then it will come to me in Delhi. And Chashme Buddoor came to me in Delhi. Everything has to take its own time.

Connect the dots for us, please...
I got my first film to direct back then on the recommendation of Shashi Kapoor and I politely turned the lady down. I said that I must learn filmmaking first. After Jaane Bhi ... , colour television came to my rescue. I got to act in a lot of serials on Doordarshan. Soon after, I got to produce and direct my first serial. These things have kept me occupied and learning. Before 2001, if you would’ve asked me to write a script, I would’ve said, “Wrong number. I don’t write.” Thanks to the computer which helped my Libran trait of writing in an organised manner, in 2001, I began to write. I narrated the first draft of my directorial debut to 12 people — writers, editors and the like. Fortunately, I have a group of friends who are quite capable of telling me it is shit. They unanimously said, ‘Shoot tomorrow.’

Given your uncompromising stand, have your relationships been strained in the industry?
Not really. But people feel that I am a difficult man. I ask four questions: What is my role? What is the film about? How much money will you give? And if it’s acceptable, when and how will you pay me? Till recently there were no stories! Now there is an obsession about bound scripts. A boy goes abroad, meets a girl and marries her. This is the story. What am I to play? The flight or the air ticket? To money, the reaction is, ‘Hain? You’re asking about money also?’ It’s about clarity, which the industry lacks. A producer remarked, “Ravi, it is difficult to do comedy”. I say, “Yaar, you give me difficult work, while you give Suniel Shetty the easy work. And you give him more money. I don’t understand the logic.” Let’s be clear about the terms. If professionalism makes you difficult, so be it.

Has it made you bitter or cynical?
Not at all. I celebrate life. You understand why people are like that. Sometimes it is distinct lack of knowledge. One has worked with all kinds. I am one actor you can set your watch by. People think jitna late aayega, utna bada star. Galat hai. I once asked an actor why he was coming late. He said, ‘Sir, they never start on time.’ I said, ‘Why are you spoiling your discipline?’ Recently, I heard another actor saying, ‘I have done a lot of research on this character. And because this is a serious role, I will wear glasses.’ He wasn’t laughing about it.

What do you think of cinema today?
Soul ka problem hai. It has become very aspirational ... with one eye on the Oscar and one eye on New York’s Times Square. There is a vast audience for Hindi films, NRIs specially, but the change is reflected in two prominent things — one is the English titles. I mean, Kites? Kyon bhai? There was an ad where Hrithik Roshan tells a writer to go to an island, think of the film and call him. He calls Hrithik and says, “I’ve thought of the title — Kites.” If I were Hrithik, I’d tell the writer, “You come back on the next flight out!” The second is the use of English in songs. My cameraman Anshul Chaubey asks me in his Bengali accent, “Sir, but where is the Indian culture?” I don’t know about Indian culture but I know about Indian ethos. If we didn’t ignore that, we’d make a genuine film.

We make films dimaag se, not dil se. It’s very calculated. Subject matter thanda padh jaata hai. We have to admit that we are very poor in storytelling. If we take Karan Johar’s cinema for reference, it’s technically superb, polished. There is gloss and glam. Emotions hain, but there is nothing new. It’s always about family, saas, sasur and culture. We just have to turn around and start reading our regional literature. Don’t say audience nahin samajhti hai, I say aapko samajh nahin aata hai. Of course, if there is a big budget you have to recover it. My question is: Why make a film costing `2 crore or `100 crore?

Among the current lot, which directors would you like to work with?
Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Ashutosh Gowariker... I told Ashutosh that Jodhaa Akbar was a terrible film. I don’t think I’ve seen a worse assembly of actors. It’s like he said, “Bring me all the bad actors. I’m going to make cinema out of that.” He will kill me for this, but he knows that I mean well.

What happened to the Jaane Bhi... sequel?
It has been on the cards for three years. We were signed on by Firoz Nadiadwala. Kundan Shah was to direct and write. We had one session and we haven’t heard about it since.

Can you take criticism as generously as you dole it out?
I hope people won’t have to say those words.

Low-cost PCs fail to boot up fast in India

The government’s $35 device gives a sense of déjà vu. Will low-cost computing gather steam this time?

In May 2005, an Indian technology firm Encore Software announced a Rs 10,000 Linux-based mobile computer. Christened Mobilis, it was powered by an Intel processor, had 128MB of SDRAM, featured a 7.4-inch LCD screen, roll-up keyboard, touch screen with stylus input, six-hour battery life and a case that opened up as a desktop stand.

“This marks India’s leap into the future of PC technology...,” said Kapil Sibal who was, then, minister for Science and Technology. Not much has been heard of the “Mobilis” since then.

Around five years later (just last week), Sibal again — this time around as Union Minister for Human Resource Development (MHRD) — unveiled a low-cost, solar-powered computing-cum-access device. To be commercially available from 2011, he pegged its price at $35 (about Rs 1,600) per piece, assuring it would gradually drop to $20 (about Rs 900) and ultimately to $10 (about Rs 400) a piece. The device, according to Sibal, will allow users surf the internet, and also perform tasks like video web-conferencing and access multimedia content.

History reveals such initiatives have quickly run out of steam. Does anyone, for instance, remember the Simputer — the handheld low-cost computing device introduced by Encore again (along with PicoPeta)? Over the last eight years, the Simputer has been used by the governments of Karnataka and Chattisgarh besides for automobile engine diagnostics (M&M), and tracking iron-ore movement (Dempo), and (in some cases) by the police to track traffic offenders and issue traffic tickets.

Low-cost computing devices could effectively, and eventually, bridge the “digital divide”. However, Sumanta Mukherjee, lead PC Analyst of IDC India cautions that while the move of the government to introduce the $35 computing device is good, the word “computing device” creates expectations in the minds of consumers. “When these expectations are not matched, disappointment sets in,” he says.

The underprivileged sections of society, whom this $35 computing device targets primarily, may prefer a keyboard to a touch-screen. Besides, many schools in villages operate from buildings that do not have adequate infrastructure (some remote ones even operate in cowsheds). Having a Wi-Fi hotspot to leverage the device’s capability may not be ambitious.

“This is an emerging space. We appreciate the government giving it a try. However, what is needed is a strategy to mass market these devices. Besides, the country needs adequate internet (broadband) penetration to make such models a success,” says Naveen Mishra, senior research analyst, Gartner. Mishra cites the examples of countries like Italy and Japan where telco service providers have pushed up the sales of these devices.

The success of a computing model, according to analysts like Mukherjee and Mishra, revolves around a friendly operating system (OS), application-ready device, and a robust distribution model. The government, however, has neither shortlisted manufacturers nor finalised the mode of distribution.

Meanwhile, manufacturing of the device is being done in Taiwan but the government is hopeful of bringing its manufacturing to India. Analysts are not convinced. The numbers of low-cost PCs are too small to justify manufacturing in India. Around 8-9 million PCs sell in India annually.

Notebooks comprise around 25-30 per cent of the total PC sales. Low-cost PCs (which include netbooks that sell for anywhere between Rs 12,000 and Rs 20,000) comprise a mere 10 per cent of the total notebook sales. “Manufacturing in India is all about scale. This is why PC manufacturing has not taken-off in India,” explains Mukherjee of IDC.

Perhaps, the first real answer to the challenge of low-cost computing for kids was the XO (which runs open-source Linux) from Nicholas Negroponte — founder of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project. The original target cost was $100 (about Rs 4,600), but this escalated (including shipping costs) due to design upgrades (more memory and a faster microprocessor) and also because the initial production volumes would not enjoy economies of scale.

The OLPC, according to an OLPC spokesperson, has sold around 1.7 million XO laptops in 40 countries till date — Uruguay, Peru and Rwanda are the three largest installations. But only around 700 laptops have been sold in India. The OLPC Foundation joined hands with Reliance Communications (RCom), which runs a pilot in a village called Khairat, near Karjat (in Maharashtra). Around 31 XOs (one teacher) are used in a school in Khairat. The other XOs are running in places like Rajasthan’s Keekarwali village and Nainital. Cognizant, too, has supported several schools in Chennai.

Intel, which had initially partnered but later parted ways with the OLPC project, introduced its Classmate PC for developing countries (including India), which costs between Rs 9,000 and Rs 12,000, but was launched in India in July-August 2007 for Rs 18,000. Intel teamed up with HCL Infosystems (which offers both Microsoft and Linux) and Educomp.

Indian and multinational PC makers like Asus, HCL Infosystems and Wipro also have Nettops (low-cost desktops), based on Intel Atom processors. And players like Chennai-based Novatium have partnered with MTNL to offer cheap desktops at less than Rs 10,000 (including the service, monitors and so on). The desktop called netPC costs just Rs 4,999. Novatium offers a managed service, which means that customers store data on the Novatium servers — a good option for small- and medium enterprises too.

Research firm IDC has predicted that the new market segment, comprising small, energy-efficient and low-cost devices (netbooks and nettops), could grow from fewer than 500,000 in 2007 to 9 million in 2012 as the market for second computers expands in developed economies. Form factors like that of the $35 “Sakshat” device, if successful, are expected to add to the numbers.

Headley's revelations 'ticking time bomb' in Pak-US ties

David Headley's revelation that LeT planned the Mumbai attacks with possible help from the ISI is a "ticking time bomb" that could wreck the US-Pakistan relationship and take the subcontinent to disaster, a former CIA official has warned.

Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and now with the prestigious Brookings Institute, said Pakistan should carry out a "thorough house cleaning" of its military after the Pakistani-American LeT operative's revelations that attackers had links to the ISI.

"Thanks to David Headley's extraordinary confessions, we now know how thoroughly LeT planned its 2008 Mumbai attack and how closely linked it is to al-Qaeda - and perhaps to the Pakistani military," said

"There is no excuse for not executing a more robust crack down on Lashkar-e-Taiba and its front organisations from the Pakistani government and for not conducting a thorough house cleaning within the Pakistani army," he said commenting on the recent statements of top Indian officials that Headley's interrogations had given ample proof of ISI's involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attack.

Radar crash spoils T3 show at IGI

On day one of the bigger, better and brand new terminal 3 at IGI airport, old problems came as a foil: a radar crash shortly after the first few landings at T3 on Wednesday led to departures being held up for almost half an hour.

The Autotrack-III, a system that is still undergoing validation trials, crashed around 5.50pm due to a technical glitch and the air traffic control system had to switch over to stand-by system Autotrack-II. According to sources, British PM David Cameron's British Airways flight from Bangalore was the last to land before ATC had to switch over to manual mode to guide landings.

The new terminal itself got mixed reviews from passengers. Arriving passengers and those who managed to check-in soon after reaching the airport were full of praise for the swank building and the efficient services but cityside management was in a shambles. Poor traffic management, no seating arrangements for waiting passengers till evening, chaos at the prepaid taxi stands and a clueless staff dampened the excitement of the new terminal.

The first flight that was to land at the new terminal was initially slated to be Air India's AI 102 from New York. However, instead of arriving at 4.45pm, the flight reached Delhi at 5.14pm and was pipped by AI 307 from Tokyo that landed at 5pm. About half an hour later, the radar problem led to departures being held up for close to 30 minutes. "The system was fixed about an hour later but ATC continued to operate on AT-II since the other system could not be validated. Before the switch over took place, ATC had to use manual mode to assist flights in landing. Nearby ATC zones were also told to hold flights in their respective airspace until the switchover happened," said sources.

Check-in for the first flight from T3 opened at 2.50pm and fliers were greeted with chocolates and sweets. But for scores of passengers who had connecting international flights at night and who had reached Delhi earlier in the day, there was no getting into the terminal in a hurry. With no check-in facilities available, many had to spend hours outside before Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) officials ushered them into a visitors lounge. The lounge itself was sparsely done with no food, water or restroom facilities. "We were asked by Jet Airways to reach Delhi in the morning and were told that we could wait at the terminal for our American Airlines flight that was scheduled for midnight. When we reached here, we were told to wait outside since we could not check in two hours prior to the departure of our flight. We walked up and down the terminal several times and nobody could tell us what to do. There was no food or water. This is such a disappointment," said Roopa Modukuri who arrived with her family from Bangalore at 11.30am.

With no signs outside to guide passengers to the visitors lounge, several continued to sit outside in the heat. "We arrived here from Leh at 12.30pm and have a flight to catch for Barcelona at 2am. The shuttle took two hours to bring us here from the domestic terminal and then we were told to wait outside in the heat without food or water," said Sylvia Villarrubia, a tourist. She was taken to the visitors' lounge at 4.30pm.

The arrival section was much better managed inside though the cityside section again witnessed major chaos once the evening traffic picked up. Delhi resident Jyoti Bhatia was one of the first passengers who came out of the arrival terminal. Having just arrived from Tokyo on AI 307, she described the terminal as fantastic. "Years after flying in and out of IGI airport, the experience today was very good. We were told that we would be the second flight to land so reaching here first made the experience doubly special," she said.

However, initial glitches continued to mar the experience. The conveyor belt kept stopping since the emergency buttons placed near the floor kept getting pressed with passengers standing close to the belt. This led to the belt stopping on several occasions and it took close to an hour to clear luggage of several flights. The duty-free too had only stocked alcohol and several shops were yet to open. Airlines complained that there were no facilities for their staff, including restrooms and canteens.

Outside the terminal, prepaid taxi drivers created more furore and sat on a dharna to protest against the lack of a prepaid counter outside. "We were earlier promised the first parking line outside the terminal but we were pushed back and radio cabs were accommodated there. There is no counter outside either so where are we to get our slips encashed from?" said a driver.

Shab-e-barat celebrated with devotion

Shab-e-barat was celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm by Muslims in India and other parts of the world. According to Muslim beliefs, Shab-e-barat is the night when `Allah` - the Almighty arranges the affairs of the following year.

According to Islamic scholar,Dr.Riaz Umer is a night of worship and prayers for all Muslims. On the night of Shab-e-barat Allah writes the destinies of all men for the coming year by taking into account the deeds committed by them in the past.

In capital,Muslims offered prayers in mosques for the well-being of one and all. Muslims in Mumbai too offered prayers on the occasion of Shab-e-barat.

According to mythology, Shab-e-barat festival is celebrated either on the thirteenth or on the fourteenth day of Shaban, the eighth month of the Muslim year. This happens to be fifteen days before the beginning of Ramadan.