Bihar woman 'dies twice' in two days

Fri, Mar 12 11:15 AM
Sharda Devi's family was distraught when the woman was declared dead by doctors at a top Bihar hospital. But their grief turned to shock when the 45- year old woman 'came back alive' at her funeral pyre minutes before she was to be cremated.

While her family was happy to term it 'God's miracle', this was more a case of sheer apathy by negligent doctors at the hospital, whose almost indecent haste to declare the woman dead without proper tests paints a sorry picture of hospitals in the state.

Sharda was a resident of Daniyawan, about 40 km from Patna. She had been battling meningitis for some time and was admitted to the Patna Medical College Hospital ( PMCH) on Saturday. However, the next day, she was 'found dead' by the doctors, who promptly issued a death certificate ( No. ERM 5723).

Sharda's husband, 48- yearold Baso Pandit, said the doctors at the PMCH declared his wife dead on Sunday morning. Her relatives took Sharda's body back to their village for the last rites. ' But we didn't immediately cremate her,' Pandit said.

'We decided to wait for my daughter, who lives in Kanpur, so that she could see her mother one last time,' he added. 'My daughter arrived late on Sunday evening, after which we carried Sharda's body to the cremation ground. We placed her body on the funeral pyre and I was about to set it alight when we noticed some movement,' he said. 'My relatives and I didn't know what to make of it. 'I went ahead and lifted the sheet off Sharda's body and found that my wife had come back to life,' a shocked Pandit said.

Pandit and his relatives immediately rushed Sharda to a local doctor, who checked her pulse and heart beat and confirmed that she was alive. She was later admitted to a local nursing home. 'My wife was alive, and doctors at the PMCH declared her dead. This was absolute callousness on their part,' he said.

A large crowd thronged the Daniyawan nursing home after hearing about the 'miracle'. Unfortunately, her family's ecstasy was short- lived. The woman passed away during treatment at the nursing home- this time for real. Sharda's family blamed doctors at the PMCH for her death and alleged negligence.

They said she could have been saved had the doctors put her on a ventilator immediately after she was admitted to the PMCH. The PMCH administration refused to comment on the issue but doctors at the hospital said the death certificate was issued after Sharda was found 'clinically dead' ' There are certain criteria for declaring a patient dead,'they said. ' The death certificate is issued only after all criteria are fulfilled.'

Reproduced From Mail Today.

Shanghai declares indoor smoking ban ahead of Expo

Enlarge Photo Shanghai declares indoor smoking ban ahead of Expo, 2nd Ld-Writethru, AS SHANGHAI (AP) Restaurants and office buildings in China's commercial capital Shanghai are scrambling to set up nonsmoking areas as the city bans lighting up in indoor public spaces ahead of the World Expo. There is rising awareness of the health risks of smoking in China, by far the world's biggest tobacco-consuming country, and this modern city of 20 million is cleaning up its act as it prepares to host the Expo, which begins May 1.

That six-month event, which will showcase the theme "Better City, Better Life," is expected to attract 70 million people, with exhibits from 192 countries. Most of the visitors will be Chinese from other cities where tobacco use is less strictly controlled.

Getting people to comply with the rules is likely to prove difficult, many feel. "The regulations are not going to work.

China is at least 50 years behind advanced countries, and people here lack self-discipline," said Xu Baofeng, a manager at a mobile phone service outlet, who was standing inside the shop with his head sticking outdoor as he smoked. "You can see the NO SMOKING sign on our wall, but many people just ignore it," Xu said, saying that some male customers fight back or complain to higher managers if staff try to stop them.

Even before the ban took effect Monday, most major public facilities in Shanghai, including many shopping malls and all subways and subway stations, banned smoking. Now authorities have penalties to apply, and have signed up thousands of volunteers to help enforce the ban.

First-time offenders will get a warning. If they resist, they face fines of 50 yuan to 200 yuan ($7 to $30).

In response, downtown office buildings are now distributing notices about new indoor smoking areas. Workers routinely smoke in hallways and elevator lobbies.

Most restaurants are only offering token moves, such as designating areas for nonsmokers that are not truly smoke free. At one downtown Internet cafe Tuesday, video game players were puffing away freely.

A manager said he wouldn't encourage people to smoke but felt he had no right to stop them. People are still free to light up on sidewalks and streets.

China accounts for more than one-quarter of the world's 1.3 billion smokers, and any newcomer to the country is hit by the pervasive smell of tobacco smoke on exiting any airport or train station. The Chinese buy a total 2 trillion cigarettes a year.

Key targets of the bans for Shanghai and other cities are hospitals, where patients complain about doctors lighting up. Under a U.N. treaty, Beijing pledged to ban indoor smoking in public places four years ago.

Like neighboring Japan, it has been gradually limiting where smokers can light up. But such steps face stiff resistance from retailers and local governments that profit from tobacco taxes.

Guangzhou, a city in southern China, banned smoking in public places on a trial basis in 2007. But it reimposed the ban last fall, apparently having failed to enforce it earlier.

Seven other cities recently announced plans for such bans: Chongqing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Harbin, Nanchang, Lanzhou and Shenzhen. But even Shanghai's state-run newspapers seemed skeptical.

"Who will do the fining? Who do they report to?" read the headline in the Oriental Morning Post. The newspaper listed hot line numbers for reporting smokers.

___ Associated Press researcher Ji Chen contributed to this report.

Mullahs help promote birth control in Afghanistan

Some mullahs in Afghanistan are distributing condoms. Others are quoting the Quran to encourage longer breaks between births.

Health experts say contraception is starting to catch on in a country where one in eight women dies during pregnancy. Afghanistan has one of the world's highest fertility rates, averaging more than six babies per woman despite years of war and a severe lack of medical care.

Awareness of, and access to, contraceptives remains low among many couples, with UNICEF estimating 10 percent of women using some form of birth control. But use of the pill, condoms and injected forms of birth control rose to 27 percent over eight months in three rural areas up to half the woman in one area once the benefits were explained one-on-one by health workers, according to the report published Monday in Bulletin, the World Health Organization's journal.

"The main take-home point is that for women who do not want to be pregnant now, it can be a double tragedy for her to die from a pregnancy she did not want especially when we could have helped her," said lead author Dr. Douglas Huber, who conducted the study for U.S.-based nonprofit Management Sciences for Health.

"The fastest, cheapest, easiest way to reduce maternal deaths in Afghanistan is with contraception." Afghanistan's maternal death rate of 1,800 per 100,000 live births is topped only by Sierra Leone worldwide, according to UNICEF. The U.S. rate is 11 per 100,000 births.

Quotes were used from the Quran to promote breast-feeding for two years, while local religious leaders, or mullahs, joined community and health leaders to explain the importance of spacing out births to give moms and babies the best chance at good health. In total, 37 mullahs endorsed using contraceptives as a way to increase the time between births, some delivering the message during Friday prayers.

The mullahs' major concerns centered on safety and infertility, the report said. "All the mullahs at the community level knew of these things that the Prophet Muhammad himself advised his followers," Huber said.

"This was not a hard sell." Islam, unlike Catholicism, does not fundamentally oppose birth control.

Everything from vasectomies to abortions are supported in various parts of the Muslim world. Many Afghan mullahs are very open about promoting family planning, said Farhad Javid, program director of Marie Stopes International, a British-based family planning organization in Kabul.

He was not involved in the study, but said his organization has trained 3,500 religious leaders nationwide on the issue since 2003. It distributed more than 2 million condoms last year.

"In a couple of districts, mullahs were taking our condom stocks and selling them during (night) prayers because the clinics were not open after 4 o'clock," Javid said. During the study from 2005-2006 which involved 3,700 families in three rural areas with different ethnic groups, including both Sunni and Shia Muslims the Health Ministry collaborated with nonprofit organizations to spread the word that using birth control was 300 times safer than giving birth in Afghanistan.

They also involved husbands in the project and sought to dispel beliefs that contraceptives have negative side effects, such as infertility. Dr.

Matthews Mathai, a maternal health expert at the World Health Organization in Geneva, cautioned that the program may be difficult to expand nationally due to high costs, intensive training and the country's continuing conflict. He also said some women may prefer to have large families, fearing child deaths.

"It's good to see there are results coming out of Afghanistan," said Mathai, who was not involved in the research. "Clearly, it takes the religious leaders and the men to get some change.

It would be good if this could be replicated, but in the long run, it has to be sustainable." The Health Ministry plans to expand the program nationally.

Huber said USAID, the European Union and the World Bank are involved in the scale-up. The pilot study was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

___ Margie Mason covers health issues across the Asia-Pacific region.

Planning 4 Low-cost flying ? in Indian flights ?

Bangalore/ India :
As more and more low-cost seats take to the Indian skies, cash counters at food and beverage (F&B) outlets across airports are ringing louder. With food not being part of the ticket price in lowcost flights, air travellers are busy stocking up on food at airport restaurants and cafes, before boarding their flight.

Says a spokesperson for BIAL, the promoters of the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), “We have seen a 28% increase in F&B sales over last year at restaurants located after the securitycheck area. The fact that many low-cost carriers do not offer food on board has contributed to the growth.”

As per Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation estimates, the ratio of low-cost flights to full service flights at present is 60:40, which last year at the same time was around 45:55.
“We estimate that by the end of this year the ratio would be 70:30,as more and more low-cost seats will be added. Two-thirds of Jet Airways service would be low-cost by this year end,” says Kapil Kaul, CEO Indian Subcontinent and Middle East, at CAPA. Kingfisher Red, the budget class of Kingfisher Airlines, serves passengers a basic meal, but in all other low-cost carriers,passengers have to pay for what they eat or drink.

Cafe chain Barista that has outlets across metro airports in the country says it has seen a significant growth in F&B sales, with their outlets at the Bangalore and Mumbai airports registering 30% growth over the last year.

“Even though passengers can buy food on board a lowcost airline, the choices are very limited. Hence many flyers prefer to eat or drink before they board the flight,”says Sanjay Coutinho, COO, Barista, a subsidiary of Lavazza.

Microchips must for pet dogs in Britain?

Microchips must for pet dogs in Britain?


London: British dog owners may be forced to microchip their pets and take out insurance, part of a proposed crackdown on the country’s dangerous canines.
Postmen are delighted, but civil libertarians grumble that Britain’s sprawling surveillance state now wants to track the nation’s estimated 8 million dogs. Others complain that the insurance plan would impose a financial penalty on innocent pet owners — while criminals who own violent animals will simply shirk the law.
“This is yet more surveillance and continuous datagrabbing by government who want to have as much information on us as it can possibly have,’’ said Dylan Sharpe, a campaigner with rights group Big Brother Watch. Opposition lawmaker Nick Herbert said the proposal risked “penalizing millions of law-abiding dog owners with the blunt instrument of a dog tax.’’
The government’s proposals are aimed at tackling the growing problem of aggressive canines being used to harass, attack and even kill. In a country where guns are tightly controlled and even carrying a kitchen knife can result in a prison sentence, animal rights experts and politicians say street thugs have turned to dangerous-looking dogs to cow their victims.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said the number of complaints about dog fights had soared 10-fold between 2004 and 2008, the last year for which figures were available. In 2009, London Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse called for action on what he called “weapon dogs.’’ AP

Bank of America ends overdraft fees on debit cards

Bank of America ends overdraft fees on debit cards
– Bank Of America Ends Overdraft Fees

NEW YORK – Bank of America customers will soon be unable to spend more than they have in the accounts linked to their debit cards. It's a step that may become a common move ahead of new regulations limiting overdraft fees.

Rules set by the Federal Reserve that will ban banks from charging such fees, without first getting permission from the customer, are set to take effect July 1.

But Bank of America is going a step further than the regulations require. It will simply no longer allow debit card purchases to go through if there isn't enough money in the account.

For ATM transactions, customers who try to withdraw more than their balance will have to agree to pay a $35 overdraft fee before they can get the money.

"The majority of our customers who overdraw their account do so with everyday debit purchases," said Susan Faulkner, senior vice president of consumer banking for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America. "They're doing this unknowingly, because they aren't aware that they are about to overdraft."

Since the bank doesn't have the ability to notify the customer when they're at the register and give them the chance to agree to a fee, it will simply reject such transactions.

Consumers have demonstrated a willingness to pay overdrafts for covering the mortgage and the car payment, said Greg McBride, who follows the banking industry for Bankrate.com. "But not if it's things like covering a latte and a scone."

The bank's new policy will kick in on June 19 for new accounts, and in early August for existing accounts. It will replace the bank's current terms, which allow overdrafts to go through but only charge a fee if the deficit is greater than $10.

Bank of America likely won't be the last to make the change. That's because while the new rules will save consumers from surprising dings on their accounts, they will also cut deeply into the more than $1.77 billion annual revenue overdraft fees generate for the banking industry.

Faulkner would not estimate how much such fees pulled in for Bank of America in the past.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. estimates about 41 percent of that total is from point-of-sale debit transactions. About 8 percent was from ATM transactions. The rest were from bad checks and online bill payments, which are not addressed in the regulation.

What's more, 93 percent of overdraft fees are generated by just 14 percent of customers.

Because most of the fees were paid by what Robert Meara, a banking analyst with the consultant Celent, called "serial overdrafters," the rules may not save the average consumer much money. In fact, because banks will look to make up that lost revenue, it may actually cost most individuals more.

"What this may do really is produce the unintended consequence of creating the demise of free checking," said Meara. Banks jumped into free checking in the last decade because of competition, but at the same time started allowing overdrafts that generated huge sums. If they can't charge those fees, it's likely they won't offer the free products anymore either.

Or, he suggested, consumers might start seeing deals advertised where free checking kicks in after a certain number of transactions, or if a customer has several accounts linked together.

"I think banks will use this as an opportunity to be creative and differentiate themselves in ways that was really hard to do when everybody had a free checking account," Meara said. "There's a way this can be a win-win for everybody, but in the short term I think it's going to be challenging for banks to make up for that lost revenue."

Bank of Hawaii offering coupons free online

Bank of Hawaii offering coupons free online
HONOLULU – Bank of Hawaii says it's come up with a way to generate more business for its clients.

The bank has launched a free, online virtual coupon book that offers a wide range of deals in various categories, including automotive, clothing, dining, entertainment and travel. The coupons can be found at the bank's Online Marketplace.

The senior vice president of the bank's Internet Department, David Oyadomari, says the coupons come from bank clients, and they can be used by anyone who prints them out.

Oyadomari says with the current economic challenges, the bank wanted to use technology and the Internet to help its clients generate more business, while also providing the public a way to conveniently save money

Why the NE addicted to cough syrup

Why the NE gulps cough syrup

Guwahati/New Delhi/India: Cartons stuffed with cough syrups in buses and trucks enter Assam and other parts of the Northeast daily through the inter-state checkposts in Chagolia and Srirampur districts. A close look would reveal these are common brands like Phensedyl and Corex. Wondering whether the people here have a peculiar affliction to cold and cough?
Well, this is a different kind of fix. There’s increasing abuse of cough syrups by drug addicts in the Northeast and Bangladesh, where seemingly innocuous looking bottles are smuggled through Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura.
Phensedyl and Corex — these contain the highly addictive opium-based Codeine phosphate — are routinely used by youngsters and their easy availability has worsened the situation. According to local NGOs and doctors, parents are increasingly complaining about their kids’ addiction to pharmaceutical drugs like cough syrups, besides chemical substances like Dendrite and Erase X.
Last week, the police in Agartala seized 4,000 bottles of Phensedyl from the cargo base of a private airline in Agartala — and indication that peddlers are getting bold and using airlines for smuggling because the vigil on roads and waterways has increased.
According to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), while the exact volume of illegal trade in cough syrup in the Northeast isn’t known, police and BSF have, for the past year or so, been making recoveries worth over Rs 20 lakh per month. ‘‘The volume of business is increasing due to rise in drug abuse in the region,’’ said a top NCB official.
Arup Das, a counsellor with the rehabilitation centre Kripa Foundation, said, ‘‘Addicts between 8-20 years are coming with severe health problems like insomnia, memory loss, sleeplessness, and sensory and skin diseases due to prolonged use of Phensedyl, Corex and Spasmo Proxyvon — a tranquilliser.’’

Ask for a bottle of cough syrup and medical stores in Guwahati will deliver it without a prescription. Not just that, many brands of cough syrups are available even at paan shops, PCOs, CD parlours and stationary shops.

The manufacturers of these syrups, Piramal Healthcare and Pfizer, are aware of their misuse, and say they routinely take steps to prevent it. Says an exceutive with Piramal Healthcare (Phensedyl): ‘‘We conduct retail campaigns at frequent intervals, generally in a quarterly cycle, to ensure that the medicine is dispensed only when the prescription is produced by patients. Also, in specific zones like the Northeast, supplies are despatched only against orders. We are careful about monitoring the supplies.’’

HEALTHY - Red Beet and Tomato Soup Recipe

Red Beet and Tomato Soup Recipe

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon honey
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 14 ounces crushed tomatoes in puree
• 15 ounces canned beets
• kosher salt
• ground black pepper
Stir onion, pepper and oil together in large pot over low heat and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in salt, ginger, honey, broth and tomatoes. Drain the beet liquid into pot, chop beets and add into mixture.
Bring to a boil and lower heat to gentle simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Curried Carrot and Apple Soup Recipe

Curried Carrot and Apple Soup Recipe

• 1 pound carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 small parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
• 1 thick strip orange peel
• 6 cups chicken broth
• kosher salt
• ground black pepper
Mix vegetables with oil in large pot over low heat. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often. Stir in curry powder, then season with salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients.
Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cook covered for 20 minutes. Puree soup, then serve with your favorite garnish.

Baked Apple-Cinnamon French Toast Recipe

Baked Apple-Cinnamon French Toast Recipe

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 apples, peeled, cored and cut in 1/4-inch slices
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 6 slices thick Challah bread, toasted
• 8 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Heat butter in skillet over medium heat until it starts foaming. Add the apple and cook until tender (about 10 minutes). Take off the heat and stir in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Cut toast in half diagonally to make triangles. Arrange in overlapping fashion in a buttered 9x13-inch baking dish.
Beat the eggs in a bowl, then whisk in sugar, milk and vanilla. Pour over toast triangles and then spoon the apples over the top. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Super Bowl Cheese Steak Egg Rolls Recipe

• 1 lb. boneless sirloin steak, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell peppers
• 1/4 cup marinade
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 package (16 oz) egg roll wrappers
• 1/2 pound thinly sliced American cheese
Brown steak over medium-high heat and drain. Add vegetables and cook until tender. Reduce heat to low. Stir in marinade and cook, stirring frequently until thickened. Remove steak mixture from skillet and set aside.
Combine mayonnaise, sour cream and 3 tablespoons marinade; reserve.
Arrange egg roll wrappers with corners facing. Top with 1 slice cheese, then 2 tablespoons steak mixture. Brush edges of wrapper with water. Fold bottom corn up over filling, then fold in sides. Roll tightly and set aside. Repeat with remaining egg rolls.
Preheat oven to 450F degrees. Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray. Arrange egg rolls seam-side down on sheets, then spray egg rolls with nonstick spray. Bake, turning once, for 16 minutes or until golden. Serve with reserved sauce.