Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Jul 22 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Losing sleep could up risk of diabetes: Scientist
Chennai:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
|
Night owls who surf on smartphones or watch movies late into the night beware.You could be at a higher risk of getting diabetes and becoming obese than a person with a normal sleep cycle, warned Dr G R Sridhar of the Endocrine and Diabetes Centre in Visakhapatnam.
Talking on `Exploring the link between diabetes and sleep' at the second annual conference of Endocrine Society of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry here on Saturday, the diabetologist said those without enough sleep at night were more prone to diabetes and obesity .
Pointing out various studies done in the West and in India, he said a disrupted sleep cycle could trigger several complications resulting in long lasting disorders such as diabetes.
“Before electricity was discovered, human beings matched the time of day with metabolism. But later, when there was source of light all through the day and night, the cycle changed significantly and many people chose to stay awake even late at night,“ he pointed out.
“As we have evolved, our duration of sleep gradually decreased from 9 hours to 7 hours.“ Sridhar said several studies had established the link between sleep and diabetes and it had been proved the chances of those sleeping less than six hours getting diabetes was one and a half times higher than those who slept well.
“As people stay up late into the night, hormonal imbalance takes place and dis rupts the metabolic rate.
Even the expression of genes changes and sets off a variety of disorders,“ he said.
It was the other way round for diabetics who had trouble getting sleep. A study led by Sridhar on `Prevalence of sleep disturbances in diabetes mellitus' showed that several factors contributed to a diabetic losing sleep at night.
Advising people to shut off their gadgets a few hours before they go to sleep, Sridhar said they should stick to a sleep routine. “Seven to eight hours of sleep is a must for a healthy life.
Talking on `Exploring the link between diabetes and sleep' at the second annual conference of Endocrine Society of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry here on Saturday, the diabetologist said those without enough sleep at night were more prone to diabetes and obesity .
Pointing out various studies done in the West and in India, he said a disrupted sleep cycle could trigger several complications resulting in long lasting disorders such as diabetes.
“Before electricity was discovered, human beings matched the time of day with metabolism. But later, when there was source of light all through the day and night, the cycle changed significantly and many people chose to stay awake even late at night,“ he pointed out.
“As we have evolved, our duration of sleep gradually decreased from 9 hours to 7 hours.“ Sridhar said several studies had established the link between sleep and diabetes and it had been proved the chances of those sleeping less than six hours getting diabetes was one and a half times higher than those who slept well.
“As people stay up late into the night, hormonal imbalance takes place and dis rupts the metabolic rate.
Even the expression of genes changes and sets off a variety of disorders,“ he said.
It was the other way round for diabetics who had trouble getting sleep. A study led by Sridhar on `Prevalence of sleep disturbances in diabetes mellitus' showed that several factors contributed to a diabetic losing sleep at night.
Advising people to shut off their gadgets a few hours before they go to sleep, Sridhar said they should stick to a sleep routine. “Seven to eight hours of sleep is a must for a healthy life.
Jul 22 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Govt staff will have to declare family assets
New Delhi
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
|
All central government employees will now have to declare their immovable/movable assets and liabilities as well as those of their spouses and dependents by July 31 every year.The Public Servants (Furnishing of Information and Annual Return of Assets and Liabilities and the Limited for Exemption of Assets in Filing Returns) Rules, 2014 make it mandatory for central government employees to file a statement listing their and their spouse’s/dependents’ cash in hand; bank deposits; investments in bonds; debentures; shares and units in companies and mutual funds; long-term savings; insurance policies; provident fund; loans and advances; cars/aircraft/ yacht/ships; and jewellery.
The declaration must record value of these items as on March 31 and filed with the competent authority by July 31 of that year.
For the current year, the public servants who have filed such returns of property under various service rules, will have to file revised declarations of assets and liabilities as on August 1, in the prescribed format, by September 15.
The competent authority may, however, exempt the public servant from filing information in respect of any asset if its value does not exceed his/her fourth months’ basic pay or Rs 2 lakh, whichever is higher. The reasons for the exemption may be recorded in writing. The new rules were notified by department of personnel and training under last week under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.
The declaration must record value of these items as on March 31 and filed with the competent authority by July 31 of that year.
For the current year, the public servants who have filed such returns of property under various service rules, will have to file revised declarations of assets and liabilities as on August 1, in the prescribed format, by September 15.
The competent authority may, however, exempt the public servant from filing information in respect of any asset if its value does not exceed his/her fourth months’ basic pay or Rs 2 lakh, whichever is higher. The reasons for the exemption may be recorded in writing. The new rules were notified by department of personnel and training under last week under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.
Jul 22 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
2 out of 3 Indian schoolkids physically abused: Study
DurgeshNandan.jha@timesgroup.com
|
New Delhi
|
70% Never Report Abuse; Those In 5-12 Yrs Group Worse Off
The recent instance of a 6-year-old child being sexually abused at a school in Bangalore has raised serious concerns about the safety of schoolkids. Psychologists say early detection of behavioural issues in kids and sensitizing them to `wrong touch' is important to tackle such cases.“Sexual abuse in school is a reality. More often than not, the perpetrators are the people trusted by children. It can be the bus driver or conductor who picks them up from home or teachers and other staff members,“ said Dr Jitender Nagpal, consultant psychiatrist at Moolchand Hospital. He said kids between 5 and 10 years of age often fail to comprehend what is happening or don't tell their parents for fear of being scolded.
“The first thing is to open up with the child and counsel them about the right and wrong touch. A stranger hugging them tightly or getting too close physically is not normal. The child should be told about it. The abusers should be given maximum punishment under law,“ Dr Nagpal added.
A study by the women and child development ministry reveals that two out of three schoolchildren in India are physically abused. The study , conducted with the help of Unicef, found that children in the 5-12 age-group have reported higher levels of abuse.
70% of the abused child respondents never even reported the matter.
Dr Sameer Malhotra, director of the department of mental health and behavioural sciences at Max Healthcare, said the impact of child abuse is often seen in adulthood as well. “The victims find it difficult to trust anyone even when they grow up.
In some cases, depression and other complications are also seen,“ he said. Dr Malhotra said lack of sleep, an acute sense of helplessness and sudden withdrawal from society are warning signs.
“If the child withdraws from daily activities, avoids school, or refuses to meet anyone, parents should enquire about the reasons. Most of the time, abused children avoid going to the place of exploitation. Children should be encouraged to speak up,“ he said.
“The first thing is to open up with the child and counsel them about the right and wrong touch. A stranger hugging them tightly or getting too close physically is not normal. The child should be told about it. The abusers should be given maximum punishment under law,“ Dr Nagpal added.
A study by the women and child development ministry reveals that two out of three schoolchildren in India are physically abused. The study , conducted with the help of Unicef, found that children in the 5-12 age-group have reported higher levels of abuse.
70% of the abused child respondents never even reported the matter.
Dr Sameer Malhotra, director of the department of mental health and behavioural sciences at Max Healthcare, said the impact of child abuse is often seen in adulthood as well. “The victims find it difficult to trust anyone even when they grow up.
In some cases, depression and other complications are also seen,“ he said. Dr Malhotra said lack of sleep, an acute sense of helplessness and sudden withdrawal from society are warning signs.
“If the child withdraws from daily activities, avoids school, or refuses to meet anyone, parents should enquire about the reasons. Most of the time, abused children avoid going to the place of exploitation. Children should be encouraged to speak up,“ he said.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Researchers achieve 10Gbps Li-Fi data transmission
PTI | Jul 17, 2014, 01.23PM IST
The technology,
called Li-Fi or light fidelity, is presented as an alternative
to Wi-Fi.
(This image is for representational purpose only)
(This image is for representational purpose only)
WASHINGTON: A Mexican software
company has managed to transmit audio, video and internet across the spectrum
of light emitted by LED lamps — at a data transfer rate of 10 gigabytes per
second.
The technology can illuminate a large work space, such as an office, while providing full mobile internet to every device that comes into the range of the light spectrum.
The technology, called Li-Fi or light fidelity, is presented as an alternative to Wi-Fi because it will maximise the original provided speed of the internet to offer safer data transfer and a transfer rate of up to 10 gigabytes per second.
The technology can illuminate a large work space, such as an office, while providing full mobile internet to every device that comes into the range of the light spectrum.
The technology, called Li-Fi or light fidelity, is presented as an alternative to Wi-Fi because it will maximise the original provided speed of the internet to offer safer data transfer and a transfer rate of up to 10 gigabytes per second.
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