World Wetlands Day is being observed on 2 February

Every year World wetland day (WWD) is observed on 2 February.

The theme for the world wetland day 2015 is Wetlands for our future.

Significance of Day

• This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands also called as Ramsar Convention on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar.
• Each year on this day government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), and groups of citizens at all levels of the community raise public awareness of wetland values and their benefits. They also spread awareness about Ramsar Convention in particular.

Background

For first time, WWD was celebrated in year 1997 and since then it is observed every year. The theme for the world wetland day 2014 was Wetlands and Agriculture.

Some facts

• Currently there are 2,186 wetlands of international importance sites under the Ramsar Convention known as Ramsar Sites covering around 208,449,277 hectares km².
• The maximum Ramsar sites are located in UK i.e. 168.
• The largest area covered by the Ramsar sites is in Canada.
• The number of parties to the Ramsar Convention is 168.
• Ramsar Sites in India are 26 (as of September 2012).

Research explains how we live in harmony with friendly gut bacteria

By Bill Hathaway; Stability in the composition of the hundred trillion bacterial cells in the human gastrointestinal tract is crucial to health, but scientists have been perplexed how our microbiota withstands an onslaught of toxins, dietary changes, and immune response to infections or antibiotics with little change.

Research from Yale published in the Jan. 9 issue of the journal Science identifies a strategy that commensal, or non-harmful, gut bacteria employ to preserve this stable relationship with their host during inflammation.

“It has been a puzzle that many immune responses target all bacteria,” said Andrew Goodman, assistant professor of microbial pathogenesis and a member of the Microbial Sciences Institute at Yale’s West Campus. “Yet healthy individuals maintain the same beneficial microbes for decades even when exposed to a host of environmental disturbances.’’

Research has shown that disruptions in the gut microbiome can lead to severe health consequences, including obesity, recurrent infections, and diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome. Instability in the microbiome has been linked to diseases as diverse as autism and cancer. Doctors may one day be able to manipulate the microbiome to treat patients, but scientists first need to understand the molecular machinery of the vast gut microbiome, which contains a hundred times more genes than the human genome.

The new study represents a first step, Goodman said. The Yale team found that in mice and humans, microbiome stability is maintained by a single gene that allows bacteria to resist high levels of inflammation-associated antimicrobial peptides. Commensal bacteria that lack this mechanism were promptly removed from the gut during inflammation in mice.

“We were surprised that a single factor could have such a large effect,” Goodman said. “This study opens the door for new approaches to understand how commensal bacteria interact with their hosts.”

Thomas W. Cullen of Yale is the lead author of the study.

Primary funding for the work was provided by the National Institutes of Health.

Feb 03 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

CHAWL-INSPIRED - Centre to provide houses on rent to migrant workers

Dipak Dash

New Delhi:





Local authorities providing rental housing facilities to migrant workforce and employees will be one of the main focus areas under the government's ambitious scheme to provide `Housing for All' in urban areas. The flagship scheme is likely to be cleared by the Cabinet this week, which also envisages building at least two crore affordable houses for the poor in cities and towns with an investment of Rs 13 lakh crore by 2022.Though this won't be modelled exactly on the lines of “chawls“ in Mumbai, government sources said the inspiration for this scheme has come from chawls, which were constructed in abundance in the early 1900s to house the people migrating to Mumbai because of its booming cotton mills and overall strong economy .
Sources said the scheme got a go ahead from the expenditure finance committee last week. “The rental housing scheme would be run by the local authorities, including municipal bodies. There can be individual flats for families and dormitories-like facilities for others. Such accommodation would be provided for a limited period, say two-three years,“ said an official.
The official said the scheme will be beneficial for those whose monthly earning is in the Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 bracket and can't buy flats in urban areas. “While Centre will provide some funding for this scheme, one section of investment would come from allocation of corporates under their corporate social responsibility. Base survey would be conducted in cities to identify the requirement and how such accommodation facilities can be provided expeditiously . We are not setting any targets,“ another housing ministry official said.
Another big component of the `Housing for All' scheme is to construct at least two crore affordable housing in urban areas.

Feb 03 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

SC notice on moral science in schools

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre and CBSE on a PIL seeking its direction to include moral science as a compulsory subject in the school curriculum.A bench headed by CJI H L Dattu sought a response from the government on the issue raised by a practising advocate, Santosh Singh, who said that moral science must be taught at schools to inculcate values in students. “The state is under a constitutional obligation to endeavour to provide educational facilities which inculcate moral values from primary education to secondary education. But the state has failed in this primary and vital task of making students good human beings and (in) turn good citizens,“ she said in her petition.
She said that its non-inclusion as a compulsory subject in the school curriculum violates the very spirit of Article 25 of the Constitution.

Administration & Society

Table of Contents

January 2015; 47 (1)

Editorial

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  • Gary L. Wamsley and
   
  • Brian J. Cook

  From the Editors

  Administration & Society January 2015 47: 3-4, doi:10.1177/0095399714561623
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Articles

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  • Dragan Stanisevski

  Agonistic Moderation: Administrating With the Wisdom of Sophrosyne

  Administration & Society January 2015 47: 5-23, first published on October 14, 2014 doi:10.1177/0095399714553730
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  • Michael W. Spicer

  Public Administration in a Disenchanted World: Reflections on Max Weber’s Value Pluralism and His Views on Politics and Bureaucracy

  Administration & Society January 2015 47: 24-43, first published on October 15, 2014 doi:10.1177/0095399714554514
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  • Lori Anderson

  Constitutionalist Public Administration Paradigm: The Predominant Paradigm in OMB Circular A-76

  Administration & Society January 2015 47: 44-74, first published on April 17, 2013doi:10.1177/0095399713482314
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  • Scott A. Cook and
   
  • William Earle Klay

  George Washington’s Precedents: The Institutional Legacy of the American Republic’s Founding Public Administrator

  Administration & Society January 2015 47: 75-95, first published on October 1, 2013 doi:10.1177/0095399713503464
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Refresh your memory

Keeping a New Year resolution has become a trend. Some do it to stay motivated and focused on their targets, while others do so because they do not want to be left behind. However, as the year progresses, the resolutions start to fade away from our memory and takes a backseat. So, to keep them fresh and to remain on track, here are some apps to help you.

ColorNote Notepad Notes

Do you have the habit of making plans and forgetting all about them? You’re bound to make lots of them during the new year and would definitely want to avoid the embarrassment of accidently forgetting them. This app will come to your rescue. Light and easy-to-use, it will help you maintain notes, memos, emails, messages, shopping lists and to-do lists. It offers two basic note-taking formats: a lined-paper styled text option and a checklist option. While taking a note, the user can add the text and save it, which can be edited later and shared. You can also set a reminder and check off the activity after it is completed. The best part is that it also has a widget.

Daily Life Calculator

If you are fed up with making all the calculations you encounter in your day-to-day life, this app will lessen the headache. Whether it’s normal arithmetic calculations, currency conversion, GPA calculation, BMI measurement or checking your vehicle’s fuel efficiency, it does all that and more. Even when you go out shopping and need to figure out how much you will save after deducting the discount, a simple function will help you find this out in a jiffy. With this app on your phone, you can have all the information on your fingertips.

My Quotes for Life

There will always be ups and downs in life. If at any point in time you feel disheartened or de-motivated, this app will definitely perk you up. Packed with 700 odd quotes, it promises to inspire you, bring a smile to your face and give you some food for thought. The quotes are categorised under ‘Quotes’ and ‘Life Quotes’ sections. You can mark the quotes that you like the most to the favourite section. The app also allows you to set different themes. So embrace positive thoughts, and be a beacon of positivity to the people around you.

Keywords: ColorNote, Daily Life Calculator, My Quotes for Life, Bon app-e-tit

Feb 02 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)

Ahimsa-loving Jain doctors promote ‘veg’ medicines

Jyoti Shelar TWEETS @jyotishelar





Doctors following Jain religion have come together to promote ‘vegetarian’ medicines. From suggesting alternatives to gelatine-coated capsules, and promoting milk-derived calcium, these doctors are going an extra mile to stick to their religious teachings that call for ahimsa or noninjury.“People who follow our religion, or ahimsa in general, often don’t know that capsules are made of gelatin that is derived out of intestinal fibres of mammals sourced from slaughter houses. Majority of calcium tablets contain calcium derived out of oysters. There is no reason why one should be forced with medicines containing animal products if the alternatives are available,” said paediatrician Dr Bharat Parmar, the president of the Jain Doctors Federation (JDF).
The group is promoting the concept of ‘Ahimsak Chikitsa’ by spreading awareness about medicines containing animal products.
“The medicine packaging does not mention the use of animal products. Thus, most doctors, including Jains, are unaware about this. We are popularising the concept through group chats, online forums, conferences and seminars,“ said Parmar, adding that all medicines in capsule form are also available in tablet form.
“Doctors deal with lives and we don’t want the concept to come in between life-saving measures. But we are asking our doctors to use alternatives as far as possible,” said Parmar, adding that JDF has 15,000 doctors as members in India and more than 2,000 in Mumbai.
For example, all hormonal medicines are now made with synthetic sources but a particular hormone, which is a widely-used blood thinner, is still derived from animals. “We cannot ask anyone not to prescribe this medicine,” said Parmar.
“If the doctors can, they should tell the patient about animal products in the prescribed medicine. Also, since the information is not available handy, we are encouraging doctors to search about raw materials used in the medicines, so that there is increased awareness,” said Dr Mangal Jain, associate professor, department of phar macology, Grant Medical College.
He added that medical practitioners need to study the preparation in detail, including the drugs’ principal ingredients and additives.
Jain said drug manufacturers, too, should provide detailed information about their products, including raw material and its source. He said besides gelatine and glycerine used for binding, tallow used for shining, cochineal used for colouring and several flavour enhancers used in medicines contain animal products.
Meanwhile, vice-president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association, Manjiri Gharat, said it is very unlikely for doctors to think on these lines.
“But it is true that all drugs available in capsule forms are made in tablet form too. There are a few exceptions, wherein the drugs are oil based and a capsule shell becomes a must,” said Gharat, adding there may be price variations, too, depending on the drugs.