Category Archives: World Opinion

Malayali mayor for Croydon

Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinion
Manju Shahul Hameed (Photo: DC)
Manju Shahul Hameed (Photo: DC)

Thiruvananthapuram:

In a rare instance, a Malayali woman has become a Mayor in England. She is Pothencode native, Manju Shahul Hameed, who took the oath as Labour party’s Mayor of Croydon. She has been a councillor since 2006 and contested from the Broad Green ward in Croydon, which was hit by riots in 2011.  She wrested the borough from the Conservatives after a period of eight years.

It was marriage to Rafi Shahul Hameed who works with the London Transport that took Manju to London in 1996. After graduating  from Chempazhanthy S. N. College, she pursued masters in scientific and engineering software in Greenwich University in London. She was  also active in student politics at the university. Manju’s father, M. Jalaludin, had retired as a CID official with the Special Branch, while her mother, Raihanath, is no more. Manju’s priority as Croydon Mayor is to bring the diverse communities there under one banner promoting their rich culture.

“Today’s function is known as the mayoral making and a detailed investiture ceremony is also on the anvil. My priority is to raise the profile of Croydon which has a huge population of Malayalis,” Manju told DC over phone from London. Another Malayali who  reached the top echelons of Labour party is Omana Gangadharan, who was the civic ambassador in the Newham borough of London.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / Cynthia Chandran / June 05th, 2014

Lessons in Alzheimer’s care from India

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technology, World Opinion
A team from Dubai with inmates at the Alzheimer's Centre in the city. / Photo: Vipin Chandran / The Hindu
A team from Dubai with inmates at the Alzheimer’s Centre in the city. / Photo: Vipin Chandran / The Hindu

The Indian model in Alzheimer’s disease care has attracted attention and is going on to become a model to be followed by other countries.

A three-member delegation from Dubai was here recently to learn from the Indian experience of care-giving for Alzheimer’s patients.

The disease affects the memory of the patient and caring for the person becomes an emotional trauma for the family. The disease is more prevalent among the ageing population.

The Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), over the last 20 years, has created a model for many others to follow. Learning from the ARDSI model, the Dubai health authority under the Dubai government has evinced interest in implementing programmes for the care of elderly.

“We have only begun the programme last year”, said Salwa Abdulla Alsuwaidi, director and specialist senior registrar (Geriatrics). “We have a very limited programme in geriatric care, but we want to expand it on a model that suits our culture,” she said. “Families take care of the elderly like in India whereas elderly care in the West is institutionalised,” she added. A support group for Alzheimer’s disease has been formed and through this group the government plans to educate people on how to handle patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

According to Dr. Alsuwaidi, the caregiver training programme being run by the ARDSI could be replicated in Dubai. The programme devised by the ARDSI equips caregivers with skills to handle patients.

Though the elderly in Dubai make only about 5 per cent of the population, the demographics indicate a rise in the population of the elderly to 19 per cent by 2050. Life expectancy has gone up to 77 years for females and 74 years to males. The Dubai government was proactive in learning about the needs of the future, she said.

The ARDSI was doing a lot of community research from which lessons could be learnt, said Mohammed Elnoamani, head of the medical department, Dubai Community Centre for the Elderly.

Jacob K. Roy, chairman of the Alzhiemer’s Disease International (ADI), told The Hindu that the exchange between the two countries was an initiative of the ADI and the initiative was bringing several countries together.

source:  http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Shyama Rajagopal / Kochi – May 31st, 2014

Keen sense of smell not a ‘gift,’ says research team

Nri's / Pio's, Science & Technology, World Opinion

With training performance of olfactory system can be improved, as per the findings of a team which includes a researcher from Thrissur

The findings of a team of researchers at the University of Geneva, which includes a neuroscientist who hails from Thrissur, are shedding new light on olfactory perception abilities of human beings.

A team of international neuroscientists, comprising Nixon M. Abraham (India), Roberto Vincis (Italy), Samuel Lagier (France) and Ivan Rodrigues (Switzerland), working at Prof. Alan Carleton’s Lab, Department of Basic Neuroscience, University of Geneva, has found that long-lasting plasticity occurred at the sensory periphery because of olfactory learning.

The olfactory perception abilities of common perfumers or winemakers are, thus, not a special gift, but a result of sensory drive.

On March 18, the findings were published in the reputed online journal e-Life (http://elife.elifesciences.org/content/3/e02109), edited by Randy Schekman, a Nobel Prize-winning U.S. cell biologist.

“Mammalian brain retains a significant degree of plasticity throughout life. The ability of brain remodelling allows adults to learn new things and adapt to new environment. The plasticity helps brain to recover lost functions after brain injuries,” said Dr. Abraham.

To facilitate new learning, information from the environment must be detected and encoded by sensory systems.

“Fragrant molecules, for example, activate specific receptors in the nose, which in turn, sends information to the anatomical structures — glomeruli — in a region of the brain called the olfactory bulb,” he said.

To determine how learning alters the representation of odours, the scientists used two groups of adult mice: one, trained to distinguish odours of banana, kiwi or clove, while the second was exposed to odours passively. When these two groups were tested with the same odours, the learned group of mice showed more activated glomeruli.

“In human beings, who have a very similar sensory system, this would mean that training may improve the performance of the olfactory system. Our noses are indeed powerful,” he added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by K. Santosh / Thrissur – May 19th, 2014

‘Padmanabhapuram Palace Included in Heritage Site List’

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Travel, World Opinion

The Padmanabhapuram Palace located at Padmanabhapuram, former capital city of the Travancore kingdom, in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu has been included in UNESCO’s draft list of World Heritage Sites, Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph said on Wednesday.

The minister said that the palace, that was constructed in 1601, was included in the list after the World Heritage Committee that met at New Delhi on May 15. The palace, though located in Tamil Nadu, is being administered by the Government of Kerala. The over 500-year-old palace is considered as a prime example of the Kerala architecture.

Joseph also said that the committee will consider including the Edakkal Caves in Wayanad in the next draft list. The Kerala Government had earlier sent a special report to the committee demanding the inclusion of both the sites in the list.

The caves located 25 km from Kalpetta in Wayanad has pictorial stone-age carvings believed to date back to BC 6000. The minister said that the government had already submitted project report on the two sites and has appointed archaeologist Elizabeth Thomas as a special officer for the mission.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Express News Service – Thiruvananthapuram / by Express News Service – Thiruvananthapuram / May 15th, 2014