Sunday, September 12, 2010

Sub-Himalayan system of medicine recognised as official by Indian governmnet

Parliament has adopted a bill to recognise within the definition of Indian medicine the Sowa-Rigpa system practised in sub-Himalayan region of the country.


"It would be the endeavour of the government to bring to mainstream Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine in regions where it is prevalent," Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said replying to a debate on the Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Bill was then passed by a voice vote by the Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha had passed the Bill on 25th August.

Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine is practised in sub-Himalayan region and other parts of the country besides Tibet, Mongolia, Japan and some other countries, he said.

Azad said the bill will ensure protection and preservation of this ancient system of medicine and will help its propagation and development.

Besides, it would lead to setting up of a regulatory mechanism in the field of education and practice of Sowa-Rigpa.

He said the government had also decided to set up a Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Systems of Medicine, which now would also include Sowa-Rigpa.

The passage of the bill will enable setting minimum standards for education and maintain a register of all practitioners of Sowa-Rigpa.

Indian Election Commission being Pro-active

Poll candidates will now be monitored with a separate "shadow" expenditure register and will have to open an exclusive election bank account under the new guidelines framed by the Election Commission to check flow of illegal money at the hustings.


The Commission has set up for the first time an Election Expenditure Monitoring (EEM) cell headed by a senior Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer and support staff.

The new guidelines for expenditure in elections will come into force with the Bihar Assembly polls scheduled in late October and the cell in the Commission headquarters will operate 24x7 with its control rooms working in each district of the state where elections are being held.

The EC will also field surveillance teams and flying squads in each police station area of the constituencies which will have the power to search and seize illegal and suspicious cash.

"If unexplained cash is found in possession of any person, it will be immediately seized. The flying squads will also watch distribution of cash, liquor or any other bribes to the voters," sources said.

The sleuths in the teams, drawn from tax and revenue departments, will keep vigil over expenditures made by a candidate beginning from the filing of nomination till the declaration of the result.

The candidates will also have to open an exclusive bank account and the monitoring teams will maintain a "shadow" expenditure register in the same format as maintained by the candidate, they said.

The new guidelines also envisage arrangements for a 'video surveillance and viewing team' for each candidate, comprising an officer and a clerk, to watch, tabulate and prepare report of expenditure after gleaning through the video footage every day.

The video surveillance team will consist of a cameraperson who will record the number of vehicles, tents, furniture, dais, rostrums, barricades, posters, hoardings put up by the candidate.

In order to check illegal spending through paid news, a team headed by Deputy District Education Officer (DEO) and district Public Relations Officer (PRO) and their staff will monitor both print and electronic media and the local cable channels and will submit daily reports to the accounting team which will have officials from the Income Tax department, Central Excise and Customs and Audit and Accounts.

The Commission, in a maiden initiative, will also activate a call centre and complaint monitoring system at the district level where callers can register any information about illegal expenses by a candidate or a political party and all such calls will be recorded.

Every candidate will be exclusively covered by an Expenditure Micro Observer and he or she will liaise with the DEO regarding monetary expenditure and other movements of the candidate.

Monday, September 6, 2010

an improvement by government and it is highlighted in newspaper

In many Indian cities public buses have seats reserved for women. Many a times it is seen that this is only for notices, but never actually followed. Women are standing while their 'reserved' seats are occupied by men, many a times young and strong. This was the case in Pimpri-Chinchwad, a satellite city of Pune.

A local vernacular daily followed this case and reported facts. It was brought to the notice of officials of the transport service as also to municipal corporators and officials. They agreed that rules are not followed and assured to improve the situation. Training and rules' guidelines were given to all bus drivers, conductors, ticket checkers etc. The newspaper reviwed the situation and noted that there was improvement but not enough. Matter was again taken up with the bus service and they carried out internal improvements with more vigour. Another check after a few weeks and to the surprise of everybody that the seats were actually used only for and by women. It was also observed at PMC starting point that passangers enter in queue and if these reserved seats are vacant even after rest of the bus is full, then women still standing in queue waiting for the next bus are asked to come in ahead and occupy these vacant seats. Kudos to everybody involved in this exercise - the newspaper and its staff, officials of the transport service and of municipal coporations.

I feel that the newspaper deserves special accolade for highlighting the actual improvement. In today media full of negativities, such an act must be appreciated.

My thanks to everybody involved.

People coming together to get food grain due to them

http://www.indiatogether.org/2010/sep/rbs-pds.htm

Read the content of the link above. People in a village in Karanataka came together to demand amount of food grain due to them and followed it up to ensure that they actually get that