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Home> Dr.Shafique's Profile > Blogs
Blogs by dr.shafique
Posted Oct 19, 2008 | General | 462 Views   

Capitalism has degenerated into Casino

Muhammad Yunus: 'Capitalism has degenerated into a casino' Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus says that greed has destroyed the world's financial system. Spiegel Online spoke with Yunus about the profit motive, social consciousness and... Muhammad Yunus: 'Capitalism has degenerated into a casino' Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus says that greed has destroyed the world's financial system. Spiegel Online spoke with Yunus about the profit motive, social consciousness and what should be done to end the financial crisis. "What I excoriate is that today there is only one incentive for doing business, and that is the maximization of profits. But the incentive of doing social good must be included," Yunus says. "There need to be many more companies whose primary aim is not that of earning the highest profits possible, but that of providing the greatest benefit possible for human kind." Mr. Yunus, for years you have been preaching a more socially conscious way of doing business and have denounced the narrow focus on maximizing profit as harmful. Now, the entire financial system is wobbling ... There are huge holes in the current financial system that need to be plugged. The market is clearly not able to solve these problems itself, and now people are having to run to the governments to ask for emergency assistance. That is not a good sign because it shows that trust in the markets has evaporated. At the moment, there is unfortunately no other option than for government takeovers and government support. For a long time, the main priorities have been the maximization of profits and rapid growth -- but that focus has led to the current situation. Each day, we have to look to see if there is potentially harmful growth somewhere. If we find there is, then we need to react immediately. If something grows unnaturally quickly, then we have to stop it. Why don’t companies all pay into a fund that buys up securities that have become too risky? There are many philanthropists in this world, people who help people by providing them with homes, education, etc. But that is a one-way street. The money is spent and never comes back. Were one to invest that money in a socially minded company, it would stay in the economy Read More
Tags: capitalism
Posted Oct 12, 2008 | General | 532 Views   

India's roads now officially deadliest in the worl

India's roads now officially deadliest in the world With 130,000 deaths last year, India tops in the number of people killed in road accidents, surpassing China's 90,000. And, most of these deaths occurred due to bad road designs... India's roads now officially deadliest in the world With 130,000 deaths last year, India tops in the number of people killed in road accidents, surpassing China's 90,000. And, most of these deaths occurred due to bad road designs and lack of proper traffic management systems to separate different streams of traffic, says a report in The Guardian. The Geneva-based International Road Federation estimates that India already accounts for about 10 percent of the million-plus fatal accidents in the world each year. This has prompted a government review into traffic safety, which, until now, has been best summed up by local drivers as "good horns, good brakes, good luck", adds the report. The Government is also considering a range of new measures such as making air bags and anti-braking systems mandatory in all cars. Lorries may also be fitted with speed breakers in a bid to bring down fatalities. Motor experts say that new laws will have little effect in India, where seat belts are rarely worn and where no one can anticipate with any certainty the behaviour of the average road user. "You need laws and you need to implement and enforce them. That is the tricky bit in India. Sure, make cars have seat belts, but can you make people wear them? That's the bit we have to answer," the paper quoted motoring writer Murad Ali Baig as saying. Rohit Baluja of Delhi's Institute of Road Traffic Education said: "The real issue is not car design but road design. About 85 percent of all deaths on the roads are pedestrians and cyclists, not drivers. We do not design traffic management systems to separate different streams of traffic. In America this began in 1932." Baluja called for "proper regulation of driver training and licensing" to prevent members of the public buying licences through bribes. The lack of knowledge about road basics is illustrated by the fact that there are 110m traffic violations a day in Delhi alone, he added. Read More
Tags: deprived of Civic amenities
Posted Oct 04, 2008 | General | 561 Views   

Smokers don't need sermons

Smokers don’t need sermons 4 Oct 2008, 0016 hrs IST, Sindhu Manjesh At a time when many parts of the country are going up in smoke, quite literally, the health minister would rather the police force go after those who smoke. Anbum... Smokers don’t need sermons 4 Oct 2008, 0016 hrs IST, Sindhu Manjesh At a time when many parts of the country are going up in smoke, quite literally, the health minister would rather the police force go after those who smoke. Anbumani Ramadoss’s priorities are wrong. Instead of fixing the shambles that we call the public health-care system, he derives job satisfaction by picking up issues that are not exactly apocalyptic. Just how the good minister hopes to enforce the law is a million - no, make that a billion - dollar question. Reports suggest that the Delhi police have communicated to his ministry that they have far more serious crimes to investigate than do the rounds and hand out challans to those who smoke in prohibited areas. Imagine the criminal waste of police manhours and resources such a drive would involve. Can we afford it? And as for health officials, have we solved all the basic health problems that we can afford them devoting so much time and energy to an anti-smoking drive? Sure, smoking is perhaps a vile habit and those who light up have no business to subject non-smokers to inhale noxious fumes. To that extent, the argument for a ban on smoking in shared public spaces is valid. But should all offices and public spaces become complete no-smoking zones? That is an assault on a smoker’s rights. Just as non-smokers have the right to clean zones, smokers have the right to areas marked for them where they can smoke without harming others. This is where anti-smoking zealots stand exposed. Because, more than concern for passive smokers, often their stake in the issue is the opportunity to tut-tut around and give sermons to smokers about their reprehensible habit. Spare smokers the gratuitous advice - they know what they are doing, even if it is killing themselves. Read More
Tags: right smokers'
Posted Oct 03, 2008 | General | 495 Views   (Updated Oct 03, 2008 08:17 AM)

On Wisdom:Globalisation

On Wisdom: Globalization 1. In the inexorable movement towards one world, much will be gained and much lost. For example, on the positive side is the end of war; on the negative, the slow disintegration of differenc... On Wisdom: Globalization 1. In the inexorable movement towards one world, much will be gained and much lost. For example, on the positive side is the end of war; on the negative, the slow disintegration of difference. 2. Once people are free to live and work anywhere in the world, traditions, languages, and cultures will slowly disappear over generations of intermarriage and dispersal. Those who love beauty will devote themselves to preserving what can be preserved. 3. The elimination of barriers to the free movement of goods and people is a goal that ought not be opposed on grounds of national self-interest. For no life is more or less precious according to which side of a border it is born on. And all are equally entitled to the goods of the earth. 4. Thus both equity and freedom argue for globalization, and those who oppose it should argue against only the manner of it, and not the thing itself. 5. As water freed from barriers seeks its own level, so will commerce, raising the wealth of some and lowering that of others. Yet freedom increases productivity, which will cause the general level of wealth to rise for all, though not immediately to the levels once protected by privilege. 6. The task of those who care about the good of humankind is to manage globalization well, so that the one world that results be free and democratic, in which every human being has equal opportunity for health and happiness, and in which the natural legacy of the earth is preserved. Read More
Tags: globalisation
Posted Sep 28, 2008 | General | 1348 Views   (Updated Sep 28, 2008 10:57 PM)

Melanine contaminated milk in China

What is Melanine & why was it added to milk?? Melamine is Melamine is... What is Melanine & why was it added to milk?? Melamine is Melamine is anorganic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses Melanine is also a metabolite of cyromazine, a pesticide. Melamine is used to combine with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a very durablethermosetting plastic, and melamine foam, a polymeric cleaning product. The end products include countertops, dry erase boards, fabrics, glues, housewares and flame retardants. Melamine is one of the major components in Pigment Yellow 150, a colorant in inks and plastics. Melamine is sometimes illegally added to food products in order to increase the apparent protein content. Melamine may have been added to fool government quality tests after water was added to fraudulently increase the milk's volume, since melamine will cause a false increase in the measurement of protein by increasing the nitrogen levels in the milk. Officials estimate that about 20 percent of the dairy companies tested in China sell products tainted with melamine. TOXICITY- Ingestion of melamine may lead to reproductive damages, or bladder or kidney stones, which can lead to bladdercancer. A study in 1953 reported that dogs fed 3% melamine for a year had the following changes in their urine: (1) reduced specific gravety, (2) increased output, (3) melamine crystalluria, and (4) protein and Occult blood. Melamine is illegally mixed with milk supplies by farmers and middlemen because it artificially boosts protein readings and can disguise substandard and watered down milk. Read More
Tags: China milk
Posted Sep 02, 2008 | General | 580 Views   

Violence gainst Chritians in India(this time (ORIS

Violence against Christians( this time in Orissa) 2 Sptember 2008 Recently Indian PM Manmohan Singh condemned the WORST 'genocide' after Gujarat riots unleashed by Hindu extremists on Christians, which he called a shame and promised... Violence against Christians( this time in Orissa) 2 Sptember 2008 Recently Indian PM Manmohan Singh condemned the WORST 'genocide' after Gujarat riots unleashed by Hindu extremists on Christians, which he called a shame and promised to offer all help to the victims. I fully support his move. I don’t know how can we forget the contribution of Christian missionaries in building modern India. Christian missionaries have laid the foundation for modern education and healthcare in India. It is a fact that more than 80 per cent of the students and staff of these educational institutions are Hindus and almost every top achiever including the PMs and Presidents are proud alumni of Christian schools. Christian missionaries are the lifeline of India’s diplomacy with the West and have built a good image of India as a secular nation in the eyes of the western countries. Any failure to halt this violence against Christians will upset India’s foreign policy and will severely damage its image in the world community. Even the NSG may decide not to support India on nuclear deal, which is so vital to our national interest. Read More
Tags: genocide against minorites
Posted Aug 24, 2008 | General | 644 Views   

Reason vs Rationalisation

Often when I argue with friends, or on the internet, I am dismayed by how intransigent some people are. No matter how many facts I throw befor... Often when I argue with friends, or on the internet, I am dismayed by how intransigent some people are. No matter how many facts I throw before them, or how solid my reasoning is, I simply cannot convince them of my point of view. No doubt they feel the same about me. "He refuses to listen to reason," they think, even as I bemoan how unreasonable they are. An excellent illustration of how our mind does this comes from neuroscience. In the 1960s, neuroscientists Michael Gazzaniga and Roger Sperry carried out a series of experiments on patients with split-brain epilepsy. A common treatment for such patients used to be to sever the corpus callosum, the part of the brain that connects the two hemispheres of the brain. This effectively splits the brain into two: rational thought is carried out by the left hemisphere, but the two halves of the brain stop being aware of the happenings the other half. Describing the experiments in his book, "The Blank Slate," Steven Pinker wrote of how "the left hemisphere constantly weaves a coherent but false account of the behaviour chosen without its knowledge by the right." One example: the experimenters would flash the word "walk" in the visual field of the right hemisphere. The patient would get up and start walking. But when asked why he did so, his left brain, which would be unaware of what the right brain had seen, and would effectively be doing the replying, gave answers such as "to get a coke." The remarkable thing is that the patients actually believed their explanation, even though the conscious mind arrived at it after the unconscious mind prompted the body to start walking. Pinker called the conscious mind "a spin doctor, not the commander in chief," while Gazzaniga referred to the left brain as "the interpreter." In his book, "Phantoms in the Brain," VS Ramachandran wrote, "[t]he left hemisphere's job is to create a belief system or model and to fold new experiences into that belief system. If confronted with some new information that doesn't fit the model, it relies on Freudian defence mechanisms to deny, repress or confabulate – anything to preserve the status quo." In other words, the left brain's job to to make sense of the world and build a coherent worldview. This isn't easy. The world is full of complicated phenomena, and the most intelligent among us would not be able to make sense of it all if we tried to place each disparate event in its proper perspective. We would be perpetually bewildered. To deal with this, our brains evolved to seek patterns in everything. Michael Shermer, in his book "How We believe," wrote: "Those who were best at finding patterns (standing upwind of game animals is bad for the hunt, cow manure is good for the crops) left behind the most offspring." Of course, while we are especially good at seeking patterns in everything, not all patterns are meaningful, and many simply come from confusing correlation with causation. Thus, a cricketer who makes a century when he happens to have a red handkerchief in his pocket may carry that handkerchief with him for the rest of his career. Indeed, this explains religion. For much of our existence, science hasn't been around (or able) to answer the big questions of the day. We'd have gone mad thinking about it all if we didn't have religion to give us ready-made patterns that explained everything. Similarly, in the modern world, we have all kinds of belief systems that help make sense of the world around us, and provide us with cognitive shortcuts to think about the world. When these belief systems are attacked, it is natural for us to not want to have to rethink them. As an economist would say, that would be inefficient, wasting too much time and energy. Thus, various kinds of defence mechanisms originate for this purpose, such as the confirmation bias, which is a tendency to consider only evidence that fits our existing beliefs. A believer in astrology would do this, for example, by considering all correct predictions by an astrologer to be proof of its validity, while ignoring the ones that turn out false. And indeed, this is why most arguments, especially about politics and economics, are so frustrating. If both sides have firm beliefs, they stand little chance of convincing the other person, for most reasoned argument in such cases is rationalisation couched as reason. The next time you get into one of those arguments, and witness one of them, you will actually be able to observe this happening. The delight of it all is that the people involved will not be aware of this process, and will honestly believe themselves to be open-minded individuals who are, well, thinking it through. But that is mostly self-deception. Read More
Tags: rationalisation Vs reason
Posted May 28, 2008 | General | 588 Views   

Marketing SUPERSTITION

It is a tragedy in India, that sceintists, social reformers, educationists, print and visual media could do very little to enlighten the... It is a tragedy in India, that sceintists, social reformers, educationists, print and visual media could do very little to enlighten the educated-elite. Regional and Hindi print and visual media have a vested interest in 'marketing superstition', day in and day out to sustain their revenue.Well-known actor Amitabh Bachhan forced his daghter-in-law to marry tree before she tied knot to her son.  Even a scientist, who was an adviser to the defence minister, was a 'chela' (disciple) of a rich fake-baba. A few rationalists have, time and again, proved that all such men are con-men. For example when Mahesh Yogi, who sold a package of yoga called 'Transcedental Meditation' to the West, asked the Beatles, his famous disciples, why they were leaving him, they replied: "You are a yogi — you should know that'. Now the market is flush with money and new-age gurus with yoga packages under various brand-names have mushroomed to con the gullible and the rich. Spreading awareness and science-education in schools is the only solution. But the saffron-parties(BJP & its allis) would like to boost the 'marketing of superstition', because only this will bring them votes. It is very sad..!! Dr.Shafique Pathan. Read More
Tags: Guru Baba Yogi
Posted May 13, 2008 | General | 511 Views   

Obesity is like Epidemic

Obesity rates alarmingly high New research shows “alarming levels” of obesity in most ethnic groups.The study also confirms the potentially deadly toll obesity exacts on the heart and blood vessels. ... Obesity rates alarmingly high New research shows “alarming levels” of obesity in most ethnic groups.The study also confirms the potentially deadly toll obesity exacts on the heart and blood vessels. “The obesity epidemic has the potential to reduce further gains in life expectancy, largely through an effect on cardiovascular disease mortality (death),” Burke and colleagues warn in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Among 6,814 middle-age or older adults participating in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, or “MESA” study, researchers found that more than two thirds of white, African American and Hispanic participants were overweight and one third to one half were obese. The investigators also found that obese adults, compared with normal-weight adults, had higher rates of high blood pressure (up to more than twice as high), abnormal lipids (two- to three-fold higher), and diabetes, despite a “huge number” being on costly medications to lower blood pressure and lipid levels and control diabetes, Burke said. “As the obesity numbers increase further, we will spend an even larger amount of health care dollars just treating risk factors,” Burke said. Obese adults also had more silent vascular disease (blood vessel disease that causes no symptoms); they had more atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and thicker heart walls, even after adjusting for “traditional” risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. Given the higher amount of silent blood vessel disease with obesity, Burke said “one could worry that this will cause us to reverse our 50-year decline in cardiovascular disease mortality due to the obesity epidemic.” This will likely be accompanied by an increase in diabetes, other heart disease risk factors, and silent disease - “on top of the aging of the baby boom generation.” “Our findings support the imperative to redouble our efforts to assist in increasing healthy behaviors and to remove...barriers to maintaining a healthy weight,” Burke and colleagues conclude. Read More
Tags: Obesity Risks
Posted May 12, 2008 | General | 599 Views   

Email frauds

Many of the net users are gullible and are made scapegoats by making them pay first a sum of Rs 1500 or so, and then they are asked to mail some web pages to nearly 50000 group members in ORKUT etc. Out of 50000 members who see the page... Many of the net users are gullible and are made scapegoats by making them pay first a sum of Rs 1500 or so, and then they are asked to mail some web pages to nearly 50000 group members in ORKUT etc. Out of 50000 members who see the page of their group, onlY one or two persons may clik the webpage u send. The potential for earning is very little. While chatting you are asked to ask your friend to clik on the links you display on your chatpage. But rarely they clik. Many innocents are sending Obscene web pages without their own knowledge with the hope of earning Rs20000/- per month. Many have lost their money. In some cases, with some sharpened techniques a few say 1% have earned some money. Next type of home work to earn you in lacs of rupees is : DATA ENTRY FROM IMAGE TO MS WORD. This is another humbug. Your sponsor takes your result and tells you yours is rejected. He re-corrects and re submits and earns nearly 150 Rs per page giving you nothing. KINDLY DO NOT JOIN ANY SUCH HOME WORK ENTERPRISES EITHER NEAR YOURHOUSE OR THRU THE NET. IF THERE ARE SITES WITHOUT ASKING FOR YOUR MONEY you MAY JOIN. REMEMBER: boycott.com/scam.com/bbb.com are the SITES WHERE YOU CAN CHECK INTERNATIONAL SITES TO FIND OUT THEIR GENUINENESS. Read More
Tags: email Scams

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Shafique Pathan
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