Drinking green tea could help in the fight against HIV

Issues on HIV has always been one of my interest. Being myself working in BCC (Behaviour Change Communication) and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) field, also focuing on HIV, I always try to update myself on such issues. This news from BBC Online is really exciting in the fight against HIV. Read on and if you feel to write something, please go on.

BBC NEWS:
Scientists found a component called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) prevents HIV from binding to immune system cells by getting there first. Once EGCG has bound to immune system cells there is no room for HIV to take hold in its usual fashion. However, experts said the joint UK and US work, which appears in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, was at a very preliminary stage.

Researcher Professor Mike Williamson, of the University of Sheffield, said: "Our research shows that drinking green tea could reduce the risk of becoming infected by HIV, and could also slow down the spread of HIV. "It is not a cure, and nor is it a safe way to avoid infection, however, we suggest that it should be used in combination with conventional medicines to improve quality of life for those infected.

"Future research is also currently under way in order to determine how much effect can be expected from different amounts of tea."

More work needed

Keith Alcorn, senior editor of the Aidsmap web service, said tests on animals would be needed before any conclusions could be safely drawn on the potential protective effect of drinking green tea. "This study only looks at the ability of a chemical in green tea to block HIV binding to human CD4 immune cells in the test tube.

"Many substances shown to prevent HIV infection in the test tube turn out to have little or no effect in real life, so I think there's a long way to go before anyone should rely on green tea to protect against HIV infection." Lisa Power, head of policy at the HIV charity, Terrence Higgins Trust said: "Condoms keep HIV at bay. Anything that boosts your immune system is beneficial for people with HIV, but green tea can't be a substitute for proper medication and prevention techniques."

Green tea has been linked to a positive effect on a wide range of conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's.

Friendship: Relax Relationship

I was cruising through web pages, and i landed on one article at bignepal.com. I found this article very nice, so sharing through blog. Hope you will enjoy it. If you want to go to original page, scroll below and click on link. Enjoy the Story!!

I've been spending some amount of time in my thinking to explain to myself what a friend is, and is not. Friendship is the bigger statement. Lots of people are lovers but aren't friends. Lots of people are relatives and aren't friends. Lots of people work together who aren't friends. You can appreciate or admire someone, but that doesn't make them a friend.

We're take friendship as a casual word, but sometimes things happen that take the casualness out of it. When I had my near-death experience last year and the following long recuperation, I had a lot of time to think about what makes someone a friend. If they are scared of you when you need help, sorry, that's not friendship. If their attitude is "for better or worse," if they stick by you through thick and thin, that's when you can tell it's friendship. I do have some friends, but not as many as I thought.

My uncle used to say no matter what your family is there for you when you need them. Last time we talked about this, after my catastrophe, I said him "we know that's not true." And there was a time, when he really needed me that I didn't come through for him. I remember hanging out in my happy suburban house, with the statuesque friend, and the freshly minted fortune, and not getting on a damned plane to help him through the loss of his GF. Luckily I did get to apologize for that, in this lifetime. As always, with me at least, he didn't bear a grudge, he just waved it off as not important.

Most people use the term Friend far too casually. But if they had reason to pause, to think if so and so is really a friend, they would realize they either don't know (the relationship hasn't been tested), or they are not.

I don't have a tidy answer about me and friendship. Sometimes we were friends, and other times, clearly, not. But I guess there's something remarkable in two people overcoming the barriers to friendship that family imposes, especially one as brutal as ours, to find some real communication at some point. Just to connect, for just a few moments, is rare, exceptionally rare.

By: miss contingency
htt://bignepal.com

Do Kumari System Violates Human Rights?

In the last couple of days Nepal’s unique culture of worshipping Kumari, the living goddess, drew widespread national and international media coverage after the Supreme Court ordered the government to investigate into whether the practice of worshipping a virgin girl violates the rights of the young girls.

Do you agree with petitioner Pun Devi Maharjan, who has said, in the writ petition filed at the apex court that the centuries-old tradition curtails girls’ rights to individual freedom including education, health, sports, entertainment and privacy?

She added such restrictions will have a physical and psychological effect on the girl.

The Nepalese tradition involves pre-pubescent girls from the Shakya caste of the Newari community undergoing rigorous tantric rituals to be designated as a Kumari, or a living Hindu virgin goddess, until puberty is reached.

The chosen girl is then whisked away for a new life in a temple — missing out on normal life and allowed only limited contact with family members.

There are several Kumaris in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom, although the best known is the royal Kumari — who lives near Kathmandu’s temple-studded Basantapur Durbar Square and blesses the king during the annual Indrajatra festival.

Although Shakya families living in Kathmandu see it as an honour to have their child chosen as a goddess, some human rights activists have complained that the girls are essentially deprived of any childhood.

The court has ordered the Ministry of Culture to form a committee and prepare a report within three months to look into the alleged rights abuses and exploitation of girls.

The order follows a petition filed last year by Maharjan, who argued the tradition was a violation of individual freedom.

“The living standards of Kumari girls have improved over the past few years. Although they can’t get all the facilities that a normal girl enjoys, they do get a personal tutor for education,” AFP news agency quoted Hemraj Subedi, an administrator at the Guthi Sansthan as saying.

Subedi said all former Kumaris were provided with a monthly pension of 6,000 rupees (80 dollars).

Cultural expert Satya Mohan Joshi said some reforms were needed to ensure the rights of girls living as Kumaris, but he argued the tradition should be maintained to preserve Nepal’s cultural identity.

“As they have to live a normal life once they retire, they should not be deprived of the facilities one enjoys during childhood,” said Joshi, chancellor of Nepal Bhasha Academy, a group working to preserve and promote Newari cultural heritage in the capital.

A Kumari girl cannot be compared with the normal girl. She is believed to have a divine power,” he said.

Note: I found this really good article while browsing nepali blogs. This blog was originally published in bloggersnepal.com. The photo is also taken from same site. Visit original blog for his more articles.

Salaam-E-Ishq: Too many Starcast, too long too

Six love stories, Twelve characters and 3.30 hrs of length, this is the Salaam-E-Ishq. Directed by talented Nikhil Advani (Kal Ho Na Ho) and produced by MAD pictures and Orion, this movie beautifully tells the story of six different couples in very interesting way.

Story 1:

Tehzeeb [Vidya Balan] her romantic husband Ashu [John Abraham] are happily married for two years. Things take a nasty turn when her train derails and meets with accident. She loses memory!

 

Story 2:

Raju [Govinda], a cabbie, dreams about his dream girl and one day he meets his dream girl Stephanie [Shanon Esra], who's come looking for Rohit [Kushal Punjabi], her boyfriend, in India. He doesn't understand English much, so in confusion he drives her to Taj Mahal instead of Hotel Taj. Now it becomes hard for Stephaine to find Rohit and Raju helps her. Slowly she falls in love with him.

 

Story 3:

Vinay [Anil Kapoor] leads a perfect life with perfect job. He has a happy family life with Seema [Juhi Chawla] and two kids. But things change when he bumps into Anjali [Anjana Sukhani]. Anjali comes from a world that Vinay only dreams of. Vinay's life undergoes a tumultuous change.

 

Story 4:

Kamini [Priyanka Chopra], an item girl in Bollywood, aspires for the coveted heroine's role in a Karan Johar film. She devises a plot to change her image by announcing that she's into a serious relationship with a fictitious character Rahul. Suddenly, Rahul [Salman Khan] enters the scene from nowhere and her whole world turns upside down.

 

Story 5:

Shiven [Akshaye Khanna] is engaged to get married in the next 10 days with his fiancé Gia (Ayesha Takia). But he develops cold feet and wants to break off the engagement. And he does so by hurting his fiance Gia in the bargain. Gradually, he begins to realize that he is incomplete without Gia.

 

Story 6:

Ramdayal [Sohail Khan] is a middle class Haryanvi, married to Phoolwati [Isha Koppikar]. On their wedding night, in excitement they set ablaze the whole house and their desire remains unfulfilled. No matter how and where Ramdayal tries to fulfill that burning desire, something goes wrong.

 

These are the six stories and five of them get inter-connected. Among them, story of John and Vidya Balan is superb so is of Govinda and Shanon Esra. John and Vidya together look so wonderful and their chemistry is too close to heart that we might have to think about John and Bipasha. Sohail Khan and isha Koppikar's story has no relation with the rest story though it tried to make film light. Priyanka and Salman's story is full of confusions and they both look so fake. Juhi and Anil shares another good story and they both looks very realistic. Akshya and Ayesha's story also leave some marks.

In acting wise, Akshya is superb and Govinda also suits the role. Juhi and Anil shares quality acting but Priyanka and Salman, a Big No to their overacting or under-acting??? Vidya has shown why she's left mark in her previous films, a wonderful performance. john is good and Shanon (may be her first performace in bollywwod, I dunno) has done good job too.

Music is pleasant and some tracks are quiet good. Director Nikhil Advani has handles some scenes so wonderfully but may be movie was too long, so he has slipped many times. Some background scores remind us of Kal Ho Na Ho, may be because director and music directors are same so. People find it hard to remain stick to their chairs for 3.3 hrs and movie is unnecessarily lengthy at last moments. Overall huge star cast may help Salaam-E-Eshq to gain profit but long length and confusing six stories might be drawbacks.

Nepal Grapples with Prostitution

Many Nepali youth today seem to be more attracted to recreational sex than ever. A sign of this may be the 100-plus massage parlors in the Thamel district of Kathmandu alone. Despite the occasional police raid, very few have been shut down, so we can assume a brisk trade, with the usual attendant corruption.

These parlors have spread from Thamel to all parts of the Kathmandu valley. Fees depend on location. Let's call our anonymous 33-year-old client "Vijay," who says the rate in Thamel is NPR 500 (US$7) and NPR 250 in Kalimati (for civilians -- for servicemen the rate is only NPR 150) and that it's better to go to Kalimati because the police won't raid there. The only problem with Kalimati, he explained, was having to wait in line.

It's not just massage parlors but also "cabin" and "dance" restaurants that cater to the sex industry and whose menus offer more than just food.

Seventeen-year-old "Jina" works in a parlor in Thamel and says clients aren't interested in physical therapy other than sex, like "all men," she claims. Rather than patronize the parlor directly, she adds that clients generally contact her by cell phone and take her to places like Nagarkot and occasionally Chitwan as well, paying the entire tab and leaving a hefty tip. When asked if she was happy selling her body for a living, she responded "No," but that it was her "compulsion," not having sufficient education to get a job in a nice environment.

Much is heard about the "women" issue and how they should be treated and take part equally alongside men. There seem to be endless seminars in the five-star hotels and millions of rupees spent, but, ironically, nothing seems to get done in real life. Who in the world would like to sell his/her body? Women in the massage parlors are forced into selling their bodies for two square meals a day, which is the unvarnished reality. The money spent on seminars and receptions could be more properly used to teach these at-risk young women marketable job skills.
Poverty and the consequent lack of education are the prime culprits, but they are also open to exploitation by some people, including the police.

In Nepal the sex industry is illegal but is growing day by day, and it could become a social problem if the government does not take action, such as legalizing prostitution, which would at least bring in revenue and minimize the number of underage girls entering the world's "oldest profession.

If commercialized sex is legalized, the exploitation of under-age girls could even be eliminated, and the women involved could receive preventive health care to reduce the spread of STDs. The government probably could not eradicate this "industry" totally, but, by legalizing it, people might rethink their choices. For example, if a small boy is told, "Do not smoke," he may be tempted, but if told "Smoking is harmful to your health," it might cause him to hesitate if a friend offers him a cigarette. The government must work along with others, including NGOs, before this problem gets out of hand. The women and youth of the country have to have a better choice than to fall into a trap like this, from which a return can be very difficult.

By dinkar_sigdel

News and Photo Source: cjnepal.org

Today's Kathmandu............

Kathmandu is the city of rupees, contracts and city of dreams – for peep show professionals to international extortionist and from buff to beef eaters; that are adequate but partial descriptions. It is all this and much, much more. While we admire Kathmandu’s exuberance, its vitality, its generosity, its resilience, its sincerity, we cannot ignore its contradictions and paradoxes—and, yes, its meanness. It is a city at once blessed and cursed, lucky and unlucky, unique and commonplace. It is blessed because the Lord Pashupatinath favors it extravagantly while goddess Laxmi never but of course in exception to the politicians.

Consider the city’s violent youths and gangsters. We will find every variety in Kathmandu’s neo-social structure. From global contractors for nation’s development to petty contractors for street demonstrations, micro credit customers to billionaires with billions loan under default pursuing to be in the list of Forbes, from South America’s Che’s supporters to neighbor Mao and most importantly, the regular followers of BP photo frame to group of people who visits royal palace driveling the mass republicans to facilitate in king’s birthday. We are brave. We are unique. We were the people of non-colonial nation having independent mindsets. Our history proves this. Our great people are rewriting the essays of Nepal. As a capital, it is a stinging rebuke to narrow ideologies. Still, we must appreciate the spirit of great Nepalese for their outstanding performance.

Nepalese are lucky too. Nepal experienced several economies some of them sometimes not matched to Noble laureate’s fundamentals – closed economy, open economy, conflict economy, transition economy, parallel economy, and may be more. But, Nepal is still lucky that its economy is begging based economy that is to go for generations. Our progress ladder is outstanding. We have so many best practices that can be replicated – citing example beggars become rulers. Thanks to our judicial system who just today certified the beggars to the billionaires. Good governance is the buzzword to our beggars turned rulers.

We are blessed too - reputed people pay tax to two governments in one nation. We must be sincere in thanking them for their wonderful capability. We merely have to note their contribution to the country’s personal and corporate tax. Great people talk for big things – establishing republic to IT professionals export or to introduce Silican in the country!!! Of course, we are exporting all professionals in the form of brain drain rather than export for nation’s capital. We pass motion in the parliament for constitutional assembly, an easy exit for republic. But our great politicians advocates for ceremonial king on latter days. We followed mixed economy in the past, but we are following two polarized political principles at present. Our economists are still engaged in purging national treasury at the cost of taxpayers. The time has come that Kathmanduities must realize whether the city’s social and economic fabric has blessed or cursed. There is no doubt that we are cursed politically as the city burns every week. Billions of dollars are assured and pouring, annual budget is stretching its digits, the capital is to fill up with sky scrappers within a decade or so, development indicators in reports are satisfactory, however, the Gurkhas are turning into bloodless and skinny as can be witnessed in screens and in Kathmandu’s streets. Still, we do not know yet whether we are sustaining or nourishing. We wonder whether this is the same Kantipuri nagari as quoted centuries back!!

By:Freedom Lover,
www.blogs.cjnepal.org
Photo Source: tibettrip.com