Ramallah, occupied West Bank - What first began as a local protest in Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp in December 1987 spontaneously spread to the West Bank and quickly grew into a massive uprising.
It was the beginning of the six-year-long First Intifada.
After two decades of illegal Israeli occupation in theGaza Strip and West Bank, Palestinians of all generations and political parties worked together in astounding unity as one force, demanding Palestine's liberation.
With their non-violent tactics, such as protests, general strikes, and a boycott of Israeli products, the First Intifada became a model for grassroots resistance.
"We were expecting that this intifada would bring a state for us Palestinians. [The movement] was that strong. It's not like these days," said Naila Ayyash, who was in her mid-20s when the intifada broke out.
"At that time, political parties were very strong, especially the women's movement inside the parties."
According to Rula Salameh, who was a freshman at Ramallah's Birzeit University when the intifada began, there wasn't a single student who hadn't joined a political party on campus. All students spent their time and energy helping their community and working towards the collective mission of liberating Palestine from Israeli occupation.
Salameh recalled sleeping in tents for three nights in a village near Tulkarm with 150 university students; the student council arranged the trip so they could help a Palestinian family collect olives on their land.
Since an Israeli military area and a settlement were located near their land, soldiers would typically prevent the family from reaching their lands during olive harvest season, Salameh explained.
"This was the first time that [the family] managed to collect all the olives without being attacked by soldiers," Salameh said.
"Compared with the situation today, it's totally different. Voluntary work was really a part of our life, part of what we were educated to do. Everyone felt that they were doing something positive for their community. We weren't wasting our energy."
While the student movement served as an engine that helped propel the First Intifada, today's youth face drastically different dynamics.
Rula Salameh [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera]
New obstacles
Following US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in early December, both Fatah and Hamas called for a new intifada, but only some 3,000 protesters showed up, compared with tens of thousands of Palestinians on the streets during the First Intifada.
Omar Kiswani, president of the student council at Birzeit University, told Al Jazeera the Palestinian Authority (PA) is the biggest obstacle for politically active youth today; students are regularly arrested and imprisoned for their political affiliations on campus.
The PA, formed under the 1993 Oslo accords that officially ended the intifada, has long been criticised as an obstacle to Palestinian resistance because of its security collaboration, as a quisling authority, with Israel.
Kiswani was arrested as he prepared his candidacy in student elections. He spent a year in Israeli prisons for his participation in a Hamas-affiliated group on campus.
"They say that our work is illegal," Kiswani said. "We get arrested regularly. Students from all parties get arrested, but Hamas students are arrested more. We're getting used to it."
In the past year, two presidents of the student union were arrested, as well as other members, said Kiswani.
PA-Israeli collaboration
Birzeit student Yahya Rabee, 21, was arrested at 2am by PA forces who raided his home. They detained him for three days before handing him over to Israeli forces. He was imprisoned in Israel for eight months, enduring physical abuse.
In his jail cell, he found seven friends from Birzeit also imprisoned for being part of the Hamas-affiliated group. All the young members of his family have been imprisoned for the same reason.
According to Birzeit's Right to Education campaign, since Trump's Jerusalem declaration, there has been an increase in student arrests. Currently, there are more than 60 Birzeit students imprisoned in Israeli jails, detentions that are illegal under international law.
Since 2004, more than 800 Birzeit students have been arrested. Some have been sentenced to more than one life sentence.
"Israel tries to destroy [the youth] by arresting them, imprisoning them and by attacking, especially, the student council," said Sondos Hamad, coordinator of the Right to Education campaign.
"The Israeli occupation feels threatened by student leaders, by members of the student council, by those who are our hope to change the status quo."
About 40 percent of Palestine's male population has been imprisoned by Israel since 1967.
Any Palestinian who has shown strong potential as a leader has either been imprisoned or assassinated.
"We believe and hope that every Palestinian in prison will be freed," Rabee said. "They're the ones who are able to lead Palestinians, not the PA. Some of them are doctors, professors; they have [the capacity] to lead."
Rabee and Ayyash both pointed out the Palestinians' financial dependency on the PA as a factor for some to avoid civil disobedience.
"Some people just care about their money and how they live. They're afraid of the PA and of being imprisoned," Rabee said.
The Palestinian Authority employs about 30 percent of the workforce in the occupied territories. An end to the PA could impoverish about one million Palestinians.
Birzeit University students Yahya Alawi, 20 (L) and Yahya Rabee, 21 (R) both spent time in prison for their participation in a Hamas-affiliated group on campus [Mersiha Gadzo/Al Jazeera]
Division and isolation
For Ayyash, the Oslo Accords were extremely detrimental for the Palestinian cause.
"After Oslo, everything changed," Ayyash said. "It brought us disconnected cities, settlements are more than before, the wall is everywhere.
"After Oslo, hope continued, but many points in Oslo weren't in our interest, especially when they divided the land into Areas A, B and C. This is very bad. This is Palestinian land. Why divide it like this?"
Division and isolation is what Palestinians living in the besieged Gaza Strip have been struggling with for the past decade.
Besieged by Israel and Egypt, the UN has repeatedly warned of a humanitarian crisis unfolding.
Al-Azhar University student Randa Harara, 21, often attends non-violent demonstrations, and said they do make a difference in letting the world know about the suffering in Gaza.
Last December, an Israeli sniper shot her in the thigh while she was protesting near Gaza's eastern border. Harara had just finished giving a TV interview when she was shot, standing 300 metres away from the fence. Despite her painful injury, she is adamant about rejoining the demonstrations as soon as she recovers.
"This is our duty towards Jerusalem. As a Palestinian from Gaza, this is the least that I can do for my nation to fight against [oppression] … As long as we're besieged, it's normal that we keep protesting against it."
However, because of Gaza's isolation, it's difficult for protests to pick up momentum, as was the case with the First Intifada. For a population of two million, the number of people who join the demonstrations every Friday is low, Harara explained.
"There's a distance between us and Jerusalem. If we [weren't under siege], we could do more.
"There has to be a better way to organise the movement. We have to express our anger and frustration in any way that we can, because it's a big issue. There should be more people going to the streets, attending demonstrations. It's for the Palestinian cause. If we, the youth, don't move, then who will?"
Social stigma
Ayyash said during the First Intifada the majority of demonstrators were women. However, today, in Gaza, it is rare to see women participating in protests.
Many told Harara that, as a woman, it's better for her to stay at home or to focus on her education.
"I believe in what I'm doing. What people say about me is meaningless, as I'm sure I'm not doing anything wrong," Harara said.
"I think that if other women weren't facing social stigmatisation, which prevents them from attending demonstrations, there would be many more people willing to express their frustrations through demonstrations."
Ayyash and Salameh agree the role of Palestinian political parties has diminished since the Oslo Accords.
The new generation has the energy and willpower, but no one is guiding them in the right direction, Salameh said.
"This is what I hear all the time [from the youth]: 'We don't know what to do,'" explainedSalameh.
"[Political parties] aren't interested in working with the young generation and explaining to them the power that they have and how they should use it … We're not giving them a chance to replace [the old generation.]"
The key to success is unity, said Ayyash. The split between Fatah and Hamas has continued for 11 years and without unity, no goal can be achieved.
"Before, we were united [during the First Intifada]," Ayyash said. "There is a gap between the [political] leaders and the people, and Israel is playing with it."
IN A classroom in Seoul a throng of teenagers sit hunched over their desks. In total silence, they flick through a past exam paper. Stacks of brightly coloured textbooks are close to hand. Study begins at 8am and ends at 4.30pm, but some will not go home until 10pm. Like hundreds of thousands of South Koreans, they are preparing for the suneung, the multiple-choice test that will largely determine whether they go to a good university or a bad one, or to university at all.
Over the course of a single generation in South Korea, degrees have become close to ubiquitous. Seventy per cent of pupils who graduate from the country’s secondary schools now go straight to university, and a similar share of 25- to 34-year-olds hold degrees, up from 37% in 2000. Students scramble to gain admittance to the most prestigious institutions, with exam preparation starting ever younger. Sought-after private nurseries in Seoul have long waiting lists.
South Korea is an extreme case. But other countries, too, have seen a big rise in the share of young people with degrees. In the OECD club of 35 countries, 43% of 25- to 34-year-olds now have degrees. In America the figure is 48%.
Between 1995 and 2014 government spending on higher education in the OECD rose from 0.9% of GDP to 1.1%, while private spending rose from 1.2% to 1.5%. As government subsidies for tuition fees flow through to institutions they have helped inflate costs. Since 1990 fees for American students who do not get scholarships or bursaries have risen twice as fast as overall inflation.
Policymakers regard it as obvious that sending more young people to university will boost economic growth and social mobility. Both notions are intuitively appealing. Better-educated people should surely be more likely to come up with productivity-boosting innovations. As technological change makes new demands of workers, it seems plausible that more will need to be well-educated. And a degree is an obvious way for bright youngsters from poor families to prove their abilities.
But comparisons between countries provide little evidence of these links. Richer countries have more graduates, but that could be because there is more money to spare, and less urgency to start earning. Rich economies grow more slowly, but that is probably because they have fewer easy ways to raise productivity, not because education depresses their growth.
A truth universities acknowledged
The main piece of evidence cited by policymakers is the “graduate premium”—the difference between the average earnings of someone with a degree and someone with no more than a secondary-school education, after accounting for fees and the income forgone while studying. This gap is often expressed as the “return on investment” in higher education, or the annualised boost to lifetime earnings from gaining a degree. Research by the New York Federal Reserve shows that the return on investment in higher education soared between 1980 and 2000 in America, before levelling off at around 15% a year. In other words, an investment equal to the cost of tuition and earnings forgone while studying would have to earn 15% annual interest before it matched the average value over a working life of gaining a degree.
The World Bank has produced estimates of this return for 139 economies. It varies from place to place, but is substantial everywhere. The Economist’s analysis of the data finds that returns are linked to the share of people with degrees, and the range of earnings. Returns in Britain and Germany are similar to those in America. In sub-Saharan Africa, where degrees are scarce and the least-educated workers earn little, they are around 21% a year. In Scandinavia, where wages are less unequal and two-fifths of adults have degrees, they are around 9%.
But as a guide to school-leavers considering going to university—and to policymakers considering expanding access to higher education—the graduate premium is flawed. Even within countries the average conceals wide differences. Most students know that a degree in mathematics or finance is likely to be more lucrative than one in music or social work. What fewer realise is that the graduate premium overstates the financial benefit of embarking on a degree if their school grades barely qualify them for entry, no matter what they study.
In a comparison of the earnings of people with degrees and people without them, those who start university but do not finish are lumped in with those who never started, even though they, too, will have paid fees and missed out on earnings. Their numbers are considerable. In America 40% of college students fail to graduate with four-year degrees within six years of enrolling. Drop-out rates across the developed world average around 30%. It is the students admitted with the lowest grades who are least likely to graduate.
Including dropouts when calculating the returns to going to university makes a big difference. In a new book, “The Case Against Education”, Bryan Caplan of George Mason University argues that the low graduation rates of marginal students, and the fact that, for a given level of qualification, cleverer people tend to earn more, mean that the return on a four-year degree in America ranges from 6.5% for excellent students to just 1% for the weakest ones.
Part of that difference is because the weakest students attend the worst universities, where drop-out rates are highest. When they make it into better institutions, the returns may be higher. In a study published in 2014 Seth Zimmerman of the University of Chicago compared the earnings of school-leavers in Florida whose grades were close to the minimum for admission to a good state university. Those just above the cut-off were much more likely than those just below to start courses in good institutions. They graduated at a rate similar to that of the broader student population. They went on to earn considerably more than those just below the cut-off, and their return on investment was substantial.
Overstating the graduate premium is not the only reason policymakers overestimate the wider benefits of increasing the share of young people who go to university. The usual way to calculate the social returns of higher education is to sum up all the graduate premiums and subtract any public subsidies. But degrees are in part a way to access a “positional good” that benefits one person at the expense of another. Part of the premium comes from gaining an advantage over others in the competition for a good job, rather than the acquisition of productivity-boosting skills and knowledge. A complete calculation would include not just gains to graduates, but losses to non-graduates.
Degrees are also signalling devices. The premium includes the income-boosting effects of personal characteristics that are more likely to be held by those with degrees, not because they acquired them at university, but because they possessed them on admission.
As degrees have become more common, their importance as signalling devices is rising. Recruiters, who pay none of the cost of jobseekers’ higher education, are increasingly able to demand degrees in order to screen out the least motivated or competent. A recent study by Joseph Fuller and Manjari Raman of Harvard Business School found that companies routinely require applicants to have degrees, even though only a minority of those already working in the role have them. This increases the graduate premium—but by punishing non-graduates rather than boosting the absolute returns to degrees.
Analysis by The Economist of American census data finds that between 1970 and 2015 the share of workers aged 25-64 with at least a bachelor’s degree increased in 256 out of 265 occupations. Some of these are intellectually demanding jobs that changed a lot over that period, such as aerospace engineer or statistician. Others are non-graduate jobs such as waiting tables. Sixteen percent of waiters now have degrees—presumably, in most cases, because they could not find a graduate job. But other jobs that are mostly done by graduates, such as journalism, nursing and teaching in primary schools, used to require only shorter training, often received while working. Today, having a degree is usually an entry requirement.
The Economist has produced a measure of over-education by defining a graduate job as one which was staffed mostly by degree-holders in 1970. We find that just 35% of graduates work in such occupations today, down from 51% 45 years ago. Judging by job titles alone, 26.5m workers in America—two-thirds of those with degrees—are doing work that was mostly done by non-graduates a half-century ago.
That calculation exaggerates the trend. Advances in technology have doubtless made some of these jobs more demanding. But not all of them, at least judging by pay. We find only a weak link between higher shares of graduates in an occupation and higher salaries. For around half of the occupations that employ higher shares of graduates now than a half-century ago, real wages have fallen.
Andreas Schleicher, the head of education research at the OECD, reckons that “countries have skills shortages, not degree shortages”. The way universities have come to monopolise higher education, he says, is a problem in part because universities do not suit all kinds of learners. And university dropouts tend to see little in the way of financial benefit from the part of their course that they have finished.
One promising development is that of “micro-credentials” or “nano-degrees”—short vocational courses, often in computing and IT. Udacity, an online education company, offers a variety, including one in self-driving cars approved by Uber and Mercedes-Benz, and another on digital marketing approved by Facebook and Google. EdX, a collaboration between MIT, Harvard and other leading universities, offers similar courses free. Students can take exams to prove their mastery of the material for a few hundred dollars.
Boot campus
For now, such courses are mostly add-ons to degrees, rather than replacements. Three-quarters of edX’s students already had a bachelor’s degree upon enrolling. But the collaboration with sought-after employers makes it more plausible that they could eventually become established as a stand-alone testament to a job applicant’s worth.
In the meantime the decision not to go to university remains risky, even though many graduates will end up doing work that used to be done by non-graduates—or struggle to find a job at all. Around half of unemployed South Koreans now have degrees. For them, the very concept of a “graduate premium” may seem a mockery. Kim Hyang Suk, a recruiter in South Korea, says that half the applicants for customer-service jobs at her firm are graduates, even though only a secondary-school education is specified.
She would prefer school-leavers with experience, says Ms Kim, to inexperienced graduates whom she will have to train. She is not looking for swots, but people who are “engaging, good on the phone”. But when few employers are this open-minded, most young people will want a degree. It may not boost their earnings as much as they had hoped, but without one, they will probably fare even worse.
Since the Universe is big and old, and life on Earth didn't take relatively long to evolve, then life should be everywhere in the Universe. And yet, no matter how hard we look, we don't see any evidence of it out there, not on Mars, not sending us radio messages, and not taking over entire galaxies and using up all their energy.
This, of course, is the Fermi Paradox, and it's one an absolutely fascinating concept to think about. There are many possible resolutions to the Fermi Paradox, but most of them are unsatisfying. Sure, we could be living in a cosmic zoo, or we fundamentally misunderstand how difficult it'll be to travel to another star.
And maybe we're just the first lifeforms in the observable Universe that have reached the level of technology that can conceive of exploring the Universe. But then, what are the chances of that? That really seems unlikely.
But then there's the idea of the Great Filter. That there's some kind of event that affects every single intelligent civilization, stopping it from reaching out into the galaxy, sending out signals, and exploring other worlds. Something wipes them out every time.
And considering the fact that we're on the verge of becoming a multi-planet species ourselves, this concept of the Great Filter becomes even more unsettling.
It could be right around the corner from us.
Our friends at Kurzgesagt just released a video all about the Great Filter, and honestly, I think it's the best video they've every done. The animation, as always, is excellent, but the way they approach the Great Filter is really innovative, showing how evidence of life in the Universe is actually a bad sign, since it means we're probably not the first life forms out there.
Which means the Great Filter is even more likely.
If you want to support what Kurzgesagt is doing, join their Patreon program and help them make even more videos.
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 1, 2018–Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news provider, today announced the launch of a new wire service devoted to coverage of esports, available now to Reuters News Agency customers. The Reuters Esports Wire features global coverage of the competitive gaming industry, including breaking news, player acquisitions, sponsorship deals and coverage of the largest esports tournaments.
The Reuters Esports Wire is designed for easy use across print, digital and social media, and provides unique, in-depth coverage targeted towards a younger demographic. Coverage of esports will be delivered with the same detail and analysis as any major sports league, with content provided through a partnership with sports text provider Field Level Media.
”Esports has grown increasingly popular around the world and demand for coverage of the sport has never been stronger,” said Josh Duboff, Reuters Senior Product Manager, Sports & Entertainment Verticals. “This offers us a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of offering coverage of the sport to global media customers as they see a rising interest in the competitive gaming industry from their audiences.”
For more information and access to the Reuters Esports Wire, visit https://agency.reuters.com/en/coverage/sports/esports.html. Reuters
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Follow news about Reuters at @ReutersPR.
For more information on Reuters News Agency, visit: www.reuters.com/newsagency. CONTACT Heather Carpenter PR Manager, Head of Special Projects Reuters heather.carpenter@thomsonreuters.com 646-223-8551
The Jerusalem-Tel Aviv express train makes a test run near Mishmar Ayalon, Israel, on Tuesday. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI
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Jan. 16 (UPI) -- A high-speed electric train between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv made its first test run Tuesday, carrying an Israeli official and news reporters.
The train is designed to take 28 minutes from the new Navon station in Jerusalem to Tel Aviv's Hahagana Railway Station, near Ben Gurion Airport, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
The test run Tuesday traveled 3.1 miles instead of the eventual 35 miles.
"We are connecting Jerusalem and connecting to the history of Jerusalem," Transportation Minister Israel Katz said to reporters. "I decided to call the fast rail line to Jerusalem King David Railways after King David, who conquered Jerusalem and turned it into the capital of Israel" -- more than 3,000 years ago.
Katz promised the line will start service on the eve of Passover, March 30, with one train per hour on one track, but eventually will increase to six trains hourly on two tracks.
After an initial three months of free travel, passengers will receive a 50 percent discount until the line is done.
The line includes a double track through five tunnels at a distance of 24 miles and eight bridges. One of the tunnels is 4.7 miles, the longest in Israel.
"I urged Israel Railways to shorten the timetable for completing the project, while maintaining maximum safety," Katz said.
The rail project, estimated to cost $1.8 billion, has been planned since 2001. In late December, Katz announced plans to extend the train line to the Old City. He also said the station nearest the Western Wall would be named after U.S. President Donald Trump, who has recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and vowed to move the U.S. embassy there.
Rohingya refugees sit near a makeshift house in Maungdaw in western Myanmar. File Photo by Nyunt Win/EPA
Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday finalized a two-year timeline to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled from persecution and violence.
The Rohingya Muslim minority will begin to leave Bangladesh, with Myanmar agreeing to accept 1,500 a week with the goal of taking back more than 700,000 refugees within two years.
"We have signed a very positive treaty. After several discussions, Myanmar has agreed to complete the repatriation process preferably within two years from the day it commences," Sufiur Rahman, Bangladesh's ambassador to Myanmar, said.
"We have proposed to repatriate 15,000 Rohingyas every week but they [Myanmar] did not agree to it," he added."They [Myanmar] have taken some preparations for the Rohingyas. They have agreed to take back 300 Rohingyas per day. Some 1,500 Rohingyas will be sent back in a week."
The number of Rohingya sent back every week will increase after three months, Rahman said.
The "physical arrangement" was decided at the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on the return of the displaced Rohingyas from Rakhine State. The meeting was held on Monday and Tuesday in the city of Naypyidaw.
Under the agreement, returnees would be received initially in Myanmar in two reception centers and be temporarily sheltered while officials rebuild the houses for them to move into.
"We are still not clear about what agreement was signed," Sirajul Mostofa, a community leader in a Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazaar, said.
"Our first priority is, they have to grant us citizenship as Rohingyas. Secondly, they have to give back our lands. Thirdly, our security must be ensured internationally. Otherwise, this is not good for us."
A wave of Rohingya migrants began exiting Myanmar last year when military attacks led to widespread violence in Rahkine State -- including allegations of rape, torture and killings.
Polish companies may be interested in getting into commercial mining in India provided the conditions are right, said Marek Magierowski, Polish Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Magierowski, who is leading a delegation organised by the Indo-Polish Chambers of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), was speaking to the media after an industry interaction organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The delegation, comprising Ministers and representatives of trade and industry, is in the city to attend Bengal Global Business Summit beginning here on January 16. Among Poland’s area of expertise was deep mining in copper and coal. “We are offering this technology,” he said.The delegation also held discussions with Coal India Ltd. officials.
Poland, which participated in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, is revisiting West Bengal after a year. Its other other areas of interest include energy, food processing, defence and innovation.
The Deputy Minister said his country’s economy had been developing steadily since the collapse of communism, growing at a ‘dynamic’ 4-4.5%. Unemployment stood at a ‘low’ 4%. “We are not really promoting business here, but we want to boost trade relations with India which is a priority country for us,” he said.”
BCCI president-designate Indrajit Sen said India and Poland had jointly etched out a roadmap for strengthening co-operation in areas like thick-seam underground coal mining, exploitation of gassy seams , developing clean coal technologies and transfer of technology in deep coal mining from Poland to India
नयी दिल्ली, 03 जनवरी (वार्ता) देश और दुनिया में तेजी से बढ़ रही मधुमेह (डायबिटीज) के बारे में ताजा अध्ययनों से यह सामने आया है कि रोगी के खून की जांच के साथ-साथ यदि उसकी जीवन शैली और ग्लाइसेमिक उतार चढ़ाव को उपचार में शामिल कर लिया जाये तो इस पर प्रभावी ढंग से नियंत्रण किया जा सकता है।
मधुमेह या डायबिटीज के उपचार एवं प्रबंधन के लिए ज्यादातर खून की जांचों एफपीजी, पीपीजी और एचबीए1सी के आकलन पर ही ध्यान केंद्रित किया जाता रहा है लेकिन अब इसमें रोगी के ग्लाइसेमिक वैरीएब्लिटी और जीवन की गुणवत्ता को भी शामिल किया जाने लगा है। इन सभी को सामूहिक नाम ग्लाइसेमिक पेन्टैड (मधुमेह उपचार हेतु पांच फोकस क्षेत्र) दिया गया है जो इस रोग के नियंत्रण और प्रबंधन में महत्वपूर्ण साबित हो रहा है।
डायबिटीज एंड ओबेसिटी सेंटर के डॉ. ब्रिज मोहन मक्कड़ के अनुसार ग्लाइसेमिक वैरिएबिलिटी किसी भी व्यक्ति के ब्लड ग्लूकोज में दैनिक उतार-चढ़ाव को बताता है। वहीं जीवन गुणवता में व्यक्ति का शारीरिक, भावनात्मक एवं सामाजिक स्वास्थ्य शामिल है। साथ ही इसमें व्यक्ति के जीवन में भावनात्मक तत्व जैसे संतुष्टि और प्रसन्नता भी शामिल हैं। मधुमेह के रोगियों में जीवन गुणवत्ता के इन तत्वों की कमी पायी जाती है। इसलिए मधुमेह के उपचार एवं प्रबंधन में ग्लाइसेमिक वैरीएब्लिटी और जीवन की गुणवत्ता पर ध्यान केंद्रित करना जरूरी हो जाता है। ऐसा करने पर इसके अच्छे परिणाम सामने आते हैं।
मधुमेह का शिकार होने पर रक्त में शर्करा स्तर लंबे समय तक उच्च बना रहता है। बार-बार पेशाब आना, भूख और प्यास में बढ़ोतरी, हमेशा थकान बने रहना, घाव देरी से भरना इत्यादि इसके प्रमुख लक्षण हैं। मधुमेह का समय पर उपचार न किया जाए तो शरीर कई अन्य बीमारियों का घर बन जाता है। इससे हृदय रोग, स्ट्रोक, किडनी फेल होना, आंखों की रोशनी कम होना और अल्सर जैसे गंभीर बीमारियां हो सकती हैं। मधुमेह का स्तर बढ़ने पर व्यक्ति के कोमा में जाने और मौत तक की आशंका रहती है।
डा़ॅ मक्कड़ के अनुसार मधुमेह होने का सटीक कारण का अभी तक पता नहीं चल पाया है, लेकिन कुछ आनुवांशिक एवं जीवनशैली से संबंधित कारक ब्लड शुगर के स्तर को बढ़ाते हैं। मोटे तौर पर मधुमेह के कारणों में अनुवांशिक कारण, व्यायाम की कमी, खराब आहार, मोटापा, इंसुलिन में परिवर्तन, गर्भावस्था में मधुमेह, खराब जीवन शैली इत्यादि शामिल हैं।
पाचन के दौरान ग्लूकोज हमारे खून से होकर कोशिकाओं तक पहुंचता है। ब्लड शुगर को कोशिकाओं में पहुंचाने में शरीर को इंसुलिन की जरूरत पड़ती है। पैन्क्रियाज (पाचन ग्रंथि) इंसुलिन उत्पन्न करती है और उसे खून तक पहुंचाती हैं। यदि शरीर पर्याप्त मात्रा में इंसुलिन उत्पन्न नहीं कर पाता है अथवा इंसुलिन बनाने में शरीर को परेशानी होती है तो रक्त के अंदर का ग्लूकोज वहीं पर रह जाता है और इससे खून में शुगर का स्तर बढ़ जाता है। यदि खान-पान को नियंत्रित करने के बावजूद यही लक्षण बने रहते हैं तो वह मधुमेह रोग की शक्ल ले लेता है।
मधुमेह को मुख्यतः दो श्रेणियों टाइप 1 और टाइप 2 में रखा जाता है। टाइप 1 में शरीर में इंसुलिन बनना बंद हो जाता है। शरीर की श्वेत रक्त कोशिकाएं अग्नाशय की इंसुलिन बनाने वाली कोशिकाओं को नष्ट कर देती हैं। वहीं टाइप 2 में इंसुलिन काफी कम मात्रा में बनता है और जो इंसुलिन बनता है उसका भी सही तरीके से इस्तेमाल नहीं हो पाता। इसके कारण ग्लूकोज कोशिकाओं में नहीं जाता और रक्त में उसकी मात्रा बढ़ जाती है। टाइप 2 मधुमेह जैसे जैसे बढ़ता है, इंसुलिन की कमी भी बढ़ती जाती है। वहीं गर्भावस्था में मधुमेह का तीसरा मुख्य टाइप माना जाता है। इसमें गर्भावस्था के दौरान शरीर में शर्करा का स्तर बढ़ जाता है।
मधुमेह से बचाव के लिए हमें अपनी जीवन शैली और खान-पान की आदतों को सही रखना बेहद जरूरी होता है। नियमित रूप से व्यायाम, पर्याप्त नींद, मोटापा कम करना, तनाव से दूर रहना, धूम्रपान और शराब से दूर रहना, सुपाच्य और पौष्टिक भोजन करना इत्यादि शामिल हैं।
देश में मधुमेह के 55 विशेषज्ञों को शामिल कर ग्लाइसेमिक पेन्टैड फोरम की स्थापना की गयी है। विशेषज्ञों ने मधुमेह से संबंधित विभिन्न विषयों पर चर्चा और अपने अनुभवों को साझा कर मधुमेह प्रबंधन में ग्लाइसेमिक पेन्टैड की प्रासंगिकता को रेखांकित किया है। उनकी आम राय है कि एफपीजी, पीपीजी, एचबीए1सी के अलावा ग्लाइसेमिक वैरीबलिटी और जीवन गुणवत्ता को मधुमेह के उपचार एवं प्रबंधन के लिए जरूरी है। फोरम का मानना है कि भारतीयों के मधुमेह के उपचार एवं प्रबंधन में व्यक्तिगत आहार आदतों और उनके सामाजिक आर्थिक स्तर पर भी ध्यान दिये जाने की जरूरत है।
वार्ता
Read more at http://www.univarta.com/diabetes-simple-effective-solution-glycemic-pentad/features/news/1094723.html#UHrYS8KH6Ky9MYTl.99
नयी दिल्ली 14 जनवरी (वार्ता) देश के बड़े शहरों के साथ-साथ छोटे शहरों में भी ऊंची-ऊंची इमारतों की संख्या लगातार बढ़ रही है लेकिन 200 मीटर से अधिक ऊंचाई की गगनचुंबी इमारतों के निर्माण में भारत अभी पीछे है।
पिछले वर्ष (2017) दुनिया में 200 मीटर से अधिक ऊंचाई वाली 144 इमारतें बन कर तैयार हुयीं। इनमें से मात्र तीन भारत की हैं। देश की ये तीनों इमारतें मुंबई में बनी हैं जिनमें से एक की अधिकतम ऊंचाई 266 मीटर या 873 फुट है। फिलहाल यह देश की सबसे ऊंची इमारत है। तीनों इमारतें रिहायशी इस्तेमाल के लिये बनायी गयी हैं।
काउंसिल अान टाॅल बिल्डिंग एंड अर्बन हैबिटेट के आंकड़ों के अनुसार पिछले वर्ष विश्व के 23 देशों में 144 गगनचुंबी इमारतें बन कर पूरी हुयीं। इन्हें मिलाकर दुनिया में ऐसी इमारतों की संख्या 1319 हो गयी है। भारत में ऐसी मात्र छह इमारतें हैं । देश में 2010 में पहली बार 200 मीटर ऊंचाई की दो इमारतें बन कर तैयार हुयी थीं। वर्ष 2015 में इनकी संख्या तीन हुयी जबकि पिछले वर्ष इसमें तीन का और इजाफा हुआ।
इस तरह की इमारतें बनाने में एशिया दुनिया में सबसे आगे है जहां पिछले वर्ष कुल 109 गगनचुंबी इमारतें बन कर तैयार हुयीं। एशिया के आगे होने में चीन का बहुत बड़ा हाथ है जहां पिछले वर्ष 200 मीटर से अधिक ऊंचाई वाली 76 इमारतों का निर्माण पूरा हुआ। दुनिया में पिछले वर्ष बनी कुल गगनचुंबी इमारतों में से आधी से अधिक चीन में बन कर तैयार हुयीं।
चीन पिछले दस वर्ष से लगातार इस मामले में विश्व का नंबर एक देश बना हुआ है। पिछले वर्ष अमेरिका दस इमारतों के साथ दूसरे तथा दक्षिण कोरिया सात इमारतों के साथ तीसरे स्थान पर रहा। कनाडा और इंडोनेशिया में पांच पांच तथा मलेशिया, उत्तर कोरिया, तुर्की और संयुक्त अरब अमीरात में चार चार इमारतें पिछले वर्ष बनकर तैयार हुयीं।
काउंसिल की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार तेजी से बढ़ते शहरीकरण के चलते इस तरह की इमारतों का निर्माण अब केवल प्रमुख वाणिज्यिक और व्यवसायिक शहरों तक सीमित नहीं रह गया है। पिछले चार वर्ष में इनकी संख्या दोगुना बढ़ी है तथा नये-नये शहरों में इनका निर्माण हो रहा है। पिछले वर्ष 23 देशों के 69 शहरों में ऐसी इमारतें बन कर तैयार हुयीं। तेरह शहरों में पहली बार 200 मीटर से अधिक ऊंची इमारत बनकर खड़ी हुयी जबकि 28 शहरों में नयी ऊंचाई की इमारत तैयार हुयी।
शहरों की बात करें तो चीन के शेनजेन में पिछले वर्ष इस तरह की 12 इमारतें बनी जितनी चीन के अलावा किसी अन्य देश में नहीं बनी। पिछले वर्ष बन कर तैयार हुयी सबसे ऊंची इमारत भी इसी शहर में है जिसकी ऊंचाई 599 मीटर है। यह दुनिया की चाैथी सबसे ऊंची इमारत है। इस समय दुनिया की सबसे ऊंची इमारत दुबई की बुर्ज खलीफा है जिसकी ऊंचाई 828 मीटर है। चीन के ही नैनिंग में 200 मीटर से अधिक ऊंची सात इमारतें गत वर्ष बन कर तैयार हुयीं जबकि चेंगदू और जकार्ता में इस तरह की पांच पांच इमारतें पूरी हुयीं।
रिपोर्ट के अनुसार विभिन्न देशों के चल रहे निर्माण को देखते हुये ऐसी इमारतों की संख्या पिछले वर्ष की तुलना में अधिक होगी। एेसी इमारतों के निर्माण में चीन और एशिया भले भी आगे हों लेकिन आने वाले वर्षों में इसमें बदलाव दिखलायी देगा। भारत, अफ्रीका और उत्तरी अमेरिका में ऐसी इमारतों के निर्माण में तेजी आती दिख रही है। भारत में इस समय 34 गगनचुंबी इमारतों का निर्माण चल रहा है जिनमें से चार 300 मीटर तथा एक चार सौ मीटर से अधिक ऊंचाई की होगी। इनमें से 14 के इस वर्ष पूरा होने की उम्मीद है।
वार्ता
Read more at http://www.univarta.com/skyscrapers-india-just-behind/features/news/1105446.html#Dstl3kTpfQfmGYg7.99
DHAKA, Jan 15, 2018 (BSS) - Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company (Bapex) has discovered a new reserve of a significant amount of natural gas in Bhola, a district of the country's southern region.
The new gas reserve, which is found in Bheduria union of Bhola district, is estimated to have 600 billion cubic feet (bcf) natural gas.
"With this reservoir, the total gas reserve in Bhola now stands at 1.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf)," Cabinet Secretary Shafiul Alam told a press briefing following the weekly meeting of the cabinet held at Prime Minister's Office (PMO) with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
The Cabinet Secretary said Bapex hoped that it would get more gas in the district, with carrying out more exploration work there.
According to Petrobangla, the country has 26 gas fields with remaining reserve of 13.60 tcf as of January 2016. The new gas field in Bhola will be the country's 27th gas reserve.
DHAKA, Jan 15, 2018 (BSS) - Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee today called Bangladesh the "protector" of Bengali language through their historic Language Movement and achievement of its international recognition.
"The people of the then East Bengal (now Bangladesh) has established the dignity of Bangla language," he told the International Bangla Literature Conference as the chief guest referring to the 1952 Language Movement and Bangladesh's subsequent success in achieving February 21 as the international Mother Language Day.
He added: "They protected their culture and gave their lives and blood to establish the rights of their mother tongue." India's first Bengali president Mukherjee is now in Dhaka on a four-day visit coinciding with the concluding session of the literary conference at Nazrul Mancha on the premises of Bangla Academy.
Mukherjee, however, said contamination in people's thought process and mind was deadlier than the environmental pollution and urged writers, artistes, poets and litterateurs to put in their efforts to clean the toxicity of mind and thoughts.
He said the history suggests that "not Hitler, Mussolini" but figures like Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha had created history.
"Not the victorious warriors, but the writers, poets and litterateurs have set the directions of civilization," Mukherjee said.
He said despite his interest in reading, his long political engagements often distanced him from books but during the presidency, he tried as much as possible to go through particularly the rare literary collections, secret records and documents kept at the Rashtrapati Vaban.
"I thought, I should read as much as possible," Mukherjee said.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith chaired the function while Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam and convener of the conference Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman addressed it as the special guests.
Social Welfare Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu and Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harshavardhan Sringla were present in the audience row along with Bangladeshi and Indian writers, poets and literature critics.
ISLAMABAD, Jan 15 (APP):National Assembly has passed five bills to protect rights of women, and minorities with the endeavour of Ministry of Human Rights during 2017 besides an amendment has also been done on punishment of female child marriage in a Criminal Law Act. The five bills included `The National Commission on the Rights of the Child Act, 2017, which was passed on 1st of February last year. Following an amendment was passed regarding the punishment for non-Muslim girl child marriage accused. The amendment was passed under, “The Criminal Laws Amendment) Act, 2017”, on February 6, 2017. According to it “Provided that in case of a female child as defined in the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1992 (XIX of 1929), or a non-Muslim woman, the accused shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years but shall not be less than five years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to one million rupees.” The third legislation passed by the lower house of the parliament was “The National Commission on “The Status of Women (Amendment) Act, 2017” on February 17, whereas, “The Hindu Marriage Act, 2017, was passed on March 9, a day after the International Women Day, observed annually on March 8. After the gap of six months, the next Act was passed on September 13, 2017, titled, “National Commission on the Rights of the Child Act, 2017” and last one was the long awaited amendment in “The Women in Distress and Detention Fund (Amendment) Act, 2017, on December 14, which was initially introduced in 1996 with the title “The Women in Distress and Detention Fund Act, 2016”. The bill seeks to achieve the aforesaid objective to established a fund providing financial and legal assistance to the women languishing in jails on account of different allegations and those who face extreme hardships. After a long time of almost 22 years, the bill is still lingering due to one reason or the other leaving women in miseries to survive at their own. The Federal Minister for Human Rights briefed APP that the main reason for delay in implementation of this initiative was reallocation of the business under various Ministries and Divisions. But, he said, after thorough working on the issue a permanent solution has been sorted out and the domain fall under the minister in-charge of the ministry. Besides that under the new amendment the board of governors of the fund which was earlier comprised of 19 members, has now been reduced to nine for ensuring availability of members and holding regular meeting ensuing relief to women in need.
American billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has announced a plan to increase financial aid for Pakistan, days after the U.S. administration suspended security assistance for the country, local media reported on Monday.
In a letter sent to Pakistan’s Health Minister Saira Afzal Tarar, Gates appreciated the government’s efforts for eradication of Polio virus from the country, local daily Dawn reported.
Pakistan is among three countries in the world, including Afghanistan and Nigeria, where polio virus still exists and the country remains under a polio-linked travel restriction imposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In 2014, the WHO made it mandatory for all people traveling from Pakistan to carry a polio vaccination certificate.
During the last four years, Pakistan successfully brought the cases down from 306 in 2014 to 54 in 2015, 20 in 2016 and only 8 cases in 2017, while no case has yet been reported in the current year.
"Mr Gates, assured us to continue his assistance for Pakistan and increase aid for polio eradication and also for other sectors as well," Sajid Husain Shah, spokesman for Ministry of Health, told Anadolu Agency.
According to the Health Ministry, Gates and Melinda Foundation have spent over Rs 72 billion ($654 million) as part of efforts to eradicate polio virus from Pakistan over the past five years.
On January 1, President Donald Trump’s Jan. 1 tweet had accused Pakistan of taking billions of dollars in aid from the United States and in return, “giving nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools”.
Pakistan denied the U.S. allegations and said the U.S. needs to show more appreciation after Islamabad has fought terrorism “largely from its own resources” which it said cost over $120 billion in 15 years.
![About 40 percent of Palestine's male population has been imprisoned by Israel since 1967 [File: Adel Hana/AP]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vS3reBg59UqjfrXzBNV_yptejlMHUc7ACjCtvlzryuP_Ko-O7Mjo8U-P344XfgF7YNs_G_vefba1k-xq1oe0m7wEzAuxMyCQSppwAAcPn7xp7ThXEg_KHoZ-Cv8IdXvJbQQtpIoTlTScbbkfX_3Z-2TDAc8c5zDioMEZ0UjSLI-1iB3-ep8fogQ8OS6lOD80ZYugANbijif7Sf=s0-d "What happened to Palestine's youth-led struggle?")
