Indian cardiologists have produced what they say is the first evidence to show that chewing tobacco can constrict the blood vessels of the heart within minutes and possibly raise the risk of heart attacks. Their study on men who volunteered to chew a single Gram of tobacco while having their hearts monitored has revealed significant reductions in the diameters of coronary arteries within 10 minutes after they began chewing. The cardiologists from...

The RTI Act was envisaged as a potent weapon to fight corruption by ushering in an age of transparency. Yet powerful men in power have ganged up to throttle the law through deliberate delays and by arm-twisting applicants. A comprehensive look at the law. Aweapon in the hands of people. That was how the Right to Information (RTI) Act was envisaged, almost six years back. But the bureaucracy, in connivance with...

Belgaum ZP CEO Govinda Raju has issued orders, suspending four Gram panchayat secretaries for "allegedly" misusing government grants and for failing to discharge their duties. The suspended officials are A A Limbikai and S G Patil, secretaries of Krishna Kittur and Tangadi GPs (Athani taluk), respectively, and N J Dhamanekar and H P Limboji, secretaries of Mallapur (PG) and Koujalagi GPs (Gokak taluk), respectively. Limbikai was suspended for "allegedly" not implementing National...

Government undecided on criteria to identify families below poverty line A survey by the Indian government in 2002 to determine households below poverty line (BPL) left out many poor families. Nearly a decade later, the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MORD) is trying to set the wrong right. But it is unable to decide on the criteria for identifying poor households. As a consequence, the BPL survey that was to...

Alternative too may pose health problems But most are not persistent in environment Several alternatives exist for Endosulfan in the country though those opposing its ban ignore that. An expert committee of the Central government had listed alternatives to Endosulfan for 47 out of 55 pests affecting 29 crops in Orissa in 2008-09. The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) International has pointed out this in a submission to the Stockholm Convention POPs Review Committee...