21-February-2015 ~ Page No.

IMPHAL SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2015
IMPHAL THURSDAY
21 FEBRUARY 2015
Stay at arm’s length from persons coughing or sneezing, avoid gathering and wash your hands frequently to check H1N1 spread
Homeopathy can help
Dr H R Keshavamurthy
Today's Thought
An adult faith does not follow the waves
of fashion and the latest novelties.
Pope Benedict XVI.
Refusing to look beyond Imphal
Road sides : Not parking lots
The commercial areas in Imphal are over
crowded. Everyone, including the Government,
agrees on this point. Rise in population with no
corresponding increase in space is a reason.
Couple this fact with the rapid increase in the
number of vehicles on the road and one will get
a fair idea of what over crowding means. There
are reasons for the rise in population and increase in the number of motor vehicles on the
road, but the Government seems oblivious of
the plain fact that much of the over crowding
has to do with its poor response to the reality.
In fact one may even go further and say that
there has been no worthwhile response from
the side of the Government. The sense of lethargy is absurd. Maybe this has got more to do
with the fact that the VVIPs or political leadership do not have to move around like ordinary
folks and when they do move, the roads are
always cleared by shooing away the lesser
mortals, that is people like us. The refusal to acknowledge the fact and then act accordingly is
what is perplexing. Maybe it serves their narrow political considerations but it makes
absolutely no sense to keep on concentrating
more and more on the little spot of space that
is available as the market area in Imphal. Why
can’t the Government acknowledge the fact
that they need to look beyond and see how the
commercial activities can be stretched to other
parts ? As noted earlier, such things will not be
a priority for they can always move at ease but
it is the common folks who have to suffer. Couple this with the refusal of the people to
develop an ounce of civic sense and the nightmare of moving around Imphal is something
which everyone must have experienced at
some point of time.
So while Khwairamband bazar, Thangal
Keithel, Paona Keithel, BT Road and the adjacent areas are flooding over with people the
Government has not given a single thought on
ways to develop market places in other areas.
To compound the matter, the Government has
not given a thought on the annual fish mela
held every year on the eve of Ningol
Chakkouba at Polo Ground. A point which has
been commented upon numerous times, but
the Government or the babudom obviously
think it better not to give a thought to the trouble that the common citizens have to face
annually. Multiplying the inconvenience of the
public is the grand plan of the Government to
construct yet another market place at the campus of the erstwhile Tombisana High School,
just plum opposite to the former Assembly
complex. Who has come up with such an idiotic
plan in the first place ? Maybe Imphal is one of
the few State capitals, where no thought is
given at all to parking lots. The road sides will
do is a mindset that is no longer in vogue at any
other place. Unacceptable it is, especially in this
age when the political leaders are talking
about Smart Cities. No magic formula in place,
but time for the Government to wake up and
look beyond Imphal and study what city planning is all about. Magic not needed but
application of mind in spirit.
Etc.. etc...
Digital India
PIB Features
Government Greetings to be e-Greetings
Basket of e-Greetings templates have been made available. Crowd sourcing of e-Greetings through MyGov
platform has been ensured. E-Greetings portal has been
made live on 14th August 2014.
Biometric attendance
It will cover all Central Govt. Offices in Delhi and is
already operational in DeitY and has been initiated in the
Department of Urban Development. On-boarding has also
started in other departments.
Wi-Fi in All Universities
All universities on the National Knowledge Network
(NKN) shall be covered under this scheme. Ministry of
HRD is the nodal ministry for implementing this scheme.
Secure Email within Government
a. Email would be the primary mode of communication.
b. Phase-I upgradation for 10 lakh employees has been
completed. In Phase II, infrastructure would be further upgraded to cover 50 lakh employees by March 2015 at a cost
of Rs 98 Cr. DeitY is the nodal department for this scheme.
Standardize Government Email Design
Standardised templates for Government email are under
preparation and would be ready by October 2014. This
would be implemented by DeitY.
Public Wi-fi hotspots
Cities with population of over 1 million and tourist
centres would be provided with public wi-fi hotspots to
promote digital cities. The scheme would be implemented
by DoT and MoUD.
School Books to be eBooks
All books shall be converted into eBooks. Min. of HRD/
DeitY would be the nodal agencies for this scheme.
SMS based weather information, disaster alerts
SMS based weather information and disaster alerts would
be provided. DeitY’s Mobile Seva Platform is already ready
and available for this purpose. MoES (IMD)/MHA
(NDMA) would be the nodal organizations for implementing this scheme.
National Portal for Lost & Found children
a. This would facilitate real time information gathering
and sharing on the lost and found children and would go
a long way to check crime and improve timely response.
b. DeitY/ DoWCD would be the nodal departments for
this project.
Some of the aforementioned projects are under various
stages of implementation and may require some transformational process reengineering, refinements and adjustment of
scoping and implementation strategy to achieve the desired
service level objectives by the concerned line Ministries/
Departments at the Central, State and Local Government
levels. (Concluded)
Influenza – A (H1N1) (earlier know as swine flu) is a new
influenza virus causing illness in people. First detected in Mexico
in April, 2009, it has spread to many countries in the World.
Swine flu is basically a misnomer. This was originally
referred to as “swine flu” because laboratory testing showed
that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to
those found in pigs in North America. Further on, it has been
found that this new virus has gene segments from the swine,
avian and human flu virus genes. The scientists calls this a
‘quadruple reassortant” virus and hence this new (novel) virus
is christened “influenza-A (H1N1) virus.”
Swine Flu / Pig Flu
Is an infection caused by any one of several types of swine
influenza viruses that is endemic in pigs. As of 2009, the
known strains include influenza C and the subtypes of influenza
A known as H1N1, H1N2, H2N1, H3N1, H3N2,
andH2N3.Swine influenza virus is common throughout pig
populations worldwide. Transmission of the virus from pigs to
humans is not common and does not always lead to human flu,
often resulting only in the production of antibodies in the blood.
If transmission does cause human flu, it is called zoonotic
swine flu. People with regular exposure to pigs are at increased
risk of swine flu infection.
History
Swine influenza was first thought to be a disease related to
human flu during the 1918 flu pandemic, when pigs became ill
at the same time as humans. For the following 60 years, swine
influenza strains were almost exclusively H1N1. Then, between
1997 and 2002, new strains of three different subtypes and five
different genotypes emerged. The H1N1 form of swine flu is
one of the descendants of the strain that caused the 1918 flu
pandemic. After persisting in pigs, the descendants of the 1918
virus have also circulated in humans through the 20th century,
contributing to the normal seasonal epidemics of influenza.
However, direct transmission from pigs to humans is rare.
Transmission
Influenza is quite common in pigs; the main route of transmission is through direct contact between infected and
uninfected animals. These close contacts are particularly common during animal transport, Intensive farming. Transmission
may also occur through wild animals, such as wild boar.
People who work with poultry and swine, especially those
with intense exposures, are at increased risk of zoonotic infection with influenza virus endemic in these animals, and constitute
a population of human hosts in which zoonosis and reassortment
can co-occur. Other professions at particular risk of infection
are veterinarians and meat processing workers, although the
risk of infection for both of these groups is lower than that of
farm worker.
Signs and symptoms
In pigs, influenza infection produces fever, lethargy, sneezing,
coughing, difficulty breathing and decreased appetite Although
mortality is usually low (around 1–4%), the virus can produce
weight loss and poor growth, causing economic loss to farmers.
Direct transmission of a swine flu virus from pigs to humans is occasionally possible (zoonotic swine flu). In humans
the symptoms of "swine flu" H1N1 virus are similar to those
of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. Symptoms
include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills
and fatigue. Because these symptoms are not specific to swine
flu, a differential diagnosis of probable swine flu requires not
only symptoms, but also a high likelihood of swine flu due to
the person's recent history. A diagnosis of confirmed swine flu
requires laboratory testing of a respiratory sample (a simple
nose and throat swab).
The most common cause of death is respiratory failure.
Other causes of death are pneumonia (leading to sepsis), high
fever (leading to neurological problems), dehydration (from
excessive vomiting and diarrhea), electrolyte imbalance and
kidney failure. Fatalities are more likely in young children and
the elderly.
Diagnosis
The CDC recommends real time PCR as the method of
choice for diagnosing H1N1. The oral or nasal fluid collection
and RNA virus preserving filter paper card is commercially
available. This method allows a specific diagnosis of novel
influenza (H1N1) as opposed to seasonal influenza
Spread of infection
Prevention of swine influenza has three components: prevention in swine, prevention of transmission to humans, and
prevention of its spread among humans.
Methods of preventing the spread of influenza among swine
include facility management, herd management, and vaccination.
Facility management includes using disinfectants and ambient
temperature to control viruses in the environment. They are
unlikely to survive outside living cells for more than two
weeks, except in cold (but above freezing) conditions, and are
readily inactivated by disinfectants. The virus survives in healthy
carrier pigs for up to three months, and can be recovered from
them between outbreaks.
In humans
Prevention of pig-to-human transmission
The transmission from swine to humans is believed to occur
mainly in swine farms, where farmers are in close contact with
live pigs. Although strains of swine influenza are usually not
able to infect humans, this may occasionally happen, so farmers
and veterinarians are encouraged to use face masks when dealing with infected animals. The use of vaccines on swine to
prevent their infection is a major method of limiting swine-tohuman transmission.
Prevention of human-to-human transmission
Influenza spreads between humans when infected people
cough or sneeze, then other people breathe in the virus or touch
something with the virus on it and then touch their own face,
eyes, nose or mouth. Swine flu cannot be spread by pork
products,since the virus is not transmitted through food. The
swine flu in humans is most contagious during the first five
days of the illness, although some people, most commonly
children, can remain contagious for up to ten days.
Prevention
How to keep away from getting the flu? First and most
important is follow simple steps as cough etiquettes (covering
mouth & nose with handkerchief or tissue paper while coughing), stay at least an arm’s length from persons coughing or
sneezing, avoid gathering and wash your hands frequently. Try
to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically
active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids and eat
nutritious food. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when
you cough or sneeze; throw the tissue in the trash after you use
it. Wash hands often with soap and water, especially after
cough or sneeze; avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth and try
to avoid close contact with people having respiratory illness.
If one gets sick with influenza, one must stay at home, away
from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from
infecting them.
Treatment
If one is having any respiratory distress, one should report
to a nearby hospital. If a person becomes sick with swine flu,
antiviral drugs can make the illness milder and make the patient
feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complica-
tions. For treatment, antiviral drugs work best if started soon
after getting sick (within two days of symptoms). Beside antiviral, supportive care at home or in a hospital focuses on
controlling fevers, relieving pain and maintaining fluid balance,
as well as identifying and treating any secondary infections or
other medical problems. Use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or
zanamivir (Relenza) for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses is recommended. However,
the majority of people infected with the virus make a full
recovery without requiring medical attention or antiviral drugs.
Present Outbreak in India
It is noted that that during the period 1 Jan 2015-10 February 2015, the total number of H1N1 cases is 5157 and
number of deaths is 407. Largely the cases are from Delhi,
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu and Telangana whereas largely the deaths due to
H1N1 are in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan
and Telangana. Now even cases have been reported from West
Bengal. The status of H1N1 influenza being monitored daily by
the union M/O Health & Family Welfare.
Various health institutions treating H1N1 cases are being
advised for vaccination against H1N1 influenza for the concerned health workers in the hospitals in contact with H1N1
patients. This will be in addition to the proper personal protective measures being followed at the hospitals. Guidelines are
being drafted for vaccination of healthcare workers and these
will be shared with the states for dissemination to all health
institutions.
The Government of India has already placed an order for
enhancing stock of diagnostic kits to be supplied to the lab
network under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme
(IDSP) being used for testing H1N1 influenza. To enhance the
level of preparedness, additional 60,000 Oseltamivir medicines
and 10,000 N-95 masks are being procured. In addition, NCDC
has floated a tender for additional 10,000 diagnostic kits. In
case of need, labs under ICMR have been identified across the
country to provide additional testing facilities. In order to prevent panic and inconvenience to people, and to encourage only
those cases requiring H1N1 testing are actually taken up for
testing, it was decided that the communication strategy should
create awareness among the general public regarding this aspect.
Homeopathy for Swine Flu
At the instance of the Department of AYUSH, the Central
Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) had convened
a meeting of a Group of Experts in Homoeopathy, who has
recommended that the homoeopathic medicine Arsenicum album could be taken as prophylactic medicine against flu like
illnesses. It has recommended Arsenicum album 30, one dose
(4pills of size 30 by adults and 2 pills by children) daily, on
empty stomach, for 3 days. The dose should be repeated after
one month by following the same schedule in case flu like
conditions prevails in the area.
India Made Vaccine
The testing of the Pandemic influenza H1N1 vaccines was
undertaken by the Central Drug Laboratory, Kasuali (National
Control Laboratory) and declared to be of Standard quality.
The H1N1 vaccine (Brand Name: VaxiFlu S) is manufactured
by M/s Zydus Cadila Health Care Limited; live attenuated
H1N1 vaccine (Brand Name: Nasovac) manufactured by M/s
Serum Institute of India Limited, Pune; inactivated H1N1 vaccine is also manufactured by M/s Serum Institute of India.
However, Vaccination is not a recommended intervention for
Swine flu infected patients. (PIB Features)
The writer is the Director in Press Information Bureau,
Kolkata.
Nanu festival
Budha Kamei
Nanu is an ear-piercing
festival of the Zeliangrong
celebrated in the month of
Nanu-bu which usually falls
in March; (Na means child,
Nu means ear-piercing). It is a
sort of the registration of the
children born in the preceding
year in the Kengja Kaibang
(house of old women) for
community recognition. It is
also a fertility festival for the
birth of more offspring as
well as to have a fruitful cultivation in the village. In
March, there is a “festival of
three days’ continuance, in
which the ears of the children
born in the previous year are
pierced.” It is celebrated for
two days. On the first day, the
family who has first baby
(son/daughter) does kill a dog
and offer to God for wellbeing of the child. This is locally
called Jeishanmei (sacrifice of
dog). The victim is consumed
by the participants. The
Lugaan (son-in-laws) of the
family will make necessary arrangements for the next day
as the last day is the most
important day of the festival.
On the second day, at the
first cock-crow, an old
woman along with male members of the child’s family will
fetch water in a Joumuh (dry
guard) from the Duikhun (village pond) for bathing the
baby and cooking of ritual
offerings. Before fetching the
water, they first contact the
water with the spear which
they brought (in the distant
past, Duihkun was generally
located far from the village
area, so they took spears for
safety from wild animals) as a
way of purification. Iron
(Tanchu) represents as a symbol of sanctity of God. This
water is locally recognized as
Kakhudui (holy water). In
view of Frank Byron Jevons,
water purification is a means
of gaining for the worshipper
the protection of water deity
against the consequences of
pollution. Then, Najumgaimei
ceremony is performed in
which an elder having living
wife who officiates as priest
and will offer Sangdai (a
cock) and Sanglou (a hen),
ginger, wine, cooked rice etc.
to Tingkao Ragwang and
Dampapui for blessing the
child with a bright future, longevity of life and happiness
and prosperity, success in reproduction, victory over the
enemies and to overcome all
the socio-religious obligations
and perform Maku Banru
(great sacrifice) etc. This is
followed by oblation of holy
wine to Tingkao Ragwang,
Bambu (presiding deities of
the village), and Kairao (ancestors of the family) for
wellbeing and prosperity of
the child. In case of twins’
birth, the items of the ceremony are made double. The
victims are cooked separately
for the ritual of Kashan
Kanmei (ritual for safety and
protection). After Kashan
Kanmei ritual, all the children
(born in the previous year) are
brought at the house of the
old women for ear-piercing.
This is known as Nanu
Roumei. This ritual act recognizes the existence of the child
in the society. Since pre-historic times the ear has been
pierced for the insertion of earring.
In the morning of this particular
day,
Neknanun
(children who are not yet enrolled in the boys’ dormitory)
will perform a ritual procession distributing mud along
with a bunch of Thinglouthai
to every household of the vil-
lage for plentiful food grain in
the year. Thinglouthai, a kind
of fruit is traditionally used as
symbol of Nap (paddy). In
the ritual procession, they will
sing songs for fertility of the
village. At the noon, they will
collect like meat, fish, vegetable etc. from every household
of the village. This is locally
called Nekgong Kakhamei
(collection of eatables). The
collected food items are
cooked at the Nek Kaibang
(house of children) and consumed. This is followed by
Pang Makumei, (ritual procession) in which the boys of
Khangchiu seek the blessing
of God for healthy sexual life
in the society. Each of the
child household will bring
Nanu Cha, gifts in the form
of vegetable, cook rice, cook
curry, local salt plates, etc. at
the Kengja Kaibang and the
gifts are distributed among the
elderly people. At the Kengja
Kaibang, the elders of Pei will
sing traditional songs like Rah
Lu and Magen Lu. In the
evening, Nanu Laam, Nanu
dance is performed by old
women with relevant songs
sung by the elderly men at
every household of the child
born in the preceding year. At
the end of Nanu Laam, fertility song called Konshumei
will be sung for the birth of
more children in the family.
On the next day of the
festival, a complete genna
called Nashang Nei is observed in the village. It is a
community and individuals
prayer to God to avert death at
delivery in the village. M
McCulloch says, there is “an
annual village genna of three
days in which the ears of the
children born after the last
festival of this nature are
pierced.”
Nuisance of educated unemployment in Manipur
Marchang Reimeingam
Educated unemployment is the concern of every household
in Manipur. It is exacerbating in the state due to disproportionate increase in the supply of educated and limitedly
available job. The level of educated, who has completed secondary and above education, among the literates were
significantly higher for Manipur than the country in both rural
as well as urban areas in all the times. As per the NSS in 2010
as much as 38 and 52 percent in rural and urban areas
respectively among the literates were educated in the state. It
was higher by 14 and 5 percentage points in rural and urban
areas respectively for the state when compared to the country’s level. It signifies that people of Manipur are more
educated than the country. The level of educated has consistently increased over the years since early 1990s. Concurrently,
spending on education has increased. In 2010, rural people
spent 4.7 percent and urban people expended 6.3 percent of
the total average monthly per capita consumption expenditure
on education. Meanwhile, using RBI and census data the
estimates of per capita revenue expenditure on education at
current prices has increased almost by four fold from Rs.617/
- in 1994 to Rs.2429/- in 2012.
Similarly, the per capita capital expenditure on education
has increased by 32 times from Rs.10/- to Rs.320/- during the
same period. It implies that expenditure on education has
increased from the expenditure aspects of individual and
government’s revenue and capital. At the same time, unemployment has became a nuisance as the unemployment rate
(usual principal status) has increased especially in rural areas
from below two percent in the early Nineties to over four
percent in 2010. In urban areas the rate remains to hover
around five percent in the same years. Urban problem of
unemployment was more sever due to the rise in the literates
in general and the educated in particular besides the growing
aspiration of urban salaried and formal job. Nevertheless, the
situation was more severe in the state than in the country
simply because of the differences in the pace of employment
generation between the state and the country. Additionally,
employment especially formal jobs generated for the educated
could not offset the demand for its job in the state. The severity
of unemployment become greater for the youth (15-29 years)
and has been exacerbating over the years from mere five percent
in 1994 to over 14 percent in 2010 in rural areas. Urban youth
unemployment is more problematic and severe as the rate is
close to 20 percent in 2010. Youth unemployment is more
severe for the state in comparison with the national scenario. It
calls forth to reorient the manpower planning emphasising on
youth skill development and employability. Further dissecting
the educated unemployment (15+) problems shows that rural
educated people continues to face more hardship in getting
employment as the rate has increased from just over six percent
in 1994 to close to eight percent in 2010.
Interestingly, the educated unemployment rate has declined
from ten to below seven percent in the same period in urban
areas that might have possibly occurred due to out-migration,
a sign of brain drain, rather than getting an employment in the
state. It is more severe in rural than urban areas because most
of the formal jobs aspired by the educated unemployed are
located in the urban areas. Need based proper allocation and
establishment of industries or creation of employment opportunities across the geographical distribution could tackle the
problem of educated unemployment. Females face the brunt of
educated unemployment due to job bias, work place discrimination, social obligation or lack of access to economic
resources. In Manipur, youth unemployment is more problematic than the educated unemployment as the rate is greater for
youth. Employability among the educated lowers their level of
unemployment. Needless to mention that as the educated
unemployed grows older their luxury to afford of being idle
as unemployed or dependent to other member of their household for livelihood is reduced and their job aspiration and
preference is lowered. The long termed educated unemployed
eventually became self-employed when economic pressure is
exerted. The educated unemployed who are creative, innovative and persevere can be successful self-employed persons.
Yet, the problem of unemployment especially among the youth
can create a social disorder or substance abuse affecting the
course of social and economic development. Amidst of these
situations, the aspiration for a limited government job is at
peak. It is due to an existence of insignificant private market
players resulting to inadequate private job opportunities coupled with traditional mindset of aspiring for government jobs.
Most recently, there was a sign of relieving the problem
of educated unemployment as there were many openings of
government job opportunities in the state. These jobs were
both newly created and vacancies notified due to employees’
superannuation. It is anticipated that many government job
positions might likely be vacant in the near future as employees of the 1980s or 1990s got superannuated. Most perturbing
situations are when there are many over-aged candidates aspiring for the government jobs. For example, 23 candidates,
who applied for the posts of Assistant Engineer for power,
works etc departments conducted by MPSC (2013), were
rejected due to over-aged. Similarly, about 10 candidates who
applied for MCSCC(P) Examination (2014) were rejected on
ground of over-aged. Some candidates for Medical Officer
(2014) and Assistant Agriculture Officer (2014) were also
rejected on the same ground. Many candidates for Lecturers
of Government Higher Secondary Schools (2015) were too
rejected because of over-aged by the MPSC. Such situation
would definitely be aggravated for non-professional posts.
This mesmerised the severity of educated unemployment problem. Indeed, the figures might have enlarged partly due to the
application of currently employed candidates in lower scale of
salary or contract and partly due to application of the longterm unemployed. It suggest that many educated end up as
“forever unemployed” (or underemployed) which is a matter of
great concern for policy makers to reconsider the manpower
and educational planning. It is a condition of inefficient utilisation of available resources and a situation of dismay and
ignominy for the state. It’s a wake up call for Manipur to
emerge from the cocoon of suppressive and nuisance of unemployment by creating conducive investment environment for the
private investors, exploiting resources diligently and efficiently,
establishing a transparent and accountable government and most
importantly through people’s participatory and accountability.
The writer is Faculty, Institute for Social and Economic
Change, Bangalore.