Nation realizes that India's pride Sunita Williams just a "glorified passenger"

Thiruvananthapuram: Sunita Williams, second female of Indian origin to have roamed the vastness of space outside the atmosphere of our earth, was once India's pride and glory. The NASA astronaut who was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and who then joined Expedition 15 was revered and honored by every Indian for her remarkable feat of record longest spaceflight for female space tourist.

But not anymore. Slowly, the realization is dawning amongst Indians that Sunita Williams is nothing more than just a glorified space passenger.

The process of discovery started nearly a week ago when Kerela Rajya Sabha MP P V Abdul Wahab during a row with an Air India pilot called the latter a 'glorified driver'. This incensed the pilots to such an extent that they lodged official protest with the chairman of Air India and also threatened to ban Abdul Wahab from all flights flown by the members of Indian Commercial Pilot Association (ICPA)

With accusations and denials from both the sides flowing thick and fast, the matter soon erupted into a national controversy with the media jumping in and taking sides - some sections of the media siding with the pilots and some other sections of media pointing out the social snobbery of the pilots in being outraged by a comparison with drivers. Vir Sanghvi, editor of Hindustan Times wrote a long, impassioned article asking "what does it say about India's pilots that they are so outraged at being compared to drivers, that they want to ban a passenger for daring to make the comparison?" Sanghvi in his article pointed out the pilots stand treating a mere comparison with drivers as a case of serious abuse on par with mother-sister swearing was a reflection of their contempt towards poor, humble underpaid drivers.

With the nation finally veering around the view that pilots are in effect not different from ordinary drivers, the only difference being their huge pay packages, it was quite inevitable that someone would ask the question - if commercial pilots are nothing more than glorified drivers of aircrafts, where does that leave astronauts? With this question being raised, stage was set for a new round of discussions and debates on news channels about the status of space traveling astronauts.

In a television discussion, Mumbai Taxi Driver Union Chief A I Quadros, pointed out that in United States and many English speaking countries, by definition every space traveler is called an astronaut and raised the question - 'are space traveling astronauts nothing more than glorified passengers of spacecrafts?' When some participants of the discussion protested against the comparison pointing out the special training and hardships that astronauts need to undergo to become eligible for participating in space flights, many mumbai train commuters pointed out that traveling my mumbai locals is far more risky and dangerous than space traveling.

After many a discussions and debates, it is becoming increasingly clear that drivers, passengers and commuters are winning this debate. The nation is finally realizing that Sunita Williams, for all her achievements in space tourism and exploration, is nothing more than just a glorified space tourist, a mere passenger of spacecrafts, not really different from passengers of airplanes, railways or buses.

Nalini Sriharan: I wanted to see the earth shake

New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi revisited her past that has haunted the Nehru-Gandhis for the past 17 years. Unnoticed and alone, she paid a visit to Nalini, who is the only survivor of the group that assassinated Rajiv Gandhi, in Vellore Jail on March 19 this year.

In a short press statement, Priyanaka said, ?I do not believe in anger, hatred and violence and I refuse to allow it any power over my life. The meeting with Nalini was my way of coming to peace with the violence and loss that I have experienced? 

Priyanka refused to elaborate on the details of her meeting saying it was a purely a personal visit. But according to Nalini's lawyer, in the one-on-one meeting, Priyanka wanted to know why her father, "a good man", was killed, and this is what transpired between the two:

Priyanka: My father was a good man. Why was he killed?

Nalini: I wanted to see the earth shake.

Priyanka: I don't understand you. Tell me who were involved? Was there any political party involved?

Nalini: I do not know anything about the larger conspiracy. When I was offered the job, I accepted it because I wanted to see the ground shake. Your dad had justified the anger, hatred, violence and loss of over 4000 sikh lives by saying - 'When a big tree falls, then the earth is bound to shake'.

"I believed that like your grandma, your dad was also a big tree. But the earth didn't shake at all when he fell. Either your dad was lying when he said that the ground beneath a big tree is bound to shake when it falls or he wasn't as big a tree as I had imagined."

 

Statutory Warning: Mobile Phones are injurious to your health

Following a new study by award winning cancer expert Dr. Vini Khurana that reveals that mobile phones are more dangerous than smokng, governments worldwide have decided to clamp down hard on use of cell phones.

A new study has revealed that cell phones may eventually be responsible for more human deaths than smoking or asbestos. Dr. Khurana, who carried a 15-month critical review of the link between mobile phones and malignant brain tumor has concluded that using mobiles for more than a decade could more than double a person's risk of developing brain cancer.


Smoking kills some five million worldwide each year according to the World Health Organisation. But Khurana, who has based his findings on an analysis of over 100 researches on the effects of cell phones, said the radiation from mobiles could kill far more people than smoking. There are three times as many people globally who use mobiles regularly than there are regular smokers. This makes mobiles the # 1 menace to public health, warned Dr. Khurana and asked governments and mobile phone industry take immediate steps to curb and restrict use of
mobile phones.

While the news has not come as a surprise to many, considering that neurologists have been warning about the dangers of excessive cell phone use since years, this is the first time that any researcher has compared the dangers of mobile phone with dangers of smoking. The conclusions of the study have come as a shock to World Health Organization (WHO) which has for decades been battling hard to awaken people to hidden dangers of tobacco consumption. Now it has a much harder task at hand - convincing billions of people worldwide to give up or reduce use of cell phones, a task made more difficult by the ubiquity and usefulness of the cell phone.

But WHO has decided to take the battle head on and already instructed all countries to make it mandatory for cell phone manufacturers to inscribe statutory warning - "Using mobile phones is injurious to health" on the covering lids of the mobile phones.


Very soon 'No Mobile Phones' signs will become as ubiquitous as 'No Smoking' signs

Union minister of health, Dr Ramadoss, who ever since assuming office has taken up the cause of anti-smoking awareness with a missionary zeal, has announced that by the start of next year, all new cell phones will be required to compulsorily carry the prescribed health warning or face severe penalties in he event of default. He has also decided to ban all advertising relating to mobile phones. Starting form 1st July 2008, no cell phone manufacturer or mobile service provider will be allowed to advertise their products or services through any media.


From July this year, Hritik Roshan will be no longer jumping, leaping and dancing on your tele-screens to sell you sony ericsson phones

According to rumors, the minister is also planning to issue guidelines to the film and television industry to avoid showing scenes where the leading actors are shown talking on cell phones. The rumors say that censor board will be instructed to edit out all scenes where cell phones are used in non-emergency situations.

Meanwhile, reports emerging from United States say that mobile phone manufacturers are facing several lawsuits for not warning the consumers about the dangers of cell phone usage and also for the recovery of health costs that will be borne by American mobile phone users in future when the reported dangers of cell phone radiation will start manifesting in the form of brain cancer and tumors. According to reports, many state governments and NGO's working in the health sectors are planning to file lawsuits against mobile phone manufacturers worth several hundred billion dollars.

A lawsuit filed in Florida District court has alleged that mobile phone companies have conspired since early 90's to defraud and mislead American public and to conceal information about the effects of cell phone radiation. ''For more than 15 years, the cell phone companies conducted their business without regard to the truth, the law, or the health of the American people.'' said Attorney General McCollum

Leading Psychiatry Journal: We Are All Mentally Ill

The headline of this article might seem like like an April fool joke. But its not. Its official. We are all suffering from mental illness. The American Journal of Shrinkiatry has recently added another deviant behavior as a sign of mental illness to its long list of deviant behaviors that should be considered as signs of mental disorders.

The latest deviant behavior that can get you certified as suffering from mental disorder is sending excessive emails and text messages. According to an article published in the journal by a shrink in need of more customers, Dr Jerald Block, there are four symptoms of this latest mental disorder: suffering from feelings of withdrawal when a computer cannot be accessed; an increased need for better equipment; need for more time to use it; and experiencing the negative repercussions of their addiction. Dr Block said that although text messaging was not directly linked to the Internet, it was a form of instant messaging and needed to be included among the criteria.

According to another shrink, searching for new devious ways to expand his shrinking business, Dr. Robert Kaplan, all the four symptoms closely resemble symptoms that majority of people suffer from when forced into temporary isolation: suffering from loneliness when another human cannot be accessed; an increased need for being well-dressed and fashionable when meeting other people; need for more time to waste in useless chatter and pointless partying and experiencing the negative repercussions of their addiction to fellow humans.

"The chief reasons I see to consider experiencing loneliness as a form of mental illness are suicidal thoughts that arise when people feel isolated or alienated from other people, stalking and harassment through verbal abuse or through boring other people to death by incessant talking and unceasing chattering at social, educational, (and) work functions where it creates problems," said Dr. Kaplan.

"Earlier this sort of addiction to society was explained away through use of cliches such as Man is a social animal. But these banal cliches are just half-baked explanations for a deeper malaise that human beings have been suffering from since eons."

"We are not social animals. We are mental animals." he said.

Leanne Battaglia, 21, said she would not classify herself as being clinically addicted to communicating with other people, but could see how quickly the problem could develop. "Talking to other people has always been my way of life, but I don't think I've reached at the stage where I would classify it as an addiction," Ms Battaglia said.

Despite talking with clients all day, the sales consultant admits she often calls up her friends and family when she gets home.

"I use my mouth for verbal communication almost every night and during the day. I'm pretty much available on phone all the time and always ready to meet my friends or family and chat with them."

"I swear by my mouth-tongue combo, it's like a security blanket. I would feel really bare if my speech function was damaged" she said.

According to a report titled Media And Communications, the average child spends about five hours and 17 minutes talking each day, with teenagers aged 15 to 17 spending an average of 7 hours chatting with friends.

"I think in general with newer technologies like mobile phones and internet that make communication easier, addiction to talking is escalating," Dr Kaplan said. "We all have a big mouth and and it brings with it a range of problems."