SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE- REALITY TOKE OVER FROM THE FAIRY TALE

Rubina the young female star of Slumdog Millionaire has now to pass the night on the street after the hut she was living in with her parents was demolished.

LONGLIVETY IN INDIA - FEMALE LIFETIME

Around 55 of 1,000 girls born every year don't live beyond their first
birthday and 77 per 1,000 births don't live beyond the age of five.

While a girl born in India today is expected to live for 65 years, the average life expectancy of a male child stands at 63.

Similar is the case with Pakistan and Nepal. While the life expectancy of girls in Pakistan stands at 64 and 63 for boys, in Nepal, an average girl child is expected to live till she is 63 and a male child till the age of 62.

In comparison, girls born in Japan will on an average live till they are 86 and those born in China and Sri Lanka will live till they are 75.
The tiny nation of San Marino, which is surrounded by Italy, has the world's lowest child mortality and boasts the longest average lifespan for men anywhere, at 81 years.

This has been revealed by WHO's World Health Statistics 2009.

Globally, WHO recorded 9 million deaths of under five-year-olds in 2007, 28% lesser than the 12.5 million who died in 1990.

India too recorded a fall in infant mortality. While 84 girls per 1,000 population died in 1990 before they reached they reached the age of one year, the number fell to 68 in the year 2000. In case of male children, 82 deaths per 1,000 births in 1990 reduced to 66 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

The under five mortality rate too has decreased in India. While 109 male children per 1,000 births died before their fifth birthday, it dropped to 86 in 2000 and 67 per 1,000 births now.

"The decline in the death toll of children under five can be achieved by scaling up interventions such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets for malaria and oral rehydration therapy for diarrhoea, increased access to vaccines and improved water and sanitation," said Dr Ties Boerma, director of WHO's department of health statistics and informatics.

According to the report, adolescent pregnancy rates remained high across the world. There were 48 births for every 1,000 women aged 15-19 years in 2006, a small decline from 51 per 1,000 in the year 2000.

An estimated 1.2 billion people are affected by neglected tropical diseases every year. In 2007, 546 million people were treated to prevent the parasitic disease lymphatic filariasis.

Out of every 100 deaths worldwide, 51 are due to non-communicable conditions 34 due to communicable, maternal or nutritional conditions and 14 due to injuries.

"Action needs to be taken now to implement preventive interventions, including reductions in tobacco use, overweight and obesity, and high blood pressure," the report said.

Child mortality is one of the millennium development goals adopted by UN member states, with the aim of cutting infant deaths by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.

But that progress was still slow and sparse, especially in poor countries and in Africa.

In low income countries, $22 per capita goes to health care, compared to $4,012 in wealthy nations, according to WHO.

Pneumonia and diarrhoea kill 3.8 million infants every year, even though both conditions are treatable, WHO said.

Another development goal, maternity mortality, remains largely unchanged since 1990, with a global average death rate of 400 maternal deaths per 100,000 births a year, and more than double that rate in sub-Saharan Africa.

THE ULTIMATE TEST- WHO CAN FLY ?

The early selection of young parachutist recruts by the juvenile section of the Indian Air Force

VEG ART VII

REIKI MEDITATION

An Article from THE SPEAKING TREE IN TIMES OF INDIA

Contact:svn.mittal@gmail.com
THE SPEAKING TREE


Doing Meditation The Reiki Way



V N Mittal



Regular practice of the simple two-way technique of Reiki meditation can not only help you improve your focus and awaken you spiritually, but also can amplify your innate healing abilities to help you achieve holistic health
Maintaining a high level of life force energy, prana, is a prerequisite for holistic health, achieved through practice of various techniques that can generate balance between body and mind, such as yoga, Tai Chi, Quantum Touch, or Reiki, to name just a few. All of them employ one or the other form of meditation as an important component for treatment at the physical, mental and emotional levels.
The two-in-one Reiki meditation technique deftly combines the healing powers of both meditation and Reiki. The benefits accruing from them increase manifold as a consequence of synergy generated by blending them together. What keeps Reiki meditation apart from other meditation forms is its unique ability to strengthen the innate healing capability of the practitioner.
Mikao Usui revived the ancient art of tapping into the universal life force energy for healing known as Reiki. He was once asked by a pupil, "I have practised meditation for a number of years, why do i need to learn Reiki to help me learn to meditate?" Meditation is an integral part of Reiki. In his Reiki practice and teachings, Usui practised meditation as an important constituent. In fact, he often used Gassho (hands held in prayer position) meditation as a means to pass the ability to channel Reiki to the practitioner. Also, Osho Rajneesh who developed Osho Neo Reiki 20 years ago included powerful meditations for a faster healing.
After Usui, a number of forms of Reiki meditations have found their way in Japan and other countries. One of the simplest but effective forms involves the following steps:
1. Sit quietly with closed eyes in a Sukh Asana or upright in a chair, with both hands held in front of your chest in prayer ‘Gassho’ position and the soles of the feet joined together.
2. Connect to Reiki by simple intent or by drawing distant healing symbol.
3. Draw the power symbol with your hand in front of you and say it three times. Visualise white light emanating from your fingers.
4. Visualise the symbol in the third eye chakra and meditate on it.
5. Now allow the symbol to float up as a brilliant light above your crown. Return your awareness to the third eye chakra.
6. When finished, relax and release your all thoughts. You feel fully energised with the healing energy

For those who do not possess the ability to channel Reiki, the Gassho meditation can be performed in this way:
1. Hold your hands a little above the chest in prayer position in such a way that your exhaled breath can be felt at a point where the top of the middle fingers representing fire element meet the hands joined together.
2. Now focus your attention at that point and try to release stray thoughts by focusing at the point repeatedly. Do not try to chase stray thoughts. Return your focus to the point by pressing the two middle fingers against each other.
Practise Reiki meditation for 20 minutes a day or as long as you feel comfortable. Reiki meditation deftly combines the usual healing effects of simple meditation techniques with Reiki and works in more ways than one.
The writer is a Reiki Sensei based in Dehradun. E-mail: vn.mittal@ gmail.com