Smoking Leads to Depression

Smoking Leads to DepressionT JOSEPH BENZIGER
A study conducted in Florida State in USA and published in the Journal of Neuropschyopharmacology has confirmed that occurrence of depression has definite links with the habit of smoking. The youngsters who have the smoking habit are quite likely to fall prey to depression later on in life.
The study was conducted using mouse model. Nicotine was given to adolescent rats, which suffered lack of pleasure and heightened sensitivity to stress during their adult stage in life. The adolescent rats were injected with either nicotine or saline for 15 days twice daily. After the period of treatment, the rats were subjected to several experiments to find out their reaction to stressful situations and offer of rewards. The rats injected with nicotine behaved showing symptoms of depression and anxiety, including repetitive grooming. There was also decrease in their consumption of rewards (sugary drinks). In stressful situations they did not engage in typical escape-like behavior but became immobile. The symptoms reduced when antidepressant drugs or more nicotine were administered.
The scientists believe that the implications on human beings are very clear. Carlos Bolanos, psychology Professor who led the team of researchers, has said, "This study is unique because it is the first one to show that nicotine exposure early in life can have long-term neurobiological consequences evidenced in mood disorders. In addition, the study indicates that even brief exposure to nicotine increases risk for mood disorders later in life."
Bolanos said that exposure to nicotine has toxic effects in several brain regions and neurotransmitter systems at distinct periods of development.
The growth of brain continues throughout adolescence. Hence the researchers explain that the consumption of nicotine negatively influences these systems and cause functional inefficiency later in life.
Sourcehttp://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090130/1536/tls-teen-smoking-leads-to-depression-in.html

Lao Hmong Refugees

With China in the North, Vietnam in the East, Cambodia in the South, Thailand and Burma in the West, Laos is a land-locked country, not having very marked natural boundaries. Laos has an area of 235,800 sq. km. It has an estimated population of 3.6 million. Movement of people across the borders is very common in the history of Laos because of its location and also due to economic and political compulsions.
During the Vietnam War, the Hmong fought alongside United States forces. After the war was over in 1975, many were forced to flee Laos with thousands crossing into Thailand. Since then many have been granted residence in the United States., Australia and other countries.
There are presently more than 6000 Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand. Thailand would like them to go back to Laos. As the refugees are afraid that they would be persecuted in Laos, they do not want to return.
Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya recently visited Laos and the repatriation program for these refugees seems to be on the anvil. Abhisit Vejjajiva has said that a Joint Border Committee of the two countries’ military would oversee the Hmong repatriation.
Sunai Phasuk, the representative of the Human Rights Watch, views that the refugees are likely to protest the repatriation program thrust upon them. He has said, "It is a real tragedy that the Thai military failed to understand this natural fear of the Lao Hmong and instead respond with heavy handed suppression." The lack of transparency inside Laos’s communist region is well known.
The present Thai plan is to return all the refugees to Laos before the end of this year.
Human-rights groups and the U.N. High Commission for Refugees have also raised concern for 158 Hmong people held at an immigration detention center in Nong Khai. Kitty McKinsey, the UNHCR spokesperson has said that the United Nations is calling for the detainees to be released. He has said, "Our position about the 158 Hmong who are in detention in Nong Khai - we continue to press for them to be released from custody because there is no reason for them to be kept in detention."
Human rights group Amnesty International has called for the Thai government to "reconsider" the decision to return the Lao Hmong until they have been granted access to a "full and fair" asylum procedure. Thailand and Laos say the current refugees are economic migrants, not victims of political persecution.
At the National Policy / Press Conference in Washington, D.C., members of the Hmong and Laotian community will honor journalist, author and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, who will serve as a keynote speaker at the event. She has persistently and courageously written about, and reported, on the plight of the Hmong and Laotian people during the Vietnam War and its aftermath.
Dr. Hamilton-Merritt continues to research and write about the plight of the Lao Hmong people and has frequently testified in the U.S. Congress. On the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the publication of her book "Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans and the Secret Wars for Laos" (Indiana University Press), will be discussed and recognized in the context of Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt's ongoing humanitarian and human rights work with Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand, Laos and the United States.
The plight of the refugees deserves to be examined with due sympathy. Even if they happen to be economic immigrants as claimed by the governments of Laos and Thailand, the fact remains that they are homeless and uncertain of their future. If their fears about their future are groundless, if there are no chances of reprisals as feared by them, they have to be convinced about it. If a transparent and open plan of action is formulated and explained to them, it would go a long way to eliminate their worries. It is hoped that the government of Thailand would adopt a flexible and humanitarian policy in the matter.
Sourcehttp://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=21D9BD1:F7F0B63DAB0DE8EE443081D363CDB3BEA13B8D4F2090AB2B&

Gandhi’s Influence on King

Great men are those who have selflessly tried and solved the problems faced by a mass of people. The field of work, basic principles, approach and methodology adopted by these persons may differ vastly; but what shows them in special light is the spirit of public service they have displayed in their life-time.
We cherish the memory of these great men not only in appreciation of what they did to the humankind but also as a source of inspiration and guidance.
There have been religious teachers, philosophers, political leaders, philanthropists, soldiers and scholars who have served the people in their own fields. Those who have served relentlessly and selflessly, and contributed to the betterment of life for their people are regarded great men.
Though such men are directly related to a country or a particular part of the world, their noble service elevates them to such a high level that they are respected all over the world. Their narrow affiliations to a section of the people or to a part of the world disappear and they become global celebrities. People from distant countries accept them as their masters and willingly follow them with confidence.
Throughout the world persons like Thiruvalluvar, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Adi Sankara, Abraham Lincoln, David Livingstone, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Mother Therasa are remembered and respected. The countries of their origin are proud for having given such great men to the humankind. Their ideas continue to be of universal relevance transcending even passage of time.
Such a great man was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, later known as Mahatma Gandhi, born at Borbandar (India) on October 2, 1869. During the first half of the twentieth century the world witnessed this simple man guiding Indian people on the path of non-violence towards their political freedom from the yoke of the British rulers. He did not have great battalions of soldiers for fighting the British government. He showed to the world by personal example that Ahimsa (non-violence) and Satyam (Truthfulness) are more powerful than any vast and powerful army. He made use of Satyagraha (non-violent resistance) to fight the foreign rulers, without an iota of hatred towards them. The entire world was observing his political fight, first skeptically, then with disbelief, then with surprise, then with wonderment and then with boundless admiration and respect. Even his political opponents did not fail to notice the abundance of his love, sincerity, respect for all religions, spirit of public service and sacrifice and above all unlimited courage to face any challenge without compromising his basic principles.
Mahatma Gandhi had millions of admirers in India and abroad. He had proved beyond doubt that the politics need not be cut-throat and violent; he had shown by personal example that the politics should be selfless and value-based. Unlike many third rate politicians of his times (and even the present times), he did not adopt the tactics of promoting hatred to gain leadership. He did not divide the people. He highlighted the common bonds among them and united them by inculcating great values of life like Ahimsa and Satya. In the midst of the so-called political leaders who incited one section of the people against another and gained leadership on the strength of cheap emotions and credulousness of the ignorant people, Mahatma Gandhi educated the people on the need to adhere to mutual love and respect; and led them on the right lines.
Among the many persons inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, one notable leader was Martin Luther King Jr, the great civil rights leader of United States of America. He visited India in 1959 mainly to show his respect to Mahatma Gandhi whom he had accepted as his role model and to know more about him.*
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s visit to India, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution on February 11, 2009 recognizing the influence of Mahatma Gandhi on Martin Luther King Jr. The Congressman John Lewis introduced the resolution; five other lawmakers viz. John Conyers, Jim McDermott, Robert C Scott, Henry Johnson and Adam B Schiff co-sponsored the resolution. The resolution urged all Americans to commemorate King's trip to India in 1959 to know more about Mahatma Gandhi and the influence his study of Gandhian philosophy had in shaping the US Civil Rights Movement, in creating political climate necessary to pass legislation to expand civil rights and voting rights for all Americans. The resolution records that the great American leader was tremendously influenced by the non-violence philosophy of Gandhi and that he successfully used this in the struggle for civil rights and voting rights.
Sourcehttp://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20090211/365/twl-us-house-passes-resolution-on-gandhi.html* An essay on Martin Luther King Jr has appeared in the February 2008 issue of Dynamic Youth.

Future of Sri Lankan Tamils

The political turmoil of Sri Lanka is likely to be over soon. The military action against the LTTE is prolonged only because the LTTE is holding about 200,000 Tamil civilians as a human shield to protect it from the Sri Lankan army. The whereabouts of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran are not known. There are differing views that he is hiding in Sri Lankan forests or that he has already left Sri Lanka. About the future course of action of the LTTE also there are several surmises including a mass suicide program as a last resort.
There are several reports from independent agencies that less than 1000 LTTE men are holding the civilian population to ransom of their safety; and do not hesitate to fire at them if they try to escape to safety regions announced by Sri Lankan government. Such brutal methods cannot succeed for long. It would become impossible to keep such a large number of persons in a forest locality for any indefinite period. Reports have also appeared that the LTTE recruits children among the captives to fight the Sri Lankan army, fully knowing that the children-recruits could never be a match for a trained army. This only shows the desperateness of the isolated LTTE, declared as terrorists in several countries including India and the USA.
Immediate task is saving Tamilian hostages
The India has offered to help segregation of the Tamil civilian population from the hold of the LTTE. Sri Lankan government may accept this offer or may prefer to adopt its own strategy to achieve this. The concern of all the right minded leaders is that the Tamil civilian population should be freed from the LTTE without giving room for any large scale killing. The attitude of the LTTE towards the Tamil civilian hostages in general and those who try to move to safer region in particular, reveals the terrorist organization’s objectives definitely lie somewhere else other than the safety and welfare of the Tamilians.
The release and transfer of the Tamil civilian population is the matter of foremost urgency and importance. After a prolonged military action it is quite likely that the Sri Lankan army personnel may also show impatience. The LTTE is also known to act in unpredictable manner at any time. With the passage of every minute the predicament of the civilian population caught in the middle is becoming more and more precarious. While Sri Lankan army should refrain from any foolhardy steps, it cannot also afford to be lethargic and leave the matter to take its own course.
The political parties in Tamil Nadu are vying with one another to gain political mileage out of the Sri Lankan conflict. Some parties want to show themselves as champions of Tamilians’ cause by openly speaking in favor of the LTTE and raising slogans against the Sri Lankan government. Though it is obvious that the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Tamilians are not one and the same; though by having emerged as a terrorist organization the LTTE has harmed the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamils in many ways; and though the LTTE has prevented emergence of enlightened political leadership among the Sri Lankan Tamilians by violent methods, some political leaders try to mislead the people of Tamil Nadu by equating the LTTE with Sri Lankan Tamilians in general.
The people should understand the difference between supporting the human rights of Sri Lankan Tamilians and supporting the LTTE, which is a terrorist organization.
A valuable political lesson
Though the LTTE stands condemned as a terrorist organization today, we cannot forget that it was Sri Lankan discrimination against the Tamilians of Sri Lanka that gave rise to such a violent response from among the Tamilians. The chapter on Tamilians’ struggle in Sri Lanka should serve as a lesson to all the political leaders of the world. In any part of the world, if a section of the people is insulted, ignored, sidelined and suppressed, at a particular stage sooner or later, they would opt for armed revolt. Whether the discrimination is because of language, color, caste, religion or region, the reaction of the suppressed lot would be the same. Usually, the more powerful section starts a political conflict with insolence and arrogance; the result is suffering and severe losses on both sides. The governments should never allow serious divisions to develop among their people and curb any such irresponsible behavior of selfish leaders.
LTTE – A vignette
LTTE arose as one of the several responses of injustice perpetrated against the Tamilians in Sri Lanka. When the Tamilians were denied their dues; when they were systematically reduced to a second grade citizens; and when Sinhalese majority tried to browbeat the Tamilian minority, Sri Lankan government should have acted fast and restored unity and balance. But Sri Lankan government miserably failed in this and this failure is the root cause of such a prolonged political strife in the country. While the Tamilians were organizing themselves politically to meet the new challenges, LTTE came into being as a militant group. A section of Sri Lankan Tamilians had been already inspired, wrongly though, by a few narrow minded politicians of Tamil Nadu, who had sown the seeds of separatism in their minds. The concocted, untenable racial theories used by the British and their protégés were used to make the gullible lot believe that the entire Sri Lanka originally belonged to the Tamilians. The story spread by them ran as follows: “Sri Lanka was ruled by Ravana; and Rama, an Aryan killed Ravana; the Sinhalese were the Aryans who had snatched what rightly belonged to the Tamilians. So the Sinhalese were the enemies of the Ravana’s descendants, who are Tamilians. So the Tamilians should fight the Sinhalese and work for separate Tamil Eezham.” It is surprising that even now such and similar stories are doing rounds among ignorant fanatics. (These propagandists either do not know or conveniently hide the fact that Ravana was a Brahmin, while Rama was a non-Brahmin.)
The LTTE represented the separatists demanding Tamil Eezham, consisting of the northern provinces of Sri Lanka.
The other political organizations developed by moderate Tamilians were not allowed to thrive and develop. Had they been allowed to function, the Tamilians would not have been pulled apart from the political mainstream of Sri Lanka. Had the LTTE remained a catalyst and allowed emergence of normal political leadership among the Tamilians, most of the Tamilians in Sri Lanka and abroad could have been spared from ineffable miseries and personal losses.
Having taken resort to wrong methods with vengeance, the LTTE has become a criminal and loathsome organization in the eyes of the world. It has become victim of parochialism, adoption of wrong policies and programs, and blunder of choice of violence.
Future political programs
It is, however, high time to concentrate on future political programs in Sri Lanka.
Robert Blake, the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka has rightly said, "So it will be very important for the government to come forward with a package of political proposals that will really ensure the Tamils of Sri Lanka a position of dignity and respect, and give them some measure of local autonomy in the areas in which they predominate."
Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, the Executive Director of the Center for Policy Alternatives has pointed out, "If you are going to win hearts and minds, reconcile and unite, how you bring this war to a conclusion is going to be the key.” He explains that the Tamil hardliners will likely try to capitalize on the government's inability or unwillingness to give the Tamil community the dignity and autonomy that they have fought for.
It is very important that Sri Lankan government does not give room for any such resurgence of Tamil militancy. If such a prolonged armed conflict for more than three decades ruining the country as a whole should occur, it would be mere escapism to blame only the Tamilian side. The root cause is the mistakes done by Sinhalese and Sri Lankan government. Sri Lankan government should display maturity and statesmanship by understanding the happenings objectively and ensuring that the past mistakes do not recur.
Suresh Premachandran, a member of parliament representing the Tamil community is of the view that the government should tackle the distrust and ethnic strife between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities, especially in the war-battered north. He says, "The Tamil community does not have any trust in the Sinhala government. They can finish off the LTTE, but there is no political solution to the Tamil ethnic problem."
If Sri Lankan government considers the annihilation of the LTTE as a major victory, it means that they have not learnt the obvious lesson. The major victory lies in healing the wounds in the minds of Tamilians; in embracing the Tamilians as citizens of Sri Lanka with equal rights and opportunities; in rehabilitating the people who have suffered severe losses because of the internal war; in bringing about emotional integration of the entire population of Sri Lanka; and in preventing any possibility of rift developing among the Tamilians and other sections of Sri Lankan citizens. The government should identify any selfish leader trying to sow the seeds of dissension among the people based on divisions such as Hindu vs. Buddhists and Tamil vs. Sinhalese as the enemy of the country and effectively prevent him from playing dirty political games.
Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with rich potentials. It has rich natural resources. The sky is the limit for its development of tourism. There is enough scope for all the communities of Sri Lankan population to lead a prosperous and peaceful life there.
Dynamic Youth wishes that the leaders of Sri Lanka would display enough political maturity, acumen and wisdom to solve the existing problem of Tamilians held as hostages by the LTTE; and to reshape the country and make it flourish as a modern prosperous country with harmonious people.
Sourcehttp://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=22237E7:F7F0B63DAB0DE8EE07DCC75909A850E25C6F54A6CF9DC2CA&

Flores Oebanda

Child Labor is a major assault on Human Rights in the present day world. The progress and achievements possible for a human being are curbed by the evil of child labor. This inhibits the mind of the child physically and psychologically. An attitude of servitude becomes dominant part of the child’s personality and even if facilities are offered at a later stage, the concerned individual’s life can never make up the earlier loss and his mental and intellectual growth becomes stunted.
The International Labor Rights Forum, a nonprofit organization advocating for humane treatment of workers has revealed that there are 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 laboring in dirty, dangerous jobs around the world. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the majority of the world’s child laborers are employed in commercial agriculture, where they are exposed to many health and safety hazards.
In 2007, a $5.2 million program with the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor was able to withdraw more than 19,000 Philippine children from exploitative labor and prevent more than 11,000 other minor children from entering the work force.
Fully realizing the adverse effects of child labor on human welfare and progress, many countries have passed legislations against it. Poverty and lack of opportunities are the main reasons for the continuance of Child Labor as a blemish on any nation’s Human Rights scenario.
The U.S. Department of Labor has found out recently that even though many countries have laws against exploiting children, enforcement is hindered by corruption and a lack of trained child-labor inspectors. But some governments are increasing enforcement efforts. The government of the Philippines, for example, rescues minors from exploitative labor as part of its Rescue the Child Workers Program.
At the direction of the US Senate an award has been established to recognize the service rendered by individuals and organizations to curb the social menace of Child Labor including all forms of slavery, debt bondage, forcible recruitment into armed conflict or drug trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. This is Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor. The award has been named after Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani carpet weaver. He was sold into slavery at age 4 but escaped when he was 12 to become a vocal critic of child slavery. A recipient of the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1994, Masih was killed a year later at the age of 13 in Pakistan.

Flores-Oebanda hails from a very poor family, as the second of 12 children. She had to support her impoverished family by scavenging and selling fish when she was a child. As a teenager, she advocated for the rights of youth and farm laborers.
Maria Cecilia Flores-Oebanda of Philippine is ardently devoted to the mission of preventing exploitation of children. She has dedicated her life for this cause. She is the president and executive director of the Visayan Forum Foundation Inc. (VFF), a nonprofit organization she helped found. Based in Quezon City, VFF has rescued and helped more than 32,000 victims and potential victims of trafficking since it was established in 1991.
VFF began with community-based programs aimed at tackling the root causes of child labor and trafficking by raising awareness among poor urban communities and running micro-credit and savings plans.
VFF gives the victims temporary shelter in halfway houses located at a number of seaports as well as at the Manila International Airport. Trafficking victims receive legal assistance, counseling and life-skills training.
Flores-Oebanda also serves as the Southeast Asia coordinator for the Global March Against Child Labor. She has organized several events that allow the voices of the region's former and current child laborers to be heard.
Flores-Oebanda found the link between vulnerable workers and human trafficking. She has been instrumental in negotiating an agreement between the Philippine Port Authority and the National Coast Guard aimed at intercepting children being trafficked from rural areas of the country and other nations to major port areas in the Philippines.
In 2005, she received the Anti-Slavery Award from Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights organization. In 2008, she was named one of the Heroes Acting to End Modern-Day Slavery by the U.S. Department of State.
The world needs many service minded persons like Flores-Oebanda to save millions of children, especially in many poor countries from exploitation. The Global Youth should pay special attention to the prevention of child labor and slavery of any kind; and ensure that Human Rights are guaranteed to every human being everywhere.
Sourcehttp://www.america.gov/st/hrenglish/2009/January/20090128141723ajesrom0.1934473.html

Darfur Refugees

There is an internally displaced people’s camp in Darfur region in Sudan. Kalma is one of the largest camps in Darfur, housing about 80,000 homeless people. Living conditions here are very poor due to overcrowding, water and food shortages.
In this camp, the Sudanese security forces have fired unlawfully at a crowd of thousands of internally displaced people during last August. This information is contained in a report published by the United Nations. As a result of this firing, in contravention of Human Rights declaration, 33 persons have been killed; 108 persons were wounded.
According to Rupert Colville, U.N. Human Rights Spokesman, more than 1000 Sudanese security personnel entered the camp for internally displaced people in Kalma on the pretext of searching for weapons and drugs. There was resistance from the internally displaced persons. Provoked by the resistance the security personnel shot arbitrarily at the crowd including women and children causing the death of 33 persons and injuring 108 persons.
The report released by Sudanese government says, “The security forces were met by thousands of civilians, some armed with spears, knives and sticks. Credible, independent sources have reported the presence of light and heavy arms in Kalma camp.” But U.N./African Union investigators say they have not been able to verify those claims. Witnesses have confirmed that security forces shot arbitrarily at a large crowd of people, including women and children.
Colville has said that investigators were unable to interview the seven Army officers who reportedly were wounded in this attack. So, they were unable to verify that claim. But, he has interviewed the seven wounded Police Officers and found they had received minor injuries in a separate incident later in the day outside the camp.
The report has concluded that the government security forces had committed violations of international human rights law against the civilian population of Kalma IDP camp. It was established that the security forces used lethal force in an unnecessary, disproportionate and therefore unlawful manner. Colville has stated, "The government security forces also failed to protect the right to life according to their obligations under international human rights law."
Sudanese authorities say they opened fire in self-defense, after snipers fired at them from trees inside the camp. They claim rebels used the camp to store their weapons and as a launching pad for attacks in the area. The U.N. investigation has, however, found no evidence supporting the government's claim that it had been attacked.
Sourcehttp://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=21D50A9:F7F0B63DAB0DE8EE33496B13AFB50D5170AD7039DCD7B7E4&

Charles Robert Darwin

In the history of Science, the great biologist Charles Darwin has carved a niche for himself. The year 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth; and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his magnum opus ‘The Origin of Species’. Quite deservingly many celebrations have been planned in Britain beginning on his birthday February, 12th. To mark the event, the National History Museum opens a new artwork on its ceiling. The Darwin exhibition organized by the National History Museum will continue till April. The British Council organizes several programs all over the world to commemorate the event and honor the life and work of Charles Darwin. A new documentary ‘Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life’ of David Attenborough was broadcast on February 1, by the BBC. The BBC has also planned for many shows on the life of Charles Darwin.
Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England on February 12, 1809. He was a son of a famous physician. His grandfather was Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), a well known poet-physician. In the field of Natural Science, the influence of Charles Darwin has been very significant. He is best known for the theory of organic evolution by natural selection.
Charles Darwin joined the University of Edinburgh at the age of 16, with the aim of becoming a physician. In those days surgical procedures were performed without anesthesia and it was too much to bear for Charles Darwin. So after three years, he joined the Christ’s College at Cambridge to study Theology. He had no religious bent of mind either. In Cambridge he came under the influence of Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) who introduced Geology to him. More than this, he gained the friendship of a professor in Botany, John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861) there. Darwin became greatly interested in Natural Science. After graduation in 1831, he joined as an unpaid naturalist and undertook a five-year voyage on a government survey ship, the H.M.S Beagle. As a member of this crew he visited South America and the South pacific Islands.
Darwin took to geological and biological study seriously, collected a lot of specimens and prepared detailed records. During this voyage Darwin came across convincing evidence of the evolutionary changes of the animals and plants.
It was in Galapagos Islands, he gathered evidence of 14 different types of finch birds, each type having remarkably adapted to the area where they lived. Those which had to feed on insects had developed sharper beaks to stab the insects; those which fed on seeds had strong, parrot-like bills to break the shells. He noticed giant tortoises with several different and distinctive features that would make their life possible in the particular island in which they lived. Darwin developed a theory that the species are not rigid and fixed about their inherited form; but they gradually change in form and features to increase their chances of survival. A common ancestor may mean some similarities but the species do change in features.
Darwin published his magnum opus The Origin of Species by Means of in 1859. He called his evolutionary theory the process of . He asserted that the living organisms that adapt to their environment fast were more likely to survive and pass their characteristics on to their offspring. He explained that the white fur of the polar bear happily merges with the snowy environment; the bears living in the forest have black or brown fur to suit their environment; such different features are genetic adaptations to different environments.
The statements of Darwin gained greater acceptance only after Gregor Mendel found in 1866 that the gene was the basic unit of heredity. Gregor Mendel stated that the genes were the ‘molecular blueprints’ passed on to succeeding generations.
Though Darwin concentrated on animals and plants in the beginning, he developed specific findings on the ascent or of humankind also later on. His book The Descent of Man (1871) received a mixed response. It was too much for many people to agree that human beings emerged out of non-human life forms. Darwin’s ideas meant that the idea of miraculous creation of man was false. So Darwin’s findings were branded as speculation of an atheist.
Though his evolutionary theory has undergone many modifications, the modern biology remains greatly indebted to the services of Charles Darwin.

SOS Children’s Villages

There is hardly any pathetic condition that can be worse than the life of homeless, orphaned children. These innocent children born in this world like any other human being are subjected to ineffable cruelty and suffering. Such children having nobody to support them easily fall prey to heartless criminals who are engaged in human trafficking. There are cases where children are purposely maimed and forced to beggary. The girls are forced into brothels. Poverty and lack of love and affections convert some of these children into hard core criminals. While there can be no alternative for the love and affection of natural parents, there is a forceful social need for taking some remedial measures to take care of the homeless children.

Having been moved by the condition of the large number of homeless children, the innocent victims of the World War II, Hermann Gmeiner dedicated himself to the service of these children. Born on June 23, 1919 in Vorarlberg (Austria), Hermann Gmeiner had lost his mother very early in life. He served as a soldier in Russia and had first hand experience of the cruelties of the war. Dislocation and suffering of countless orphaned children melted his heart. He realized the importance of children growing in a homely atmosphere, appreciative of various familial relationships. He got the idea of SOS Children’s villages. With whatever he had – that was only 600 Austrian Schillings (roughly US $40) – he established the SOS Children’s Village Association in 1949. In Imst in Austrian Tyrol, he established the first SOS Children’s village.
He gave up even his medical degree course and dedicated himself wholly to the service to the orphaned children with the concept of family-centered child welfare. His concept of child welfare included four factors viz. a mother, a house, brothers and sisters, and a village. For the rest of his life he worked tirelessly for spreading his concept of child welfare and establishment of SOS Children’s villages in all parts of the world. Owing to his selfless service, in the year 1986 when he died in Austria, there were 233 SOS Children’s villages in 85 countries! He had breathed new life into thousands of children!
Now there are 473 SOS Children’s villages in 132 countries. Through the community outreach programs, more than a million children are benefited in the world.
The national organizations are autonomous legal entities like foundation, trust, association and so on, having their own statutes, governing body etc. They are all non-profit organizations. The common factor is that all of them are the members of the umbrella organization SOS-Kinderdorf International. Their directors work on an honorary basis. The member associations have to comply with the international statutes and principles for education and child-care of SOS-Kinderdorf International, and for financial and administrative practices. They also enjoy provision of funds through the umbrella association and the services of the General Secretariat.
In order to provide an insight over the function of SOS Children’s Villages at national level, a brief report on their organization in the Philippines is given below.

In Philippines SOS Children’s Villages is a non-profit child welfare organization that gives long term family-based care and education to children in need. For forty one years now, it has provided Filipino orphaned, abandoned, and neglected children with what they once lost—a MOTHER who gives unconditional love, BROTHERS and SISTERS to grow up with, a HOME to belong to and a VILLAGE to bridge them to the outside world. We are witnesses to many sad, young lives that become transformed into happy, meaningful existence. All are possible through the power of selfless love.
Our driving force is founder Hermann Gmeiner’s vision—the belief that every child should grow with love, respect and security. By God’s grace, it is now realized in 473 SOS Children’s Villages and 383 SOS Youth Facilities in 132 countries.
SOS Philippines is under Austria’s SOS Kinderdorf International that started in 1949. In the Philippines, there are already seven Villages—Lipa, Tacloban, Calbayog, Cebu, Davao, Manila and Iloilo—with the eighth to open in Bataan come February 2009. This year marks the SOS Family’s 60th year as an organization working to alleviate child abandonment and for the preservation of families. All with the help of Friends who believe that heroism still lives.
Heroes are born everyday, everywhere. Being one does not require Herculean strength or phenomenal powers. What it requires, however, is a big heart, one with a great capacity to love. If we give ourselves a chance, we can all be heroes. In these trying times, kindness and compassion can go far, saving souls along the way. Today’s children are fighting in a harsher battlefield where they are the most vulnerable. Their future lies in our hands. We can be their heroes, fight for their rights to live in a better world.
Our Vision: Every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security.
Our Mission: We build families for children in need, we help them shape their own futures and we share in the development of their communities.
Our Values: We take action • We keep our promises • We believe in each other • We are reliable partners.
SOS Children’s Villages PhilippinesMindanao Drive, Ayala Alabang Vilage, 1799 Muntinlupa CityWebsite: http://www.sosphilippines.org/ Email: home@sosphilippines.orgContact nos.: (632) 807-0764 (TL) / 850-9654 (telefax)

The wonderful concept of family-centered child welfare that forms the cornerstone of the international organization SOS-Kinderdorf International and its branches in 132 countries makes it a unique organization in the world. The noble service rendered by them deserves any praise. We should do everything possible to strengthen this organization that helps thousands of helpless children grow as ideal global citizens.
Sourcehttp://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/

Power of Innovation

There is a general impression that the world is full of mediocre people and that a genius is an exception. This view is strengthened by what we observe in the world. The majority of human beings are content with just carrying on with their lives; their lives are marked only by the common activities of eating, sleeping and propagating. A person coming out with an idea that has a positive impact on the life pattern in this world is always an exception. By what we are able to observe it seems that the power of innovation is the rare gift of the Mother Nature to select few. But recent researches have proved to the contrary.

David Pensak holds 38 patents. He developed the Internet Firewall. He travels throughout the world and lectures on Innovation. This scientific wizard is convinced that the power of innovation is available to all of us. According to him innovation springs from a need, a dissatisfaction or curiosity. The power of innovation is not dependent on the level of education or the rung one occupies on the corporate ladder.
David Pensak has found out that innovation is not the prerogative of any select person. There is scope for it in any subject and in any situation.
For example, he says that a typical restaurant can serve three times as many customers if they are not taking up table space waiting for menus, deciding what to order, waiting for the food to be prepared and waiting for waiters and waitresses to bring their bills.
Davie Pnesak worked in E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company for three decades. Now after leaving it, he travels widely for lecturing on innovation at universities and corporations. The Creative and Innovative Economy Center at George Washington University in Washington sent Pensak to Jordan, Thailand and Brazil in 2008 to relate his thoughts on releasing innovation energies. The center has booked him for similar lecture assignments in India, Brazil and other places in 2009.
In his book, Innovation for Underdogs, he claims, “the mind power behind innovation is quite basic, extremely logical and certainly inherent in any human being living and breathing today.”
He explains that the key step in the development of his Internet firewall was not a technological or scientific breakthrough, but rather the identification of a problem; in this case, the need to protect information transmitted on the Internet. The solution dawned on him when he remembered a cartoon in a comic book, which “showed a buzzard sitting on a branch while looking massively irritated and extremely hungry in the empty desert. The caption read, ‘Patience, Hell, I'm going to kill the first thing that moves.”
Riding in the back seat of a taxi, Pensak realized that that buzzard, which belongs to the raptor family of birds, could be reincarnated into a computer program that would systematically and flawlessly eliminate any foreign and suspicious data going into or coming out of any computer system. From there it was a short step to finding programmers to write the software. He named the innovation ‘Raptor’ to honor the cartoon buzzard.
Another important point explained by him is about the ability to find the relationship existing between different factors. He writes down anything he sees or hears on filing cards. He periodically sorts them out in pairs and reviews. He looks for existing relationships. For example, on one card he wrote, “Soldiers are bleeding to death from shrapnel wounds in Iraq”; on another, “a Brazilian viper's venom causes hemorrhaging then clotting.” The innovative insight came when he saw a connection between them.
He has developed an idea: “If a guy has been shot, you want to flush the wound to clean it, then you want to stop the bleeding,” he said. “So maybe you want to make a swab with this venom in it and rub the inside of the wound with it.”
If only we cultivate the habit of looking for existing relationships between different phenomena among our youngsters, maybe soon innovators would become a majority.
Sourcehttp://www.america.gov/web-version-newsletter/newsletter01_08_09.html

Life in Mars

The scientists of NASA have come out with a major discovery. They have detected large quantities of methane gas on the Red Planet. According to them, this shows a possibility of biological or geological activity on Mars.
Astro-biologist Sushil Atreya thinks of two possibilities on the availability of methane on Mars. He says, "Either it's geology, in which case it's the reaction between water and rock, or it is biology, in which case the microbes are producing the methane."
Methane was first detected in Mars as early as 2003 by scientists using Earth-based telescopes. Scientists say that one plume of Martian methane contained nearly 19-thousand tons of the gas.
In the Martian atmosphere, methane is quickly destroyed. The detection of plumes of methane is, therefore, significant. NASA's Michael Mumma says, "Mars is active. Now whether or not it is because of geology, or biology, or both, we don't know."
Scientists have detected seasonal variations of methane emissions over the planet's northern hemisphere.
Physicist Geronimo Villanueva of Catholic University in Washington says the gas plumes were emitted during the northern Martian spring and summer. He has said, "One of the most important, striking, things about the discovery is that the regions where we see methane are regions that have a lot of rich history. For example, these regions show evidence that waters once flowed over them, and this is very important because if the water is still available below the surface, some activity -- geology, biology -- could be using them."
The question of existence of life form anywhere in the Universe other than this world has been persisting in the minds of the scientists for a long time. The general opinion is that even if life exists in some other planet in the Universe, it could only be the lower forms like insects.
It has been for long a matter for debate among the scientists, whether reports of methane deposits on Mars were real. But now, Geologist Lisa Pratt has said that the scientists have the evidence needed to consider the possibility of life on the Red Planet. She says, "It's time; it is prudent that we begin to explore Mars, looking for the possibility of a life form that is exhaling methane." But Pratt is of the view that at most, the life form in Mars could be a very thin, nearly invisible film of microbes deep underground.
The proposals for launching the Mars Science Laboratory in 2011 are under way. Let us hope that it could provide more detailed analysis on the presence of methane and life forms on the planet Mars.
Sourcehttp://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=21A63F2:F7F0B63DAB0DE8EEFFE1DAA67D4C425D0531BB26A5003E7B&

Outcastes in India

All Indian citizens are equal. There is a constitutional guarantee for the equality. There is a definite anti-discriminatory law to ensure that nobody is treated as untouchable, passed as early as 1955.
There were several sections of Indian society that were treated as untouchables. Gandhiji who wanted to eliminate the evil of such discrimination, termed them as Harijans meaning to highlight that they are not lower than any other member of the society.
The caste system that divided the people of India originated in India when the professions were mostly hereditary. Some sections of the society were treated as outcastes and untouchables because of the menial jobs done by them.
There are 170 million people in India now, who belong to the communities once considered untouchables. They are known as Dalits. About 21% of the Dalit people live in Uttar Pradesh. Though it is against law some people are treated as untouchables by others thereby violating specific provisions of law.
A Dalit woman protester argues with a police officer during a protest against desecration of a statue of a leader of low-caste people, in Mumbai (File)
Human Rights activists claim that the law against the discrimination of the Dalits is only on paper and that attacks against Dalits do occur frequently with the knowledge of the authorities who are supposed to protect them. Rajni Tilak, a Dalit activist has said that while the laws have changed, the mindset of Indian people has not.
Bal Gangadara Tilak expressed the view that there is a political will in India strong enough to end such discrimination; but unfortunately the prejudices against Dalits have not gone out of the social structure even now!
A recent survey has found that in 38 percent of government schools, Dalit children are made to sit separately at meals. In 20 percent of schools, Dalit children are not even permitted to drink water from the same source as other students.
Dalits, who traditionally were engaged in works like handling animal carcasses or cleaning latrines, were shunned by high castes because their occupations were regarded as ‘polluting’. But now the opportunities are available for them to come up in the social ladder. Mayavati, a Dalit lady is now the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. There are several ministers in the States and in the Union government coming from Dalit communities. But we have to go a long way before the equality of all Indian citizens becomes a reality. One major obstacle is the fact that claiming to do away the injustices of past the government have almost perpetuated the caste system.
After Independence the Congress enjoyed unlimited powers and the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was referred to as the uncrowned king of India. The caste system could have been totally eliminated legally by constitutional means and different approaches could have been adopted to rectify the past injustices. For the politicians, the continuance of the caste system is very convenient to keep the people of India permanently divided and play politics against different sections of the people. So on one hand they keep on talking of social justice and on the other they run the entire political and administrative machinery on caste lines. This is like a thief shouting ‘thief, thief’ while running to escape. The onlookers would think that the thief was actually running ahead of him and would leave the real thief undisturbed.
The Youth have to study such social problems objectively and in detail without being carried away by political chicanery and try to empower themselves to bring about justifiable and effective solutions.
Source
http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2153BA4:F7F0B63DAB0DE8EE9250BF72307F27E10531BB26A5003E7B&