Do you shiver when it is hot outside?

Your body has an in-built thermostat, a sort of climate-control mechanism that helps regulate internal temperatures. It keeps you cool when temperatures soar in summer, and changes that up when the weather turns cold. But what when you’re cold even in hot weather? “It’s natural for a person to shiver when there’s an infection or a deficiency,” says Dr Sujit Kar Purkayastha, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Peerless Hospital, Kolkata. For instance, many women who get a UTI, shiver, and you may find your child buried under a quilt when she gets the flu. There is, of course, the rare case of cold intolerance, possible in some people who are abnormally sensitive to cold temperatures, but for most, there’s a underlying cause that can be cured.
Hypothyroidism
The thyroid gland regulates heat in the body. When the gland is underactive, the body metabolism goes down and a person can feel unnecessarily cold. “A malfunctioning thyroid results in a decrease in pulse pressure, indicating poor heart function.
Blood flow is diverted from the skin, making the extremities feel cold,” says Dr Alok Prasad, consultant physician, Irene Hospital, Delhi. Visit a doctor to get tested if you notice these signs. Most people get their normal energy levels and feel warmer soon after starting treatment.
Anaemia
Iron is a key mineral that helps your red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your body, bringing heat and other nutrients to every cell in your system, says Dr Thillai Vallal, senior consultant cardiologist, Venkataeswara Hospitals, Chennai. Without enough iron, red blood cells can’t effectively do their job, and you tend to feel cold. Iron is also crucial because a deficiency can make your thyroid lethargic, leading to hypothyroidism, which further leaves you cold. A blood test will pick up any problems, and you’ll be prescribed medication. Iron supplements can help, but the best way to boost your iron intake is through healthy food. “Include plenty of iron-rich food in your diet, such as lean meats, dark green vegetables, pulses and dried fruits, and pair vegetarian food with citrus fruit high in vitamin C,” says Naini Setalvad, a nutritionist based in Mumbai.
Poor circulation
If your extremities (your fingertips and toes) are the only parts of your body that feel cold, it could be because of poor blood circulation. “The reason could range from your heart’s inability to pump blood effectively, to narrowing of blood vessels or a blockage in the arteries,” says Dr Pavan Kumar, a Mumbai-based cardiac surgeon. It’s a warning sign that you shouldn’t take lightly.
If you’re a smoker, all the more reason to get it checked.
Low body weight
When you’re underweight, you may lack an adequate amount of body fat to ‘insulate’ you from the cold. If you aren’t eating much, then your metabolism may struggle to create enough heat. This happens especially if you’re on an unreasonable diet, or if you struggle with an eating disorder. A healthy diet, containing whole, healthy foods that have protein, fat, and carbohydrate, is the only way out, says Setalvad. Check whether you’re getting enough B vitamins. These are required by the body to convert the food we eat into energy. You can find this group of vitamins in grains such as brown rice, barley and oats, as well as lean proteins and oily fish.
Dehydration
This may seem counter-intuitive. After all, we drink water to cool down. Water traps heat and releases it in small doses, regulating body temperature. Aim for the requisite eight glasses a day, and make sure to hydrate if you’ve been working out hard.
Sleep deprivation
Researchers still haven’t got the answer to why this happens, but studies suggest that one of the reasons could be that not getting enough sleep could affect how efficiently your hypothalamus (regulates body temperature) works. Also, when you’re fatigued, your metabolism works at a more sluggish pace, producing less heat and a slower circulation.
Bacterial and viral infections
Whether you get a slight throat infection, or food poisoning, you’re bound to feel cold, because the thermostat is set at a higher temperature, says Dr Vallal. It’s the body’s way of fighting against bacteria or viruses that are sensitive to temperatures.

Curbs on cattle sale for meat - Ban in animal markets alarms industry

New Delhi, May 26: The Centre has banned the sale of cattle for slaughter in animal markets, stunning the meat industry that said 90 per cent of supply would be affected and leaving some holdout states like Bengal to hope state laws would override the new rules.

A notification issued by the Union environment ministry on May 23 prohibits the sale or purchase of cattle in livestock markets for "slaughter purpose" with the word "cattle" covering bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers, calves and camels.

The order essentially means the supply of the meat of these animals will now largely hinge on direct transactions between farmers and registered abattoirs at the farm gate. Meat industry executives say such transactions at present do not cross 10 per cent of the total buffalo meat output.

The environment ministry has described the rules as part of efforts to curb cruelty to animals but has triggered fears that the ban will strengthen cow vigilantism, which has claimed at least 10 lives in five states over the past year.

Dietary habits had become a controversial issue soon after the Narendra Modi government, which celebrates its third anniversary today came to power. Large sections of minority communities depend on bovine meat, mostly buffalo meat, for nutrition. Cow slaughter now is allowed only in a few states such as Bengal, Kerala and the Northeast.

A senior Bengal minister today said that regulation of cattle markets was a state subject and chief minister Mamata Banerjee would protect the right to food with all her might. The new rules have also fuelled fears that the farmers will be saddled with old cattle that they cannot afford to take care of.

The new rules - known as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulations of Livestock Markets) Rules 2017 - require sellers to provide a signed declaration that the cattle "has not been brought to market for sale for slaughter". Buyers of cattle shall "not sell the animal for the purpose of slaughter".

The notification specifies the creation of an animal market committee that should ensure that the declaration has the name and address of the owner of the cattle and a copy of a photo identity proof. Details that identify the cattle should also be mentioned.

The panel should retain every declaration for six months and produce it if an inspector demands it during that period.

The market committee is also required to take an undertaking from the buyer that the animals have been bought for agricultural purposes and not for slaughter. The committee is expected to ensure that the buyer is an agriculturist by asking to see the relevant revenue document.

The buyer must also declare that the animal would not be sold for six months from the date of purchase.

The new rules ban animal markets within 25km of any state border and 50km of any international border.

Veterinary inspectors in animal markets will be expected to provide "emergency euthanasia" to animals that have severe, irreparable injuries or are terminally ill. They must also ensure that carcasses, including those of naturally dead animals, are incinerated and not sold or flayed for leather. This applies only to deaths taking place in the animal markets.

An animal welfare specialist who had helped draft the rules said they were aimed at ensuring that animals for slaughter were sourced directly from farms and that only healthy animals were traded for agricultural purposes, under veterinarians' supervision.

"The rules seek to promote the concept of farm-to-fork -- they require slaughterhouse operators who wish to procure animals to engage directly with the farmers," said Nuhegalli Jayasimha, director of the Humane Society International, India, a non-government organisation involved in animal welfare. #The notification follows a directive from the Supreme Court in response to a petition by Gauri Mulekhi, a trustee with the People for Animals, seeking regulations for livestock markets where, animal welfare activists say, animals and birds are transported and treated in "cruel" and "deplorable" conditions.

Meat industry executives and other analysts fear that the new rules will choke the existing channels through which raw meat is procured.

"We are staring at rules that could spell the end of an entire industry that feeds tens of thousands of workers and is essential for the cattle economics for buffalo breeders," said Vishal Johri, a merchant banker who advises exporters.

Fauzan Alavi, director of Allana Group, the country's largest exporter of processed food products, said: "The new rules --- on which we were not consulted --- have come as a surprise and a shock for the industry. It is not possible for individual farmers to sell their spent animals for slaughter (directly to us) without going to the nearest animal market."

The May 23 gazette notification says that the draft was published on January 16 and "objections and suggestions received from the public have been considered by the central government". Alavi added: "It is surprising that the environment ministry has come out with the notification even though trade in livestock falls in the domain of the animal husbandry department."#

S.P. Sabharwal, secretary-general of the All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association, said: "This is a major change that will hit farmers more than meat exporters, who will also be hit. Currently, we buy buffaloes that are unable to produce milk and are too old to breed through middlemen who bid for these animals at cattle markets. These sell for about Rs 20,000-25,000 a buffalo. If farmers sell at the farm gate, he will sell at whatever is paid to him, and it will certainly be lower than the rate discovered after bidding at a market."

Alavi said the export industry would have to down its shutters for want of raw material. "The new rules will promote vigilantism and eventually hurt the dairy industry. How will you explain to a mob whether the animals being transported are meant for dairy farms or slaughterhouses?" he asked.

India is the global leader in buffalo meat exports and feeds markets in Vietnam, Malaysia, Egypt, Indonesia and Saudia Arabia. A slide in sales, analysts said, could lead to meat shortages and price rise in these markets, with the replacement of India as a source of meat supplies by rivals who include Pakistan.

A Smile for the Weekend

A doctor that had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally retired.  At her next check-up, the new  doctor told her to bring a list of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her.  As the doctor was looking through these his eyes grew wide as he realized Grandma had a prescription for birth control pills..  "Mrs. Smith, do you realize these are birth control pills?"   "Yes, they help me sleep at night."    "Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely nothing in these that could possibly help you sleep!"  She reached out and patted the young doctor's knee and said,  "Yes, dear, I know that.  But every morning, I  grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16-year-old Granddaughter drinks.  And believe me it definitely helps me sleep at night."   You gotta love Grandmas!


A man was riding on a full bus minding his own business when the gorgeous woman next to him started to breast-feed her baby.  The baby  wouldn't take it so she said, "Come on sweetie, eat it all up or I'll have to give it to this nice man next to us."  Five minutes later the baby was still not feeding, so she said, "Come on, honey.  Take it or I'll give it to this nice man here."  A few minutes later the anxious man blurted out, "Come on kid.  Make up your mind!  I was supposed to get off four stops ago!" 


Students in an advanced Biology class were taking their mid-term exam.  The last question was,  'Name seven advantages of Mother's Milk..'  The question was worth 70 points or none at all  One student was hard  put to think of seven advantages.  He  wrote: 

1)   It is perfect formula for the child. 
2)   It provides immunity against several diseases. 
3)    It is always the right temperature. 
4)    It is inexpensive. 
5)   It bonds the child to mother and vice versa. 
6)   It  is always available as needed. 
And  then the student was stuck.  Finally, in desperation, just  before the bell rang indicating the end of the test he wrote: 
7)   It comes in two attractive containers and it's high enough off the ground where the cat can't get it.  He got an A. 


An old Italian man in Brooklyn is dying.   He calls his grandson to his  bedside.  "Guido, I wan'  you lissina me.  I wan' you to take-a  my chrome  plated 38 revolver so you will always remember me."  "But  grandpa, I really don't  like guns; how about you leave me your Rolex watch instead?"  "You lissina me, boy!  Somma day you gonna be runna da business, you gonna have a beautiful wife, lotsa money, a big-a home and maybe a couple of bambinos.  Then one-a day you gonna comea home and maybe finda you wife inna bed with another man.  Whatta you gonna do then?  Pointa to you watch and say, 'Times up!' " 


A  woman and her 12-year-old son were riding in a taxi in Detroit..  It was raining and all the prostitutes were standing under awnings. "Mom, what are all those women doing?”, asked the boy.  "They're waiting for their husbands to get off work," she replied.  The taxi driver turns around and says, "Geez lady, why  don't you tell him the truth?  They're hookers, boy!  They have sex with men for money."  The little boy's eyes get wide and he says, "Is that true Mom?"  His mother, glaring hard at the driver, answers "Yes"  After a  few minutes the kid asks, "Mom, if those women have babies, what happens to them?"  She said, "Most of them become taxi drivers." 


An elderly, but hardy cattleman from Texas once told a young female neighbor that if she wanted to live a long life,  the secret was to sprinkle a pinch of gunpowder on her oatmeal each morning. She did this religiously and lived to the age of 103.  She left behind 14 children, 30 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren and a 40 foot hole where the crematorium used to be. 


IF YOU DON'T PASS THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS BY 11:30 AM TOMORROW, YOU WILL RECEIVE THREE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ABSOLUTELY FREE. 

GRIN*
'A day without laughter.. Is a day wasted'

After a very long time, the above have been sent by Prakash Bhartia.

Of cows, compassion and communal comity

Even as cow vigilante groups in the northern States are targeting people on the mere suspicion of eating beef or smuggling cattle, an adarsh gaushala (model cow shelter) established by a Muslim institution in Jodhpur is taking care of old and sick cows. It is also assisting dairy farmers in a dozen surrounding villages in looking after their animals, and earning goodwill for promoting communal amity.

Launched in 2004 by Jodhpur-based Marwar Muslim Educational and Welfare Society (MMEWS), the initiative has won mass appreciation, with hundreds of people handing over cows and bulls to the shelter.

Old, weak, sick, abandoned, and neglected cows are given priority at the sprawling gaushala located in Bujhawad village off the Jodhpur-Barmer highway, 12km from Jodhpur. The shelter claims to be the first gaushala to be wholly owned and managed by the Muslim community.

Situated on a large piece of land without any boundary wall, the shelter is currently home to 217 bovines tagged by the State government's Animal Husbandry Department.

The shelter's full-time caretaker Hakim Khan and his wife Allahrakhi are in charge of the bovines’ welfare. Dogs and wild animals intruding into the shelter is a major concern, but Mr. Khan says the job is worth it. “We are glad to receive appreciation from the majority community, which sees the gaushala as an enterprise promoting communal harmony,” he said.

A trained team brings the cows, mostly from nearby villages, to the gaushala in a specially-designed vehicle. The MMEWS currently spends a little over ₹1 lakh a month on the animals. It is planning to double the shelter’s capacity by taking over a part of the 56 acres of land allotted for the construction of the Maulana Azad University, the society's general secretary, Mohammed Atique, told The Hindu.

“When we started the gaushala, some fringe elements objected to Muslims operating the shelter,” Mr. Atique said. “But over the years, the shelter has won people’s admiration and generated immense goodwill as villagers appreciate the selfless work.”

Most of the bovines in the shelter have come from villages such as Doli, Gangana, Bhandu, Narnadi, Khudala, Jhanwar and Rohila Kalan. The shelter also employs a team of veterinarians who not only attend to the animals but also visit the nearby villages to assist dairy farmers in taking care of their cattle. Filling gaps in the government’s veterinary infrastructure, the team runs vaccination and treatment camps for stray cows in the villages. “A mobile van visits these villages to treat cows, goats and buffaloes free of cost,” Mr. Atique said.

MCI PASSED A MOTION TO “CONGRATULATE” CORRUPT AND CRIMINALLY-INDICTED DR. KETAN DESAI

by PBTINDIA on MAY 19, 2017

All members of the Medical Council of India (MCI) unanimously passed a motion during their last General Body (GB) meeting (just posted on MCI website) specifically to congratulate the disgraced Dr. Ketan Desai who is still free on bail waiting for his criminal trial on charges bribery and corruption after he was arrested by the CBI in 2010. As can be seen on page 7 of the minutes of this GB meeting:

“Dr.Ved Prakash Mishra moved an informal congratulatory resolution on the achievement of the highest position of World Medical Association by Former President of Medical Council of India, Dr.Ketan Desai and the whole house seconded and extended their committed heartfelt congratulations to Dr.Desai. A congratulatory letter be sent to Dr.Desai on behalf of MCI in this regard.”

While the entire country and even the international medical community are well aware about the corrupt nature of Dr. Ketan Desai, as recently held in an editorial published in the prestigious international “British Medical Journal” (BMJ), there can be little doubt that the doctor-leaders who are running the healthcare and medical education system in MCI are nothing but cronies of this disgraced ex-MCI chief, Dr. Ketan Desai. Unfortunately, the ultimate price of this wide-spread medical corruption will be paid by the defenseless patients across India.

6-inch worm was making baby’s liver sick, pulled out in a rare op

NEW DELHI: Doctors at Delhi’s GB Pant Hospital recently removed a six-inch long roundworm from the liver of an 18-month-old infant. Roundworms are parasitic organisms, which get into the human body through ingestion of contaminated food and water.


Commonly, they are found in the intestine but this was a rare case in which the parasitic organism managed to travel to the liver via bile duct of the baby boy, doctors said. “This is perhaps the second such case in the world,” Dr A S Puri, professor and head of gastroenterology department of the hospital, said. He added that in older children, above three years of age, roundworm has been found in liver previously.

The first case was reported in Brazil. There, Puri said, the doctors removed the parasite using a paediatric endoscope of 9mm in diameter from the liver of a one and-a-half-year-old patient. However, GB Pant did not have this equipment, so they had to use an adult endoscope, which is bigger in size.

“We took a chance because if the child wasn’t operated upon in time, he could have died. Thankfully, the procedure was uneventful,” the doctors said. The endoscope is a flexible tube with a camera attached to it.

During the procedure, which was conducted on Friday, doctors inserted it into the child’s food pipe via mouth. It went up to the small intestine. Then, an endoscopic knife was inserted into the bile duct, which had to be cut to extract the roundworm.

“The whole procedure took us 20 minutes. But we had to do a lot of brainstorming before making this attempt. The food pipe is next to windpipe and any complication could have proven fatal,” said one of surgeons. The GB Pant doctors are happy at their feat— they successfully removed a roundworm from a small child’s organ using adult endoscope. And the parents look much relieved to see their son regain his health.

“For the past one and a half months, Dawood had been in pain and crying incessantly. He used to pass worms in stool and vomit. We took him to local doctors, but medicines failed to bring him any respite since a roundworm had reached his liver,” Farheen, the infant’s mother, told TOI. Doctors said roundworm infestation is common in urban slums where sanitation is not proper and children often consume contaminated food and water.

“The government has been conducting de-worming programme but many children still have the problem. To prevent this, we need to improve hand hygiene and create awareness about importance of eating freshly-cooked food,” said a doctor. The worms, mostly found in intestine, affect a child’s ability to grow—both intellectually and physically—and develop into a fully functioning adult, capable of contributing to wider society, according to World Health Organisation.

No jobs? Let them eat... - Employment growth at 8-year low, tough times ahead for the young

New Delhi, May 17: The big red blotch on the Narendra Modi government's report card after three years in power is its dismal performance in job creation - and there are no indications that things will improve in the near future.

Cold statistics from the government's labour bureau show that job growth plummeted in key sectors to its lowest levels in eight years in calendar years 2015 and 2016 at 1.55 lakh and 2.31 lakh, respectively, compared with a high of over 10 lakh new jobs created in 2009 when the Manmohan Singh-led UPA was in office.

The more worrying fact is the continued chatter about layoffs in the information technology sector, a big employer of science and engineering graduates. Those fears haven't been quelled by recent assertions by the Modi government and Nasscom, the industry forum, that there will be no large-scale layoffs in the software industry.

The intriguing bit is that while the economy seems to be picking up speed with GDP growth projected at over 7.5 per cent this fiscal, it isn't translating into job creation on the ground.

One explanation for jobless growth is that companies are increasingly turning toautomation and digital processes even as they pare other costs, including wage bills, to future-proof growth and profits in a competitive environment.

That means that the Modi government's goal of creating 2 crore new jobs every year is fast turning into a daunting task.

Prime Minister Modi has often spoken about the demographic dividend that India enjoys with a fairly youthful working population with an average age projected at 29 by the year 2020 - one of the lowest in the world. But the inability to create jobs means that it runs the risk of triggering restiveness as an estimated 1.2 crore to 1.5 crore young Indians join the ranks of job seekers every year.

"We are not creating sufficient jobs in the organised, corporate sector. The effects of a global slowdown and local factors have only deepened the problem," said Pronab Sen, former chairman of the Statistical Commission. "The informal sector, whose data we do not capture in our official figures, was absorbing much of our new job seekers. However, after demonetisation, there is a big question mark on job creation in this sector as well."

The Economic Survey for 2015-16 underscores Sen's point. It said that only 3.7 million (roughly 35 per cent) of the 10.5 million new manufacturing jobs created between 1989 and 2010 were in the formal sector.

The Modi government has aggressively pushed its Make in India programme to catalyse new project investments - and a number of associated initiatives - but these have failed to gain traction.

"This (jobless growth) will accelerate as we go along," said M. Govinda Rao, former member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council.

"The IT firms have already started shedding workers. We are replacing labour-intensive methods with capital even as we have failed to skill up our workers to take on new challenges or to tap into the new avenues which were created in the global market when Chinese wages went up," Rao added.

Indian IT firms are currently in the midst of one of their largest retrenchment drives with seven of the biggest firms, including Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant, planning to lay off 56,000 engineers this year. As the technology firms start to focus on new-age areas like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) and countries like the US clamp down with visa restrictions on job hires from India, the job market in the IT sector has started to look bleak.

A McKinsey & Company report said nearly half of the workforce in the IT services firms would be "irrelevant" over the next three to four years, translating into possible retrenchment of up to six lakh people.

"It's not just IT, we expect white-collar jobs in telecom and finance to be impacted by technological progress combined with sectoral consolidation... one can expect over a million jobs to become redundant over the next three to four years," said Amajeet Banerji, director of hiring and HR research firm Talisman Management Services Ltd.

The global slowdown has crimped demand for services and merchandise exports across the world with a knock-on impact on the job market. Compared with $314.4 billion in export earnings for India in 2013-2014, the country notched up just $196.6 billion in exports in 2015-2016, a massive slide of 37 per cent.

Said N.R. Bhanumurthy of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy: "The government has been struggling to achieve the job creation target it set for itself. However, the issue is not specific to India but is a global phenomenon, which is why we are seeing several countries adopting increasingly protectionist policies."

Steel ministry officials said the old thumb-rule of providing 30,000 jobs for every million tonnes of steel manufactured has now been junked.

"Steel mills typically hire 3,500-4,000 people for every million tonne of steel capacity. Technology upgrade in existing mills knocked out tens of thousands of jobs. The tragedy is we have not been able to train manpower in the steel belt of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to take on new jobs in other areas," an official added.

The net result of technology upgrade in old factories and lack of new jobs being created by new factories or start-up service sector firms has deepened the job crisis, admitted top government officials.

The displacement of low-end manufacturing in the textile, leather and consumer goods sectors in China by rising wages benefited a number of Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam, but did not seem to help India much.

Rao said: "We have been talking of reforms for a long time but have not been willing to bite the bullet. One would have thought that the formation of a new government with such a massive mandate would have helped in speeding up decision-making. But unfortunately that has not happened. The deft economic moves needed to attract the factories which moved out of China were never taken."

The social impact of the sharp decline in job growth is scary. Said Neshat Quaiser, head of the department of sociology at Jamia Millia Islamia: "Slowing job growth can be disastrous for a developing economy... the Indian youth whose aspiration levels have been raised by a variety of factors but unable to get the means of sustenance or livelihood he was expecting is increasingly turning towards crime and violence. This is borne witness by the higher levels of social and political violence in this country. Even the seemingly unconnected violence you witness in agitations over (the bull-taming sport) jallikattu is nothing but transferred anger."

The latest labour bureau report which gives data for eight sectors for nine months in 2016 till end-December - manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, hotels and restaurant, IT/BPO, education and health - shows low job growth in almost all sectors and jobs shrinking in construction and hotels and restaurants.

"Infrastructure building, construction and small business could have created jobs, but these sectors, especially construction and infrastructure, are plagued by bad loans and can't access fresh capital. So it's also a vicious cycle which holds back new jobs being created," Sen said.

Surprisingly, the labour bureau, which has been compiling the statistics, claims much to the consternation of professional economists that the October-December 2016 quarter was a positive for jobs - creating some 1.22 lakh jobs.

Economists did not seem to buy into that figure. "Demonetisation was not a reform measure," said Rao.

Fitbit fitness band not charging just after 15 months operation

What do you do with a Fitness band costing Rs 10000/- which becomes non-chargeable after just 15 months operation and the company has a NO servicing policy?
Do you throw it away?
I am giving below the mail exchange I had with Fitbit USA from who we had purchase one such Fitness band in December 2015.
The company advises they cannot do anything, on the other hand, we Indians do not declare anything obsolete.

Fitbit Charge HR

Hi Radheshyam, 

We're sorry to hear for the battery not charging of your Fitbit Charge HR. 

Upon checking on our system, your tracker last sync May 12 to your Windows phone with low battery level.

To be of better assistance and to investigate further, please provide us with the following:

- Where do you usually charge your Fitbit Charge HR, is it through computer's USB port or to a wall outlet?
- How long do you charge your tracker?
- Does charging your tracker require you to push the tracker forward to the charging cable or moving the tracker around to make it charge?
- Have you tried using a different charging cable?

For the meantime, if you haven't done so, we suggest the following:
1. To clean your wristband, follow the instructions on our Wear and Care page.
We also recommend that you occasionally:

In addition, the contacts on the tracker or charging cable are dirty. Dust and debris can accumulate over time and prevent a charge.
We also recommend that you occasionally:

Clean the charging contacts on the back of your tracker to ensure they stay bronze or gold in color. To do so:
Use a toothpick or a toothbrush with rubbing alcohol.
Make sure not to scrape the contacts with a wire brush or anything metal, since this can damage the plating and cause corrosion.
If you use a toothbrush, dry with a cloth or tissue before charging.
Clean the pins on your charging cable. To do so:
Soak a cotton swab with alcohol and press the swab to the pins carefully.
Make sure that no debris from the swab is left behind.
The tracker isn’t connected securely to the charging cable. Check the alignment and try reconnecting your tracker to the charging cable
Your Fitbit Charge HR comes equipped with a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery. Charging completely takes between an hour and two hours

To charge your Charge HR, plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer and plug the other end into the port on the back of the Charge HR. A battery icon on the display will show the charging progress

If you haven't already done so, we recommend restarting your Charge HR.

1. Plug your charging cable into the USB port and insert the other end into the port on the back of your Charge HR. Your tracker will begin charging.
2. Press and hold the button for 10 to 12 seconds until you see the Fitbit icon and a version number (e.g. "V88").
3. Let go of the button.
4. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.

Your Charge HR is now restarted and should work normally. Please let us know if you continue to have difficulty with your tracker and we'll investigate further.

Sincerely,
Shiela M. and the Fitbit Team

Hi Shiela,

Thank you for your exhaustive mail explaining everything.
I will answer your queries one by one.

1. I usually charge through a wall unit and sometimes through a USB port in my computer.
2. Usual charging time is for about two hours but sometimes if I forget, it does go to three hours. Here I have a suggestion, you should have  sound signal to warn before Charge HR goes under low charge and also when the charge is full.
3. I usually put the charging cable into the USB port and then push the other end into the charge HR. Yes, the cable has to be aligned and pushed before it goes in.
4. I do not have a spare charging cable. I was also thinking the same. Could you let me know the contact details of your dealers in India from whom I could get the charging cable?

I have tried all the cleaning functions you have advised and have also tried restating the charge HR as advised by you. However, even after pressing the button for 10/12 seconds, the screen remains black and the Fitbit icon does not come.
Please help as my walking schedule has gone haywire.

Best regards,

Radheshyam

Hi Radheshyam, 

Thanks for getting back to us and for the clarification. 

In the meantime, so that we may investigate your product's warranty status, please let us know when and where you purchased it and your country of residence. If you received it as a gift, please let us know when.

Note that if you purchased the item from fitbit.com, we were unable to locate an order associated with this email address. Please provide the email address associated with the order.

Lastly, if you received your product from an employer, please tell us the company name and the month and year you received it.

We look forward to your reply.

Hi Radheshyam,

Thanks for getting back in touch.

Fitbit accessories are sold through our partner retailers in India. You may want to check this Amazon link below:

http://www.amazon.in/Fitbit-FB156RCC-Charging-Cable-Charge/dp/B0178Z1KGC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1495073838&sr=8-6&keywords=Fitbit+Charge+HR+charging+cable

On the other hand, Fitbit doesn't have any physical repair/service centers that can accommodate in fixing your tracker. Since the suggested troubleshoot didn't work, we would be happy to proceed in reviewing your tracker's replacement option.

In order for us to proceed, please send a copy of your purchase receipt with the retailer name and purchase date clearly visible. If you bought the item online, a screenshot of your order confirmation is usually sufficient.

Please also provide a shipping address that includes:
- Full name
- Street address  
- Municipality (if applicable)
- City:
- Postal code:
- Country:

Lastly, we need:
- A phone number for shipping purposes
- Your product's color and size

We look forward to hearing from you. Let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Mildred G. and the Fitbit Team

Hi Mildred,

This item was purchased by my son who lives in USA from Vernon Hills, "Best Buy" outlet in December 2015.
He does not have the purchase receipt or any other reference for he did not expect a product of Fitbit reputation to become defective.
His address is: ..............................................................*
He gave it to me when he came to India in January 2016.
His phone No is 224-214-9528
The product color is black and model charge HR.
The size, I suppose would be the standard size of your product.

Best regards,

Radheshyam Sharma
* I have removed my son's address from this mail for privacy reasons.

Hi Radheshyam,

Thanks for providing us the requested information.

Upon checking our system, it shows that your original tracker was first paired to your account in December 31 2015, which makes it fall out of the Fitbit's one-year limited warranty. Please note that we based our warranty period from the date your original tracker was first paired to your account. For more information about our warranty policy, please visit http://www.fitbit.com/returns.

We hope that you'll consider Fitbit if you decide to buy another tracker in the future.

Thank you for being a Fitbit customer.

Sincerely,
Ashley N. and the Fitbit Team

Dalits convert to protest - 180 families from 3 villages in UP give up Hinduism citing 'atrocities' under Yogi rule

By Piyush Srivastava for The Telegraph

Lucknow, May 19: At least 180 Dalit families from three western Uttar Pradesh villages claim to have embraced Buddhism "in protest against the atrocities on Dalits under the Yogi Adityanath government".

Residents of Idhari, Roopadi and Kapoorpur in Saharanpur district, 600km northwest of Lucknow, gathered in Mankamau village last evening and threw idols and pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses into the Badi Nahar canal to signal their abandonment of their previous faith.

The incident carries echoes of a milestone protest six decades ago when atrocities against Dalits had prompted Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar to adopt Buddhism with a group of followers on October 14, 1956.

Asked why they had converted, the Saharanpur Dalits referred to a May 5 clash between Thakurs and the Dalit Jatavs in Shabbirpur village in the same district and argued that Adityanath's government "belongs only to his fellow Thakurs".

Last Sunday, about 50 Dalit families in Moradabad, 200km east of Saharanpur, too had cited the Shabbirpur violence and threatened to abandon Hinduism if Adityanath did not stop the attacks on Dalits by the "saffron brigade".

"Dalits were attacked and their homes and agricultural fields burnt down in Shabbirpur. Our caste brethren were arrested and now the state government wants to link our social organisation with Maoists," said Narendra Gautam, one of those who claimed to have converted to Buddhism in Saharanpur.

"Our social organisation" was a reference to the Bhim Army, which describes itself as a non-violent and apolitical organisation formed to unite and help Dalits but is facing a police crackdown in western Uttar Pradesh.

Rahul Gautam, another purported convert to Buddhism, said: "We support the Bhim Army because it makes us aware of our socio-political situation and unites the community to raise a collective voice. But the BJP government and the Hindu vigilante groups don't want us to be united."

Police officers accuse the Bhim Army of leading a violent Dalit protest against the Shabbirpur clashes in Saharanpur city on May 9. The outfit is also accused of planning further violence in Saharanpur and Delhi, and circulating "objectionable" videos and messages on Facebook and WhatsApp against Adityanath.

Rahul and his fellow Dalits did not provide details of how exactly they had converted, and who conducted the rituals. They, however, identified the immediate provocation: a police raid yesterday morning on a house in Chapur village and the arrest of five Dalits on the charge of being Bhim Army members.

"They were planning a violent protest in the city. Pawan Gautam, at whose home the meeting was going on, is a member of the Bhim Army," said M.P. Singh, station house officer of Sahsawa police station that conducted the raid.

Pawan told reporters at the police station that it was not a crime to be a member of a lawful organisation.

Subhas Chandra Dubey, Saharanpur senior superintendent of police, denied hearing about any religious conversion in the district.

"We are taking unbiased action against whosoever is involved in violence and hate-mongering," he said.

A few days ago, Dubey had alleged that the Bhim Army's operations resembled those of a Maoist outfit.

Officers have so far, however, failed to produce any evidence before the media that the Bhim Army possesses firearms. Police records show that the May 9 protesters carried only stones and sticks.

The police, who had already registered a case against Bhim Army founder Chandra Shekhar for "instigating Dalits to violence", lodged a fresh case against him and his friend Vikas Meshram today over certain videos and messages.

"I have received the screen shot of a WhatsApp message from Vikas's number that contained objectionable remarks against the chief minister," said Piyush Dixit, officer in charge of Sadar police station in Saharanpur city.

Manish Bist, a sub-inspector, told reporters he had received a similar video clip from Chandra Shekhar's mobile number.

"Such messages and clips are in circulation on many social networking sites. They have appealed to Dalits to assemble at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on May 21 (to protest attacks on Dalits in Uttar Pradesh)," Bist said.

Chandra Shekhar, said to be a Saharanpur native, remains a somewhat shadowy figure. The police believe he is a lawyer. He apparently founded the Bhim Army in 2008 but it became active in a big way only two years ago.

Some police sources, however, said that western Uttar Pradesh was home to at least a dozen organisations that called themselves the Bhim Army.

K.L. Gupta, former Uttar Pradesh police chief, blamed "Hindu vigilante groups associated with the ruling party" for the tensions.

"They have become very active since Adityanath's elevation as chief minister two months ago. Adityanath should control their unlawful activities if he wants the other side to maintain peace," Gupta said.

On May 9, BJP and Bajrang Dal activists had surrounded a house at Raniyala Dayalpur village in Saharanpur and beaten up two young men, alleging they were encouraging Dalits to abandon Hinduism.

The vigilantes forced the police to take the two men into custody. Chhote Singh, officer in charge of the local Nakud police station, later said the allegations against the duo were "fiction" and released them.

The May 5 violence in Shabbirpur had taken place when a procession by Thakurs, sporting saffron scarves and marking the birth anniversary of 16th-century Rajput king Maharana Pratap, entered Jatav settlements.

The Dalits claim they were attacked first. Over two dozen people suffered injuries and a young Thakur died - killed mistakenly by his caste brethren, the Dalits claim. The incident is seen as a sign of rising Dalit assertiveness in the region.

A police officer had told this newspaper last week that "Shabbirpur and a couple of other villages are like tinderboxes that can explode anytime".

Mahesh Prasad Ahirwar, a Dalit activist and professor of ancient history and culture at Banaras Hindi University, had recalled that since Ambedkar's protest, many Dalit families had converted to Buddhism in the face of upper caste oppression.

He said that buoyed by their election victory, Hindu radicals were "showing their true colours but were forgetting that their numbers would fall drastically if the 22 per cent Dalits discard Hinduism".

Ahirwar believes that Dalits could convert to other religions in large numbers across the state "in the coming days".

It seems atrocities against the poor have increased since the new government of BJP has formed. 

What idea does it give? 

If the poor do not receive justice which is also controlled by the government, what recourse do the poor have?

Maoism and Naxalism had raised their head because of this. 

The government may have temporarily put their agitation on hold by promising them reforms but hunger and deprivation can drive people to commit acts which they may regret if their aspirations are fulfilled.

3-year jail for Sikh attackers

Maan S. Khalsa after he was attacked in September 2016

May 19: Two men were sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for attacking a Sikh man in California last year, repeatedly punching him through his car window and cutting off his hair

.

The men, Chase B. Little and Colton T. Leblanc, both of Texas, each pleaded no contest to felony assault with a hate crime enhancement in the beating of Maan S. Khalsa, 41, in Richmond, California, near San Francisco, on September 25, 2016.

Khalsa, an information technology specialist, was dressed in traditional Sikh clothes, including a turban, while heading to a religious ceremony.

The defendants, along with three other men, had been drinking that day and were on their way to get food when they pulled up next to Khalsa's car, Simon O'Connell of the Contra Costa district attorney's office said in October.

Beer cans were thrown at Khalsa, who rolled down his window and said, "You guys forgot something."

At the next red light, Little, 31, and Leblanc, 25, exited the truck and the attack began. They disturbed Khalsa's turban and cut up to 10 inches of his hair with a knife.

Unshorn hair is sacred in the Sikh religion, so the act of cutting it prompted the hate crime charge, the prosecutor's office said. Khalsa also sustained a black eye, tooth damage and knife wounds. Part of his little finger was later amputated because of an infection from one of the wounds.

In a statement he read to a full courtroom yesterday, Khalsa said: "It will take me many years, maybe the rest of my life, to heal from this attack. But the recognition of the attack as a hate crime - as harm to my dignity - is the first step in the process."

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

Justice delayed is justice denied.

Nowhere is this seen more pronounced than in the above case.

Khalsa was attacked in September 2016 and he has been convicted in May 2017, ie in just 8 months.

If the above crime had been committed in India, the police would still be searching for the perpetrators of the crime. leave alone punishing them.

Whom should we blame, the government who is trying to pack the judiciary with saffron coloured judges so that they can fulfill the government's agenda or the judiciary who adjourn cases for the slightest reason or the police who are open to manipulation by the politician and the cash rich criminals?

Haryana districts inflating girl child stats, finds audit

GURUGRAM: Last year, Haryana’s sex ratio (the number of girls per 1,000 boys) touched 900. In the first quarter of this year, it galloped to 935. The number for March 2017 was still higher, 950.

To put these numbers in perspective, the national sex ratio for children in the 2011 Census was 919. In Haryana, the number stood at 834. There is now suspicion that the remarkable surge in sex ratio could be due to dubious numbers.

The state’s claim of having made rapid strides in correcting its gender imbalance (India’s worst, till recently) faces probing questions after an audit of figures reported by eight of 10 districts in the first quarter of this year found girl child numbers were misreported.

In some cases, they were inflated. In others, newborn girls were registered on priority in the quarter under review while male children were registered in the next quarter to manipulate the final outcome. The audit was started by the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign team after it got suspicious of some of these “remarkable” numbers.

The audit, which began in April, found that Panipat, which ranked second in the January-March list with a sex ratio of 1,007 (yes, more girls than boys) had overshot the actual number by 135. The revised number stands at 872. Narnaul, which had come third, had reported the birth of 968 girls. The audit team found the correct number to be 841. Similarly, Jhajjar (949) is now down to 845, Sonipat (948) stands corrected to 870, Kaithal (939) is now 890 and Faridabad (926) has been revised to 872.

Hisar might have seen a clerical error. Its reported ratio of 933 has been amended to 932. Gurgaon stands out in this list for underreporting, the sex ratio here (891) has increased to 898 after the audit.

Sources said the one of the major reasons for misreporting of figures was district-level staff were instructed to ensure all the girls born were registered immediately. “On priority, staff registered all girls born, which delayed the registration of boys. This reflected in the sex ratio and it appeared there has been a tremendous improvement. But it would have eventually been corrected because the boys too are being registered, although a little late,” said a senior official of the health department, who did not wish to be named.

Rakesh Gupta, additional principal secretary to the CM and state coordinator for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, said, “At any given point, there are 45,000 pregnant women in the state on an average. Some officials have shown a tendency to make up data and we are conscious the data should be accurate. By the end of the year, all data will be accurately compiled and we are expecting the overall sex ratio to remain around 935 to 950 this year.”

The districts that reported inflated numbers don’t believe the monthly or quarterly figures are important. “These figures should not be given a lot of importance because they fluctuate a lot,” said R C Bidhan, deputy commissioner, Jhajjar. “We should focus on annual data and that has been improving for the district as well as the state. Two years ago, Jhajjar’s sex ratio was 760. It reached 884 last year,”he added.

Vinay Singh, deputy commissioner of Jind that also saw its reported number (889) corrected to 865, said, “Around 98% children born in district are registered along with Aadhar card and it is unlikely there can be a mistake. However, we will check with the civil surgeon and take necessary action if there is adiscrepancy.”

The ten districts audited so far are Panipat, Narnaul, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Kaithal, Hisar, Sirsa, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Jind.

Ready And Waiting, Says AAP After Election Commission's Hackathon Dare

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has dared the Election Commission to give his Aam Aadmi Party access to one of its electronic voting machines or EVMs to prove that it can be "rigged in 90 seconds" after AAP legislator Saurabh Bharadwaj gave a half-hour live demo in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday. Mr Bharadwaj used a machine that AAP said was a prototype built by IIT alumni and tested by experts. 

"There are secret codes that can be used to decide on the day of voting which candidate can win," alleged Mr Bharadwaj, a former computer science engineer, as he rigged a mock poll on the machine and also said, "only the motherboard needs to be changed and that can be done in 90 seconds."

"He showed how easy it is to hack EVMs and it is being done on a massive scale. It is dangerous for the democracy and the country, and people should raise their voice against it," said Mr Kejriwal. He alleges that voting machines have been manipulated to help the BJP post massive wins in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and Delhi civic elections recently, which saw AAP decimated just two years after it swept assembly elections.  

"Give us access to the EVMs that will be used in the Gujarat elections (later this year) for only three hours...I challenge the BJP will not win a single booth then," Mr Bharadwaj said. 

AAP has challenged critics to prove that the machine it used today(Tuesday) "has even one per cent difference," a claim instantly rubbished by sources in the Election Commission. They said any one can assemble a prototype and challenged AAP to rig an actual EVM at a hackathon it plans to prove that its vote machines cannot be manipulated. The party said it accepted the challenge and sought a date. 

Mr Kejriwal had invited leaders of other parties like the Left, Trinamool Congress and Janata Dal United to watch the demonstration from the Delhi Assembly's visitors' gallery. 

Share Market Trading for the Retail Investor - a new blog.

Those of you who have been following this blog all these years, I have some good news.
Since my retirement in November 2016, I have started working on my hobby, share trading, full time.
Share trading has been my hobby since 1983 but I could only do on & off trades as I was in service. But now, I can work full time.
I have started a new blog devoted to my experiences in the share market.
The name is "Diary of a Retail Share Trader" with URL "hownot2losemoney.blogspot.in"
Presently it is just about a week old.
I am sure all those who have any interest in the share market will find it absorbing.
I mention the daily Market Trades I make and the reason why I did any particular trade with relevant charts. It will help the pitfalls which I may make in my trades 
I have also given a History of my entry into the share market. A Glossary explains the terms in given for the benefit of the novice.
If anyone has any queries, I will attempt to answer the same.
As the name suggests, it is for the retail investor and not for those in Derivatives, Commodity or Currency Trading.
I do not give any buying or Selling Tips. However, if you regularly read the blog, you yourself will become knowledgeable enough to generate your own tips as I tell my broker when he tries to send me tips. However, if you plan to buy or sell any particular shares I can advise you on whether to take the plunge.
The blog will help you not to lose money and trade for the rest of your life.
This profession is especially suitable for people who have retired.
Retirement has become a curse for the old for after very busy life, they suddenly find themselves without any work with all the time in the world. An idle Mind...you know the rest. The spouses bear the brunt of the idleness.
I am kept busy from 8.30 am to 10.00 pm at night , Monday through Friday and on Saturdays and Sundays, I plan for the next week.
Further, the government has reduced the interest rates so much that you will not be able to maintain your family. On the other hand, you can easily earn at least 15% p.a on your disciplined investments in the share market.

How a mother’s massage proved fatal for 23-year-old

NEW DELHI: Oil massage can provide relief, but it can kill too if given to a wrong patient or in a wrong manner. Doctors at AIIMS have warned about this, following the death of a 23-year-old at the hospital who was given a massage by his mother.

The victim, a resident of Delhi, had injured his left ankle while playing badminton last year after which a plaster of Paris slab was placed on it to immobilise the leg. This resulted in the formation of a blood clot in his deep veins. A postmortem confirmed that the clot, which was 5X1cm in size, got dislodged from the leg veins and travelled to the pulmonary artery that supplies blood to the lungs, causing instant death.

Deep vein thrombosis or presence of a blood clot in the deep veins following an ankle fracture is not uncommon but sudden death of a youth because of the complications arising from it is rare, said Dr Chittaranjan Behera, who conducted the postmortem on him.

The doctor said when the 23-year-old was rushed to AIIMS emergency at 9.30pm on October 31 he was unconscious and unresponsive. “Doctors could not revive him despite the best resuscitative efforts. Later, it was found that the victim’s mother had given him a massage for 30 minutes and he complained of pain in the left calf at around 8.45pm. That left him breathless and he suddenly collapsed. This was because the clot in his leg travelled to the arteries that supply blood to the lungs,” Dr Behera explained.


The youth’s case report was published in the latest issue of Medico-Legal Journal. It stated that massages are often given for general fitness and for treating minor health problems. “In this case, the deceased’s mother had massaged the leg to alleviate pain and was unaware of the complications. There was no advice recorded in the hospital by the doctors about the risks and dangers of a massage to this affected leg. This advice should have been provided,” it added.

Dr Sudhir Gupta, professor and head of forensic medicine at AIIMS, said the youth’s death should serve as a warning against massages by amateurs. “Using forceful techniques and for prolonged periods in a patient with deep vein thrombosis can lead to fatal complications,” he said.

Presence of a blood clot in the deep veins of the leg or the pulmonary artery affects nearly 70 per 1,00,000 individuals, according to AIIMS doctors. It is common in patients with skeletal trauma and immobilisation. But deep vein thrombosis is also seen in the elderly, obese, smokers, those who use contraceptives quite often and people suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.