Telengana struggle

By agreeing to initiate the process for the formation of a separate state for Telengana,Congress has put an end to a long justified struggle of the Telengana people.Though states were originally formed on linguistic basis,if development of a particular region was hindered,there is nothing wrong in acceding to the demand.This should not be looked as narrow parochialism.This is a legitimate demand of the Telengana people.When newer districts are created with in the state for administrative convenience and development,creating a new state for the welfare and development of those people is a just demand.AP will be the first South Indian state to be split in to two. Already many new states like Haryana(1966 out of punjab),Uthrakhand(out of UP and Himachal in 2000),Jarkhand(out of Bihar in 2000),Chattisgarh(out of MP in 2000) were created from bigger states in North India.

AP was the first Indian state to be formed on linguistic basis after independence,carving out portions of former Madras presidency and part of the former Hyderabad Nizam's territory .Rest of the Hyderabad Nizam's territory were annexed to Karnataka and Maharashtra.The Telengana districts were underdeveloped and literacy rate was poor compared to the erstwhile Madras Presidency areas in the Andhra region.The Telengana struggle has a horay past.P.Sundarayya, one of the founders of CPI started the first Telengana peasants struggle against the Hyderabad Nizams.I would say he is the real pioneer of the Telengana people's struggle.Right from the start, people of Telengana expressed apprehension over being sidelined by the literate Andhra region people in all spheres like education,jobs and development.And they were right.Even after 62 years of indeppendence,the Telengana people had an axe to grind.The Osmania University was the hub of Telengana supporters,right from the start.M.Chenna Reddy started the first pro Telengana struggle politically by floating a party. Finally he merged his party with Congress and became the Chief minister.Later on to appease the people of Telengana, Mrs.Indira Gandhi made P.V.Narasimha Rao of Telengana region as the CM.KCR left TDP to float TRS . TRS fought last elections with Congress on the plea that congress would agree to form a separate Telengana state.But after assuming power Congress put its plans,in cold storage. KRS had to quit the ministry and revive his Telegana struggle.This time he got support from all fronts.But what is intriguing is how did YSR manage to hold on keeping the Telengana struggle under his fold over one full term and for the rest of the time he was the CM.Was there a political game behind the current struggle to unseat or weaken the current Andhra CM?

One hopes Hyderabad would not become a bone of contention between Telengana and Andhra people.Both sides should be accomodative,arrive at compromises and settle issues amicably.The creation of Telengana will be a shot in the arm for those who demand creation of a separate state for coorgs in Karnataka,Mithilanchal in Bihar , Sourashtra in Gujarat and Gorkha land out of West Bengal.Similarly there is a demand to create Bhojpur out of Eastern UP. It is mandatory for the State governments concerned to give recommendation to create new states out of existing territories of a state.This would also serve as an eye opener to those State government's that turn a deaf ear to the continous demands and aspirations of people of the backward districts in their state.

The population of bigger Indian states are larger than many small nations.Bifurcating bigger states would increase the ratio between the administrator and the people.That would ensure better service .Above all,I think a new state would ensure, an exclusive budgetary allocation for the development of that region.It would help the region's chances of getting equitable central assistance.Supporters of smaller states also cite examples of poor development of bigger states like MP,UP and Bihar after Independence compared to many smaller states.However resorting to violence for the creation of new states is something that is not acceptable.Demands for new statehood should be above petty politics and should be looked upon objectively by all concerned.

If there is no disparity in development between regions within a state,demands for separate statehood would not crop at all.Even if such demands arise for petty political end ,people would shun such movements, if it is not justifiable.The state governments concerned should ensure equitable distribution of developmental programmes across the state. When allocating funds for developmental activities with in the state there should be no overriding political considerations.

Obama countermands Bush on stem cells

The Bush administration barred research and funding on embryonic stem cell research by America's National Institute of Health(NIH)on moral grounds .This ban was in force from 2001.The catholics were against embryonic stem cell research.Even Pope John Paul II appealed to Bush to bar money for embryonic stem cell research.Finally Bush bowed to the pontiff's wish and banned funding embryonic stem cell research.Bush's national television speech on stem cell was considered as the best speech on 'medical ethics' ever made by an American President.Obama has now allowed funding to human embryonic stem cell research.He has asked NIH to develop guidleines for funding and research on human embryonic stem cells.This is an historic move.Obama once again proved he is guided by pragmatism.But his detractors feel it is moral arrogance.

He said he believed it was a "false choice between sound science and moral values".He also said "we have to work to ease human sufferings....."."Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident. They result from painstaking and costly research....and from a government willing to support that work... "

At the same time Obama was also very careful in saying that he would ensure that this "never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction." This could go along way in alleviating human suffering on a number of incurable diseases.There are over 100 million people suffering from diabetes world over.It is believed stem cell therapy could cure diabetes.

When Bush prevented government funding to embryonic stem cell research,the research work moved out to countries in Asia including Japan,China and India.Also countries like Britan and Scotland started research work on this field.India became a preferred destination for many.India offered good potential for English speaking scientists and diverse ethnicity for their research work.Though India does stem cell research,stem cell therapy is in a nascent stage.

Obtaining stem cells from legally abortioned embryos may be acceptable.There is a mushroom growth of fertility clinics now. Usage of surplus human embryos of an invitro fertilisation procedure for stem cell research is considered unethical by some,since these embryos have to be killed for harvesting stem cells.Also creating an human embryo exclusively for research work is also not palpable to many.I feel crossing ethical limits in biomedical research is something that can not be fended off for long in the days to come.

All said and done one has to agree,the natural corollary of medical breakthroughs using stem cells from human embryos would be human cloning.Those who oppose human cloning say that it is like breeding people to harvest their tissues,organs from their body and dispose them later.On the other hand those who support human cloning feels it is an opportunity to remake mankind to its potential. Who knows what is in store for our posterity?

Virendar Shewag -Will he create history ?

Virender Shewag has scored 284 at stumps on the second day of the third test match against Sri Lanka at Mumbai today. He is just 16 runs away from creating a world record.One wishes he creates a new world record by scoring his third triple century and become the first in the history of world cricket to score three triple centuries in test cricket.The other two who have scored triple centuries twice in Test Cricket are Don Bradman and Brain Lara.If Viru achieves this feat tomorrow,it would become a world record very difficult to beat for a very long time to come,since Lara has retired from active Cricket and the great Bradman is no more.His previous triple centuries were at Chennai last year against South Africa (319)and 309 against Pakistan at Multan in 2004.He was even described by the media as the'Sultan of Multan' for some time.One sincerely wishes in the process, he also overhauls Lara's world record of 400 in test cricket by any batsman in the world tomorrow.He is good enough to achieve this feat also.No doubt Schewag is considered as the most destructive batsmen in world cricket.

Bachan on Ilayaraja

Ilayaraja has composed the music for Bachan's forthcoming film PAA scheduled to be released on December 4th.Big B has sung a song in this movie on maestero's music.After recording the song at Prasad Studios,Chennai Bachan writes in his blog about Ilayaraja.

"The great Ilaiyaraja, pristine in white and just off from Balaji at Tirupati, conducts me at Prasad Studios for the song from PAA. I did it once when he was not around. I did it today when he was around. The world seemed different........

His eyes wild and bright. His language measured and pointed. His reason behind every note definite and pure and his decision final on the output. The master, the maestro, the magician the ‘little Raja’....

I am struck with emotion. It works its way up the belly through to the chest and heart and waits to explode into the eye lids. And I return back to the Hotel and I believe that I will wait till the morrow for the senses to dissolve before I can go any further ....."

Big B plays the role of a 13 year old boy in this movie and Abishek plays the dad's role.Bavatharini has also rendered her dad's composition in this movie.

Dam 999

Dam 999 is the title of a Malyalam movie under production.This movie is a Hollywood-Mollywood production on Mullai periyar .This dam was built by Britishers and the dam was leased out for 999 years to the then Madras Presidency by the Britishers. The 999 in the film title refers to the 999 years lease.After Independence when States were reorganised on linguistic basis the dam site became part of Kerala.This film is produced by a Dubai based business man Sohan Roy. He is also directing the movie .If one goes by the press reports and the interview of Mr.Roy, the movie is likely to portray the Kerala stand on the Mullaiperiyar row.The Kerala government stand is that the dam is not safe and increasing water levels would jeopardise the lives of those living in the down stream districts of kerala.The matter is subjudice.At this point,a film on this issue should not create unnecessary controversies.People who matter,at the helm in both states should earnestly try to resolve the issue sans political bias and narrow prejudices.The whole controversy is not about sharing the river water,but is about increasing the storage level of the reservoir.To my mind it is an absolute technical point.There can not be two sides to this issue.There could be only one fact.Tamil nadu demands increase in storage levels based on supreme courts order.Kerala continues to maintain,the dam is weak and if the storage levels are increased it could be disasterous and catastrophical.It is very unfortunate the technical people on both states are also taking sides and not coming out with the true position of the dam.The experts committee on technical feasiblility says storage levels can be increased since repair works have been carried out by Tmailnadu. But the Kerala earth science experts say the area where the dam is situated is prone to earthquakes and the dam can not withstand an earth quake.It is also true this area has experienced several tremors for some time.It is slowly snowballing in to an emotive issue.

Farming groups on the Tamilnadu side is giving pressure to the Tamilnadu government since irrigation and drinking water needs of the five rain shadow districts of Tamilnadu depends solely on the water release from Mullaiperiyar.Vast areas of land have already become barren and more than 8000 hectares of land went dry.It is high time politicians on both sides stop playing to the gallery and address the real issue with a view to resolve the issue rather than prolonging it by legal wrangles and litigations.It is very deplorable that all such issues between states are looked upon with a hidden regional and parochial agenda by those in power.This approach can never solve issues of this sort.Don't we have technical expertise to resolve an essentially technical issue? What prevents us from doing that?.The answer is dirty politics.One sincerly hopes better sense would prevail among our politicians of both states and would soon find ways to come out of this tangle.Let not Dam 999 producers complicate the issue and make it complex by projecting the consequences of a dam break in their movie.

Ilayaraja -The Wizard of Music

I read in news columns that Ilayaraja is planning a concert in Delhi,Mumbai and Chennai in 2010.First concert wil be in Mumbai on January 26th.The concert is organised by Sheetal Talwar,Producer of the Pankaj Kapur starrer 'Mausam'(Hindi).The Hungarian Symphony Orchestra from Budapest will accompany the maestro in the concert.Laszlo Kovacs would conduct the orchestra.With The Philharmonic Orchestra Ilayaraja is also expected to play his 'Tiruvasakam' symphony composition in these concerts.When I read the news I travelled down the memory lane. I was fortunate to enjoy two of his concerts at Madurai way back in the late 70's.(Might have been between 1977 and 1978).One was held at Sethupathi High school grounds and the other one was held at Gandhi Museum Open air theatre.

I am an ardent fan of Ilayaraja.I don't know about the techniques and nuances of music except that I learnt playing a percusssion instrument for about 6 to 7 years during my school days and I was fortunate to hear Carnatic Classical Concerts of many greats of that time.I have always enjoyed good concerts and would call myself a music buff and nothing more than that.But somehow listening to an Ilayaraja song especially from the 80s to 90's have always fascinated me. Listening to his compositions,I have felt many times, I was under the influence of a trance like spell.Many of his songs are immortal.Incidentaly this is my second blog post on Ilayaraja(First on was in June 2008).I feel he is the greatest Film Music Composer India has ever produced.His compositions have something special in the orchestration,preludes and interludes.Harmonies and the small pause given for a split second in the orchestration in many of his compositions are simply superb.There are many die hard fans for Ilayaraja songs.One Private bus operator in the Madurai Thondi route plays only Ilayaraja hits of 80s to 90's in his bus and he has a good collection of his compositions.I have seen many youngsters in their teens and early twenties enjoying the foot tapping numbers and singing along with the song.Many of them would not have been born when these films were released.He is a great music director who can carry a film on the strength of his background score.Persons like Ramarajan and Rajkiran owe their box office success to this great composer.Experts in the film music world felt he was the first complete music director in the history of Indian Cinema who could do everything like Composing Orchestration Arranging instruuments and write notations.

The fact that many of his background scores of yester years are currently being used by the Ad media in many jingles,shows his old scores are still catchy and in great demand.I do not know if this is being done with the maestero's permission.A.R.Rehman has composed the theme music for Airtel Jingles.But idea Cellular has found it fit to use an old score of Ilayaraja for their Jingles.The theme music of idea cellular Jingles is music of a kannada song 'Naguva Nayana' composed by Ilayaraja in 1983 for the film 'Pallavi Anupallavi'.Incidentally this was Maniratnam's first film.There are some more jingles that are using Ilayaraja music like 'Little Orange'(Telugu Song 'Jallantha' from the film Geetanjali),'Kissan Jam'('Ithu oru pon malai pozhuthu' from the film Nizhalkal),Kissan fruit drink'('Putham Puthu Kalai' from the film 'Alaikal Oyvathillai')LG Plasma('Uravenum Puthu Pathai' from the film Nenjathai Killathey) and many more.
I have listed below some of the Ilayaraja songs that I liked most.It is very difficult to list his best compositions.Because it could be very lengthy.(This is apart from the one I mentioned in my last post on the masestro)

Azhagiya Kannae

Chinna Thaayaval

Kaattu Kuyilu

Rakkamma

Poove Chempoove

Innum Ennai enna

Valai Osai Kala Kala

Enna Satham intha neram

Van megam

Manram Vantha

Pani Vizhum

Kanne Kalaimane

Karpoora bommai ontru

Mannil Intha kathal

Nee Pathi Naan Pathi Kanne

Naan thedum sevanthi poovithu

Ennai Thaalatta

Kathoram Lolaakku

Oliyile therivathu

Ilam kaatru veesuthe and more recently Sivoham and Pitchai Pathiram

Ilayaraja is currently busy composing music for Pankaj Kapoors Hindi film.Understand Kamal Hassan has sung an Hindi song in Ilayaraja's music for this Hindi Film.The audio release of Hindi film 'Paa' an Amitabh Production has recieved rave reviews.Ilayaraja has also composed music recently for the Malayalam blockbuster 'Pazhassiraaja' .The mastero is back with a bang.

Stem Cell Banks

Storing the new born baby's stems cells for a period of 21 years in stem cell banks is the latest trend to fight diseases in the family.It is a guarantee for the family against a host of diseases.But the cost of storing the stem cells is porhibitive and beyond the reach of an ordinary person.This is a kind of 'Bio insurance'.But it is an undeniable fact there is a mushroom growth of stem cell banks in the recent past in India.The government should come forward to start 'stem cell banks' in government hospitals,at least in important district headquarters and make it available to the general public at affordable prices.An awareness campaign should also be started to make the general public to opt for stem cell storage in their own interest.The collected stem cells are preserved at -195 degree at stem cell banks.The donor and his immediate family members can access it any time for stem cell therapy.The normal storage period is 21 years.But longer period storage is also possible on payment of extra fees.
Stem cell therapy is all about injecting new cells in to the body to repair damaged or diseased tissues to cure a host of dieases.The most remarkable advantage of stem cell therapy is that there is no risk of rejection by the body.As on date,it is believed stem cell therapy can cure more than 75 diseases,and many more might get added to the list in the future.This has given hope to many patients smitten by chronic diseases.Hence there is a great demand for stem cell storage .The stored stem cell culture would be used at a future date to regenerate damaged or diseased cells in the body and thus relieve patients from incurable diseases.
The most unique property of a stem cell is that they are capable of renewing themselves for a considerably long period.Stem cells per se are unspecialised.But they can develop as a specialised cell type such as heart muscles,blood cells or nerve cells.Stem cells can be collected from different sources.The potential of a stem cell depends on the source from where it is collected.The different types of stems cell sources are given below.

Embryonic stem cells

These cells are derived from an early stage human embryo approximatley 4 to 5 days old.They have the potential to develop in to more than 200 types of cells.(There is an ethical and moral outcry against this source)

Foetal stem cells

These are stem cell types found in the organs of the foetus. (This is also opposed by many, as it tantamounts to killing )

Adult Stem Cells

These are stem cells found in the developed organism.Adult stem cells are referred to by their tissue origin.Adult stem cells were used for many years to treat early stage bone/blood cancer by bone marrow transplants.(Bone marrows contain stem cells)A person known to me,who was in early stages of bone cancer was completley cured by bone marrow transplant in late 70's at Adyar Cancer hospital,Chennai.

Peripheral Blood

Peripheral blood cells are the cellular components of blood like RBC,WBC and Platelets.These are stem cells.

Bone marrows

Bone marrows are tissues inside the hollow cavities of bones.The bone marrow stroma contains stem cells.

Umblical cord Blood

Umblical cord blood is the left over blood of placenta and cord after the birth of the baby.This blood is a rich source of stem cells. Until recently cord blood and umblical cords were thrown as a bio medical waste.But stem cells in cord blood can be used to treat 75 life threatening diseases .

The harvested cord blood is stored and preserved for future use of the child and its family for the tratment of a host of diseases.Cord blood stem cells are preferred over bone marrow stem cells because bone marow stem cell requires a surgical procedure.It could be painful and risky to the donor.Cord blood stem cells have other advantages like lesser chances of infection,quick and easy transplantion .The biggest advantage of cord blood is that it need not match the patient's tissue type precisely.
The donor of the cord blood stem cells can decide whther it is to be used entirely for his/her family or for the general public. This can be conveyed to the stem cell bank at the time of donating the cord blood.One can also donate cord blood for research purposes.Umblical cord blood collection is safe for the mother and the child and is the most preferred stem cell source by the doctors.
India's first stem cell bank was started in Chennai by Asia Cyro cell.Other leading stem cell Banks in India are Life Cell and Cyrobank .The latter has a country wide network in almost all major cities of India.Most of the cord blood harvesting centres collect blood from the hospital where the baby is delivered,if registered with the bank well in advance.Some of the stem cell banks have different payment options.
The government should accredit Blood Banks attached to Government hospitals to collect cord blood samples and preserve them at affordable prices for private as awell as general public use.This could go a long way in alleviating the suffering lot.Government should consider giving subsidy to Government Blood banks collecting stem cells and thus make it affordable to the common man.