keralamonitor.com
Shihab Thangal getting the first application for Hajj booking at a function held by Muscat Sunni Centre. Nigerian Islamic court spares woman from stoning until 2004- Reliance-Government agreement to sell off IPCL--Tourist Flow to India Increased in May 2002--New Road Linking Dwaraka -South Delhi-Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited finances Sound: Crisil
Prime Minister urges Asian leaders to forget temporary disputes.
June 2002
BOTULISM Overview:
Botulism is a disease caused by extremely potent toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Person to person transmission of botulism does not occur. The sporulated form of the bacterium is commonly found in soils, sediments and marine waters. There are seven recognized types of botulism. Four of these (types A, B, E and rarely F) cause human botulism. Types C, D and E cause illness in mammals, birds and fish. Healthy adults can consume spores in small amounts with no ill effects. The spores are heat-resistant. Under anaerobic conditions, botulinum spores can germinate, and the bacterium can reproduce and produce toxin. Ingestion of the toxin formed during the growth of the bacteria that can be present in improperly prepared food is dangerous.
Symptoms:
The symptoms are not caused by the organism itself, but by the toxin that the bacterium releases. The toxin ingested by individuals produces the symptoms of disease, usually within 12 to 36 hours (within a range of four hours to eight days) after exposure. Incidence of botulism is low, but the mortality rate is high if treatment is not immediate and proper.
The characteristic early symptoms and signs are marked fatigue, weakness, and vertigo, usually followed by blurred vision, dry mouth, and difficulty in swallowing and speaking. Vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation and abdominal swelling may occur. The disease can progress to weakness in the neck and arms, after which the respiratory muscles and muscles of the lower body are affected. The paralysis may make breathing difficult. There is no fever and no loss of consciousness. Similar symptoms usually appear in individuals who shared the same food. Most cases recover, but the recovery period can take weeks or even months. The disease can be fatal in 5-10% of cases.
Different types of intoxication from the botulinum toxin have been recognized:
Exposure to Pre-formed Toxin:
Foodborne botulism occurs when the spores of the organism Clostridium botulinum germinate inside foodstuff and produce the bacterium that generates the toxin. Clostridium botulinum is an "anaerobic bacterium", which means it can only grow in the absence of oxygen. Therefore, botulism tends to occur when the spores are in an airtight environment (tins or jars), particularly in inadequately processed home-preserved foods, including those which have been preserved in oil. Occasionally, commercially-prepared foods are involved.
The Botulinum toxin has been found in a variety of foods, including low-acid vegetables, such as green beans, spinach, mushrooms, and beets; fish, including tuna, smoked and salted fish; and meat products, such as ham, chicken, sausage, and luncheon. The toxin is destroyed by normal cooking processes (heating at 80° C for ten minutes or boiling for a few minutes), and is not formed in acidic foods (pH less than 4.6).
Inhalation botulism following inhalation of the toxin (in an aerosol) has occurred in laboratory workers. In these cases, neurological symptoms may be the same as in foodborne botulism, but will develop faster.
Waterborne botulism can also result from the ingestion of the pre-formed toxin. Since water treatment processes inactivate the toxin, normally only contamination post-treatment will pose a risk to humans.
In addition, adverse effects of the pure toxin have been reported as a result of its medical use in patients being treated for specific muscular disorders and in cosmetic surgery.
Intestinal colonisation:
Infant botulism is extremely rare. It occurs when infants ingest spores, which germinate to produce bacteria that reproduce in the gut and release the toxin. In most adults and children older than about six months, this would not happen because the natural defences that develop over time prevent the germination and growth of Clostridium botulinum. Clinical symptoms in infants include constipation, loss of appetite, weakness, an altered cry, and a striking loss of head control. Infant botulism has been associated with honey contaminated with botulism spores. Mothers are warned not to feed raw honey to their infants, as it can contain botulinum spores.
Botulism of undetermined origin usually involves adult cases where no food or wound source can be identified. It has been suggested that these cases are comparable to infant botulism and may occur when the normal gut flora have been altered as a result of surgical procedures or antibiotic therapy.
In vivo:
Wound botulism occurs when the spores get into an open wound and are able to reproduce in an anaerobic environment. The symptoms produced are similar to the foodborne form, but may take up to two weeks to appear.
Prevention:
Prevention of botulism is based on good food preparation (particularly preservation) practices and hygiene. If exposure to the toxin via an aerosol is suspected, in order to prevent additional exposure to the patient and health care providers, the clothing of the patient must be removed and stored in plastic bags until it can be washed with soap and water. The patient must shower thoroughly. Food and water samples associated with suspect cases must be obtained immediately, stored in proper sealed, and sent to reference laboratories in order to prevent further cases.
Treatment:
Antitoxin administration is indicated as soon as possible after clinical diagnosis has been made. Health authorities usually control antitoxin supplies. Severe botulism cases require supportive treatment, especially mechanical ventilation, which may be required for weeks or months. Antibiotics are not required (except in the case of wound botulism). There is a vaccine against botulism, but it is used very rarely as its effectiveness is not fully evaluated and it has side effects.
Botox injections:
The bacterium Clostridium botulinum is the same bacteria that is used in Botox injections. However, what is used in Botox treatments is the purified and diluted A neurotoxin. The neurotoxin is commercially available for clinical and cosmetic use. Treatment is administered in the medical setting, tailored according to the needs of the patient and is usually well tolerated. Occasionally there may be some side effects.
Tourist Flow to India Increased in May 2002
More than 9.65 lakh foreign tourists arrived in the country during May, 2002. Arrival during the month was 12 percent less than the arrival in May 2001.Foreign exchange earnings through the arrivals of tourists upto May this year was Rs. 5627.82 (P) crore
Child labour common in Zanzibar
DAR ES SALAAM, 4 June (IRIN) - A recent rapid assessment by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), an associate organisation of the United Nations, has found that child labour is "common" in Zanzibar, with prostitution, fisheries and seaweed farming among the "most hazardous" sectors in which children are involved.
The report also found evidence of child labour on clove plantations in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous island chain within Tanzania, and in the hotel and tourism sector, for which it is also famous, although the levels of child labour in these sectors were classified as "moderate".
The results were published last week in a report of the ILO's rapid assessment on the worst forms of child labour in Zanzibar, which was conducted in June 2001. The information was collected from 489 respondents over a five-day period.
The 2001 Situation Analysis of Children in Tanzania recently released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) also painted a depressing picture, noting that, while the country had maintained relative stability and improved its economic performance, this had not translated into real improvements in the lives of children.
"Tanzania has not met 2000 targets, and is far from being on track to meet 2015 international development targets," the report stated. "Instead, virtually every critical measure of child wellbeing stagnated or declined through the 1990s."Because the ILO report on Zanzibar was on the basis of a rapid assessment, it does not provide an in-depth analysis of the impact of child labour, according to sources at the organisation.
However, it does propose a series of measures that would go some way towards tackling the problem. These included: a sensitisation process for all stakeholders about the impact of child labour; measures to withdraw children from child labour in fishing and prostitution, while providing alternative income sources; formulation of bylaws restricting child labour; and a curb on the tourist-induced influx of western influences on Zanzibari people.
According to the report, the main causes of child labour are poverty, irresponsible parents, family breakdown, a lack of alternatives for children after they have completed their formal education, and children's desire to be financially independent from their parents.
Children between the ages of six and 14 were found to be involved in the preparation of seeds, planting, harvesting and drying processes on seaweed farms on the east coast of Unguja (the main island of Zanzibar, often referred to as simply Zanzibar), where working environments were reported to be "dangerous".
Meanwhile, through the process of "physical counting", researchers revealed there were some 50 child prostitutes (aged between 14 and 18) in the Stone Town, the main urban centre on Unguja. None of these children were reported to be attending school, but, of the child prostitutes, only three percent were said to have originated in Zanzibar.
The extent of child labour in Zanzibar varied not only by sector but also according to the time of year, with the high tourist season and harvest time significantly increasing the levels of child labour, according to the ILO report.
Whereas the situation might not be as serious as in other African or Asian countries, the Zanzibar government regarded child labour, especially in the fishing industry, as an issue needing to be tackled immediately, Omar Shajak, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Employment, Youth Women and Children, told IRIN at the weekend. "It is a serious concern for the government, and it will continue if measures to reduce it are not taken," he said.
Shajak said the Zanzibar government and its development partners had assessed the ILO findings at a recent workshop, and would now address the issue through programmes such as an existing ILO pilot-project, aimed at empowering women to reduce child labour.
There was also a particular need for an advocacy campaign to curb child prostitution, according to Shajak. "We want to make sure that the norms, attitudes and the values of Zanzibar are inculcated in the younger generation," he said. "There needs to be an advocacy campaign among men, but the young also need to learn that prostitution is not a good way to earn money."
The ILO has suggested that additional studies should take place to explore the nature, scope and impact of child labour in clove plantations, the hotel and tourism sector, and in prostitution during their respective peak seasons.
It also proposed that grass-roots communities be empowered to monitor levels of child labour, and that the ILO, together with the social partners, "explore the possibility of including an element that will cushion household incomes in their efforts to combat child labour".
Reliance-Government agreement to sell off IPCL
The Government of India and the strategic partner M/s Reliance
Petroinvestments Ltd./RIL/Depository/Depository Participant signed three
agreements for the conclusion of the disinvestment process of IPCL, here
today. These are – Shareholders Agreement; Guarantee Agreement and
Extension of Transfer Restriction Agreement. Shri Ashok Chawla, Joint
Secretary in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers who is also the
erstwhile CMD of IPCL signed the Agreements on behalf of the
Government and Shri K. P. Nanavaty signed on behalf of Reliance.Government has sold 64,538,662 shares constituting 26% equity of the
IPCL at a rate of Rs. 231/- per share to M/s Reliance Petroinvestments Ltd.
The Government received an amount of Rs. 1490,84,30,922 (One
Thousand Four Hundred Ninety Crore Eighty Four Lakh Thirty Thousand
Nine Hundred Twenty Two) towards the sale of the above shares. After
disinvestment, the Government would still be holding 84,261,338 shares of
the IPCL, which constitute 33.945%. The Government had on May 18,
2002 accepted M/s Reliance Petroinvestments Ltd. as the strategic partner
on the basis of bids received for disinvestment of 26% equity of IPCL held
by the Government. Pursuant to the above decision, the Share Purchase
Agreement was signed on May 21st, 2002 by the Government of India,
IPCL and M/s Reliance Petroinvestments Ltd.On disinvestment, the control of management of the company will be passed
on to the Strategic Partner. The existing Board of Directors would be
dissolved and the Strategic Partner will reconstitute a new Board for IPCL,
which will consist of 12 Directors – six to be nominated by the Strategic
Partner including the Managing Director, two Directors (Non-Executive) to
be appointed on the recommendation of the Government and the remaining
four Directors would be independent Directors. As per the Share Purchase
Agreement, the Strategic Partner shall not directly or indirectly sell or
transfer any of such purchased shares to any person for a period of three
years. In the third year of signing of the Agreement, the Government shall
have the right to sell all or any of the voting equity shares of the company,
which are owned by the Government at that time at the fair value to the
Strategic Partner.Shareholders Agreement stipulates that the Strategic Partner shall not
retrench any of the employees for a period of one year from the closing date
other than any dismissal or termination of employees in accordance with the
applicable staff regulations and standing orders of the company. In the event
of reduction in the strength of employees, the Strategic Partner shall ensure
that the company offers to its employees the option to voluntarily retire on
terms that are not in any manner less favourable than any VRS offered by
the company on or prior to the closing date (keralamonitor.com)Nigerian Islamic court spares woman from stoning until 2004
LAGOS, 4 June (IRIN) - An Islamic appeal court in northern Nigeria’s Katsina State on Monday gave a 30-year-old woman sentenced to death for adultery a reprieve until January 2004. It also deferred hearings on her appeal to 8 July.
Amina Lawal, who was sentenced to death by stoning on 19 March by a lower sharia court, will now have 18 months to wean her five-month-old baby girl, Wasila, even if her appeal fails, presiding judge Aliu Abdullahi ruled. His ruling came in response to a request by her defence lawyer for the sentence to be overturned or for Lawal to be given adequate time to bring up her baby if the appeal failed.
Lawal was the second woman to be sentenced to death by stoning by an Islamic court since states in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north started adopting the strict Sharia legal code two years ago. Safiya Hussaini, given a similar sentence in Sokoto State last year, had her conviction quashed on the same day Lawal received hers.
As happened in Hussaini’s case, a man whom Lawal identified during the trial as the father of her child was freed for lack of evidence, whereas the baby was regarded as evidence of her guilt.
The sentence of death by stoning has attracted widespread international condemnation from governments and human rights groups. The Nigerian government itself has described the strict application of Sharia as unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslims and urged reform in
the 12 states that have adopted the code. The states have so far refused to do so.Sharia prescribes punishments such as the amputation of limbs for stealing and floggings for the drinking of alcohol. Its application has heightened religious and ethnic tension in Nigeria, which has just about equal numbers of Muslims and Christians.
Thousands of people have died in religious and ethnic violence, associated with the adoption of sharia, that have erupted in different parts of the country over the past two years.(keralamonitor.com)
