"GOVERNMENT" EATERIES-ANY TAKERS?

The ruling elites in this country seem to be convinced that government has the answer to every problem citizens face and in turn people, conditioned as they are to the benevolence of the government look upon it to solve all their problems! It is understandable that a responsible government must be sensitive to the difficulties faced by its citizens and bring socour to them through the financial and policy tools but entering into business for helping them, whatever be the justification, cannot be practical. There are hundreds of examples that can be drawn from recent history of this country, especially between 1947 and 1990, to prove that "doing business is not government's business" as its administrative mindset is not synonymous with entrepreneurship and eventually these public enterprises become 'millstones' around its neck. Besides bringing practically no returns on the massive investments in the public sector, most of them become a drain on the exchequer to keep them afloat. According to the latest estimates all public sector industries put to gether have incurred a mammoth loss of Rs 93000 crore compared to Rs 65000 crore the previous year! If this is the case, why not the governments, both at the state and the central levels, desist from starting new 'white elephants' in the name of the hapless citizens?

The provocation for this issue of the blog is the reported news emanating from Kerala, a state touted all over the world as "God's Own Country", that the 'enlightened' government there is contemplating setting up 'fair price hotels' all over the state for the benefit of the common man. The premise is that hotels which are operating presently are fleecing the people by charging exorbitantly for their service and poor man is denied the 'pleasure' of eating hotel foods as rich people do. Such a brain wave coming from a government identified with poor people may appear logical. But consider for a moment how such a quixotic proposal can be implemented in a state where per capita income is one of the highest in the country, inflow of foreign money from expatriates is substantial, the literacy rate is highest, the wages rule very high and a reasonably good PDS system ensures availability of food at subsidized rates for almost the entire population. Besides Kerala, unlike its neighbors Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh, does not have adequate decent eateries, probably on account of the 'low eating out' habit amongst its population. How a government can do better than the private sector in the catering area is beyond one's comprehension.

Many states have Tourism Development Corporations (TDCs) set up to attract tourists from far and wide and generally restaurants are part of the hotels under them. Except for a few, most TDCs are not functioning well and exist only because of the low tariff for their lodging facilities compared to their private sector counterparts. The quality of food served in their restaurants, at best, can be termed tolerable, reflecting the ground reality that exists to day. If this is so why does the government want to venture into so called fair price hotels? What is a fair price for a decent meal? Who decides the real cost of preparing the meal? How is the costing to be done, considering that any government operation will always carry a heavy over head cost that has to be passed on to the consumer? According to scanty information available, probably government wants catering entrepreneurs to approach it for setting up eateries in urban and semi urban areas and raw materials would be offered to them at subsidized prices through the state controlled Civil Supplies Corporation. Such a model if it works and if there are takers, could be more viable than setting up governmental hotels in the name of controlling prices. Of course there still will be many constraints in putting such precepts into practice. With real estate rates galloping day by day in a state starved of land, how any entrepreneur can get a decent place to start hotel business, all from the scratch? Will government offer the required facilities like building, water, electricity, drainage, waste disposal, toilet facilities etc that are essential for hotel business? Most important, how can government ensure that the so called fair price hotels will really offer safe and quality foods at fair price and will not divert the subsidized inputs to the open market?

It is understandable that government can intervene in such areas considered essential like medicines and basic food supply at affordable cost and probably Kerala is doing well in these areas with their fair price shops for food grains, sugar, edible oil etc, fuels like kerosene, and perishables vegetables and fruits, truly reflecting its credentials as a welfare state. But by entering into sectors like catering or vending liquor may be disastrous in the long run as both these areas cannot be considered critical to the survival of its citizens. If such a philosophy is extended, government may have to intervene in almost all sectors like entertainment, housing, many service sectors, air travel and almost all industrial operations in the name of helping out the citizens. Is it feasible, practical or logistically right? Government must give good governance, instead of imposing itself on the population what it 'feels' right without really knowing what people want!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

LACHRYMAL RESPONSE-WHY AND HOW!

Will any one believe that on an average men cry once in every month while women shed tears 5 times a month? What about a chef who cuts onion every day as a part of his daily routine? Probably it must be a 24X7 situation, all around the year. According to scientists and psychologists, there are three types of tears which include 'basal' tears, 'reflex' tears and 'emotional' or 'psychic' tears. Basal tears are more or less continuous to keep cornea wet and nourished, besides cleaning it free of dust. It contains water, mucin, lipids, lysozome, lactoferrin, lipocatin, lacretrin, immunoglobulins, glucose, urea, sodium and potassium. Some of these substances are responsible for fighting bacterial infection that may affect the eyes. In a 24 hour period humans secrete about 0.75 to 1.1 gm of tears.

Reflex crying is not in response to any normal state and is caused by some irritation due to foreign particles or presence of irritant substances like vapors generated during cutting of onion, or tear gas or pepper spray near the eyes. Bright light can also make eyes shed tears. Hot or peppery stimulii to the tongue and mouth can cause secretion of tears. Capsaicin in chilli, piperine in black pepper and gingerols and shogaols in ginger create such stimulii when taken in high concentrations. When onion is cut the volatile sulfur chemicals generated by enzyme action, react with the water in the tears to form acidic compounds which irritate the eyes causing tears to flow through the cheeks. There is an amusing report that 'tearless' onion varieties have been developed by suppressing the RNAi gene responsible for generating volatile tear-causing chemicals when it is cut but whether it is acceptable to the consumer remains to be seen.

Emotional tears result from strong emotional stress, suffering and physical pain and such crying is some times accompanied by reddening of the face, sobbing, coughing and convulsive breathing. Emotional tears have different composition, being richer in prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone and leucine enkaphalin. A neuronal connection between the tear duct and brain is known to exist and emotional tears are produced on a signal from the brain in response to emotional stresses. One always feels better after crying because of elimination of stress hormones. Increased mucal excretion occurs during crying giving a feeling of being light afterwards. In many cases an underlying experience of helplessness is manifested in crying. Good news invariably evokes crying because of helplessness in influencing what is happening.

Crying ability can be compromised by some disorders like Bell's Palsy due to faulty facial nerves or Familial Dysautonomia due to lack of overflowing tears or pathological laughing and crying disorder. 'Crocodile tear syndrome' is manifested by shedding tears during eating due to problems with the facial nerve. The expression 'Crocodile tears' in colloquial use refers to insincere display of grief or dishonest remorse by people. Do animals cry? Some believe that elephants, gorillas and camels do cry due to emotions but one is never sure. Lachrymators are volatile chemical substances that provoke tears and include compounds containing CS, CR, bromoacetone, phenacyl bromide, xylyl bromide etc. The famous 'tear gas', used world wide for crowd control by law enforcement agencies is 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile which stimulates the corneal nerves in the eyes to cause profuse tears and a burning sensation, without causing any permanent damage.

One of the most studied "crying phenomena" is that encountered in babies. There are many reasons for a baby to cry which include acid reflux, food allergies like cow's milk, overactive let down (OALD) caused by too much milk flow causing even choking, teething trouble, pyloric stenosis, colic problem etc and pediatricians usually have difficulties in finding out the exact cause in many cases. One wonders whether there is any truth in the old saying that "crying baby only will get the milk"! What about the common saying, 'crying over split-milk',to stop thinking about the past? Then we have the expression, crocodile tears which has nothing to do with the ferocious amphibian creature. Probably one can only cry when faced with a complex phenomenon as crying!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

THE DICHOTOMY OF OZONE-SAVIOUR OR A TORMENTOR?

Global warming is often attributed to more generation of green house gases like CO2, Nitrous Oxide, Methane and depletion of ozone in the stratosphere. Green house gases, each containing a minimum of 3 component atoms, absorb infrared radiation from earth's surface, vibrate and re-emit the radiation absorbed by them. This absorption-emission-absorption cycle in the lower atmosphere is supposed to keep heat near the surface of the earth and insulate against the cold of the space. Ozone is formed high in the atmosphere when intense light from the sun, especially ultra violet-B light with wave length of 280-315 nm, causes oxygen to break into constituent atoms and reform as ozone molecules which shield people, trees, crops, property and microbes from the harmful effects of UV light from the sun. Green house effect ensures earth's temperature is maintained at comfortable levels but too much of these emissions can heat up the surface of this planet to unbearable levels which is not desirable. A 2C rise in earth's temperature is considered to be lethal to 30% of the living creatures on this planet

Green house effect of gases and vapors vary considerably with water vapor being the most efficient one with 36-72% while CO2 contributes to 9-26%, Methane 4-9% and ozone 3-7%. During the last one and a half century the concentration of these gases has increased dramatically mostly due to human activity. CO2 level recorded an increase from 280 ppm to 387 ppm, Methane 700 ppb to 1745 ppb, NO 270 ppb to 314 ppb and Chlorofluoro Carbon from zero to 533 ppt. CO2 emission increase is mostly due to burning of fossil fuels for a variety of tasks in the modern world including energy generation, automobile running, industrial operations etc. Massive deforestation taking place around the world reduces the 'sink' effect trees have, by converting CO2 into carbohydrates through photosynthesis, allowing the gas to stay for long time in the atmosphere causing increased heat radiation. Though the temperature rise was only 1 C during the last one century, its effect on life has been phenomenal. Further rise of 2 C during this century is predicted which can have disastrous consequences if not checked in time,

Ozone, besides its role as a protectant against UV radiation reaching earth's surface, is also a green house gas. Ozone layer in the stratosphere, 10-50 km above earth's surface, acts as a shield and is considered good and beneficial. This layer absorbs 93-99 % of sun's high frequency UV light and the ozone content here is around 2-8 ppm. Any drastic reduction of ozone can cause increased radiation hazard to the population and hence to be avoided. Free radical catalysts like NO, hydroxyls, atomic bromine and chlorine generated by human activity can destroy ozone significantly. Chlorine and Bromine atoms are liberated by the action of UV light on man made chemicals like Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) or Bromofluorocarbons and each radical has the potential to destroy 100,000 molecules of ozone. The present depletion rate is about 4% a decade and international community is taking action to phase out the use of these halogenated gases over a period of time. Other industrial gases like Halon, Carbon Tetrachloride, Methyl Chloroform etc extensively used in consumer products and industrial applications are also under the scanner to phase them out eventually so that the 'good ozone" is protected.


Presence of ozone in earth's atmosphere is considered bad as they cause shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, headache, nausea, throat and lung irritation. Here again the background ozone concentration formed by a series of atmospheric chemical reactions involving nitrous oxide and volatile organic compounds (VOC), if kept at low levels, may not be dangerous. When ground level ozone levels go up, it can affect plant life as well as the human beings as it is a photochemical oxidant. VOCs are invariably generated by gasoline stations, motor vehicles, airplanes, trains, boats, petroleum tankers, oil refineries and higher their levels in the air more will be the formation of ozone. Ozone is a key component in the smog that reduces visibility during summer months. Strong sun light and hot weather conditions cause ground level ozone to form in harmful concentrations in the air.

There is natural generation of ozone due to some plants which produce biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC)like mono terpenes and isoprenes in significant amounts that can react with ozone precursors to form ozone at ground level. This has posed a dilemma to policy makers regarding the negative aspects of urban forestry when high biogenic hydocarbon emitting trees are planted in urban areas as CO2 sink as well as for their cooling effect. High BVOC emitting trees include Casuarina, Eucalyptus, Poplar, Oak, Willow etc. However BVOC emission accounts for only about 10% of the total VOCs generated and urban forestry is still an attractive proposition from CO2, ozone and temperature angles and if low BVOC emitting plants are chosen ozone problem may not be that significant. Ozone formation due to reaction between NO and VOCs is temperature dependent and higher the temperature more will be the ozone generation. A mature tree on an average can absorb about 22-23 kg of CO2 in an year and a 10% increase in urban canopy can reduce ozone levels by 4 ppm besides reducing the temperature by 4-5C. Ground level ozone beyond 0.075 ppm is considered undesirable in many countries.


V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

DEMISE OF THE "POUND BREAD'-THE INDIAN TREND

Bread is a loosely used expression to describe a variety of preparations from wheat and some other grains using yeast or baking powder or without any raising agents. Wheat bead has its origin in the neolithic era and there are flat breads like roti, chapathi, parota and naan in India, lavashs, taboons and sangaks from Iran, tortilla from Mexico made from corn, Scottish oat cake, pita bread of middle east, injera of Ethiopia based on Teff cereal etc. The name pound bread derives its name from the approximate weight of a loaf of bread made by yeast leavening though variables in the recipe and making method may give less than a pound or 16 oz. There are of course 1 1/2 pound and 2 pound breads also made by few bakeries. Generally recipe for a loaf is considered on the basis of 100% flour and other ingredients are incorporated as a percentage of the flour. A typical white bread recipe will have 100 parts of flour, 65 parts water, 0.25-0.50 part yeast, 0.5 part malt, 2 parts salt, 6 parts sugar, 6 parts skim milk solids and 4 parts shortening. There is also a 'pound cake' which is based on equal proportion of four ingredients (1:1:1:1), wheat flour, butter, eggs and sugar.

Original process called straight dough method took several hours, especially for optimum yeast fermentation but advent of Chorleywood bread process in 1961 cut down the time dramatically and made it possible to make bread manufacture continuously instead of earlier batch type. Use of intensive mixing through mechanical equipment and bread improvers like L-cysteine, potassium bromate, ascorbic, phosphates, amylase, protease give bread with excellent sponginess and elasticity. Wheat with 11% to 18% gluten content decides the quality of the bread and higher the protein better will be the quality of the end product. Quick breads and soda breads are made using baking powder and usually muffins, pancakes, sweet breads and banana breads are prepared using this process.

With India switching over to metric system, unlike Americans, pound bread became '400 gm bread', chopping off a neat 53 gm from the loaf. Progressively the loaf started becoming leaner and leaner and thousands of small bakeries to day offer to the consumer loaves weighing 250-280 gm per piece while in the organized sector packed breads still make 300 gm and 400 gm loaves with label declaration. Most of the consumers take it for granted that they are getting a pound loaf without realizing that they are short changed in the process. As there are no strict regulations to force the industry to make a 16 oz bread to be eligible to be called a pound loaf, the concept of pound bread has become a part of history. It is funny that most small bakeries do not pack their product in the strict sense though paper and polythene wrapping is common in front of the buyer, thus obviating the need for any label declaration or transparency.

Bread making machines are usually designed to give a pound loaf as determined by the recipe and volume of the bread making chamber. Home baking is practically non-existent in India and therefore many people have no idea about a pound loaf, satisfied with what they are getting from the street corner bakery. If consumer interest is to be protected, there must be some standardization regarding the weight of bread and unorganized sector needs to be disciplined with regard to their obligation to deliver a definite quantity of bread for the price charged by them. If organized bakery industry can sell 400 gm of bread at Rs 11-14 why should the small baker should charge same price or more for less than 70% of what the former is offering? A vexing question in a country which has got into the 'free market' band wagon in search of growth and development and price control by force is an anathema. Probably in the interest of the consumer, government can at least make it mandatory for the small bakers to declare the weight and the price on each loaf of bread before delivey or make them declare the same boldly through bill boards at a prominent place inside their shops.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

LIVING WELL; AND LIVING LONG TOO!

The slogan"Health is Wealth" is very apt because the list of diseases to which man is vulnerable is growing every day and quality of life depends very much on freedom from some of the dreaded ailments like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, dementia, etc. No matter how wealthy one is, disease-free life can be enjoyed only if there is discipline, whether in food consumption or other activities. The science of nutrition, human physiology, biochemical functions of food and health sciences give adequate clue to maintain good quality life. Man also desires to live long and no one likes to be reminded that life is not eternal. Enough knowledge has not come to the surface regarding precise factors that influence aging and longevity. Living well and living long are the major objectives which every human being strives to achieve.

Diets needed to live well are well known with necessary calories, proteins, fats, fibers and micro nutrients. It is the gross indiscipline in eating habits that has tilted the scale against man, in spite of the enormous wealth of information available on every aspect of food. How can one define quality of life? It means different things to different people depending on their priorities in life. There is the 'quality of life index' (QLI) scale which measures the relative position of countries based on several parameters that influence life. QLI integrates data on subjective life satisfaction surveys with objective determinants of quality of life of people across the countries. It uses 9 quality of life factors to determine each country's score on a scale of 1-10. These include health and life, family life including divorce rate, community life, material well being linked to GDP at PPP, political stability and security, climate and geography, job security, political freedom and gender equality. India is supposed to have a score of 5.759 and a world ranking of 73 amongst 111 countries surveyed, with Ireland on top and Zimbabwe at the bottom. Physical quality of life index (PQLI) is another yardstick measured by literacy rate, infant mortality and life expectancy and developed into 1-100 scale. India ranks 68 as against France's top ranking of 88 and Iraq's bottom ranking of 31.

Food is undoubtedly the primary instrument for maintaining and improving our health. We know to day that key to good health is consuming more high nutrient density foods and avoiding or less frequent intake of calorie dense foods. Many foods are sources of good nutrients, helping to keep healthy, as well as bad nutrients that adversely affect the health in the long run. Wrong foods can increase the risk of diseases several fold and need to be avoided. Beyond food, there are factors which affect the well being of human body such as diseases, infectious as well as metabolic types, caused by the environment and genetic inheritance of each individual. Overall Nutritional Quality Index(ONQI), being used by some food manufacturers provide a comparative scale to the consumers regarding the impact of foods on them. ONQI uses 30 nutrients including vitamins, minerals and phytochemical nutrients, considered favorable for health and others like saturated fats, trans fats, sodium, sugar and cholesterol considered unhealthy, to assess various food materials. On a scale of 1-100, healthy foods are supposed to score high while unhealthy foods will have low scores based on which consumer can make an informed choice.

Advocates of Calorie Restriction diets stress the fact that those regularly consuming 30% less calorie based foods can live longer but living long has no meaning if the quality of life is not worth crowing about. Living well and living long too, must be the center piece of one's life

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

POST-DINNER GUESTS-NO INVITATION NEEDED!

Of all the inconveniences put up by a house wife while doing her daily chores in the kitchen, most persistent one is that caused by the mighty cockroaches. There are about 4000 species of roaches spread all over the world, of which only 30 are associated with human habitats. A large roach can weigh up to 50 gm though majority of them come in the range of 5-10 gm. Smallest one is about 4 mm long while the biggest species can have a wing span of almost 18 cm! They are historical with their ancestors dating back to 350 million years during the carboniferous period. One of the most sturdy living creatures man has encountered, roaches can withstand radiation of the order of 67000 rem, a dose 100 times more than what humans can tolerate. A small dose of 800 rem is supposed to be lethal to human being. German roaches can even tolerate higher doses up to 105000 rem. A decapitated roach can be alive for almost a week reflecting its perseverance and persistence! Which terrestrial creature can hold breath for 40 minutes under water? A roach can!

Since they can live in all climates roaches infest all houses unless preventive measures are taken. Their preference is for tropical humid climates and Indian climate suits them well. No house hold can be immune to the presence of roaches in spite of all preventive measures taken since such measures can only control their population, not eliminate them totally. Generally they live for 3 months and some times for more than 6 months under favorable conditions. They can survive without food for a month as one night's feast is sufficient for living in a hibernated condition. But without water they can only live for a week. They lay their eggs in hard sacs known as ootheca containing several of the eggs, carrying with them for two days before depositing in safe places. A pair of cockroaches can produce more than a lack of descendants in an year reflecting their enormous procreative ability causing population explosion.

Roaches can penetrate crevices of size less than 0.5 mm. Their nocturnal activities are restricted to about 4 hours after the lights are off in the kitchen and 75% of the time they rest hidden from human eyes. They feed on any thing which includes milk, sweets, starchy foods, over ripe fruits, etc. In a normal house hold 50% of the roach population will be in the kitchen as it is the source of food and they know about it. In some houses the roach population can be as high as 1000 at any given time. Left over food materials, food liters on and around the dining tables, unkempt stores, below the kitchen stove where food splattering and spill overs are not cleaned regularly and storage shelves with crevices, attract them for accessing their food needs and for resting and reproduction.

Why do man detests cockroaches? Probably because they are associated with filth. In reality not even a single food poisoning episode in human history has been attributed to this house hold pest though they do carry with them pathogens on their body. One aspect on which roaches are to be viewed with seriousness is their suspected role in inducing Asthma which is thought to be due to secretion of Tropomyosin, a confirmed allergen. Since they do not have the ability to detect foods from a distance, they run over whatever food they come across during their "night out" causing obnoxious smell through their droppings. However there is one place under the sun where roaches are welcome, Texas, USA where farmers discovered their ability to destroy cotton bollworms, considered a pest that affect cotton production in the region.

Boric acid powder, hydramethylnon, deltamethrin, pyrethrin and some pesticides are toxic to roaches. Aerosol sprays containing the pesticide formula with thin delivery tube attached at 45 degree can effectively reach hard to access points to eliminate them. Hydramethynon, belonging to the class of chemicals known as trifluoromethyl aminohydrazone is a metabolic inhibitor highly poisonous to roaches and is extensively used for baiting. Sulfuryl chloride fumigation is effective in controlling their population and periodic fumigation of sewer lines, both inward and outward, is needed to avoid large scale migration into the house. The fact that they cannot travel more than 300 feet makes them create colonies through 'breed and expand' strategy, their travel route being the covered underground sewage lines in the urban areas. Unless and until home owners understand the life style of cock roaches and take precautions to discourage their breeding within their premises, theses uninvited 'guests' are bound to become 'permanent residents', co-existing with the real owners of the house! .



V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

HONESTY INCULCATION THROUGH FOOD!

Honesty and sincerity form the basis of the character in a person and sacrificing these traits for limited immediate gains will be foolhardy in the long run. A person is remembered after his life time for his good deeds and actions, not for the amount of wealth amassed as many seem to think. Psychologists and sociologists always stress on 'character building" amongst children before they become full grown adults. It is not that character development does not continue during adolescence but what is achievable is incremental improvements. If proper parenting and schooling benefits are denied to children at their impressionable year, it is more likely that they may fail to become honest citizens later.

In the ladder of corruption India has the enviable position some where at the mid-point and one often wonders why this nation got itself into this sorry pass, in spite of the glorious history behind it and superior intelligence and capabilities which can be the envy of any country. There may be many excuses but fundamentally it is due to disintegration of the old joint family system yielding to nuclear families where neither the parents nor the education system could replace the wisdom and restraining hands of the elders in large families. With both the parents working and the education system we have currently in shambles, the chances of the children imbibing all wrong values are very high. It is good to hear the new HRD Minister at Delhi talking about overhauling the system to make it more transparent and value-based. According to Transparency International, India occupies 72 nd position while top 3 countries with least corruption include New Zealand, Singapore and Sweden. Bottom 3 positions are held by Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq. It is no consolation that there are more than 100 countries more corrupt than us in the corruption scale!

Indonesia, which scores 143 in the corruption scale is notorious for its wide spread bribery and corruption, seems to have realized the need for setting their house in order for the sake of the security of their future generation and is reported to be trying to reverse the trend through voluntary efforts. Since students are the future citizens destined to shoulder responsibility to hold the country's flag high, the government there is trying out a novel approach involving them. A series of "Honesty Cafes" have been conceived where students and other customers are expected to pay for the food service voluntarily and more than 10000 such establishments in private and public sectors are expected to be established through out the country by the end of this year. This is a 'managerless' system with high degree of transparency and the hope is that participants will feel the pleasure of being honest, to begin with in these cafes and later practice the same in their lives. Their experience so far in its 6 months of operation, indicates that these honesty cafes are doing very well in locations like schools while some resistance was discerned in other places. Though it is too early to predict the outcome of this venture, if found effective can be a model for other countries to try out.

In India, it is doubtful whether such experiments will succeed though there is nothing wrong to try it out in some of the metros. More effective will be to evolve teaching techniques at the kindergarten and primary school levels that will reward children for being truthful and honest. There could even be honesty courses, to be compulsory for all, in order to pass out to the next class. Moral lessons should be part of the curriculum of every school though pessimists may baulk at such schemes as sheer waste. The idiom "catch them young" is highly relevant when it comes to inculcating honesty amongst youngsters.


V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/