The Government proposes to set up a dedicated university to run the journalism and media related courses of world-class quality.There is one such institute in China called Communication University of China. There are many institutes right now but their courses leave much to be desired. What they lack is the depth and vision.Such a plan also is likely to be objected to especially as regards the autonomy such an institute may have.It is to be seen whether the thrust of the curriculum is on technology alone or on inter-disciplinary approach.The overall structure of the university will be arrived at in the next few days.It will also indulge in consultancy projects.
Month: March 2015
Designer Babies
Mitochondria, small cylindrical structures in the cells, are transferred from a mother to a child. They are responsible for the energy production and carry out the functions such as the storage of calcium. They mediate in cell death.If mitochondria malfunction, there are diseases of the muscles and nerves. If the defective mitochondria pass on to the children from mother, these children inherit diseases. If father’s mitochondria are defective, children do not inherit them.The symptoms of these diseases are treated by vitamin and other supplements and anti-oxidants.There is no treatment that can cure the problem. Doctors advise mothers with defective mitochondria not to have children.
A new technique has emerged that takes care of the defective mitochondria. Sperm from father and ovum from mother are fertilised in a test tube. The nuclei from both of these are removed before they fuse.An ovum from a donor woman is taken, and its nuclei is removed. The parents nuclei and the ovum without nuclei from the donor woman are put together. The fertilised egg retains the mitochondria of the donor woman.In February, 2015, the British parliament has given a nod to the law to allow this three parent baby, thus taking the first small step towards the designer babies. Britain’s three parent baby could be born as early as 2016.
Tamasha — the Folk-Art of Maharashtra
Sandesh Bhandare has written a coffee table book on Tamasha-Ek Rangadi Gammat giving photographic account of Tamasha — the folk-art of Maharashtra. Every region has its own version of Tamasha — Tamasha from Konkan, Tamasha under the tree, Tamasha on stage etc. The presentation and the season of the different tamashas is different. Tamasha entertains the peasants of the rural areas. A tamasha troupe has artistes, instrumentalists, cooks ,stage designers, porters. They travel in a vehicle. On reaching the destination, they start unloading. They start searching drinking water. Some attend the call of nature. They start bathing, washing clothes, drying them. They apply for police permission. Some start erecting a pandal. The stage is made of wooden planks. Electricians, workers, tailors all contribute to the management. They finish the lunch by 4.00/4.30 p.m. Artists then take rest. Others give finishing touches to the work. Artistes wake up by seven in the evening. They start putting rogue on the face. Instrumentalists set the instruments. Female artistes check up with make up, jewellery and hair-style. All this continues up to 9 o’clock. When the crowd assembles, the curtain is raised. The show starts with dholki tappings. It creates the ambience. They are usually dressed in gold-bordered nine-yard saris with their hair tied up into flower-adorned buns. Even spectators get the zing. The dholki player’s fingers get bruised. The tamasha continues till 4 in the morning.In the small hours of the morning, they take the dinner. The vehicle drivers who were asleep during the progress of the tamasha get up. The planks are adjusted in the vehicle to make room for sleeping. They start loading the luggage. The troupe moves out, and heads for another destination.
In smaller troupes, an individual has to do multiple tasks. There are problems in getting permission. They have to face the rowdy crowd. They have to ensure traffic. They are not given respect in the society. Tamasha is cosmopolitan. But the troupe is treated as if they are untouchables. The women are thought of as individuals with easy virtue. They are given water by pouring it from above to avoid touching them. The tamasha artistes are a distressed lot, though they entertain the rural society. Many generations have remained devoted to tamasha.What about the future of their progeny? The book has been published by Lokvangmaya Griha, Mumbai.
Recently, Dr. Kishor Shantabai Kale succumbed to brain injuries on account of a road accident. His biography Kolhatyache Por ( 1994 ) brought to light the lives of the Kolhati community of Tamasha dancers from Western Maharashtra . Most of the artistes are landless labourers, usually from lower castes from villages in Maharashtra. They are indebted to village money-lenders. The commission for a single performance is anywhere between Rs. 8,000-Rs. 10,000 for the entire group, but goes up at times to Rs. 40,000-Rs. 1 lakh, depending upon the popularity of the troupe. The artistes do not perform throughout the year but only on festive occasions or auspicious days at village fairs or private functions. The Hindu month Chaitra is good for business. The Maharashtra State government holds a tamasha festival now, and proposes to elevate tamasha to the status of folk art. The government proposes an economic package for the artistes. In Maharashtra there are 15 big companies and 150 smaller companies. Tamasha is their livelihood. Tamasha is recognised by Dholkicha phad and sangeet bari. It travels across the length and breadh of Maharashtra for seven months — October to May.Each company has 50-60 artistes — 15 female dancers and singers and 35 male artistes and accompanists. There are around 130 travelling Tamasha troupes that perform seasonally and approximately 15 full-time troupes that perform all throughout the year.
The recent Marathi movie Natrang starring Atul Kulkarni captures Tamasha on the silver screen. To begin with, Marathi cinema thrived on lavani. Between 1960 and1975, Sulochna Chawan has sung some unforgettable lavnis.As Cinema embraced modern themes, lavni was pushed aside. Yamunabai Warkar could cast a spell on the audience in her live performances in he 1950s.Tamasha includes play, song and aaradhana, apart from lavni. Lavni is a dance that combines nritya, adakari and sangeet.Etymologically, lavni comes from the Sanskrit lavanya meaning beauty. It has been left to survive on erotic strain now — the erotic lyrics have several layers and the dance movements are seductive. It was used to entertain the Mughal armies.It explains the influence of Kathak on lavni. The Peshwas in the 18th century patronised it. It catalysed the fall of the Maratha empire in 1818. Lavni for the classes was erotic and seductive. It was sangeet bari. Lavni for the masses continued with the travelling Tamasha troupes.
After the fall of the Maratha empire, lavni moved to private kothas in Marathwada and Pune and lavni lost its respectability.Cinema also tarnished its image further. Artists were portrayed as women of easy virtue who corrupted the feudal power centres or village Patils. Lavni which was a folk art degenerated into plain titillation to senses.Even otherwise, the other genres of entertainment provide tough competition to lavni.
Shahirs are the ballad poets who compose some of the most versatile lavnis full of everyday humour and wit.Some well-known shahirs are Honaji Bala, Parshuram and Pattthe Baburao.
Vijay Chavan, son of Sulochna Chawan plays dholki in Natrang. Dancers are now drawn from all communities and are not restricted to the nomadic Kolhati and Dombari tribes.
The readers can also go through the book Dancing Maidens : The Seduction Called Lavni.
Popular Science Magazine in Marathi — Srishtigyan
Srishtigyan, a monthly magazine decided to popular science, was started by Prof. Gopal Ramchandra Paranjpe on 1st Jan, 1928. In July 2011, the magazine will published its 1000th issue. The magazine had an uninterrupted 84 years run in the market. The magazine was adopted by Vamanrao Patwardhan of Aryabhushan Mudranalaya in 1933. In 1974, Aryabhushan closed down, and then Srishtigyan was taken over Mahatma Fule Vastusangrahalaya in 1975. In the last 85 years, the magazine has published 40000 pages of science-related material.
Lambeik, Amsterdam
This is the oldest comic store in the world. It is a shop people visit to reclaim the child in them. It was founded by Kees Kousemaker in 1968 and was named after Lambik, a popular character from Suske and Wiske comics. The earliest customers were those who could not lay their hands on comics due to parental supervision. Slowly a new comic buying audience too emerged. One who runs such a store must have encyclopedic knowledge and an elephantine memory. Kousemaker passed away in 2010 and his son continues his legacy.
Working of 3D Glasses
3D Glasses feed different images to the eyes. On the screen, two images are displayed. The glasses make one image enter one eye, and the other to the other eye. This is done by two methods. The first is polarization. Here two synchronized projectors project two respective views on the screen. Each view has a different polarization. The polarizaed glasses permit only one of the images enter each eye. The second method is the use of RG or red-green glasses or RB or red-blue glasses. These see two images displayed on the screen — one red and the other blue (or green ). The glasses permit one image enter each eye. This creates a sense of depth.
Customised Medicines
Medicines are prescribed on the basis of diagnosis and the same medicine is prescribed for all the patients diagnosed of a certain disease. However, the right medicine for the right patient maxim expects the medicines being prescribed keeping the patient in the centre. At the forefront of personalised medicine is the genetic component which exists for many diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cystic fibrosis etc.Genetic information of the patient is collected to profile patients and then the suitable drugs are administered. Certain drugs are metabolized in a peculiar manner in certain individuals, e.g. codiene being metabolized to morphine in a lactating mother results into the death of the of an infant. This calls for customised medicine.
Though the human genome is the same, there is a slightly different version of the same gene in individuals. We are genetically similar but not the same as there are genetic variations.One such variation is to have Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP). Some of these SNPs have relevance for the action of the medicine.
Pharmacogenetics is either molecule based or disease based. All medicines do not work in all people because the molecular cause of the disease is not the same. Pharmacogenomics research is based on genotype to phenotype principle. In short, it tries to co-relate genetic information to clinical information. Genetic testing has now become easier. There are laboratories which make this service available to the physicians and patients.The goal is to provide safer and more efficient medicines.The regulatory framework for this research continues to grow.It requires support and investment.Companies fear the loss of blockbusters if this field is encouraged. In course of time, all these objections will fade away.
Advertising, Sales and Promotion Management – Under Revision
I wrote Advertising, Sales and Promotion Management book for the first time in 2001.Since then it has been revised five times and has seen eleven reprints.I am revising it for the 6th time. It cocers the entire communication mix a company uses — advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, PR. It also details the various media used in advertising. It covers face-to-face personal selling and sales management. It is a popular book and is available on all e coomerce sites in India and abroad and is available at all important book stores.
Modern Retail : Rocky Route
Though there are big opportunities for modern retail that combines competitively priced goods and pleasant ambiance, there are challenges which organised retailers face, making it a rocky route. The future retailing is a mix of the factory and the theatre elements a combination of robust structures and customer relationship with behind-the-scene operations. The big retailers tout the factory side and ensure that the store team is motivated to provide customer service. The store-owner manager operating locally in the neighbourhood provides theatre element through customer relationship and execution that gives quality goods at fair prices. Modern retail may take any route — consolidation, regionalization or localization. The big foreign retailers with a large market share operating here is an example of consolidation. In the US markets, some retailers have a regional domination. This model has applicability in India. The local retailers tradionally operating can continue to do business.
Palcohol – Powdered Alcohol
Necessity they say is the mother of invention.Mark Philips in the US found it very inconvenient to carry liquid alcohol bottles with him to relax when he indulged in rigorous outdoor activities such as hiking, biking and camping.He just preferred to carry one liquid and that is water.The solution was to convert alcohol into powder and then carry it. When you want to have it, reconstitute it into a beverage by just adding water.He coined the brand name for this powdered alcohol — Palcohol. He is seeking patent for this product. His website is called Lipsmark.His company is eponymously called Lipsmark. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Trade Bureau (TTB) has approved Palcohol in March, 2015.The company is proposing to set up commercial production facilities for the product.Of course, the individual US states will take a call independently on this issue.There are concerns about its misuse because of easy portability and its potential to spike the other drinks.It can even be snorted.