This is how many French fries you should be eating

Chelsea Ritschel  TOI 09.12.2018

A Harvard professor said it would be “nice” if an order of fries only contained six — to which people have reacted with outrage and disbelief.

Despite being one of the most delicious foods, French fries are understandably frowned upon by doctors and nutritionists - who are keen to make people aware of the health risks associated with consuming sliced, fried potatoes.

And in a recent New York Times article, Professor Eric Rimm, a nutrition professor in Harvard University’s School of Public Health, who described potatoes as “starch bombs,” suggested it would be better if people ate them in six-fry increments — as higher consumption is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Apart from heart disease, obesity and diabetes, the study referenced by the New York Times also found people who ate fries didn’t live as long as people who didn’t indulge.

Currently, Americans are consuming potatoes more than any other vegetable, with two-thirds in the form of French fries, chips, or other processed potatoes, according to the Agriculture Department.

The ever-increasing portions of food are also the problem — with an order of French fries now averaging just under 200 grams, according to Beth Fontenot, MS, RD, LDN.

According to Dr Rimm, portion control could help.

“There aren’t a lot of people who are sending back three-quarters of an order of French fries,” he said in the article, which describes the country’s voracious appetite for potatoes, especially fried ones, and the health risks associated. “I think it would be nice if your meal came with a side salad and six French fries.”

The advice, if realistic, would be beneficial — but on social media, Dr Rimm’s suggestion was jokingly ridiculed.

“Who is this hostile alien they are interviewing?” one person asked.

Another said: “What kind of MAD MAN would want six French fries? I get it, they are bad for you, but eating SIX sounds like torture. I’d rather not have them at all. But we all know that’s not going to happen.”

If you are going to exercise control when it comes to French fries, Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, a registered dietician in New York City, told The Independent that you should avoid “french fries that are doused in toppings like gravies, cheese, aiolis or heavy, salty seasoning” in favour of baked fries, and “as a rule of thumb, regardless of the type of potato, ask for the fries without salt and if you wish, salt them yourself at the table.”

She advises pouring the salt in your hand “before sprinkling them onto your fries to prevent oversaturating your meal with salt.”

And while Beckerman “generally recommends consuming fried foods as seldom as possible,” if you do eat the fries, “Try extra hard at your next meal to eat an arrangement of antiinflammatory foods like lean proteins, cruciferous vegetables and beans.” THE INDEPENDENT


SMALL FRY: Professor Eric Rimm was mocked on social media for suggesting a healthy serving should only contain six fries

3,474 varsity students to earn credits on e-platform
92 Universities OK Credit Transfers From Swayam

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:09.12.2018

In a first, 3,474 regular students across 20 universities are set to to earn credits through the online-learning platform Swayam. With 92 universities, including some of India’s best like University of Hyderabad, Central Universities of Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, besides Jamia Millia Islamia and Anna University having approved credit transfers, scholars of these universities can now learn from home and earn as much as 20% of the total credit through this online-learning-platform.

Swayam offers courses from class 9th to post graduate level where regular school or university students can register and learn online. Students can earn credits for some of the Swayam’s UG/PG level courses by taking the credit test conducted by NTA. This credit will get added to the total credits needed by a student to complete his course in his parent university. This is convenient and allows the scholar flexibility both in terms of time as he can pace his study and also provides a wider choice in terms of subjects.

According to R Subrahmanyam, secretary, higher education, ministry of human resource development, the National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted computer-based tests for 90 Massive Open Online Courses of undergraduate and post graduate courses for Swayam candidates on December 1 and 2. The tests were conducted at 87 centers in 61cities and 3,474 candidates were in attendance.

“As many as 92 universities, which includes central, state, deemed and private universities, have come on board in accepting credit transfer for courses done through Swayam platform. It’s an encouraging beginning with over 3,800 students registering for the credit exams. More universities are to come on board,” said Subrahmanyam. So far majority of the credit courses accepted by the universities are for the optional papers, while a few are also accepting core papers for credit transfer. “In sync with the semester system, the credit exams are to be conducted by the NTA and certificates of credit will be issued. Students then will submit the certificate of credits to their parent universities,” added the secretary.

2 poll officials suspended for misplacing EVM

Jaipur/Kota:09.12.2018

Two polling officials were suspended on Friday night by the returning officer of Kishanganj in Baran district for “negligence”. Of the 12 machines the two were ferrying from the store to the warehouse, one fell off on the way, the Baran collector said. It was, officials say, an “unpolled” back-up unit-.The machine was later found on NH-27 near Mugawali Road in Shahabad area of Kishanganj assembly constituency.

The two officials suspended are Abdul Rafique and Naval Singh Patwari, said Kishanganj returning officer Chandan Dubey.

“It was an unpolled ballot unit, which is kept in the reserved category. They (officials) were bringing 12 machines from the store to the warehouse for submission. One of those fell off from their vehicle and they did not realise it and are suspended with immediate effect for negligence,” said Baran collector Satyapal Singh Bhadia.

Rafique, ILR employee at Shahabad tehsil, and Singh, will report at the district headquarters during the suspension period, said the order issued by the collector late on Friday night. TNN

PhD scholar in MKU files complaint against guide

Madurai:09.12.2018

A full-time PhD scholar of Madurai Kamaraj University has lodged a complaint of harassment against her guide with the registrar of the university. Apart from harassment, she has claimed that the guide took her as a full-time research scholar after obtaining 2 lakh from her.

However, K Karnamaharajan, the guide and head of the department of the centre for film and electronic media studies, rubbished the complaint as “absolutely false and fabricated”. He suspected that it was a motivated complaint at a time when he had issued a showcause notice to her for taking unauthorized leave. “I am planning to meet the registrar to seek his permission to conduct a press meet, where I will come out with the evidences,” he said. TNN

SCHOLARSHIP ISSUE

SC/ST students to get ₹984cr in arrears  HC Order To Benefit 1.4L TN Students
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 09.12.2018

In a reprieve to more than 1.4 lakh SC/ST students who were denied the central government scholarship, the Madras high court has directed the Centre to release scholarship arrears to the tune of ₹984 crore in two months.

A division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the order while allowing a PIL moved by advocate D Ashokkumar based on a news report — 1.4 lakh students denied hall ticket over unpaid fees — published in TOI on December 18, 2017.

“Though the Centre’s department of finance is not a party to this lis, allocation of funds has to be made as per the scheme, promptly. Therefore, the director of the department is directed to disburse the arrears of ₹822.91 crore, representing the postmatric scholarship to SC students up to 2016-17, within two months, along with ₹162 crore, for the 2017-18 year,” said the bench.

According to the petitioner, students from SC/ST communities whose family income is below ₹2 lakh per annum are eligible for scholarships to pursue higher education. As per the scheme,

which was introduced in 2012, tuition fees for higher education including in self-financing colleges, would be borne by the state under the central government post-matric scholarship programme.

While so, on August 11, 2017 the state issued a GO reducing the scholarship amount provided for students studying in self-financing colleges. As per the new GO, students who joined courses under the management quota in self-financing colleges, could get scholarship amount only as much being charged for the students under the government quota fixed tuition fees.

“Now, for the academic year 2017-18, for which fees has been fixed as ₹85,000 for engineering courses, only ₹50,000 will be borne by the government under the scheme. Remaining ₹35,000 has to be paid by the students. Earlier, medical students from SC/ST communities, can get up to ₹12.5 lakh as scholarship. Now, as per the new GO, they can get only a meagre amount of ₹4 lakh and the remaining ₹8 lakh should be paid by the students. Similarly, for BDS course students have to pay up to ₹3.5 lakh from their own funds,” the petitioner said.

The petitioner also referred to a media statement released by the state government in which it had claimed that the central government had not released ₹1,546 crore meant for distribution of postmatric scholarship and the situation was cited as the reason for reduction of scholarship provided for such students. In its response, the state government submitted that due to the delayed and inadequate release of central assistance, a burden is caused on the state's exchequer.

Madras HC sets aside transfer order to differently-abled 
headmistress 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Nov 30, 2018, 6:18 am IST

Updated Nov 30, 2018, 6:18 am IST 

The judge directed the authorities to post the petitioner within a week, as headmistress in the Thazhancheri HC, which is situated near her residence. 


Madras High Court

Chennai: The Madras high court has set aside an order of the authorities transferring a differently-abled headmistress to a far away school.

“When the law is so concerned for the disabled persons and makes provision, it is the obligation of the law executing authorities to ensure implementation in quite promptitude”, said Justice S. Vimala while disposing of a petition from R.Thamaraiselvi, a differently-abled woman.

The judge directed the authorities to post the petitioner within a week, as headmistress in the Thazhancheri high court, which is situated near her residence.

According to Thamaraiselvi, she was appointed as a teacher and posted in a high school in Korkai in 1997. Subsequent to her promotion as headmistress in 2018, despite her 50 percent disability and request to post her in a high school in Thazhancheri, which was just 10 km away from her residence, she was offered the high school in Periathumbur, which was 104 km away, during counseling. Therefore, she filed the present petition, she added. The judge said the transport system and the population using it were alarming and accidents were escalating each day. The population traveling over the top of the bus cannot be forgotten while considering the transfer request of a disabled person. Normally, place of posting was left to the discretion of the administrators, but in this case, this court did not have the hope that the administrators would take care of the interest of the differently abled person namely the petitioner, the judge added and gave the above directive.

Faulty medical devices cause for deaths and injuries 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Dec 1, 2018, 2:47 am IST

The researchers said that eight percent of all implants had no evaluated evidence due to the lack of a proper regulation process.

The high failure rate of implants highlighted the need for an adequate evidence base for medical implants.

Chennai: A report led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its partner news organizations. The British Medical Journal and BBC Panorama revealed that 83,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries were associated with faulty medical devices. The safety regulations do not keep up with the advancements in med tech, raising the need of a better regulatory system on the medical devices.

One of the earlier reports by the BMJ revealed that hip replacement surgeries use implants with no readily available evidence related to their safety and effectiveness. The researchers said that eight percent of all implants had no  evaluated evidence due to the lack of a proper regulation process.

The high failure rate of implants highlighted the need for an adequate evidence base for medical implants. Many implants are available to surgeons without an evidence of clinical effectiveness to support their use.

The report highlighted that governmental authorities do not review medical devices before they reach the market. Instead, medical device companies seek approval from notified bodies for approval. Though the scenario was based on the European market and med tech industry mainly, various countries such as India are main consumers of the same.

The report said that safety and efficacy of medical devices are not subject to the same transparency rules as medicines; so much so that surgeons performing these procedures don’t always see the evidence related to the devices.

Responding to the report, UK’s Royal College Of Surgeons demanded drastic  regulatory changes in the way medical devices are evaluated. Medicos say that all implant devices should be registered and tracked to monitor efficacy and patient safety in the long term.