Quick notes:Brittle bones, Punjabi translation...

• India's Urban epidemic: Lack of Vitamin D is turning into India's 'urban epidemic'. The bone has a trabecular network. Think of it as a honeycomb. Its main source of constitution are Vitamin D and calcium. They are the lime and cement of the bone's building structure. If a person is deficient in either of these, the network's foundations are affected, leaving him more prone to pain and fracture.



• Punjabi added to Google Translate: Punjabi, is the native tongue of more than 100 million.



• Diesel exhaust causes 6% of lung cancer deaths in USA and UK: The number could be lot worse in India with its dirty grade diesel.

Quick notes: Idling power plants, malnutrition stats...

• Nation paying heavy price to please the Ambanis. Rs 40,000 crore of investments in power plants with an installed capacity of 4,904 MW are at risk of turning into non-performing assets due to non-availability of domestic natural gas, primarily due to low production at the Reliance-run KG offshore fields.



• WHO malnutrition figures are a joke. Even perfectly healthy Indian children would be classified as malnourished just because they fail to meet the height and weight standards derived from the WHO population that is taller and heavier on an average.



• Lobbying pays: The government plans to ease retail FDI norms on sourcing and back-end infrastructure investments, besides allowing the global retail giants to set up shops in more cities.



• Alcohol means less happiness. Both men and women reported feeling less happy the day after drinking, but the effect was much stronger for women.

Nation wakes up to the car burden

Due to the growing number of cars, parks have been informally converted into parking spaces in some residential colonies. And traffic snarls are a common sight in the middle of residential colonies as parked cars eat into walkways and driveways.

NYT: Seven-and-a-Half Million Cars Trigger Parking Wars in Delhi

Tend to the elderly

China enacted a law aimed at compelling adult children to visit their aging parents. The law, called “Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People,” has nine clauses that lay out the duties of children and their obligation to tend to the “spiritual needs of the elderly.”

Children should go home “often” to visit their parents, the law said, and occasionally send them greetings. Companies and work units should give employees enough time off so the employees can make parental visits.

Many aging parents in China, as in other industrialized nations, complain these days about not seeing their children enough. And the children say the stresses of daily life, especially in the rapidly expanding cities, prevent them from carving out time for their parents.

NYT: Filial Piety, Once a Virtue in China, Is Now the Law

Zero TV Homes

There are 5 million 'Zero TV' homes in the U.S., up from 2 million in 2007. 'When I have a TV, I'm less in control of my day.'

AP: Broadcasters worry about 'Zero TV' homes

The Perils of Dating Young

Study participants who didn’t date had better overall academic performance, while those who dated earlier in middle school were twice as likely to begin using alcohol and drugs in high school, the researchers said.

Healthline: It’s Best to Wait: Middle School Daters More Likely to Dropout, Use Drugs

Why watching TV makes a man less virile

Men who watched more than 20 hours of TV every week had 44 percent lower sperm counts compared to those who watched almost no TV.

Daily Beast: New Study Says TV Watching Lowers Sperm Count

On Blowing Out Candles

New guidelines issued by Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council say that children can no longer blow out the candles on cakes at school because doing so spreads too many germs. 

Australian Kids Banned from Birthday Tradition at School

• Related Post: Birthday Candles

'Envy Spiral' From Social Media

A new study finds that there’s another element to social media’s growing list of negative effects: A “spiral” of envy that develops when you see your Facebook friends excelling or enjoying life in ways that you aren’t. The good news is you’re not alone in your bitterness. The bad news is that the solution (aside from shutting down your account) isn’t entirely straightforward.

Forbes: Why Social Media Makes Us Bitter

Birthday Candles

In our culture, it is considered inauspicious if the lamp lit during special events goes out in between. But these days, we celebrate birthdays by cutting the cake, after blowing off the candles. Hindus should move away from this practice of blowing off candles. The candle could be kept separately and allowed to burn while the cake is cut.

Sharing something that I received by email

Cohabiting: Not Quite The Answer

Couples who cohabit before marriage tend to be less satisfied with their marriages — and more likely to divorce — than couples who do not.  

NYT: The Downside of Cohabiting Before Marriage

Protests Awaken Sleeping Giant: India's Middle Class

The recent protests that have gripped India show that the sleeping giant of India's middle class has been awakened politically.

Historically, the middle class has been the agent of democratic change around the world.