The Asian Age – Diabetes capital splurges on sweets

Prashanth Vijayakumar

Chennai, 4 November 2012. Chennai might be the diabetes capital of the country, but a quick check of sweet stalls in the city shows that sales of sweets have been on the rise.

With Deepavali festival fast approaching, sweet stalls are at their artistic best to woo customers. Even stalls offering sugar-free sweets say that patronage is good.

Several sweet stalls have come up with creative ideas right from mahaladdu to bakshanam.

“This time, we have planned some innovative ideas, like Deepavali lunch and continuous 48-hour sweet stalls, and mahaladdu is 1 kg and bigger than Tirupati laddu,” said an official of Krishna Sweets.

Buyers of sugar-free sweets have increased and many shops have brought in varieties like sugar-free rasgollas to attract even the diabetics.

“This time, more customers are asking for sugar-free sweets, and varieties like dry fruits and honey are popular,” said Bhavin, a staff of Mansuk’s sweets.

Even homemakers in the city turn nostalgic when asked about home-made sweets “Though we buy sweets from shops, home-made sweets are always the best. Nothing more can bring happiness than making it for family and friends,” said Ms V. Nandhini, a homemaker.

Office-going women say that they prefer to buy sweets as it saves time. “Making sweets is a laborious task and needs great care; a good selection of sweets is all that is needed to set the celebration mood,” said Ms A. Geetha Vani, a banker.

http://www.asianage.com/chennai/diabetes-capital-splurges-sweets-322

The Asian Age – India faces ‘polio threat’ from Pakistan, Afghanistan

Teena Thacker

New Delhi, 5 July 2012. In further evidence that confirms India’s fear of importing polio virus from neighbouring countries, a recent study has revealed that a major chunk of children below three years in Pakistan and Afghanistan are not receiving the oral polio vaccine.

According to the study published in Lancet, experts found a sharp decline in the vaccine coverage from 2008 to 2011.

According to Lancet, vaccine coverage in Balochistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and southern Afghanistan saw a significant decrease from 2006 to 2011.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are two of the three remaining countries yet to interrupt wild-type polio virus transmission. The experts noted that access to routine immunisation decreased in Balochistan and Fata in Pakistan, with just 25-33% of children under three years old reported to have received three or more doses of the oral polio vaccine through routine services in 2011.

Experts revealed that in 2011, 40% of children under three years in Balochistan and Fata in Pakistan and in southern Afghanistan were unprotected against the P1 strain — the wild strain of the polio virus.

Between January 1, 2001 and December 2011, there were 883 cases of P1: 710 in Pakistan and 173 in Afghanistan. “Pakistan reported the highest incidence of poliomyelitis in a decade. Over 60% of all cases in endemic countries and 34% of cases worldwide were recorded in Pakistan,” Lancet said.

Experts blamed “weak service delivery” for the affected polio eradication programme in Pakistan.

http://www.asianage.com/india/india-faces-polio-threat-pakistan-afghan-015