Indian govt to allow Aadhaar enrollments of NRI’s

The Indian government has decided that Aadhaar enrollment of Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin and Overseas Citizen of India should be eventually allowed to help them authenticate their identity digitally, Parliament was informed on Friday.

>Adhar card is provided to all residents including Indian national and foreigners with valid visas by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)

>The Aadhaar number helps in availing various services and benefits provided by the government.

>It is a valid know your customers (KYC) document for various services including banking, telecom, cooking gas subsidy, vehicle registration driving licence, government scholarships, pension and public distribution system.

“The government has decided that a longer term goal should be to expand Aadhaar enrolment activities in order to ensure that all persons on the Indian soil (Resident Indian, NRIs, OCI/PIO and visa holding visitors) shall be empowered with a unique identity/identifier that can be authenticated on a digital platform any time anywhere,” Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh said in written reply to Lok Sabha.

At present all residents including Indian national and foreigners with valid visas can be enrolled and provided Aadhaar number by the UIDAI. Under the Aadhaar project, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is providing a unique identity numbers to residents, which can be digitally verified using the database.

As per the official sources,UIDAI is working on the policy for Aadhaar enrolment of NRIs, PIOs and OICs after receiving a direction from the government on the issue. However the minister said in its reply that no timeframe has been formulated at this stage for achieving the goal.

The Aadhaar number helps in availing various services and benefits provided by the government. It is a valid know your customers (KYC) document for various services including banking, telecom, cooking gas subsidy, vehicle registration driving licence, government scholarships, pension and public distribution system.

The UIDAI was set up in January 2009 to issue Aadhaar numbers.

The web of deceit

Hyderabad: Ever come across advertisements for grooms on matrimony websites  that seem too good to be true? Well, many of them are just that, fake. There are quite a few fake accounts on these websites that are created for the sole purpose of duping women and their families.

 

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime Cell, B. Anuradha says that on an average at least two such cases are reported every month. “There has been a rise in such cases since last year. Earlier matrimony scams did not exist. This is a modus operandi of a gang of Nigerians,” she says, adding, “Close to eight-10 matrimony fraud cases have been reported since last year.”

 

News broke on Friday about a woman falling prey to such a scam. A Nigerian posing as Dr Abhishek Mohan contacted her through Bharatmatrimony.com and told her that he was a doctor in Britain. He then sent her a gift parcel, which was so “expensive” that she had to pay `40 lakh to a customs official. The entire set-up was, of course, fake and she lost her money.

 

“The way these gangs operate is very simple. Their target groups are women who are rich, lonely, divorcees and even older women who are more vulnerable to fall for such scams,” explains Anuradha. Earlier this week, there was news of another woman being duped of Rs 48 lakh. It was a similar scenario and the person who got in touch with the victim also claimed to be a Dr Mohan. “The stories are the same, the person committing the fraud poses as either a rich businessman or a doctor from abroad,” adds Anuradha.

 

Krish* from the city, whose sister was duped, says, “My sister met someone through a matrimony website and he told her that he was a doctor in the war-torn region of Afghanistan. He was tired of his job and he wanted to move back to Hyderabad.” As part of his plan to move to the city, the man told Krish’s sister that he would send her money with someone to start a business. “But after a day we got a call saying that the messenger had been stopped at the customs in the airport. The guy asked my sister to help him out by paying money to the official, with the promise of returning the money. Despite my protests, she paid him close to Rs 5 lakh, and the next day the guy went missing,” he rues.

 

However, Krish and his family couldn’t approach the police as his father had been kept out of the picture, as they feared for his health. According to the police these fraudsters come across as extremely genial. “Their plans are so well formulated. They talk to a person with love, show them that they are interested, gain their trust and then do this.

 

However, these scams don’t last for more than two-three months. The person committing the fraud needs to establish trust, but can’t drag the scam for long because chances of getting caught gets higher,” says SP Cyber Crime, T.K. Rana.

 

Anuradha adds, “The onus of keeping their clients safe lies with the websites. But people too should be aware. These sort of scams have been going on for a long time, it’s just that the fraudsters are expanding their network.”

(*Name changed on request.)

Couples who drink together, stay together: research

Mumbai: Is alchohol the destroyer of relationships? Apparently not. According to a study conducted by State University of New York, couples that drink together are happy couples. University of Buffalo's webiste quotes the research where  Dr. Gregory Homish highlights the behavior and satisfaction of couples for a decade. He came to the conclusion that couples with similar vices (alcohol and cigarettes in this case) and levels of engagement in said vices are likely to be more content with their relationship. 

 

The study took a sample set of 600 couples nad had them fill out questionnaires before their wedding. The findings claim that couples with different habits were more dissatisfied compared to the ones with similar habits. 

 

This does not imply that a heavy-drinking marraige is healthy. For couples who both drank heavily - "heavy" defined as "six or more drinks at one time or drinking to intoxication" - the divorce rate was around 30%, which was the same for couples where both partners drank very little or not at all, points the study. 

 

Science has great relationship advice that you may not get from your friend. Be with someone who drinks as much as you do!

Facebooking' with your partner helps you stay together for long

Melbourne: Love Facebooking with your partner? Researchers have now discovered that couples who Facebook together, tend to stay together for long.

 

Co-author of the paper Dr Catalina Toma at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said it was discovered that couples that have an increased commitment to one another online, echoed those feelings in real life and were likely to have longer lasting relationships, News.com.au reported.

 

For the purpose of the study, researchers surveyed a collection of university-aged heterosexual couples to find out details about their relationships and levels of commitment.

 

Researchers asked the participants to log into their Facebook accounts so that they could examine the "friendship activity" of the couple to find out the amount of correspondence they shared on the social media platform.

 

Researchers then performed the same actions six months after the initial survey.

 

After applying the statistical models from the two surveys, Toma was able to establish those couples that continued to engage in the sickening behaviour had a stronger relationship.

 

"These publicly posted cues likely induced participants to perceive themselves as part of a romantic unit, thus cementing the relationship," she said. 

Breakups hurt women harder but men never fully recover

Washington DC: Even though breakups leaves women in more pain, they tend to recover more fully than men, claims a new research.

 

Researchers from Binghamton University and University College London asked 5,705 participants in 96 countries to rate the emotional and physical pain of a breakup on a scale of one (none) to 10 (unbearable). They found that women tend to be more negatively affected by breakups, reporting higher levels of both physical and emotional pain. Women averaged 6.84 in terms of emotional anguish versus 6.58 in men. In terms of physical pain, women averaged 4.21 versus men's 3.75. While breakups hit women the hardest emotionally and physically, women tend to recover more fully and come out emotionally stronger.

 

Men, on the other hand, never fully recover and simply move on.

 

According to lead author on the study, Craig Morris, women are evolved to invest far more in a relationship than a man. A brief romantic encounter could lead to nine months of pregnancy followed by many years of lactation for an ancestral woman, while the man may have "left the scene" literally minutes after the encounter, with no further biological investment. It is this "risk" of higher biological investment that, over evolutionary time, has made wo men choosier about selecting a high-quality mate. Hence, the loss of a relationship with a high-quality mate "hurts" more for a woman.

 

The man would likely feel the loss deeply and for a very long period of time as it "sinks in" that he must "start competing" all over again to replace what he lost or come to the realisation that the loss is irreplaceable, he added.

 

The study is published in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. 

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How much water is too much?

Water intoxication sounds like an oxymoron. How can water, a refreshing drink that everybody needs for sustenance, cause intoxication? Drinking enough water certainly is a key component of a healthy lifestyle. But drinking too much water leads to serious health consequences — swelling of the brain, brain injury, and ultimately stroke — leading to disability or even death.

It is not only the amount of water consumed that causes overload — water toxicity is caused by drinking too much water too fast. Most people who overdose on water are not aware of the consequences. So the obvious question is — why would anyone drink excessive amounts of water too fast? There are, in fact, some circumstances that set the stage for water overdose.

Water Games
These activities often seem silly or harmless to people. Preschool aged children and older kids may think it is funny to challenge each other to drink large amounts of water quickly. Water overload has been responsible for incidents of brain damage and death in children, teenagers and young adults who play games involving exaggerated fluid drinking or who use rapid consumption of excess water or fluid. The rapid consumption of large amounts of water overwhelms the body’s natural ability to maintain normal fluid balance. This causes excess fluid to enter the brain, resulting in brain swelling, which causes sudden unexpected loss of consciousness, seizures, or flaccid weakness of the body.

Health Cleanse
The idea of drinking water because it is pure and devoid of calories is popular among health enthusiasts. But the advice to “drink more water”, doesn’t apply to all. The ideal amount of fluid consumption for an average person should be between 9-12 cups per day. People who already consume enough water need not drink more. In general, thirst is a reliable indicator of the body’s water requirements. Some health conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease require a consultation with a dietician or physician to set guidelines for fluid intake.

Athletics
It is normal for athletes to drink fluid in order to replenish and cool off during and after a training session and it is important for the body to stay hydrated during exercise. However, in the setting of extreme physical exertion, thirst may not be the best guide. Devoted athletes who work out beyond moderate levels should obtain professional guidance regarding appropriate fluid replenishment.

How does water overdose cause brain damage and stroke?
When the body takes in extreme amounts of fluid, the excess water literally flows into the brain cells. This causes brain tissue compression and lack of normal function. Regions of the brain subsequently lose their normal calcium and sodium concentration and begin to function abnormally. Some brain cells may die from physical compression, and some from the electrolyte and water imbalances. This condition — hyponatremia is very difficult to medically treat because it progresses so rapidly and the damage is so severe. Severe sodium and water imbalances affect a specific area in the brainstem called the pons, causing a syndrome called central pontine myelinolysis or locked-in syndrome.

— Source: www.stroke.about.com
 

CORE COMMITTEE MEETING ON TELANGANA

పది జిల్లాల తెలంగాణే
కేబినెట్‌ ఆమోదానికి నోట్‌
విధివిధానాలు మంత్రుల బృందమే నిర్ణయిస్తుంది
న్యూఢిల్లీ, సెప్టెంబర్‌ 13 (జనంసాక్షి) :
తెలంగాణ ప్రత్యేక రాష్ట్ర ఏర్పాటుపై కాంగ్రెస్‌ కోర్‌ కమిటీలో శుక్రవారం చర్చ జరిగింది. ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్‌ విభజన, తెలంగాణ ప్రత్యేక రాష్ట్ర ఏర్పాటు నేపథ్యంలో ఇరు ప్రాంతాల నేతల అభ్యంతరాలను తెలుసుకునేందుకు కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీ రక్షణ మంత్రి ఏకే ఆంటోనీ నేతృత్వంలో ఏర్పాటు చేసిన కమిటీ తన నివేదికను శుక్రవా రం కోర్‌ కమిటీకి అందజేసింది. ఆంటోనీ కమిటీ అందజేసింది ప్రాథమిక నివేదికేనని, ఇరు ప్రాంతాల పార్టీ నేతలు ఇచ్చిన విజ్ఞప్తులు, స్థానిక స్థితిగతులపై మరింత సవివరమైన నివేదికను త్వరలోనే అందజేస్తారని కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీకి చెందిన నేతలు తెలిపారు. కాంగ్రెస్‌ కోర్‌ కమిటీ భేటీకి పార్టీ అధినేత్రి సోనియాగాంధీ, ప్రధాని మన్మోహన్‌సింగ్‌, ఆర్థిక మంత్రి చిందంబరం, సోనియా రాజకీయ సలహాదారు అహ్మద్‌ పటేల్‌, రక్షణ మంత్రి ఏకే ఆంటోనీ హాజరయ్యారు. ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్‌ విభజన నిర్ణయం తర్వాత సీమాంధ్ర ప్రాంత నేతల్లో అసంతృప్తి, అక్కడ జరుగుతున్న ఉద్యమం, హైదరాబాద్‌లో ఇటీవల ఏపీఎన్‌జీవోలు నిర్వహించిన సభ, ఆ సందర్భంగా చోటు చేసుకున్న పరిణామాలను ఆంటోనీ తన ప్రాథమిక నివేదికలో ప్రస్తావించినట్లుగా సమాచారం. వీటిపై విపులంగా చర్చించిన కోర్‌ కమిటీ కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీ వర్కింగ్‌ కమిటీ నిర్ణయం మేరకు ముందుకు నడవాలని నిర్ణయం తీసుకున్నట్లు తెలిసింది. హైదరాబాద్‌తో కూడిన పది జిల్లాల తెలంగాణ ఏర్పాటు చేయాలని ఆంటోనీ కమిటీ కోర్‌ కమిటీకి నివేదించినట్లుగా తెలుస్తోంది. ఇప్పటికే తెలంగాణ ఏర్పాటుపై కేంద్ర హోం మంత్రిత్వ శాఖ సిద్ధం చేసిన నోట్‌ సోనియాగాంధీకి గురువారమే అందజేసినట్లు సమాచారం. కాగా ఆ నోట్‌లోని అంశాలనూ కోర్‌ కమిటీ చర్చించినట్లు తెలిసింది. తెలంగాణ ఏర్పాటు వల్ల కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీకి లాభమా? నష్టమా? తెలంగాణ ఏర్పాటు చేస్తే సీమాంధ్ర ప్రాంతంలో పార్టీ ఎలాంటి పరిస్థితులు ఎదుర్కోబోతుంది? ముఖ్యమంత్రి సహా మంత్రులు, పార్టీ ముఖ్యులు కొత్త పార్టీ ఏర్పాటుకు సన్నాహాలు చేస్తున్నారడంలో నిజానిజాలు తదితర అంశాలపై కోర్‌ కమిటీలో ప్రస్తావనకు వచ్చినట్లుగా తెలిసింది. ముఖ్యమంత్రి నేతృత్వంలోనే సీమాంధ్ర ప్రాంతంలో కొత్త పార్టీ ఏర్పాటుకు సహాన్నాహాలు జరుగుతున్నట్లు ఉన్న ఊహాగానాల్లో నిజానిజాలను అధ్యయనం చేయడానికి పార్టీ ఆంతరంగికులకు బాధ్యతలు ఇవ్వాలని నిర్ణయం తీసుకున్నట్లు సమాచారం. 2009 డిసెంబర్‌ 9న తెలంగాణ ప్రత్యేక రాష్ట్ర ఏర్పాటుపై కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీ, యూపీఏ ప్రభుత్వం చేసిన ప్రకటన మేరకు తెలంగాణ ఇచ్చి తీరాలని సోనియాగాంధీ నిశ్చిత అభిప్రాయం వ్యక్తం చేయడంతో కోర్‌ కమిటీ సభ్యులు ఈమేరకు తదుపరి చర్యలు ప్రారంభించేందుకు ఉద్యుక్తమవుతున్నారు. వీలైతే శనివారం లేదా సోమవారం కేంద్ర కేబినెట్‌ ముందుకు తెలంగాణ నోట్‌ను తీసుకువచ్చి దానికి మంత్రి మండలి ఆమోదం తెలిపేలా చర్యలు వేగవంతం చేశారు. టీ నోట్‌కు కేబినెట్‌ ఓకే చెప్పగానే ఆ నోట్‌ న్యాయశాఖ పరిశీలనకు అటు తర్వాత మిగతా ప్రక్రియ ప్రారంభించాలని కోర్‌ కమిటీ భావిస్తోంది. కేబినెట్‌ ఏర్పాటు చేసే మంత్రుల బృందం తెలంగాణపై అన్ని ప్రాంతాల ప్రజల నుంచి అభ్యంతరాలు స్వీకరించి వాటిలో సహేతుకంగా ఉన్న వాటి పరిష్కారానికి ప్రత్యామ్నాయానికి చర్యలు తీసుకుంటుందని కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీ నేతలు చెప్పారు. తెలంగాణ ఏర్పాటుకు పాటించాల్సిన విధివిధానాలను కూడా మంత్రుల బృందమే ఖరారు చేసేలా కాంగ్రెస్‌ స్పష్టమైన నిర్ణయానికి వచ్చినట్లుగా తెలిసింది. సీమాంధ్ర ప్రాంతానికి చెందిన నాయకులు ఎంతగా ఒత్తిడి తెచ్చినా తెలంగాణపై వెనక్కు తగ్గేది లేదని మేడమ్‌ స్పష్టం చేయడంతో అలాంటి చర్చకు అవకాశమే లేదని వారు పేర్కొంటున్నారు. హైదరాబాద్‌ కొంత కాలం ఉమ్మడి రాజధాని ఉంచడం మినహా యూటీ లాంటి ప్రదిపాదనలు కూడా కాంగ్రెస్‌ అధిష్టానం ఎదుట లేవని తెలిసింది.