Spreading The Prakash

Sinha (Nature.Com)

Four years ago scientists discovered SRD, a 32-year-old Ahmedabadi woman born into blindness.

Now her case, published recently in Psychological Science, is forcing scholars to reconsider their approach to the disability.

Neuroscience dogma says little can be done if a blind child isn’t operated on by age six.

But SRD’s case is turning that doctrine on its head–her sight was restored at age 12, and her brain, in strong defiance of theory, “learned to interpret visual information.” The findings provide hope that the brain can learn to see later on in life.

“There is a critical period for perfect acuity,” Pawan Sinha, the study’s primary investigator, and a neuroscientist at MIT tells Time Magazine. “But there is not a critical period of learning to do complex visual tasks.”

Sinha is the founder of Project Prakash, a humanitarian and research effort aimed at expanding access to proper eye care in India.

More:
Project Prakash
Prakash featured in MIT news mag
The Sinha Lab at MIT
Pawan Sinha’s profile on Indian NGOs

Expectant South Asian Moms At Risk

“Mother and Child” (RedKettle.Com)

A study out today suggests South Asian and black women generally have shorter-term pregnancies than their white counterparts.

The report, published in the British Medical Journal, considers 12 years-worth of data from 197,000 London births. Findings indicate that “for every stage of gestation, perinatal mortality (death before, during or shortly after birth) is highest in south Asian women.”

Dr. Imelda Balchin, who directed the research effort, suggests race is most likely an “indicator” of genetic deviation from normative gestational length.

“Whether differences in outcome were due to social disadvantage or biology, the implications for management are the same,” says Balchin who calls for increased care and rigor when it comes to screening South Asian and black expectant moms.

Saving India’s Girls

Orphanage.Org

Last Sunday police in Bhopal arrested a doctor and janitor after discovering 400 bones (from fetuses and newborns) buried behind a hospital. According to the Associated Press, the bones represent the remains of unwanted baby girls.

Selective abortion of female fetuses has led to a gender imbalance in India, where many districts report 800 girls are born for every 1,000 boys. International non-profit groups estimate that 10 million female fetuses have been killed over the past 20 years.

The government is now determined to take action through what it is calling the “cradle scheme”–essentially a plan to raise unwanted children in a series of yet-to-be-built orphanages.

“What we are saying to the people is have your children, don’t kill them. And if you don’t want a girl child, leave her to us,” says Renuka Chowdhury, the country’s minister of state for women and children.

“We will bring up the children. But don’t kill them because there really is a crisis situation. We will have cradles strategically placed all over the place so that people who don’t want their babies can leave them there.”

Burger King To Have It Y(Our) Way

HinduOnNet.Com

American fast food world domination continues as Burger King looks to enter the Indian market.

A report out today suggests Ravi Jaipuria, (a franchisee for Pizza Hut and KFC) is in talks with the company about expanding.

If true, Burger King would join Domino’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s (among others) in its fight for a slice of the desi market.

The “home of the Whopper” has taken its time with the move however, and is seen as a relative latecomer (KFC has been on Indian soil for over twelve years now).

The news will be disappointing to food activists and others concerned about the growing obesity problem in India. NPR’s All Things Considered recently took a look at the emerging issue of “urban, middle-class obesity, especially among children.” The segment is available online.

More:
Mickey Dee’s home in India and its vegan menu offerings

Guruji’s Canuck Clinic

Room at Brampton (OslerFoundation.Com)

Ontario’s Brampton Civic Hospital plans to open its doors in October of this year–and when it does, it’ll be “due in no small measure to the generosity of the South Asian community, particularly residents with Punjabi roots who live in the area.”

That’s because the desi community in Brampton is responsible for raising almost $3.5 million. The hospital’s ER is to be named after Guru Nanak Dev.

“I won’t lie. That (name) was a huge push for our campaign. It’s an emotional connection so it was really well-received in the community,” said Ramandeep Grewal, a fundraiser and member of the Canadian Sikh Subcommittee.

The Toronto Star reports that the Ontario Federation of Hindu Temples has pledged $2.5 million and the Muslim Friends association an additional $1 million.

When completed, Brampton Community will house 608 beds and be able to accommodate 90,000 ER visits annually.

Working Toward Affordable Vaccines

Professor Henry Daniell (UCF)

In a university ad lauding them for their research awards, Professor Henry Daniell and two of his colleagues (Karen Dow, Peter Delfyett) take a victory walk around campus, fist-bumping and giving a thumbs up along the way. According to VOA News, Daniell, from the University of Central Florida, has come up with a way to make inexpensive vaccines that would be affordable for the world’s developing communities. “Scientists inject plants, like tobacco, lettuce or carrots, with vaccine genes. They are then planted in a greenhouse before being crushed and put into capsules to be taken by patients. The method skips a number of traditional processes involved in producing the therapeutic proteins needed to make vaccines—cutting the price of the final product.” (VOA)

Motivated to work on the vaccines by seeing the impact of diseases like cholera and amebiasis in his native India, Daniell has created vaccines for those diseases as well as anthrax, plague and rotavirus. The next stage is human clinical trials. Thanks to his anthrax vacine, which earned him a congratulatory call from the Director of Homeland Security, his bioterrorism vaccines “are on fast track approval” for the trials. The professor is also working on vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis and diabetes.

In an interview with the Discovery Channel—“Turning tobacco into the tonic that ails you”—Daniell discusses his vaccine work with tobacco plants. The interview mentions that the professor’s work is not funded by the tobacco industry, and that the vaccine is not delivered through smoking.

More:
Daniell Lab

Salaam Shantaram!

Mira Nair: OurBollywood.Com

Now that Mira Nair has The Namesake in the can, she’s set her sights on another east-meets-west tale about shifting identities and the search for self.

Her latest film, Shantaram, stars Johnny Depp and is based on the real-life story of Gregory David Roberts–an Australian former convict and author of 2004′s eponymous book.

“Unlike the movies where the white man comes to the ‘dark continent’ and teaches how to light a candle, make electricity or whatever, this is a film about a man who is ashamed, guilty, who has no self esteem at all, who is a convict, heroin addict and he discovers what honor is,” says Nair.

Shantaram will be filmed almost exclusively in India beginning this November. It is scheduled to be released in 2008.

Until then, Nair will keep busy, putting together a series of 12-minute films designed to raise awareness about the spread of HIV/AIDS. The public services pieces, starring Irfan Khan, Sameera Reddy and Raima Sen, among others, will hit Indian theaters next fall.

More:
On India’s AIDS epidemic
Mira Nair’s production company

Richard Gere Meets With Indian Sex Workers

Gere & Dalai Lama: Spiegel.Com

“No condom, no sex!” insisted Richard Gere earlier today.

The Golden Globe-winning actor addressed a crowd of 10,000 prostitutes in Mumbai—part of his effort to heighten AIDS-awareness.

Just under 6 million people in India are living with the HIV virus.

“You’re unique. This is amazing, an unbelievable experience,” said Gere to the crowd, gathered at an outdoor fairground.

The star of Pretty Woman also made headlines earlier this week when the trendy Manhattan restaurant Nirvana 54 named a table after him. As a bachelor, Gere would often bring his dates to the restaurant’s Central Park South location, requesting “a secluded table where they would enjoy a romantic time together. One week he came at least five times, mostly with different women,” said owner Shamsher Wadud.

The actor regularly enjoyed champagne with his Indian food and “always paid his tab in cash.”

Forcing Turtles Out of Their Shells

Image: Zoological Society of London

About $23,600 worth of rare Indian freshwater turtles were seized in Uttar Pradesh earlier today.

Turtle meat is routinely sold on the black market as a specialty aphrodisiac.

“Preliminary investigations suggest that a large chunk of the contraband finds its way to Southeast Asian countries, where turtle meat is converted into crunchy chips for convenient consumption,” explains Ram Kumar, a UP-police chief.

India has 28 species of tortoises and freshwater turtles “making it one of the most diverse chelonian faunas in the world (source).”
“

Gender Race

AP Photo

The good news is that Santhi Soudarajan, Indian runner and competitor in this month’s Asia Games, won the silver medal for her performance in the 800 meters.

The bad news? She is now being asked to give the medal back.

Earlier today, reports surfaced that Soudarajan had failed a gender test, after results determined the 25 year old had some “abnormal chromosomes” and “more Y chromosomes than allowed.”

The 25 year old Tamil Nadu resident is not known to have undergone a sex change operation. She is said to have been evaluated by a “gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist and internal medicine specialist.”

(Source: International Herald Tribune)