Hiring 'Mr or Ms Perfect'

(My article in Business@qatar. posted for my records)

Anything for coffee, boss

One day a couple of years ago, my teacher-wife was leaving for school in the morning when she muttered to me, “Can you cook today as I will be late?”

I agreed and a little later began to chop vegetables when my phone bell rang.

It was my boss.

After our official discussion, I mentioned to him that I was trying to cook.

“Oh. The trap has been set. Now you will cook forever,” he said.

I ignored it as a joke, but years later I am still cooking.

A few months ago, my wife said one day, “Can you dry the clothes?”

I replied, “Only for today.”

The deal struck, I did so.

My boss laughed, “Another trap.”

Months later, I am still drying the clothes. 

“Clean the room,” “throw the papers,” commands continue.

I continue to obey.

Last week, I lost my cool. Enough is enough.

“No more tasks for me. Do it all yourself or forget it,” I told my wife.

“Okay. I will not make filter coffee for you anymore,” she shot back.

“Oh dear, I was joking,” I dragged.

Anything for coffee, boss.

Recent Editorials

Here are some latest editorials I wrote for The Gulf Today (Posted for my records) 

Food safety should

be global priority

 Statistics can startle. The figures could be more disturbing especially if the matter concerns food safety. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every year, diarrhoea caused by contaminated food and water kills 2.2 million people globally.

Unsafe food and water kills an estimated 700,000 children in the South-East Asia Region alone every year. Germany’s 2011 E.coli outbreak caused $ 1.3 billion in losses for farmers and industries and $ 236 million in emergency aid payments to 22 European Union member states.

It is in this background that the World Health Day will be marked on Tuesday, with WHO highlighting the challenges and opportunities associated with food safety under the slogan "From farm to plate, make food safe."

WHO officials say that unsafe food can contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances, and cause more than 200 diseases - ranging from diarrhoea to cancers.

Examples of unsafe food include undercooked foods of animal origin, fruits and vegetables contaminated with faeces, and shellfish containing marine biotoxins.

Fortunately for the UAE citizens and residents, food safety is given highest priority by the authorities.

The Federal National Council recently passed a draft federal law on food safety after amending some its articles and introducing new ones. The law is enforced in all the UAE territories, including the free zones.

Under the law, dealing in adulterated food or foods unfit for human consumption at any stage of the supply chain is punishable by at least 3 months of imprisonment or a fine of Dhs100,000 to Dhs1 million.

WHO experts insist that at the consumer end of the food supply chain, the public plays important roles in promoting food safety. The steps include practising safe food hygiene, learning how to take care when cooking specific foods that may be hazardous (like raw chicken) and reading the labels when buying and preparing food.

Food safety is certainly a shared responsibility that requires participation of various sectors and support of international and regional organisations active in the fields of food, emergency aid and education.

Perfect co-ordination among the agencies holds the key. That is possible if there is a clear intention and collective pledge to work together.

Also, awareness campaigns on the issue will help intensify enforcement of food standards and prevent food-borne illnesses. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that when it comes to safe food, there can be no compromise, whatsoever.

Air pollution a top

challenge for India

At a time when concern over the impact of air pollution on the health of India’s 1.2 billion people is growing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suggestion to make every Sunday “bicycle day” and switching off street lights during a full moon makes sense. However, these are very tiny steps compared with the gargantuan challenge posed by air pollution.

The UN World Health Organisation (WHO) had earlier indicated that air pollution – both indoor and outdoor – killed some 7 million people across the globe in 2012, making it the world’s largest single environmental health risk.

A survey released last year by WHO found that Delhi, the Indian capital, was the most polluted city in the world, with an annual average of 153 microgrammes of the most dangerous small particulates, known as PM2.5, per cubic metre.

At least 3,000 people die prematurely every year in the city because of air pollution, according to a joint study by Boston-based Health Effects Institute and Delhi’s Energy Resources Institute.

The level was stated to be six times the WHO’s recommended maximum, 12 times US standards and more than twice the level considered safe by Indian authorities.

Squabbling among leaders also compounds the problem. Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi argues that combating the environmental menace should be a priority for all concerned and must not become a subject of political wrangling.

In a letter to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar after he exhorted the Delhi government to act against air pollution, Delhi’s environment minister Asim Ahmed Khan said that an action plan to improve air quality was already sent to the Union Ministry in the month of February.

The latest decision by the Indian government to launch a new air quality index sounds good, but the question remains whether that will suffice.

The government has promised that the new index would initially cover 10 cities — Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad — each of which would have monitoring stations with Air Quality Index display boards.

The authorities should also ensure that the quality measurement tools are error-free as there are already complaints on this aspect.

As the matter involves the lives of citizens, various entities should join hands to combat air pollution. The launching of the index alone will not help if more stringent measures to curb the problem are not initiated. And, the action to set clean air standards should necessarily be time-bound.

Cowardly act

in Kenya

The terrorist attack at Kenya's Garissa University that left several students dead is a cowardly, criminal act, as UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan rightly described it.

Al Shabaab’s operations have sown terror across Somalia and Kenya in recent years with coordinated attacks against hotels, shopping centres and other civilian areas.

The university siege marks the worst attack on Kenyan soil since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi by Al Qaeda, when a huge truck bomb killed 213 people.

The Shabaab also carried out the Westgate shopping mall massacre in Nairobi in September 2013 when four gunmen killed 67 people in a four-day siege.

The narrations by survivors highlight the viciousness of the killers in the latest attack. Hurling grenades and firing automatic rifles, the gunmen stormed the university at dawn as many students were sleeping.

Masked gunmen also taunted students before killing them, including forcing them to phone their parents to urge them to call for Kenyan troops to leave Somalia - before shooting them anyway.

Some students had to smear blood from their dead friends over their bodies to pretend they too had been shot.

The university has several hundred students from different parts of Kenya. The Kenyan government needs to check why intelligence alarm bells were ignored or if there were no such alerts at all.

Reports indicate that anger over the massacre was compounded by the fact there were warnings last week that an attack on a university was imminent. Local residents have blamed the authorities of doing little to boost security.

Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery has vowed that his country would not give in to the Shabaab, which despite losing territory inside Somalia have stepped up operations in Kenya.

However, mere assertions will not do. The government needs to initiate swift and strong action to bring the perpetrators of this gory act to justice.

A series of foreign travel warnings in recent months have crippled Kenya's economically important tourism industry. On Wednesday, just hours before the Garissa attack began, President Uhuru Kenyatta said Kenya "is as safe as any country in the world."

The latest crime exposes the inhuman mentality of its perpetrators. The international community should remain united in solidarity to counter all such forms and manifestations of terrorism. The people of Kenya have a right to live in peace and harmony. Insane extremists should not be allowed to snatch this away.

Shooting keeps alive

racism issue in US

The repeated shooting of a fleeing and apparently unarmed black man in the back by a white policeman in South Carolina points to the fact that racism issues are far from over in the United States.

Walter Scott, 50, was shot in North Charleston after a scuffle that began with his being stopped for a broken tail-light in his car. South Carolina state police have arrested officer Michael Slager, 33, and charged him with murder. The charge carries a sentence of up to life in prison or the death penalty.

The seemingly tough action against the cop comes as a solace, but it is obvious that the issue of racism itself needs to be addressed at a much higher level and with the seriousness it deserves.  

A string of police shootings of African Americans in recent months has raised uneasy questions.

On July 17, 2014, African American father-of-six Eric Garner, 43, died after being held in a police chokehold while he was being arrested for selling individual cigarettes illegally in New York.

On Aug.9, a white police officer killed an unarmed black teenager, college student Michael Brown, 18, prompting violent protests and heavy-handed police tactics in Ferguson.

There were similar other incidents too.

In the recent case, even North Charleston mayor Keith Summey is said to have described the shooting by Slager as a “bad decision.”

Scott was hit by five bullets - three times in the back, once in the upper buttocks and once in the ear.

Apparently, even the sports arena is not totally free of racism-related issues. This can be gauged by the fact that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) President Sepp Blatter has called for tougher punishment for teams and associations found guilty of racism and discrimination.

Slatter is convinced that monetary sanctions are increasingly ineffective. Using tough but appropriate words, he has stated, “"We have to punish not only through fines and stadium closures but we have to use our rules to suspend teams, to take away their points or even to relegate them if racism continues.”

The continuing incidents involving shooting of unarmed black men have kept alive accusations of police brutality and racism in the police force. The fact that officers have rarely been charged, even when the incidents were recorded, complicates the matter further.

The country that repeatedly preaches the world about equality cannot afford to take the subject lightly. Stern and sustained action to end the scourge is what is called for.

Comical day!

A morning walk can rejuvenate both the body and the mind, but I realised last week that it could also prove to be entertaining.

I stepped out on Sharjah’s Al Wahda Street when I noticed a shop cleaner menacingly waving a broom and trying to crush a cockroach. Every time he attacked, the insect dodged and eventually rushed onto the footpath.

The furious cleaner would not give up. His owner was not paying him to spare creepy-crawlers that intrude into the shop.

One, two, three..all his attempts missed the target.

Exasperated, he took a final aim and dashed towards the darting pest, when it happened.

A cyclist appeared from nowhere, dashed against the “dancing” cleaner and in the melee the roach made good its escape.

This wasn’t the only entertainment of the day. When I was returning home, I saw a man kissing his phone again and again.

“Love you,” “Love you,” he kept repeating, oblivious of the passers-by watching him.

This man obviously either lost his heart or his mind.

Dearest mom

Sorry I could not be in touch for long as my dearest mom passed away on March 3. Will stay connected

Recent Editorials

Some of my recent editorials in The Gulf Today (posted for my records)

Migrants are

humans too

In what comes as a matter of serious concern, migrant crossings in the Mediterranean have spiked in the first few weeks of 2015 with United Nations refugee agency reporting the numbers as being significantly higher compared to the same period last year.

According to UN figures, more than 218,000 people had crossed the Mediterranean in 2014 with an estimated 3,500 having lost their lives in the attempt.

In January alone, 3,528 arrivals were reported in Italy compared to 2,171 in January last year. The year 2015 has already seen 50 deaths, compared to the 12 recorded by this point last year.

In a latest tragedy, a handful of survivors have stated that an estimated 300 people probably died this week after attempting to reach Italy from Libya in stormy weather.

An Italian tug boat rescued nine people who had been on two different boats on Monday and brought them to the Italian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday morning. They are the only known survivors from their two boats, leaving several others unaccounted for.

In an incident apparently related to yet another boat full of migrants, the Italian coast guard picked up 105 people in extremely dangerous sea conditions near to Libya and with the temperature hovering just a few degrees above zero.

Twenty-nine from that dinghy died of hypothermia in the 18 hours it took the coast guard to ferry them to Italy.

What is deeply perturbing is that refugees are increasingly resorting to irregular migration, paying vast sums of money and frequently succumbing to the whims of human traffickers in order to flee zones of crisis for Europe’s shores.

The recent deaths at sea have raised questions about Italy's decision last year to end a full-scale search-and-rescue mission, known as Mare Nostrum, due to concerns over costs.

The European Union's new Triton mission, which replaced it, only operates a few kilometres off Italy's coast, where as Mare Nostrum patrols took Italian rescue ships up close to Libya's coast, where most of the smuggling operations originate.

While the Mare Nostrum rescue operation brought an array of Italian naval and coast guard vessels into the fold, permitting the rescue of distressed migrants stranded far from Europe’s shores, Triton remains more focussed on assisting those within the range of the continent’s coastlines.

The Triton operation does not have saving human lives as its principal mission and hence cannot be recognised as the right answer to such a serious problem.

Climate challenge
calls for united action

The United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has cautioned that the year 2014's ranking as the “hottest year on record” is part of a larger climate trend.
Experts say that devastating weather patterns and increasing temperatures will last into the foreseeable future as global warming is expected to continue. It is sad that the world has largely ignored the serious warning that concerns entire humanity.
High sea temperatures, the UN says, have contributed to exceptionally heavy rainfall and floods in many countries and extreme drought in others. Twelve major Atlantic storms battered the United Kingdom in early months of 2014, while floods devastated much of the Balkans throughout May.
The monthly precipitation over the Pacific side of western Japan for August 2014, meanwhile, was 301 per cent above normal – the highest since area-averaged statistics began in 1946.
One should not ignore the daunting fact that 14 of the 15 hottest years recorded have all been in the 21st century.
Around 93 per cent of the excess energy trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases from fossil fuels and other human activities ends up in the oceans, according to WMO.
Global sea-surface temperatures reached record levels in 2014, even in the absence of a “fully developed El Niño” weather pattern.
High temperatures in 1998 – the hottest year before the 21st century – occurred during a strong El Niño year.
Richard Somerville, a member of the Science and Security Board, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and a distinguished professor emeritus and research professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, has cautioned that efforts at reducing global emissions of heat-trapping gases have so far been entirely insufficient.
"Unless much greater emissions reductions occur very soon, the countries of the world will have emitted enough carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by the end of this century to profoundly transform the Earth's climate," he has warned. The tipping point of ice loss in west Antarctica has been reached, meaning the melt is now unstoppable.
The changing climate can directly impact billions of people around the world as the risks of extreme weather events inevitably grow.
Nevertheless, all is not lost. The international community should commit strongly to reverse the damaging effects of climate change and set the world on a more sustainable path towards a safer future. If there is a sincere will, there surely can be a safe way out.

Heartening news

on medical front

Resistance to antibiotics has been posing a serious threat to global public health. A British government study recently indicated that Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could account for 10 million deaths a year. Fortunately, some positive news has now emerged from the medical field.

Scientists have discovered a super antibiotic, teixobactin, that could kill serious infections in mice without encountering any detectable resistance.

The breakthrough offers a potential new way to get ahead of dangerous evolving superbugs.

It should be noted that no new type of antibiotic has hit the market for almost three decades. 

Researchers say the antibiotic, which has yet to be used on trial in humans, could one day be used to treat drug-resistant infections caused by the superbug MSRA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) as well as tuberculosis, which normally requires a combination of drugs that can have adverse side effects.

The British study, Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, found the region with the highest number of deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance would be Asia with 4.7 million followed by Africa with 4.1 million, while there would be 390,000 in Europe and 317,000 in the United States.

For comparison, the review estimated that the second-biggest killer, cancer, would account for 8.2 million deaths a year by 2050.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has repeatedly expressed worry about AMR threatening the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.

AMR is present in all parts of the world. New resistance mechanisms emerge and spread globally.

In 2012, there were about 450 000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has been identified in 92 countries. MDR-TB requires treatment courses that are much longer and less effective than those for non-resistant TB.

The concern over resistance to antibiotics is not unfounded. In fact, the problem -- a feature of medicine since Alexander Fleming's discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928 -- has worsened in recent years as multi-drug-resistant bugs have developed and drug companies have cut investment.

New resistance mechanisms emerge and spread globally threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases, resulting in death and disability of individuals who until recently could continue a normal course of life.

Without effective anti-infective treatment, many standard medical treatments will fail or turn into very high-risk procedures.

A breakthrough in this field is certainly a matter of celebration, as it will benefit entire humanity.

Ukraine deal has

potential pitfalls

Marathon talks involving Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have helped strike a deal for an end to fighting in eastern Ukraine, but accusations and counter-accusations indicate that obstacles remain.

The deal envisages a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists starting Sunday, followed by the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line and constitutional reform to give eastern Ukraine more autonomy.

Ukraine’s parliament must within 30 days pass a decree defining the geographical area that will have self-rule, based on the September agreement. The separatist regions have the right to decide which language they use.

Both the sides also need to release and exchange all hostages and illegally detained prisoners on an "all-for-all" basis, starting five days after withdrawal of heavy weapons.

The agreement has come after much damage has already been done.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has now surged, with more than 70 Ukrainian servicemen and at least 24 civilians killed so far this month.

Nearly one million people may have now been displaced by the conflict, with the recent upsurge in violence causing massive destruction of buildings and infrastructure, the collapse of basic services and a spike in the numbers fleeing fighting, according to United Nations officials.

Recently, the UNHCR reported at least 943,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs), with Ukraine's Ministry of Social Policy counting some 980,000 people as currently internally displaced.

The fighting has destabilised Ukraine both militarily and economically.

What will come as a consolation to Ukraine is the declaration by the International Monetary Fund that it would give the country a new bailout deal worth $17.5 billion that could climb to around $40 billion over four years with help from other lenders like Europe and the US.

Russia's economy has also suffered, from the sanctions imposed over its support for the separatists and annexation of Crimea last year. Russian shares surged after the deal was announced and the rouble gained, but then slipped back.

The agreement offers a good chance to improve the situation, but much work remains yet to be done.

Even the four leaders involved in the talks have indicated that there is a long way to go. There have also been accusations from Kiev of a mass influx of Russian armour into rebel-held eastern Ukraine further undermining the prospects for peace. The real situation will be tested when the ceasefire takes effect. The international community will have to wait and watch.   

Start small, think big

My article in Business@Qatar mag.

My cheesy brush with Indian cartoon legend

Exclusive to The Gulf Today

SHARJAH: India’s most eminent cartoonist RK Laxman is no more.

Having worked in The Times of India news desk for over 17 years during the 80s and 90s, I had a fair chance to exchange an occasional word or more with the fascinating man. 
They were both brief and revelatory. 
Jan.26 was usually a holiday for the newspaper and employees used to arrange their own picnics. On one occasion, though we were juniors, my late colleague Denzil Gudinho and I mustered the courage to enter Laxman’s cabin and tell him, “Sir, please join our picnic.” 
Laxman was quite choosy when it came to talking to people and hence there’s little surprise that he was surprised. 
He swiftly glanced at us and looked at the door. 
We both rushed out in seconds. 
The most glaring incident I recollect is the fact that I almost lost my job as a chief sub-editor, when I was night desk in charge and a designer repeated a cartoon of Laxman that had been used earlier. 
The designer was purportedly checking the size of the cartoon so as to adjust a pending news item above the famous “You Said It” cartoon. He forgot to replace it with that day’s original cartoon and that was a Himalayan blunder. 
I was told that the great cartoonist himself forgave us both, though I had a harsh reprimand in the form of a stinging memo from our editor. 
Unlike the present days, the news desk in the 90s had a noisy ambience. Though Laxman hardly complained about that, I had to face his anger one day when I was chatting loudly. 
Suddenly, his cabin door flung open and he gave a piercing look. I instantly zipped my lips.
Mysore-born Laxman was a man of few words, but his “You Said It” cartoons packed a powerful punch against erring politicians and leaders even as it brought smiles to millions.

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/4c81abf0-d1a5-457c-ad04-5e940068c762.aspx