Category: India

Berliners to Get First Hindu Temple

  Die Welt (German) 06 Nov 2007 @ 01:22 GMT | Permalink | Comments

The 6,000 Hindus in Berlin will soon get their first temple. It will be the second-largest in Europe after the Venkateswara temple in the West Midlands. Heinz Buschkowsky, mayor of the Neukölln borough where the temple will go up, was excited about the temple which he hopes will attract visitors and cultural events to this part of Berlin. The temple is expected to cost about €850,000 (US$1.2 million) and take three years to complete. It is dedicated to Ganesha, the popular elephant-headed deity.

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 01:22 | Permalink | Comments (0)
TAGGED: Germany | Hindu | Religion

Indian Politicians Ignored Chikungunya

01 Nov 2006 @ 11:26 GMT | Permalink | Comments (13)

India has been overrun by chikungunya infections, while the government pays scant attention to the outbreak.

Since chikungunya appeared in India in January, the Union government has done very little to help its citizens. Instead it was embroiled in a bitter political dispute over the caste system and the reservation (affirmative action) program.

India has no clearinghouse for information about the debilitating infection and convalescence. It has also done nothing to dispel the fear and superstition among ordinary citizens. It has left front-line physicians in towns and cities to fend for themselves.

WHO estimates that the chikungunya outbreak has now topped 1.25 million suspected cases. In some districts, the attack rates are as high as 45 percent.

Based on feedback from our readers, we will point out the latest research, statistics, a surprising vector, RT-PCR turnaround time in Pune, the role of NSAIDs, the evolution of the African strain and more. Transmission and treatment are also discussed below.

(We'll go over new data related to pregnancy and chikungunya infection in a separate post this week since there are several batches of new data available.)

Read more

Posted by Dayhawk Kim at 11:26 | Permalink | Comments (13)
TAGGED: Chikungunya | Dengue | India | Vector Control