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Achieve

Mumbai police beat Pune cops

…in a game of rugby. Greater Mumbai Police and Maharashtra State Police bagged the top honours in Bombay Cup 2015.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It was a keenly contested match between the police forces. In the end, Greater Mumbai Police and Maharashtra State Police defeated Pune Police and Mumbai Magicians by 27-7 and 23 -13  respectively, in the first round of the ‘Bombay Cup 2015’, WIRFU’s premier 15-a-side Rugby Championship held at Bombay Gymkhana grounds.

A total of 6 teams across the state participated in the championship. The participant teams are Bombay Gymkhana, Maharashtra state Police (MSP), Pune Police, Pune District Rugby Team, Greater Mumbai Police (GMP) and Mumbai Magicians Rugby team.

The opening game between Greater Mumbai Police and Pune Police was keenly contested. Pune Police’s Sagar Babare scored the first try and secured the conversions in the first 25 minutes and built pressure on Greater Mumbai Police in the first half of the game. At the end of the first half, GMP Captain Vitthal Pawar scored the try and led the concluding score to 7 – 5.

But, in the second half, GMP came back very aggressively. Beginning of the second half, Sangappa Shinge scored the second try for GMP. And Rajaram Mote, Sanket Dhumal and Vipul Mokal continued the momentum by scoring one Try each for GMP. Pradeep Londhe successfully booted the last conversion. And the final score was 27-7.

The second game between Maharashtra State Police and Mumbai Magicians was tightly contested. The Mumbai Magicians Rugby team started off strong. In the first 15 minutes, the Magicians’ Ajinkya scored the first try and 10 minutes later Shankar Rathod scored the second try. At the end of the first half, Pappu Todkar scored the try for MSP and Sunil Chauhan booted the penalty conversion  for Magicians at the led the concluding score to 13-5.

In the second half of the game Mumbai Magicians couldn’t hold the opponent’s attack. Maharashtra Police came back and thrashed the Magicians defence. In the second half Sandeep Kamble scored in the 50th minute and two minutes later, Pankaj Khopde scored another try for MSP and Pappu Todakar successfully booted the conversion. In the last phase of the game, MSP Skipper Ranjit Jambhale sneaked out from opponent winger and scored the last try. In the second half, MSP did not let Mumbai Magicians score single try against them. The final score was 23-13.

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Achieve

Fulfil your dream of studying abroad

Follow this 7 step guide that covers everything from researching your study options to getting accepted at a foreign university.
by Rohan Ganeriwala, Co- Founder, Collegify

1. Study Abroad programmes are becoming increasingly attractive as more and more college students seek meaningful ways to spend college breaks or explore true diversity of cultures. As a result, not only has a great international programme become more expensive, but also a lot more competitive to get accepted in to.

2. Research. Talk to parents, teachers, current students abroad as well as alumni to evaluate if you would be interested in studying abroad. Contact an education consultant who is looking into study abroad applications to understand what’s best for you, how you should plan your timeline of standardised tests and applications to colleges abroad. Remember to study hard for your standardised tests (SAT, SAT Subject Tests, ACT, TOEFL, IELTS etc.) and register well in advance. Plan your test dates well so you have time to retake if required.

3. Build your profile. It’s important to build your student profile with project work, summer internships, extra-curricular activities and volunteer work. If you know the industry you’re looking to get into, network with people in this industry to understand job trends and skill set required to enter the industry as it well help you in selecting programs and schools for applications. Shortlist universities with your education consultant and carefully evaluate the available options criteria such as offered programmes, rankings, location, campus life, eligibility, scholarship and financial aid opportunities.

4. Look for new horizons. Some destinations like the US and the UK are well known to international students but the picture is changing and new study abroad destinations are making head way. University World News recently featured India as an increasingly popular destination for study abroad. Given today’s global economies, it is imperative that all students acquire knowledge of and sensitivity to global issues. This knowledge and experience will enable students to participate fully in tomorrow’s workforce that will be even more ethnically and culturally diverse than it is today. Students are spending thrice the amount only for accommodation, away from families and home.

Research the university. Finalise universities after thorough research online, speaking to current students and alumni, and maybe attending a college education fair where you get to interact with faculty and staff members from the universities. Work on application documents such as worksheets, essays, short-question answers, statement of purpose, high school transcripts, predicted scores and mark sheets as per the requirements of the universities.

Contact admissions committees of colleges you are applying to with queries and doubts. They are always happy to help you out and their guidance may highlight points that an admission consultant or the college website may not provide. Including these insights in your documents may give you an edge over the other candidates.

5. Prepare your documents docket. Compile all the application documentation such as resumes, essays, worksheets, letters of recommendation, certificates and financial aid forms if required and forward the final packet to universities well before their deadlines to ensure timely receipt and consideration of your application.

6. Prepare for interviews. Some universities may schedule interviews with you before granting admission or if they consider you for scholarships. Prepare for the same and make sure you keep corresponding with the admissions office regularly. When you hear from colleges regarding your acceptances, select a college and enroll well before the deadline. This usually requires the payment of a fee.

7. Get your personal documents in order. Lastly, get your passport, visa and financial documentation in order along with health immunisations, health insurance, a credit card that works the world over, and your travel bookings. While loans are always an option, we encourage students to apply for scholarships or need-based financial aid first. To apply for scholarships, you will require an IELTS score of 6.5. India has only 27,000 foreign students and has no plans for any regulated increase because of controls in higher education. Also vocational education percentage in India is at meagre 5% of its total employed workforce of 459.10 million as against 95% of South Korea, 80% of Japan and 70% of Germany.

You’re now ready for a great experience abroad!

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Deal with it

Worship, immerse and protect the seas

City based environmentalist Anand Pendharkar’s Ganesh idols stuffed with vegetable fish food are finding many takers in the State and country, too.
by Ravi Shet

Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the largest festivals celebrated in our city. But the festival creates havoc in our seas – the post visarjan (immersion) of Ganesh idols made of Plaster of Paris (POP) pollute the water significantly and also impact the marine environment badly. Nothing changes year after year – huge Ganesh POP idols are immersed in the seas, jeopardising the marine life at an alarming rate.

The answer, then, is to make eco-friendly idols. Thus, the Sprouts Environmental Trust and the good folks at Ogilvy and Mather (O&M) came together to create Ganesh idols made from corn and vegetable powder. These can be consumed by fish and other marine organisms. Anand Pendharkar, founder of Sprouts, has completed his M. Sc in Wildlife Science from Dehradun, and tells us that he has been cleaning the beaches in Mumbai post-Ganesh visarjan for the past 12 years. “Girgaon chowpatty has been on our radar, since huge idols mostly come there. People also flock to Juhu beach because celebrities come there,” he says.

The corn and vegetable Ganesh idol

For the past 6 years, Sprouts has been preparing Ganesh idols from clay and papier mache as a healthy alternative to the usual POP idols. However, when O&M’s team (comprising Elizabeth Dias, Srreram Athray, Calvin Austin, Kunal Dangarwala and Farid Bawa) joined hands with Anand, the concept of stuffing vegetarian fish food along with clay for preparation of Ganesh idols was discussed. “The idols dissolve in water within 4 to 5 hours. The journey was full of learning and we went through a lot of research and testing,” Anand says.

The team created a standard size of 9-inch Ganesh idols priced at Rs 900, which are coloured using natural materials such as Fuller’s Earth, geru, kumkum and turmeric. It takes around 3 days to complete an idol and their target is to prepare 200 idols for this year. As of now, 8 artisans on a part-time basis are working in Mumbai with Anand, while some more are working in Nagpur.

Anand recently conducted a workshop for Margam (a programme of NGO Vidya), a self-help group for women in Powai, and taught them how to make this unique Ganesh idol. He says, “People who normally get Ganesh home or in pandals every years have purchased our 9-inch idol this year.” He further adds that his family has been a huge support for his journey.

(Pics by Anand Pendharkar and Ravi Shet)

Categories
Deal with it

Let your eyes be part of the 1 million pledge

Campaign to raise awareness about eye donation kicks off all over India; will be held for a year from now.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Vision Sankara Eye Care Hospital has an ambitious plan: it has launched a year-long campaign, ‘Sign4Sight – Year of Million Miracles’, to mark a fortnight observing eye donation from August 25 to September 8. The eye care hospital aims to raise awareness about eye donation through its year-long campaign, and wants 1 million pledges at the end of it.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), corneal disease is the chief cause for vision loss and blindness. The National Programme for control of Blindness estimates that India has 20% of the global blind population. With about 1,20,000 blind people in the country, the yearly addition of 25,000 to 30,000 cases further tips the scale.

Dr Ashish Bacchav, Vision Sankara says, “In most cases, loss of sight can be corrected by eye donation through a surgical procedure of corneal transplantation. A person can gain vision only when a donor donates a healthy cornea. The corneal transplantation has high success rates of around 95%. Every pledge will give back the boon of eyesight to two individuals.”

Corneal blindness is an affliction due to a damage in the tissue covering the front of the eye, called cornea. The corneas should be removed preferably within an hour of death, but can be removed up to a maximum of 6 to 8 hours.

Mohammed P, a retired serviceman, had his zest for life replenished after his vision was restored post his corneal transplant surgery at the Sankara hospital in Coimbatore. He said, “I have nothing but blessings in my heart for the soul that has given me a second lease on life. As a serviceman I have always been very self reliant and optimistic, with my eyesight restored I can now begin to enjoy playing with my grandchildren and revel in the beauty that life has to offer.”

(Picture courtesy www.zeenews.com)

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Guest writer

Why ‘Straight Outta Compton’ fails women

This successful film does not address hip hop musician Dr Dre’s dark past and his history of violence towards women.
by Beverley Lewis

Straight Outta Compton fails women at a time when 1 in 3 women across the globe face violence in their lifetime.

You don’t have to be a hip-hop aficionado to have watched or at least heard about Straight outta Compton, the film taking the world by storm. This box office winner tells the story about the struggle, rise and disbanding of the Los Angeles-based rap group N.W.A and its significance on popular culture, while paying homage to the spoils of ghetto life, coercion of women into prostitution, and gang rape.

But, one thing this film failed to do was tell the story of Dr. Dre’s history of violence against women. In almost all his tracks, he refers to women as “bitches”. Incidentally, Dre and Ice Cube are producers of the film. This omission sparked some outrage as to why Dre deliberately chose to leave out this big a chunk of his history.

Even since he made it big as a solo artist, Dre has been associated with the glamour and bling surrounding hip-hop, especially when statistics show that violent crimes against women are on the rise. After all, he did discover Eminem and went on to create Beats Electronics, which he then sold to Apple for a cool $3 billion. But, despite becoming a well-known producer and entrepreneur, he has been haunted by his shady past, particularly the brutal beating of rapper and TV host Dee Barnes at a record release party in 1991. “It ain’t no big thing – I just threw her through a door,” Dre said at the time of the incident. Yes, and he still continued to get rave reviews for his work and we went out and bought his records.

He was also violent towards his girlfriend, rapper Michel’le, who alleged that she needed plastic surgery after she was badly beaten by him.

Every year in India and around the world, thousands of women are raped, stabbed, shot, stalked, murdered and are victims of domestic violence, in crimes that are sometimes never even reported. And yet, we chose to ignore the violence and misogynist views associated with this particular genre of music and instead choose to only focus on the glitz and glamour surrounding hip-hop.

 

Music is a crucial factor of any culture and personally I could never live without it. We are constantly surrounded by music in our homes, cars and on our headphones. But can music really influence our behaviour and actions? Or does it simply provide background beats as we go about our daily lives? What about music with violent lyrics? Hip-hop is one genre, which often portrays women as lesser, submissive beings and if research conducted by the Journal of Applied Social Psychology is to be believed, male listeners are more likely to partake in violence against women after listening to degrading lyrics in rap music.

After the wide success of the movie, it reached the 100 million mark, Dre decided it time he issued an apology to the women he abused, via the New York Times. “I apologise to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.”

If, like me, you’re wondering whether the success of the film prompted the apology or if he feels genuine remorse, well the jury is still out on that one.

(Picture courtesy www.forbes.com)

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Wellness

Research centre wants to save children from cancer

Conducting free seminars in 14 Mumbai schools, the DS Research Centre wants to educate children about substance abuse and cancer effects.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Cancer is a dreaded disease and is often caused by many wrong lifestyle choices. In the current times, it has been found that children studying in classes 9 and 10 show an increased inclination for addictives like drugs, cigarettes and alcohol. They may or may not be aware of the consequences, especially that these addictions can lead to many diseases, especially cancer.

The DS Research Centre, Mumbai has launched a ‘Spread It to the Roots’ campaign to educate around 4,000 children from 14 schools across Mumbai about cancer.

Spread It to the Roots majorly speaks about healthy habits and healthy lifestyle. It explains about the challenges that students face in maintaining healthy habits, including the negligence of healthy food and regular eating due to academic pressure. It has been found that students abuse alcohol, tobacco and drugs when they see celebrities indulging in these habits.

“Students are the future of the human race. Increase in cancer incidence due to false habits picked up by students is really sad. Having an awareness programme for them will really prove beneficial for their future,” said one principal of a city school. Schools like St Stanislaus (Bandra), Holy Family (Andheri), Cathedral and John Connon (Fort), Sacred Heart (Santacruz), Anjum-I-Islam (Fort), St Elias (Bandra) and St Michael (Mahim) etc. are among 14 schools where the seminars are to be held.

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