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AHIMSA TIMES - JANUARY 2008 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
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India but in many other countries by providing artificial limbs to them. He is the founder and chief patron of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Jaipur, an institution built by him for helping disabled peersons, which has received national award for the best institution working in the field of rehabilitation of the disabled from Ministry of Justice and Empowerment and Mahaveer award for the philanthropic services and welfare of the handicapped. Besides providing comprehensive services to handicapped people, in the country, Shri Mehta has been regularly organising camps in different countries for providing Jaipur foot fitments. So far, such camps have ben organised in 21 countries, providing foot to over 16,000 persons. More than 3.2 lakh people have been benefitted by his services. The Samiti has also been distributing gadgets like calipers, tricycles, crutches and hearing aids and has performed corrctive surgery to more than 6000 disabled people in the country. Trustees and members of Ahimsa Foundation convey their hearty congratulations to Mr. Mehta for his well-deserved award.
PREM BHANDARI, MEDIA CHAIRMAN, RANA FELICITATED IN RAJASTHAN Mr. Prem Bhandari, resident of California and Media chairman of Rajasthani non-residents association in America (RANA) was recently honoured profusely and felicitated at Sadri in Rajasthan by a non-political social organisation, 'Rashtriya Ekta Manch' and the local citizens for his valuable support and financial assistance to a muslim family for arranging marriage of two girls in the family. The father of the girls, not being able to arrange marriages of his daughters due to extreme poverty, had decided to sell both his kidneys. Prem Bhandari, On knowing about the situation, readily came forward and undertook the responsibility of marriage of both the girls and thus save the father from dying in the event of removal of both the kidneys. This was a true case of selfless service and promotion of unity among religions and Mr. Bhandari deserves to be congratulated for his act of kindness, said Mr. T. Kansara, President of Rashtriya Ekta Manch. Mr. Bhandari, mentioned that he had not done any great favour or benefaction to the family, rather it was just a gift of God. He was simply a medium. He added that human beings did not have any caste, creed or religion but he, who performs self-less service to humanity, is the one to be worshipped. To lobe all beings is the true religion of a man.
MISCELLANEOUS CONTAMINATED "PARAD" DANGEROUS TO HEALTH NEW DELHI: Ancient Vedas considered it the most pure and auspicious metal. And this combination of mercury and silver called "parad" is now used for making beads and idols of gods and goddesses as it is considered very sacred. However, contaminated parad is said to be exposing people to the threat of mercury poisoning even inside homes. The main culprit is tin which when used with mercury does not bind allowing it to "leach". Tests conducted by non-government organisation Toxics Links have revealed that contaminated parad is sold openly in Delhi markets and can even be bought online, says Prashant Pastore of Toxics Link: "Through our research, we found that tin unlike silver (that is traditionally used for making parad) does not have the capacity to bind mercury allowing it to leach. In the parads that people keep at home and worship in temples we found high amount of tin (74.8 per cent), mercury (24.9 per cent) and trace of metals including iron, silver, nickel, aluminum and antimony." "Most claims made by various sellers of providing pure form of mercury with a mixture of silver is found to be wrong. Parads now have a large amount of tin and 25 per cent of it is mercury. What makes the situation dangerous is the fact that this combination is available easily. Also, both buyers and the sellers are seemingly unaware of the negative effects of the metal. There is, however, no paper that confirms that silver completely stops mercury from leaching," adds Mr. Pastore. Mercury is a highly toxic metal and can be consumed via food, inhaled or be absorbed through the skin. Courtesy: Bindu Shajan Perappadan.
NOW A PROSTHETIC HAND WITH WHICH ONE CAN WRITE, EAT AND EVEN DRIVE A CAR - Bangalore: Everyone is familiar with the Jaipur foot, a remarkable innovation where an artificial foot is tailored to suit the Indian lifestyle. Now at the recently organised Jaipur limb camp, at Delhi, a multipurpose prosthetic hand has been provided with which one can write, eat and even drive a car or ride a bicycle without much difficulty. At the camp, a beneficiary gleefully demonstrated what he could do after being fitted with the Jaipur limb He jumped, ran and even danced on stage. Addressing the gathering, he said: "I am L no different from normal people. I sometimes forget that I have an artificial limb. The camp was organised by Rotary Bangalore, Peenya, in association with Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayatha Samiti, Jaipur and supported by Rotary International District 1250 and 1130. Twelve sample pieces of the prosthetic hand were donated by the U.K. Rotary
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