Deleterious effects of drugs
1. “Cured yesterday of my disease, I died last night of my physician,” says Matthew Prior, a
celebrated pharmacologist, while talking about the deleterious effects of drugs in his book,
“The Remedy Worse Than the Disease”. There is no dearth of patients dying of misguided
treatment.
2. disorder bound to disappear in a short duration.
3. In this era of drugs we must familiarise ourselves with the term “Iatrogenic disease
(physician caused ailment)”. When a physician administers medicines without a complete
understanding of the patient’s condition, drugs play havoc. A person may become the
victim of a worse disease or even lose his life.
4. With Analgin, for instance, special precautions should be taken in case of pregnancy,
bronchial asthma, renal and hepatitic dysfunctions and blood-related disorders. It has
been banned in several countries, including the USA and Sweden, because of its
unexpected and negative effects that lead one even to death through an anaphylactic
shock. An anaphylactic shock is a process that leads to a severe fall in the blood pressure,
bronchoconstriction, the swelling of blood and lymph vessels and sometimes death
because of the loss of fluid in these vessels. Anaphylaxis usually occurs suddenly, in
minutes after the administration of a drug. The well-known drug, penicillin, and many other
drugs, may cause anaphylaxis.
5. The term “side-effects” is a part of an ailing layman’s vocabulary but adverse drug
reactions are known only to a more aware and literate patient.
6. Ciprofloxacin, when given for an ear-infection, may cause vertigo and amoxycillin, while
fighting a throat infection, may hurt the stomach. Similarly, while chemotherapy given for
cancer may lead to indigestion and hair fall, steroids administered continuously may lead
to obesity and diabetes.
7. Drugs are meant to eliminate disease. In the quest for avoiding the misery of sickness,
man has invented medicines that may themselves cause diseases. The illness caused by
a drug may be short-term or long-term. Side effects are short-term and predictable. The
unpredictable and bizarre reactions are termed as adverse reactions. A variety of drugs
cure many ills but are also known to cause irregular heart beat and even sudden death.
8. A strong sense of responsibility on the physician’s part and an attitude of extreme caution
on the patient’s part can substantially help in covering at least some of the risks of
medicines, if not all. There are many factors that help a doctor in his choice and use of the
drug. The medical history of a patient, age, sex, personality, environment and education
contribute in deciding the course of treatment. The very old and the very young are likely
to suffer as their bodies are less tolerant. Older children may sometimes be more tolerant
than the adults. The elderly tend to respond better to standard drug dosage. But the lower
body size, slow blood flow to vital organs, decreasing metabolic capacity and tendency to
multiple physical problems contribute to adverse reactions
Answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option: 6
1. An “Iatrogenic disease” is an ailment caused by……………………………
(a) infection in the hospital ward
(b) overdose of anaesthetic
(c) the wrong administration of drugs by a physician
(d) self-medication and buying drugs over the counter
2. Analgin and penicillin must be used carefully because……………………………
(a) these may cause suffocation
(b) they may create bruises
(c) some patients complain of leg cramps
(d) these may cause anaphylaxis
3. An adverse drug reaction is an illness caused by……………………………
(a) secondary effects of a drug
(b) a drug having unpredictable and strange effects on a patient
(c) a drug having predictable and unpleasant disorders
(d) the use of drugs taken after their date of expiry
4. Man has invented drugs to eliminate……………………………
(a) diseases
(b) side effects
(c) death
(d) casualties
5. Elderly people are prone to adverse drug reactions because they
have……………………………
(a) larger body size
(b) multiple emotional problems
(c) slow blood flow to vital organs
(d) stagnant metabolic capacity
6. The word ‘dysfunction’ in para 4 means……………………………
(a) disorder of brain
(b) indigestion
(c) bad temper
(d) not working properly
Great Indian digital divide
1. The revolution in information technology (IT), far from helping India to leapfrog to a post-
industrial society, threatens to rupture the social fabric by enriching a few at the cost of
many.
2. In a very short time and quite unexpectedly, India has risen to considerable eminence in
the world of information technology. This year, software products are expected to account
for $ 5.7 billion in exports and will account for a quarter of the growth in the economy,
which is expected to grow nearly seven per cent. Within eight years, predicts a recent
study by McKinsey & Co. and the National Association of Software & Service Companies
(Nasscom), India’s annual IT exports could hit $ 50 billion about 33 per cent of global
software exports. Such a surge is expected to generate 2.2 million jobs—and push our
growth rate near the double digits that many East Asian Tigers enjoyed before the 1997
crash.
3. For the rapidly growing middle class, which was desperate to make its presence felt but
remained mired in the great Indian outback of the global economy and regretfully watched
the industrial revolution pass it by, this is the moment they have been waiting for. When
countries like Japan and Germany, the objects of Indian admiration, should come
knocking on our doors to solicit our talent to invigorate their industry, it is indeed
redemption of sorts. And IT is the cause of it all.
4. The big question is, will IT do an encore for India as a nation, and not just for a wafer thin
percentage of IT-literate Indians, mostly the poster boys of the IITs?
5. IT has, as yet, failed to touch the lives of the average citizen and India is nowhere close to
being a knowledge economy or society. As per the International Data Corporation (IDC), in
a survey of 55 countries, India ranks 54th on its Information Society Index.
6. The fact is, it is a straightforward reflection of the deep inequality of our education system
which breeds a few ‘geniuses’ at the cost of the entire nation. A study by former director of
the National Centre for Software Technology, R. Narasimhan, points out that nowhere is
the digital divide more glaring than in IT education. The report warns that India’s
‘obsession’ with the software industry and its exports orientation is leading to the churning
out of unemployable students on one hand and bright whiz-kids on the other. While the
latter are lured away by overseas employers, the former remain unemployable.
Narasimhan cautions against the ‘hype’ associated with the phenomenal growth of India’s
software industry defying rational explanations and built up into a ‘mystique of sort’ which
breeds false hopes. .
7. India’s software industry is a poor employment generator. In the mid-Nineties, some
20,000 people were actively employed in software export services. In contrast, there were
three million registered unemployed graduates in the Nineties. While the ‘Narasimhan
study doesn’t mention number of hobs lost due to computerisation, one could comfortably
add a million to the number.
Answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option: 6
1. The revolution in IT threatens to break apart the social fabric
because…………………………
(a) the stocks of software companies have risen at BSE
(b) it has helped India to rise beyond the industrial society
(c) it is enriching a few at the cost of many
(d) it has created a gulf between the rural and urban sector
2. Growth in export of Indian software products and national economy have been
achieved because of…………………………
(a) global recession
(b) liberalised economy
(c) public private cooperation
(d) eminence of Information Technology
3. It is a time of pride for the middle classes in India because…………………………
(a) developed industrial nations will require Indian software professionals to invigorate
their industry
(b) they are desperate to make their presence felt
(c) they have remained stuck in the mud of global economy
(d) they have regretfully watched the industrial revolution pass by them
4. The digital divide is clearly visible in IT revolution because…………………………
(a) it has improved a lot of average Indian citizen
(b) it has benefitted only the products of IITs or some IT-literates
(c) it has made India a knowledge economy or society
(d) non-IT trained students run the IT institutes
5. Narasimhan’s report cautions against ‘hype’ around IT software industry
because…………………………
(a) it is rational
(b) it breeds false hopes
(c) all look for foreign assignments
(d) it attracts even the dullards
6. The word ‘redemption’ in para 3 means…………………………
(a) recoupment
(b) recumbent
(c) recovery
(d) redeeming
Saving for a rainy day
1. The Food Bill is still in the works but has provoked a furious debate on the lack of grain
storage facilities, rotting of grains and whether they should be distributed free to the
hungry masses. Waking up to the fact that no food security programme can be effective
without proper storage, the government is now planning to upgrade existing warehousing
facilities and also adding new ones. However, between food security and large-scale
storage, there’s a missing link that needs to be taken note of: storage at the farm level. No
one can deny the importance of decentralised storage; at least 25-30 per cent grains in
the country are stored at the farm level.
2. However, it’s not as if there hasn’t been enough thrust on this issue: there are State
institutes to look into the storage problems.
3. Yet, policy-wise we did have a sound start: the Save Grain Campaign, which was initiated
43 years ago, was supposed to do what we are floundering on now. Through this
campaign, the Centre was to initiate and train states in warehousing and storage of grains.
The Centre wanted the states to take it up on a large scale but the latter did not want any
“added responsibility”. Finding no takers, the campaign was withdrawn in 2008.
4. “Around 15-20 per cent foodgrain losses occur in large storage godowns. Along with
investment in large storage capacities, we must encourage farm-level storage. This can be
in the form of refining and improving the local/indigenous storage technologies and
providing technical and financial support at that level,” says M.B. Chetti, Dean, College of
Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka.
5. He and many experts like him suggest that if we want to leapfrog in storage capacity at the
farm-level (since setting up large storages is time-consuming and expensive), new
technologiese vacuum packaging could be the answer. They assure quality as well as a
chance to store grains almost anywhere and that it can be done in villages by trained
persons.
6. “Alternatively, we have to go for cold storage facilities for food grains, which is very costly
since it involves electricity supply,” says Chetti. Instead, vacuum packing, say experts,
helps preserve grains and seeds for long periods without any deterioration in quality. In
fact, an experiment was carried out in the university on the usefulness of the packaging
system (using chilli) and the results were satisfactory. The available technology offers a
seven- layer packing to preserve quality for long periods of time and once sealed, climatic
changes have no effect on it. Elimination of oxygen from the pack helps in extending shelf
life.
7. “At present only three-layer plastic films are manufactured in India. The seven-layered film
needs to be imported. But the import duty is high,” says Mohan Bajikar, of course, such
technologies are expensive, but then delivering to the hungry isn’t enough—quality must
be ensured.
8. Fool policy analyst Devinder Sharma, however, says expensive solutions like silos and
warehousing are not the answer to procurement and storage problems. Instead, he says,
“local production, local procurement and local distribution” is the answer, something like
what Chhattisgarh has been doing. It procures paddy directly from farmers, buying it
through cooperative societies and procurement centres at the village level. To store, he
adds, the government can add a small godown next to each panchayat ghar.
9. Whichever way we look at it, decentralised storage cannot be left out of the loop if we
want to ensure food security and reduce stock losses.
10. The necessity of proper storage has been realised because……………………
(a) there is lack of grain storage facilities
(b) grain is lying in the open and rotting
(c) no food security is possible without it
(d) masses are hungry and without grain
11. Decentralised storage stress upon……………………
(a) storage at farm level
(b) storage at block level
(c) storage at district level
(d) storage at state level
12. The ‘Save Grain Campaign’ was withdrawn after 43 years
because……………………
(a) the centre did not spare funds
(b) proper training in warehousing was lacking
(c) the states did not show any interest
(d) the states did not want any added responsibility
13. The most cost-effective solution for storage of grain is……………………
(a) cold storage facilities
(b) decentralised storage
(c) setting up large warehouses
(d) vacuum packaging
14. Experts reject silos and warehousing because……………………
(a) these are very costly solutions
(b) local storage and distribution is more effective
(c) these are inadequate for storage
(d) these fail to reduce stock losses
15. The word ‘facilities’ in para 6 means……………………
(a) aptitude
(b) dexterity
(c) conveniences
(d) buildings for a particular purpose
The relevance of repetition
1. The painstaking memorisation of mathematical tables, historical dates, capitals of
countries and even poems leaves an indelible mark on every adult who has attented
school. However, all educators deprecate this rote system learning by orally reciting and
consigning lessons to memory as mindless and mechanical, which goes against critical
thinking and creativity. But is this dichotomy between creativity and rote learning part of a
lazy binary thinking?
2. We often hear about people who can repeat the entire telephone directory or memorise
the entire dictionary. Indians have a history of highly developed systems of memorisation,
perfected through centuries of Vedic learning. From a typically Western perspective, the
permanency of the written word has been pitted against the ‘unconscious operation of
memory’ of oral cultures, and held to be more reliable in cultural transmission. However,
refuting this thesis, Fritz Stall, an Indie scholar observes that the oral tradition in India is
remarkable, “because it has led to scientific discoveries that are of enduring interest”. Of
course, this mugging up can be aural (i.e. chanting aloud) or visual—mentally storing
images in a visual map.
3. The advantages of rote memorisation—like it expands areas of the mind to great
possibilities—are now becoming evident to the world. Various accounts from ancient India,
including those from travellers like I-tsing, point to the fool-proof system of oral
memorisation and the capacity to absorb volumes of data.
4. A parallel dimension of transmission of knowledge also existed in India, with a flexible
mode of oral communication through which knowledge was disseminated. One instance is
the narrative-performative tradition of recitation, which extended basic story through
interpolations, conscious extensions and embedding of sub-narratives. Many Indian
myths, legends, epics, and fables such as Kathasaritsagara and Jataka stories were
spread though this process. While the story remains the same, the interpretation changes
according to who says it, where it is said and how it is said. While communicating
mathematics, philosophy and other scientific disciplines, cryptic text forms were created,
that facilitated memorisation.
5. A related question pertains to cognition—how can we transmit principles using
memorisation as a creative tool rather than as a mechanical process of repetition?
Bhaskara’s Lilavati, the seminal 12th century illustrates how memorisation and creativity
go together.
6. The fact that Bhaskara’s methods still figure in Indian pedagogic consciousness was
recently brought home in a news report on the Ramanujan School of Mathematics in
Patna, which trains youngsters from poor families to clear the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) entrance test. This year, all the 30 students of the school got through
IITs. Anand Kumar, the school’s founder, called it the “sheer power of practice to break the
so-called IIT code” and a student attributed the success to his teacher’s ability to teach
differential calculus through a “thrilling story of a daring robber”
Answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option: 6
1. All educators condemn rote learning as…………………..
(a) it is a feat of memory
(b) it is a parrot like learning
(c) it is mindless and mechanical
(d) it is against critical thinking and creativity
2. The dichotomy between creativity and rote learning is…………………..
(a) increased by computer literates
(b) initiated by western thinkers
(c) the clash of the cultures of west and east
(d) opposed by Indian scholars
3. The oral tradition in India is called remarkable because…………………..
(a) it has helped to preserve Vedic learning
(b) some of the old texts are still available
(c) it has led to scientific discoveries of enduring interest
(d) it provides capacity to absorb volumes of data
4. Rote learning has its own advantages as…………………..
(a) it promotes learning without understanding
(b) it does not add pressure to the mental faculties
(c) mugging up can be aural as well as visual
(d) it expands areas of the mind to greater possibilities
5. Cryptic texts were created for mathematics, philosophy, etc.
because…………………..
(a) these are very simple
(b) these are easy to remember
(c) these are short and easy
(d) they are easy to interpret
6. The word ‘enduring’ in para 2 means…………………..
(a) bear
(b) transitory
(c) lasting
(d) indelible
Deleterious effects of drugs
(c) the wrong administration of drugs by a physician
(d) these may cause anaphylaxis
(b) a drug having unpredictable and strange effects on a patient
(a) diseases
(c) slow blood flow to vital organs
(d) not working properly
Great Indian digital divide
(c) it is enriching a few at the cost of many
(d) eminence of Information Technology
(a) developed industrial nations will require Indian software professionals to invigorate
their industry
(b) it has benefitted only the products of IITs or some IT-literates
(b) it breeds false hopes
(c) recovery
Saving for a rainy day
(c) no food security is possible without it
(a) storage at farm level
(d) the states did not want any added responsibility
(b) decentralised storage
(a) these are very costly solutions
(d) buildings for a particular purpose
The relevance of repetition
(d) it is against critical thinking and creativity.
(a) increased by computer literates.
(c) it has led to scientific discoveries of enduring interest
(d) it expands areas of the mind to greater possibilities
(b) these are easy to remember
(c) lasting
