Book to bone up on fractures

A 40-page handbook launched by a medical society in the capital on Thursday may end up preventing bone fractures across the nation.

The patient education book — Fix it Before it Breaks — is a guide to good bone health, highlighting the risks of osteoporosis and outlining exercise, food, and lifestyle changes that can reduce the chances of losing a bone.

The book is a joint project of the Indian Society for Bone and Mineral Diseases and the International Osteoporosis Foundation.

“We’re hoping it will become an important tool for public education across India,” said Ambrish Mithal, an endocrinologist at the Apollo Hospital in New Delhi and president of the society.

The society estimates that about 25 million people in India have bones rendered fragile by osteoporosis. But many people remain unaware of their condition, according to Mithal.

Spinach soup, steamed fish and stir-fried soya sprouts figure among healthy bone recipes.

Peek-hungry crowd stumped

The Cup is over for India. But pedestrians craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the game on TVs stacked inside electronics shops has long been a common sight.

But dealers in Mumbai had devised an ingenious way to keep the cricket-crazy crowd from milling around.

This time, they had tuned into other channels, denying onlookers a peek at the scores.

“We aren’t playing the channels on which the matches are shown. Too many people gather around our shop. This obstructs prospective customers,” said the owner of a Prabhadevi shop.

Office-goers who saw through the game weren’t amused. “There’s this shop near the bus stand where I used to watch the match as I waited for the bus to arrive. Now, I can’t do that,” rues Anand Saxena, a businessman, stumped by a googly he could do little about.

Condoms for women

Tamil Nadu recently grabbed the spotlight for leading the way in a path-breaking initiative.

As the first state to allow the launch of female condoms, it has gone where few states have.

The condoms will be distributed among high-risk groups as part of the National Aids Control Programme.

The pilot project, implemented by the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society and the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Trust, aims to find out just how acceptable the condoms are, and their influence on safe-sex methods. The condoms cost only Rs 3 but the NGO distributing them might charge slightly more.

ut project director Supriya Sahu flashed a warning: “Female condoms are no replacements for those worn by males. Both have to share responsibility.”

Metro in Gurgaon

Tracks for the extension of Delhi Metro to fast-expanding Gurgaon were cleared last week with the Haryana Assembly passing a resolution in favour of the plan.

The legislators adopted the Delhi Metro Railway Act, 2002, which will see the service extend as far as Sushant Lok in the satellite hub. While Parliament made the act effective in the national capital, the resolution provides the legal ground for extension to Gurgaon, in Haryana.

Moving the resolution in the Assembly, state parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surje-wala said it was chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s dream to see the Metro reach Faridabad and Sonepat, the other Haryana hotspots bordering the capital.

Mumbai: Mumbai University’s theatre festival began on March 22. The 11-day event, organised with Delhi’s National School of Drama and Sangeet Natak Akademi, will feature some of NSD’s popular plays. The venue: Marathi Bhasha Bhawan and Muktakkash Rangamanch on Vidyanagari campus.