10 commandments for a sound weight loss programme

Here are the 10 commandments for a sound weight loss programme:

1 The diet must be based on scientifically documented literature. A good programme should be backed and validated by scientific evidence, case studies, research papers, etc. Not what you hear at dinner table conversations.

2 Should address nutrition and not simply calories. A wholesome diet is not just about cutting down on calories but about understanding nutrition and getting enough of it.

3 Should encourage healthy eating practices. In other words, eat wholegrains, pulses, fresh fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and essential fats, low glycaemic index carbs and enough protein.

4 Should not eliminate any major food group. It must allow you to enjoy your favourite foods from time to time, in moderation.

5 Must encourage principles of variety, moderation and balance. Variety will ensure that the body gets all essential nutrients. Moderation means controlling portion size and balance is about understanding the principle of calories consumed and burnt through physical activity.

6 Should be customised to meet individual needs and lifestyles. No one diet can be suitable for all. The diet tailor-made for you will not only be more effective but sustainable as well.

7 Must be prescribed by qualified health professionals. Any diet must be started and followed under the guidance of a trained and qualified professional. Going by the popularity of a diet is dangerous.

8 Should not contradict or violate traditional wisdom and cultural food practices drastically. It should not isolate you but allow you to make the small changes to your existing food habits, so you can continue enjoying your meals with family and friends.

9 Must encourage other healthy lifestyle habits. The diet must be complemented by exercise and stress management.

10 Can be followed for life. The best diet is one that becomes a way of life without any trouble. This way it will not just manage your weight but keep you healthy, energetic and disease free.

The Ayodhya Dispute

The Ayodhya land dispute has been a bone of contention between the country’s Hindus and Muslims for decades. We answer a few key questions about the history of the disputed holy site.

What is the Ayodhya dispute all about?

Hindus and Muslims have quarreled for years over the history of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, a town in Uttar Pradesh. Hindus claim that the Babri mosque stands over a temple built in honour of Lord Rama. They say that the Babri Mosque was built by Babur’s general, Mir Baqi, on the orders of the Mughal leader Babur post destruction of the Ram Mandir in 1528.

Tension flared up in 1992 when supporters of VHP, Shiv Sena and BJP demolished the Babri mosque, stirring up nationwide riots between Hindus and Muslims which left more than 2,000 people dead.

Why is the dispute so dangerous?

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the Ayodhya dispute is one of the biggest security challenges in India this year, along with the Maoist insurgency and the Kashmiri separatist rebellion.

The mosque was demolished by the supporters of VHP, Shiv Sena and BJP in 1992. Supporters of VHP, Shiv Sena and BJP say that they are justified in demolishing the mosque because there used to be a Rama temple on that spot on which the Babri mosque stands now.

In simple words, the Ayodhya land dispute has led to India’s worst bouts of nationwide religious rioting between Hindus and Muslims which left 2,000 people dead.

The Ayodhya land dispute is considered a serious threat to India’s secular identity.

What is the verdict all about?

The court will pass verdict on three key issues:

A) Is the disputed site in Ayodhya the birthplace of Lord Rama?

B) Was the Babri mosque built after the demolition of the Rama temple?

C) Was the mosque built in accordance with the tenets of Islam?

The September 24 judgement on the disputed land will pronounce if a temple will be built on the site or the Babri mosque will be reconstructed.

Is Ayodhya so politically sensitive?

Yes it is; since the country’s main opposition BJP was involved in the destruction of the mosque. For the BJP, the Ayodhya dispute has been a major political agenda and it had come to power at the centre riding on the Ayodhya issue.

But any verdict on the Ayodhya dispute will leave the present ruling coalition at the centre in a soup because endorsing a pro-Hindu verdict will affect the coalition’s secular image, while a pro-Muslim verdict could lead to issuing orders of evicting Hindu groups from the site, which will be a nightmare for the government.

Will this verdict bring an end to the dispute?

Whatever the verdict may be, it is almost certain that it will be challenged in the Supreme Court and a final judgement on the dispute may take years to come.

Playboys 'have shorter lives'

Playboys, beware! You may die early, say researchers.

A new study, led by the University of New South Wales, claims that males who are focused on pursuing multiple partners usually have stunted growth and die young as they can neglect essential needs like eating.

The findings suggest that male promiscuity is not more common, despite its potential evolutionary advantages, as it's subject to natural limitations, the 'Journal of Evolutionary' Biology' reported.

Lead researcher Alex Jordan said: "Perhaps it's nature's way of telling males to be more faithful to their sexual partners. We wondered why the natural world is not a more promiscuous place.

"For males, especially, mating with a high number of partners results in the greatest reproductive success, so you would think that the rule should be the more the better.

"In fact, our research revealed that males pay a significant cost of promiscuity that places an upper limit on the number of sexual partners they can have throughout their lifetime."

For the study, the researchers conducted behavioural trials with tropical fish, as well as examining the lifetime costs of male reproduction, the first such study involving vertebrate animals.

Males of many species increase their reproductive effort with unfamiliar mates -- a phenomenon known as the Coolidge effect.

When the male fish were regularly supplied with new unfamiliar females throughout their life, they spent less time looking for food and more time pursuing the females. Males living with unfamiliar females also grew more slowly and to a smaller adult size, and tended to die sooner.

In contrast, males living with a single partner ate regularly, grew steadily and lived longer.

"The considerable costs of promiscuity to individuals involved reveal a natural limitation on promiscuous behaviour, previously undescribed in vertebrates. Perhaps those who wish for a more promiscuous existence will see this as a warning.

"What it tells us scientifically is that the evolution of extreme promiscuity seems to be curtailed by physiological costs involved -- although promiscuity has advantages, the trade-off might be too great in the long-term," Jordan said.

What the New Direct Tax code holds for the Taxpayer

The revised draft of DTC has proposed some major changes for the taxpayers. However, the changes in the revised draft are far from being the bold changes envisaged in the earlier draft. The objective of the new tax code seems to be now of simplifying the tax process. This article lists down the amendments proposed in the revised draft and its impact on taxpayers.

Amendments

1) Under the new direct tax code, exemption for House rent allowance (HRA), Leave Travel Concession (LTC), medical allowance has been retained. However under the new tax code, LTC will be included as a part of your income. LTC was missing from the list of exemption which created perception that the incentive has been done away with. But it has been later clarified by a finance ministry official that the difference will only be on reporting mechanism.

2) The tax slabs will be changed with 10% tax on income of Rs 2-5 lakh, 20% tax on income of Rs 5-10 lakh and 30% thereafter. Marginal exemption of income tax for senior citizens and women has also been proposed.

3) Under the DTC Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS), repayment of principal amount of the housing loan, term deposits with banks do not find any mention. Hence, you might not gain any tax incentive if you have invested in these schemes unless confirmed otherwise.

4) If you have made investments in equity market for less than a year and you want to book profits on the capital gains realized, the tax will now be linked to your individual tax slab. That is to say, the capital gain will be added to your income to calculate the final tax. It means the low-income tax payers who earlier were paying a flat 15% on short term capital gains will now pay less tax because of this amendment. The high-income taxpayer would continue to pay almost the same 15% tax on capital gains. Also, if you have a long term investment horizon, Capital gains will be fully exempted from being taxed. However, you will now have to pay tax @ 5% on equity fund dividends.

5) In the present tax code, if you have invested in long term savings products like PF, gratuity fund, pension fund etc, then you can claim a deduction of Rs 1lakh from being taxed. Now with the introduction of new tax code, you can claim a deduction of an additional Rs 50,000 for tuition fees of children, pure life insurance premium and health insurance premium. Also, if you invest in infrastructure bonds, deduction of an additional Rs 20,000 also can be claimed.

6) If you have taken a housing loan, after DTC gets implemented, you can still claim deductions of up to Rs 1.5 lakh per annum for the interest payments you make every year.

7) Under DTC, tax department will have more powers to impose a penalty. Currently, a penalty is levied for concealing the particulars of your income and if you are able to convince the Government that you didn't intend to evade tax; you are let off without any penalty. But now under the new tax code, you will be levied penalty even for under-reporting. The penalty for tax evasion will now be however decreased to a maximum of 200% of the tax due from the current 300% of the tax due. Also, faulty books and wilful attempt to evade taxes will be levied a penalty of maximum Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively.

So what is the way forward for taxpayers? Here are a few tips for taxpayers!

Tips for Taxpayers

a) If you are a long term investor in Mutual funds then opt for Systematic withdrawal plans (SWP) in a growth plan rather than choosing a dividend plan. This is because you will now have to pay tax @ 5% on equity fund dividends.

b) If you are planning to invest in bonds, you can consider the infrastructure bonds as it has tax benefits associated with it.

c) You can also consider investing in life insurance or health insurance products. The premium you pay will be exempted from being taxed.

d) A housing loan is also a good way to bring down your taxes as has always been the case.

No exercise, long work hours double heart failure risk

London, Sep 7 (IANS) Sedentary men who work beyond 45 hours a week double their risk of dying from heart failure. However, men who keep fit or exercise and work long hours face no increased risk of dying from cardiac conditions.

The study examined data for 5,000 men -- aged between 40 and 59 years from 14 different companies -- which included their fitness levels over 30 years, reports the Daily Mail. The men did cycling exercise tests to assess their fitness and provided details on the average number of hours they worked every week, according to the journal Heart.

Around 70 percent of men worked between 41 and 45 hours a week, while around 20 percent worked longer hours. Over the course of the study, there were 587 deaths from heart disease caused by the narrowing and hardening of arteries.

Experts found that men who were unfit were at the greatest risk of dying from heart disease, particularly if they worked long hours.Those who were both unfit and worked more than 45 hours a week were more than twice as likely to die from the disease than men working fewer than 40 hours.And men who worked 41 to 45 hours a week had a 59 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease compared to those working under 40 hours.

Physically fit men working longer hours were 45 percent less likely to die of heart disease and 38 percent less likely to die of other causes than those who were unfit.The findings, by a team from the National Research Centre for the Working Environment in Denmark, held true despite factors likely to influence the results, such as work stress and living conditions.

All the Hoo-ha About Health Spas

 was taking a stroll in my neighbourhood in Bangalore recently and was surprised to find the number of spas in quite a small area; not even a square kilometre! It got me thinking about how important wellness and relaxation has become to the modern Indian these days.

Imagine this – a site like About.com, one of the major sites of the world, has even listed a Top 10 Best Spas In India.

But honestly, tell me something – all this hoo-ha about medicinal spas, natural spas, Thai spas, Ayurvedic spas; is it really worth it? Or wait, let me rephrase, is there any real difference between them at all? Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to undermine or diss any of the above therapies; it’s just that in my experience, the results were all the same; they all felt really good!

Okay, I am not a sucker for getting pampered or anything, but yes, I do like a good rubbing down every once in a while. And trust me, I have tried quite a few.

Starting with the obvious.

The Ayurvedic Spa

With so many Kerela Ayurvedic centres cropping up in every city in the country, it is impossible to miss one. At one point in time, I just had to give in to my curiosity and walked into a Ayush wellness centre in Mumbai. These guys are hardcore Ayurvedic; they even have chants playing in the background. The rooms are dark-ish, the oils are, you can tell, infused with herbs and spices. In all, intense!

When I entered the room, the masseuse seemed a little grumpy. I told her to switch off the music; she obliged. The massage oils gave me a little headache at first but one gets used to it in a matter of minutes. After 60 oily, at times painful, yet glorious minutes, she was done, and I felt seriously amoebic (in a good way). A shower later, it was a kind of freshness that stayed with me for the rest of the week.

The Home Experience

Poulomi, a fellow writer and friend suggested this method initially, when I complained to her that I felt strange to walk into a spa without company. “Call this woman, she will come home and give you the spa experience!” Interesting, I thought, and gave the woman (completely forgot her name) a buzz. “Main sab kuchh karta hai,” said the woman enthusiastically in broken Hindi interspersed with Marathi, “Tumko kya mangta?“

On the “menu” that day, was a pedi-mani, a facial and a whole body massage. She told me to keep some body oil/moisturising body lotion ready. And since it was my own living room I have never felt more comfortable. The result was an amazingly refreshing experience.

The Thai Spa

So my old school friend Farah now has a upscale spa and salon in Bangalore called Walk In Beauty. Her USP? Thai massages and oils. When I moved here, I made sure to visit, not only to reconnect after more than a decade, but also check out what her spa had in store for me.

And I was not disappointed.

With a well-trained staff and quality products (not to mention the mesmerising music in the background) the experience was thoroughly rewarding, and I am not saying this just because she is my friend. The oils, and consequently I, smelled divine. And I realised, this whole experience at her spa is addictive as well.

The Gym Spa

Okay, a confession. Freebies are tempting. And when a freebie comes knocking on your door, more often than not, I respond, positively. So when a friend of mine told me that he had some free 15 massages in a month at a top-of-the-line gym he went to, AND he could invite a friend, I could not resist.

While I was just a little worried that I might end up getting a pounding of my life (it was a gym after all), but my fears were unfounded. The massage therapist there was a friendly, sweet woman who know exactly what she had to to. She asked me if the pressure was okay, if I had any body issues she should know about. The oils she used smelled nice, she gave me an intro to the herbs and other stuff used in the oils, but I was switched off already, and why not? The massage was truly wonderful.

Now, I have not experienced a 5-star spa experience yet though. So anyone out there from a 5-star set-up, want to prove me wrong? Please do invite me. Maybe there is a different layer to spa treatments I have not experienced yet.

My point is, if you think luxury spas are the only way to get a good rub-down, think again. If the staff is well-versed and the technique is correct, the relaxation WILL come for sure.

What kind of spa treatments have you had? Tell me your experience.