BJYM hails move to ban cow slaughter

BJYM hails move to ban cow slaughter



Source: The Hindu

HYDERABAD Feb. 23. Welcoming the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's proposal to ban cow slaughter, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha has appealed to all the political parties to cooperate with the Government in bringing about legislation on the issue.

The Morcha launched an attack on the Congress for allegedly indulging in a poster campaign against Mr. Vajpayee in Madhya Pradesh claiming that the ban move was aimed at misleading the people in the light of the elections to the Assembly scheduled this year. ``With the Congress base set to erode in Madhya Pradesh, the party has launched the campaign portraying the Prime Minister as consuming cow meat,'' the all India president of the BJYM, G. Kishan Reddy said.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, the BJYM all-India president said that it was in fact the Congress which colluded with the managements of the mechanised slaughterhouses and stalled the struggles against cow slaughter by different sections of society.

``The Congress has no moral right to speak about cow slaughter or criticise the Prime Minister who stood in the forefront in the struggles against cow slaughter. With the party's defeat in Gujarat, the Congress is indulging in vote-bank politics in Madhya Pradesh where elections are scheduled to be held this year.''
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Cow's milk can cause allergy to infants



By R. Prasad
Source: The Hindu

CHENNAI, FEB. 2. Cow's milk is one of the best sources of many vital nutrients essential for the body. However, it can cause allergy in infants less than a year old, especially when allergies such as asthma run in the family.

Incidentally, infant milk formula now available in the market offers no solace either. ``There is no infant milk preparation which contains predigested milk proteins catering specifically to the requirements of the baby between the ages of six and 12 months,'' R.K. Chandra, director, WHO Centre for Nutritional Immunology, Delhi, said.

Problems arise due to the presence of proteins such as Casein and Whey, which cannot be digested by the baby. ``An ideal infant milk formula should have predigested milk proteins that will not be recognised as a foreign body by the baby's defence system,'' Prof. Chandra said.

Nearly 20 per cent of the babies have a family history of allergy. Their chances of being affected by milk proteins is as high as 85 per cent when both the parents have a history of asthma and nearly 55 per cent when one of the parents has it.

Soya milk preparations available in the market take care of this problem. ``These preparations do not contain Casein or Whey proteins and are harmless for the babies,'' says R. Sridharan, Consultant Allergist at the Chennai Kaliappa Hospital.

Comments: Please read article on "Cow milk for infant feeding" under 'Documents' in this site www.love4cow.com
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Cow urine therapy



Source: The Hindu

THE U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) grants thousands of patents every week, and yet, the U.S. Patent, 6410059, titled "Pharmaceutical Compositions containing Cow urine Distillate and An Antibiotic" issued to S.P.S. Kanuja and 13 others and assigned to the Council of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR), attracted global attention. The Minister For Science And Technology, Government of India, at a Press Conference, said that the U.S. Patent made him realise that all traditional practices from Indian Systems of Medicine have a strong scientific base.

Traditional medicines , whether from Ayurveda or Siddha are based on classical texts and systems, practices and products handed down over generations going back to Charak, Sushrutha, Vagabhatta, the Ashtangahridaya and the Samhitas.

Combining the so-called cow urine distillate (the term distillate itself is a misnomer, since the material used is the residue, not the distillate), with antibiotics, is no exception. Combining this material in liquid or lyophilised powder form with modern drugs is irrational, since we do not know anything about the relative bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of the components. In-vitro experiments alone have little relevance, since activity in-vivo, largely depends on plasma levels, which in turn are related to serum binding properties and absorption. The bio-enhancers known today, including Piperine, generally affect metabolising enzymes which are specific and which are stimulated (when the metabolite is the active moiety) or inhibited (when the intact molecule is the active species). It is not to say that mammalian urine does not contain useful constituents; in fact ACTH was isolated from pregnant female urine, other constituents include various enzymes, amino acids and Erythropoetin.

A statement has been made that the grant of a U.S. Patent has given the ultimate stamp of approval for Indian Systems of Medicine and vindicates them, since they have been tested by modern scientific methods. The grant of a U.S. Patent or any other patent, for that matter, does not guarantee the validity of the scientific evidence presented or even the validity of the patent itself. That is the reason why the validity of a patent can be challenged at any time during the entire life of the patent. We, ourselves have the experience of the Turmeric patent revoked through efforts of CSIR.

While we do need to take into account the results of experiments carried out on cow urine `distillate', neither the reported experiments nor the grant of the U.S. patent vindicates the use of cow urine as a bio-enhancer. Much more needs to be done before we can even consider its potential utility. In the meanwhile, care should be taken to see that the results published or the patent granted do not lead to proliferation of quack medicine using cow urine, claiming legitimacy from the traditional or modern systems of medicine, let alone the U.S. patent.

M. D. Nair.
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Gujarat passes bill against cow slaughter



Source: The Hindu

GANDHINAGAR, MARCH 29. The Gujarat Assembly today unanimously passed an amendment Bill declaring cow slaughter illegal and punishable in the State under the draconian Prevention of Anti- Social Activities Act (PASA).

This is in keeping with the BJP Government's election promise. The Opposition Congress(I) members not only whole- heartedly supported the measures, but were virtually vying with the BJP members to prove that they were greater lovers of cows and were more concerned about preventing illegal slaughter.

The lone dissent came from an Independent member, Mr. Usmangani Devdiwala, one of the two minority community members. He supported the protection of cows and its progeny but expressed concern over the harassment of the minority community in the name of cow protection. The Congress(I) members, including the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Amarsinh Chaudhary, urged the Government to ensure that Sangh Parivar activists were not allowed to take law into their own hands and harass the minority community. He cited the recent incidents in Ahmedabad and some other parts of the State on the eve of Bakrid when self-styled protectors of cows caused a riot in which at least one person was killed. While the amendment Bill has also brought under its purview invocation of the PASA against gambling dens, the debate in the House was mostly focussed on cow slaughter with all sections of the House justifying the PASA.