Yes, there have been many studies suggesting that a drink a day is good for your heart and a lot else. Unfortunately, these have been carried out in the West. But faithfully, like everything else, we have copy-pasted it for Indians too.
A
new study carried out at AIIMS to investigate the link between alcohol consumption and heart disease has discovered that Indians are different: alcohol harms them. And it is not just heavy drinkers who are affected. Even light drinkers, the ones who consume 30 ml of spirited drinks, a chhota if you like, have a 40% higher risk of coronary heart disease.
So, the next time someone offers you a drink, you can say, without a trace of embarrassment, “No drinks please, we're Indian”
On Feb. 28, a hundred villagers of Khilashapur in Raghunathapally mandal
took an oath not to consume liquor until their dream of a separate state of Telangana is realised.The rationale behind this move was that the self-imposed ban on alcohol would cause revenue loss for the Andhra Pradesh government and for arrack contractors.
It all started when a Hyderabad-based software engineer K Narasimha Raju, who hails from the village, convinced the people that it was "ethically wrong" on their part to consume liquor and contribute to the state exchequer when young students were fighting and even committing suicide for the T-cause.Though Raju says that freeing the village from the ill-effects of alchohol was not his goal, it certainly is one positive result of this movement! Telangana activists say that more villages are likely to follow suit.
There seems to be no recession in Kerala- which is among the highest alcohol-consuming states in India.
The alcohol sales on Christmas Eve touched a record Rs. 27.98 crore. The Kerala State Beverages Corp (KSBC), the sole wholesaler of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and beer in the state, said that the sales was 29 percent more than what was sold on the Christmas season last year.
Speaking a few days later at the inauguration of the National Conference of All India Federation of Women Lawyers in Kochi,
President Pratibha Patil expressed concern about alcoholism in Kerala, while she praised the numerous social advances the state has made. She spoke about the adverse effects of alcoholism on individuals, families, and society.
Kerala is obviously still in a party mood for the festive season though.
