World Breastfeeding Week
Every year the World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated from August 1 to August 7. To improve the status of breastfeeding globally, World Health Assembly, the forum through which the World Health Organization is governed by its 194 member-states, had set a target of increasing the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months to at least 50 per cent by 2025, as compared to the prevailing rate of 38 per cent.
One of the major benefits of breastfeeding is protection against illness. Breast milk is the perfect food for a new-born, and the nutrition it offers is unparalleled. Feeding infants with breast milk has proven a lot of health benefits for the mother and the baby as well, and it can have a profoundly positive effect on the emotional well-being of both. Breastfeeding offers a sense of comfort, as the baby adjusts to a new environment. Also, the skin-to-skin contact of breastfeeding boosts the levels of oxytocin (the calming hormone) for the mother. WHO and UNICEF state that breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are less likely to be overweight or obese, and less prone to diabetes later in life. It may be recalled that four years ago a hundred-odd mothers from the Philippines made their nation proud when they nursed their babies in a government-backed mass breastfeeding event aimed at combating child deaths.
Ranganathan Sivakumar,
Chennai – 600 091.
Kudos to weightlifters
Kudos to the Indian weightlifting contingent's dream run for its six medals, including gold, silver and bronze, when other sportspersons of the country have not yet opened their account in the XXII Commonwealth Games. One side, India's Mirabai Chanu as usual grabbed a gold medal with a new games record breaking, two young lifters, Jeremy Lalrinnunga (men's 67 kg) and Achinta Sheuli (men's 73 kg) won gold medals on their games debut. Barring three gold medals, Sanket Mahadev Sargar and Bindyarani Devi (both silver) and Gururaja Poojary (bronze) stood on the podium. Winning of medals in the 72 nations' Commonwealth Games indicates the successful planning and execution of a good sports policy along with creation of world class infrastructure, training and skill-improvement facilities and better performance-linked incentives. However, compared to Australia, England, Canada and others, we have a very long way to go to realise the actual potential of India. Once again, kudos to our weightlifters!
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad – 121005.
Improve quality of engineering education
The majority of engineering colleges in our nation are owned by politicians, celebrities, businessmen, etc. These colleges are only in operation to make money and do not offer their students a quality engineering education. As a result of this, many engineering graduates remain unemployed. All engineering colleges in our nation are connected with technological varsities and accredited by the AICTE. For any college of engineering, the Centre of Excellence (CoE) promotes collaboration between business and academia. CoE incorporated offers guidance, research, support, training for trainers, and skill development for students in a particular industry. CoE will benefit process and product by assisting students to get actively participating in real-world difficulties. CoE must be suggested in each and every engineering college in the nation in order to address the skill-demand supply gap, maintain a steady flow of skilled engineers and spread best practices. The AICTE, UGC and all technological varsities should make every engineering college to mandatorily incorporate CoE in order to improve quality of engineering education.
Vijaykumar HK,
Raichur – 584170.