Sunday 20 November 2011

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) vs Public Interest Petition (PIP)

  • Actor Imran Khan has taken on the state government for raising the drinking age to 25. The actor plans to file a public interest litigation against the new regulation.(Times of India)
  • The city-based NGO Aapla Parisar will file a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding

Monday 14 November 2011

Diabetes

Today is World Diabetes Day. The WHO estimates that more than 346 million people in the world suffer from this disorder and this number is increasing at a worrying rate.

Diabetes mellitus is the proper medical term for this disorder and frequent urination is one of its most common symptoms, which is how it got its name. The name diabetes (literally, a passer through; a siphon) was coined by an ancient Greek physician who noticed that patients of this disease passed an excessive amount of urine.

In 1675 a physician called Thomas Willis added mellitus to the name. Mellitus is a Latin word which means sweetened with honey and refers to the sweetness of urine in diabetics caused by excessive blood sugar.

Saturday 12 November 2011

Potboiler

Potboiler is frequently used in Indian journalism for describing a typical, formulaic film. Merriam-Webster defines it as a usually inferior work of art or literature produced chiefly for profit.

Image: Coeruleus

Such a movie or book would bring in money to keep pots of food boiling, hence the term.