That smartphone of today has more processing power than the computers on board the Apollo spacecraft that first took man to the moon.Hitesh Raj Bhagat shows you how a few amazing apps can help you exploit that power to the fullest
FOR MANY,THE SMARTPHONE IS A VERY underutilised piece of technology.Apart from simply using all the functions that the manufacturer provides out of the box,thanks to the magic of apps,you can do stuff on your smartphone you never thought possible.These are just 10 possibilities,but with the huge app compilations on the Apple App Store and Android Marketplace,the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
Turn your phone into a wireless keyboard,remote & 3D mouse for your PC
Mobile Mouse Pro,exclusively available for iOS devices,is a pretty remarkable piece of software.It can use the devices built-in accelerometer to function as an in-air mouse;just tilt the device from side-to-side and the cursor movement will follow.If you prefer,you can also use the entire touchscreen as a multi-touch trackpad.The app also provides an on-screen keyboard and built in controls for media playback and web browsing.You need to install the free client application on your MAC or PC,download the app on to your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad and pair it with a PC on the same Wi-Fi network.Get it for $1.99 from the App Store.
For more info go to
www.mobilemouse.com
Use your smartphone camera like a webcam
With a handy application called Mobiola (available for iOS,BlackBerry,Windows Mobile,Symbian),your smartphones camera can be used as a webcamera as long as it is within the same network as the PC.You need to install the free Mobiola WebCamera Desktop software on the PC,and the app connects to the PC instantly.You can use the video feed with Skype,Yahoo,Windows Live Messenger,AIM,ICQ or any other chat application,just like you would any regular USB webcam.Its priced at $4.99 to $19.95,depending on device.
For more info go to
www.mobiola.com
View & control your entire PC desktop using a smartphone
Using free VNC apps (Virtual Network Computing ) like Mocha VNC Lite and Remote Desktop Lite,you can connect to and control your PC from your iPhone,iPad or iPod Touch.After installing the standard,free VNC server on a MAC or PC,you can connect and see your computers desktop exactly as you would if you were sitting in front of it.You dont need to be on the same network to connect to your computer,which means that you can also connect from a remote location,as long as you have a stable internet connection.
For more info go to
www.tightvnc.com,www.mochasoft.dk
Maintain and moderate a blog
Available for Symbian,Maemo,iOS,Android and BlackBerry,the free,official Wordpress app allows you to maintain your blog entirely from your smartphone.Add photos,upload videos and create new posts in minutes,connected from anywhere using the cellular data connection.You can also edit existing content and manage comments made on your blog.
For more info go to
http:// nokia.wordpress.org,
http:// ios.wordpress.org,
http:// android.wordpress.org
http:// blackberry.wordpress.org
Watch Live TV
Download the Mundu TV app on your Symbian,iOS,Windows Mobile or Android handset,and you can stream any of the 21 available TV channels using Wi-Fi or your cellular data connection.The video quality differs with connection speeds,and you get the best quality stream over a stable Wi-Fi connection.The app itself is free and you get a 7-day trial period during which you can watch as much TV as you like.Post that,you can opt for a monthly unlimited view package of 99 per month,or pay 250 per quarter.
For more info go to
www.mundu.tv
Listen to free,legal,unlimited music
An unlimited data plan or unlimited broadband over Wi-Fi can become your ticket to free music.Internet Radio is the key,and there are several free & paid apps that you can get across all devices,including iOS,Symbian,Android,Windows Mobile and Blackberry (apps include Mobbler,Last.FM,Resco,Mundu Radio,VirtualRadio and Yahoo ! Music).Some internet radio stations are ad-supported,but most offer free,highquality streaming of genre or location-based music.Want to listen to only Jazz How about 80s music or only Bollywood Its all possible with internet radio.Whats more,you can also connect your smartphone to a music system or external speakers to share the music.
For more info go to
www.vradio.org
www.mundu.com
http:// code.google.com/p/mobbler
http:// music.yahoo.com
Identify & find out more about anything
With Google Goggles,you can take pictures of something,have the app identify it and use that info to search the web.You dont need to type or speak;just click a picture of what you need to identify and the app does the rest.Apart from text,the app can also identify logos,liquor bottles,artwork & paintings,famous monuments & landmarks or even a piece of text.It almost feels like magic when you first use it.Google Goggles is available for free for iOS and for all devices running Android 1.6 or later.
For more info go to
www.google.com/mobile/goggles
Remotely start your car
Imagine this: you fire up an app on your smartphone,tap a button,and your car standing in front of you instantly comes to life.You can do this with the Viper Smart-Start app;available for iOS,Android and Blackberry.Not so fast;you also have to first get and install the Viper SmartStart security system in your car.Your phone connects to the system in your car,after authentication,using the GSM network.This means that distance from the car is not an issue.Now why would you want to start your car from a remote location,you ask Apart from the huge geek cred which comes standard,you can use the system to pre-warm or pre-cool your car in the winter or summer.Or find your car in a crowded location.Currently,the Viper is only available in the US for $350 plus installation charges.
For more info go to
www.viper.com/SmartStart
Turn your phone into a mobile Wi-Fi hot spot
This is particularly useful if you have an unlimited data plan and a Wi-Fi-enabled phone.A simple app called JoikuSpot (Symbian S60,Symbian^3,Maemo & Windows Mobile) can use your phones Wi-Fi to create a portable hot spot that others devices can connect to.Once configured,you can instantly use the phones GPRS/EDGE/3G connection to browse the web through your laptop or other compatible Wi-Fi device like a tablet or media device.Prices for the app range from US$ 13 to 21 depending on device.
For more info go to
www.joikushop.com
Help the visually impaired to read
How can Braille be implemented on a phone With the help of the Nokia Braille Reader & a touchscreen Nokia phone.The Nokia Braille Reader (Symbian S60 v5 touchscreen phones only) has been jointly developed by Nokia,Tampere University & the Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired.The app captures received SMSs & turns them into Braille using the touchscreen and haptic feedback using the built in vibrator.The user will be able to feel text,just like on a sheet of Braille.
For more info or to download,go to
http:// betalabs.nokia.com
Personal Technology [Next]
Copyright © 2010 Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved.
wireless yogi
Obama's Top 10 Foreign-Policy Headaches
If the president turns to global affairs after his midterm shellacking, the newly emboldened Republican opposition isn't going to make life easy for him.
BY JOSH ROGIN | NOVEMBER 11, 2010
Now that Republicans have taken back the House of Representatives and seem to be preparing to thwart U.S. President Barack Obama's domestic-policy agenda, the White House may be tempted to look to foreign policy to achieve some victories in the coming year, as well as a means of achieving a measure of cooperation with a seemingly intransigent GOP.
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But if that is the administration's strategy, it's likely to fall flat. On most, if not all, of Obama's top foreign-policy action items, a more powerful, less accommodating Congress appears ready to throw additional roadblocks in his way.
As a top GOP congressional aide told FP's The Cable, "You are going to see more aggressiveness to push an agenda and not to defer to the administration."
Here are the top 10 foreign-policy issues Obama and his team will now have to work harder to move forward on when the new Congress meets in January.
AFGHANISTAN
Obama's December 2009 decision to put 30,000 additional troops into the Afghan war effort stood out as the one foreign-policy issue on which the GOP and White House saw eye to eye. In fact, Republicans in Congress provided valuable support to the White House during the rollout of the "Afghan surge" decision, and conservative think-tank experts such as Frederick and Kimberly Kagan have been working closely with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan. But leading GOP lawmakers on military issues, such as Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have been calling on the administration to back away from its promise to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan next July.
The new GOP-led House stands to provide a venue for those who oppose the troop withdrawal to air their views. Expect new House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) and new House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) to hold hearings with Petraeus -- who has already not-so-privately aired his concerns about the proposed troop drawdown. It is likely that they will look for any indication that he needs more time or more personnel to complete the mission, boxing Obama into tricky political territory. On the civilian side, new prospective State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee chairwoman Kay Granger (R-Texas) is poised to use her control over civilian aid to press the case for taking a tougher line on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, as her predecessor Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) did in 2010.
THE NEW START TREATY
GOP calls for delaying a vote on Obama's nuclear-arms reduction treaty with Russia are already in full song. Although the Senate did not change hands, the addition of a half-dozen new Republican senators next year would make reaching the 67-vote threshold for ratifying the treaty much more difficult for the administration and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who is leading the charge for ratification. The administration is still hoping that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will schedule a vote in the lame-duck session, but GOP leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), are signaling they won't go along. Even in the lame duck, finding enough GOP senators to vote for the treaty if their leadership doesn't change its mind will be a daunting task.
The administration has a two-track strategy for getting the treaty, dubbed New START, approved. The main plan is to offer a final package of incentives related to nuclear modernization and nuclear-stockpile maintenance to Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who is seen as the key Republican in the debate. If Kyl agrees, the majority of the caucus will follow suit. Plan B is to try to peel off moderate senators such as Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and Scott Brown (R-Mass.) to reach the 67-vote threshold.
But a delay until next year could mean a wait until next summer as Congress reorganizes itself. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee would also have to approve the treaty again if no full vote is taken this year. What remains unknown is how new senators, including Tea Party members who could object to the $80 billion the administration is throwing at Kyl to garner his support, would vote. If the GOP kills the treaty, "the message we may be sending is that we're not in the business of passing treaties anymore," said Heather Conley, director of the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
CONTAINING IRAN
Iran has been signaling that it wants to return to the negotiating table before year's end. If the mullahs want to strike a deal with the Obama administration over its nuclear program, they had better move fast. The new Congress is likely to press the administration to strictly enforce the penalties under the Iran sanctions legislation that Obama signed this year. While anti-Iran sentiment in Congress is bipartisan, Republicans are more inclined to press the administration to enforce penalties on third countries that do not go along with the sanctions, including Russia and China.
If Obama somehow reaches a deal with Iran, especially one that accepts a limited enrichment capability for Tehran as the price for greater verification and inspections, he will face intense blowback from a Republican House and Republicans in the Senate. The same goes for North Korea. If the administration ever does get back into talks with Pyongyang about its nuclear-weapons program and works out a deal, the GOP could criticize the deal as being too conciliatory to a brutal regime, even if it is less generous than that negotiated by George W. Bush's administration in 2007.
DEFENSE BUDGET REFORM
Prior to the election, the debate was heating up over whether the United States' worsening fiscal situation would lead to cuts in the defense budget, which has more than doubled since 9/11. Even some GOP lawmakers seemed to be entertaining the idea, and the president's commission on the deficit is looking at the defense budget as well. Notably, neither Obama nor Defense Secretary Robert Gates is calling for overall cuts in defense spending at this point, but Gates is planning to announce another round of specific weapons-systems cancellations in February via the 2012 budget request.
The GOP-led House, led by new Armed Services Committee chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) and the new head of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), is set to resist cancellations of any large weapons systems. There has been much speculation about whether the Tea Party caucus, soon to be represented by almost three dozen congressmen, would force the GOP to take seriously the idea of cutting the defense budget. But most incoming Tea Party members are poised to exempt defense spending from their calls for austerity, with the possible exception of Senator-elect Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has said defense budget cuts are on the table.
FOREIGN AID
As a presidential candidate in 2008, Obama promised to double the foreign aid budget within five years. Likewise, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised to elevate development alongside defense and diplomacy as a key pillar of U.S. national security policy. Both those promises face increased resistance in Congress next year, as lawmakers look to make budget cuts in programs that lack strong domestic constituencies. "One of the main issue voters are talking about is out-of-control spending, and foreign aid won't be exempt from cuts," one GOP aide told The Cable.
Incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has proposed holding up foreign aid to a litmus test related to recipient governments' acquiescence to U.S. foreign-policy objectives and has even threatened to vote down the entire foreign-aid budget -- after separating out aid for Israel -- if he isn't satisfied with how some countries are acting in conjunction with U.S. interests. And Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who will probably be tasked with writing the fiscal 2012 state and foreign operations appropriations bill, has said that countries that aren't performing on issues like good governance should have their assistance packages reviewed.
The congressional drive to pass a wholesale reform of foreign-aid distribution has also been dealt a blow due to the GOP takeover of the House. The most comprehensive bill on this front was written by outgoing House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) -- but his bill failed to move out of committee, and it's unlikely that his successor, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), will take up the cause. Expect congressional Republicans to also resist large increases in the budget for the State Department, which is taking on increased roles all over the world, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan. The State Department's budget for fiscal 2011 is still under consideration.
CIVILIAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENTS
It's no secret that Republicans on Capitol Hill have been unhappy with how the administration has been conducting its drive to ink new civilian nuclear deals with a host of countries. After finishing the Bush administration's deal, known as a "123 agreement," with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Obama administration lauded uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing prohibitions in the deal as the "gold standard" for future agreements. The UAE agreed to forgo enrichment in exchange for the deal. But the White House is having trouble getting Vietnam and Jordan to agree to such restrictions, and Republicans on the Hill are sure to hold up such shortcomings as increasing the risk of nuclear proliferation.
Later this month, the Russian 123 agreement, originally brokered by Bush, will go into force if Congress doesn't move to stop it. Cable sources say that there's probably not enough interest in the GOP at the leadership level to thwart the Russia deal at this stage. But incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) was infuriated when the administration didn't even bother to send someone to the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in September on the Russia deal, and she is likely to hold thorough and investigative hearings for any future pacts. She could also lead an effort to amend the Atomic Energy Act to give Congress increased oversight of international civilian nuclear agreements. Another key lawmaker to watch on this is Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), due to his personal interest and expertise on the issue.
SYRIA
Republicans have been calling on the administration to publicly clarify its Syria policy for months. Obama's outreach to Damascus does not seem to be bearing fruit -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continues to support Hezbollah, interfere with Lebanese politics, and deepen his country's friendship with Iran. The GOP has been holding up the nomination of Robert Ford to become ambassador to Syria, in part because they haven't gotten full explanations from the administration about what the U.S. government knows about Syrian arms transfers to Hezbollah.
Syria's nuclear ambitions are also a key concern of lawmakers. Some in the International Atomic Energy Agency want to use its special inspection authorities to increase the agency's presence in Syria, but Damascus isn't likely to allow such intrusiveness. So the Obama administration will eventually have to decide whether that's an issue worth taking to the U.N. Security Council. Apparent Syrian violations of other sanctions relating to arms transfers are also an issue that lawmakers, especially Republicans, will be pressing the White House and State Department to deal with. "People are worried that Syria is not being held up to account," one GOP aide said.
CUBA
The Obama administration has been quietly but steadily moving to loosen travel and trade restrictions on Cuba in advance of what rapprochement advocates would hope to be an eventual repeal the comprehensive sanctions on Havana that have been in place since the 1950s. On this matter, don't expect the GOP to budge much. Ros-Lehtinen, the incoming House Foreign Affairs Commitee chairwoman, is a hard-line Cuba hawk and is set to thwart any additional moves to ease Cuba sanctions or travel restrictions. A Cuban-American from Miami, she even once called for the assassination of former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
"The right is the enforcer on Cuba," one Republican congressional aide explained to The Cable. Berman, the outgoing House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, had a bill before his committee to further ease restrictions on dealing with Cuba, but he never brought it up for a vote because he never thought he had enough committee support to pass it. "That was a major issue for Berman. If he had the votes to pass it, he would have done it," the aide explained.
GOP aides say that the Cuba issue is indicative of what could be a rising chorus coming from Republicans on the Hill about issues of freedom and human rights. "We're going to start to see that it's OK to be vocal about democracy," one aide said.
FREE TRADE
The administration's drive to sign new free trade agreements across the world could be bolstered by the results of last week's midterm elections. The Democratic House caucus, led by Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), didn't move at all to support Obama's free-trade agenda due to opposition from the labor movement. Senior House Republicans, such as incoming Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), are already working to make passing trade deals a focus of their work in the next Congress. In the Senate, personnel changes also seem to favor the drive for free trade. The Senate will have a strong new advocate for free trade in Ohio senator and former U.S. trade representative Rob Portman. A major opponent to free trade agreements was also unseated when Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) lost his re-election race.
The administration is working hard to capitalize on this change and hopes to iron out remaining differences in the free trade agreement with South Korea following his current trip to Asia. Existing deals with Colombia and Panama also await congressional approval. The question is whether free traders in Congress will be able to sway enough fellow House lawmakers to pass the deals. Portman faced significant criticism in Ohio during his campaign from those who think free trade agreements are equivalent to shipping jobs overseas. And even if the House passes the deals, Senate Majority Leader Reid will have to pass them in the Senate, with Republican support, over the objections of some in his own caucus. Lastly, if Obama pushes forward with free trade and ultimately Congress does not support him, he will have spent valuable political capital on a losing battle and have lost credibility with foreign governments.
STATE DEPARTMENT NOMINATIONS
Senate Republicans have been holding up the nominations of scores of administration officials. The most visible holds are several U.S. ambassadorial nominees, such as Robert Ford to Syria, Frank Ricciardone to Turkey, Matthew Bryza to Azerbaijan, and Norm Eisen to the Czech Republic.
The nominations are held up by different senators for different reasons, some personal, some political. The increased GOP presence in the Senate won't directly affect these nominations, but the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have to approve the nominations again if they are not acted on this year.
Republicans won't have control over the Senate agenda completely, but they could use stalling nominations as one more tactic to advance their stated goal of making Obama a one-term president. There's already a sense inside the administration that its work on foreign policy just got more difficult. "The primary impact [of the midterm elections] will be on domestic policy, not foreign policy. But that doesn't mean we in the administration won't face significantly more frustration, delay, and outright pain," one administration source told The Cable.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/10/10_foreign_policy_issues_that_just_got_harder_for_obama?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page=full
99 Sites All Designers Must Know About
Published on Monday, February 25, 2008 – 3:59 pm
Below is a list of 99+ graphic design resources, in English and (and a few other languages), that all designers must know about.
It is sorted by category (click to go to category):
General Design
Web Design
Resources
Show Cases
Development
Flash and Flex
Typography
Video and Motion
Personal Design Blogs
Web 2.0
Relaxation
Various
For more resources you can check out the 101 Places To Get Design Inspiration. Also don’t forget to subscribe for more graphic design resources.
General Design
1 Spunk United
An excellent magazine with a selection of the worlds best artists providing inspiration, interviews, articles and more.
2 FreeLance Switch
The community site of reference for all freelances. You must know this one!
3 Computer Arts
The site of the excellent international magazine Computer Arts. I have subscribed to this mag and love it!
4 David Airey
A graphic and logo designer who shares his knowledge on these areas.
5 Behance
A site gathering the portfolios of the artists of the whole world, a true inspiration.
6 Pdf Mags
References all the PDF mags out there! A great resource.
7 Graphic Design Forum
The most active of the graphic design forums out there. A bit more focused for the beginner designer.
8 Design Is Kinky
An Australia site focused purely on design news and design in general. Stay up to date!
9 Freelance Folder
A community blog which posts regular articles on freelancing. Very diverse.
10 Bittbox
Provides regular resources for design… tutorials, brushes, vectors and more!
11 Vandelay Webdesign
Provides very social media friendly articles, large resource lists and tips for web designers.
12 You The Designer
Very complete and diverse range of articles on graphic design.
13 Design You Trust
A daily design magazine, blog and small community, full of new design trends, news and events, great design portfolios and hand-picked design stuff from all over the globe.
Web Design:
14 Noupe
An excellent site on Web design & the development of the web (CSS & Ajax).
15 Smashing Magazine
Information for all. So broad that if you are a designer and you don’t know this site, we all have pity for you.
16 Think Vitamin
Vitamin is a resource for web designers, developers and entrepreneurs. 50,000 subscribers can’t be wrong.
17 24 Ways
Web design and development, quality articles are always here.
18 A List Apart
Another pillar of the Web Design blog world, very good articles with diversified contributors.
19 Site Point
Very diversified site, graphics, css, ajax… Also editor of many Web Design books.
20 The Rissington Podcast
Excellent podcasts full with humour of excellent the Web Designer John Oxton and Jon Hicks.
21 Web Appers
Blog of Open Resources for Web Developers. .
22 Happy Cog
They publish their best ideas and speak out to the world on web design.
23- Web Designer Wall
A must have for all web designers and designers out there!
Resources:
24 Design Float
A digg like site for design related subjects. Must know!
25- Psd Tuts
The best tutorials on the web. Mmmmm.
26- Blue Vertigo
The MUST HAVE bookmark of all stock resourceson the net.
27- SXC.hu
My favourite stock site, you may notice I use this site for most of my images on this site.
28- Icon Finder
Self explanitory.
29- Da Font
Free fonts. Mmmm.
30 Maniackers Design Make
A lot of inspiration can be found here along with a lot of free resources. Bit hard to navigate though.
31- Colour Lovers
Find, create and exchange your pallets of favourite colors.
Show Cases:
32- Command Shift 3
Have you heard of hot or not? This is like that but for web designs, you choose the best website of 2. Great for inspiration.
33- Showcase Point
Showcases Flash & CSS sites with several options of sorting.
34- Zeniltuo
Large database of all the inspiration sites out there.
35- The FWA
Mainly shows off flash websites but is always of high quality. Great inspiration here.
36- CSS Mania
Another showcase site.
37- CSS Remix
A very good gallery of CSS websites.
38- Best Web Gallery
A very good selection of designs.
39- ScreenFluent
A very good selection of Web designs.
40 W3C Sites
Excellent selection of valid W3C sites.
41- CSS Beauty
A good gallery and it also has very interesting articles on the development of websites with news.
42- Edu Style
The schools and universities have also right to a gallery css, this one is particularly remarkable.
Development:
43 – Problogger
Tips on blogging in general. Must have for any blogger.
45- Pro Blog Design
Tips on improving your blogs design. Only quality articles here.
46- WP designer
The blog of reference for all the WordPress developers.
47- Ajax Rain
One of largest Ajax bookshops on the Web.
48- CSS3.info
The site of future standards – CSS3.
49- CSS Earth
Site referring the best articles on the development of CSS on the Web.
Flash & Flex:
51- Labs Adobe
New technologies and development from Adobe.
52- Christophe Coenraets
Blog of a Flex developer.
54- Adobe AIR Tutorials
The site of for tutorials on AIR.
55- Mike Chambers
The blog of Mike Chambers based on programming and technology.
56- The Blog Flash
Blog for Action Script 3 and Flex.
57- Jean Phi Blog
One of the largest French flashers. Has some great work, but the French part may be a problem for some.
Typography:
60 Swiss Legacy
A blog focused on typography, swiss design and the grid.
61- I Love Typography
Speaks for itself. A must know.
62- Design & Typo
The blog of the famous Peter Gabor, posts cool inspiration pieces (in English too).
63- The Typographer
The site on typography for the French.
64- Slanted
Large German site on typography.
Video & Motion:
65- Stage6
YouTube of animation (2d and 3d). Great quality.
66- Fubiz
A great blog which posts creative daily inspirational pieces of design. Bookmark this one for sure.
67- Motiono Grapher
International reference for all who are in the motion business.
68- Video Copilot
Tutorials of creating special video effects.
69- Graphics/ Motion
Italian Blog of Motion, the articles are of great quality and are updated very regularly.
70 FX Guide
Great Community site of Video and Motion, do not miss this one!
71- Works Motion
The site of John Dickinson, great inspiration here.
Personal Design Blogs:
72- Elliot Jay Stocks
Just check it out. His name pops up everywhere!
73- Veerle Blog
One of most beautiful blosg on the Web, very complete articles and tutorials, in short a must.
75- Jina Bolton
Design of Jina Bolton (aka Sushi Monster), author of the book “Art & Science of CSS” and of the excellent conference “Create Sexy StyleSheet.” A very envious portfolio.
76- Snook
Blog of the graphic designer, developer, writer and lecturer of Jonathan Snook – very complete tips and tricks for all Web Designers.
76- Stuff And Nonsense
Super and super blog of Markley, one of best WebDesigners in the world.
77- Lysergid
Blog of the excellent French Art Director Loïc SATTLER. Great articles, fresh design.
78- Iso 50
Blog of the excellent graphic designer Scott Hansen.
79- John Nack Blog
Blog of John Nack, composed of very complete article on graphics and Adobe.
Web2.0:
80 NetVibes
The web comes to you. News aggregator plus!
81- Del.Ico.Us
A tool for bookmaking and social media attention, must have!
82- Twitter
Get updates on what your friends, co workers, etc are doing.
83- FaceBook
A website where you can pass your life.
84- Flickr
The social site of photography – a great number of people are present there with new photographs to discover each day.
Relaxation:
Places for just browsing – Areas that most designers are interested in. (ie. Fashion, Music, Design)
85- Vinyl misuses
A magazine about toys.. Must check this site out, some really cool designs.
86- Discobelle
Excellent site of music, showcases music videos, parties, etc.
87- Hype Beast
Magazine for fashion design and culture.
88- Lense
A French reference for all those who wish to know some more about photography.
90 PopRave Blog
Underground culture of the clothes industry.
Various:
91- All Graphic Design
A site for everything graphic design related.
92- North X East
Articles for bloggers.
93- Ads Of The World
Web site which publishes all of the worlds ads. Great inspiration here.
94- LogoPond
Logo Design Inspiration
95- Logo Design Love
A blog focused totally on Logo Design. Regular articles and resources.
96- Split Da Diz
I have translated his page from French into English as he was the original poster of this article however I changed the French sites he recommended into English ones, fixed the old links he had posted and changed the order of some items…
97- Boing Boing
A genearl directory of wonderful things.
98- Business of Design Online
Pretty much anything to help a design business grow online.
99- Just Creative Design
Who else would have brought you this massive English list of 99+ graphic design resources? We provide graphic design tips, resources and articles for all.
More Sites You Should Know About
DesignFlavr -The masters of Design and Illustration.
Inspiredology – The social media master of design. Inspiration at its best.
DesignMeltDown – Categorises websites into categories for inspiration.
Creative Briefing – A web workers blog.
ImageAfter - A great stock site.
IgniteMotion – Free motion backgrounds.
CSS Artillery – A showcase of web standards across the globe.
CreativeBits – A mac orientated website around design.
Communication Arts – The essential creative resource.
Designers Who Blog – A blog dedicated to designers who blog among other things.
NO-SPEC – Educate the public and designers about speculative, or ’spec’ work. Must read.
Creative Latitude – A worldwide community that unites various creative disciplines for collective promotion, education and ethical business practice.
Foto Search – A stock photography & footage site.
Passpack Tour – Free online password manager.
Free Website Templates – Free website templates for inspiration.
Logo Of The Day – A logo design inspiration gallery that gets updated daily.
Logo Designer Blog – A blog focused purely on logo, branding and identity design
Below is a list of 99+ graphic design resources, in English and (and a few other languages), that all designers must know about.
It is sorted by category (click to go to category):
General Design
Web Design
Resources
Show Cases
Development
Flash and Flex
Typography
Video and Motion
Personal Design Blogs
Web 2.0
Relaxation
Various
For more resources you can check out the 101 Places To Get Design Inspiration. Also don’t forget to subscribe for more graphic design resources.
General Design
1 Spunk United
An excellent magazine with a selection of the worlds best artists providing inspiration, interviews, articles and more.
2 FreeLance Switch
The community site of reference for all freelances. You must know this one!
3 Computer Arts
The site of the excellent international magazine Computer Arts. I have subscribed to this mag and love it!
4 David Airey
A graphic and logo designer who shares his knowledge on these areas.
5 Behance
A site gathering the portfolios of the artists of the whole world, a true inspiration.
6 Pdf Mags
References all the PDF mags out there! A great resource.
7 Graphic Design Forum
The most active of the graphic design forums out there. A bit more focused for the beginner designer.
8 Design Is Kinky
An Australia site focused purely on design news and design in general. Stay up to date!
9 Freelance Folder
A community blog which posts regular articles on freelancing. Very diverse.
10 Bittbox
Provides regular resources for design… tutorials, brushes, vectors and more!
11 Vandelay Webdesign
Provides very social media friendly articles, large resource lists and tips for web designers.
12 You The Designer
Very complete and diverse range of articles on graphic design.
13 Design You Trust
A daily design magazine, blog and small community, full of new design trends, news and events, great design portfolios and hand-picked design stuff from all over the globe.
Web Design:
14 Noupe
An excellent site on Web design & the development of the web (CSS & Ajax).
15 Smashing Magazine
Information for all. So broad that if you are a designer and you don’t know this site, we all have pity for you.
16 Think Vitamin
Vitamin is a resource for web designers, developers and entrepreneurs. 50,000 subscribers can’t be wrong.
17 24 Ways
Web design and development, quality articles are always here.
18 A List Apart
Another pillar of the Web Design blog world, very good articles with diversified contributors.
19 Site Point
Very diversified site, graphics, css, ajax… Also editor of many Web Design books.
20 The Rissington Podcast
Excellent podcasts full with humour of excellent the Web Designer John Oxton and Jon Hicks.
21 Web Appers
Blog of Open Resources for Web Developers. .
22 Happy Cog
They publish their best ideas and speak out to the world on web design.
23- Web Designer Wall
A must have for all web designers and designers out there!
Resources:
24 Design Float
A digg like site for design related subjects. Must know!
25- Psd Tuts
The best tutorials on the web. Mmmmm.
26- Blue Vertigo
The MUST HAVE bookmark of all stock resourceson the net.
27- SXC.hu
My favourite stock site, you may notice I use this site for most of my images on this site.
28- Icon Finder
Self explanitory.
29- Da Font
Free fonts. Mmmm.
30 Maniackers Design Make
A lot of inspiration can be found here along with a lot of free resources. Bit hard to navigate though.
31- Colour Lovers
Find, create and exchange your pallets of favourite colors.
Show Cases:
32- Command Shift 3
Have you heard of hot or not? This is like that but for web designs, you choose the best website of 2. Great for inspiration.
33- Showcase Point
Showcases Flash & CSS sites with several options of sorting.
34- Zeniltuo
Large database of all the inspiration sites out there.
35- The FWA
Mainly shows off flash websites but is always of high quality. Great inspiration here.
36- CSS Mania
Another showcase site.
37- CSS Remix
A very good gallery of CSS websites.
38- Best Web Gallery
A very good selection of designs.
39- ScreenFluent
A very good selection of Web designs.
40 W3C Sites
Excellent selection of valid W3C sites.
41- CSS Beauty
A good gallery and it also has very interesting articles on the development of websites with news.
42- Edu Style
The schools and universities have also right to a gallery css, this one is particularly remarkable.
Development:
43 – Problogger
Tips on blogging in general. Must have for any blogger.
45- Pro Blog Design
Tips on improving your blogs design. Only quality articles here.
46- WP designer
The blog of reference for all the WordPress developers.
47- Ajax Rain
One of largest Ajax bookshops on the Web.
48- CSS3.info
The site of future standards – CSS3.
49- CSS Earth
Site referring the best articles on the development of CSS on the Web.
Flash & Flex:
51- Labs Adobe
New technologies and development from Adobe.
52- Christophe Coenraets
Blog of a Flex developer.
54- Adobe AIR Tutorials
The site of for tutorials on AIR.
55- Mike Chambers
The blog of Mike Chambers based on programming and technology.
56- The Blog Flash
Blog for Action Script 3 and Flex.
57- Jean Phi Blog
One of the largest French flashers. Has some great work, but the French part may be a problem for some.
Typography:
60 Swiss Legacy
A blog focused on typography, swiss design and the grid.
61- I Love Typography
Speaks for itself. A must know.
62- Design & Typo
The blog of the famous Peter Gabor, posts cool inspiration pieces (in English too).
63- The Typographer
The site on typography for the French.
64- Slanted
Large German site on typography.
Video & Motion:
65- Stage6
YouTube of animation (2d and 3d). Great quality.
66- Fubiz
A great blog which posts creative daily inspirational pieces of design. Bookmark this one for sure.
67- Motiono Grapher
International reference for all who are in the motion business.
68- Video Copilot
Tutorials of creating special video effects.
69- Graphics/ Motion
Italian Blog of Motion, the articles are of great quality and are updated very regularly.
70 FX Guide
Great Community site of Video and Motion, do not miss this one!
71- Works Motion
The site of John Dickinson, great inspiration here.
Personal Design Blogs:
72- Elliot Jay Stocks
Just check it out. His name pops up everywhere!
73- Veerle Blog
One of most beautiful blosg on the Web, very complete articles and tutorials, in short a must.
75- Jina Bolton
Design of Jina Bolton (aka Sushi Monster), author of the book “Art & Science of CSS” and of the excellent conference “Create Sexy StyleSheet.” A very envious portfolio.
76- Snook
Blog of the graphic designer, developer, writer and lecturer of Jonathan Snook – very complete tips and tricks for all Web Designers.
76- Stuff And Nonsense
Super and super blog of Markley, one of best WebDesigners in the world.
77- Lysergid
Blog of the excellent French Art Director Loïc SATTLER. Great articles, fresh design.
78- Iso 50
Blog of the excellent graphic designer Scott Hansen.
79- John Nack Blog
Blog of John Nack, composed of very complete article on graphics and Adobe.
Web2.0:
80 NetVibes
The web comes to you. News aggregator plus!
81- Del.Ico.Us
A tool for bookmaking and social media attention, must have!
82- Twitter
Get updates on what your friends, co workers, etc are doing.
83- FaceBook
A website where you can pass your life.
84- Flickr
The social site of photography – a great number of people are present there with new photographs to discover each day.
Relaxation:
Places for just browsing – Areas that most designers are interested in. (ie. Fashion, Music, Design)
85- Vinyl misuses
A magazine about toys.. Must check this site out, some really cool designs.
86- Discobelle
Excellent site of music, showcases music videos, parties, etc.
87- Hype Beast
Magazine for fashion design and culture.
88- Lense
A French reference for all those who wish to know some more about photography.
90 PopRave Blog
Underground culture of the clothes industry.
Various:
91- All Graphic Design
A site for everything graphic design related.
92- North X East
Articles for bloggers.
93- Ads Of The World
Web site which publishes all of the worlds ads. Great inspiration here.
94- LogoPond
Logo Design Inspiration
95- Logo Design Love
A blog focused totally on Logo Design. Regular articles and resources.
96- Split Da Diz
I have translated his page from French into English as he was the original poster of this article however I changed the French sites he recommended into English ones, fixed the old links he had posted and changed the order of some items…
97- Boing Boing
A genearl directory of wonderful things.
98- Business of Design Online
Pretty much anything to help a design business grow online.
99- Just Creative Design
Who else would have brought you this massive English list of 99+ graphic design resources? We provide graphic design tips, resources and articles for all.
More Sites You Should Know About
DesignFlavr -The masters of Design and Illustration.
Inspiredology – The social media master of design. Inspiration at its best.
DesignMeltDown – Categorises websites into categories for inspiration.
Creative Briefing – A web workers blog.
ImageAfter - A great stock site.
IgniteMotion – Free motion backgrounds.
CSS Artillery – A showcase of web standards across the globe.
CreativeBits – A mac orientated website around design.
Communication Arts – The essential creative resource.
Designers Who Blog – A blog dedicated to designers who blog among other things.
NO-SPEC – Educate the public and designers about speculative, or ’spec’ work. Must read.
Creative Latitude – A worldwide community that unites various creative disciplines for collective promotion, education and ethical business practice.
Foto Search – A stock photography & footage site.
Passpack Tour – Free online password manager.
Free Website Templates – Free website templates for inspiration.
Logo Of The Day – A logo design inspiration gallery that gets updated daily.
Logo Designer Blog – A blog focused purely on logo, branding and identity design
99 Sites All Designers Must Know About
http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/02/25/99-graphic-design-resources/#webdesign
The internet busted up my marriage: A WAFF 48 News special report
HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - If your status is 'separated' or 'going through a divorce' you might want to stay off Facebook.
Social networking sites are causing a sharp increase in divorce and anything you say on your Facebook page or Myspace page can be held against you in court.
Facebook is an incredible resource for finding classmates, co-workers or making new friends. It's also a way to rekindle old flames. For a lot of couples, that's landed them in divorce court and given jilted spouses evidence of their partner's adultery.
[Click here for information from AAML]
Sue's* life started to unravel in October last year. She went to her home computer to log into her Facebook account. She quickly realized she was browsing her husband's page.
"I went to his inbox and there were messages from a female talking about how she missed him and how she couldn't wait until she saw him again," said Sue. "Details about where they had met and things they had done."
Sue's husband was carrying on an affair with a woman he dated briefly in high school. The woman moved away and years later the two reconnected.
"He would wait until I went to bed and they would start chatting," explained Sue.
Sue says the conversations included personal details about the couple's marital problems and intimate, often graphic, on-line chats.
"I could not believe the words that came out of my own husbands mouth. It was disgusting, vulgar," said Sue.
[Click here to for article]
Sue fought the urge to reveal her husbands indiscretion. She kept quiet while collecting secret emails, chats and status updates. Two days after her birthday, Sue confronted her husband. She says at first he denied the adulterous accusations, then Sue showed him the proof.
"All he could say is he was sorry. I think he's sorry he got caught. He's not sorry for what he's done," she said.
Sue separated from her husband and filed for divorce using what she found on his Facebook page against him in court.
"Those statements become important in litigation," said Decatur attorney Brian Oakes.
Oakes is not an attorney for either party, but divorce cases are a large part of his practice. He's seen social media sites increasingly come between a once committed couple.
[Click here for more on extramarital affairs in the new millennium]
"People will put anything and say anything on social media. They are simply cutting their own legs out from under them in many cases. The more they talk the better," said Oakes.
Before the internet, Oakes says extramarital affairs were difficult to prove unless the spouse caught their spouse's fling on tape. Now with sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, private issues become public.
"It's like theater of the living. You have people who avail themselves to Facebook, do not screen what they are saying and it often times comes back to bite them," explained Oakes.
Sue says Facebook ruined her marriage. She lost her home, had to change jobs and now she's starting life all over.
"I thought we were stronger than that. No one thinks it's going to happen to them. I've told so many women since then, if your boyfriend has an account you demand the password. If they don't have anything to hide, he won't mind giving you the password," said Sue.
Of course social networking sites are not the root cause of failed relationships and divorce. These sites are merely tools that make it a temptation to re-connect with a former love.
*Names have been changed to protect the identities of those involved.
©2010 WAFF. All rights reserved.
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=13448051&clienttype=printable
Social networking sites are causing a sharp increase in divorce and anything you say on your Facebook page or Myspace page can be held against you in court.
Facebook is an incredible resource for finding classmates, co-workers or making new friends. It's also a way to rekindle old flames. For a lot of couples, that's landed them in divorce court and given jilted spouses evidence of their partner's adultery.
[Click here for information from AAML]
Sue's* life started to unravel in October last year. She went to her home computer to log into her Facebook account. She quickly realized she was browsing her husband's page.
"I went to his inbox and there were messages from a female talking about how she missed him and how she couldn't wait until she saw him again," said Sue. "Details about where they had met and things they had done."
Sue's husband was carrying on an affair with a woman he dated briefly in high school. The woman moved away and years later the two reconnected.
"He would wait until I went to bed and they would start chatting," explained Sue.
Sue says the conversations included personal details about the couple's marital problems and intimate, often graphic, on-line chats.
"I could not believe the words that came out of my own husbands mouth. It was disgusting, vulgar," said Sue.
[Click here to for article]
Sue fought the urge to reveal her husbands indiscretion. She kept quiet while collecting secret emails, chats and status updates. Two days after her birthday, Sue confronted her husband. She says at first he denied the adulterous accusations, then Sue showed him the proof.
"All he could say is he was sorry. I think he's sorry he got caught. He's not sorry for what he's done," she said.
Sue separated from her husband and filed for divorce using what she found on his Facebook page against him in court.
"Those statements become important in litigation," said Decatur attorney Brian Oakes.
Oakes is not an attorney for either party, but divorce cases are a large part of his practice. He's seen social media sites increasingly come between a once committed couple.
[Click here for more on extramarital affairs in the new millennium]
"People will put anything and say anything on social media. They are simply cutting their own legs out from under them in many cases. The more they talk the better," said Oakes.
Before the internet, Oakes says extramarital affairs were difficult to prove unless the spouse caught their spouse's fling on tape. Now with sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, private issues become public.
"It's like theater of the living. You have people who avail themselves to Facebook, do not screen what they are saying and it often times comes back to bite them," explained Oakes.
Sue says Facebook ruined her marriage. She lost her home, had to change jobs and now she's starting life all over.
"I thought we were stronger than that. No one thinks it's going to happen to them. I've told so many women since then, if your boyfriend has an account you demand the password. If they don't have anything to hide, he won't mind giving you the password," said Sue.
Of course social networking sites are not the root cause of failed relationships and divorce. These sites are merely tools that make it a temptation to re-connect with a former love.
*Names have been changed to protect the identities of those involved.
©2010 WAFF. All rights reserved.
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=13448051&clienttype=printable
Is it possible to save the millions of people who die from TB?
LETTER FROM INDIA
A DEADLY MISDIAGNOSIS
by Michael Specter
NOVEMBER 15, 2010
Hospital Road in Darbhanga is home to dozens of unregulated doctors and drug wholesalers. Photograph by Lynsey Addario.
Every afternoon at about four, a slight woman named Runi slips out of the cramped, airless room that she shares with her husband and their sixteen children. She skirts the drainage ditch in front of the building, then walks toward the pile of hardened dung cakes that people in this slum on the edge of the northeastern Indian city of Patna use for fuel. Dressed in a bright-yellow sari shot with gold threads, Runi is followed by several of her children. Although she can’t remember their ages, or her own, Runi must be about forty, because she dates her life from its first crucial memory: the smallpox epidemic that devastated Patna and much of surrounding Bihar province in 1974.
Runi survived that plague, and several others, but, about a year ago, after developing a persistent cough, she visited one of the private medical clinics that line the streets of Patna. There someone who called himself a doctor stuck a needle in her arm, drew a few drops of blood, examined them, and told her that she had tuberculosis. It is not an uncommon diagnosis. Tuberculosis has always been the signature disease of urban poverty, passed easily in poorly ventilated spaces. India has nearly two million new cases each year, and every day a thousand people die of the disease, the highest number in the world. Tuberculosis is also the leading cause of death among people between fifteen and forty-five—the most productive age group in any country and the key to India’s prospects for continued economic growth.
For most patients, the choices are bleak. Public hospitals are so overcrowded that people are forced to rely on inaccurate tests dispensed at private labs and clinics. They are unregulated enterprises, and peddle blood tests that are responsible for tens of thousands of misdiagnoses every year. “This is deadly,” L. S. Chauhan, the director of the National TB Control Program, told me when we met in New Delhi. “But there are thousands of labs. Shut one down and the next day ten more appear.”
Runi’s test was indeed worthless. It determined the presence of antibodies, which show that a body’s immune system has begun to respond to an infection. But most TB infections are latent: no more than ten per cent will ever cause illness. This means that ninety per cent of people with antibodies for TB in their blood don’t have the disease. Runi’s cough was clearly caused by something else.
Vaccines and antibiotics have long been seen as touchstones of medical progress. To stop tuberculosis, however, particularly in the developing world, an accurate diagnostic exam is needed even more. In India, China, and Africa, at least two billion people have latent infections. Yet every day thousands are told, mistakenly, that they are sick and need treatment. That’s what happened to Runi. Soon after she received her diagnosis, Runi began a regimen of powerful (and toxic) drugs provided by the public-health service, and she stuck to the program for the required six months. Not long after finishing, however, she started to feel worse than she ever had before. “This is the tragedy of our TB-control program,’’ Shamim Mannan said as we watched Runi’s children play. Mannan, who is from Assam, a few hundred miles from Patna, serves as the Indian government’s chief TB consultant in the region.
“Officially, she is cured,’’ he said. “But how would we know? She took a test that showed she had the antibody for TB in her blood. So do I. So do five hundred million Indians.” As Runi stooped to gather fuel for the stove, she began to cough, lightly at first and then with alarming force. Every cough sounded as if somebody had shattered a pane of glass.
“Now she really is sick,’’ he continued, explaining that Runi’s TB was no longer dormant, and that taking drugs when they are not necessary often makes them ineffective when they are. “This is what happens when tests mislead us. She will need the drugs again. If they don’t work properly, she will be in real trouble. She has almost certainly infected some of her children. That makes everything harder, more expensive, more painful.’’
uberculosis strikes vulnerable people with special ferocity. Victims are seized by severe night sweats, wasted by fatigue, and punished by the blood-tinged cough that is the disease’s defining symbol. In most cases, tuberculosis affects the lungs, but it can invade almost any organ of the body. When an infectious person coughs, sneezes, spits, or even shouts, he sends minute particles of sputum, or phlegm, into the air—exposing anyone nearby. For many years, the disease, which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was referred to as “consumption,” because without effective treatment patients often wasted away.
To fight the infection, the body’s immune system forms a scar around the TB bacteria which serves as a kind of moat. Afterward, the bacteria lie dormant and cannot spread or infect others. But immune systems fail, and when that happens TB can move from the lungs to the bloodstream and then to the kidneys, the brain, and other organs. (That’s why in patients with H.I.V., which ravages the cells that the body uses to defend itself, tuberculosis becomes particularly deadly.) The only way to cure the disease is with a combination of antibiotics. The treatment lasts six months because the drugs work only when the TB bacteria—which grow slowly—are dividing.
For centuries, tuberculosis has been the source of misguided stereotypes, including the association of consumption with creativity and brilliance. “Doctors suspect that tuberculosis develops genius,’’ a 1940 article in Time pointed out, “because 1) apprehension of death inspires a burning awareness of life’s beauty, significance, transience, 2) the bacillus breeds restlessness and an intoxicated hypersensitiveness.” Keats, Chekhov, the Brontë sisters, and George Orwell—who was born not far from Patna, where his father managed the regional opium trade—all died of the disease.
Nonetheless, tuberculosis has always taken its most serious toll on the industrial-labor class—not on artists. The rise of industry throughout the world has been mirrored uncannily by a rise in deaths from tuberculosis. It was the leading cause of death in Europe and the United States from the eighteenth century into the twentieth. Then prosperity—rather than medicine—drove the rate of infection down. As a society becomes richer, the conditions that allow tuberculosis to flourish start to wane. Sanitation and housing improve and so does nutrition. By the nineteen-fifties, very few people in the West were dying of the disease.
In the developing world, though, tuberculosis has surged dangerously, and this year, according to the World Health Organization, there will be ten million new cases, the largest number in history. As people join the great migrations from villages to crowded cities, slum life and tuberculosis await them. With India’s urban population expected to double in the next thirty years, to seven hundred million, its cities will remain fertile ground for an infectious epidemic. Yet—no doubt owing to the fact that rich people in the West rarely get the disease—tuberculosis receives fewer resources, fewer research dollars, and less attention from the global health community than either AIDS or malaria—the two other most deadly infectious diseases. TB activists don’t march on Washington or chain themselves to the gates of pharmaceutical firms to demand better treatment.
Tuberculosis can be cured, but taking several antibiotics nearly every day for six months is not easy, particularly in parts of the world without running water or refrigeration. In 1994, the W.H.O. instituted a program called DOTS, which stands for “directly observed treatment, short course.” DOTS requires health workers to provide medicine—and then to watch people swallow it every day until they complete their treatment. Compliance is essential, because stopping treatment in the middle permits the most resilient strains of the bacteria to thrive, greatly increasing the chance that they will become resistant to basic, inexpensive drugs.
Thirty-six million people have received care under the DOTS program, eight million of whom would have died without it. It has been a triumph by any measure. Even DOTS, though, has not been able to keep the disease from spreading. That is largely because there is no cheap, reliable test that can determine who is sick and who is not.
Blood tests, like the one Runi had, often do more harm than good. One recent study found that Indians undergo more than 1.5 million useless TB tests of this kind every year. Other approaches are almost as unreliable. Examining a person’s sputum—a diagnostic procedure that was developed more than a century ago—remains the most common way to detect the infection. It is a laborious process. Technicians smear the sputum on a slide and then place the specimen under a microscope. The instructions are comically complex. “Spread sputum on the slide using a broomstick,’’ a typical recipe, posted on the wall of a clinic in Patna, begins. “Allow the slide to air dry for fifteen to thirty minutes. Fix the slide by passing it over a flame from three to five times for three to four seconds each time.’’ If the slide isn’t held over the flame long enough, false stains will appear—suggesting that people are sick when they are not. Hold the slide too long, though, and the stain will disappear and show nothing at all. The results are accurate little more than half the time.
“You can treat a lot of people, and India has,’’ said Madhukar Pai, an epidemiologist at McGill University and the co-chairman of the international group that assesses new diagnostics for the Stop TB Partnership. “But if you have tests that cause misdiagnosis on a massive scale you are going to have a serious problem. And they do.”
edicine rarely provides magic bullets, but, for the first time, a technology has been developed that might help countries like India escape the endless cycle of mistaken diagnoses and haphazard treatment. A company called Cepheid, based in Sunnyvale, California, now makes a device, called a GeneXpert, that allows doctors to diagnose TB in under two hours—without error or doubt. “The machine is so powerful that it could help end tuberculosis,’’ Mannan told me. “I don’t think that is an exaggeration.’’
An editorial three months ago in the New England Journal of Medicine also raised the possibility that, with proper use of this device, tuberculosis—a disease that has been around since the days of the Pharaohs—could be eliminated. The cost, however, would be far too high for the Indian Ministry of Health. “Private business would have to take the lead,’’ Mannan said. “In the past, countries waited until they got richer and tuberculosis mostly went away. India cannot do that. The epidemic is just too big. And we are too poor.”
The GeneXpert was developed in 2002, with initial support from the Department of Defense. After the events of September 11th and the mailing of anthrax spores later that year, biological threats became a national priority. The only sure way to recognize dangerous new organisms, whether made by man or by nature, is to analyze their unique DNA, and the GeneXpert has tested billions of pieces of mail for toxins. Its diagnostic capabilities seemed even more promising, however. In 2008, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, and the National Institutes of Health, researchers at medical centers throughout the world began to assess the machine’s effectiveness in diagnosing tuberculosis.
Its success was striking. In a study published along with that editorial in the Journal, researchers reported that the GeneXpert identified more than ninety-eight per cent of active TB infections, including many that sputum smears had missed. Because the test looks for the TB bacterium itself, rather than for antibodies, latent infections don’t confuse the GeneXpert as they do blood tests. The machine costs nearly twenty-five thousand dollars and each test is about twenty dollars. Prices could plunge if similar machines were introduced and used widely.
“This is absolutely transformational technology,’’ Peter Small, the director of tuberculosis programs for the Gates Foundation, said. “It is a system that removes the guesswork from one of our most deadly diseases.’’ Unlike the sputum technique, the molecular approach is straightforward: a patient spits into a cup, and the sample is placed in a cartridge that looks much like the pods used in many espresso machines. A computer examines the sample’s DNA to see if it contains the genetic signature of TB. Results are available within hours.
The GeneXpert can even determine whether the bacteria are resistant to rifampicin, the most effective and widely used component of the four-drug cocktail commonly prescribed for TB. “People often equate sophisticated science with complexity, and this is just the opposite,” Small said. “As long as there is electricity, the tests could be carried out by unskilled workers in any village. Training them would be easy, and the potential benefits—saving billions of dollars and millions of lives—worth any effort. The question is how do we get there. I have heard people say that we should trust the government bureaucracy. But others say let’s put our faith in an unregulated collection of free agents. It’s hard to know which approach is more ludicrous.”
I put that question to Mannan, the official responsible for TB control in the Bihar region. A slight, intense man with eyes the color of wet coal, Mannan is a former Army doctor who left the service after he injured his leg jumping from an airplane. He has been frustrated by how rarely the promise of Indian medicine is realized, and by how little entrepreneurs—in one of the world’s most entrepreneurial countries—are doing to help.
“We do know that private enterprise can work in India,’’ he said. “Just look at the mobile-phone industry. And the public efforts to halt major diseases have been remarkable. But how do we get them to work together?” Nobody has an answer to that question. The interplay between public and private medicine in India is difficult to navigate, in part because the quality of private medicine varies so wildly. To demonstrate the range of medical options open to most people in Bihar, Mannan suggested that we travel to Darbhanga, about ninety miles northeast of Patna. Before we left, he said, “Everything you find in the country, the good and the bad—it is all in Darbhanga.”
ven at first light, the road that leads from Patna, Bihar’s capital, to Darbhanga is impossibly crowded. On the ramp of the Mahatma Gandhi Bridge, which passes over the Ganges and leads north toward Nepal, oxen jostle with motorcycles and giant trucks. On the day I made the trip, the traffic was so heavy on the bridge—at more than three and a half miles, it’s one of the longest in the world—that it took an hour just to reach the lush banana plantations on the other side.
Patna and Darbhanga were once important centers of civilization. Buddha found enlightenment under a bodhi tree in Bihar, twenty-five hundred years ago, and the Fortress of Maharajas still stands in Darbhanga. Today, though, the province lags behind other regions of India in every category of economic and human development. Its eighty-five million residents earn, on average, less than half what people in the rest of the country earn; plumbing and sanitation facilities are meagre. Tens of thousands of migrants pass through Darbhanga each year as they abandon their ancestral villages and seek new lives in Delhi, Mumbai, and other major cities.
The Medical College Hospital, an imposing white fortress spread over several city blocks, is the largest in the region, but the city is also home to what may well be India’s most formidable collection of unregulated pharmaceutical wholesalers, a kind of medical red-light district. Virtually any drug can be purchased, in whatever quantity one desires, without a prescription. Want a thousand polio vaccines? Narcotic painkillers, cancer medication? Scarce AIDS therapies? They are all readily available in Darbhanga. But rarely at the hospital.
The tuberculosis and AIDS clinics at the Medical College Hospital are open every day from 8 A.M. to 2 P.M. By the time Mannan and I walked into the cavernous waiting room early that morning, patients packed the benches and sprawled across the floor. Most sat silently, their eyes hollow, their heads down. The sound of harsh coughing filled the air. The line for medications snaked into the courtyard, where dozens of women, many of them cradling infants in their arms, waited patiently.
Like other public hospitals in the developing world, the Medical College Hospital struggles to provide medicine for its patients. The dispensary is rudimentary: basic tuberculosis drugs are available, but not those needed to treat resistant strains, which now account for nearly twenty per cent of India’s growing caseload. For people who do not respond to the first line of TB treatments, there are two choices: find money to buy medicine somewhere else or get sicker.
Since late 2009, the hospital has had one unique asset: a piece of equipment called a P.C.R., which can multiply tiny samples of DNA and analyze them. The device is not as fast as the GeneXpert, but it can examine the genetics of virtually any organism, including tuberculosis. The hospital’s machine, which was purchased with money from a government research grant, has never been used. “The hospital has had this for months,’’ Mannan said. “But nobody knows how it works.” We were standing at the door of the virology lab, where the new P.C.R. Cobas TaqMan 48, made by Roche and sold for roughly fifty thousand dollars, was resting on a shelf, still wrapped in its shipping material.
How could that be? I was staring at a machine that could alter, even save, the lives of scores of the people who were sitting nearby in the gathering heat. Mannan said nothing, though his anger was palpable. “Ask them,’’ he said, referring to the scientists who worked in the hospital, when I tried to get him to explain. “They will tell you.”
We walked down the hall to meet Ravindra Prasad, a doctor in the department of social medicine. He was an agreeable man with a round face and an easy manner. I asked why the P.C.R. machine sat imprisoned and unused.
“The chemical kit expired,’’ he said, smiling politely. The chemicals used in the machine have a short shelf life; but I learned later that they are not hard to replace. That couldn’t have been the reason. “The methods we have for diagnosing tuberculosis all function smoothly,” Prasad added, as if he were reading from a prepared statement. He was referring to sputum tests, which are often inaccurate. “We follow the standard manual.” Prasad offered us tea, but said nothing more about the medical needs of his patients. “It’s a nice lab,’’ Mannan said when we left. “Beautiful, actually. But if the doctors used it properly that would interfere with their private practice.”
I asked what he meant.
“It is simple,’’ he said. “If patients are treated at the hospital, they won’t need to pay for anything else.”
he Darbhanga medical red-light district lies just a few blocks from the main hospital. On most days, as the public clinics prepare to take their last patients, touts appear in the waiting rooms and on the hospital grounds, eager to steer people toward a private doctor on Hospital Road. More than eighty per cent of medical services in India are in private hands, and health-care costs are among the most common reasons for bankruptcy.
The touts—equal parts salesmen, psychologists, and pimps—are good at their job. If you need TB medication or a test or an X-ray, these men will get you quickly to a clinic that charges for services people are entitled to receive at no cost in public hospitals. According to Mannan, the tout receives ten per cent of any eventual fee from a referral. Rickshaw drivers get five per cent, medical assistants ten, and the referring doctor, almost always a physician based at the Medical College Hospital, thirty-five per cent. That leaves forty per cent for the clinician.
Much of the time, the referring physician from the public hospital is also the private clinician who does the work. That earns him seventy-five per cent of any fee. Public salaries are not sufficient to support most doctors, so, every afternoon, many of the hospital’s physicians work in these private clinics.
Well-trained doctors are not the only people working on Hospital Road, however. Officially, a doctor needs a license to practice medicine in India. In fact, though, there are no mechanisms to verify the validity of licenses or to punish people who break the law. It is not rare for “doctors” to lack medical training completely.
We arrived as darkness began to fall; hundreds of people, having finished the workday, crowded the rutted streets. There were dozens of drug shops, with names like Raj Medical Agency, Krishna Scientific and Surgical Works, and Zar Whole Sale Drugs—often illuminated by a single bulb. The streets of the medical red-light district are filled with “specialists.” Mannan and I wandered into a back alley where two men asked after our health with more solicitousness than was necessary. I asked what they were offering, and one of them let out a loud cackle.
“Let me show you,’’ he said, and led us to a small room with several chairs, a table, and three refrigerators. The man said that his name was Pranay, and he offered a variety of blood tests, for liver function, kidney function, H.I.V., and several other standard diagnostics, all at reasonable prices. Wholesalers make their money through volume sales, not high prices. “We get twenty-five to thirty referrals a day,’’ he told me.
The stall next door could have been an exhibit in a science museum: it contained an ancient X-ray machine, held together with duct tape and baling wire. The owner had just finished taking chest slides for a middle-aged man. He didn’t offer any of the customary lead shields or other protections against possible radiation leaks—and that machine certainly leaked. “It’s safe,’’ the man said. “They are X-rays.”
He told us that he ran about fifteen to twenty chest X-rays a day; he charges a hundred rupees for each, or a little more than two dollars. His services were also available for broken bones and other routine problems. I asked how he had acquired his equipment and where he had learned to use it. He told us that he had taken the X-ray machine from a hospital in Bihar that was about to throw it away. The idea of training made him laugh. “Did you see ‘Slumdog Millionaire’?” he said. “Before this, I was a chai wallah’’—a man who serves tea—“just like that kid.”
It was time to return to Patna; driving late at night on the roads of rural India is a risky business. Before we left, though, Mannan insisted that we make one more stop, at another clinic nearby. The place was essentially an open concrete garage; against one wall stood a small table with hot plates on which patients could heat rice. The room was full, and more than a dozen people stood on the street, waiting to get in. “This is the best TB clinic in town,’’ a pharmacist who owned the shop next door explained.
The head of the clinic, Dr. P. M. Srivastav, works at Medical College Hospital, and we had spoken with him earlier. At night, for a hundred and thirty rupees, Srivastav will see anyone who waits in line. He doesn’t test for tuberculosis at his clinic, and said that he refers people he suspects of having the disease to the hospital. He does, however, earn a fee from every patient he sees, including those he sends back to the hospital for free treatment. “Now do you understand why that machine is wrapped in plastic?” Mannan asked.
As we were about to leave, a large car pulled up at the front door. Srivastav climbed out of the back seat, looked at us with surprise, and smiled sheepishly. Before I had a chance to ask a question, he was gone, safely tucked away in his private office.
he uncertainties and dangers of diagnosis remain the greatest obstacle to successful TB treatment, in India and throughout the developing world. For that to change, investments from international aid organizations and from private companies will be necessary. That may seem unlikely, but it has happened before, most notably with AIDS drugs. In the nineteen-eighties, when AZT became the first effective treatment for H.I.V., the annual cost for each patient was ten thousand dollars. People in the West, who were rich or lucky enough to have good insurance, could afford it. In countries that struggle to provide basic immunizations against diseases like measles, though, AIDS treatments were a fantasy. Then various groups, including the Clinton Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, joined together to push for lower prices. Generic manufacturers, led by Cipla, the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical giant, began to churn out highly effective medicine at a small fraction of what it cost in the United States. Political pressure mounted, officials of the World Health Organization joined the call for cheaper AIDS medications, and today the governments of poor countries like India can buy those drugs for an annual price of less than a hundred dollars per patient. These drugs are normally distributed in bulk, through international AIDS organizations.
A similar effort will be required to lower the cost of diagnosing tuberculosis. There will also have to be a transformation in how TB medicine is regulated. That may seem like an insurmountable barrier, but, with the proper incentives, the system could work. Again, one can look to the history with AIDS medicines for a model. Because Cipla and other Indian pharmaceutical companies are frequently inspected by international regulators—such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—governments are willing to buy their products. That’s one reason that Indian firms have become the most important manufacturers of generic AIDS medicines in the world.
Any company that sells molecular diagnostics would need the same sort of oversight. But producing cheap, internationally acceptable versions of the GeneXpert would surely lead to great profits.
“You have to keep in mind that India has many terrible doctors,” Madhukar Pai told me. “But it also has some of the best private medicine available.” I saw that in Darbhanga, where, in addition to the shoddy purveyors of the medical red-light district, I visited the Geeta Molecular Diagnostic Lab, a new private facility not far from the center of town. There I was greeted by a team of researchers, all in starched lab coats, including Deepak K. Prasad, a geneticist and the director of the laboratory. He led us on a tour: there were separate sections for gene detection, gene amplification, and histological analysis. Geeta Diagnostics had two P.C.R. machines and other, similarly advanced diagnostic tools. Few facilities in New York are better equipped. Patients sat on cream-colored couches reading magazines and sipping tea.
“The genetic approach to diagnosis is really where medicine is going,” Prasad told us. The company, which is two years old, offers tests for heart disease, several types of cancer, thyroid disease, H.I.V., and tuberculosis, among other disorders. The TB test costs fifteen hundred rupees—a little more than thirty dollars. The lab does between fifty and seventy-five each week, and its doctors are paid well enough so that they don’t need to work at second jobs.
“You can call it expensive, but you have to look at the eventual costs, not the initial price of a single test or one piece of machinery,” Prasad said. That would be difficult to dispute. Thirty dollars may be a lot of money for most Indians; but treating drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis costs thousands of dollars and places a terrible burden on the country, not to mention on the people who are sick. In fact, treatment and deaths caused by TB in India cost more than three billion dollars in lost productivity each year.
The power of machines like the GeneXpert has already become evident at Mumbai’s Hinduja Hospital, a private institution that has been using one for three years. Mumbai has one of the worst TB problems in India, particularly with drug-resistant cases. Yet at Hinduja the machine has made it possible for doctors to diagnose and treat patients before they are able to spread the disease. “There has always been a pretty standard approach to using fancy medical technology,’’ Camilla Rodrigues, who runs the microbiology department, told me when I visited. “You develop it in the West and use it there. Eventually, it trickles down to the poor countries.’’ Rodrigues pointed out that, with tuberculosis, the pattern makes no sense. The GeneXpert was invented in the West, but India and Africa need it much more urgently. “Every time we make a correct diagnosis, we save not one life but many,’’ she said, waving in the direction of the boxy metal-and-Plexiglas machine sitting in a corner of the lab. “And with this machine we make correct diagnoses in two hours.”
Rodrigues has been working with tuberculosis for two decades. “When I started, it seemed hopeless,’’ she said as we sat in her office, which is adjacent to a busy lab filled with graduate students, most of whom are focussing on TB.
“You would ask people why we are not doing more to stop this terrible, crippling epidemic, and the answer was usually a shrug,” she continued. Rodrigues has cavernous eyes and long dark hair pulled back in a bun. She speaks frankly but somehow conveys a buoyant sense of optimism. “For so long tuberculosis has been a part of life here. In the past, if you said you have the disease people would hardly flinch. Can you imagine going to a neighbor in New York and saying you have tuberculosis? People would shriek.”
Lately, though, Rodrigues has begun to sense a shift away from the habitual fatalism that has defined the Indian approach to public health. “Sometimes I go to Churchgate Station,’’ she continued. “It is the busiest train station in the city, maybe in the country. I go at rush hour. You cannot move or breathe or think. You cannot walk or talk. It is the perfect place to spread tuberculosis.
“But it is also the perfect place to stop it,’’ she said. “I walk around that platform and I look at people and I say to myself, Which of you are sick? We need to know. And, finally, after more than a century we can know. At this point, it is just a matter of will.” ♦
PHOTOGRAPH: VII NETWORK
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/11/15/101115fa_fact_specter?printable=true¤tPage=all
A DEADLY MISDIAGNOSIS
by Michael Specter
NOVEMBER 15, 2010
Hospital Road in Darbhanga is home to dozens of unregulated doctors and drug wholesalers. Photograph by Lynsey Addario.
Every afternoon at about four, a slight woman named Runi slips out of the cramped, airless room that she shares with her husband and their sixteen children. She skirts the drainage ditch in front of the building, then walks toward the pile of hardened dung cakes that people in this slum on the edge of the northeastern Indian city of Patna use for fuel. Dressed in a bright-yellow sari shot with gold threads, Runi is followed by several of her children. Although she can’t remember their ages, or her own, Runi must be about forty, because she dates her life from its first crucial memory: the smallpox epidemic that devastated Patna and much of surrounding Bihar province in 1974.
Runi survived that plague, and several others, but, about a year ago, after developing a persistent cough, she visited one of the private medical clinics that line the streets of Patna. There someone who called himself a doctor stuck a needle in her arm, drew a few drops of blood, examined them, and told her that she had tuberculosis. It is not an uncommon diagnosis. Tuberculosis has always been the signature disease of urban poverty, passed easily in poorly ventilated spaces. India has nearly two million new cases each year, and every day a thousand people die of the disease, the highest number in the world. Tuberculosis is also the leading cause of death among people between fifteen and forty-five—the most productive age group in any country and the key to India’s prospects for continued economic growth.
For most patients, the choices are bleak. Public hospitals are so overcrowded that people are forced to rely on inaccurate tests dispensed at private labs and clinics. They are unregulated enterprises, and peddle blood tests that are responsible for tens of thousands of misdiagnoses every year. “This is deadly,” L. S. Chauhan, the director of the National TB Control Program, told me when we met in New Delhi. “But there are thousands of labs. Shut one down and the next day ten more appear.”
Runi’s test was indeed worthless. It determined the presence of antibodies, which show that a body’s immune system has begun to respond to an infection. But most TB infections are latent: no more than ten per cent will ever cause illness. This means that ninety per cent of people with antibodies for TB in their blood don’t have the disease. Runi’s cough was clearly caused by something else.
Vaccines and antibiotics have long been seen as touchstones of medical progress. To stop tuberculosis, however, particularly in the developing world, an accurate diagnostic exam is needed even more. In India, China, and Africa, at least two billion people have latent infections. Yet every day thousands are told, mistakenly, that they are sick and need treatment. That’s what happened to Runi. Soon after she received her diagnosis, Runi began a regimen of powerful (and toxic) drugs provided by the public-health service, and she stuck to the program for the required six months. Not long after finishing, however, she started to feel worse than she ever had before. “This is the tragedy of our TB-control program,’’ Shamim Mannan said as we watched Runi’s children play. Mannan, who is from Assam, a few hundred miles from Patna, serves as the Indian government’s chief TB consultant in the region.
“Officially, she is cured,’’ he said. “But how would we know? She took a test that showed she had the antibody for TB in her blood. So do I. So do five hundred million Indians.” As Runi stooped to gather fuel for the stove, she began to cough, lightly at first and then with alarming force. Every cough sounded as if somebody had shattered a pane of glass.
“Now she really is sick,’’ he continued, explaining that Runi’s TB was no longer dormant, and that taking drugs when they are not necessary often makes them ineffective when they are. “This is what happens when tests mislead us. She will need the drugs again. If they don’t work properly, she will be in real trouble. She has almost certainly infected some of her children. That makes everything harder, more expensive, more painful.’’
uberculosis strikes vulnerable people with special ferocity. Victims are seized by severe night sweats, wasted by fatigue, and punished by the blood-tinged cough that is the disease’s defining symbol. In most cases, tuberculosis affects the lungs, but it can invade almost any organ of the body. When an infectious person coughs, sneezes, spits, or even shouts, he sends minute particles of sputum, or phlegm, into the air—exposing anyone nearby. For many years, the disease, which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was referred to as “consumption,” because without effective treatment patients often wasted away.
To fight the infection, the body’s immune system forms a scar around the TB bacteria which serves as a kind of moat. Afterward, the bacteria lie dormant and cannot spread or infect others. But immune systems fail, and when that happens TB can move from the lungs to the bloodstream and then to the kidneys, the brain, and other organs. (That’s why in patients with H.I.V., which ravages the cells that the body uses to defend itself, tuberculosis becomes particularly deadly.) The only way to cure the disease is with a combination of antibiotics. The treatment lasts six months because the drugs work only when the TB bacteria—which grow slowly—are dividing.
For centuries, tuberculosis has been the source of misguided stereotypes, including the association of consumption with creativity and brilliance. “Doctors suspect that tuberculosis develops genius,’’ a 1940 article in Time pointed out, “because 1) apprehension of death inspires a burning awareness of life’s beauty, significance, transience, 2) the bacillus breeds restlessness and an intoxicated hypersensitiveness.” Keats, Chekhov, the Brontë sisters, and George Orwell—who was born not far from Patna, where his father managed the regional opium trade—all died of the disease.
Nonetheless, tuberculosis has always taken its most serious toll on the industrial-labor class—not on artists. The rise of industry throughout the world has been mirrored uncannily by a rise in deaths from tuberculosis. It was the leading cause of death in Europe and the United States from the eighteenth century into the twentieth. Then prosperity—rather than medicine—drove the rate of infection down. As a society becomes richer, the conditions that allow tuberculosis to flourish start to wane. Sanitation and housing improve and so does nutrition. By the nineteen-fifties, very few people in the West were dying of the disease.
In the developing world, though, tuberculosis has surged dangerously, and this year, according to the World Health Organization, there will be ten million new cases, the largest number in history. As people join the great migrations from villages to crowded cities, slum life and tuberculosis await them. With India’s urban population expected to double in the next thirty years, to seven hundred million, its cities will remain fertile ground for an infectious epidemic. Yet—no doubt owing to the fact that rich people in the West rarely get the disease—tuberculosis receives fewer resources, fewer research dollars, and less attention from the global health community than either AIDS or malaria—the two other most deadly infectious diseases. TB activists don’t march on Washington or chain themselves to the gates of pharmaceutical firms to demand better treatment.
Tuberculosis can be cured, but taking several antibiotics nearly every day for six months is not easy, particularly in parts of the world without running water or refrigeration. In 1994, the W.H.O. instituted a program called DOTS, which stands for “directly observed treatment, short course.” DOTS requires health workers to provide medicine—and then to watch people swallow it every day until they complete their treatment. Compliance is essential, because stopping treatment in the middle permits the most resilient strains of the bacteria to thrive, greatly increasing the chance that they will become resistant to basic, inexpensive drugs.
Thirty-six million people have received care under the DOTS program, eight million of whom would have died without it. It has been a triumph by any measure. Even DOTS, though, has not been able to keep the disease from spreading. That is largely because there is no cheap, reliable test that can determine who is sick and who is not.
Blood tests, like the one Runi had, often do more harm than good. One recent study found that Indians undergo more than 1.5 million useless TB tests of this kind every year. Other approaches are almost as unreliable. Examining a person’s sputum—a diagnostic procedure that was developed more than a century ago—remains the most common way to detect the infection. It is a laborious process. Technicians smear the sputum on a slide and then place the specimen under a microscope. The instructions are comically complex. “Spread sputum on the slide using a broomstick,’’ a typical recipe, posted on the wall of a clinic in Patna, begins. “Allow the slide to air dry for fifteen to thirty minutes. Fix the slide by passing it over a flame from three to five times for three to four seconds each time.’’ If the slide isn’t held over the flame long enough, false stains will appear—suggesting that people are sick when they are not. Hold the slide too long, though, and the stain will disappear and show nothing at all. The results are accurate little more than half the time.
“You can treat a lot of people, and India has,’’ said Madhukar Pai, an epidemiologist at McGill University and the co-chairman of the international group that assesses new diagnostics for the Stop TB Partnership. “But if you have tests that cause misdiagnosis on a massive scale you are going to have a serious problem. And they do.”
edicine rarely provides magic bullets, but, for the first time, a technology has been developed that might help countries like India escape the endless cycle of mistaken diagnoses and haphazard treatment. A company called Cepheid, based in Sunnyvale, California, now makes a device, called a GeneXpert, that allows doctors to diagnose TB in under two hours—without error or doubt. “The machine is so powerful that it could help end tuberculosis,’’ Mannan told me. “I don’t think that is an exaggeration.’’
An editorial three months ago in the New England Journal of Medicine also raised the possibility that, with proper use of this device, tuberculosis—a disease that has been around since the days of the Pharaohs—could be eliminated. The cost, however, would be far too high for the Indian Ministry of Health. “Private business would have to take the lead,’’ Mannan said. “In the past, countries waited until they got richer and tuberculosis mostly went away. India cannot do that. The epidemic is just too big. And we are too poor.”
The GeneXpert was developed in 2002, with initial support from the Department of Defense. After the events of September 11th and the mailing of anthrax spores later that year, biological threats became a national priority. The only sure way to recognize dangerous new organisms, whether made by man or by nature, is to analyze their unique DNA, and the GeneXpert has tested billions of pieces of mail for toxins. Its diagnostic capabilities seemed even more promising, however. In 2008, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, and the National Institutes of Health, researchers at medical centers throughout the world began to assess the machine’s effectiveness in diagnosing tuberculosis.
Its success was striking. In a study published along with that editorial in the Journal, researchers reported that the GeneXpert identified more than ninety-eight per cent of active TB infections, including many that sputum smears had missed. Because the test looks for the TB bacterium itself, rather than for antibodies, latent infections don’t confuse the GeneXpert as they do blood tests. The machine costs nearly twenty-five thousand dollars and each test is about twenty dollars. Prices could plunge if similar machines were introduced and used widely.
“This is absolutely transformational technology,’’ Peter Small, the director of tuberculosis programs for the Gates Foundation, said. “It is a system that removes the guesswork from one of our most deadly diseases.’’ Unlike the sputum technique, the molecular approach is straightforward: a patient spits into a cup, and the sample is placed in a cartridge that looks much like the pods used in many espresso machines. A computer examines the sample’s DNA to see if it contains the genetic signature of TB. Results are available within hours.
The GeneXpert can even determine whether the bacteria are resistant to rifampicin, the most effective and widely used component of the four-drug cocktail commonly prescribed for TB. “People often equate sophisticated science with complexity, and this is just the opposite,” Small said. “As long as there is electricity, the tests could be carried out by unskilled workers in any village. Training them would be easy, and the potential benefits—saving billions of dollars and millions of lives—worth any effort. The question is how do we get there. I have heard people say that we should trust the government bureaucracy. But others say let’s put our faith in an unregulated collection of free agents. It’s hard to know which approach is more ludicrous.”
I put that question to Mannan, the official responsible for TB control in the Bihar region. A slight, intense man with eyes the color of wet coal, Mannan is a former Army doctor who left the service after he injured his leg jumping from an airplane. He has been frustrated by how rarely the promise of Indian medicine is realized, and by how little entrepreneurs—in one of the world’s most entrepreneurial countries—are doing to help.
“We do know that private enterprise can work in India,’’ he said. “Just look at the mobile-phone industry. And the public efforts to halt major diseases have been remarkable. But how do we get them to work together?” Nobody has an answer to that question. The interplay between public and private medicine in India is difficult to navigate, in part because the quality of private medicine varies so wildly. To demonstrate the range of medical options open to most people in Bihar, Mannan suggested that we travel to Darbhanga, about ninety miles northeast of Patna. Before we left, he said, “Everything you find in the country, the good and the bad—it is all in Darbhanga.”
ven at first light, the road that leads from Patna, Bihar’s capital, to Darbhanga is impossibly crowded. On the ramp of the Mahatma Gandhi Bridge, which passes over the Ganges and leads north toward Nepal, oxen jostle with motorcycles and giant trucks. On the day I made the trip, the traffic was so heavy on the bridge—at more than three and a half miles, it’s one of the longest in the world—that it took an hour just to reach the lush banana plantations on the other side.
Patna and Darbhanga were once important centers of civilization. Buddha found enlightenment under a bodhi tree in Bihar, twenty-five hundred years ago, and the Fortress of Maharajas still stands in Darbhanga. Today, though, the province lags behind other regions of India in every category of economic and human development. Its eighty-five million residents earn, on average, less than half what people in the rest of the country earn; plumbing and sanitation facilities are meagre. Tens of thousands of migrants pass through Darbhanga each year as they abandon their ancestral villages and seek new lives in Delhi, Mumbai, and other major cities.
The Medical College Hospital, an imposing white fortress spread over several city blocks, is the largest in the region, but the city is also home to what may well be India’s most formidable collection of unregulated pharmaceutical wholesalers, a kind of medical red-light district. Virtually any drug can be purchased, in whatever quantity one desires, without a prescription. Want a thousand polio vaccines? Narcotic painkillers, cancer medication? Scarce AIDS therapies? They are all readily available in Darbhanga. But rarely at the hospital.
The tuberculosis and AIDS clinics at the Medical College Hospital are open every day from 8 A.M. to 2 P.M. By the time Mannan and I walked into the cavernous waiting room early that morning, patients packed the benches and sprawled across the floor. Most sat silently, their eyes hollow, their heads down. The sound of harsh coughing filled the air. The line for medications snaked into the courtyard, where dozens of women, many of them cradling infants in their arms, waited patiently.
Like other public hospitals in the developing world, the Medical College Hospital struggles to provide medicine for its patients. The dispensary is rudimentary: basic tuberculosis drugs are available, but not those needed to treat resistant strains, which now account for nearly twenty per cent of India’s growing caseload. For people who do not respond to the first line of TB treatments, there are two choices: find money to buy medicine somewhere else or get sicker.
Since late 2009, the hospital has had one unique asset: a piece of equipment called a P.C.R., which can multiply tiny samples of DNA and analyze them. The device is not as fast as the GeneXpert, but it can examine the genetics of virtually any organism, including tuberculosis. The hospital’s machine, which was purchased with money from a government research grant, has never been used. “The hospital has had this for months,’’ Mannan said. “But nobody knows how it works.” We were standing at the door of the virology lab, where the new P.C.R. Cobas TaqMan 48, made by Roche and sold for roughly fifty thousand dollars, was resting on a shelf, still wrapped in its shipping material.
How could that be? I was staring at a machine that could alter, even save, the lives of scores of the people who were sitting nearby in the gathering heat. Mannan said nothing, though his anger was palpable. “Ask them,’’ he said, referring to the scientists who worked in the hospital, when I tried to get him to explain. “They will tell you.”
We walked down the hall to meet Ravindra Prasad, a doctor in the department of social medicine. He was an agreeable man with a round face and an easy manner. I asked why the P.C.R. machine sat imprisoned and unused.
“The chemical kit expired,’’ he said, smiling politely. The chemicals used in the machine have a short shelf life; but I learned later that they are not hard to replace. That couldn’t have been the reason. “The methods we have for diagnosing tuberculosis all function smoothly,” Prasad added, as if he were reading from a prepared statement. He was referring to sputum tests, which are often inaccurate. “We follow the standard manual.” Prasad offered us tea, but said nothing more about the medical needs of his patients. “It’s a nice lab,’’ Mannan said when we left. “Beautiful, actually. But if the doctors used it properly that would interfere with their private practice.”
I asked what he meant.
“It is simple,’’ he said. “If patients are treated at the hospital, they won’t need to pay for anything else.”
he Darbhanga medical red-light district lies just a few blocks from the main hospital. On most days, as the public clinics prepare to take their last patients, touts appear in the waiting rooms and on the hospital grounds, eager to steer people toward a private doctor on Hospital Road. More than eighty per cent of medical services in India are in private hands, and health-care costs are among the most common reasons for bankruptcy.
The touts—equal parts salesmen, psychologists, and pimps—are good at their job. If you need TB medication or a test or an X-ray, these men will get you quickly to a clinic that charges for services people are entitled to receive at no cost in public hospitals. According to Mannan, the tout receives ten per cent of any eventual fee from a referral. Rickshaw drivers get five per cent, medical assistants ten, and the referring doctor, almost always a physician based at the Medical College Hospital, thirty-five per cent. That leaves forty per cent for the clinician.
Much of the time, the referring physician from the public hospital is also the private clinician who does the work. That earns him seventy-five per cent of any fee. Public salaries are not sufficient to support most doctors, so, every afternoon, many of the hospital’s physicians work in these private clinics.
Well-trained doctors are not the only people working on Hospital Road, however. Officially, a doctor needs a license to practice medicine in India. In fact, though, there are no mechanisms to verify the validity of licenses or to punish people who break the law. It is not rare for “doctors” to lack medical training completely.
We arrived as darkness began to fall; hundreds of people, having finished the workday, crowded the rutted streets. There were dozens of drug shops, with names like Raj Medical Agency, Krishna Scientific and Surgical Works, and Zar Whole Sale Drugs—often illuminated by a single bulb. The streets of the medical red-light district are filled with “specialists.” Mannan and I wandered into a back alley where two men asked after our health with more solicitousness than was necessary. I asked what they were offering, and one of them let out a loud cackle.
“Let me show you,’’ he said, and led us to a small room with several chairs, a table, and three refrigerators. The man said that his name was Pranay, and he offered a variety of blood tests, for liver function, kidney function, H.I.V., and several other standard diagnostics, all at reasonable prices. Wholesalers make their money through volume sales, not high prices. “We get twenty-five to thirty referrals a day,’’ he told me.
The stall next door could have been an exhibit in a science museum: it contained an ancient X-ray machine, held together with duct tape and baling wire. The owner had just finished taking chest slides for a middle-aged man. He didn’t offer any of the customary lead shields or other protections against possible radiation leaks—and that machine certainly leaked. “It’s safe,’’ the man said. “They are X-rays.”
He told us that he ran about fifteen to twenty chest X-rays a day; he charges a hundred rupees for each, or a little more than two dollars. His services were also available for broken bones and other routine problems. I asked how he had acquired his equipment and where he had learned to use it. He told us that he had taken the X-ray machine from a hospital in Bihar that was about to throw it away. The idea of training made him laugh. “Did you see ‘Slumdog Millionaire’?” he said. “Before this, I was a chai wallah’’—a man who serves tea—“just like that kid.”
It was time to return to Patna; driving late at night on the roads of rural India is a risky business. Before we left, though, Mannan insisted that we make one more stop, at another clinic nearby. The place was essentially an open concrete garage; against one wall stood a small table with hot plates on which patients could heat rice. The room was full, and more than a dozen people stood on the street, waiting to get in. “This is the best TB clinic in town,’’ a pharmacist who owned the shop next door explained.
The head of the clinic, Dr. P. M. Srivastav, works at Medical College Hospital, and we had spoken with him earlier. At night, for a hundred and thirty rupees, Srivastav will see anyone who waits in line. He doesn’t test for tuberculosis at his clinic, and said that he refers people he suspects of having the disease to the hospital. He does, however, earn a fee from every patient he sees, including those he sends back to the hospital for free treatment. “Now do you understand why that machine is wrapped in plastic?” Mannan asked.
As we were about to leave, a large car pulled up at the front door. Srivastav climbed out of the back seat, looked at us with surprise, and smiled sheepishly. Before I had a chance to ask a question, he was gone, safely tucked away in his private office.
he uncertainties and dangers of diagnosis remain the greatest obstacle to successful TB treatment, in India and throughout the developing world. For that to change, investments from international aid organizations and from private companies will be necessary. That may seem unlikely, but it has happened before, most notably with AIDS drugs. In the nineteen-eighties, when AZT became the first effective treatment for H.I.V., the annual cost for each patient was ten thousand dollars. People in the West, who were rich or lucky enough to have good insurance, could afford it. In countries that struggle to provide basic immunizations against diseases like measles, though, AIDS treatments were a fantasy. Then various groups, including the Clinton Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, joined together to push for lower prices. Generic manufacturers, led by Cipla, the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical giant, began to churn out highly effective medicine at a small fraction of what it cost in the United States. Political pressure mounted, officials of the World Health Organization joined the call for cheaper AIDS medications, and today the governments of poor countries like India can buy those drugs for an annual price of less than a hundred dollars per patient. These drugs are normally distributed in bulk, through international AIDS organizations.
A similar effort will be required to lower the cost of diagnosing tuberculosis. There will also have to be a transformation in how TB medicine is regulated. That may seem like an insurmountable barrier, but, with the proper incentives, the system could work. Again, one can look to the history with AIDS medicines for a model. Because Cipla and other Indian pharmaceutical companies are frequently inspected by international regulators—such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—governments are willing to buy their products. That’s one reason that Indian firms have become the most important manufacturers of generic AIDS medicines in the world.
Any company that sells molecular diagnostics would need the same sort of oversight. But producing cheap, internationally acceptable versions of the GeneXpert would surely lead to great profits.
“You have to keep in mind that India has many terrible doctors,” Madhukar Pai told me. “But it also has some of the best private medicine available.” I saw that in Darbhanga, where, in addition to the shoddy purveyors of the medical red-light district, I visited the Geeta Molecular Diagnostic Lab, a new private facility not far from the center of town. There I was greeted by a team of researchers, all in starched lab coats, including Deepak K. Prasad, a geneticist and the director of the laboratory. He led us on a tour: there were separate sections for gene detection, gene amplification, and histological analysis. Geeta Diagnostics had two P.C.R. machines and other, similarly advanced diagnostic tools. Few facilities in New York are better equipped. Patients sat on cream-colored couches reading magazines and sipping tea.
“The genetic approach to diagnosis is really where medicine is going,” Prasad told us. The company, which is two years old, offers tests for heart disease, several types of cancer, thyroid disease, H.I.V., and tuberculosis, among other disorders. The TB test costs fifteen hundred rupees—a little more than thirty dollars. The lab does between fifty and seventy-five each week, and its doctors are paid well enough so that they don’t need to work at second jobs.
“You can call it expensive, but you have to look at the eventual costs, not the initial price of a single test or one piece of machinery,” Prasad said. That would be difficult to dispute. Thirty dollars may be a lot of money for most Indians; but treating drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis costs thousands of dollars and places a terrible burden on the country, not to mention on the people who are sick. In fact, treatment and deaths caused by TB in India cost more than three billion dollars in lost productivity each year.
The power of machines like the GeneXpert has already become evident at Mumbai’s Hinduja Hospital, a private institution that has been using one for three years. Mumbai has one of the worst TB problems in India, particularly with drug-resistant cases. Yet at Hinduja the machine has made it possible for doctors to diagnose and treat patients before they are able to spread the disease. “There has always been a pretty standard approach to using fancy medical technology,’’ Camilla Rodrigues, who runs the microbiology department, told me when I visited. “You develop it in the West and use it there. Eventually, it trickles down to the poor countries.’’ Rodrigues pointed out that, with tuberculosis, the pattern makes no sense. The GeneXpert was invented in the West, but India and Africa need it much more urgently. “Every time we make a correct diagnosis, we save not one life but many,’’ she said, waving in the direction of the boxy metal-and-Plexiglas machine sitting in a corner of the lab. “And with this machine we make correct diagnoses in two hours.”
Rodrigues has been working with tuberculosis for two decades. “When I started, it seemed hopeless,’’ she said as we sat in her office, which is adjacent to a busy lab filled with graduate students, most of whom are focussing on TB.
“You would ask people why we are not doing more to stop this terrible, crippling epidemic, and the answer was usually a shrug,” she continued. Rodrigues has cavernous eyes and long dark hair pulled back in a bun. She speaks frankly but somehow conveys a buoyant sense of optimism. “For so long tuberculosis has been a part of life here. In the past, if you said you have the disease people would hardly flinch. Can you imagine going to a neighbor in New York and saying you have tuberculosis? People would shriek.”
Lately, though, Rodrigues has begun to sense a shift away from the habitual fatalism that has defined the Indian approach to public health. “Sometimes I go to Churchgate Station,’’ she continued. “It is the busiest train station in the city, maybe in the country. I go at rush hour. You cannot move or breathe or think. You cannot walk or talk. It is the perfect place to spread tuberculosis.
“But it is also the perfect place to stop it,’’ she said. “I walk around that platform and I look at people and I say to myself, Which of you are sick? We need to know. And, finally, after more than a century we can know. At this point, it is just a matter of will.” ♦
PHOTOGRAPH: VII NETWORK
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/11/15/101115fa_fact_specter?printable=true¤tPage=all
How do I create a CNAME record for my custom domain?
The Quick Answer
•If you bought your domain name from Blogger, you won't need to create a CNAME record.
•If your domain is registered with another company, you'll need to follow company-specific instructions.
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=58317
A CNAME, or Canonical Name, record is an entry within the Domain Name System (DNS) that specifies where a user can find your web pages, or any other URL. You'll use this to associate your custom domain with your blog.
After registering your domain, decide if you want to use a particular subdomain for your blog. E.g. instead of www.mydomain.com you could use something like blog.mydomain.com, if you want. Then you'll create a corresponding CNAME record for that address, associating it with ghs.google.com. Keep in mind that changes to DNS records make take up to 48 hours to take effect.
Each hosting service has slightly different ways to create CNAME records. Guidelines are provided here for some of the common services. When in doubt, check with the particular company you're using for additional help or instructions.
•GoDaddy.com
•ix web hosting
•1and1
•EveryDNS.net
•Yahoo!SmallBusiness
•No-IP
•DNS Park
•Other hosting services
GoDaddy.com
1.Log in to your account at www.godaddy.com.
2.Open the Domains tab and select My Domain Names. You'll be directed to the Domain Manager page.
3.Click the domain that you'd like to use with your blog.
4.Click the Total DNS Control And MX Records link at the bottom of the section entitled Total DNS.
5.Click Add New CNAME Record in the box labelled CNAMES (aliases). If you've already created a CNAME record for your blog's address, click the pencil icon next to the existing CNAME record.
6.For the Name, enter only the subdomain of the address you want to use for your blog. For example, if you picked www.mydomain.com as your address, enter www here.
7.Enter ghs.google.com as the Host Name. Specify a TTL or use the default setting of 1 hour.
8.Click OK, and then click OK again.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ix web hosting
1.Log in to your account at ix web hosting.
2.Click Manage below the Hosting Account section.
3.On the left side, click the domain you'd like to use with your blog.
4.Next to DNS Configuration, click EDIT.
5.Click Add DNS CNAME Record.
6.Under Name, enter only the subdomain you want to use. For example, if you picked www.mydomain.com as your blog's address, just enter www as the entry under Name.
7.Enter ghs.google.com under Data.
8.Click Submit.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1and1
1.Log in to your account at https://admin.1and1.com
2.If it's not already selected, click the Administration tab.
3.Click Domains. The Domain Overview page appears.
4.From the New drop-down menu, select Create Subdomain. (If you've already created a subdomain for your blog's address, skip to step six.)
5.Enter only the subdomain you want to use, and click OK. For example, if you chose www.mydomain.com for your blog's address, you should enter www here.
6.Select the checkbox next to the subdomain that you will be using. (Example: www.mydomain.com)
7.From the DNS menu, select Edit DNS Settings.
8.Click the radio button next to CNAME.
9.Enter ghs.google.com next to Alias.
10.Click OK.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EveryDNS.net
1.Log in to your account at EveryDNS.net.
2.On the left side, click the domain you'd like to use with your blog.
3.Since EveryDNS.net is your hosting service, and not your domain registrar, be sure that your domain points to EveryDNS.net's nameservers. This will allow your CNAME record configuration to take effect.
4.Below Add a Record:, you can create your CNAME record.
5.Next to Fully Qualified Domain Name, enter only the subdomain you want to use. For example, if you picked www.mydomain.com as your blog's address, just enter www as the entry next to Fully Qualified Domain Name.
6.Select CNAME as the Record Type.
7.Enter ghs.google.com as the Record Value.
8.Click Add Record.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo!SmallBusiness
1.Log in to your account at smallbusiness.yahoo.com.
2.Click Domain Control Panel below the domain you'd like to use with your blog.
3.Click Manage Advanced DNS Settings.
4.Click Add Record.
5.In the Source field, enter only the subdomain you want to use. For example, if you designated www.mydomain.com as the address of your blog, enter www in the Source field.
6.Enter ghs.google.com in the Destination field.
7.Click Submit.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No-IP
1.Log in to your account at No-IP.
2.On the left side, click Host/Redirects.
3.Click Manage underneath Host/Redirects.
4.Click Add for a new entry, or click Modify and skip to step six for an existing entry.
5.Enter the host name (example: www from www.mydomain.com), and select your domain name.
6.Select DNS alias CNAME at the host type.
7.Enter ghs.google.com as the Target Host and click Modify.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DNS Park
1.Log in to your account at DNS Park.
2.On the left side, click DNS Hosting.
3.Click the domain you'd like to use with your blog.
4.Since DNS Park is your hosting service, and not your domain registrar, be sure that your domain points to DNS Park's nameservers. This will allow your MX record configuration to take effect.
5.Click Alias Records.
6.Under Host Name, enter only the subdomain you want to use. If you picked www.mydomain.com as your blog's address, enter www.
7.Under Destination Name, enter ghs.google.com.
8.Click Add Alias.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other hosting services
1.Log in to your account on your hosting service's website, and go to the DNS management page.
Since CNAME records are special Domain Name Service (DNS) records, they may be in sections such as DNS Management or Name Server Management. It's possible that you will have to enable advanced settings to create a CNAME record.
2.Delete existing CNAME entries for the address you want to use with your blog.
Before entering a new CNAME record to point to Google, you should first delete any existing entries for the same alias. If you plan to transfer an existing web address to Blogger, you may want to copy any content currently at that address elsewhere first.
3.Use the information in the following table when you create your CNAME record.
If your service requires you to enter server information directly into the DNS tables, the entry below needs to have a type CNAME associated with them.
Host Name/Alias
Value/Destination
www ghs.google.com
* This is the part of your website's address that you designated. For instance, if you chose www.mydomain.com as the address, www is the host name.
•If you bought your domain name from Blogger, you won't need to create a CNAME record.
•If your domain is registered with another company, you'll need to follow company-specific instructions.
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=58317
A CNAME, or Canonical Name, record is an entry within the Domain Name System (DNS) that specifies where a user can find your web pages, or any other URL. You'll use this to associate your custom domain with your blog.
After registering your domain, decide if you want to use a particular subdomain for your blog. E.g. instead of www.mydomain.com you could use something like blog.mydomain.com, if you want. Then you'll create a corresponding CNAME record for that address, associating it with ghs.google.com. Keep in mind that changes to DNS records make take up to 48 hours to take effect.
Each hosting service has slightly different ways to create CNAME records. Guidelines are provided here for some of the common services. When in doubt, check with the particular company you're using for additional help or instructions.
•GoDaddy.com
•ix web hosting
•1and1
•EveryDNS.net
•Yahoo!SmallBusiness
•No-IP
•DNS Park
•Other hosting services
GoDaddy.com
1.Log in to your account at www.godaddy.com.
2.Open the Domains tab and select My Domain Names. You'll be directed to the Domain Manager page.
3.Click the domain that you'd like to use with your blog.
4.Click the Total DNS Control And MX Records link at the bottom of the section entitled Total DNS.
5.Click Add New CNAME Record in the box labelled CNAMES (aliases). If you've already created a CNAME record for your blog's address, click the pencil icon next to the existing CNAME record.
6.For the Name, enter only the subdomain of the address you want to use for your blog. For example, if you picked www.mydomain.com as your address, enter www here.
7.Enter ghs.google.com as the Host Name. Specify a TTL or use the default setting of 1 hour.
8.Click OK, and then click OK again.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ix web hosting
1.Log in to your account at ix web hosting.
2.Click Manage below the Hosting Account section.
3.On the left side, click the domain you'd like to use with your blog.
4.Next to DNS Configuration, click EDIT.
5.Click Add DNS CNAME Record.
6.Under Name, enter only the subdomain you want to use. For example, if you picked www.mydomain.com as your blog's address, just enter www as the entry under Name.
7.Enter ghs.google.com under Data.
8.Click Submit.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1and1
1.Log in to your account at https://admin.1and1.com
2.If it's not already selected, click the Administration tab.
3.Click Domains. The Domain Overview page appears.
4.From the New drop-down menu, select Create Subdomain. (If you've already created a subdomain for your blog's address, skip to step six.)
5.Enter only the subdomain you want to use, and click OK. For example, if you chose www.mydomain.com for your blog's address, you should enter www here.
6.Select the checkbox next to the subdomain that you will be using. (Example: www.mydomain.com)
7.From the DNS menu, select Edit DNS Settings.
8.Click the radio button next to CNAME.
9.Enter ghs.google.com next to Alias.
10.Click OK.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EveryDNS.net
1.Log in to your account at EveryDNS.net.
2.On the left side, click the domain you'd like to use with your blog.
3.Since EveryDNS.net is your hosting service, and not your domain registrar, be sure that your domain points to EveryDNS.net's nameservers. This will allow your CNAME record configuration to take effect.
4.Below Add a Record:, you can create your CNAME record.
5.Next to Fully Qualified Domain Name, enter only the subdomain you want to use. For example, if you picked www.mydomain.com as your blog's address, just enter www as the entry next to Fully Qualified Domain Name.
6.Select CNAME as the Record Type.
7.Enter ghs.google.com as the Record Value.
8.Click Add Record.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo!SmallBusiness
1.Log in to your account at smallbusiness.yahoo.com.
2.Click Domain Control Panel below the domain you'd like to use with your blog.
3.Click Manage Advanced DNS Settings.
4.Click Add Record.
5.In the Source field, enter only the subdomain you want to use. For example, if you designated www.mydomain.com as the address of your blog, enter www in the Source field.
6.Enter ghs.google.com in the Destination field.
7.Click Submit.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No-IP
1.Log in to your account at No-IP.
2.On the left side, click Host/Redirects.
3.Click Manage underneath Host/Redirects.
4.Click Add for a new entry, or click Modify and skip to step six for an existing entry.
5.Enter the host name (example: www from www.mydomain.com), and select your domain name.
6.Select DNS alias CNAME at the host type.
7.Enter ghs.google.com as the Target Host and click Modify.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DNS Park
1.Log in to your account at DNS Park.
2.On the left side, click DNS Hosting.
3.Click the domain you'd like to use with your blog.
4.Since DNS Park is your hosting service, and not your domain registrar, be sure that your domain points to DNS Park's nameservers. This will allow your MX record configuration to take effect.
5.Click Alias Records.
6.Under Host Name, enter only the subdomain you want to use. If you picked www.mydomain.com as your blog's address, enter www.
7.Under Destination Name, enter ghs.google.com.
8.Click Add Alias.
Back to the top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other hosting services
1.Log in to your account on your hosting service's website, and go to the DNS management page.
Since CNAME records are special Domain Name Service (DNS) records, they may be in sections such as DNS Management or Name Server Management. It's possible that you will have to enable advanced settings to create a CNAME record.
2.Delete existing CNAME entries for the address you want to use with your blog.
Before entering a new CNAME record to point to Google, you should first delete any existing entries for the same alias. If you plan to transfer an existing web address to Blogger, you may want to copy any content currently at that address elsewhere first.
3.Use the information in the following table when you create your CNAME record.
If your service requires you to enter server information directly into the DNS tables, the entry below needs to have a type CNAME associated with them.
Host Name/Alias
Value/Destination
www ghs.google.com
* This is the part of your website's address that you designated. For instance, if you chose www.mydomain.com as the address, www is the host name.
**Update: We will no longer support FTP publishing in Blogger after May 1, 2010. Learn more on our dedicated FTP blog.
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41409
--
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41409
FTP path tells Blogger where to place your blog files on your server. It should be of this format:
directory/directory/ (be sure to include the trailing slash)
If you're familiar with FTP, your "path" is your web-accessible directory. For example, it might be 'htdocs' or 'www' or 'public_html'
Or, if you want to put your blog in a subdirectory, 'htdocs/blog/' etc.
If all this sounds a bit complicated, try contacting your hosting provider for help. They can tell you how things should be set up for your specific server.
Notes:
•Do NOT use http://, ftp:// or ftp.example.com (your server's address)
•The directory you specify must already exist on your FTP Server
•This must not be an absolute path - it should be relative to your ftp root location on the server.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detailed Example (optional)
The path setting you use will depend entirely on how your server is configured, so this example should only be taken as an example of how to determine the correct path to use. The actual path shown here will not necessarily work on your own blog.
•Start up your favorite FTP program to access your account. If you don't have an FTP program, or don't know what that is, use Internet Explorer (on a PC) or Firefox (Mac or PC).
•To log in, you'll need to use the username and password that you set up with your hosting provider (not necessarily the same information that you use to log in to Blogger).
•In IE or Firefox, enter ftp://ftp.example.com in the address bar, substituting in the FTP address for your host. When you press Enter, it will prompt you for your username and password. Alternatively, you can enter ftp://username@ftp.example.com and it will just prompt you for the password. If you are using a different FTP program, you can probably enter all this information at once. If it asks for a default path or directory, leave that setting blank.
•Now that you've logged in, you should see a list of files and/or directories on your FTP account. Look for a folder with a name like httpdocs, www, public_html or anything that looks like it's supposed to contain web pages. On some servers, the folder is named the same as your domain, e.g. www.example.com. If you don't see an obvious candidate, ask your hosting provider where webpages are supposed to go. For this example, we'll say that the folder was called www.
•Once you find this folder name, it will be your path setting, e.g. www/. That may be all you need, if you just want your blog to be at the root level of your server, e.g. at http://www.example.com/myblog.html. (This is assuming you're publishing your blog with a filename of 'myblog.html'.)
•If you want your blog in a specific directory, you can just add that to the end of the path, like this: www/blog/. This will publish your blog to a location like this: http://www.example.com/blog/myblog.html. If the given folder does not yet exist on your account, Blogger will go ahead and create it for you.
•Once you've got your path setting figured out, you'll need to enter it not only for your Publishing settings, but also for your Archiving and Site Feed settings. Most likely, you'll just use the exact same settings on these pages. Some people though, like to put archives in a different folder, with a path like www/blog/archives/.
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41409
--
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41409
FTP path tells Blogger where to place your blog files on your server. It should be of this format:
directory/directory/ (be sure to include the trailing slash)
If you're familiar with FTP, your "path" is your web-accessible directory. For example, it might be 'htdocs' or 'www' or 'public_html'
Or, if you want to put your blog in a subdirectory, 'htdocs/blog/' etc.
If all this sounds a bit complicated, try contacting your hosting provider for help. They can tell you how things should be set up for your specific server.
Notes:
•Do NOT use http://, ftp:// or ftp.example.com (your server's address)
•The directory you specify must already exist on your FTP Server
•This must not be an absolute path - it should be relative to your ftp root location on the server.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detailed Example (optional)
The path setting you use will depend entirely on how your server is configured, so this example should only be taken as an example of how to determine the correct path to use. The actual path shown here will not necessarily work on your own blog.
•Start up your favorite FTP program to access your account. If you don't have an FTP program, or don't know what that is, use Internet Explorer (on a PC) or Firefox (Mac or PC).
•To log in, you'll need to use the username and password that you set up with your hosting provider (not necessarily the same information that you use to log in to Blogger).
•In IE or Firefox, enter ftp://ftp.example.com in the address bar, substituting in the FTP address for your host. When you press Enter, it will prompt you for your username and password. Alternatively, you can enter ftp://username@ftp.example.com and it will just prompt you for the password. If you are using a different FTP program, you can probably enter all this information at once. If it asks for a default path or directory, leave that setting blank.
•Now that you've logged in, you should see a list of files and/or directories on your FTP account. Look for a folder with a name like httpdocs, www, public_html or anything that looks like it's supposed to contain web pages. On some servers, the folder is named the same as your domain, e.g. www.example.com. If you don't see an obvious candidate, ask your hosting provider where webpages are supposed to go. For this example, we'll say that the folder was called www.
•Once you find this folder name, it will be your path setting, e.g. www/. That may be all you need, if you just want your blog to be at the root level of your server, e.g. at http://www.example.com/myblog.html. (This is assuming you're publishing your blog with a filename of 'myblog.html'.)
•If you want your blog in a specific directory, you can just add that to the end of the path, like this: www/blog/. This will publish your blog to a location like this: http://www.example.com/blog/myblog.html. If the given folder does not yet exist on your account, Blogger will go ahead and create it for you.
•Once you've got your path setting figured out, you'll need to enter it not only for your Publishing settings, but also for your Archiving and Site Feed settings. Most likely, you'll just use the exact same settings on these pages. Some people though, like to put archives in a different folder, with a path like www/blog/archives/.
How do I use a custom domain name on my blog?
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55373
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41438
The setup process for newly-purchased domains may take up to 24 hours.
Publishing on Blog*Spot is the fastest and easiest way to use all of Blogger's great features. (And for free, no less!) If you don't care to have blogspot.com in your blog's address, though, you can get a domain of your own. We'll continue to host all your content as before, but it will be displayed at your new address. (Unlike FTP publishing, which requires you to buy both a domain name and a hosting service.)
Choose and Register Your Domain
The first thing you'll need to do is to choose a domain name, like example.com and register it. You can register domain names from any of a number of different registrars, and you can use .com, .org, .net or any other valid addresses. Remember: you only need to get the domain name; you don't have to pay extra for hosting service. The easiest way to register a domain is to buy your domain directly through Blogger. If you go this route, we'll automatically configure all of your relevant DNS settings and attach your new domain to your existing blog immediately.
Update the DNS Settings
DNS stands for Domain Name System, and a DNS server determines what site a given address takes you to. So far, you have a domain name but none of the servers on the internet know what to do with it yet. To take care of this, you need to do two things:
•Create a CNAME record for your blog's address, which should be a subdomain of the form www.example.com.To create a CNAME record for your domain with the DNS, associating your domain with:
ghs.google.com.
The exact procedure for doing this varies depending on your domain registrar, but you can find instructions for many common registrars here. If yours isn't listed, or if you run into other difficulties, you can contact your registrar directly and they'll be able to help you out.
•Create 'A' NAME records for your naked domain (blog.com)
Note: The following information applies to naked domains only!! If you're setting up a subdomain then this does NOT apply to you! :-)
Creating A records for your naked domain is important as it allows Google to redirect people who use in your naked domain name (blog.com) to your blog page (www.example.com). If you do not do this, visitors who leave off the www will see an error page.
There are four separate A records you will create, and can be done from the same control panel you accessed your CNAME records. Simply point your naked domain (example.com, without the 'www') to each of the following IP addresses:
216.239.32.21
216.239.34.21
216.239.36.21
216.239.38.21
Your DNS setup is now complete!
Update Your Blogger Settings
Almost done! At this point, you have a domain name, and the DNS servers know to direct people to Google when they want to see your blog. But Google hosts lots of blogs, so we have to make sure the right one is associated with this domain. You'll do this on the Settings | Publishing tab for your blog in Blogger.
If you're publishing on Blog*Spot, you'll see a link near the top offering to switch you to a custom domain. Go ahead and click that link.
The Blog*Spot Address setting now changes to Your Domain. Fill in the domain you registered, and then save your settings.
Now the only thing left to do is to tell everybody about your new address!
Notes:
•If your new domain isn't taking you to your blog, wait another day or two to make sure all the DNS servers have been updated. If it still isn't working, contact your registrar to make sure you entered the DNS settings correctly.
•Your original Blog*Spot address will automatically forward to your new domain. That way, any existing links or bookmarks to your site will still work.
•You can use this feature with domains (e.g. example.com) or subdomains (e.g. blog.example.com). However, you cannot specify subdirectories (e.g. example.com/blog/) or wildcards (e.g. *.example.com).
•Your posted images will continue to display on your blog as described here.
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41438
The setup process for newly-purchased domains may take up to 24 hours.
Publishing on Blog*Spot is the fastest and easiest way to use all of Blogger's great features. (And for free, no less!) If you don't care to have blogspot.com in your blog's address, though, you can get a domain of your own. We'll continue to host all your content as before, but it will be displayed at your new address. (Unlike FTP publishing, which requires you to buy both a domain name and a hosting service.)
Choose and Register Your Domain
The first thing you'll need to do is to choose a domain name, like example.com and register it. You can register domain names from any of a number of different registrars, and you can use .com, .org, .net or any other valid addresses. Remember: you only need to get the domain name; you don't have to pay extra for hosting service. The easiest way to register a domain is to buy your domain directly through Blogger. If you go this route, we'll automatically configure all of your relevant DNS settings and attach your new domain to your existing blog immediately.
Update the DNS Settings
DNS stands for Domain Name System, and a DNS server determines what site a given address takes you to. So far, you have a domain name but none of the servers on the internet know what to do with it yet. To take care of this, you need to do two things:
•Create a CNAME record for your blog's address, which should be a subdomain of the form www.example.com.To create a CNAME record for your domain with the DNS, associating your domain with:
ghs.google.com.
The exact procedure for doing this varies depending on your domain registrar, but you can find instructions for many common registrars here. If yours isn't listed, or if you run into other difficulties, you can contact your registrar directly and they'll be able to help you out.
•Create 'A' NAME records for your naked domain (blog.com)
Note: The following information applies to naked domains only!! If you're setting up a subdomain then this does NOT apply to you! :-)
Creating A records for your naked domain is important as it allows Google to redirect people who use in your naked domain name (blog.com) to your blog page (www.example.com). If you do not do this, visitors who leave off the www will see an error page.
There are four separate A records you will create, and can be done from the same control panel you accessed your CNAME records. Simply point your naked domain (example.com, without the 'www') to each of the following IP addresses:
216.239.32.21
216.239.34.21
216.239.36.21
216.239.38.21
Your DNS setup is now complete!
Update Your Blogger Settings
Almost done! At this point, you have a domain name, and the DNS servers know to direct people to Google when they want to see your blog. But Google hosts lots of blogs, so we have to make sure the right one is associated with this domain. You'll do this on the Settings | Publishing tab for your blog in Blogger.
If you're publishing on Blog*Spot, you'll see a link near the top offering to switch you to a custom domain. Go ahead and click that link.
The Blog*Spot Address setting now changes to Your Domain. Fill in the domain you registered, and then save your settings.
Now the only thing left to do is to tell everybody about your new address!
Notes:
•If your new domain isn't taking you to your blog, wait another day or two to make sure all the DNS servers have been updated. If it still isn't working, contact your registrar to make sure you entered the DNS settings correctly.
•Your original Blog*Spot address will automatically forward to your new domain. That way, any existing links or bookmarks to your site will still work.
•You can use this feature with domains (e.g. example.com) or subdomains (e.g. blog.example.com). However, you cannot specify subdirectories (e.g. example.com/blog/) or wildcards (e.g. *.example.com).
•Your posted images will continue to display on your blog as described here.
आईपीएस दोयम दर्जे की नौकरी
Wednesday, 10 November 2010 12:13 नूतन ठाकुर भड़ास4मीडिया - इंटरव्यू
के. विक्रम राव
: इसीलिए सेलेक्शन के बावजूद इस नौकरी को करना मैंने उचित नहीं समझा- के. विक्रम राव : इंटरव्यू : के. विक्रम राव आज पत्रकारिता क्षेत्र में एक स्तम्भ बन गए हैं. ख़ास कर पत्रकारों के हक़ की लड़ाई को लेकर. प्रख्यात पत्रकार और नेशनल हेराल्ड के पूर्व सम्पादक के रामाराव के लड़के विक्रम राव स्वयं भी एक लब्धप्रतिष्ठ पत्रकार रहे हैं. पर अब मूल रूप से स्वतंत्र पत्रकारिता के साथ ही इंडियन फेडरेशन ऑफ वर्किग जर्नलिस्ट के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष के रूप में पूरे देश के पत्रकारों के विभिन्न हितों के लिए संघर्षरत हैं.
पिछले दिनों उनसे पीपुल्स फोरम, लखनऊ की संपादक नूतन ठाकुर ने कई मुद्दों पर बातचीत की. पेश है के. विक्रम राव से हुई बातचीत के कुछ महत्वपूर्ण अंश-
-सबसे पहले अपनी पारिवारिक पृष्ठभूमि के विषय में बताएं?
--हम लोग मूल रूप से आंध्र प्रदेश के रहने वाले हैं. मेरे पिताजी नेशनल हेराल्ड के सम्पादक रह चुके थे. स्वतन्त्रता संग्राम में भी काफी बढ़-चढ़ कर हिस्सा किया था. इस क्रम में अंग्रेजी सरकार का विरोध करने की वजह से कई बार जेल भी गए. उनकी मुलाकात पंडित नेहरु के साथ हुई और वह मित्रता में बदल गयी. उनके काफी करीबी रहे.
-अपने प्रारम्भिक जीवन के विषय में कुछ बताएं?
--शुरुआती जीवन काफी संघर्षों भरा रहा. कई बार पिता के जेल जाने का असर पूरे परिवार पर पड़ा, खास कर के मुझ पर कुछ ज्यादा ही. अंग्रेजों के प्रति मन में गहरा असंतोष और गुस्से का भाव बढ़ता ही चला गया. मुझे लगता था कि बिना किसी गलती के ही मेरे पिता को और पूरे देश के लोगों को प्रताड़ित किया जा रहा है. मुझे अक्सर लगता अपना वाजिब हक़ माँगने का सबको अधिकार है फिर हक़ मांगने पर सज़ा क्यूँ?
-पत्रकारिता के क्षेत्र में कैसे आना हुआ?
--मैं तो वास्तव में आईएएस अधिकारी बनाना चाहता था और इसके लिए आईएएस की परीक्षा भी दी लेकिन परीक्षा में थोड़े कम नंबर आये और उसमें सेलेक्शन नहीं हो पाया. यहां तक कि आईएफ़एस में भी नहीं हुआ. इसकी जगह आईपीएस में सेलेक्शन हुआ. मैं इसमें जाना नहीं चाहता था. वजह यह थी कि आईएएस की तुलना में मैं इसे दोयम दर्जे की नौकरी समझता था और आज भी ऐसा ही मानता हूं. एक तो समाज में इसका कोई विशेष सम्मान नहीं है और दूसरे इसमें ज्यादातर गलत काम ही करने पड़ते हैं.
-तो फिर आपने क्या किया?
--उसी समय मुझे टाईम्स ऑफ इंडिया का भी ऑफर आया था और मैंने वहां जाना बेहतर समझा. आज भी मुझे लगता है कि मैंने कोई गलत निर्णय नहीं किया था. इस क्षेत्र में काम करने के जितने अवसर हैं वह अन्यत्र मुश्किल ही हैं. उसके बाद कई अखबारों के लिए काम किया. एक समय ऐसा आया जब मुझे लगाने लगा कि अब किसी एक अखबार से बंध कर रहने के स्थान पर फ्रीलांस काम किया जाए. अब तो लगभग ढाई सौ अखबारों के लिए मैं नियमित तौर पर लिखता हूँ.
-तबकी और अबकी पत्रकारिता में क्या अंतर महसूस करते हैं?
--अंतर तो कई सारे हैं. पहले जो कुछ सीखना होता था वह खुद या सीनियर से ही जानना, समझना और सीखना पड़ता था. अब तो इसके लिए बाकायदा पढाई होने लगी है और कई सारे लड़के इन संस्थाओं के जरिये आते हैं. हाँ लेकिन इतना जरूर है कि जब ये वास्तविक रूप से इस क्षेत्र में आते हैं तो सीनियरों द्वारा इन पर पर्याप्त ध्यान नहीं दिया जाता है. उन्हें काम करने के लिए एक बड़े तालाब में बिलकुल अकेला छोड़ दिया जाता है. इसकी वजह से कईयों की प्रतिभा उतनी नहीं निखर पाती जितना सही दिशानिर्देशन मिलने पर निखरती.
एक बार मैं ऐसे ही एक पत्रकारिता के कालेज में लेक्चर देने गया था तो मैंने उन छात्रों से आईएएस, आईपीएस या डॉक्टर, इंजीनियर ना बन कर इसी क्षेत्र को चुनने का कारण पूछा तो मुझे जो जवाब मिला, उसमे मुझे गर्व और घमंड के ही भाव ज्यादा दिखाई दिए. कइयों का कहना था कि इसमें हम राष्ट्रपति और प्रधानमन्त्री से भी सीधे सवाल पूछ सकते हैं. मुझे उनकी सोच सही नहीं लगी कि महज सवाल पूछने के लिए ही वे पत्रकार बनाना चाहते हैं. उन लोगों तक अपनी बात पहुंचाने के तो और भी कई जरिये हो सकते हैं. केवल सत्ता से निकटता बढाने के लिए पत्रकारिता को जरिया बनाना उचित नहीं है.
-क्या आपको लगता है कि आज की पत्रकारिता में पहले की तुलना में गिरावट आई है?
--बिलकुल नहीं आई हो, ऐसा तो नहीं कह सकते हैं लेकिन इतना जरूर है कि बड़े-बड़े बिजनेस हाउस के अखबार मालिक होने के कारण कई बार ये अखबार स्वतंत्र रूप से अपनी बात नहीं कह पाते. उनके हितों और स्वार्थों का भी ध्यान रखने की मजबूरी हो जाती है. जैसे पहले अखबारों में विज्ञापन होते थे, वैसे अब जबसे पेड न्यूज़ का प्रचलन हो गया हैं तबसे ख़बरों ने भी विज्ञापन का काम करना शुरू कर दिया है. पेड न्यूज़ से ज्यादा घृणित बात पत्रकारिता के लिए और कुछ भी नहीं हो सकती. कई बार पत्रकारों को ऐसा करने की मजबूरी हो जाती है.
-आप पत्रकारों के यूनियन से कैसे जुड़े?
--पत्रकारिता में एक बहुत लम्बे समय तक रहने के बाद मुझे ऐसा अनुभव होने लगा कि बेचारे पत्रकार सारी दुनिया के लोगों के लिए हक़ और इन्साफ की आवाज उठाते हैं लेकिन उनकी आवाज कहीं ना कहीं दबी रह जाती है. मैंने देखा कि कई स्तरों पर इन पत्रकार साथियों का शोषण होता है. मैं इन बातों से बहुत अधिक आहत था और शुरू से ही इन लोगों के साथ मिल कर इनके लिए कुछ करना चाहता था. इन्ही तमाम बातों ने मुझे पत्रकार यूनियन में धकेल दिया और फिर धीरे-धीरे यह मेरे जीवन का अनिवार्य हिस्सा बन गया. आज तो मैं अपने आप को जर्नलिस्ट एसोशिएयेशन के बगैर कल्पना भी नहीं कर सकता.
-क्या पत्रकारों में भी आर्थिक रूप से बड़े और छोटे पत्रकार की दो बिरादरियां हो गयी हैं?
--हाँ, यह आपने बहुत ही अच्छा सवाल पूछा. ऐसा निश्चित रूप से है. अखबारों में कांट्रैक्ट पर भर्तियाँ हो रही हैं उससे सबसे ज्यादा शोषण इन पत्रकारों का ही हो रहा है. एक तो इन्हें काफी कम पैसे दिए जाते हैं साथ ही जब भी अखबार मालिक चाहें इन्हें नौकरी से बाहर निकाल दिया जाता है. काम करने के पूरे पैसे नहीं मिलते. इन सारी बातों को ध्यान में रखते हुए पत्रकार साथियों के लिए हम लोगों ने कई सारी मांगें भी रखी हैं और इन्हें सभी उपयुक्त फोरम पर भी उठाया है. हम लोगों का यह प्रयास है कि इस तरह की वेतन विसंगतियों, पत्रकारों के अखबार मालिकों द्वारा शोषण और पत्रकारों के साथ किये जा रहे अनुचित व्यवहार के सम्बन्ध में सभी लोगों को जागरूक करते हुए पूरे देश में एक ऐसा माहौल बनाया जाए जिसमे इन लोगों का हक़ दिलवाने में हर तरह से मदद मिल सके.
हम ख़ास कर ये मांग रहे हैं कि छठे वेतन आयोग की संस्तुतियों को आधार मानते हुए पत्रकारों का भी वेतन तय किया जाये और सारे अखबारों द्वारा इसका पूरा अनुपालन भी किया जाए. साथ यी यह भी मांग हम लोगों ने रखी है कि इलेक्ट्रौनिक मीडिया को भी कायदे-क़ानून के दायरे में लाया जाए और इनके द्वारा ख़बरों को दिखाने के लिए भी दिशानिर्देश और मानक तय हों.
-आज के कई पत्रकार यह बात कहते सुने गए है कि ख़बरें निकालने में शराब की भी अपनी एक अहम् भूमिका होती है. इस बारे में आपके क्या विचार हैं?
--(हंसी के साथ) नहीं, ऐसा तो नहीं है. कम से कम मैं तो इसे बिलकुल नहीं मानता. मैं शराब, सिगरेट वगैरह से कोसों दूर हूँ और ना ही मुझे खबर निकालने के लिए इसकी जरूरत महसूस हुई. इतना जरूर है कि मैंने इसकी वजह से कई युवा पत्रकार साथियों को लीवर सिरोसिस और ऐसी ही तमाम बीमारियों से ग्रसित हो युवावस्था में ही मरते देखा है. इसीलिए मैं तो हमेशा सबों को इससे दूर रहने की ही सलाह देता हूँ.
-आपके पिताजी नेहरु के करीब रहे हैं और आप जयप्रकाश नारायण के. दोनों में आपकी विचारधारा किससे अधिक मिलती है?
--पिताजी भले ही नेहरूजी के करीब रहे हों पर मैं तो शुरू से ही उनकी नीतियों का धुर विरोधी रहा हूँ. मेरा ऐसा मानना है कि उनकी कई सारी नीतियों का खामियाजा आज हमारे देश को भुगतना पड़ रहा है. जैसे अभी हाल ही में बिहार में होने वाले चुनाव में मैं देख रहा था कि लगभग सभी विधायकों और मंत्रियों के बेटों को चुनाव में टिकट दिए गए हैं. आम आदमी के लिए तो कोई जगह बची ही नहीं है. इसकी शुरुआत नेहरु ने इंदिरा जी को उत्तराधिकार देने की परम्परा से नहीं की होती तो आज शायद ऐसी स्थिति नहीं होती. कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्स को ही देख लीजिये, जहां एक तरफ इस खेल के नाम पर करोड़ों का भ्रष्टाचार हो रहा है वहीँ आम आदमी को जीवन-यापन के लिए भारी संघर्ष करना पड़ रहा है.
-कुछ बातें घर परिवार की. आपकी पत्नी रेलवे सर्विस में रही हैं और आप पत्रकारिता में. अलग अलग क्षेत्रों में रहने का आपके काम पर कोई विपरीत प्रभाव पड़ा क्या?
--मुझ पर तो नहीं, हाँ मेरी पत्नी को मेरी वजह से अपनी नौकरी में कई मुश्किलों और विरोधों का सामना करना पड़ा. कई जगह उनके तबादले मात्र मेरे कारण कर दिए गए. जब इमरजेंसी में मैं जेल में था तो उन्हें पाकिस्तान बोर्डर के पास मात्र मेरी नाराजगी के चलते भेज दिया गया लेकिन इन तमाम विपरीत परिस्थितियों में भी उन्होंने मेरा पूरा साथ दिया.
-हर पिता चाहता है कि उसकी संतान उसके काम को आगे बढ़ाये. आप भी ऐसा चाहते थे?
--मेरे दो लड़के हैं जिनमे कम से कम एक लड़का इस क्षेत्र में आये ऐसा मैं जरूर चाहता था. लेकिन बच्चों ने मेरी बात नहीं मानी और अपने मन मुताबिक़ अलग-अलग राह चुनी.
-क्या वे लोग पत्रकारिता के प्रति किसी गलत धारणा के कारण यहाँ नहीं आये?
--नहीं ऐसा नहीं है. वैसे भी दूसरी नौकरी तो एक से पांच की होती है पर पत्रकारिता में तो रोज-रोज ही एक नयी चुनौती सामने होती है. काम के लिहाज से हर दिन काफी तनावपूर्ण होता है. शायद नए लड़के उतना तनाव और उतनी परेशानियाँ पसंद नहीं करते हों.
-युवा पत्रकारों को कोई सन्देश देना चाहेंगे?
--मैं तो बस इतना ही कहूँगा कि वे अपना सार्वजनिक और पारिवारिक जीवन उतना ही साफ़-सुथरा रखें जिसके बारे में वे अपने कलम के माध्यम से लिखते-पढ़ते रहते हैं. उनके वास्तविक जीवन और उनकी लेखनी में कोई विरोधाभास न हो. बुराइयों से दूर रहें और परिवार के लोगों के प्रति आचरण ठीक रखें. जो वहां ईमानदारी से रहेगा वही अच्छा और सच्चा पत्रकार भी होगा.
के. विक्रम राव
: इसीलिए सेलेक्शन के बावजूद इस नौकरी को करना मैंने उचित नहीं समझा- के. विक्रम राव : इंटरव्यू : के. विक्रम राव आज पत्रकारिता क्षेत्र में एक स्तम्भ बन गए हैं. ख़ास कर पत्रकारों के हक़ की लड़ाई को लेकर. प्रख्यात पत्रकार और नेशनल हेराल्ड के पूर्व सम्पादक के रामाराव के लड़के विक्रम राव स्वयं भी एक लब्धप्रतिष्ठ पत्रकार रहे हैं. पर अब मूल रूप से स्वतंत्र पत्रकारिता के साथ ही इंडियन फेडरेशन ऑफ वर्किग जर्नलिस्ट के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष के रूप में पूरे देश के पत्रकारों के विभिन्न हितों के लिए संघर्षरत हैं.
पिछले दिनों उनसे पीपुल्स फोरम, लखनऊ की संपादक नूतन ठाकुर ने कई मुद्दों पर बातचीत की. पेश है के. विक्रम राव से हुई बातचीत के कुछ महत्वपूर्ण अंश-
-सबसे पहले अपनी पारिवारिक पृष्ठभूमि के विषय में बताएं?
--हम लोग मूल रूप से आंध्र प्रदेश के रहने वाले हैं. मेरे पिताजी नेशनल हेराल्ड के सम्पादक रह चुके थे. स्वतन्त्रता संग्राम में भी काफी बढ़-चढ़ कर हिस्सा किया था. इस क्रम में अंग्रेजी सरकार का विरोध करने की वजह से कई बार जेल भी गए. उनकी मुलाकात पंडित नेहरु के साथ हुई और वह मित्रता में बदल गयी. उनके काफी करीबी रहे.
-अपने प्रारम्भिक जीवन के विषय में कुछ बताएं?
--शुरुआती जीवन काफी संघर्षों भरा रहा. कई बार पिता के जेल जाने का असर पूरे परिवार पर पड़ा, खास कर के मुझ पर कुछ ज्यादा ही. अंग्रेजों के प्रति मन में गहरा असंतोष और गुस्से का भाव बढ़ता ही चला गया. मुझे लगता था कि बिना किसी गलती के ही मेरे पिता को और पूरे देश के लोगों को प्रताड़ित किया जा रहा है. मुझे अक्सर लगता अपना वाजिब हक़ माँगने का सबको अधिकार है फिर हक़ मांगने पर सज़ा क्यूँ?
-पत्रकारिता के क्षेत्र में कैसे आना हुआ?
--मैं तो वास्तव में आईएएस अधिकारी बनाना चाहता था और इसके लिए आईएएस की परीक्षा भी दी लेकिन परीक्षा में थोड़े कम नंबर आये और उसमें सेलेक्शन नहीं हो पाया. यहां तक कि आईएफ़एस में भी नहीं हुआ. इसकी जगह आईपीएस में सेलेक्शन हुआ. मैं इसमें जाना नहीं चाहता था. वजह यह थी कि आईएएस की तुलना में मैं इसे दोयम दर्जे की नौकरी समझता था और आज भी ऐसा ही मानता हूं. एक तो समाज में इसका कोई विशेष सम्मान नहीं है और दूसरे इसमें ज्यादातर गलत काम ही करने पड़ते हैं.
-तो फिर आपने क्या किया?
--उसी समय मुझे टाईम्स ऑफ इंडिया का भी ऑफर आया था और मैंने वहां जाना बेहतर समझा. आज भी मुझे लगता है कि मैंने कोई गलत निर्णय नहीं किया था. इस क्षेत्र में काम करने के जितने अवसर हैं वह अन्यत्र मुश्किल ही हैं. उसके बाद कई अखबारों के लिए काम किया. एक समय ऐसा आया जब मुझे लगाने लगा कि अब किसी एक अखबार से बंध कर रहने के स्थान पर फ्रीलांस काम किया जाए. अब तो लगभग ढाई सौ अखबारों के लिए मैं नियमित तौर पर लिखता हूँ.
-तबकी और अबकी पत्रकारिता में क्या अंतर महसूस करते हैं?
--अंतर तो कई सारे हैं. पहले जो कुछ सीखना होता था वह खुद या सीनियर से ही जानना, समझना और सीखना पड़ता था. अब तो इसके लिए बाकायदा पढाई होने लगी है और कई सारे लड़के इन संस्थाओं के जरिये आते हैं. हाँ लेकिन इतना जरूर है कि जब ये वास्तविक रूप से इस क्षेत्र में आते हैं तो सीनियरों द्वारा इन पर पर्याप्त ध्यान नहीं दिया जाता है. उन्हें काम करने के लिए एक बड़े तालाब में बिलकुल अकेला छोड़ दिया जाता है. इसकी वजह से कईयों की प्रतिभा उतनी नहीं निखर पाती जितना सही दिशानिर्देशन मिलने पर निखरती.
एक बार मैं ऐसे ही एक पत्रकारिता के कालेज में लेक्चर देने गया था तो मैंने उन छात्रों से आईएएस, आईपीएस या डॉक्टर, इंजीनियर ना बन कर इसी क्षेत्र को चुनने का कारण पूछा तो मुझे जो जवाब मिला, उसमे मुझे गर्व और घमंड के ही भाव ज्यादा दिखाई दिए. कइयों का कहना था कि इसमें हम राष्ट्रपति और प्रधानमन्त्री से भी सीधे सवाल पूछ सकते हैं. मुझे उनकी सोच सही नहीं लगी कि महज सवाल पूछने के लिए ही वे पत्रकार बनाना चाहते हैं. उन लोगों तक अपनी बात पहुंचाने के तो और भी कई जरिये हो सकते हैं. केवल सत्ता से निकटता बढाने के लिए पत्रकारिता को जरिया बनाना उचित नहीं है.
-क्या आपको लगता है कि आज की पत्रकारिता में पहले की तुलना में गिरावट आई है?
--बिलकुल नहीं आई हो, ऐसा तो नहीं कह सकते हैं लेकिन इतना जरूर है कि बड़े-बड़े बिजनेस हाउस के अखबार मालिक होने के कारण कई बार ये अखबार स्वतंत्र रूप से अपनी बात नहीं कह पाते. उनके हितों और स्वार्थों का भी ध्यान रखने की मजबूरी हो जाती है. जैसे पहले अखबारों में विज्ञापन होते थे, वैसे अब जबसे पेड न्यूज़ का प्रचलन हो गया हैं तबसे ख़बरों ने भी विज्ञापन का काम करना शुरू कर दिया है. पेड न्यूज़ से ज्यादा घृणित बात पत्रकारिता के लिए और कुछ भी नहीं हो सकती. कई बार पत्रकारों को ऐसा करने की मजबूरी हो जाती है.
-आप पत्रकारों के यूनियन से कैसे जुड़े?
--पत्रकारिता में एक बहुत लम्बे समय तक रहने के बाद मुझे ऐसा अनुभव होने लगा कि बेचारे पत्रकार सारी दुनिया के लोगों के लिए हक़ और इन्साफ की आवाज उठाते हैं लेकिन उनकी आवाज कहीं ना कहीं दबी रह जाती है. मैंने देखा कि कई स्तरों पर इन पत्रकार साथियों का शोषण होता है. मैं इन बातों से बहुत अधिक आहत था और शुरू से ही इन लोगों के साथ मिल कर इनके लिए कुछ करना चाहता था. इन्ही तमाम बातों ने मुझे पत्रकार यूनियन में धकेल दिया और फिर धीरे-धीरे यह मेरे जीवन का अनिवार्य हिस्सा बन गया. आज तो मैं अपने आप को जर्नलिस्ट एसोशिएयेशन के बगैर कल्पना भी नहीं कर सकता.
-क्या पत्रकारों में भी आर्थिक रूप से बड़े और छोटे पत्रकार की दो बिरादरियां हो गयी हैं?
--हाँ, यह आपने बहुत ही अच्छा सवाल पूछा. ऐसा निश्चित रूप से है. अखबारों में कांट्रैक्ट पर भर्तियाँ हो रही हैं उससे सबसे ज्यादा शोषण इन पत्रकारों का ही हो रहा है. एक तो इन्हें काफी कम पैसे दिए जाते हैं साथ ही जब भी अखबार मालिक चाहें इन्हें नौकरी से बाहर निकाल दिया जाता है. काम करने के पूरे पैसे नहीं मिलते. इन सारी बातों को ध्यान में रखते हुए पत्रकार साथियों के लिए हम लोगों ने कई सारी मांगें भी रखी हैं और इन्हें सभी उपयुक्त फोरम पर भी उठाया है. हम लोगों का यह प्रयास है कि इस तरह की वेतन विसंगतियों, पत्रकारों के अखबार मालिकों द्वारा शोषण और पत्रकारों के साथ किये जा रहे अनुचित व्यवहार के सम्बन्ध में सभी लोगों को जागरूक करते हुए पूरे देश में एक ऐसा माहौल बनाया जाए जिसमे इन लोगों का हक़ दिलवाने में हर तरह से मदद मिल सके.
हम ख़ास कर ये मांग रहे हैं कि छठे वेतन आयोग की संस्तुतियों को आधार मानते हुए पत्रकारों का भी वेतन तय किया जाये और सारे अखबारों द्वारा इसका पूरा अनुपालन भी किया जाए. साथ यी यह भी मांग हम लोगों ने रखी है कि इलेक्ट्रौनिक मीडिया को भी कायदे-क़ानून के दायरे में लाया जाए और इनके द्वारा ख़बरों को दिखाने के लिए भी दिशानिर्देश और मानक तय हों.
-आज के कई पत्रकार यह बात कहते सुने गए है कि ख़बरें निकालने में शराब की भी अपनी एक अहम् भूमिका होती है. इस बारे में आपके क्या विचार हैं?
--(हंसी के साथ) नहीं, ऐसा तो नहीं है. कम से कम मैं तो इसे बिलकुल नहीं मानता. मैं शराब, सिगरेट वगैरह से कोसों दूर हूँ और ना ही मुझे खबर निकालने के लिए इसकी जरूरत महसूस हुई. इतना जरूर है कि मैंने इसकी वजह से कई युवा पत्रकार साथियों को लीवर सिरोसिस और ऐसी ही तमाम बीमारियों से ग्रसित हो युवावस्था में ही मरते देखा है. इसीलिए मैं तो हमेशा सबों को इससे दूर रहने की ही सलाह देता हूँ.
-आपके पिताजी नेहरु के करीब रहे हैं और आप जयप्रकाश नारायण के. दोनों में आपकी विचारधारा किससे अधिक मिलती है?
--पिताजी भले ही नेहरूजी के करीब रहे हों पर मैं तो शुरू से ही उनकी नीतियों का धुर विरोधी रहा हूँ. मेरा ऐसा मानना है कि उनकी कई सारी नीतियों का खामियाजा आज हमारे देश को भुगतना पड़ रहा है. जैसे अभी हाल ही में बिहार में होने वाले चुनाव में मैं देख रहा था कि लगभग सभी विधायकों और मंत्रियों के बेटों को चुनाव में टिकट दिए गए हैं. आम आदमी के लिए तो कोई जगह बची ही नहीं है. इसकी शुरुआत नेहरु ने इंदिरा जी को उत्तराधिकार देने की परम्परा से नहीं की होती तो आज शायद ऐसी स्थिति नहीं होती. कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्स को ही देख लीजिये, जहां एक तरफ इस खेल के नाम पर करोड़ों का भ्रष्टाचार हो रहा है वहीँ आम आदमी को जीवन-यापन के लिए भारी संघर्ष करना पड़ रहा है.
-कुछ बातें घर परिवार की. आपकी पत्नी रेलवे सर्विस में रही हैं और आप पत्रकारिता में. अलग अलग क्षेत्रों में रहने का आपके काम पर कोई विपरीत प्रभाव पड़ा क्या?
--मुझ पर तो नहीं, हाँ मेरी पत्नी को मेरी वजह से अपनी नौकरी में कई मुश्किलों और विरोधों का सामना करना पड़ा. कई जगह उनके तबादले मात्र मेरे कारण कर दिए गए. जब इमरजेंसी में मैं जेल में था तो उन्हें पाकिस्तान बोर्डर के पास मात्र मेरी नाराजगी के चलते भेज दिया गया लेकिन इन तमाम विपरीत परिस्थितियों में भी उन्होंने मेरा पूरा साथ दिया.
-हर पिता चाहता है कि उसकी संतान उसके काम को आगे बढ़ाये. आप भी ऐसा चाहते थे?
--मेरे दो लड़के हैं जिनमे कम से कम एक लड़का इस क्षेत्र में आये ऐसा मैं जरूर चाहता था. लेकिन बच्चों ने मेरी बात नहीं मानी और अपने मन मुताबिक़ अलग-अलग राह चुनी.
-क्या वे लोग पत्रकारिता के प्रति किसी गलत धारणा के कारण यहाँ नहीं आये?
--नहीं ऐसा नहीं है. वैसे भी दूसरी नौकरी तो एक से पांच की होती है पर पत्रकारिता में तो रोज-रोज ही एक नयी चुनौती सामने होती है. काम के लिहाज से हर दिन काफी तनावपूर्ण होता है. शायद नए लड़के उतना तनाव और उतनी परेशानियाँ पसंद नहीं करते हों.
-युवा पत्रकारों को कोई सन्देश देना चाहेंगे?
--मैं तो बस इतना ही कहूँगा कि वे अपना सार्वजनिक और पारिवारिक जीवन उतना ही साफ़-सुथरा रखें जिसके बारे में वे अपने कलम के माध्यम से लिखते-पढ़ते रहते हैं. उनके वास्तविक जीवन और उनकी लेखनी में कोई विरोधाभास न हो. बुराइयों से दूर रहें और परिवार के लोगों के प्रति आचरण ठीक रखें. जो वहां ईमानदारी से रहेगा वही अच्छा और सच्चा पत्रकार भी होगा.
Exporting Our Way to Stability
November 5, 2010
By BARACK OBAMA
AS the United States recovers from this recession, the biggest mistake we could make would be to rebuild our economy on the same pile of debt or the paper profits of financial speculation. We need to rebuild on a new, stronger foundation for economic growth. And part of that foundation involves doing what Americans have always done best: discovering, creating and building products that are sold all over the world.
We want to be known not just for what we consume, but for what we produce. And the more we export abroad, the more jobs we create in America. In fact, every $1 billion we export supports more than 5,000 jobs at home.
It is for this reason that I set a goal of doubling America’s exports in the next five years. To do that, we need to find new customers in new markets for American-made goods. And some of the fastest-growing markets in the world are in Asia, where I’m traveling this week.
It is hard to overstate the importance of Asia to our economic future. Asia is home to three of the world’s five largest economies, as well as a rapidly expanding middle class with rising incomes. My trip will therefore take me to four Asian democracies — India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan — each of which is an important partner for the United States. I will also participate in two summit meetings — the Group of 20 industrialized nations and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation — that will focus on economic growth.
During my first visit to India, I will be joined by hundreds of American business leaders and their Indian counterparts to announce concrete progress toward our export goal — billions of dollars in contracts that will support tens of thousands of American jobs. We will also explore ways to reduce barriers to United States exports and increase access to the Indian market.
Indonesia is a member of the G-20. Next year, it will assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — a group whose members make up a market of more than 600 million people that is increasingly integrating into a free trade area, and to which the United States exports $80 billion in goods and services each year. My administration has deepened our engagement with Asean, and for the first eight months of 2010, exports of American goods to Indonesia increased by 47 percent from the same period in 2009. This is momentum that we will build on as we pursue a new comprehensive partnership between the United States and Indonesia.
In South Korea, President Lee Myung-bak and I will work to complete a trade pact that could be worth tens of billions of dollars in increased exports and thousands of jobs for American workers. Other nations like Canada and members of the European Union are pursuing trade pacts with South Korea, and American businesses are losing opportunities to sell their products in this growing market. We used to be the top exporter to South Korea; now we are in fourth place and have seen our share of Korea’s imports drop in half over the last decade.
But any agreement must come with the right terms. That’s why we’ll be looking to resolve outstanding issues on behalf of American exporters — including American automakers and workers. If we can, we’ll be able to complete an agreement that supports jobs and prosperity in America.
South Korea is also the host of the G-20 economic forum, the organization that we have made the focal point for international economic cooperation. Last year, the nations of the G-20 worked together to halt the spread of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. This year, our top priority is achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth. This will require cooperation and responsibility from all nations — those with emerging economies and those with advanced economies; those running a deficit and those running a surplus.
Finally, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Japan, I will continue seeking new markets in Asia for American exports. We want to expand our trade relationships in the region, including through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to make sure that we’re not ceding markets, exports and the jobs they support to other nations. We will also lay the groundwork for hosting the 2011 APEC meeting in Hawaii, the first such gathering on American soil since 1993.
The great challenge of our time is to make sure that America is ready to compete for the jobs and industries of the future. It can be tempting, in times of economic difficulty, to turn inward, away from trade and commerce with other nations. But in our interconnected world, that is not a path to growth, and that is not a path to jobs. We cannot be shut out of these markets. Our government, together with American businesses and workers, must take steps to promote and sell our goods and services abroad — particularly in Asia. That’s how we’ll create jobs, prosperity and an economy that’s built on a stronger foundation.
Barack Obama is the president of the United States.
By BARACK OBAMA
AS the United States recovers from this recession, the biggest mistake we could make would be to rebuild our economy on the same pile of debt or the paper profits of financial speculation. We need to rebuild on a new, stronger foundation for economic growth. And part of that foundation involves doing what Americans have always done best: discovering, creating and building products that are sold all over the world.
We want to be known not just for what we consume, but for what we produce. And the more we export abroad, the more jobs we create in America. In fact, every $1 billion we export supports more than 5,000 jobs at home.
It is for this reason that I set a goal of doubling America’s exports in the next five years. To do that, we need to find new customers in new markets for American-made goods. And some of the fastest-growing markets in the world are in Asia, where I’m traveling this week.
It is hard to overstate the importance of Asia to our economic future. Asia is home to three of the world’s five largest economies, as well as a rapidly expanding middle class with rising incomes. My trip will therefore take me to four Asian democracies — India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan — each of which is an important partner for the United States. I will also participate in two summit meetings — the Group of 20 industrialized nations and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation — that will focus on economic growth.
During my first visit to India, I will be joined by hundreds of American business leaders and their Indian counterparts to announce concrete progress toward our export goal — billions of dollars in contracts that will support tens of thousands of American jobs. We will also explore ways to reduce barriers to United States exports and increase access to the Indian market.
Indonesia is a member of the G-20. Next year, it will assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — a group whose members make up a market of more than 600 million people that is increasingly integrating into a free trade area, and to which the United States exports $80 billion in goods and services each year. My administration has deepened our engagement with Asean, and for the first eight months of 2010, exports of American goods to Indonesia increased by 47 percent from the same period in 2009. This is momentum that we will build on as we pursue a new comprehensive partnership between the United States and Indonesia.
In South Korea, President Lee Myung-bak and I will work to complete a trade pact that could be worth tens of billions of dollars in increased exports and thousands of jobs for American workers. Other nations like Canada and members of the European Union are pursuing trade pacts with South Korea, and American businesses are losing opportunities to sell their products in this growing market. We used to be the top exporter to South Korea; now we are in fourth place and have seen our share of Korea’s imports drop in half over the last decade.
But any agreement must come with the right terms. That’s why we’ll be looking to resolve outstanding issues on behalf of American exporters — including American automakers and workers. If we can, we’ll be able to complete an agreement that supports jobs and prosperity in America.
South Korea is also the host of the G-20 economic forum, the organization that we have made the focal point for international economic cooperation. Last year, the nations of the G-20 worked together to halt the spread of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. This year, our top priority is achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth. This will require cooperation and responsibility from all nations — those with emerging economies and those with advanced economies; those running a deficit and those running a surplus.
Finally, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Japan, I will continue seeking new markets in Asia for American exports. We want to expand our trade relationships in the region, including through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to make sure that we’re not ceding markets, exports and the jobs they support to other nations. We will also lay the groundwork for hosting the 2011 APEC meeting in Hawaii, the first such gathering on American soil since 1993.
The great challenge of our time is to make sure that America is ready to compete for the jobs and industries of the future. It can be tempting, in times of economic difficulty, to turn inward, away from trade and commerce with other nations. But in our interconnected world, that is not a path to growth, and that is not a path to jobs. We cannot be shut out of these markets. Our government, together with American businesses and workers, must take steps to promote and sell our goods and services abroad — particularly in Asia. That’s how we’ll create jobs, prosperity and an economy that’s built on a stronger foundation.
Barack Obama is the president of the United States.
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