Bad news in the world of HIV/AIDS today:

First, this-where a gel being developed to decrease the chance of infection for women unable to insist on condoms has turned out to be counter-productive with the rate of infection actually increasing with use of the gel.

Second, this - a shocker from the African continent where the Gambian President has claimed that a mixture of herbs can cure a patient of HIV/AIDS in 3 days. All I can say is I really hope he isn't bluffing...

I recall reading in the newspapers a while ago (August or so) that someone/some company in China had managed to discover a cure. But there were no follow-ups on that and even people working in the field of HIV/AIDS have had little information on it other than the half column write up.

India, of course, has a ban on drugs claiming to be HIV/AIDS cures and its a criminal offence to claim the same publicly. But what happens when its the President who's doing the claiming and the treating - a President who says after being elected that, "I will develop the areas that vote for me, but if you don't vote for me, don't expect anything"?

39 million infected and we're still only at a stage where we can say 'restrict spread'. I'm certain that this is the challenge of our age. There have been eras with war, freedom movements and conquest, but now its coming down to dealing with the consequences of going beyond the natural parameters set for us to exploit. Health is the priority....

TOI - 'breaching' new limits

I don't usually bash about the TOI or the papers akin to it, because its like picking on a little boy with no competence nor the will or ability to change. But every once in a while, they come up with something so absurd that it demands a look in... Front page news about the 4th ODI between India and the Windies, starts with the following sentence:

"On Wednesday, Tendulkar batted like Sachin again. With a sumptuous 76-ball century against the West Indies that was aesthetic, intelligent and sexy, the maestro was rocking once again and in the mood for the World Cup."

Sachin's been called a lot of things and his innings too have had all sorts of adjectives linked with them, but this is undoubtedly the first time I have missed watching a 'sumptuous innings which was sexy'.

As we often read in stories in the TOI these days - TOI was the first to break the story of a sexy innings on Thursday...

I was shocked when I read a Pradeep Vijaykar piece the day before and I spot the 'first to break' clause. Now this is a senior, experienced and serious sports journalist who is invariably worth a read no matter how small or insignificant the sport or the piece....ridiculous. Really is...

Here's my contribution for the TOI - a pioneer in its field with yet another boundary crossed.