#AasraSuicidePreventionWorkshop@#RedHatPune Oct2019

Aasra Director & Chief Trainer #JohnsonThomas conducted a Workshop for Red Hat employees on the topic of #SuicidePrevention on the occasion of #WorldMntalHealthMonth

#AasraSuicidePreventionWorkshop At #RedHat #Mumbai #Delhi #Bengaluru #WorldMentalHealthAwarenessDay

#AasraSuicidePreventionWorkshop At #RedHat #Mumbai #Delhi #Bengaluru #WorldMentalHealthAwarenessDay #JohnsonThomas #AasraSuicidePreventionWorkshop At #RedHat #Mumbai #Delhi #Bengaluru #WorldMentalHealthAwarenessDay #JohnsonThomas #AasraSuicidePrevention #AasraDotInfo #WorldSuicidePreventionWeekSept2019 #aasraSuicidePrevention24x7Helpline912227546669 #BefriendersWorldwide #SamaritansUK #IASP #UN #WHO #AFSP #INFOTES #LifelineInternational #Google #Facebook #WorldMentalHealthAndWellnessAwarenessWeek #WorldMentalHealthAndWellnessAwarenessMonth #aasradotinfo "Problems cannot be solved with the mindset that created them" Albert Einstein https://aasrasuicideprevention.blogspot.com/2019/10/aasrasuicidepreventionworkshop-at.html The interactive experiential workshop for 90 mins was conducted at the Powai office of the company while #BlueJeans facilitated the linkup to Delhi and Bengaluru personnel Around 90 employees benefited from the exercise.

HSC results out, time for helplines Afternoon Despatch and Courrier

HSC results out, time for helplines

Friday, May 31, 2013

By Tariq Khan

With the declaration of the state HSC results yesterday, in which 1.4 million students appeared, the variouhs helplines have swung into action. Among them is Aasrra, a Navi Mumbai based helpline to assist students who are depressed following their results.

When ADC contacted Johnson Thomas, Director, Aasra, which has been providing counseling to depressed students over the years, he said, “Every day we receive 32 to 35 phone calls from depressed students and at times from their parents too. We counsel them, help calm them down and bring them to a point where they can talk about their results.Basically, we help them voice their negative energies and see the world in a different perspective.”

“Aasra has been helpful to scores of students. We are a national helpline. Students studying abroad also call us. From the beginning of January to June, we receive maximum calls from students and their parents. Also, doctors and psychiatrists, medical stores, communication centres, book stores, cafes and libraries carry our posters and bookmarks,” he added.

Anyone who wishes to contact Aasra can phone 022-2754 6669/6667 or visit www.aasra.info

#SuicidePreventionDay2013/week series 'Conquering Depression the Holistic way' AASRA-HELP talk link

#SuicidePreventionDay2013/week series 'Conquering Depression the Holistic way' AASRA-HELP talk link #IASP #AFSP #BefriendersWorldwide #BefriendersIndia #Infotes #SuicideShatters #WHO #Samaritans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF-G9Xj67h0

Depression And How We Combat It For Suicide Prevention By Mr Johnson Thomas by HELPTALKS This video is a talk by Mr Johnson Thomas HELP on 6th September 2014. Topic "Depression And How We Combat It For Suicide Prevention". This is part of the HELP Talk series at HELP,Health Education Library for People, the worlds largest free patient education library www.healthlibrary.com. Speaker's Info-http://www.healthlibrary.com/helptalk2561.htm

Goan Connection Wins India's Highest Journalism Honour

Goan Connection Wins India's Highest Journalism Honour

Started after selling an apartment because no one would fund it, India's first comprehensive rural newspaper Goan Connection has won India's highest journalism honour, the Ramnath Goenka Award, as it ends its pilot phase and prepares for scaleup to 1.4 million readers next month.

      The award was presented to Goan Connection journalists Neelesh Misra and Manish Mishra by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Goan Connection won the award in the 'Uncovering India Invisible" category, for which the newspaper competed with papers in not just Hindi but English and other languages.

Neelesh Misra, who founded Goan Connection www.gaonconnection.com) in December 2012, is India's most famous storyteller. His national radio storytelling show Yaadon Ka Idiot Box with Neelesh Misra on 92.7 Big FM reaches 45 cities, 1,200 towns and 50,000 villages. He is also an acclaimed Bollywood scriptwriter-lyricist, author and journalist. Neelesh Misra won the Ramnath Goenka award in the same category for the Hindustan Times earlier, for a series reported from insurgency areas. Manish Mishra is an associate editor with Goan Connection. He has reported widely on rural issues.

      The newspaper is now working to achieve its next big milestone-to become a daily.

       In its first year of existence, Goan Connection Editor-in-Chief Dr. S.B. Misra also won the UNFPA-backed Ladli Award for writing on gender issues, in the "Best Editorial" category.  Dr. Misra, an author and retired geologist, also won the same award for North India in the Best Editorial category.

The Goan Connection newspaper is a 12-page, all-colour, broadsheet weekly. In its pilot phase, Goan Connection reached out to 40 districts across UP, six districts in western Bihar, and Ranchi district in Jharkhand, with 15,000 copies. The newspaper will now assume planned levels by scaling up to 100,000 copies - reaching out to 1.4 million readers every week with at least 14 readers reading every copy of the weekly. Goan Connection seeks to fill a huge vacuum in the Indian media space - there is no prominent voice for rural India, which makes up more than 68 percent of the country's population, in the mainstream media. According to a five-year study of mainstream Indian newspapers by the think tank CSDS, mainstream papers devote only two per cent of space to rural India. Goan Connection is bridging this gap.

    "The Ramnath Goenka Award is a huge boost of strength for us at Goan Connection, and it validates the fact that good, honest content done with conviction always finds its rightful place," said Neelesh Misra, founder of Goan Connection. "We aim to, with all humility, continue our work to do good old-fashioned honest journalism."

    The biggest battle has been the distribution of the paper to remote, media-dark areas where newspapers either do not reach at all, or reach sparingly in miniscule numbers when someone goes to the rural hubs where the markets are located. "I think the one operational achievement that we are really proud of over the past 20 months has been that we have created new distribution verticals deep into rural areas," said Yamini Tripathi, head of operations at Goan Connection. "We have been using innovative ways - whether it is partnerships with local self-help groups, farmer clubs, schools and colleges even as we create new distribution verticals or offer the opportunity to our own journalists to do reporting."

    Additionally, as it works with major brands, Goan Connection has also created something unique for the Indian media space - customized distribution plans in keeping with the priorities of the respective brands. Several brands have listed their priority areas - down to village lists - where the newspaper is being delivered.

     Goan Connection content includes rural reportage ("Goan Chaupal"), agriculture issues and innovation in agriculture issues ("Kheti Kisaani"), a page dedicated to women ("Nari Diary"), skills and aspirations ("Hunar"), top notch editorial page content by leading experts, iveting stories of the transformation of rural India ("Badalta India"), useful information from beauty tips to the use of mobile phones and the internet to health guidance ("Baat Pate Ki").

      "We are really, really proud of our small but extremely dedicated team that has done the undoable. Their level of passion and dedication inspires us every single day," said Neelesh Misra.

AASRA-UMANG 2014(NM College) Creating Awareness Among Youth -Aug 14th to 17th

AASRA-UMANG 2014(NM College) Creating Awareness Among Youth

Dignity and Justice is not negotiable

DIGNITY IS NOT NEGOTIABLE

One morning at our Law College, when our new teacher to "Introduction to the Rights" entered the classroom, the first thing that he did was to ask the name of a student who was seated on the first bench: "What is your name?"

"My name is Juan, Sir."

"Leave the classroom, and I don't want to ever see you in my class ever!" screamed the unpleasant teacher.

Juan was bewildered. When he got hold of his senses, he got up quickly, collected his belongings and left the classroom.

All were scared and angry, however nobody spoke anything.
"Well!" - said the new teacher, "whom do the enacted Laws serve?..."

We were afraid, but slowly gained confidence and we began to answer his questions.

"So that there is an order in our society".

"No"! The teacher answered

"To accomplish them."

"No"!

"So that the wrong people pay for their actions?"

"No! Is it that nobody knows to answer this question?!

"So that there is justice" said a girl timidly.

"At last! That's it... so that there is justice. And now, what is the use of justice"?

All began to feel uneasy by such rude attitude. However, we followed answering:

"To safeguard the human rights..."

"Well, what more?" asked the teacher.

"To differentiate the right from the wrong... To reward the good..."

Ok, that is not bad; however... answer this question:

Did I act correctly when expelling Juan from the classroom?..."

All were quiet, nobody answered.

"I want a decisive and unanimous answer!"

"No!" we all replied in unison.

"Could you'll say I committed injustice?"

"Yes!"

"And why did nobody do anything in that respect?

So why do we need Rules and Laws if we don't have the necessary will to practice them? Each one of you has the obligation of when you witness an injustice. All of you! Do not stay quiet, never again! Go and call Juan," he said staring at me.

On that day I received the most practical lesson in my course of Law.

When we don't defend our Rights, we lose our Dignity, and Dignity is not negotiable.

Prof Ian Primer, World renowned Geologist, explains about Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Subject:  Professor Ian Primer   Very Interesting read but I have not confirmed the facts.     Ian Rutherford Plimer is an Australian geologist, professor emeritus of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne, professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide, and the director of multiple mineral exploration and mining companies. He has published 130 scientific papers, six books and edited the Encyclopedia of Geology.     Born 12 February 1946 (age 67) Residence Australia Nationality Australian Fields Earth Science, Geology,Mining Engineering Institutions University of New England,University of Newcastle,University of Melbourne,University of Adelaide Alma mater University of New South Wales,Macquarie University Thesis The pipe deposits of tungsten-molybdenum-bismuth in eastern Australia (1976) Notable awards Eureka Prize (1995, 2002),Centenary Medal(2003), Clarke Medal(2004)         Where Does the Carbon Dioxide Really Come From? Professor Ian Plimer could not have said it better! If you've read his book you will agree, this is a good summary.    PLIMER: "Okay, here's the bombshell. The volcanic eruption in Iceland . Since its first spewing of volcanic ash has, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you have made in the past five years to control CO2 emissions on our planet - all of you.   Of course, you know about this evil carbon dioxide that we are trying to suppress - it’s that vital chemical compound that every plant requires to live and grow and to synthesize into oxygen for us humans and all animal life. I know....it's very disheartening to realize that all of the carbon emission savings you have accomplished while suffering the inconvenience and expense of driving Prius hybrids, buying fabric grocery bags, sitting up tillmidnight to finish your kids "The Green Revolution" science project, throwing out all of your non-green cleaning supplies, using only two squares of toilet paper, putting a brick in your toilet tank reservoir, selling your SUV and speedboat, vacationing at home instead of abroad, nearly getting hit every day on your bicycle, replacing all of your 50p  light bulbs with £5 light bulbs ..... well, all of those things you have done have all gone down the tubes in just four days.   The volcanic ash emitted into the Earth's atmosphere in just four days - yes, FOUR DAYS - by that volcano in Iceland has totally erased every single effort you have made to reduce the evil beast, carbon.  And there are around 200 active volcanoes on the planet spewing out this crud at any one time - EVERY DAY.   I don't really want to rain on your parade too much, but I should mention that when the volcano Mt.  Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire human race had emitted in all its years on earth.   Yes, folks, Mt.  Pinatubo was active for over one year - think about it!!!!   Of course, I shouldn't spoil this 'touchy-feely tree-hugging' moment and mention the effect of solar and cosmic activity and the well-recognized 800-year global heating and cooling cycle, which keeps happening despite our completely insignificant efforts to affect climate change.   And I do wish I had a silver lining to this volcanic ash cloud, but the fact of the matter is that the bush fire season across the western USA and Australia this year alone will negate your efforts to reduce carbon in our world for the next two to three years.   And it happens every year.   Just remember that your government just tried to impose a whopping carbon tax on you, on the basis of the bogus 'human-caused' climate-change scenario.   Hey, isn’t it interesting how they don’t mention 'Global Warming' anymore, but just 'Climate Change' - you know why? It’s because the planet has COOLED by 0.7 degrees in the past few years and these global warming bull artists got caught with their pants down.   And, just keep in mind that you might yet have an Emissions Trading Scheme - that whopping new tax - imposed on you that will achieve absolutely nothing except make you poorer.  It won’t stop any volcanoes from erupting, that’s for sure.   But, hey, relax......give the world a hug and have a nice day!"

Be Compassionate for Life if you want to be TRULY Productive!

GREED is NOT GOOD!. Giftalism - Focus on building communities instead of Commodities. Build an Ecosystem for the GOOD! Generosity is Generative. It creates new value! Stop blind consumption and start GIVING without expecting RETURNS! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_QLGvp_stI

Aasra in Fact checker

FactChecker

http://factchecker.in/family-problems-illness-major-causes-for-suicide/

Family Problems, Illness Major Causes For Suicide

July 24, 2014 by Chaitanya Mallapur 0 Comments

There were 134,799 suicides across the country in 2013, according to data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under Ministry of Home Affairs. That’s an increase of 12% year-on-year. It also means that there were 369 suicidal deaths every day in India or 15 every hour!

Family problems is the number one reason accounting for 24% (32,325) of the total suicides followed by illness at 19.6% (26,426). Almost 89 suicides were reported each day due to family problems while 72 deaths were reported because of ill health.  According to Johnson Thomas, Director of AASRA, a Mumbai based organisation, that has an helpline for people with suicidal tendencies, says that  they get almost 50-55 calls a day from people in distress and that the major reasons are lack of communication and misunderstandings in relationships, students unable to handle peer pressure etc.  He also highlighted the fact that suicide attempts made by females are more but go unrecorded where as males use more violent means to end life hence increasing their chances and numbers.

Other categories that accounted for suicides were  ”Other Causes ” 19.2% (25,838), Causes Not Know 15.6% (20965), Drug Abuse / Addiction 3.4% (4,591) and Love Affairs 3.3% (4,495).

Three categories saw a decline in suicides rates. Poverty, property dispute and physical abuse (rape,etc) reported a fall of 18.5%, 8% and 4%, respectively.

The ratio is skewed towards men as there were 248 male suicides every day in India. The overall male:female ratio of suicide victims was 67:33.

Maharashtra reported the maximum suicide deaths at 16,622 followed by Tamil Nadu (16,601), Andhra Pradesh (14,607), West Bengal (13,055) and Karnataka (11266).

In terms of mega cities, Chennai reported the maximum suicidal deaths at 2,450 followed by Bengaluru (2,033), Delhi (1753) and Mumbai (1322).

The chart below explains the reasons for suicidal deaths in India.

Another ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ , this time from Maharashtra

Another ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ , this time from Maharashtra

Jalna girl selected to play in World Cup Football of a different kind in South America

Mumbai | Jalna : July 31, 2014

Jalna girl Rohini Pashte has been selected to represent India at the Homeless World Cup Football in Santiago, Chile this October. It’s indeed a matter of great pride for 12-year-old who has come a long way from her village of Pithori Shirasgaon in Ambad block of Jalna district. .. 

The differences between Pithori Shirasgaon and the Chilean capital could not be starker. While Rohini’s village is home to a mere 2000 people, Santiago, with 6.3 million population is among the prosperous cities of Latin America.

No girl from Jalna has ever travelled to South America. Rohini Pashte will be the first to make the 14,300-kilometre-long journey from Maharashtra’s Marathwada region to Chile. This will also be the first time she will be travelling by airplane - something the pre-teen or, for that matter, anyone in her family and village had ever dreamed.

What makes Rohini’s accomplishment all the more striking is that she comes from a region that is notorious for the continued prevalence of a practice that was outlawed over 80 years ago: child marriage. It is still common for girls in Marathwada to be forced to drop out of school and be married off by their 13^th birthday. Many die prematurely during childbirth. In fact, Rohini’s elder sister was married off at the age of 14. This was due to a social mindset that views girls as liabilities and doesn’t privilege their rights or education. Needless to say, the sister’s fate was also sealed by poverty.

The Pashtes are a poor family, leading a hand-to-mouth existence. They own a 2-acre plot of land. Rohini’s father died some years ago and the onus of earning a livelihood fell on their mother. She works as a daily wage labourer on other farmers’ fields, earning a meagre sum of Rs 70-100 per day, well below the minimum wage.  Working from dawn to dusk, the mother could not give her children as much attention as she wanted, let alone their education. So Rohini’s grandfather took her brother under his care to secure his right to education. But Rohini, being a girl was left behind. Her mother made her drop out of school in class 4 to work alongside her in the field to make ends meet. But this didn’t diminish the young girl’s desire to go to school.

One day Rohini’s uncle mentioned that a new school had opened in Ambad: the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, a government-supported, NGO-run boarding school where education, food, clothing, bedding and medicines are provided free of cost to underprivileged girls from disadvantaged communities-girls like Rohini.

At first, Rohini’s mother was sceptical about sending her daughter to a school 30 kilometres away, as she herself had never set foot outside their village. But when she heard that the school would provide her daughter all the facilities free of cost, she decided to send Rohini there. And this proved to be a turning point in the young girl’s life!

Recalling her early days at KGBV, teachers say she was a shy and reticent. Rohini felt overwhelmed by her new surroundings and peers. She kept to herself and barely managed to keep up in the classroom. But it was in the field of sports that she showed her potential. which was rightly spotted by the sports teacher Rafiq Sheikh. He encouraged Rohini to participate in every game. He also introduced her to Radha Shinde, an older student and budding sportsperson. “Radha is like an elder sister to me. With her guidance I was able to perform both in the classroom and the playground” says Rohini.  

Initially, Rohini took part in only Kho kho and track events . Then when she watched Radha playing football, she felt inspired and followed in her footsteps. Soon Rohini began to excel in the sport that required magic feet..

“After joining KGBV, I received quality training in sports. In our school both studies and sports are given equal importance. I love sports so much that I don’t feel like going home during the vacations. I feel like staying back in school to practise”, Rohini chuckles.

It has been four years since Rohini began playing football and Kho kho. She has represented the school at various competitions across the state. Rafiq Sheikh makes it a point to ensure that the girls participate in every inter-school competition to gain exposure and confidence. “He tells us before every match that no matter how small the villages we come from, we can outshine any school, in any sport if we practise hard and play well. This motto is engrained in our minds,” says Rohini. When Rohini goes back to her village for the holidays, she gathers all the girls together to impart sports training. At first, this didn’t go down well with many, including Rohini's mother, who believed, “It doesn’t look nice for girls to be so boisterous and play football.” But ever since Rohini got selected to play internationally, the mood and mindset towards sports in Pithori Shirasgaon had gradually changed. Posters have been put up around the village congratulating Rohini on her success.

It is this “yes, we can” spirit that saw Rohini’s team winning the Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyan, held in Jalgaon in 2013 under the initiative of Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs. It was at this event that a representative from Slum Soccer spotted Rohini and signed her up. Slum Soccer is a non-profit organisation that reaches out to the homeless, slum-dwellers and disadvantaged children from villages, using football as a tool for social empowerment. At a football event organised by Slum Soccer in Nagpur, Rohini was selected to represent India in Santiago, Chile. There she will meet, interact and play football with 500 children from 64 participating nations from around the world.

About the Homeless World Cup

The Homeless World Cup was founded by Mel Young from Scotland and Harald Schmied from Austria, who came up with the idea at a conference on homelessness, in Cape Town in 2001. They both believed that it was possible to “change the lives of homeless people through football” and two years later in 2003, the first Homeless World Cup tournament took place in Graz in Austria.

The Homeless World Cup uses the power of football to energise homeless people so they can change their own lives. It supports grass-roots football programmes and social enterprise development via a network of 70 national partners and celebrates its work by organising an annual football tournament that unites teams of homeless people from countries all around the globe.

Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Ms Najma Heptulla on Sunday inaugurated the New Horizon Child Development Cente and Hearing Aid Centre for Adults and Children

Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Ms Najma Heptulla on Sunday inaugurated the New Horizon Child Development Cente and Hearing Aid Centre for Adults and Children at Goregaon, Mumbai.  The Centre provides services for differently abled children and they  include Developmental Pediatrics, Clinical Psychology and Counseling, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Remedial Education and Nutrition. Dr. Najma Heptulla in her address stressed on the need for such comprehensive Child Development Centres all over the country to address the needs of the differently abled children