The little matter of the waist Premium
The Hindu
Discover the significance of waist measurement and how it can predict the risk of heart disease.
It is defined as the narrowest part between the lowest rib and the hip. The waist.
Cut to an everyday scene at the airport: “Didn’t I tell you to put everything on the scanner? Belt, purse, watch, mobile, everything.”
“But sir,” the man in front me in the queue gently mumbled.
“No questions, please follow the airport rules.”
One more journey to the scanner, and he was back, looking nervous. “Raise your hands on to the sides.” He looked like a child playing “aeroplane, aeroplane”.
And that’s when the accident took place. Losing the hold of his hands, his trousers fell. Shrieks from fellow passengers drowned the mumble of an apology from the security officer. His long, oversized shirt saved the day.
Now a bit of history. Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet (1796-1894) lived in Belgium. He was a polymath and genius, and his level of intelligence was considered much ahead of his time. When the French government wanted someone to develop a simple formula to pick out healthy citizens for the purpose of military recruitment, the only person they could think of was Quetelet, and he readily accepted.
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.