Artificial viruses have been developed to deliver nucleic acid to the targeted tumour in the body to kill the cancerous cells

Syed Akbar

Hyderabad: Artificial viruses have been developed to deliver nucleic acid to the targeted tumour in the body to kill the cancerous cells.

The development of artificial viruses through nanotechnology will bring about a sea change in the gene therapy research, which has thus far been in trouble due to a paucity of acceptable vector systems to deliver nucleic acids to patients for therapy.

According to Prof Andrew D Miller of Imperial College Genetic Therapies Centre, London, these improved synthetic non-viral vectors provide a solution to various infectious diseases and cancers of ovaries, cervix and lungs.

"Viral vectors are efficient but may be too dangerous. Synthetic non-viral vectors are inherently safer but are currently not efficient enough to be clinically viable. The solution for gene therapy lies with improved synthetic non-viral vectors systems," he pointed out.

Prof Miller is currently in Hyderabad interacting with scientists and researchers at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology. The Genetic Therapies Centre has developed an alternative virus-like nanoparticle non-viral vector system.

"In doing this, we hope to develop a single non-viral vector platform technology system wherein all the fundamental problems could be solved simultaneously. Gratifyingly, the goal of a real non-viral vector platform technology system was recently achieved with the successful development of liposome:mu:DNA (LMD) systems," he pointed out.

These LMD systems offer the opportunity to derive tailor-made non-viral delivery systems by a process of systematic modular upgrading. Fundamentally, such systems have many potential advantages compared with virus-based vector systems including significantly lower toxicity/immunogenicity and potential for oncogenicity, size independent delivery of nucleic acids, significantly simpler quality control, and substantially easier pharmaceutical and regulatory requirements, according to Prof Miller.

He said pre-clinical trials are on and clinical trials are expected to begin from the new year.

US embassy in Baghdad: Illegal workers from Andhra Pradesh labour it out to build world's largest US Embassy

August 3, 2007
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 2: Scores of illegal workers from Andhra Pradesh are racing against time in Baghdad to complete what is being projected as the world's largest and most expensive US embassy in the world.
The US plans to open its diplomatic enclave in Baghdad, Iraq, by September and the task of meeting the deadline lies on the shoulders of workers from Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad districts. Illegal workers from Andhra Pradesh constitute a large labour force engaged in the construction of the new US embassy on a 42-hectare compound on the banks of the river Tigris. The US and Iraqi authorities have also employed workers from the Philippines and Bangladesh.
According to unofficial estimates, around 40,000 workers from Jagtyal and Sircilla in Karimnagar, Armoor in Nizamabad and Nirmal in Adilabad districts are employed by American and Iraqi forces in Iraq. Many of them are illegal and have made their entry into Iraq without the Iraqi visas. They are mainly engaged to work in military bunkers supplying food and taking care of the petty needs of the military forces. About a hundred are said to be working on the new US embassy site, about the size of the Vatican. The US is spending 592 million US dollars on the project.
The State government's NRI cell does not have a record on the AP workers in Iraq since 90 per cent of those employed there are illegal. The Andhra workers are picked up from Kuwait and UAE. Poor and unskilled workers from these backward districts of Telangana visit the Gulf countries on a visit or tourist visa and approach the local recruiting agents, who in turn hand them over to the US military officials for employment. Illegal Andhra workers are in great demand in the Arab world as they are considered a cheap labour source.
The Indian government has imposed restrictions on unskilled workers leaving for Iraq and this is the reason why they travel to the Gulf to be picked up by local recruiting agents to leave for Iraq.
"The major trouble we face is the risk of attacks by locals fighting against the presence of the US forces on Iraqi soil. We stay in bunkers but the money they pay us is quite good. In Karimnagar we can never earn so much money," says middle aged Tirupati Reddy of Laxmipur village in Jagtyal mandal. Tirupati Reddy worked in Baghdad for a couple of months.
With UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Gulf tightening their immigration rules, unskilled labourers from backward Telangana districts are now preferring the strife-torn Iraq for employment. Since the workers are taken by US military aircraft, the visa and immigration rules are relaxed. The workers are free to stay as long as they wish and there's no immigration restriction on their stay. The return is also as smooth as their entry, those who worked in Iraq told this correspondent.
"I returned early as life was really hard for me in the bunker. Many from my village have been working there for the last two years. It is the question of adjusting to the hard life. Once we reached Iraq we were trained in wearing bullet proof jacket and hiding in bunkers," K Mahesh of Kondagutta village in Karimnagar pointed out.
The salary offered to them, however, is relatively high, but workers are often subjected to abuse. While unskilled labour from the State get about Rs 5000 a month on an average in UAE and other Gulf countries, those employed in Iraq are paid between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000.
Ramana Reddy from Malial mandal in Karimnagar returned after working at the US embassy site for some time. He said working at the 21-building complex, that will house the new US diplomatic enclave, was quite hard.
"We do not know what happens the next moment in Baghdad. Though we are protected by the US forces, working in Iraq is really difficult. But we risk life for the sake of big money. We get three to six times more pay in Iraq than in Dubai. I was paid 1000 US dollars around Rs 41,000 a month," he said.

ICAAP8: Biz Enterprises by HIV Women In India

August 22, 2007
By Syed Akbar
Colombo, Aug 21: Women suffering from HIV/AIDS in India will soon be able to set up their own business enterprises so that they could lead an economically independent life.
The UNDP's Regional HIV and Development Programme launched an economic programme exclusively for women suffering from HIV/AIDS in India, Cambodia and China, at the ongoing 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific here on Tuesday.
The economic programme named Women and Wealth Project will enable groups of women living with HIV run small, market-savvy social enterprises, with technical and marketing support from United National Development Programme, Population and Community Development Association of Thailand, international agencies, and the private sector. The Population and Community Development Association will provide the HIV positive women with business management training to assist them in developing business plans before establishing their specific enterprises.
“Access to credit is a human right, as is the right for women living with HIV to be economically secure and independent. The beauty of this project is the economic empowerment it provides for the women, individually and collectively, and using a new and fresh approach through the strategy of business to provide them with business skills that they can use in overcoming the barriers associated with living with HIV,” said Mechai Viravaidya, founder and chairman of PDA, Thailand.
“As I have often said, to combat the issue of HIV we all must think out of
the box.”
Besides providing regular income and greater economic security for women living with HIV, this project is also focused on establishing a sustainable socially focused business. The Women Wealth Project also aims to reduce stigma and discrimination, improving self-esteem and camaraderie among the women, and ensuring ARV adherence. For example, in India and Cambodia, HIV/AIDS infected women employees are on anti-retroviral therapy and the new safe working environment allows them to support each other and take their ARV together.
When each business is generating sufficient revenue, the net profits will be pooled into initiating a micro-credit program specifically designed for people living with HIV and based on PDA’s “Positive Partnership Project.
The PPP was devised by PDA and has been highly successful in Thailand in providing economic opportunities for people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. This project is now being replicated in India and China on a massive scale to help HIV positive women. It is economic empowerment as a means to reducing stigma and discrimination.
“In a rapidly feminising epidemic, the socio-economic independence of women is essential – it enables women to cope with the devastating impact of the epidemic on their family life and sources of livelihood. Smart skills and regular incomes can reduce situations of HIV-vulnerability and helps positive women live with dignity and security,” said Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, regional HIV/AIDS team leader and programme coordinator, UNDP Regional HIV and Development Programme.
Indian HIV positive women will follow in the footsteps of their Cambodian ounterparts who have set up a garment manufacturing business called “Modern Dress Sewing Factory” employing 30 HIV positive women. In India, the Positive Women Network has already established a conceptual design and printing business called “Social Light Communications” employing two HIV positive women and two men.
Each business will be marketed under the common “WE” brand (Women Empowered), with the aim to gaining market access for their products and services both locally and internationally.
“This project is a demonstration that we can be economically independent if given a level playing field and a little support. We would request private sector companies to extend preferential trade offers with us,” said Ms. Srim Phan of MDSF. “Our main appeal is to garment exporters and importers, and apparel industries,” she adds.
“We are not looking for charity, but partnerships for empowerment. If we can access even a miniscule fraction of the market, it can make a big difference to our lives,” said P Kousalya, client services manager for SLC, Chennai.
“The process of learning news skills and working together with groups of HIV positive women in other countries is very powerful and empowering. WWP has helped us regain self-confidence and dignity, which were shattered after the diagnosis of HIV infection,” said Ms. Li of Colorful Clouds Yunnan.

ICAAP8: UNAIDS for more funds to battle HIV

August 21, 2007
By Syed Akbar
Colombo, Aug 20: Asia-Pacific nations will face a serious challenge in sustaining their response to AIDS unless they become less reliant on external donors and commit more national funds and human resources to AIDS programmes, feels the United Nations programme on AIDS.
UNAIDS Asia-Pacific regional director JVR Prasada Rao told the opening plenary of the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific in this capital city of Sri Lanka on Monday that resources for national AIDS programs in Asia, while increasing, are insufficient for a durable response to AIDS.
National governments' budgets for AIDS programmes in the region account for only 30 per cent of the US$ 1.2 billion of allocated funds for AIDS. With the exception of Thailand, international donors fund the balance.
Although prevalence rates remain low across the region, rates of new infections are rising in a number of countries such as Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh.
"We need continued vigilance to ensure that HIV prevention and treatment are reaching people most at risk and most in need," he said,warning against complacency.
The UNAIDS official pointed out that achieving regional targets of Universal Access to HIV prevention treatment and care demands a sharply defined multi-sectored government response and a revitalized civil society to confront legal and social barriers that hinder access to HIV prevention and treatment services.
While applauding harm reduction policies in Malaysia, China and India, revived prevention efforts in Thailand, and outreach to men who have sex with men in Cambodia, Rao stressed that stigma and discriminatory laws still poses serious obstacles in the region and demanded that national policies focus on the "forgotten faces of the AIDS epidemic."
Prasada Rao also expressed concern about the rise in political instability and conflict in many Asia Pacific countries which thwarts access to HIV prevention and treatment programmes.
"Apart from the direct toll of human lives, conflict also exacerbates existing problems of poverty and displaces thousands, making them more vulnerable to health related problems."
The UNAIDS called upon civil society groups including people living with HIV, to continue and to increase pressure on governments to deliver concrete AIDS programmes.

ICAAP8: Women, inheritance and HIV

August 20, 2007
By Syed Akbar
Colombo, Aug 19: Depriving women of their rightful access to inheritance and property deepens their vulnerabilities to HIV and hence urgent steps should be initiated by legislative and judicial systems to protect them.
The 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, which got off to a colourful start on Sunday evening in this picturesque capital city of Sri Lanka, expressed concern that neglect of women suffering from AIDS on property inheritance would have a devastating impact on the AIDS/HIV control programmes around the world.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha inaugurated the five-day Congress being held at a crucial period when AIDS combined with tuberculosis and malaria is threatening to emerge as a major health nuisance in the Asia-Pacific region.
Earlier in the day, at the “Asia Pacific Court of Women on Inheritance and Property Rights: From Dispossession to Livelihoods,” organized by UNDP and Asian Women’s Human Rights Council, health and scientific experts felt that “there is a crucial link between women’s rights to housing, property and inheritance and the right to be protected from HIV.”
Discriminatory practices increase poverty, reduce livelihood options and reinforce inadequate housing, raising women’s risk to HIV and decreasing their ability to proper treatment and care.
The experts or the “Eminent Jury,” which comprised leading development practitioners, judges, human rights activists and community leaders, included Miloon Kothari, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing; Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane (Sri Lanka), Justice Kalyan Shrestha (Nepal), Cherie Honkala (United States) and Lawrence Liang (India).
After listening to the powerful testimonials by 24 women from nine countries on the denial of inheritance and property rights and their dispossessions by families and societies because of their HIV status, they said countries in the region needed to adopt specific legislation to protect basic human rights of people living with HIV including their rights to housing, properties and livelihoods.
The Court of Women is the first regional summit on the issue of inheritance and property rights of women in the context of HIV in Asia Pacific. It was a creative platform to give visibility to the lives and voices of those who are increasingly being pushed to the margins of societies and policy because of their HIV status and poor living conditions. More than 350 women from across the region, including a large number of women from Sri Lanka, participated.
The day was dominated by thought-provoking real life stories of women infected and impacted by HIV, narrated in first person, and informed analyses by “Expert Witnesses” in a unique format based on the feminist methodology of weaving together the personal with the political. The subjective testimonies of the “testifiers” were presented under four categories such as Poverty, Violence and HIV; Culture, Marginalisation and HIV; Evaluating State Responses; and Voices of Resistance and Hope. The objective realities came from the statements by Expert Witnesses.
In her testimony of betrayal, HIV, violation and finally, determination; Nguyen Thai Hai Yen, a young HIV positive widow from Vietnam said how powerless she had become at her husband’s house since his death in 2004.
The properties that belonged to him had been taken back by his father and she had been living the life of a bonded labourer. Though she had been asked to leave the house by her father in law, she had been fighting back by staying on. She, however, had to pay a price for her grit in the form of all her earnings. She said there were countless women who were in her condition. “Let’s care and act to protect the inheritance and property rights of women living with HIV because their rights are easily violated by their own people and community.”
Kamalamma from India narrated the inter-generational impact of the epidemic. After losing her daughter and grand-daughters, she is now struggling hard to keep her HIV positive grand daughter alive against discrimination, eviction from landlords and exclusion within family. The other testifiers from Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, PNG and South Africa also had similar stories to tell, stories of dispossession and disinheritance, sometimes even the access to their children, because of their HIV status.
The story of a widow from Sri Lanka was equally compelling and found resonance in the voices of several others. Upon the death of her husband, who committed suicide on knowing he was positive, her house was burned down by a mob led by her brother in law. From a happy and protected wife and mother, overnight she was thrown into sheer destitution. However, with the support of some civil society organizations and other people living with HIV, she had managed to gain her life back. “To reclaim my house,
which was legally registered in our name, I would need to go to the Court.
I would need legal support. Who is there to advise me? Who is there to take up my case? Who is there to deliver justice to me?” she asked.
Opening the Court, Prof. Savitri Goonesekere, leading civil rights activist in Sri Lanka said the strong inequality women face in the region was at the root of the problem of the denial of rights. She called for steps that could bring about fundamental changes so that the status of women in society is improved and their vulnerability to HIV is reduced.
Mr. Neil Buhne, UN Resident Coordinator, Sri Lanka, said women were being shunned exactly at the time when they needed help the most. Women were very important to the progress of the region and their protection would enhance it further, he said. Too many women were vulnerable to exploitative practices. In her address, Ms. Deborah Landey, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS, said the ability of women to access property was directly linked to their ability to protect themselves. HIV was
showing up the unequal status of women. There should be legislative measures to protect them, she added.
Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, Regional HIV/AIDS Team Leader, stressed the need to address the increasingly dangerous nexus between HIV and the inequalities in women’s access to inheritance and property rights to contain the spread of the epidemic. When women were denied their rights to property and inheritance, they were robbed of the social and economic empowerment needed to reduce vulnerability to HIV and cope with its impact on families and communities, she said. Access to these rights would empower women to cope with the multiple burdens of the epidemic.
Madhu Bhushan, Coordinator, AWHRC, India, ever since the first Court held in Lahore, Pakistan in 1992-93, the Women’s Court had moved across the world covering critical issues. The courts had also provided the perspectives of women on issues such as wars, racism, development, globalization and “fundamentalisation” of faiths.

Cell phone virus called The Da Vinci Code

2007
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, July 29: A cell phone virus named after the controversial film, The Da Vinci Code, has hit mobile phone users in the city, two months after it made its entry into Mumbai.
Unlike common viruses, the Da Vinci Code virus attacks only mobile phones equipped with wireless Bluetooth technology. It also spreads to laptop computers connected through mobile phones.
According to computer virus experts, the virus has crippled at least a thousand cell phones in the State Capital since it made entry a week ago. The virus simply enters cell phones through a pop-up message enticing the users with a preview of the film, The Da Vinci Code. Once it makes its way into the cell phone or the laptop, it clandestinely destroys the stored data crippling the services.
"A photograph containing an eye with a cross in it appeared on my cell phone. And with this the data stored in the phone got erased. The phone book was the first one to be affected," businessman Y Srinivasa Rao.
While the talk of the Da Vinci Code virus attacking cell phones with Bluetooth technology is spreading fast in the city, a few software experts argue that the virus was not a fresh one. Someone has just renamed an existing cell phone virus to draw the attention.
Says anti-virus technology expert MH Nobel, "there's no such virus as The Da Vinci Code virus. It is just a rumour making rounds, first in Mumbai and now in Hyderabad".
The virus can be removed from the hard disk of the cell phone through simple formatting. But given the cost of cell phones with Bluetooth technology, even formatting the hard disk costs anything between Rs 2000 and 2500.
This is the first major virus to spread in the country after the world's first-ever mobile phone virus was detected two years ago.

And now a cell phone virus call Da Vinci

2007
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, July 29: A cell phone virus named after the controversial film, The Da Vinci Code, has hit mobile phone users in the city, two months after it made its entry into Mumbai.
Unlike common viruses, the Da Vinci Code virus attacks only mobile phones equipped with wireless Bluetooth technology. It also spreads to laptop computers connected through mobile phones.
According to computer virus experts, the virus has crippled at least a thousand cell phones in the State Capital since it made entry a week ago. The virus simply enters cell phones through a pop-up message enticing the users with a preview of the film, The Da Vinci Code. Once it makes its way into the cell phone or the laptop, it clandestinely destroys the stored data crippling the services.
"A photograph containing an eye with a cross in it appeared on my cell phone. And with this the data stored in the phone got erased. The phone book was the first one to be affected," businessman Y Srinivasa Rao.
While the talk of the Da Vinci Code virus attacking cell phones with Bluetooth technology is spreading fast in the city, a few software experts argue that the virus was not a fresh one. Someone has just renamed an existing cell phone virus to draw the attention.
Says anti-virus technology expert MH Nobel, "there's no such virus as The Da Vinci Code virus. It is just a rumour making rounds, first in Mumbai and now in Hyderabad".
The virus can be removed from the hard disk of the cell phone through simple formatting. But given the cost of cell phones with Bluetooth technology, even formatting the hard disk costs anything between Rs 2000 and 2500.
This is the first major virus to spread in the country after the world's first-ever mobile phone virus was detected two years ago.

Myths & Beliefs: Is "trio-seven" inauspicious for marriages?

July 7, 2007

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, July 6: "Trio seven" or 07-07-07 is not an auspicious number as far as entering into wedlock is concerned.
Senior city Vastu-numerologist Rachaa Suresh argues that 07-07-07 may sound numerically interesting but numerologically it is devastating. "It is not the right occasion for marriages. But unfortunately many do not know this and have opted for wedding muhurat. The number is as fascinating as its devastating effect on the married life of people who enter into wedlock on this day," points out Suresh.
He told this correspondent that astrology and numerology do not agree on certain events which come once in a life, like marriage. While astrology has thithi and nakshatra, numerology believes more in numbers than in heavenly bodies.
"Astrology, the study of planets and stars, may not find anything wrong with 07-07-07. But numerology, which is based on the numbers game, does find a severe defect with the date. The date is fine as far as regular events like travel, inauguration of showrooms and general celebrations are concerned. And certainly not with marriage, which according to Indian customs is solemnised only once," he says.
Suresh also says that another "auspicious" date - August 26, 2007 - when a mass marriage muhurat is fixed by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is also numerologically not good. Incidentally, the marriage of Nara Lokesh, son of former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, has been fixed for 26-08-2007.
The argument Suresh puts forward in support of his claim is that numerologically 8, 5, and 4 numbers are inauspicious for wedding muhurats. The numbers that totals up 8 are 8, 17 and 26 while 5, 14 and 23 totals up 5. Numbers 4, 13, 22 and 31 totals up 4. So days like 8, 17, 26, 5, 14, 23, 4, 13, 22 and 31 are inauspicious.
"In the case of 07-07-2007, the number adds up to 23 which in simple terms means 5 (2 plus 3). And 5 is inauspicious. In the case of 26-08-2007, the number 26 is inauspicious. Either the individual date, month or year or their sum total should not add up to 8, 5 or 4," Suresh argues.
He said he had been keeping track of marriages performed on such dates and most of them are on the rocks. The couple may live together but not enjoy the married life. He refers to the "marital trouble" of a Telugu film actor who was married on 17. He is in legal trouble now. He also cites the example of a relative of Cooperation Minister M Fareeduddin who is now in a marriage row. The relative was also married on 17.
Another numerologist Mudigonda Gopikrishna points out that the number 7 signifies philosophy and sainthood while marriage stands for love, procreation and progress. "Both these traits do not agree. In case of mass marriages, the planetary positions do not agree with individual birth charts. About 70,000 marriages are planned on 07-07-2007. But the stars of only a few people match with the date. Even astrologically the date has no significance," he said.

Link between infertility and female genital tuberculosis

By Syed Akbar

Hyderabad, July 5: A team of city doctors has established a link between infertility and female genital tuberculosis, which is fast spreading in South India after lying low for many years.

The team has also found easy diagnostic methods to detect genital tuberculosis in women with 100 per cent accuracy. Currently diagnosing female genital tuberculosis is nothing short of a Herculean task. In many countries diagnosis is mainly limited to clinical suspicion based on symptoms. The problem is further compounded as abdominal and vaginal examinations reveal nothing.

Dr Roya Rozati, Dr Sreenivasagari Roopa and Dr Cheruvu Naga Rajashwari of the department of reproductive medicine at Mahavir Hospital and Research Centre have not only solved the diagnosis problem by identifying mycobacterial DNA tests through polymerase chain reaction but also established a link between the disease and infertility.

Genital tuberculosis is an important cause of infertility, more so in endemic zones such as South India. The proportion of extra-pulmonary TB is increasing down the Vindhyas and currently stands slightly higher than smear-positive pulmonary TB. Effective chemotherapy had reduced all forms of TB including FGTB until the HIV epidemic reversed the trend over the last decade.

However, the true epidemiology of this disease remains unknown due to lack of highly sensitive and specific tests. Genital tuberculosis not only causes tubal obstruction and dysfunction but also impairs implantation due to endometrial involvement and ovulatory failure from ovarian involvement.

The prevalence of FGTB in infertility clinics shows marked variations in different countries ranging between 15 and 25 per cent. In India in 80 to 90 per cent of cases, FGTB affects young women between 18 and 38 years of age, besides being an important cause of infertility.

"A high erythrocyte sedimentation rate and a positive mantoux test are non-specific. AFB staining is not sensitive enough and both culdoscopy and laparascopy carry a significant risk of bowel injury. Surgery is disadvantageous as it is highly invasive and carries a risk of activating silent infection. Only histopathological evidence in biopsy of premenstrual endometrial tissue or demonstration of tubercle bacilli in culture of menstrual blood or endometrial curetting can provide diagnosis with certainty," says Dr Roya Rozati.

The doctors investigated biopsy or curettage samples from 65 women clinically suspected to have genital tuberculosis for mycobacterium.

Genital tuberculosis is often a secondary complication as a result of reactivation of a silent bacillemia, primarily from lungs, affecting most commonly the fallopian tubes, ovaries, cervix, endometrium and vagina and vulva, and in some instances also from kidney and intestines.

"Direct inoculation of tubercle bacilli can also take place over vulva or vagina during sexual intercourse with a partner suffering from tuberculous lesions of genitalia," she said.

Astrological importance of "Trio Seven"

2007
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, July 6: "Trio seven" or 07-07-07 is not an auspicious number as far as entering into wedlock is concerned.
Senior city Vastu-numerologist Rachaa Suresh argues that 07-07-07 may sound numerically interesting but numerologically it is devastating. "It is not the right occasion for marriages. But unfortunately many do not know this and have opted for wedding muhurat. The number is as fascinating as its devastating effect on the married life of people who enter into wedlock on this day," points out Suresh.
He told this correspondent that astrology and numerology do not agree on certain events which come once in a life, like marriage. While astrology has thithi and nakshatra, numerology believes more in numbers than in heavenly bodies.
"Astrology, the study of planets and stars, may not find anything wrong with 07-07-07. But numerology, which is based on the numbers game, does find a severe defect with the date. The date is fine as far as regular events like travel, inauguration of showrooms and general celebrations are concerned. And certainly not with marriage, which according to Indian customs is solemnised only once," he says.
Suresh also says that another "auspicious" date - August 26, 2007 - when a mass marriage muhurat is fixed by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is also numerologically not good. Incidentally, the marriage of Nara Lokesh, son of former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, has been fixed for 26-08-2007.
The argument Suresh puts forward in support of his claim is that numerologically 8, 5, and 4 numbers are inauspicious for wedding muhurats. The numbers that totals up 8 are 8, 17 and 26 while 5, 14 and 23 totals up 5. Numbers 4, 13, 22 and 31 totals up 4. So days like 8, 17, 26, 5, 14, 23, 4, 13, 22 and 31 are inauspicious.
"In the case of 07-07-2007, the number adds up to 23 which in simple terms means 5 (2 plus 3). And 5 is inauspicious. In the case of 26-08-2007, the number 26 is inauspicious. Either the individual date, month or year or their sum total should not add up to 8, 5 or 4," Suresh argues.
He said he had been keeping track of marriages performed on such dates and most of them are on the rocks. The couple may live together but not enjoy the married life. He refers to the "marital trouble" of a Telugu film actor who was married on 17. He is in legal trouble now. He also cites the example of a relative of Cooperation Minister M Fareeduddin who is now in a marriage row. The relative was also married on 17.
Another numerologist Mudigonda Gopikrishna points out that the number 7 signifies philosophy and sainthood while marriage stands for love, procreation and progress. "Both these traits do not agree. In case of mass marriages, the planetary positions do not agree with individual birth charts. About 70,000 marriages are planned on 07-07-2007. But the stars of only a few people match with the date. Even astrologically the date has no significance," he said.