Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
Conventional cooking stoves not only consume a lot of fuelwood, they also produce considerable smoke. Any village woman who uses such a stove will tell you that it's a big nuisance. Now this problem has been solved by the Bangalore-based Centre For Application of Science and Technology to Rural Areas …
ARCHITECTS hoped to establish mud as a viable building medium when they set out to build the country's first major environmentally-sound building. The mud headquarters in Delhi of Development Alternatives (DA) headquarters was built to prove a point, recalls Shrashtant Patara, a DA architect. "It was one of the first …
THE CHILDREN of Anna Nagar, a slum in New Delhi, draw crowds when they put on street plays they wrote themselves on socially relevant issues that range from the danger posed by multinationals to the evils of illiteracy. Kelewallah (banana vendor), is typical of their productions, telling as it does …
THE MEDICINAL and pesticidal properties of neem are beginning to excite interest the world over. In India, medical treatises going back thousands of years indicate that the tree is a rich source of medicinal compounds. The Neem Mission in Pune, set up by the promoter of neem, C M Ketkar, …
TREE SPECIES in arid and semi-arid lands across the developing world are disappearing due to an increasing demand for fuelwood and fodder and by progressive desertification, all of which is threatening plant genetic material. Arid zone trees, especially genera prosopis and acacia, have been identified as priorities for conservation by …
C M Ketkar Neem Mission 471 Shanwar Peth Pune 411 030 The Editor Neem Newsletter Division of Agricultural Chemicals Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi 110 012 T S Subramaniam Conference Secretariat World Neem Conference Agricultural Research Centre International Business ITC (Seventh floor) Amrutha Topaz Somajiguda Hyderabad 500 482 Defence …
THE VILLAGE midwife's claims have been substantiated by recent scientific research on the contraceptive qualities of neem. "The ancient Ayurvedic treatises indicate neem was used to induce abortions," says M R Unniyal, assistant director at the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha in Delhi. Today, scientists at the …
IN THE flood-prone areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa -- where many believe rice originated -- yields are only about one-fifth that of Punjab and Haryana because the rice spends most of its energy literally trying to keep its head above water and has only a …
THE CREDIT for spreading the message of the wondrous properties of the neem goes to Chandrashekhar Mahadeo Ketkar, whose interest in the tree was piqued when he visited the quality control laboratory in Pune of the All India Non-edible Oil Industry Association to get some soil samples analysed. Association secretary …
ANJANI KHANNA HYDERABAD & S GOPIKRISHNA WARRIER MADRAS INDUSTRIAL giants across India are taking a keen interest in neem. ITC, a major cigarette manufacturer, has found that neem extracts are extremely effective against the dreaded tobacco mosaic virus and the tobacco caterpillar moth (Spodoptera litura) which can extensively damage tobacco …
Pesticides 1. Wellgro, produced by India Tobacco Company, reportedly repels tobacco caterpillar, prevents the spread of tobacco mosaic virus and prevents nitrogen leaching. 2. Neemguard, marketed by Gharda Chemicals, Bombay. Recommended by the company for use on cotton, groundnut, pulses, rice, vegetables, fruit trees and plantation crops. 3. Neemark, marketed …
THERE is widespread belief that global warming will melt the polar ice caps and submerge large areas of inhabited lands. But a review of the latest scientific research published in New Scientist (Vol 135 No 1833) points to a totally opposite possibility. Says Garry Davidson of the geology department at …
THE BRITISH Technology Group (BTG) recently licensed Penn Pharmaceuticals to manufacture a "safer paracetamol," according to a report in New Scientist (Vol 135 No 1836). Paracetamol was considered a safe painkiller until it was found that if consumed in large doses, it could be fatal. When broken down in the …
CHILDHOOD malnutrition may not have an influence on adult intelligence, states a study by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in Hyderabad. On the other hand, "the socioeconomic status of the family, especially the educational level, emerges as the most important factor influencing intelligence" (ICMR Bulletin, Vol 2 No 6). …
INDIA had the last laugh when US President George Bush announced at an election campaign meeting US $1 billion in subsidies to boost US wheat exports. India, whose request for purchase of one million tonnes of American wheat was rejected in March can now import 1.5 million tonnes of American …
VILLAGERS in Uttara Kannada district are waging a battle against Karnataka Forest Department officials who are allowing contractors to fell trees in the betta lands -- tracts of forests sanctioned to farmers of the region during British rule. The trouble began in March when villagers in Adnalli gheraoed a contractor …
IRONICALLY, trees are now a security problem for the army. The armed forces are seeking urgent permission from the environment ministry for selective tree-felling in the thickly wooded areas under their control, for security reasons. They claim, while trees were earlier planted as camouflage, now the areas have started sticking …
CORAL reefs in various parts of the world are getting bleached and scientists are debating whether this is an early warning of global warming, or simply a local warming of sea waters. Tom Goreau of the Global Reef Alliance says bleaching results from "expulsion by the coral of their symbiotic …
INDIA is lobbying hard and activists are stepping up pressure as the World Bank prepares to take a decision in October on a suggestion to "suspend" but not terminate aid for the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada river. Two Indian delegations visited the US, the UK, Japan, the Netherlands, …
THOUGH only about 10 per cent of rainforest plants -- far less diverse than ocean life -- have been screened, these have still yielded a number of anti-cancer, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory drugs. Research on marine natural products which are far more diverse did not begin until 1973, but according to …
