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. …
"MOST of the basic norms were flouted or bypassed (in the case of the Sterlite copper unit in Ratnagiri)," says Rashmi Mayur, who headed a committee instituted by the government to look into the environmental impact of the plant. According to Mayur, when the panchayat of Sheregaon village, on whose …
DO YOU prefer the natural light that floods the room, but abhor the heat that it invariably brings along, especially on hot summer afternoons? Now, a system devised by a Queensland University of Technology lecturer, will not only help you cut lighting costs, but obviate the need for expensive airconditioning …
Meteorite buffs are given to complaining that these bolts from the cosmic blue almost always land unsighted (provided, that is, they escape annihilation by friction in the Earth's atmosphere). But for once, a meteorite landing was caught by camcorders when they maundered off a football match their owners were filming …
FIVE cities in the Netherlands are participating in an innovative experiment to usher in healthier environs. They are building public housing geared to safeguarding health and protecting the environment. In Amersfoort, for instance, over 4,000 such houses are being built. A successful example of such environmentally correct housing is Ecolonia, …
UNDER the Plant Variety Bill, a breeder gets exclusive right to produce, sell, market, import and export seeds for 15 years after the date of registration and 18 years in case of trees and vines. A breeder can license the right over the variety. These rights will also extend to …
Plant Varieties Bill Rights and exemptions conferred Clause 22 of the proposed bill states that the breeder will have to reward rural communities in recognition of their contribution. The same clause allows farmers to continue with traditional rights to save, use, exchange, share and sell propagating material or seeds from …
The holy grail of synthetic taxol may be in sight. Taxol, used to treat breast and ovarian cancers, is extracted in very small quantities from the leaf and bark of the endangered Himalayan and Pacific yew. But now, two teams of organic chemists -- led by K C Nicolaou of …
MULTINATIONALS are having a field day on Chinese television. Ever since Robert Wang, a Chinese-American entrepreneur, persuaded the state-run China Central Television to air company profiles on its Economic Half Hour, the floodgates have opened for "infomercials". The 10-minute shows -- filmed and financed by Philip Morris Co and six …
"THE limitations of present health activities are only a reflection of the modern system of medicine (which) has not yet developed a way of dealing with health problems at the social level," says the book. This yawning gap between academic and ground reality is what it aims to plug. Using …
FEBRUARY 25 had Kapil Dev Nikhanj heaving with a cough and cold, an evil combine that has probably tripped up more sports performances than any other human malady. Others would have called it a day: Kapil Dev did six laps around the Wankhede Stadium in Bombay's muggy, polluted heat. The …
I AM just sincere. I also lead a very disciplined life, in every sense .My workout schedule depends on the time. In the off-season, I spend a little more time working out, because if I work hard to prepare for the cricket season then injuries are taken care off, and …
I BELIEVE not in treating the patient, but in reducing his susceptibility to injuries. A sportsperson may require three days of rest but wants to be on the field the next day. I guide him in knowing which muscles and joints to maintain to get the best performance. My strict …
VIRUSES plaguing crops may soon meet their nemesis in what may be described as kamikaze genes residing in carnations. Martin Hartley of the University of Warwick has inserted into the tobacco plant a suicide gene taken from carnations to test its efficacy (New Scientist, Vol 141, No. 1994). Hartley believes …
WOOD has again emerged as a popular heating fuel in Germany and France. A programme launched seven years ago in the thickly wooded Landes region of southwestern France to promote wood as fuel has proved remarkably successful. The plan was essentially aimed at clearing waste left behind by loggers and …
YOU thought loofahs were just for scrubbing in the bath? Well, an Italian firm has come up with a new role for the fibrous skeleton of the gourd-like Luffa cylindrica. It can be a non-toxic and inexpensive substitute for polyurethane foam packing materials and polystyrene. And, expensive petroleum is not …
BRITAIN'S Overseas Development Agency (ODA) has washed its hands off Kenya's forest reserves. It has unceremoniously withdrawn a L12 m grant for a forestry convention programme launched in Kenya because it has fallen out with the ruling party on the issue of illegal allocation of protected forest lands. ODA claims …
"WE'VE BEEN repairing this pump since November 1989," says Ajufa Begum, a 27-year-old handpump mechanic in village Hathkhoapara in Assam's Kamrup district. "It has broken down 10 times in the past few years, but now we can handle it confidently." She is one of the five women who are proudly …
IS CAFFEINE, which is present in tea, coffee and coke, harmful to pregnant women and foetuses? Although there have been indications to the contrary, a recent Canadian study has found evidence that expectant mothers who take caffeine before and during pregnancy may run a greater risk of foetal death (Journal …
WIDESPREAD depression is a cause of concern to psychiatrists. According to the book, Down with Gloom or How to Defeat Depression, by Brice Pitt and Mel Calman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, one in eight people may be significantly depressed at any one time. At least half go unrecognised …
Lockheed Corp of the US has developed an inexpensive, part liquid, part solid telephoto lens that guarantees a sharper and better-contrasted picture than the conventional lens. Besides correcting colour distortion from light bending through glass, the new lens is unaffected by imperfections on its surface, reducing the need for polishing …
