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. …
on june 28, 1993, the Supreme Court of the us passed a verdict that tilted the scales of justice in favour of polluters by undermining the role of science in the country's judicial arena. This fact was made public during a recent press conference of the Tellus Institute, a Boston-based …
a recent study may intensify the ongoing controversy about the inclusion of hepatitis b vaccine in India's universal immunisation programme (uip). The study shows that vaccinating only children born to hepatitis b-positive mothers is 19 times cheaper than immunising all kids. Since the main mode of transmission of the hepatitis …
Baby bottles are often made of polycarbonate plastic. Impurities remaining in the bottle from the monomer bisphenol A can migrate from the plastic bottles into baby food, thereby causing a health concern. Previous migration testing of new baby bottles showed only trace migration levels of the substance. In the present …
toddlers in trouble: A research institute has found high levels of mercury in 60 per cent of newborns at hospitals in Itaituba city, in the Brazilian Amazon. Out of the 1,666 babies born during 2002 in the hospitals, 1,000 were detected with mercury contamination. Some of the kids had 80 …
children in sub-Saharan Africa not only use the sap of the African milk bush as glue, but they also love to play with it. It is even considered as an excellent source of herbal remedies. But this seemingly benign sap is quite harmful. Scientists have found that it causes one …
Alcohol advertising A recent study in the us reports that magazines popular with teenagers such as Rolling Stone and People tend to carry more alcohol advertisements. The study hints that the alcohol industry may be indirectly targeting underage drinkers by advertising in such magazines. The research, funded by the Robert …
Cloning constraint: The cloning of humans and other primates may not be possible with current techniques, indicates an experiment. Normally, during the natural division of healthy cells, chromosomes duplicate and line up on a structure in the cell known as the
Indoor air pollution is potentially a very serious environmental and public health problem in India. In poor communities, with the continuing trend in biofuel combustion coupled with deteriorating housing conditions, the problem will remain for some time to come. While to some extent the problem has been studied in rural …
yet another case of contamination of water has surfaced. The southwestern regional office of the Central Ground Water Board (cgwb) recently released a report of the water quality study conducted in 1300 national hydrograph wells (where water samples are monitored) in Karnataka. The concentration of nitrates is found to vary …
Delhi kids better lay off junk food and colas. A recent study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (aiims) reveals startling details about school students' health. It has found 23.1 per cent boys to be overweight, while 8.3 per cent fall into the obese category. The corresponding figures …
research carried out in Bangladesh has shown that giving zinc supplements to children suffering from diarrhoea can reduce the duration and severity of the disease. The study has been carried out by researchers from the Baltimore-based John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh …
it was in October 2002 that media reports surfaced about children succumbing to a mysterious infectious fever in Saharanpur town of western Uttar Pradesh (up). The disease struck neighbouring districts too. Within the first two weeks the toll reportedly mounted to 100 in the area. The local administration first denied …
a unique lawsuit was filed in the us two months ago . The state of Rhode Island indicted eight paint manufacturers for risking citizens' health by exposing them to lead via household paints. Lead is used as a pigment in paints. It also enhances their consistency and durability. Lead usage …
why is it that the world's greatest democracy also has the world's meanest state apparatus? The state apparatus in India works on a self-decocted modern variation of feudal over-lordship. Vassalage is what makes it tick. To that extent it functions beyond checks, and banishes balances. It can override accountability and …
here, children are resigned to walking with a limp. And women, weighed down by sheer pain, have stopped looking skywards. In fact, age and sex appear to be no bar as infirmity pervades the entire area. Welcome to the Kachnarwa panchayat in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, where disability has …
On November 19, the Allahabad High Court (HC) ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to file an affidavit within three weeks indicating steps taken to prevent, treat and control fluorosis in Chopan block of Sonbhadra district. It also demanded details of the measures taken to rehabilitate the affected villagers. The court …
a study conducted on a very large-scale once again proves that pesticide exposure at home increases the risk of leukaemia during childhood. This was the finding of a study conducted by researchers from us-based University of California, California department of health services and Stanford University School of Medicine, usa. During …
