The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …
The US National Cancer Institute has found that Maharishi Amrit Kalash (MAK) 4 and 5, ayurvedic formulations developed by the Maharishi International University, significantly inhibit cancer cell growth in both human tumour and rat epithelial cell systems. Prepared from a wide variety of herbs and spices in a base of …
Environmental medicine studies the interfaces among chemicals, food and inhalants in the environment and the biological function of the individual. It was founded in the 1940s by Theron Randolph, who, along with others, developed a new model and associated clinical principles that would help a physician to diagnose an illness …
after nearly four centuries of somnolent neglect, Sri Lanka is finally waking up to the magic of its traditional systems of medicine. The creation of a separate ministry of indigenous medicine in 1980 was the culmination of a series of measures taken by successive governments to revive traditional medical systems, …
Mind-body intervention psychotherapy: includes combining medication with discussion, listening to the patient or using more active behavioural and emotive psychological methods; can hasten recovery in somatic illnesses. support groups: group therapy and counselling combined with diet and exercise can reverse diseases like angina pectoris. meditation: increases longevity and quality of …
new research on an ancient Chinese treatment for skin disorders and other maladies, has brought to light the fact that the traditional remedy can actually deal more effectively with virulent forms of acute promyelocytic leukaemia (apl), a rare blood cancer, than was previously thought. Arsenic trioxide, one of the ingredients …
TODAY, the so-called highly developed countries are focussing their attention on traditional knowledge. On one hand, we are thinking of inhabiting the moon and on the other hand, there is a growing emphasis on the conservation of natural resources and cultures, on natural farming, traditional forest management, cropping, ecotourism and …
THE practice of tribal or generic medicines is a school with a difference. The practitioners are still found among the Irula tribals of Attapadi near Pallakkad in Kerala. Recently at a camp organised by the Prakrithi Sastra Vijnana Kendram at Nadavardmpu near Irinjalakudda, more than 2,000 people were given tribal …
How do some dwelling complexes inWorliMaharashtrahave a better cooling system than what is offered bytoday's air-wnditioners? Isn't it fascinating to watch the Assamese light firein their central hall made of bamboofloors and walls? Have you ever seentribals extracting high-gra@e iron usingsimple bellowslow grade ore and coal?This may seem strangebut these …
MY FATHER-IN-LAW's khal-batta (mortar and pestle) should have gone to my husband, but today I am using it to revive the fading tradition of my forefathers," says a beaming Kamalbai Pendam, a trained female vaidu (ayurveda practitioner) in the faraway Maushi village of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra. Using the family …
Quarry quarrel In response to the Amey Roadstone Corporation's (ARC) appeal to the Somerset County Council for doubling the size of its Whatley quarry in Mendip Hills, Somerset, British environmental NGOs recently organised one of the year's biggest direct action campaigns. Hundreds of activists camped on December 4, blocking the …
ALTHOUGH the majority of rural folk have always been lacking access to clean hygienic water for a considerable time, traditional water purification techniques have generally been overlooked. Some of these traditionally proven methods use locally available plant seeds much in contrast to the modern treatment of water. Functionally significant, these …
IMPATIENT shifting sand dunes and acacia shrubs dot the desolate landscape of Churu district, the gateway to the Thar. Almost invariably, the highest summer temperature is recorded here. Drinking water sources are scarce. The wells are very deep and the water saline. The erratic piped water supply doesn"t even meet …
Your institute has been trying to revive the traditional medicines in India. What have been the specific steps taken to popularise ethnomedicine? Have they been successful? Today, there's a revival of interest in traditional medicines and herbal therapy the world over. An overgrowing number of scientists are turning to nature, …
AT A time when a growing number of Western countries are focusing in on alternate medicine, India is neglecting its traditional cures. In the urban centres, where the manufacturers of allopathic drugs launch aggressive, no-holds-barred marketing campaigns, the off-take too is phenomenal, with many popping pills as a matter of …
A RECENT publication of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) discusses TEK - Traditional Ecological Knowledge - and its functioning in the tropical countries. It identifies 3 broad categories Of TEK. The first is the knowledge about specific components or aspects of plants, animals, soils and environmental …
Social Scientists in South Africa are now looking forward to the use of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (iks) to achieve sustainable development and to preserve the traditional ways of looking after the environment. A recent meeting of social scientists, traditional leaders, agriculturists and farmers who gathered in this resort town of …
The traditional pottery industry in Aurangabad village in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh, is not only weathering the onslaught of modernisation but thriving in spite of it. Bhola Prasad Prajapati, one of the potters who has been engaged in idol making since 19,62, says the secret of the smooth finish …
WEATHER and climate exercise tremendous influence over human wellbeing and health. Humans make dwellings for themselves to escape the vagaries of climatic variations. Sitting in the relative comfort of our airconclitioned offices and homes - between a past in which electricity was unimaginable and a future in which it probably …
Growing up in Minadanao, nature's last frontier in the Philippines, Joey Ayala learnt to mix words and music with the sounds of nature. Ayala, 38, is the most famous of the new breed of Filipino ethno-musicians. He plays the traditional hegalong, which is a 2-string instrument in the shape of …
AFTER Vasundhara it is Dharti. Environmentalism is surely growing on the theatre groups of the Capital. Dharti, a Hindustani musical was staged by the Delhi Art Theater to commemorate the World Drama Day (March 27). The play took off from the Big Bang theory. The son et lumiere pyrotechnics were …
