Thursday 13 March 2014

Water Conservation: prime concern to survive.

India is called as a GOD’s land and had a very rich culture as the oldest civilization was cultivated here, known as Indus Valley Civilization. India was also called as the golden birds a few centuries ago. The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), also referred to as the Harappan Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) in the northwestern region of the Indian Subcontinent, consisting mainly of what is now Pakistan and India. It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, one of the major rivers of Asia, and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, which once coursed through northwest India and eastern Pakistan.
Initially we can say, all started through the canals of water or majorly say rivers. Water, a life giving substance found only on Earth which is inheritable comparing to other planets in our solar system. Because of majorly part covered by water which reflects blue color from space, it seems a blue planet and also called so. Water is life as it contains a high amount of dissolved oxygen which is essential for different water bodies that are dependent on water only and to other living creatures as well. Human body itself contains around 70 % water substitutes of total weight. A person can survive up to 21 days maximum without eating anything but can’t live without water at max of 7 days. It is an essential necessity for all living creatures to sustain their life whether they are movable or unmovable.
Earlier days we hardly use to face water shortage as the consumption was very less due to low population as well as low usage. But due to surplus increase in population and industrialization demands of water is growing day by day. This is becoming a big threat to the upcoming generation as ground water level is going down.
Here we will take the case of our own country, India. India being the second largest populated country in the world needs to fulfill the demand of each and every individual’s demand of water on daily basis, so we need to conserve water to utilize it properly during warm seasons where we need more water for drinking and other purposes as well.
So basically as human population is much more than any other mammal species on earth and is also declared as the smartest and most intelligent creature on earth till date. So as being responsible, we human have a job to take care of other creatures along with forwarding towards advancement in technical, social, economical aspects. So through different we have a bunch of responsibilities to look after.
As summer is too close to arrive, we may feel a very much need of water which may create water crisis at several places in rural as well as in urban and semi-urban areas.  Considering the previous’ year’s water crisis cases, we have to come up with certain plans to figure it out and solve the problem related to water. In many ways, we can save water. Most of the techniques can be found here.
And also adding some other factors, one can use RTI to know about the schemes that govt. is running on this field. Every state ministry has a capability to spend on this scheme but because of less revenue through taxes, it is a bit hard to implement too soon.  So we must be dependent on ourselves first rather depending on others to conserve the life’s precious need. So, we can also use several things to conserve water. We have many much solutions as we can contact to nearby school teachers related to environmental science who can tell many other ways regarding water conservation.

In villages also, we can teach many several techniques to the residing farmers and/or daily wage workers about the same if the water crisis is rising too fast. We can also help them, suggesting the method of irrigation technique through which with less amount of water they can harvest more and hence can cultivate more and can earn a wealthy life. 

Saturday 1 March 2014

Can We Win War Against Diabetes

Diabetes-the mind boggling disease, is not new to human beings. In 6th Century B.C., Sushruta- an Indian medical practitioner had discovered and termed it ‘Madhu-Meha’. During 1889-1910, Joseph von Mering and Oskar Minkowski and Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer had established the relation between diabetes, pancreas and insulin. Here in this article, we are going to discuss about various types of diabetes and its consequence on human health. And further addressing the issue! Can be win the war against diabetes???
Diabetes and Its Classification: Take a Look
Mainly, there are three types of diabetes:
 ü  Juvenile-Onset
 ü  Adult-Onset
 ü  Gestational
Juvenile Onset: Juvenile onset is Type1 diabetes that is associated with mutations in some genes leading to poor or no insulin production by the pancreas. In case of Type1 diabetes, insulin is the only most options for treatment.
Adult-Onset: Adult-Onset is Type2 diabetes that is associated with a sedentary lifestyle, overweight and bad eating habits accounts. It includes more than 90 percent of the global diabetes cases, says WHO report. The management of Type 2 diabetes is simple in the initial phase. It can be controlled through regular exercise and proper diet.  
Gestational:  Inappropriately elevated blood sugar levels in females at the time of pregnancy. Such mother may face problems during the delivery of the baby. Further, there is risk of jaundice to the newly born baby. It's a very rare type of diabetes and still we have not developed any significant primary preventive measures.

Diabetes and Its Consequences: Beware of This Disease
Diabetes has serious consequences; if ignored, it can even take one’s life. The lack of proper treatment and diagnosis on time can lead to several health complications. Although, identifying diabetes in blood has become easier with the development in technology. Today, we have simple and comparatively cheaper testing kits available that can identify the glucose level in blood. Further, biotechnology has reduced the price of insulin.
Nowadays, people have become more conscious about their health and lifestyle. They keep themselves well-informed and updated about various diseases as well as how to prevent them. Awareness plays a crucial role in eliminating many fatal diseases; polio is an example of that.
In many developing nations, lack of public awareness and lack of diagnosis facilities has heightened the problem. India-the motherland of Yoga, is having the maximum number of diabetes patients in the world. The people around the world are practicing yoga to treat diabetes. Whereas, a large number of Indians are aware of the fact that diabetes can be treated with yoga, but where they fail is a subject to ponder over. Further, some Ayurvedic formulations and herbs have also shown satisfactory result against both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Where are we lagging!!

Final Words
Most of the diabetes cases have been found in adults. The common one is Type 2. What is the cause behind it? Ignorance! Our restless mind and resting body have made us prone to diabetes. We need to be self-conscious. We should check if our hectic lifestyle is making our body physiology slow, kids also need to be taught the basic facts about health. With age, we should shift to low calorie and fibrous diet. Too much fat food is bad even for children and adults.Following a healthy eating habit, meditating and doing regular exercise are some of the simple ways to prevent diabetes.  Rather than ordering for a buttery pizza or hamburger, spend your time cooking food for your children. It will burn your calories and at the same time a healthy food for your kids. Yoga must not be ignored. The cases of diabetes (especially Type 2) can be drastically reduced and new cases can be prevented by following some simple guidelines mentioned above. We have succeeded in reducing the new cases of HIV, Polio through the cumulative participation of several agencies. We can win the war against diabetes, if we honest at our level. Statics suggest that youth are more vulnerable to diabetes. So if you are an adult and reading this article; take an oath that "I will stay fit and encourage people around me to follow healthy life style". Yes !Together we can reverse diabetes.

Edited by Prasanna Bharti

Sunday 9 February 2014

Is Light Darkening Our Earth?

So, if you are an eco-freak, turn-up to this blog to learn more about the earth. Well! If this is your motive then chill, you are at the right place. Here you can get all the information regarding earth and environment. We, human beings are well aware of the fact that many of our activities adversely affect the environment. We are more responsible in polluting our planet instead of knowing the fact that the earth is our only home. There are various kinds of pollution that are deteriorating earths ecological balance; some are commonly known and some are uncommon. Light pollution is one such kind of problem that has been overlooked by an average number of people. Therefore, this blog post is for all you people, who do not know about light pollution. Here I go......

An Introduction
Light pollution is a man made disturbance in the natural day-night landscape. With rapid modernization, we are all creating light sprinkles all around us. In the name of safety and security day by day we are losing the "dark night sky". Even the villages which were the ones known for peaceful dark night landscapes are in the race of lightening every nook and corner. It has resulted in the misuse or overuse of electricity in many forms. Light pollution is also termed as photo-pollution or luminous pollution.

Types of Light Pollution

Sky Glow: If you are residing at a place where luminous pollution is high, then you may have noticed orange smog in the sky at night. This smog is termed as sky glow. It is due to natural and man-made sources.

Light Trespass: Light trespass occurs due to unwanted lighting in an area. It happens when light spreads to an area where it is not required. Example: Lighting in apartments because of streetlights.

Glare: It can be described as the expansion in a given field of view. Glare causes uncomfortableness in the eyes and can even lead to serious road accidents. Example- sometimes while driving in the night, suddenly we cover our eyes with hands because glare makes it difficult to see. 

Light Pollution and Human Beings

  • Light pollution has some serious consequences on human health. Due to light pollution:
  •  Humans night vision can be seriously affected.
  •  Due to light pollution, aging eyes can experience stain.
  • Over exposure to the artificial light can lead to disruption in circadian rhythm which further leads to depression insomnia, depression, and cardiovascular disease.
  • It interferes with scientific studies related to astronomical observations.

Light Pollution and Environment

Mammals

  •      Light pollution causes decline in population of mammals.
  •       Due to much light mammals find difficulty in searching food.

Reptiles

·         Decrease in population of reptiles because of decrease in mating. Further the newly hatched out sea turtles confuses their way to the sea and get caught by predators or dies due to unfavorable conditions.
·         Weight loss in reptiles due to appetite problems caused by abnormal level and spectrum of light.
  
    Birds
  •      Migratory birds lose their destination due to artificial light.
  •      Disturbance occurred due to artificial light causes birds crash which then drop from the sky.

      For the past few years, people from different part of the world are showing concern over this issue. They are coming forward to protect the beautiful dark night landscape. In the year 1988,the International Dark-Sky Association came into existence. It is the first organization to call attention of hazards of light pollution. It promotes the simple idea "light what you need, when you need it. Let us stick to this idea and enjoy the aesthetic gift of the mother nature.


   What We Can Do to Prevent Light Pollution?
  •  Always switch off bulbs when not in use for security purposes.
  •  Make sure all lighting equipments are properly installed in your house.
  •  Educate people around you about light pollution and its adverse effects.
  •  Replace traditional high energy bulbs with CFLs and LED.
  •  Replace outside lights with low-glare lighting equipment.  



 
     References:-
      1. C. Robertson McClung. Plant Circadian Rhythms. Plant Cell. 2006 April; 18(4): 792–803.
      2. Report 4 Of The Council On Science And Public Health (A-12) 2012. Light Pollution: Adverse Health    Effects of Night time Lighting.
      3. "Light Pollution and the Palomar Observatory". Palomar Observatory:Caltech Astronomy. Retrived 14 september 2013 from http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/lp.html.
      4. Salmon M.  (2003). "Artificial night lighting and sea turtles". Biologist 50: 163–168.
      5. RodrÍguez, Airam; RodrÍguez, Beneharo (2009). "Attraction of petrels to artificial lights in the Canary  Islands: effects of the moon phase and age class". Ibis151 (2): 299.
      6. Retrieved 14 September 2013 from http://www.darksky.org/about-ida.                                 7. Chepesiuk R.(2009) Missing the Dark: Health Effects of Light Pollution. Environ Health Perspect. 2009 January; 117(1): A20–A27.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

An introduction to Mushroom cultivation

Mushroom cultivation is a low cost sustainable farming practice. Edible mushroom is a healthy food rich in fibres, minerals and several other bioactive compounds. Here is the simply way to cultivate mushroom at home or even at commercial scale. To know about mushroom cultivation techniques  click here   simple way of edible mushroom cultivation .