‘Cactus-194[1] ‘ by Paolo Nao
‘Cactus-194[1] ‘ by Paolo Nao“…our currently adopted policy at Healthcare Today is to report but not to comment – though we will report on the comments of others. The only exception – in the magazine at least – is this column (Editorial). However, we have found a crafty way round this by including a blog on the website where we can say what we want; it is absolutely free to view and can be found at
www.hc2d.co.uk/weblogs. We are also rounding up all the best healthcare-related blogs on the internet and making them accessible from a single page; we will be constantly reviewing this to make sure you always have access to the best blogs the web has to offer.Similarly, our live news page,
www.hc2d.co.uk/livenews brings the very best healthcare news feeds from around the UK and across the globe to a single webpage – again access is completely free.”Grateful thanks and all the best to Mr. Chris May and ‘Healthcare Today’.
There is provision for consumers to lodge their complaints by sending e-mail to:
consumer@tn.nic.in.Also see, Wikipedia article on “Consumer Protection”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_protection
Courtesy: “Malligai Magal”, Tamil Monthly, March 2008 (“Useful News”) and Wikipedia.
‘Cactus’ by Paolo Nao
‘Cactus’ by Paolo Nao
Also read Wikipedia articles on “Judiciary” and “Separation of Powers”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers
Grateful thanks to Dr.Y.P.Joshi, The Hindu and Wikipedia.
And, not a surprise, they confirmed a close relationship between mastodons and elephants.
Fossil studies have long suggested that modern birds descended from T.rex, based in similarities in their skeletons. Now, bits of protein obtained from connective tissues in a T.rex fossil shows a relationship to birds including chickens and ostriches, says a report in Friday’s edition of the journal, Science. – AP
Excerpt from “Chicken descended from dinosaurs?” – article published in The Hindu, Madurai, April 26, 2008.Adding to the burden is a higher incidence of the types of heart disease resulting in serious illness and mortality, and the fact that these conditions strike at an early age, says the study.
Death rates are especially high among the country’s poorest residents, unable to get to hospital quickly in an emergency, or to afford routine treatments and surgery.
Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD), mainly heart attacks and coronary artery disease, is the leading cause of mortality in the world, accounting for 7.1 million deaths in 2001. More than 80% of these were in developing countries.
Researchers have long known that south Asia has the highest level of acute coronary syndromes in the world, but little statistical data were available about treatment and health outcomes. – AFP
Excerpt from The Hindu, Madurai, April 26, 2008Last week the biggest study of its kind ever conducted – the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development – concluded that GM was not the answer to world hunger.
For the full article:
‘Cactus’ by Paolo Nao
‘Cactus’ by Paolo Nao
The skyrocketing cost of food staples, stoked by soaring fuel prices and demand from India and China, has already sparked sometimes violent protests across the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.
Josette Sheeran, the WFP’s executive director, in London for a summit on the crisis, said on Tuesday a “silent tsunami” of hunger is sweeping the world’s most desperate nations.
The price of rice has more than doubled in the last five weeks, she said. The World Bank estimates food prices have risen by 83% in three years.
“What we are seeing now is affecting more people on every continent,” Ms Sheeran told a London news conference.
Malaysia’s embattled Prime Minister is already under pressure over the price hikes and has launched a major rice growing project. Indonesia’s government needed to revise its annual budget to respond.
Unrest over the food crisis has led to deaths in Cameroon and Haiti, cost Haitian Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis his job, and caused hungry textile workers to clash with police in Bangladesh.
At streetside restaurants in Lome, Togo, even the traditional balls of corn meal or corn dough served with vegetable soup are shrinking. Once as big as a boxer’s fist, the dumplings are now the size of a tennis ball – but cost twice as much.
School feeding projects in Kenya and Cambodia have been scaled back and food aid halved in Tajikistan, said Ms.Sheeran.
Yet while angry street protesters call for immediate action – long term solutions are likely to be slow, costly and complicated, experts warn – AP.
Courtesy: AP and The Hindu, Madurai, April 24, 2008 (“Silent Tsunami” of Hunger Warned)The word fencing usually brings to mind along cement wall surrounding a plot of land or barbed steel wires attached to granite pillars around the periphery of the land.
For a variety of reasons, a small farm needs to be fenced. A fence marks the boundary of the farm and keeps away stray animals.
The investment for either constructing a wall or putting up steel wires is quite heavy. Small and marginal farmers cannot invest a huge sum for erecting such a fence.
Instead, Dr.G.Nammalvar, organic scientist, suggests that farmers can grow crops around their lands as a live fence.
“People who go for natural way of farming prefer to have a live fence,” he said. Even if it takes two or three years to complete such a task, the monetary investment is less and the fence becomes a long lasting one.
Usually thorny plants are grown to make a live fence. For example, bushes such as agave and cactus, creepers, and small shrubs (perennial bushes) are the most sought after ones. Besides, trees such as subabul and casuarinas can also be planted as a live fence.
But does not a live fence occupy more space and require care?”
“Yes, to an extent, live fence does occupy some more space than concrete structures, but it also gives us wild vegetables which are more nutritious and medicinal than the regular cultivated crops. This cannot be got from steel wires or concrete walls,” explained Dr.Nammalvar. A perennial bio-fencing with a width of 3 to 4 metres will be a boon to a farm. For example, bamboo can be ideally used as live fence material.
After four or five years, bamboo gives us building material for farm requirements and its leave a good fodder for cattle and goat.
“When we choose plants for bio-fencing it would be wise to choose multi purpose plants. Bio-fencing has one more role to play in the farming.
It can act as a wind breaker. During the summer months, it the dry wind enters the farm the soil moisture is carried away.
“A wind breaker breaks the speed of the wind and reduces the heat. Likewise in the winter season, it blocks the cold winds and saves the crop from damage due to frost, and reduces the damage from cyclones. Tree species such as subabul and casuarinas, if closely planted, will form very good wind breakers.
“The best purpose of having a live fence is that it serves as a shelter belt. This provides shelter for wild animals such as squirrels, rats, mongoose, hares, foxes and birds such as sparrow, cuckoo, mina, peacock and wild chicken,” he explained.
These wild animals help the farmer in plant protection by eating the pests on plants and by adding micro nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, nitrogen and phosphorus.
Also they help in converting organic and inorganic substances into elements needed for the growth of cultivated and uncultivated plants, according to him.
“We should keep in mind that we would not walk into the shelter belt frequently to encourage the wild friends to come and nest inside.
“They will bring seeds of plants from far off places and their excreta brings new kinds of micro organisms to our soil,” said Dr.Nammalvar.
A good example of a live-fence is at Kolunchi, centre for training and research on ecological food production located in Odugampatti village at a distance of 11 kilometers from Keeranur, Pudukkottai district.
It is established and maintained by Kudumbam, a Non-Governmental Organization engaged in LEISA (Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture).
For more information, readers can contact Dr.G.Nammalvar at No.17/9, 5th Cross, Srinivasa Nagar, Thiruvanaikkoil, Tiruchi-620005, Tamil Nadu. Email: nammalvar@gmail.com, mobile: 9442531699.
Courtesy: M.J.Prabhu (‘Role of a live fence in a small farm) and The Hindu, Madurai, April 24, 2008 (Agricutlure).
Also read Wikipedia article on “Fencing”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fencing
Grateful thanks to Mr.M.J.Prabhu, The Hindu and Wikipedia.
‘Cactus’ by Paolo Nao from
‘Cactus’ by Paolo Nao fromCourtesy: Christian Lorentzen, Harper’s Weekly Review, March 11, 2008
Grateful thanks to Mr. Christian Lorentzen and Harper’s Weekly.
Courtesy: Paul Ford, Harper’s Weekly Review, March 4, 2008
Grateful thanks to Mr.Paul Ford and Harper’s Weekly.
Excerpt from ‘Record Foodgrains output likely’ by Vinay Kumar, The Hindu, Madurai, April 23, 2008
Grateful thanks to Mr.Vinay Kumar and The Hindu.
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