Day: December 21, 2014

By Dr Khushboo Shah Sawant

Winters are officially here! So it`™s time to bring out all the winter accessories. For the girls, it`™s time to sport the tallest boots and most furry ponchos and the men to put on their trendiest jackets.

The festive season is round the corner with a week left for Christmas and another few days left for New Year`s eve. So this weekend I decided to tackle a more practical problem; a problem which each and every person face during winters, be it a child, young or senior person. And the trouble is battling the severe winters and the toll it takes on our skin and hair etc.

Skin and hair are not just mere accessories to our body that we must beautify. In fact they have some functions too. As we all know, human beings are mammals which means humans directly give birth to young ones, have mammary glands to feed the young ones and also have hair all over the body. With evolution we have shed most of the thick hair and have only bare minimum hair on the body now. But the main function of hair is to provide warmth to the body, along with providing some amount of protection as well. Similarly skin also has certain functions. Few would know that the skin is the largest organ in the human body. It is not a mere barrier between the inside of our body and the environment. It is a protective layer which is meant to regulate the body temperature. It also keeps the inside of the body protected from external harmful agents like germ, dirt etc. Alongside it is a source of excretion of toxins in the form of sweat and other metabolic functions of our body. So while winter is a season to look pretty the damage it causes to the skin and hair must never be ignored and proper care must be taken. During winters, it is a natural process for the skin to become dry, scaly, reddish and sometimes even itchy. But attention must be paid if these symptoms persist even before or after winter, or do not budge despite of protective measures being taken. It must be brought to the notice of a dermatologist or in simple words a skin specialist. As it could be a skin condition like dermatitis or eczema etc.

However simple tips and actions often help greatly in nurturing the skin and hair and keeping them healthy even during winters. To begin with, bathing which is an important daily routine, during winters. It usually is very tempting to bathe in very hot water simply because of the chill. But often very hot water causes the skin to become very dry as it damages the protective natural moisture of the skin. It is always best to opt for a short bath with warm water, followed by immediately using liberal amount of any moisturiser all over the body. Any moisturiser works best when applied on warm and wet skin. The type of moisturiser may depend upon individual skin type and choice. However simple moisturising agents like any natural oil like coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil, or mustard oil also work perfectly fine.

Next is wearing adequate winter gear while moving outdoors, always cover yourself up with sufficient layers of clothing. This is especially important for children and young ones. Another important option is to stock up your homes with healthy foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and healthy mono saturated fats which are available in foods like fishes, nuts, olive oil etc. Also it is important to include food rich in Vitamin C in your daily diet, as it helps with the production of collagen which helps in maintaining skin and connective tissues. Another advice which is easily forgotten is to consume sufficient quantity of water, as during winter a person tends to feel less thirsty and ends up consuming very little water which may cause dehydration and further dryness and even constipation.

For dry skin it is often best to immediatly moisturise the skin after bath which helps in trapping maximum moisture in the skin. Drinking milk is also a healthy option as milk contains proteins and fats which are good for the skin. Dry and cracked feet are probably one of the sorriest sights of winter. To maintain healthy feet a person does not need to invest in expensive treatments but a simple foot scrub to remove the dry dead skin and intense moisturising can also help the cause. Petroleum jelly is one of the best options for cracked feet. An ideal night time regime for cracked feet should include daily scrubbing and exfoliation of feet, followed by application of an intense moisturizer and wearing of socks in order to retain the moisture and keep the skin warm and can help heal cracked skin.

Another obvious sign of winter are dry chapped lips. Here the most important tip is not to pull out the cracked dead skin on the lips which will give rise to bleeding and painful lips, as the skin over the lips is thinner and less elastic. The best option is to keep a lip balm at hand always and apply the same as often as possible. For chapped lips, even petroleum jelly or homemade butter or ghee can also prove to be equally beneficial. Dry and scaly hands are also a common occurrence as often as our hands do most of our chores and even bear the brunt of it. Using heavy moisturiser for the hands is a good option. Keep a small bottle of a moisturising lotion near the wash basin, so after washing hands moisturizing them is not forgotten. Also at night if hands are moisturised and gloves are worn, it can help in healing the skin at a better pace.

Our hair also gets very much damaged during winter, as they are also stripped off their natural moisture. Also dry flaky skin on the scalp also is a source of itching. One key rule for this during winter is to always oil your hair before washing it. Also it is important is to avoid very hot water while washing your hair. Washing your hair, especially with a shampoo it anyway steals the natural oil of the scalp and even more so during winter. And so a prior oiling session tends to reduce the hair damage along with moisturising the scalp helping the scaly flaky skin. Another mistake people often commit is to blow dry your hair especially during winter, a blow dryer also tends to dry out the hair even more, especially during winters.

So while it is a season to look your best and enjoy the festivities, a little care and attention towards yourself underneath all the clothes and accessories can help not only to battle the uncomfortable woes of winters but also helps in the long run.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/12/war-with-winter/

By M.C. Linthoingambee

India is one of the few countries in the world under which environmental protection is mentioned among its top priority measures within the Constitution of India in its 42nd amendments thereby contributing to the idea of enacting well-developed environmental laws. Owing to the United Nations Conference on Human Environment it is imperative to make laws on several areas in relation to air, water, forests, etc. But all these did not help during the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984 that impacted lives of many, till today.

Several lacunas were discovered in the above mentioned legislation. The man behind the crime vanished while many at home suffered gravely. The pain was unimaginable and such occurrences continue till today although in a lesser extent. Has the past taught us nothing? Even then, the people of Bhopal were happy to be given a job at the Union Carbide Factory and today for the very same reason people risk their health further to earn a living. At the end of the day, it all comes down to economic susceptibility and inability to cope up with the needs of the present day.

Days, Months and years have passed and we find ourselves ending up at square one. The Environment Protection Act 1988 was one such act that came in the wake of the aforementioned tragedy. But in spite of that it was on the part of the judges to make the final call. The system of filing Public Interest Litigations came as an aid in time of needs. It was used as a great tool in racking no good doers from their misdeeds so that the judges can offer their fair share of serving for justice on environmental protection. There were many principles and doctrines developing in the track for example: conserving the environment for the future generations, protecting the natural ecology and conserving natural wildlife, etc.

At present stage there are no enough laws that govern India on climate change. It is well noted that India is also among the largest producers of Green House Gases, and hence we need to resort to other means than are environmental friendly. The recent advances in the climate change jurisprudence at the global level poses greater challenges at the national level. The recent approach in dealing with climate change has been from the human rights perspective. This was a welcome shift, changing the focus from states to individuals. Climate change negotiations, according to this perspective, can no longer be a forum for state trade-offs and climate change is no longer a mere issue squarely belonging to science and politics but an essentially human process with demonstrable human cause and effect.

There are many resourceful NGOs, private individuals, researchers, that have taken a keen interest on dealing with the environment. It is observed that pollution has taken a toll in spite of several impositions and restrictions in view of strict and absolute liability. It is about time we clean up the rivers that have so righteously given us water to drink and bring it back to the scenery that were once so adored and loved by poets and writers. The Pollution Control Board should be made more efficient with increase of resources and workers in order to keep a check on any companies that does not deal with precautionary safety standards.

Today, there is more pollution all around us more so ever than yesterday. We all need to do our part for protecting the environment. Men and his greed have allowed him to cut down trees without the thought of planting another in the same spot. The result of which was also seen during the flood that happened in Uttrakhand that destroyed more than a hundred homes with many severely injured or killed. The weather is often unpredictable; scientists around the world have alarmingly tried at their level best to ascertain climatic conditions and its changes.

Although men can now gain excess to weather reports now. But we cannot claim that the system for early detection of natural disaster is the time perfect. It is observed that there has been snowfalls in some parts of India even though winter comes at its best usually in the month of January. These are some of the strange climatic phenomena that have been occurring because of our negligence towards environment. The phenomenon only proves that we are also vulnerable to climate change and its impact. Besides, we are already dealing with problem like water scarcity, which has had impacted on our agriculture and other related issues.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/12/tampered-climates/

By RK Lakhi Kant

Expanding business only for profits,
without concern for people who
are not interested in business
or money making, is futile.

There are thousands and thousands
of those who cannot fit in the system,
so complicated it has become.

Industry never thinks how the social
dropouts will survive, at the cost of
many many things which
they are good at.

Art too does not like to be
created in stifling conditions;
and without a liberal society
the flourish of art is thwarted.
Dole is indispensable if
industry is to play fair.

And if the government thinks
the population is too large
to even think of dole, then,
conversely, superfluous
industries have to be
abolished so that people
feel safe from the threat of
extensive industrialization,
which in common tongue means
enslaving the masses with
temptation for money.

Dole can keep the unemployed
alive and thinking, with
practical freedom in
making small choices.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/12/dearth/

By Khura Seraton

“What nice poses these body builders of our motherland are displaying in this cold winter evening. As I need not say, how cold the weather is today. The kinds of heavy jackets that we have put on are to keep ourselves warm. But look at these contestants! With bare minimum clothes on their bodies they are right now giving us treat of a beautiful choreography of the human body and their muscles `¦` I heard this commentary during live telecast of a body building competition which was held at the Gandhi Memorial Hall many moons back. To watch a body building competition is always a treat, especially during winter season when you are wrapped with layers and layers of clothes. The athletes give you assurance that you can still be alive with the small piece of cloth covering only the trunk. They along with their different physical stances enlighten you that your body can be shaped into a beautiful organic engine rumbling with energy and strength. Pointless to say anything more about their muscles; each parts which look neatly baked with desired shape and sizes inside an oven, pasted on their bodies with Super Glue especially for the competition. But that is not the case, not at all.

You know how hard these athletes work to make their bodies muscularly visible even from the last row seats of an auditorium. Now, coming back to the commentary that I have mentioned in the beginning, it continued like this, `Have a look, everybody, have a look `¦ they are the sons of the soil, on the stage right in front of you, flexing each and every muscles of their body `“ to bring about an egalitarian society in the land.` I was the lone audience of the television in the room that day. I was not sure if I heard it correctly about the `egalitarian society`™ in the commentary. Post dinner, I confirmed it from one of the neighbours who never miss live programmes on local television network. He also heard the same about the `egalitarian society`™ in the commentary. Since then, I have been paying attention, as much as I can, to most of the commentaries during body building competitions held in the vicinity either on live TV shows or event held elsewhere. But much to my chagrin, I am not been able to listen to the same commentary made on that wintry evening by a lively commentator. More particularly about the `egalitarian society`™ part of the commentary, which have remained in my ears since that day.

I have not tried to think much about building an egalitarian society by building our bodies and flexing our muscles in front of a large audience wearing bare minimum clothes. Neither have I tried sharing the idea with anyone. But I like that man, that unknown commentator who believed that our society can be shaped by shaping our bodies. Or was the statement just an offhand ornamentation of words to add more spark to his firework of commentaries?

In a different occasion, some moons after, I happened to attend a poetry reading session, invited by a close friend. In fact, it was a sort of book launching function. The book was an anthology of poems written by a budding poet, who had developed a penchant of writing poetry early into his mid-fifties. You fall into the poetry or the poetry falls into you, age is not a factor. This budding poet takes out time to write poems from his high profile government job in the finance department. That day, he told us that poems visit him at odd hours, even during a crucial departmental meeting. And as a poet, he made them sit on any sheets of paper available around, through his pen.

Well-known poets and some faintly-known poets were invited to speak on the book, more precisely on the poems written by the budding poet. The poets spoke, one after another. Meanwhile, I had gone for a while to the washroom. On my return, the newly released book which was distributed to every one of us present on the day was missing. I mean, the book that I got as one of the invitees was missing which I had left on my seat. I thought, I will request the organiser or the poet himself to hand me another copy, if I fail to find the book after the function. An invited-well-known poet was on the microphone. He was reading out some of the poems from the book. He appreciated the effort of the budding poet for his determination of writing beautiful poetries. He said, pointing to the some of the folded pages of the book `the folded pages are the selected poems of this book, which I think is striking to me. I have folded them the previous night`. He went on to speak for about ten minutes more. Next speaker was called out. After a while, the poet who just spoke came to me handed a book to me and said `don`™t mind that I have folded some pages of the book`, and he left with a smile.

I thought I have found the lost commentator.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/12/the-lost-commentator/