Earth hour…

Extract from Gems of Wisdom… ”The scientific community is given credit for bringing the civilization to the modern technological advanced age, conveniently labeling the history as dark ages. There was a rapid development in scientific community in terms of discoveries and inventions which led to Industrial Revolution. This revolution changed the face of the earth as we see it.

This advent of revolution was manifested in the form of consumerism. The factories came up, where thousands of men labored hard to earn their livelihood. These workers, were the farmers who had migrated from the villages. They dream of staying in a city, becoming independent and earning a livelihood by working hard in factories rather than the farms. Due to the desire fostered by the new born culture of greed where in everyone wanted to have more of everything for which they had to struggle and suffer even more in bad living conditions, smoke, grit and equally oppressive industrialists as the feudal lords in the villages. Even though the struggle was there, but the thought of staying in city and ability to consume the products of city made them artificially feel happy. It was something similar to what a thirsty desert animal feels on seeing the reflection of a mirage, which it misunderstands to be real water and gratifies itself thinking that water is nearby when it’s not.
The industrial revolution brought forward the steam engines, whose descendants now we see running with great ease on the metro overhead. Consumer electronics in its crude form took birth in the lap of burning furnaces in the factories. The “Bright Age” had come with the invention and subsequent mass production of bulb. The bulbs evolved to tube lights, neon lights and flood lights which adorn our stadiums. In this glitter of man made lights, the sun got clouded with the smoke that arose from factories. One of the crucial ingredients which contributed to the happenings was extraction of fuel. Petroleum and coal kept the furnaces burning, the production lines moving and the chimneys spewing smoke. The very smoke which filled the lungs of the workers causing them innumerable diseases. We even have a fancy word for the phenomena these days. Its called Occupational hazard.

This went on for 3 centuries in some parts of the world and for decades in some. It was a second coming for human civilization. And finally it reached the zenith of advancement when the soldiers of captain planet proposed to observe an hour of darkness to nullify the effect of centuries and decades of misuse of nature’s resources. In order to save the planet and give it to the future generation as it is, it was proposed by the do-gooders to switch off all lights in the house and enjoy a candle lit dinner with loved ones.

Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights..."

Q&A with Dr.Devi Shetty (Heart Specialist) on Heart problems, BP, junk food

Q: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.

Ans: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans.

Q: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?

Ans: Yes.

Q: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart? What precautions would you recommend?

Ans : When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.

Q: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)?

Ans : Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.

Q: How would you define junk food?

Ans : Fried food like Kentucky, McDonalds, too many sweets and other deep fried foods.

Q: You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?

Ans: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.

Info: Obtained the above excerpt (chat with Dr.Devi Shetty, Heart Specialist – Part 3 of 4) from GemsofWisdom Group.

Indian Traffic Signs–Mandatory Signs

Here I tried accumulating the Mandatory Signs (the below TRAFFIC SIGNS ENUMERATED IN THE SCHEDULE OF MOTOR VEHICLE ACT-1988). Hope this helps.

M-MANDATORY SIGNS