Saturday, 1 August 2009

Niagra of India--Hogenakkal in Karnataka

Known as the 'Niagara Falls of India', the Hogenakkal waterfall in the Dharmapuri district is a popular tourist destination.

The waterfall amidst the lush green and serene surroundings makes it an idyllic and excellent excursion destination for tourists-both domestic and foreign.

However, weekends here are rather fast paced as the place is chock- a- block with people, coming here to soak in the water showers or enjoy a boat ride.

Besides providing a perfect leisure spot, the waterfall is known for its healing properties. People suffering from skin ailments especially come here to take a herbal power shower.

World's deserts getting greener despite global warming

Contrary to the assumption that global warming would cause an expansion of the world's deserts, some scientists are predicting that water and life may slowly reclaim these arid places.

According to a report by BBC News, the evidence is limited and definitive conclusions are impossible to reach, but recent satellite pictures of North Africa seem to show areas of the Sahara in retreat.

It could be that an increase in rainfall has caused this effect.

The Sahara is experiencing a shift from dryer to wetter conditions, according to Farouk el-Baz, director of the Centre for Remote Sensing at Boston University.

"It's not greening yet. But the desert expands and shrinks in relation to the amount of energy that is received by the Earth from the Sun, and this over many thousands of years," el-Baz told the BBC World Service.

"The heating of the Earth would result in more evaporation of the oceans, in turn resulting in more rainfall," he said.

Droughts over the preceding decades have had the effect of driving nomadic people and rural farmers into the towns and cities.

Such movement of people suggests weather patterns are becoming dryer and harsher.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned recently that rising global temperatures could cut West African agricultural production by up to 50 percent by the year 2020.

But, satellite images from the last 15 years do seem to show a recovery of vegetation in the Southern Sahara, although the Sahel Belt, the semi-arid tropical savannah to the south of the desert, remains fragile.

The fragility of the Sahel may have been exacerbated by the cutting of trees, poor land management and subsequent erosion of soil.

The broader picture is reinforced by studies carried out in the Namib Desert in Namibia. or the last few years, there has been higher than average rainfall in the area.

This is a region with an average rainfall of just 12 millimetres per year - what scientists call "hyper-arid".

Last year, the local research centre, called Gobabeb, measured 80mm of rain.

In the last decade, they have seen the local river, a dry bed for most of the year, experience record-high floods. All this has coincided with record-high temperatures.

According to Mary Seely, a scientist from Gobabeb, "Deserts and arid areas always have extremely varied rainfall. You would have to look at a record of several hundred years to maybe say that things are getting greener or dryer. For the last few years, there has been higher than average rainfall."

Thursday, 30 July 2009

Gayatri Devi Passes Away

Jaipur royal Rajmata Gayatri Devi on Wednesday ,she was 90. She was once named as 'Worldz Ten Most Beautiful Women' by Vogue .Gayatri Devi won the Lok Sabha seat thrice.She was a fashion Icon in her adulthood.Born on May 23, 1919 as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar, she was the third Maharani of Jaipur from 1939 to 1970 through marriage to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. To her friends and family she was more commonly known as Ayesha.She started schools for girls education in Jaipur which is the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls Public School. She also promoted the dying art of blue pottery.

Abortion Ratz Increazig n China

13 million abortions are carried out in China each year, in part because there is little education about contraception or disease for the rising numbers of young people who are having sex, state media said. Zex is no longer considered taboo among young people today and they believe they can learn everything they need from the internet. But it doesn't mean they have developed a proper understanding or attitude toward it the paper quoted hospital gynaecologist Yu Dongyan saying .Single women may seek abortions because under current laws unmarried mothers cannot get a household registration card for their child. It is extremely hard for Chinese citizens to get access to education, healthcare and other public services. China also sellz 10 million abortion pills a year, and there are many other abortions performed in unregistered clinics.Ordinary web users in China banned from surfing sex-related medical and research websites from July that threatenz to make information about zexual health even harder to access.

റോഡരികില്‍ ചവറുകൂനകള്‍;യാത്രക്കാര്‍ ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടുന്നു.

തിരുവനന്തപുരം: റോഡരികിലെ ചവറുകള്‍ യാത്രക്കാര്‍ക്ക് ഏറെ ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടുണ്ടാക്കുന്നു. കഴക്കുട്ടം ബൈപാസ് എന്‍ .എച്ച് റോഡ്, ചാക്ക ബൈപാസ് എന്നിവയ്ക്ക് പുറമേ തിരുവനന്തപുരം നഗരത്തിലെ പല പ്രധാന റോഡുകളിലും നടപ്പാതകള്‍ പോലും കയ്യടക്കികൊണ്ട്ടാന്നു മാലിന്യങ്ങള്‍ സ്ഥാനം പിടിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത് . പലയിടങ്ങളിലും യാത്രക്കാര്‍ക്ക് മു‌ക്കുപോത്തി സഞ്ചരിക്കേണ്ടഅവസ്ഥയാണുള്ളത്. കാല്‍നട യാത്രക്കാരെയാണ് ഇതു കൂടുതല്‍ ബാധിക്കുന്നത്‌ .പ്ലാസ്റ്റിക് മുതല്‍ ജൈവാവഷിഷ്ടങ്ങള്‍ വരെ ഇവയില്‍ പെടുന്നു .
നഗരസഭയുടെ വൃത്തിയാക്കല്‍ നടപടികള്‍ ദിവസവും തുടരുന്നെങ്ങിലും ഇവയൊന്നും ആരുടേയും കണ്ണില്‍പ്പെടുന്നില്ല . അടുക്കള മാലിന്യങ്ങള്‍ , ഇറച്ചി കടയിലെ അഴുകിയ മാംസാവശിഷ്ടങ്ങളും വാഹനങ്ങളിലെത്തി ഉപേക്ഷിക്കുക പതിവാണ്. മഴക്കാലമാവുമ്പോള്‍ സ്ഥിതി ഗുരുതരമാകുകയും പല പകര്‍ച്ചവ്യാധികള്‍ക്കും കാരണമാകുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു . നഗരസഭയുടെ നേത്രത്വത്തില്‍ ചവര്‍ നിക്ഷേപം നിരോധിച്ചിരുന്ന മേഖലയില്‍ ചവറിടാന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ച നഗരസഭയുടെ വാഹനത്തെ നാട്ടുകാര്‍ തടഞ്ഞു വെച്ച സംഭവവും ഈയിടെ ഉണ്ടായിട്ടുണ്ട് .മാലിന്യ നിര്‍മ്മാര്‍ജനത്തില്‍ നഗരസഭയുടെ അനാസ്ഥ തുടര്‍ന്നാല്‍ ശക്തമായ പ്രതിഷേധ പരിപാടികളുമായി രംഗത്തെതുമെന്നു നാട്ടുകാര്‍ പറയുന്നു .

My Hearty Congratulations

Dear Laletta,
Wish you all the best for your new assignement. Now you have an additional responsibility for Indian people. You look very nice in the uniform. You absolutely deserve it. Wish you all the best. we are proud of you,a great achievement

trousers trial

The trial of a Sudanese woman charged with wearing "indecent" clothing has been adjourned, but will continue after she decided to waive her immunity.Lubna Ahmed Hussein was arrested for wearing trousers, said she wanted carry on with the trial because she wanted to get the law changed. Under Sudanese law she could face 40 lashes if she is found guilty. She was arrested in a restaurant in the capital with other women earlier this month for wearing "indecent" clothing.