Global Attention

Avoid Cheeseburgers to help fight Global Warming

noreply@blogger.com (Rajat) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:25:00 +0000

If cheeseburgers is what you love to gorge on, then you're probably not an eco-friendly person, as they are among the most climate-unfriendly foods imaginable.

Peter Aldhous, San Francisco bureau chief, New Scientist magazine, says in his article that agriculture makes a bigger contribution to global warming than the entire transportation sector, and people can help manage the problem by choosing low-carbon foods.

At a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Helene York of the Bon Appetit Management Company described her efforts to bring low-carbon menus to its network of some 400 cafes on college campuses and in corporations across 29 US states.

In April 2007, Bon Appetit adopted a two-year target to reduce the use of high-carbon beef and cheese by 25 per cent.

For beef, this target has easily been achieved. But York admits that the cheese target will be missed, because chefs have struggled to find acceptable alternatives. "It will take more time to educate the palates of our customers," she said.

The complexity of calculating total greenhouse gas emissions for foods was revealed by other speakers at the meeting as well.

Even for the same end product, total emissions can vary widely depending on how the food was farmed or caught, transported and processed.

You can Save Planet Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Rajat) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 11:27:00 +0000

“Beautiful garden soothes the eye, heals the soul and is the shortest way to connect humans to the wonders of nature. Seeing a tree in full bloom, feeling the touch of grass under your feet, smelling the fragrance of a rose… nature’s bounty is but a thought away.”

It's a known knowledge that our planet earth is getting polluted day by day. Every 10 year the global rise in temperature is 1C. The worse part is the cause of pollution is our living style. Yes the things we use are the main cause .But the good thing is we can control over the cause by slightly changing in our living style and habits.

As conscious people we can take few steps to maintain the greenery of our Planet Earth.

Step 1: Reduce the use of plastic bags
We are used to using new plastic carrier bags, every time we visit store for shopping we use loads of bags from grocery shopping to every day use. Billions and trillions of bags are produced each year. Plastic bags are waste of resource and also big problem for our environment. Plastic bags take more time in decaying.Its said the poly bags take more than a 100 year to decay completely. So any body can guess as each of us use at least 50 bags a month. So the total contributions from all over the world would be more than we estimate.

Step 2: Re-cycling of goods
We can save by using re-cycling objects like glass, paper, tins, cans, bottles, printers, mobile/cell phone, telephones, computers and loads of other things. We can recycle any thing from cloth to tins.

We will be contributing in reducing the level of refusals and saving energy also.

Step 3: Being paper less wherever possible
As we all know paper come from the trees and trees are best source and contributor to fight against pollution.

It is calculated that daily thousands of trees are cut just to produce paper. We can subscribe to on-line billings and can cut the paper cost wherever possible. Also available are paper free fax machines introduced by Dell and Sony where we can receive faxes on computers and we can send back without any hassle and using papers. Using of email system is quicker and convenient also.

Step 4: Saving Energy
The main pollution is in the form of carbon and is contributed into our environment every year just because of heat, power and light. We use heating system to keep our houses warm, bulbs to get light and that contribute about more than one fourth (26.8 %) of total pollution a year we produce and carbon dioxide contribute main role in global climate change. But there is no way we can do any thing about it. We do need all these things to survive and to live but we can reduce the percentage just by using some alternatives.

Energy saving bulbs also called energy efficient light bulbs saves 12 times the conventional bulbs and each bulb save minimum of 100 bugs a year. If every house hold use minimum of 3 energy savers it would save to light street lamps for a year.

Step 5: Going Organic
Organic farming use less chemicals and save the environment. It is also better for wild life. Due to use of less pesticide and artificial chemicals the environment is less effected and more pollution free.

These could be just few of the ways to go green and keep the world green.

NDTV and Toyota have started a move for greener future. Everyone under the sky is invited to join the move.

According to NDTV Toyota Campaign Ambassador, Preity Zinta, “It doesn't matter which country you're from; the Earth is ours, the planet is ours. We should all join hands to save it.”

Ofcourse yes, I have joined the move and now it is your turn.

To take your pledge and to join thousands of other conscious people, please do visit the following link…

http://green.ndtv.com/

Your mobile phone may harm you

noreply@blogger.com (Rajat) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:14:00 +0000

Your all time information bearer friend can be harmful to you. I mean your mobile phone could prove to be dangerous for you. According to an study, experts have said that using a mobile phone for more than an hour a day could damage hearing.

The study says that those who regularly use their mobile phones for longer than an hour a day find it harder to hear - with words starting with the letters s, f, h, t and z in the long run. Such people were noticed to have problems identifying high-frequency sounds, such as those made by the letters s, f, h, t and z. For them, it was hard to distinguish between words such as hill, fill and till.

It is also reported that “those who had used a mobile for 10 years or more had doubled the risk of developing a glioma (a nervous system tumor) and were 2.4 times more likely to be diagnosed with a tumor on a nerve connecting the ear to the brain.”

Experts do suggest that using mobiles can be harmful in few more ways. People may develop contact dermatitis. This is a kind of allergy caused by the contact of metals like Nickel, Cobalt and Cromium. So, according to experts those mobile phones whose cabinet and other buttons are made of Nickel, Cobalt or Cromium can damage your skin and can result burn marks in your face including ears.

One more thing what experts have warned is that the radio frequency waves used in the mobile phones may result in lesser sperm count in males in the long run. In this way makes them inappropriate for reproduction.

Together we can fight TERRORism

noreply@blogger.com (Rajat) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:48:00 +0000

Terrorism has become a global issue and to fight against this inhuman activity, we the people of whole world have to stand together. Aajtak / India Today group has announced war against terrorism. In this way they are trying to spread awareness about terrorism and the need to act against this deadly human act. Not restricted to the citizens of India only, the people worldwide are co-ordially invited to join this anti-terror pledge.

To take your pledge and to join thousands other conscious people, please do visit one of the links given.
www.indiatoday.in/war
or,
www.aajtak.in/war
or,
http://specials.indiatoday.com/specials/petition_hindi/index.html

Let Us Fight AIDS Together

noreply@blogger.com (Rajat) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:50:00 +0000

Basic Info
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). By killing or damaging cells of the body's immune system, HIV progressively destroys the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers.

Over one million Americans are living with HIV/AIDS today. Worldwide, the figure is over 33 million. Effective HIV care—including antiretroviral drug therapies and regular access to primary health care—can help people manage their HIV disease and live longer.

As HIV attacks the human immune system, the immune system weakens over time and becomes more susceptible to opportunistic infections (OIs). Opportunistic infections are generally illnesses that don’t make people with a healthy immune system sick or don’t occur as often. There are many kinds of opportunistic infections, including other viruses, bacterial infections, and some types of cancers. Even common colds can become more dangerous and the flu is considered a serious condition in persons with HIV/AIDS.

To name just a few, common HIV/AIDS related health issues include:
• Tuberculosis (TB)
• Hepatitis C
• Cryptoccocal meninigitis
• Pneumocystis carinii pneumosia (PCP)
• Cryptosporidiosis (crypto)
• Toxoplasmosis (toxo)

HIV/AIDS can make treating opportunistic infections more difficult. The longer an individual’s immune system can be kept healthy through diet, exercise, and working with health care providers regarding making treatment decisions and adherence to treatment regimens, the less likely opportunistic infections may occur.

Facts and Myths
HIV can be found in body fluids, including:
• blood
• semen
• vaginal fluids
• breast milk
• some body fluids sometimes handled by healthcare workers (fluids surrounding the brain and spinal cord, bone joints, and around an unborn baby)

HIV is passed from one person to another by:
• having sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) with a person who has HIV
• sharing needles with a drug user who has HIV
• during pregnancy, birth, or breast-feeding if a mother has HIV
• getting a blood transfusion from a person with HIV

Abstaining from (not having) sex is the most effective way to prevent HIV transmission. There are several ways to protect yourself or to prevent transmitting HIV during vaginal, oral, or anal sex if you choose to have sex:
• Get tested for HIV and know the HIV status of yourself and your partner
• Be faithful to your sexual partner
• Use condoms or other latex barriers during vaginal, oral, and anal sex, and never reuse condoms or latex barriers

HIV cannot be transmitted by casual contact. Here are the facts:
• You cannot get HIV from shaking hands or hugging a person with HIV/AIDS
• You cannot get HIV from using a public telephone, drinking fountain, restroom, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, or hot tub
• You cannot get HIV from sharing a drink
• You cannot get HIV from being coughed or sneezed on by a person with HIV/AIDS
• You cannot get HIV from giving blood
• You cannot get HIV from a mosquito bite

Transmission of HIV while getting a tattoo or through a body piercing is possible, but it can be prevented through:
• Single-use instruments intended to penetrate the skin being used only once, then disposed of
• Reusable instruments or devices that penetrate the skin and/or contact a client's blood should be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized between clients according to medical guidelines

These guidelines are the same as those practiced within any medical facility where there is a risk of instruments coming into contact with blood.

What Happens If I'm HIV Positive?
You might not know if you get infected by HIV. Some people get fever, headache, sore muscles and joints, stomach ache, swollen lymph glands, or a skin rash for one or two weeks. Most people think it's the flu. Some people have no symptoms.

The virus will multiply in your body for a few weeks or even months before your immune system responds. During this time, you won't test positive for HIV, but you can infect other people.

When your immune system responds, it starts to make antibodies. When this happens, you will test positive for HIV.

After the first flu-like symptoms, some people with HIV stay healthy for ten years or longer. But during this time, HIV is damaging your immune system.

One way to measure the damage to your immune system is to count your CD4 cells you have. These cells, also called "T-helper" cells, are an important part of the immune system. Healthy people have between 500 and 1,500 CD4 cells in a milliliter of blood.

Without treatment, your CD4 cell count will most likely go down. You might start having signs of HIV disease like fevers, night sweats, diarrhea, or swollen lymph nodes. If you have HIV disease, these problems will last more than a few days, and probably continue for several weeks.

How Do I Know If I Have AIDS?
HIV disease becomes AIDS when your immune system is seriously damaged. If you have less than 200 CD4 cells or if your CD4 percentage is less than 14%, you have AIDS.

If you get an opportunistic infection, you have AIDS. There is an "official" list of these opportunistic infections put out by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The most common ones are:
• PCP (Pneumocystis pneumonia), a lung infection;
• KS (Kaposi's sarcoma), a skin cancer;
• CMV (Cytomegalovirus), an infection that usually affects the eyes
• Candida, a fungal infection that can cause thrush (a white film in your mouth) or infections in your throat or vagina

AIDS-related diseases also includes serious weight loss, brain tumors, and other health problems. Without treatment, these opportunistic infections can kill you.

AIDS is different in every infected person. Some people die a few months after getting infected, while others live fairly normal lives for many years, even after they "officially" have AIDS. A few HIV-positive people stay healthy for many years even without taking antiretroviral medications (ARVs).

Is There A Cure For AIDS?
There is no cure for AIDS. There are drugs that can slow down the HIV virus, and slow down the damage to your immune system. There is no way to "clear" the HIV out of your body.

Other drugs can prevent or treat opportunistic infections (OIs). In most cases, these drugs work very well. The newer, stronger ARVs have also helped reduce the rates of most OIs. A few OIs, however, are still very difficult to treat.

While there is currently no cure or vaccine for HIV/AIDS, people living with HIV disease can benefit from an array of antiretroviral therapies and other services that have proven effective against it. HIV is now managed as a chronic, long-term disease for many Americans.

Federal efforts are underway to investigate even more effective drug regimens, develop vaccines, and design prevention strategies that can help people from becoming infected. Most are under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health, within HHS.

The best way to protect yourself is…
1. To know about AIDS,
2. To spread the Aids Awareness and its deadly endangers.
3. Not to be a victim of the deadly virus by being all time alert.