Monday, November 24, 2008

National Family Welfare Programme

India launched the National Family Welfare Programme in 1951 with the objective of "reducing the birth rate to the extent necessary to stabilise the population at a level consistent with the requirement of the National economy. The Family Welfare Programme in India is recognised as a priority area, and is being implemented as a 100% centrally sponsored programme.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Tropical deforestation

Stretching out from the equator on all Earth’s land surfaces is a wide belt of forests of amazing diversity and productivity. Tropical forests include dense rainforests, where rainfall is abundant year-round; seasonally moist forests, where rainfall is abundant, but seasonal; and drier, more open woodlands. Tropical forests of all varieties are disappearing rapidly as humans clear the natural landscape to make room for farms and pastures, to harvest timber for construction and fuel, and to build roads and urban areas. Although deforestation meets some human needs, it also has profound, sometimes devastating, consequences, including social conflict, extinction of plants and animals, and climate change—challenges that aren’t just local, but global. NASA supports and conducts research on tropical forests from space-based and ground-based perspectives, helping provide the information that national and international leaders need to develop strategies for sustaining human populations and preserving tropical forest biodiversity.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Cochin Harbour and Willingdon Island

Cochin, one of the finest natural harbours in the world, and the only all weather harbour on the west coast, south of Bombay, affords a safe anchorage to ships,Willingdon Island is a man made one which was formed with materials dredged while deepening the Cochin Port and channel, It is the seat of the harbour and cochin Port Trust. The Southern Naval Command has its headquarters here. The seaport, naval airport and the railway terminus are all on this island.

Monday, November 03, 2008

What is the largest flower in the world?

The flower with the world's largest bloom is the Rafflesia arnoldii. This rare flower is found in the rainforests of Indonesia. It can grow to be 3 feet across and weigh up to 15 pounds! It is a parasitic plant, with no visible leaves, roots, or stem. It attaches itself to a host plant to obtain water and nutrients. When in bloom, the Rafflesia emits a repulsive odor, similar to that of rotting meat. This odor attracts insects that pollinate the plant.

Another enormous flower found in Indonesia is the Amorphophallus titanum, or Titan arum. It is also known as the "corpse flower" for its unpleasant odor. Like the Rafflesia, the Titan emits the smell of rotting flesh to attract pollinators. Technically, the Titan arum is not a single flower. It is a cluster of many tiny flowers, called an inflorescence. The Titan arum has the largest unbranched inflorescence of all flowering plants. The plant can reach heights of 7 to 12 feet and weigh as much as 170 pounds!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Lengha

The lengha (lehnga) is one of South Asia's favourite garments, worn frequently at weddings and other formal occasions. It is a long skirt worn either with a choli or a longer kurti top (tunic). Lengha skirts come in many varieties which are described below:
Gaghara - A full flared skirt, usually with a broad fitted belt around the waist (as worn by this model).
Garara - A divided skirt, similar to culottes or flared bell-bottoms.
Sharara - This is similar to the gaghara, but it is cut in an A-line pattern and the flare usually begins at the knees.

Monday, October 20, 2008

What about vegetarian diets?

Some Americans eat vegetarian diets for reasons of culture, belief, or health. Most vegetarians eat milk products and eggs, and as a group, these lacto-ovo-vegetarians enjoy excellent health. Vegetarian diets are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and can meet Recommended Dietary Allowances for nutrients. You can get enough protein from a vegetarian diet as long as the variety and amounts of foods consumed are adequate. Meat, fish, and poultry are major contributors of iron, zinc, and B vitamins in most American diets, and vegetarians should pay special attention to these nutrients.

Vegans eat only food of plant origin. Because animal products are the only food sources of vitamin B12, vegans must supplement their diets with a source of this vitamin. In addition, vegan diets, particularly those of children, require care to ensure adequacy of vitamin D and calcium, which most Americans obtain from milk products.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Crude Oil

The petroleum industry often characterizes crude oils according to their geographical source, e.g., Alaska North Slope Crude. Oils from different geographical areas have unique properties; they can vary in consistency from a light volatile fluid to a semi-solid. Classification of crude oil types by geographical source is generally not a useful classification scheme for response personnel because they offer little information about general toxicity, physical state, and changes that occur with time and weathering. These characteristics are primary considerations in oil spill response. The classification scheme provided below is more useful in a response scenario.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Fruits and Vegetables Can Protect Your Health

Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that may help protect you from chronic diseases. Compared with people who consume a diet with only small amounts of fruits and vegetables, those who eat more generous amounts as part of a healthful diet are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and perhaps other cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The Goldfish

The common goldfish is remarkably hardy, and it is the most commonly kept pet animal in the world. It ahs been kept as an ornamental fish for centuries, and graced the garden pools & aquariums of kings and emperors for a thousand years.

The goldfish is renowned for its spectacular red-gold colour, can grow to about 20cm in length, and live upto 10 years or more.

The body is protected by rows of overlapping scales that never increase in number, but increase in size as the fish grows. The circuli, or rings of growth, are well-spaced in summer when growth is rapid, but are laid down close together in winter and at other times of poor growth. The tightly-bunched circuli of winter tend to show up as distinct bands, or annuli, and it is these that indicate the years of a fish's life to a trained scale reader.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Chestnut

Chestnut trees are cultivated for their nuts or as ornamentals. Probably the most notable species was the large and graceful ornamental American chestnut (C. dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.) (fig. 73), which extended from Maine southwest to Arkansas (Munns 1938). It has been almost completely destroyed by blight. The Japanese chestnut (C. crenata Sieb. and Zucc.) and the Chinese chestnut (C. mollisima Blume) are both cultivated for their nuts. Chestnut is a deciduous tree or shrub, which is cultivated in a similar manner to other deciduous nut trees. It bears brown nuts, about an inch in diameter, which are usually consumed after they are roasted. From one to nine nuts are produced in a spiny involucre or burr.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Bird Conservation Thematic Node

The Bird Conservation Node facilitates rapid access to North American bird population and habitat data maintained by a broad coalition of Federal, state, and non-governmental partners in conservation. Includes life history, range, and habitats [Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Biological Information Infrastructure]

Monday, September 01, 2008

Solar Spectrum

The total distribution of electromagnetic radiation emanating from the sun. The different regions of the solar spectrum are described by their wavelength range. The visible region extends from about 390 to 780 nanometers (a nanometer is one billionth of one meter). About 99 percent of solar radiation is contained in a wavelength region from 300 nm (ultraviolet) to 3,000 nm (near-infrared). The combined radiation in the wavelength region from 280 nm to 4,000 nm is called the broadband, or total, solar radiation.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Auto and White goods

This sector has several opportunities for investment due to the availability of raw materials at close proximity and a large consumer market for the product both in and around the State. These advantages include:

Presence of large steel plants as a source of easy freight; World class industries (in and around the State) create an excellent vendor base to support the sector; Several industries like Usha Martin, Timken, Cummins, Tinplate, Indal, etc. produce a wide range of engineering products; Various industrial units involved in activities like mining and coking coal; A good combined market for the sector is provided by Jharkhand along with Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh; Demand for white goods like refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, etc is high in the State and is rapidly increasing, etc.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Education

Education encompasses both the teaching and learning of knowledge, good conduct, and technical aptitude. It thus focuses on the cultivation of skills, profession, trades sessions, as well as moral, mental & aesthetic development.
Proper education consists of systematic training, instruction and training by professional teachers. This consists of the application of pedagogy and the growth of curricula. In a liberal education tradition, teachers draw on many different disciplines for their lessons, including psychology, philosophy, in sequence technology, biology, linguistics and sociology. Teachers in expert professions such as astrophysics, law, or zoology may teach only in a narrow area, frequently as professors at institutions of higher learning. There is much specialist instruction in fields of trade for those who want specific skills, such as required to be a pilot, for example. Finally, there is an array of educational opportunity in the informal sphere- for this reason; society subsidizes institutions such as museums and libraries. Informal education also includes knowledge and skills learned and refined during the course of life, including education that comes from experience in practicing a profession.

Monday, August 11, 2008

2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

The 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony was conducted at the Beijing National Stadium, also called as the Bird's Nest. It started at 8:00 pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) on 8 of August 2008. The number 8 is linked with prosperity and self-confidence in Chinese culture. Organisers claim that the stadium was filled to its 91,000 capacity. The ceremony was co-directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and Chinese choreographer Zhang Jigang. It was renowned for its focus on ancient Chinese culture, and for its creativity. The musical score for the ceremony was set by composer Tan Dun. The final climb to the torch featured Olympic gymnast Li Ning, who appear to run through air around the top ring of the stadium. Featuring more than 15,000 performers, the ceremony lasted over four hours and was reported to have cost over $300 million to produce. The opening ceremony was lauded by audience and a variety of international presses as impressive and spellbinding.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Cargo

Cargo or freight is a word used to signify goods or produce being transported normally for commercial gain, usually on a plane, ship, train, truck or van. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.

Cargo represents a concern to U.S. national security and is it was reported out of Washington, DC that in 2003 over 6 million cargo containers enter the United States each year. After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the security of this extent of cargo has become highlighted. The latest US Government response to this threat is the CSI: Container Security Initiative. CSI is a program planned to help increase security for containerized cargo shipped to the United States from around the world.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Sundarbans National Park

The huge marshy delta of the two enormous Indian rivers, Ganges and brahamaputra enlarge over areas comprise of mangrove forests, forest island and swamps all intertwine in a network of small rivers and streams. It is a home of the royal Bengal tiger, covering an area of regarding 1330.10sq kms the largest mangrove forest in the world form the center of this area.The Sundarban region has got its name from Sundari trees, once set up in great quantity here. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra form this alluvial archipelago of 54 islands watered by the Bay of Bengal. The islands Goasaba, Sandeshkali and Basanti form the northern boundary of the Sundarbans; on the south is the sea; to the west side of the Sunderbans Park is the Matla and Bidya Rivers and to the east is the international boundary of Bangladesh.

Flora in Sundarbans National Park:

Motivating life forms await you in this largest estuarine delta in the world, Sunderbans. In April and May the flaming red leaves of the Genwa, edge the bright green islands. The crab like red flowers of the Kankara and the yellow blooms of Khalsi add to the amazing display.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Fitness boot camp

It is a kind of physical training program conducted by gyms, personal trainers, and former military personnel. These programs have been growing in popularity for the past several years. The training frequently combines running, interval training, and many other exercise using weights and/or body weight to lose body fat, increase cardiovascular efficiency, boost strength, and help people get into a practice of regular exercise. Many programs offer nutrition proposal as well. It is alled "boot camp" because it trains groups of people, typically outdoors, and may or may not be alike to military basic training.

The term 'Boot Camp' is currently used in the fitness industry to explain group fitness classes that support fat loss, camaraderie and team effort. They are designed to push people a little bit further than they would normally push themselves in the gym alone. Boot Camps are often prepared outdoors in parks using bodyweight exercises like push ups, squats and burpees, interspersed with running and competitive games. The idea is that everyone concerned works at their own pace as they team up and work towards one goal, either in pairs, small teams of 3 or 4, or even 2 teams head on. Everyone who joins a Boot Camp and sticks with it will see marked improvements in strength, endurance and stamina.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Archaeology

It is the study of human life and culture through progressively examining and interprets the material remains left behind. These material remains include archaeological sites (e.g. settlements, building features, graves), as well as cultural materials or artifacts such as tools and ceramic. Through the interpretation and categorization of archaeological materials, archaeologists work to be familiar with past human behavior from the initial evidence of cultural behavior (e.g. tool making of hominids) to today. In some countries, archaeology is often historical or art historical, with a strong emphasis on culture history, archaeological sites, and artifacts as art objects. In the New World, archaeology can be either a division of history and classical studies or anthropology. Anthropological archaeology is a method of analysis within cultural anthropology, which attempts to make out and reconstruct past life ways. In general, however, archaeology has stimulated on from an object-based collection of art objects, to a field that tries to understand motivations, causes, and effects in past cultures.

Monday, July 07, 2008

National sport

A national sport is a sport or game that is measured to be a popularly fundamental part of the culture or is the most popular sport of a country or nation. In American English the term national is pastime often to be used.

Although there are usually no official parameters towards defining what a national sport is, there is some general individuality that most national sports share the rules and objectives of the sport or game are known in fairly great detail in the country or nation. The game or sport is widely played or watched in the country or nation.

The game or sport has a long history of popularity or extreme current status in the country or nation. In some countries, sport or game can become the official national pastime by authorization of the government, such as in Canada with lacrosse and ice-hockey in 1994. In other countries, where the sport or game has such a long history, such as with baseball in the United States or sumo wrestling in Japan, the sport or game is often measured a de facto "official" national pastime. This article usually goes by the popularity of the sports in all the countries.