Tarundeep Rai-SIKKIM

source: Voice of Sikkim

SIKKIM: CM congrats Tarundeep Rai

Gangtok: Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling has congratulated Tarundeep Rai who hails from Sikkim for winning the bronze medal in the men’s archery on 8th Oct 2010 in the ongoing Commomwealth Games at New Delhi.

Mr. Rai has made his State and country proud. Chief Minister also wishes him all success.

The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) has also hailed the achievement of Sikkimese son Tarundeep Rai for his success in archery at CWG. Tarundeep has made all the people of Sikkim very proud with his Commonwealth Games bronze medal, says SDF and extends its heartiest congratulations to the Arjuna awardee archer.

Sikkim Chamber of Commerce has also congratulated Tarundeep Rai for making Sikkim proud.

The Sikkim Archery Association has congratulated Tarundeep Rai for fetching a bronze medal for the country in the Commonwealth Games.

The association has conveyed its best wishes to Tarundeep to make the state and country proud with his achievements in future as well.

SAA General Secretary Dr. K B Gurung, who was in New Delhi and watched Tarundeep’s medal-winning effort live, personally congratulated the archer on behalf of the SAA President and all the citizens of Sikkim.

NEPAL: NASA launches Himalayan monitoring system in Nepal

KATHMANDU: A new system that will allow scientists to monitor the impact of climate change in the Himalayas using images from NASA satellites was launched in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Around 1.3 billion people depend on the water that flows down from the Himalayan glaciers, which experts say are melting at an alarming rate, threatening to bring floods and later drought to the region.

But relatively little is known about the impact of climate change on the vast region, which environmental campaigners describe as a “third pole” because of its huge water reserves in the form of ice and snow.

The web-based system, called SERVIR, will allow scientists, governments and aid agencies to access satellite images of the Himalayas, giving them early warning of floods and other disasters and aiding research on climate change.

A NASA statement said SERVIR, launched in partnership with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, could be used to address threats to biodiversity as well as risks from flooding, forest fires and storms.

“The whole of the Himalayan region is something of a black hole for scientists and we hope to use this system to bridge the data gap,” said Basanta Shrestha, a senior ICIMOD executive.

“We can use this to monitor the dynamics of the cryosphere (ice systems) in the light of climate change, which is very important in terms of both disaster management and future water availability.”

source: The Himalyan Beacon

Rise and shine for breakfast time!

MEENA VIVEKANAND

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Special arrangement Varied options: To kick start your day.

Skipping breakfast can be the worst decision of your life; one that you will regret. So eat and break your fast!

Do you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? A good breakfast provides all the nutrients that people need to start their day with! One of the biggest mistakes we make in today's fast paced lifestyle is skipping breakfast. There are plenty of reasons why individuals do this, either they are lazy to prepare something, or they think that saving the calories from breakfast will help them lose weight or simply just do not like eating breakfast.

Jump starting the day with breakfast benefits everyone, be it children, teens or adults. Breakfast is the first chance that the body gets to refuel its glucose levels, after 8-12 hours without a meal or a snack. Glucose is essential for the brain and is the main source of energy. It also helps fuel the muscles needed for physical activity throughout the day.

Cash on calories

A good breakfast is one that provides at least one third of the day's calories. It is generally seen that individuals who consume up to a 1/3 of their daily calories in the morning meal will eat less later on that day. When you don't, your body tends to catch-up with the calories and often surpasses what you would have eaten otherwise. The effects of a skipped breakfast are short attention span, lack of alertness, longer reaction time, low blood sugar, decreased work productivity etc. Additionally, without having some fuel in your system, you simply will not have the same concentration levels that you otherwise would and your work, college or school performance is going to suffer. You wouldn't try and drive an empty car to work would you? So why drive an empty body?

The sky's the limit. The only limitation is your imagination. Make it a priority. Eat breakfast. Starting your day with a good breakfast: Boosts your energy Increases your attention span, Heightens your sense of well-being. You'll be in better control of your emotions. So tomorrow morning set your alarm 10 minutes earlier to give yourself a chance to have a morning meal. Your body and mind will thank you later on in the day.

What's your excuse?

No time: How much time does it take to eat a bowl of cereal or two toasts and some juice/ milk? You can even eat it on your way to school or work. Making time for breakfast is making time to be healthy.

Not hungry: To get started, don't eat anything after an early dinner. Finish dinner by at least 8.00 p.m.

Might gain weight: Eating breakfast will actually help you reach and maintain your healthy weight. Your appetite will be satisfied longer. You'll be eating food when you can best burn the calories. You'll feel great.

Don't like traditional breakfast: You don't have to eat traditional breakfast foods. Any healthy food is fine.

Don't like eating breakfast: Sorry it can't be helped. You've got to eat.

Tips to get started

Start Small. If you're not a breakfast eater, begin with whole wheat toast and a piece of fruit. In a few days, add more food and gradually work your way to a full breakfast. A good example of a full healthy breakfast might be something simple like a hard boiled egg, an orange, and a bowl of whole grain cereal with low fat milk or south Indian breakfast like idly or dosa with sambar or Oatmeal with chopped nuts and raisins, a sliced banana or strawberries etc.

Choose Whole Grain Bread. Have it with an egg made the way you like. If you're a veggie, try scrambled tofu (soya paneer) or sliced cucumber and tomato with mint chutney.

Choose oatmeal or high fibre cereal. Many prepared cereals have added refined sugar, often hidden. Read labels carefully to select cereals prepared without excessive sugar, salt, fat, and additives.

Include fruit in your breakfast. Fruit gives you fibre. Fresh fruit is the best choice. You can even add fruits to your cereal or oatmeal.

Meena is Director – Operations at FitnessOne Group India Limited

India has one of the lowest per capita consumption of most goods and services amongst developing economies. Telecom is the only sector where penetration is moving at a fast pace and has touched 60% so far. Bank accounts too have reached just half of India's population. It is even worse in the case of internet, where the figure is as low as 5%.

The causes of low e-savvyness are not difficult to find. Two thirds of India's population that resides in rural areas is increasingly getting familiar to mobile phones. But unfortunately, 84% of them are yet to get introduced to the internet. Infact, not just rural, but also a large section of urban Indians have few means of accessing the internet. Only 4% of Indians owned personal computers in 2009 as against 20% in China. One, computers are yet unaffordable to most low income families. Two, poor wireless connections have been a key dampener. But that does not mean internet has not proven its worth to Indian businesses. Firms offering online travel bookings, recruitment and retail have seen their sales soar in the past decade. Further they are together expected to lock in sales to the tune of US$ 7.5 bn by 2014.

As per the World Bank, the payoffs of higher internet penetration could be exemplary. It states that every 0.1% increase in internet penetration could add 1.38% of the per capita GDP in developing economies like India. The rationale for more Indians clicking on to the world wide web is thus well laid out. However, the pace of growth would be crucial. Only then would Indian companies eyeing a larger pie of the rural market be able to leapfrog their growth targets.
BY: J MULRAJ

Sleeping can help you stay slim’ IANS

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AP Sleep deprivation increases levels of hormones that cause feelings of hunger. File photo

A good night’s sleep can help you stay slim, a study has found.

Dieters who get a good night’s rest lose twice as much fat than those who scrimp on their time in bed. Sleep deprivation increases levels of hormones that cause feelings of hunger, Daily Mail reported Tuesday citing the study.

Scientists tracked the weight loss of 10 volunteers who each spent four weeks in laboratory conditions eating a calorie-reduced diet.

For the first two weeks, the volunteers were allowed eight-and-a-half hours’ sleep a night. The second stint saw them being given five-and-a-half hours a night.

They spent their days doing home or office work or leisure activities.

At the end of the test periods, the U.S. scientists found that the volunteers had lost similar amounts of weight — but the proportion of fat lost was significantly higher over the fortnight with good sleep.

An average of about three kilograms was lost during each 14-day session.

During the “good sleep” weeks, volunteers lost 3.1 pounds of fat and 3.3 pounds of fat-free body mass, mostly protein. In the short-sleep session, participants lost an average of 1.3 pounds of fat and 5.3 pounds of fat-free mass.

Study director Plamen Penev, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, said: “Cutting back on sleep, a behaviour that is ubiquitous in modern society, appears to compromise efforts to lose fat through dieting.”

source;the hindu

PTI Ravinder Singh celebrates with his coach Satpal after

winning gold in the 60kg Greco-Roman wrestling event.

 

 

source:livemint.com

DARJEELING: Darjeeling hills find depth for tourists’ descent

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

BY VIVEK CHHETRI

Higher aim: HMI principal Rana glides from 18,700 feet on Mt Makalu

Darjeeling, Oct. 4: Days are not far when tourists can glide with the floating cotton clouds across the rolling hills of Darjeeling.

The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) and the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) have recently inked a memorandum of understanding to introduce paragliding for tourists in the hills.

“The initiative is expected to be the first of its kind in this part of the region and we expect to start flying from March onwards,” Col Neeraj Rana, the principal of the HMI, told The Telegraph.

In fact, Rana himself is the first man to paraglide on Mt Makalu from an altitude of 18,700 feet to 16,076

feet.

Tourists need not be so adventurous and take risk as Rana did.

“We have selected a spot at Rohini in Kurseong subdivision. We will first take six boys from the village and will train them for a year and half before certifying them as trained paragliders. The WBTDC will develop infrastructure at the spot,” said Rana.

In the Rohini area, the highest point is around 4,000 feet and there are enough open spaces to descend as low as 2,000 feet. “The place is ideal for paragliding. The valley-like area is surrounded by hillocks and the scenery is picturesque as fliers can also see the plains,” said Rana.

Even though the six boys are expected to complete their training in 18 months, tourists need not wait for so long.

“The HMI will be bringing in authorised instructors from various parts of the country. While one set will be training the locals, the others will be flying tourists across the hills,” said Rana. “Provisions will be made to accommodate one tourist on a glider. The instructors will take them around.”

Rohini is ideal for paragliding two times a year and they coincide with the tourism season. “The first flying season will be from March to May and the next will be from October to December,” said the HMI principal.

The HMI and the WBTDC will also start a centre at Melli to train 12 people in rafting.

According to the memorandum of understanding, while the WBTDC will develop the infrastructure for the flying, the equipment needed for the gliding will be procured by the HMI.

The WBTDC will also frame safety guidelines for the rafting and the gliding.

source: The Himalayan Beacon

India's inflation at the consumer level has been high for quite some time now. As today's chart of the day shows, consumer prices in India barely eased in August 2010 as compared to August 2009. Even when you compare inflation in India with that in the other countries, India has jumped ahead by a wide margin. Food prices will have to come down if the overall inflation has to come down. The RBI seems confident of inflation coming down within its comfort zone by the end of this fiscal. One will have to wait and watch.

Data Source: The Economist

India's Chanu Ngangbam Soniya who won the silver in the 48kg category weightlifting

 at Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: K. Ananthan

commonwealth countries map

Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto and the grand finale

 

Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman sings at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. Photo: AFP/Tauseef Mustafa

 

Bulbophyllum Kalimpong - Hybrid orchid

source: Shri Barun Roy

The Queen's Baton, 19th Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010, arrives at Jama Masjid, in Delhi on October 02, 2010.