Tamil Nadu traders will not sell foreign brand of soft drinks from 1 March

Tamil Nadu traders are taking a derision of not selling foreign brand of soft drinks from 1 March but switch over to Indian brands. Towards this end, they will devote the whole of February to educating traders and consumers about the shortcomings of these foreign brands.
The foreign brands do more harm than good to the body. Recently, one of the brands admitted that it was not suitable for children and that it contained certain harmful chemicals.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 25 January 2017.

During the recent protest by students demanding conduct of jallikattu, many of the youngsters sought a ban on these soft drinks because these draw our groundwater and take the profits outside the country. Hence, this campaign to ban foreign branded soft drinks. Restaurants will also be approached to refrain from selling these brands.
Moreover, a particular brand of milk manufactured by an MNC is also under the scanner - a hotelier has indicated that he would shift over to Indian brands.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Beijing is sinking by 11cm per year due to over consumption of ground water

Beijing is one of the world's most important and vibrant city and is home to 20 million people, but it is literally collapsing because of over consumption of ground water. Research has revealed that some parts of the city are sinking at an alarming rate - by as much as 11cm per year.
Groundwater has been there since time immemorial but it is increasingly being used for domestic consumption, industrial use and agriculture. As a result, there is depletion of groundwater which, in turn, causes underlying soil to compact, creating a phenomenon called subsidence. This process is accelerated by the increasing weight of buildings as more and more buildings continue to be constructed.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 30 June 2016.

Beijing is the fifth most water-stressed city in the world and the demand for water far exceeds the supply. The region has been experiencing subsidence since 1935 but never at such a high rate. The findings of the research, in short, is that the rate of sinking threatens "the safety of the public and urban infrastructure".
Moreover, uneven sinking could prove catastrophic for the city's train network, buildings and other major structures.
The study was conducted by specialists from China, Spain and Germany. They worked with the National Natural Science Foundation of China to analyze data from thousands of satellite images and global positioning sensors, tracking changes in the ground level from 2003 to 2011. They found that the city's Chaoyang district in the business heart of Beijing, is the worst affected, sinking at an annual rate of 11cm. Other districts slowly being swallowed up by the earth include Changping, Shunyi and Tongzhou. Some areas sank more than 75cm during the study period.


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Termites or white ants are nasty insects that destroy the wooden furniture, but their mounds are important because their presence is an indicator of nearby source of underground water. This ancient knowledge is contained in the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira, the sixth century astrologer, astronomer and hydrologist.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 8 May 2016.

Ancient Indian scriptures like the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira are mountains of knowledge which, if exploited properly, can help solve many problems. Like drought - as drought-hit India tries to quench the people's thirst by dispatching water trains and using satellite images to detect ground water, a simple survey of termite hills could be undertaken to identify locations that may have underground reserves of water.
According to Varahamihira, not only termite mounds but half a dozen animals, 30 different trees, trees with unusual features like knots in their trunks, two different trees united into one, abnormal palm trees with two crowns instead of one and absence of thorns in a normally thorn bearing tree are all indications of nearby source of water.
And, this Brihat Samhita which is in essence about ancient Indian wisdom on tropical ground water technology, goes on to indicate not only where to dig for water but also the depth up to which one must dig.


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