Zarinabanu Zarinabanu
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Spider insects
Start writing... Spiders are among the most prevalent household pests, crawling their way into two out of three American homes. At the same time, the most common creature-based phobia in the world is arachnophobia, the fear of Spiders. So, when most homeowners spot one, they tend to employ the nearest form of DIY pest control –a vacuum or shoe.But a few fearless folks adopt a live-and-let-live motto, hoping to enjoy some of the good that Spiders do. If seeing one dangling in a web or scurrying across the floor doesn't make you shudder, you might want to share your home with a few.One word of caution: It's always best to avoid touching a Spider. While they never actively seek human contact, they will bite if they feel threatened or endangered. Their venom causes reactions that differ from species to species and person to person. Symptoms of a bite may include a stinging sensation, red mark, localized swelling or an injury requiring hospitalization. Consult your doctor if you have a concern.Before you squish the next Spider you see, consider how this eight-legged wonder might improve your life.They eat pests.Spiders feed on common indoor pests, such as Roaches, Earwigs, Mosquitoes, Flies and Clothes Moths. If left alone, they will consume most of the insects in your home, providing effective home pest control.They kill their own kind.When Spiders come into contact with one another, a gladiator-like competition frequently unfolds –and the winner eats the loser. If your basement hosts common Long-Legged Cellar Spiders, this is why the population occasionally shifts from numerous smaller individuals to fewer, larger ones. That Long-Legged Cellar Spider, by the way, is known to kill Black Widows, making it a powerful ally.They help curtail disease spread.Spiders feast on many household pests that can transmit disease to humans –Mosquitoes, Fleas, Flies, Cockroaches and a host of other disease-carrying critters.Seasonal Appearances.General Features.Spiders range in body length from 0.5 to about 90 mm (0.02–3.5 inches). The largest spiders are the hairy mygalomorphs, commonly referred to as tarantulas, which are found in warm climates and are most abundant in the Americas. Some of the largest mygalomorphs include the goliath bird-eating spider (Theraphosa leblondi or T. blondi), found in parts of the Amazon, and the pinkfoot goliath (T. apophysis), limited to southern Venezuela. The smallest spiders belong to several families found in the tropics, and information about them first became known in the 1980s.Female spiders generally are much larger than males, a phenomenon known in animals as sexual size dimorphism. Many female orb weavers, such as those in the families Tetragnathidae and Araneidae, show extreme size dimorphism, being at least twice the size of males of the same species. The extreme difference in body size appears to have arisen through selection processes favouring fecundity in females and “bridging” locomotion in males. Bridging is a technique used by spiders for orb web construction; the spider produces a silk thread that is carried by the wind and becomes attached to an object, forming a bridge. Small, light males can build and traverse silk bridges more rapidly than larger, heavier males can. Scientists suspect that this gives small males more mating opportunities, thereby favouring selection for their small size.Distribution..Spiders are found on all continents (except Antarctica, although spider fragments have been reported there) and at elevations as high as 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) in the Himalayas. Many more species occur in the tropics than in temperate regions. Though most spiders are terrestrial, one Eurasian species is aquatic and lives in slow-moving fresh water. There are a few species that live along shores or on the surface of fresh or salt water.Small spiders and the young of many larger species secrete long silk strands that catch the wind and can carry the spiders great distances. This behaviour, called ballooning, occurs in many families and expedites distribution. Some species are distributed in this way around the globe within the bounds of the northern jet stream. Ballooning spiders drift through the air at heights that range from 3 metres (10 feet) or less to more than 800 metres (2,600 feet).Importance.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in FYI
Poetry Composition
Start writing... The green color is pleasing, the grass laughs,The young veins of the leaf are also green The nostrils of the parrot seen on the branch Tongue brand new blood rose The foot of a child who has not touched the earth All red in the yellow fiery furnace that grinds your angry twilight sky Buddha, the killer flower born with gold,The emerald yellow of the bathing evening moon is all in your heart.The waveless abyssless sky, the peacock's vase drenched in purple flowers The poured color all together glistens in your eye The color of the night is the total color of the carcass The eyes of a woman writing, the sight of a crow in a cage, Veil's singing and Quill's color are all together The color of the hair is white The black rainbow in half What black, white eyes when you come too It was only when you blinked that both became colored that I knew I was alive Do not close your eyes and smile like this. It is changing day and night at the same time.I woke up to hear the way in the darkness of your eyes Only after you show the light without knowing the directions I am shocked. Cloud collision Sky injured Third bird collision Rock not moving The moon is not clever in the colliding sky But I fell when your eyes collided Retail scattering, intimidation, and the threat of lightning coming from the sky Bright, cloudy breeze blowing Excessive magazine environment can become cruel Full of that moment to be with you in happy love I am going to change you in the eyes of your memories Carrying love and carrying eyelids in tears Waiting I relocated my heart to my world I felt the bitterness of love I am waiting in the section One of the blessings that will not leave me in your dream I would have seen that only give and take Put you on my eyelids and my eyelids Above all my baby eyelids were butterflies My heart is pounding my heart is pounding my The petals are colored flowers The first rainbow color your magnetic eyes saw Why are you bending over to wear a scarf ? Twilight time ! Rainy sky !.under the umbrella ! Moon favorite umbrella !. Passed me You were kidnapped while going !. I was out of breath for a moment !. I went speechless despite the language!. I changed the way I open my eyes ! With the pain of knowing the way I was !. Wake up, dream lost,I fluttered my wings, made a croaking noise and dropped dead If you come. I will continue to be behind the shadow !. If you think of a weight I will forget you for the rest of my life
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in Poets
Colour full love poems
Start writing... In my lines For words Feeling Felt When you beat.For a while Give permission Our hearts Built together House of love Leave This is gorgeous Let's see.Without noise A kiss To you everyday Giving unknowingly Enjoy Silently into the mind.Your arrival Determining For me Wrist drops Freezing Melting.Of the medium Crack In love Weaving.Darkness Although surrounded In your memory I will live I'm beautiful too With you in the world.Very favorite Object Lost Again In the hands As found The mind rejoices Since you disappeared When the eyes see.Eyes sleep Refuse Whenever Puts to sleep At the sound of kissing Lullaby.Iron the mind Even if Towards Undisai Remember yours What a magnet.Of With hands My last Until the trip.Touching the window Breeze Touching the mind To the point of survival Go You rule me Dear.Near you Of no There is no emptiness For a moment Will not move Your memory Since being.Of my love Pregnancy and you The grave and you.To be elongated Tonight Blue sky Dear.You are sprinkling the memory I really feel it You are with.Your forehead When touched You put the pot Beautiful moment What is inside me.Invisible in the rainbow Color Of what Beautiful idea.You Follow on I Walked.Rest None In loving you Only To my mind Dear.When not seen Into the eyes You are living.Carrying and crossing My mind Burdens Tirelessly With a smile.To the waiting ears Treated dear Your voice.I am your mirror My image is the lifeline of you Don't worry about With your handprint Because attached.You are yourself Because I like you Beginning Switch for me Starting section And problems.Fell to the ground Raindrops With your mind I got lost my life.Not in deviation Life In your eyes I felt that What is my search Nothing You are not lost Up to.The lines you shorten Make me cringe Have love without water No world If you do not I have no world Life.You Than read It breathed in you The more I sigh A brand new one Dawn I'm new too I am born Your memory Moisten me.In your eyes Write poetry To my eyes I focus Shake with ink Remember you Immobile Wait Eyes As you earn.And silence To speak Felt Even if you go alone You are being chased Remember me.Will leave At the moment Total love I give In your hand My hand I clung That.To me Than favorite To you Favorite ones The mind also loved The mind that admires That's the baby Yourself I think That stubborn In capturing.Slightly Even if you leave It is getting dark If only my world could close its eyes Come dream You are staying Without deviating into the eyes.Be the clock Sec thorn Following you I will be your memories I do not want to live Remember you As long as there is I want to live in you.All the anger Sattena Dissolve No fuss over your pranks In your love Deep down I was drowning too I am Going Beautiful Into the world for us.No matter how you write You are enjoying Don’t let the magazine poem scatter laughter Stuck trapped Shame.Going to sleep You say do not search I am your dream Forget that and touch the breeze The storm is receding The mind is in you.Enjoy to enjoy Tireless Poetry you In my eyes what you are Always me Arrogance is too much.My foot Touching drops You are drinking water Sin or curse Join me dear.I'm going to be amazed In your silence If you turn a blind eye to so much love You are on display The moon in darkness is the whole world Feels beautiful Sattena Touch your memories.Me myself As you can imagine Thinking of you Have Isn't it dear.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in Poets
How Sea Waves are Formed?
Start writing... As discussed earlier, there are several types of waves and the forces behind them are also different. The most common cause of ocean waves is wind. Wind-driven waves, also known as surface waves, are formed due to the friction between surface water and wind.When the wind is blowing on the sea, the surface exerts the gravitational force on the bottom layer of the wind. This, in turn, exerts the pull on the layer above it until it reaches the top-most layer.With the gravitational pull being different at each layer, the wind moves at a different speed. The top-most layer tumbles, forming a circular motion. This creates a downward pressure at the front and upward pressure at the rear of the surface, causing a wave.However, there are tidal waves that are created by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the earth. It should be noted that a tidal wave is a shallow water wave, not a tsunami.While the above-mentioned waves are not dangerous in its impact, there are hazardous waves, including tsunami, that is caused by severe weather conditions such as a hurricane, typhoon as well as a tornado, and other natural calamities including earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions.Waves are basically disturbances (termed oscillations) on the surface of the water, which can be formed on all types of water bodies like seas, oceans, rivers and even lakes.Although waves stem from some kind of external force, they are actually a restoring force, which counters the disturbance introduced in the water. They seem to transport water and debris as they move. But there is more to it than meets the eye.Actually, waves are energy passing through the water, which makes the water to move in a circular motion. If you might have closely observed a boat encountering a wave, the wave lurches the boat upward and forward, swirls it, but then the boat comes down to its original position.This is evidence enough that waves do not make the water travel much, but are simply the manifestation of the transfer of kinetic energy through the water.Some might argue that they have clearly seen waves moving forward and splashing on the shore. This happens because the inclined edge of the beach offers resistance and slows down the bottom portion of the wave. This creates an imbalance, and the upper portion of the wave, or the crest, topples forward and splashes on the beach.Having established the fact that waves represent the movement of energy, the obvious question is that from where do waves get their energy?.While mild winds blowing over the surface of the water may create small surface waves, extreme weather conditions like hurricanes and cyclones produce strong winds and often create huge waves which may be potentially hazardous.Some adverse natural phenomena like underwater earthquakes, landslides or volcanic eruptions can create humongous series of waves known as tsunamis, which can cause unimaginable destruction to the coastal ecology and human inhabitations in the area of impact. Waves can also be caused by recurring natural phenomena like tides.Waves are basically classified according to their formation, source of energy and behaviour. Here we will be looking at the different types of sea waves and how they are formed.Different Types of Sea Waves.As mentioned, the sea waves are categorized based on their formation and behaviour. The commonly used classification of ocean waves is based on the wave period.Here are all the different types of sea waves.Breaking Waves.The breaking waves are formed when the wave collapses on top of itself. The breaking of water surface waves happens anywhere on the surface of the seawater.However, one can see breaking water surface waves most commonly on a coastline since wave heights are normally amplified in the shallower water areas.When waves approach the shore, their profile is modified by the resistance offered by the sloping seafloor. The seafloor obstructs the motion of the base (or trough) of the wave, while the top part (or crest) continues to move at its usual speed. As a result, the wave begins to lean forward as it gradually approaches the shore.At a point where the steepness ratio of the wave reaches 1:7, the crest outruns the slow-moving trough, and the entire profile of the wave collapses on itself, thus forming a breaking wave.Classification of breaking waves.Spilling waves.Also known as mushy waves in the beach-goers’ terminology, these waves are formed at gentle inclinations of the ocean floor. If the shoreline is gently sloping, the energy of the waves is gradually expelled, the crest gradually spills and mild waves are formed. These waves take more time to break as compared to other types.Plunging Waves.When waves pass over a steeply inclined or rugged ocean floor, the crest of the wave curls and trap a pocket of air underneath it. As a result, the waves somewhat explode when they reach the steeper gradient of the shore, and all of the waves’ energy is dissipated over a much shorter distance. Thus plunging waves are formed. Common during offshore winds, these waves have high energies and travel really swiftly, which may prove to be dangerous to unsuspecting beachgoers and surfers. They also result in tremendous erosion and deposition.Surging waves.They are produced when huge swells reach shorelines having a steep profile. They travel at high speeds and have no crest associated with them. Although they might seem to be harmless because they don’t break like other waves, they can be dangerous because of the strong backwash (pulling or sucking effect) associated with them.Collapsing waves.They are a blend of plunging and surging waves. Their crest does completely break, and the bottom profile gets vertically aligned and collapses, turning into whitewater.Deep Water Waves.Deepwater waves, as the name suggests, have their origin where the depth of the water in the ocean is significant, and there is no shoreline to provide any resistance to their motion.Technically speaking, they are formed in areas where the depth of the water is more than half of the wavelength of the wave. The speed of the wave is a function of the wavelength of the wave.This means that waves having a longer wavelength, travel at greater speeds as compared to waves with a shorter wavelength.They are actually multiple waves of different wavelengths, which superimpose upon one another to form a combined larger wave.They are long and travel in straight lines, and have enough energy to traverse much greater distances as compared to other waves like breaking waves. The major force of causation is wind energy, which can be from local or distant winds. They are also known as stokesian waves or short waves.Shallow Water Waves.These waves have their origin where the depth of the water is much lesser. They typically travel in waters which have depths lesser than 1/20th of the wavelength of the wave.But unlike deep water waves, the speed of the wave has nothing to do with the wavelength of the wave, and the speed is a function of the depth of water.This means that waves in shallow waters traverse faster than waves in deeper waters. More specifically, the speed is equal to the square root of the product of the depth of water and the acceleration due to gravity.They are also known as lagrangian waves or long waves.These waves may have a variety of causation factors behind them.Types Of Shallow-water Waves:Tidal waves.They are caused due to astronomical forces like the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon on the ocean water. You can think of the high and low tides as the traversing of a wave with a time period of 12 hours.Tsunamis.Tsunami is a Japanese word, as Japan is possibly the country most frequently affected by tsunamis. The word ‘tsunami’ finds it’s the origin in two different words; ‘tsu’ which means harbour, and ‘nami’ which means wave.So it roughly translates to ‘harbour waves’. Most of the tsunamis (about 80%) result from large scale underwater earthquakes.The rest 20% is generated by underwater landslides, volcanic eruptions and even meteorite impacts. They travel at very high velocities, so are highly dangerous and devastating.They are considered shallow-water waves, because a typical tsunami wavelength is several hundred miles long, as an example let’s say 400 miles, while the deepest part of the ocean is 7 miles deep.So the depth is obviously less than 1/20th of wavelength, as discussed earlier.Inshore Waves.The length of these waves is less than the depth of the water they enter, which decreases the velocity of the waves. This results in the decrease of the wavelength and increase in the height, eventually breaking the wave.These waves drain the beach as a backwash.Internal Waves.They are one of the largest waves in the ocean but are barely noticeable on the surface due to their formation in the internal layers of the water.Ocean water is composed of different layers because the more saline and colder water has a tendency to sink beneath the less salty warmer water. When the interface between these distinct layers is disturbed due to external forces like tidal movements, internal waves are generated.Although similar to surface waves in shape and structure, they traverse long distances and attain towering heights when they hit a landmass. According to scientists, the largest known internal waves are generated in the Luzon Strait in the South China Sea (about 550 feet tall).Kelvin Waves.Kelvin waves are large scale waves, which are caused by a lack of wind flow in the Pacific Ocean. They were discovered by Sir William Thompson (who was later known as Lord Kelvin).Kelvin waves are a special type of gravity waves that are influenced by the Earth’s rotation and get trapped at the Equator or along lateral vertical boundaries such as coastlines or mountain ranges.There are two kinds of Kelvin waves – coastal and equatorial waves. Both these waves are gravity-driven as well as non-dispersive in nature.Progressive Waves.For a progressive wave, the amplitude is equal to overall points and has net energy flow. In other words, it’s a form of a wave in which the ratio of an instantaneous value at one point to that at any other point is constant. There are three types of progressive waves such as longitudinal, transverse, and orbital waves.Refracted Waves.Refracted waves travel in shallow water when they approach the shore and the shallowness decreases the power of the wave and causes a curve. These are usually seen near headlands and bays.Seiche Waves.Seiche waves or simple a seiche (pronounced ‘saysh’) are standing waves that form in a confined or partially confined body of water. Standing waves, in general, can form in any type of semi-enclosed or enclosed body of water.In general, terms, when water sloshes back and forth in a swimming pool, a water tub or even a glass of water, it is a seiche on a much smaller scale. On a larger scale, they are formed in bay areas and large lakes.Seiches are generated when either rapid changes in the atmospheric pressure or strong winds force the water and push it to pile up in one part of the water body.When the external force finally stops, the piled-up water, possessing potential energy, rebounds back to the opposite side of the enclosed water body.This periodic oscillation of water, without anything to offer resistance, continues for long intervals of time, typically many hours or even many days at the end. They can also be caused by storm fronts, tsunamis or earthquakes in ocean harbours or sea shelves.Many times, Seiches may be mistaken for tides. This is because the time period of the wave (the difference between the high(crest) and low(trough)) may be up to 7-8 hours, which is comparable to the time period of most tides.Although the causal factors may be the same for seiche waves and tsunamis, seiches are fundamentally different from tsunamis.Seiches are basically standing waves with long time periods of oscillations and occur in confined bodies of water, while tsunamis are progressive waves which generally occur in free bodies of water.Capillary Waves.Capillary waves closely resemble ripples in their structure. The restoring force involved is capillarity, which is the binding force that holds together the water molecules on the surface of the ocean.Their particularly wavy structure is caused due to light breezes and calm winds that blow at small speeds of about 3-4 metres per second, at a reference level height of 10 metres from the surface of the water.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in Earth
Rhinoceros
Start writing...Poaching for rhino horn.Rhino horn is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, but increasingly common is its use as a status symbol to display success and wealth. Poaching is now a threat in all rhino range states, however, as South Africa is home to the majority of rhinos in the world, it is being heavily targeted. More than ever, field programmes are having to invest heavily in anti-poaching activities.Poachers are now being supplied by international criminal gangs with sophisticated equipment to track and kill rhinos. Frequently a tranquiliser gun is used to bring the rhino down, before its horn is hacked off, leaving the rhino to wake up and bleed to death very painfully and slowly. Poachers are often armed with guns themselves, making them very dangerous for the anti-poaching teams who put their lives on the line to protect rhinos.The scarcity of rhinos today and the corresponding intermittent availability of rhino horn only drives the price of horn higher and higher, intensifying pressure on declining rhino populations. For people whose annual income is often far below the subsistence level, the opportunity to change one’s life by killing an animal that they don’t value is overwhelming.What is rhino horn?.Rhino horns are similar in structure to horses’ hooves, turtle beaks, and cockatoo bills. They are made of keratin – in rhinoceros horn, it is chemically complex and contains large quantities of sulphur-containing amino acids, particularly cysteine, as well as tyrosine, histidine, lysine, and arginine, and the salts calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate.Traditional Chinese Medicine.According to traditional Chinese texts, such as Li Shih-chen’s 1597 medical text “Pen Ts’ ao Kang Mu”, rhino horn has been used in Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years and is used to treat fever, rheumatism, gout, and other disorders. It also states that the horn could also cure snakebites, hallucinations, typhoid, headaches, carbuncles, vomiting, food poisoning, and “devil possession.” While it is commonly believed to be prescribed as an aphrodisiac, this is not the case.When used, the horn is shaved or ground into a powder, before being dissolved in boiling water and consumed.As Richard Ellis, author of “Tiger bone and rhino horn” wrote in 2005 for the EAZA Rhino Campaign’s Info Pack: “It is not clear that rhino horn serves any medicinal purpose whatsoever, but it is a testimony to the power of tradition that millions of people believe that it does. Of course, if people want to believe in prayer, acupuncture or voodoo as a cure for what ails them, there is no reason why they shouldn’t, but if animals are being killed to provide nostrums that have been shown to be useless, then there is a very good reason to curtail the use of rhino horn. There are five species of rhinoceros and, with the exception of one subspecies of African White rhino, all are in danger of being hunted to extinction for their horns. Rhinos, as we know them, have been around for millions of years, but Dr H. Spaiens has created a predicament from which they might never recover. It is heartbreaking to realise that the world’s rhinos are being eliminated from the face of the earth in the name of medications that probably don’t work.”Aphrodisiac.There is a belief in Western countries that rhino horn is used as an aphrodisiac and sexual stimulant, but this is not correct and seems to have been misunderstood or misinterpreted by Western media. However, research has shown that people in Viet Nam are starting to believe this rumour as they are consuming it for new reasons.Even without aphrodisiacal properties, however, rhino horn is one of the mainstays of Traditional Chinese Medicines, and its collection has been responsible for the death of tens of thousands of rhinos around the world.Make no mistake: those people using rhino horn to cure medical ailments really believe it works. That’s what drives up the demand on which the poachers thrive. As Ann and Steve Toon commented in 2002, “For practitioners of traditional Asian medicine, rhino horn is not perceived as a frivolous love potion, but as an irreplaceable pharmaceutical necessity.”Viet Nam – new uses for rhino horn.There has been a recent surge in demand for rhino horn in Viet Nam. A survey, carried out by TRAFFIC in 2013, identified that the motivation for consumers buying rhino horn is the emotional benefit rather than medicinal, as it reaffirms their social status among their peers. Image and status are important to these consumers, as they tend to be highly educated and successful people who have a powerful social network and no affinity to wildlife. Rhino horns are sometimes bought for the sole purpose of being gifted to others; to family members, business colleagues or people in positions of authority.Trade.The international trade in rhino horn has been banned under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora) since 1977. In South Africa it is possible to trade rhino horn domestically (within the country), after a legal battle to overturn the ban took place in 2017.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in Petlife
Jackie Chan Hardest Working Man
Start writing... Dayne Nourse flew in from Salt Lake City in the U.S. to show Chan his moves. He hardly looks like a formidable foe, especially to anyone with Chan’s kung fu skills. However, Hong Kong’s top hero has a weakness for such adversaries. Nourse, 14, stands waist-high, when he stands. Mostly, he sits in a wheelchair, crippled by brittle bone disease. The Make-A-Wish Foundation flew him to Hong Kong. Meeting idol Jackie Chan is his final wish.The ultimate pro, Chan responds with a performance that has all eyes misting up at a Chinese dinner he hosts for Nourse and another Make-A-Wish teen, Keisha Knauss, at a west Kowloon restaurant. Chan makes silly faces and flirts with Knauss, then teaches kung fu moves to Nourse. “He’s really cool,” Nourse gushes afterward. “I knew he was nice from his films, but I had no idea how nice he would be. This has really been a dream come true.”At the banquet filled with friends, Chan bounces from table to table, the perfect host. But he dotes on the teens. Knauss calls him “my boyfriend” to much laughter, but for one special day he really is. Earlier Chan took the teens around his Clearwater Bay film studio, showered them with souvenirs and demonstrated daring stunts. “I know how important this moment is,” he confides during a moment away from the youngsters. “If I can help them to live two more days, or two more years, whatever it takes. This is what makes me happy.”Chan, 57, punched his way to fame in scores of cheap sock ‘em flicks through the 1970s in Hong Kong before becoming the city’s first Hollywood star in the 1990s. Today he’s more than an entertainment juggernaut with more than a hundred films, television and cartoon shows, and record albums to his credit. In a city obsessed with commerce, where billionaires are celebrities, this grade school dropout is a Hong Kong icon. In earlier times it was hard to walk a block without seeing his face on a poster or product advertisement. The same now holds true in the rest of China, where he’s often on hand opening cinemas, hosting variety shows and making appearances.Unlike so many pretty boys in the Hong Kong industry, which was the biggest in the world after Hollywood until the 1990s, Chan rose from rags to riches and did it his own way–performing death-defying stunts himself. As a global star with international hits such as Rush Hour, he claimed fees of up to $25 million a picture. More important, he altered the formulaic way Hong Kong made and marketed films. “Jackie Chan helped create the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and subsequently was part of the Hong Kong talent that succeeded in Hollywood and international cinema,” says Roger Garcia, executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. “He helped shape how the world today looks at Hong Kong movies.”Some critics term his films trivial, panning Chan’s cheesy mix of comedy, action and positive themes. Yet the blend has proven box office appeal; his fans span the globe and defy categorization. In December his Facebook page topped 10 million fans. Even critics concede that he injected life into Asian action films with his martial arts mastery.Along the way Chan has been transformed from stuntman and fighter to unlikely leading man and role model. However slapstick the script, his films usually have strong moral messages. He often defends underdogs or urchins. Invariably his movies are clean-cut, without sex scenes or graphic violence–call it Kung Fu Disney with Confucian characteristics.What is less known is how fame has transformed Chan into one of Asia’s premier philanthropists. Others may give more or get more attention, but probably nobody works harder for more causes than Chan. “Every time we ask him to do an event, he agrees without any question,” says Anthony Lau, director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Chan has been the face of everything from no-smoking campaigns to cleanup efforts. Lau recalls requesting the star’s appearance in Japan two years ago. Chan was working in remote China but flew 30 hours straight to the event. “The next day, he made the journey back–another 30 hours.”Chan has always regretted his lack of a formal education. So when he launched the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988, it offered scholarships and other help to young people. Over the years the scope has broadened to include medical services, help for the poor and quick responses to natural disasters. After China’s Sichuan earthquake he donated more than $1.3 million to relief. His impact is multiplied when he lends his name and puts his boundless energy behind a cause.Two days before meeting the U.S. teens, as FORBES ASIA trails the hyperkinetic Chan around Hong Kong, he bounds up several flights of an old apartment building, bursting into a room of photographers. Flashes pulsate as he poses with a giant cardboard check for around $3.4 million. This was raised in a concert he organized to help victims of the Japan quake and tsunami. He put up $150,000 of his own money.Twenty minutes later we are back in a car, Chan behind the wheel. “I love driving,” he says, zipping in and out of Hong Kong traffic, jabbering at every stoplight into a pair of phones–one for China, one for Hong Kong–before pulling into the driveway of his Kowloon Tong home. There are two old houses, side by side in a huge lot framed by giant thickets of bamboo. Jackie lives in one with his wife; his son, Jaycee Chan, also an actor and musician, lives in the other.This is an unscheduled stop in a day crammed with appointments. Chan is a ball of energy but easily distracted, making a shambles of any itinerary. Our meetings have been repeatedly rescheduled, month after month. Staff members say he’s a reluctant delegator who tries to do everything himself. Even so, they are intensely loyal and talk lovingly of their good-natured boss. Practically all have been with him for years, some for decades. “He wants to be on top of everything,” says Mabel Cheung, one of Hong Kong’s most respected film directors, who made Traces of a Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family.A dozen years ago Chan learned that both his parents had previously been married and had abandoned families in the mainland amid the chaos of the Chinese civil war. Cheung took a film crew to China and interviewed his half-siblings and then went to Australia and filmed him talking to his parents about their past. She says he is a joy to work with. “He followed my direction and never asked to change a single thing. He never even came into the editing room.”Unlike most Hong Kong stars, Chan travels under his own power, eschewing big entourages. We often leave a car in a lot–Chan parking himself–then ride an escalator and hustle to a meeting or meal. Maybe because he’s dressed down and lacks bodyguards, hardly anyone seems to notice. When they do, smiles invariably bloom. Everyone seems to cherish Jackie Chan. “Even as an international star, he’s very much a Hong Kong person,” notes Cheung. “He really acts like a big brother to everyone in the film industry in Hong Kong. He always has gatherings for his friends, in his house.”His superstardom and simplicity seem surprising in a city so consumed by flash and showiness. But his boisterous can-do spirit is the essence of Hong Kong. “I think Jackie Chan is one of the reasons people come here,” says Lau. “They know him and his attitude, and that says a lot about Hong Kong.”His wealth has been pegged at $130 million, but he’s happy to eat a bowl of dumplings set on a folding card table outside his house. The furnishings are modest. On a wall is a plastic decoration often seen in dentist offices, a kind of clock-shaped mingling of the words: “Live, Learn, Laugh, Love, Life.”Chan wears old sneakers and ripped jeans and seems uninterested in possessions or attention-grabbing statements. His yard does host a collection of cars, including a vintage Rolls-Royce . One has the license “123,” which cost him $150,000. He says he’s been offered six times that amount to sell the plates in numbers-obsessed Hong Kong. “But I’ll never sell.” The plate, he says, denotes the date, Dec. 3, his son was born. He also shares the property with a pair of Golden Retrievers–Jones and JJ. His wife of nearly 30 years is Taiwanese former actress Lin Feng-Jiao, or Joan. “It makes it easy–we’re all Js,” he says with that moon-size smile.Chan spent his early years atop Victoria Peak, Hong Kong’s most prestigious address, but his was never the life of privilege. His father worked as a cook at the French consulate; his mother did laundry. He lasted less than a year in school. Instead, when his father moved to another job, with the American embassy in Australia, Chan was enrolled in the China Drama Academy in Kowloon, a Peking Opera school run by Master Yu Jim-Yuen. He proved a superlative student of acrobatics and martial arts; he started working in films at age 8.Chan admits he didn’t take to charity at first. “When I started, people were always asking me to do stuff, and I was just too busy, so I always said no,” he says. “Then I finally agreed. I remember being so embarrassed. Kids came up to me and asked what I brought them, and I didn’t know. I hadn’t done it. Somebody else did it for me. They all thanked me, and I was shamed.” That was 25 years ago.At nearly the same time Chan was in Yugoslavia, filming a dangerous stunt. He’s listed in record books for doing the toughest stunts and has taken numerous tumbles, breaking most bones in his body. On this day he took a near fatal drop on his head. “It was one of the first times in my life where I started thinking, what have I really done, for myself, for my country, for society? I thought, if I recover I have to do more for everyone.”In 2004 he started his second foundation, the Dragon’s Heart Foundation, which builds schools and helps children and the elderly in remote parts of China. One of his cleverest schemes for this foundation has been to enlist kids from around the world to contribute, and he matches all funds. But the global bond is far more important than the folded dollars that flow in. “I want to show you something superspecial,” he says at his Clearwater Bay studio. One hallway is crammed with photographs signed by celebrity pals: Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, Madonna, as well as Tiger Woods, James Brown and a Miss World or two. On the other wall are movie posters and trophies.But Chan guides me inside to his real treasures. “Look at this,” he says, pulling out a stack of poster boards filled with crayon coloring and collages, many featuring dollar bills. These are donations from kids all over the world. Some put together classroom projects, others went door-to-door or emptied their cookie jars. “Now I have to double everything,” he says. “There is no way I’d ever spend any of this. Someday, I’ll have a museum and hang this on the walls.”Chan talks of cinemas in China. He’s about to debut his epic, 1911, covering 100 years of Chinese history; the patriotic flick is his 100th. He’s recently opened China’s biggest Cineplex, with 17 screens, in Beijing and has plans for dozens more. He has his own line of clothing and Jackie Chan cafes and gyms. There are so many business ventures, he cannot keep track. When he’s on the phone I explore the studio and spot several Segways. Sure enough, he has a distributorship.A philanthropic pioneer among Hong Kong entertainers, Chan sets an example for stars such as Jet Li who have launched charities. It’s easy to understand why he works so hard. “When I was a child, I was very poor and wanted everything. So when I got money I began buying things. Now I want to give away everything. When I give somebody something and see their face, it just makes me so happy.”Chan believes giving will catch on in China, too. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett received a cold response when they visited to solicit support for a global campaign to get tycoons to pledge half their estates to charity after their death. Chan has taken the pledge. “China is an old country, but people are just starting to get money,” he says. “I think they will follow the same path; it’s just starting.” (Malaysia’s Vincent Tan has also taken the pledge. See list, following pages.).In the homespun wisdom of Jackie Chan, the way forward is simple. “I do small things. I try to do good things every day. If everyone does some good, think of what a good world this will be.”
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in Humans
Adolf Hitler History
The German dictator Adolf Hitler led the extreme nationalist and racist Nazi party and served as chancellor-president of Germany from 1933 to 1945. Arguably one of the most effective and powerful leaders of the twentieth century, his leadership led to the deaths of nearly six million early life.Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in the small Austrian town of Braunau on the Inn River along the Bavarian-German border. The son of an extremely strong-willed Austrian customs official, his early youth seems to have been controlled by his father until his death in 1903. Adolf soon became rebellious and began failing at school. He finally left formal education altogether in 1905 and began his long years of aimless existence, reading, painting, wandering in the woods, and dreaming of becoming a famous artist. In 1907, when his mother died, he moved to Vienna in an attempt to enroll in the famed Academy of Fine Arts. His failure to gain admission that year and the next led him into a period of deep depression as he drifted away from his friends.It was during this time of feeling rootless that Hitler first became fascinated by the immense potential of mass political manipulation (control). He was particularly impressed by the successes of the anti-Semitic, or anti-Jewish, nationalist Christian-Socialist party of Vienna Mayor Karl Lueger (1844–1910). Lueger's party efficiently used propaganda (spreading a message through literature and the media) and mass organization. Hitler began to develop the extreme anti-Semitism and racial mythology that were to remain central to his own "ideology" and that of the Nazi party.In May 1913, Hitler returned to Munich, and after the outbreak of World War I (1914–18) a year later, he volunteered for action in the German army in their war against other European powers and America. During the war he fought on Germany's Western front with distinction but gained no promotion (advancement) beyond the rank of corporal (a low-ranking military officer). Injured twice, he won several awards for bravery, among them the highly respected Iron Cross First Class.Early Nazi years.The end of the war left Hitler without a place or goal and drove him to join the many veterans who continued to fight in the streets of Germany. In the spring of 1919, he found employment as a political officer in the army in Munich with the help of an adventurer-soldier by the name of Ernst Roehm (1887–1934)—later head of Hitler's elite soldiers, the storm troopers (SA). In this capacity Hitler attended a meeting of the so-called German Workers' party, a nationalist, anti-Semitic, and socialist group, in September 1919. He quickly distinguished himself as this party's most popular and impressive speaker and propagandist, and he helped to increase its membership dramatically to some six thousand by 1921. In April of that year he became Führer (leader) of the renamed National Socialist German Workers' party (NSDAP), the official name of the Nazi party.The poor economic conditions of the following years contributed to the rapid growth of the party. By the end of 1923, Hitler could count on a following of some fifty-six thousand members and many more sympathizers, and regarded himself as a strong force in Bavarian and German politics. Hitler hoped to use the crisis conditions to stage his own overthrow of the Berlin government. For this purpose he staged the Nazi Beer Hall Putsch of November 8–9, 1923, by which he hoped to force the conservative-nationalist Bavarian government to cooperate with him in a "March on Berlin." The attempt failed, however. Hitler was tried for treason (high crimes against one's country) and given the rather mild sentence of a year's imprisonment in the old fort of Landsberg.It was during this prison term that many of Hitler's basic ideas of political strategy and tactics matured. Here he outlined his major plans and beliefs in Mein Kampf , which he dictated to his loyal confidant Rudolf Hess (1894–1987). He planned the reorganization of his party, which had been outlawed and had lost much of its appeal. After his release, Hitler reconstituted the party around a group of loyal followers who were to remain the center of the Nazi movement and state.Rise to power.With the outbreak of world depression in the 1930s, the fortunes of Hitler's movement rose rapidly. In the elections of September 1930, the Nazis polled almost 6.5 million votes, and the party had gained undeniable popularity in Germany. In November 1932, President Hindenburg (1847–1934) reluctantly called Hitler to the chancellorship to head a coalition government of Nazis, conservative German nationalists, and several prominent independents.The first two years in office were almost wholly dedicated to balancing power. With several important Nazis in key positions and Hitler's military ally Werner von Blomberg in the Defense Ministry, he quickly gained practical control.Hitler rapidly eliminated his political rivals and brought all levels of government and major political institutions under his control. The death of President Hindenburg in August 1934 cleared the way for Hitler to remove the title of president. By doing this, Hitler officially became Führer (all-powerful ruler) of Germany and thereby head of state, as well as commander in chief of the armed forces. Joseph Goebbels's (1897–1945) extensive propaganda machine and Heinrich Himmler's (1900–1945) police system perfected the complete control of Germany. Likewise, Hitler's rule was demonstrated most impressively in the great Nazi mass rally of 1934 in Nuremberg, Germany, where millions marched in unison and saluted Hitler's theatrical appeals.Preparation for war.Once internal control was assured, Hitler began mobilizing Germany's resources for military conquest and racial domination of central and eastern Europe. He put Germany's six million unemployed to work to prepare the nation for war. Hitler's propaganda mercilessly attacked the Jews, whom Hitler associated with all internal and external problems in Germany. Most horrifying was Hitler's installment of the "final solution" of imprisoning and eventually destroying all Jewish men, women, and children in Himmler's concentration camps.Foreign relations were similarly directed toward preparation for war. The improvement of Germany's military position and the acquisition of strong allies set the stage for world war. To Germany he annexed, or, Austria and the German-speaking Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, only to occupy all of Czechoslovakia early in 1939. Finally, through threats and promises of territory, Hitler was able to gain the neutrality of the Soviet Union, the former nation that was made up of Russia and other smaller states. Alliances with Italy and Japan followed.The war.On September 1, 1939, Hitler began World War II with his quest to control Europe. The sudden invasion of Poland was immediately followed by the destroying of Jews and the Polish elite, and the beginnings of German colonization. Following the declaration of war by France and England, Hitler temporarily turned his military machine west, where the light, mobile attacks of the German forces quickly triumphed. In April 1940, Denmark surrendered, soon followed by Norway. In May and June the rapidly advancing tank forces defeated France and the Low Countries. In the Air Battle of Britain, England sustained heavy damage, but held out after German naval operations collapsed.The major goal of Hitler's conquest lay in the East. On June 22, 1941, the German army advanced on Russia in the so-called Operation Barbarossa, which Hitler regarded as Germany's final struggle for existence and "living space" ( Lebensraum ) and for the creation of the "new order" of German racial domination. However, after initial rapid advances, the German troops were stopped by the severe Russian winter and failed to reach any of their three major goals: Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad. The following year's advances were again slower than expected, and with the first major setback at Stalingrad (1943), the long retreat from Russia began. A year later, the Western Allied forces of America, England, and Russia started advancing on Germany.German defeat.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in The Swamp
Human genes
Start writing... Scientists around the world are unravelling the mysteries of our genes. Exploring our genes reveals our past and our future, from the diseases you’re more likely to get, to where your ancestors came from. But what is a gene? Where do they come from? And how do your genes make you become you?Easy explanations of genes and science.Before we can understand genes, we need to talk about cells ! Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. Human cells are too tiny to see with the naked eye, but your body is made of 1,000,000,000,000s of them. Your cells work together to make your body work. You have hundreds of different kinds of cells in the body, each specially adapted to do different jobs. For example, red blood cells carry the oxygen you breathe around your body.What is a Gene?.This is a strand of DNA. You have DNA inside the cells in your body. A gene is a short section of DNA.Your genes are an instruction manual for your body. Hidden inside almost every cell in your body is a chemical called DNA. A gene is a short section of DNA.Your genes contain instructions that tell your cells to make molecules called proteins. Proteins perform various functions in your body to keep you healthy. Each gene carries instructions that determine your features, such as eye colour, hair colour and height. There are different versions of genes for each feature. For example one version (a variant) of a gene for eye colour contains instructions for blue eyes, another type contains instructions for brown eyes.Here you can see the four bases that make up your genes and DNA. The bases are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix.What are Genes made of? Hidden inside almost every cell in your body is a chemical called DNA. A gene is a short section of DNA. DNA is made up of millions of small chemicals called bases. The chemicals come in four types A, C, T and G. A gene is a section of DNA made up of a sequence of As, Cs, Ts and Gs. Your genes are so tiny you have around 20,000 of them inside every cell in your body! Human genes vary in size from a few hundred bases to over a million bases.Every human has around 20,000 genes and 3,000,000,000 bases. Your entire sequence of genes and bases is called your genome.Here you can see how the DNA strand coils tightly to form a chromosome. You have 46 chromosomes inside nearly all cells.What are Chromosomes? A chromosome is a tightly wound coil of DNA. Chromosomes are found inside your cells. Such tight packing allows the DNA to fit inside a tiny cell. You have 23 pairs of chromosomes in each cell, different types, so that's .Genes make proteins of different shapes and sizes that perform different tasks, such as growing fingernails.Play Genes and Your Cells to explore how different cells use different genes to make your body work.So: Genes are made of DNA, genes make proteins, proteins make cells and cells make you...Where do your genes come from? Have you ever wondered why you have the same eye color as your dad or the same hair color as your mum? It’s because you inherit your genes from your parents. You get half from your mum and half from your dad. When you inherit genes from your parents you get two versions of each gene, one from your mum and one from your dad. For example you’ll get two versions of the genes that contain instructions for eye colour. Some versions of genes are more dominant than others; if you get blue-eye genes from mum and brown-eye genes from dad you will have brown eyes because brown-eye genes are dominant. So if you inherit all your genes from your parents, why aren’t you exactly like your siblings?.Why are you different from your brothers and sister? The reason you and your siblings aren’t identical is because your mum and dad have two versions of each gene, one from each of their parents. When they pass their genes on to you they only pass on one of these versions, and it is completely random which one it will be. For example if your mum has brown-eye and blue-eye genes she could pass the blue ones on to you and the brown ones on to your sibling.How do genes affect your health? Your genes are the instruction manual that makes your body work. Sometimes, one or a few bases of the DNA in a gene can vary between people. This is called a variant. A variant means the gene has slightly different instructions to the usual version. Occasionally, this may causes the gene to give cells different instructions for making a protein, so the protein works differently. Luckily most gene variants have no effect on health. But a few variants do affects proteins that do really important things in your body, and then you can become ill.Genetic conditions: Genetic conditions are diseases you develop when you inherit a variant in a gene from your parents. As a result genetic conditions usually run in families. Scientists have identified over 10,000 genetic conditions. One genetic condition is called sickle cell anemia. People with this illness have a variant in the genes that contain instructions to make haemolglobin proteins. Hemoglobin helps your red blood cells carry oxygen around your body. These sickle cell haemoglobin genes cause red blood cells to be the wrong shape, making it hard for them to carry oxygen around the body. Not all gene variants cause a genetic condition. Many variants seem to have no effects at all, others may increase your risk of developing a disease.Genes and common conditions Scientists are looking for gene variants that can increase your risk of developing illnesses like diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer. It’s a tough job as a lot of illnesses can develop in a very complicated way with lots of different genes involved, and they are also affected by environmental factors like how much you exercise, your weight or if you smoke. Rarely, there are women who are particularly at risk of developing breast cancer, because they carry some gene variants. Some of these genes have been identified, and it is now possible to look at people’s genes to see if they are at risk of developing breast cancer. This can save lives.How does your environment affect you? Your characteristics are affected by your environment as well as your genes. For example you may inherit genes from your parents that should make you tall, but if you have a poor diet growing up your growth could be stunted. To try and understand how much effect your environment can have on you, scientists study identical twins. Identical twins have the same genes, so any differences in personality, health and ability are caused by differences in their environment.Why do scientists study genes? Scientists have made huge breakthroughs in genetic research over the last few years, learning more and more about our genes and how they make our bodies work. Scientists examine our genes to work out family relationships, trace our ancestors, and find genes involved in illnesses. This gives them the tools to come up with better ways to keep us healthy. A big breakthrough in genetic research came in 2003, with the results of the Human Genome Project.Scientists working on the Human Genome Project were surprised to find we have around 20,000 genes, about the same as a mouse!.What was the Human Genome Project? The Human Genome Project was an international research study to try and understand our entire genetic code – the complete instruction manual for how our bodies work. Thousands of scientists all over the world worked for over ten years to read every instruction inside every gene of a group of volunteers and put together a picture of the average human genome. They discovered we have around 20,000 genes in almost every cell in our bodies. Most genes are the same in all people, but a small number of genes, less than 1%, are slightly different between people. These small differences contribute to our unique features. Our new understanding of the human genome is leading to many advances in how we treat illness and disease.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in Longevity
The Great Wall of the China
Start writing... The Great Wall of China snakes along a ridge in front of me, its towers and ramparts creating a panorama that could have been lifted from a Ming dynasty scroll. I should be enjoying the view, but I'm focused instead on the feet of my guide, Sun Zhenyuan. Clambering behind him across the rocks, I can't help but marvel at his footwear. He is wearing cloth slippers with wafer-thin rubber soles, better suited to tai chi than a trek along a mountainous section of the wall.Sun, a 59-year-old farmer turned preservationist, is conducting a daily reconnaissance along a crumbling 16th-century stretch of the wall overlooking his home, Dongjiakou village, in eastern Hebei Province. We stand nearly 4,000 twisting miles from where the Great Wall begins in China's western deserts—and only 40 miles from where it plunges into the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of northeast China. Only 170 miles distant, but a world away, lies Beijing, where seven million spectators are about to converge for the Summer Olympics. (The massive earthquake that hit southern China in May did not damage the wall, although tremors could be felt on sections of it near Beijing.)Hiking toward a watchtower on the ridge above us, Sun sets a brisk pace, stopping only to check his slippers' fraying seams. "They cost only ten yuan [$1.40]," he says, "but I wear out a pair every two weeks." I do a quick calculation: over the past decade, Sun must have burned through some 260 pairs of shoes as he's carried out his crusade to protect one of China's greatest treasures—and to preserve his family's honor.Twenty-one generations ago, in the mid-1500s, Sun's ancestors arrived at this hilly outpost wearing military uniforms (and, presumably, sturdier footwear). His forebears, he says, were officers in the Ming imperial army, part of a contingent that came from southern China to shore up one of the wall's most vulnerable sections. Under the command of General Qi Jiguang, they added to an earlier stone and earthen barrier, erected nearly two centuries before at the beginning of the Ming dynasty. Qi Jiguang also added a new feature—watchtowers—at every peak, trough and turn. The towers, built between 1569 and 1573, enabled troops to shelter in secure outposts on the wall itself as they awaited Mongol attacks. Even more vitally, the towers also functioned as sophisticated signaling stations, enabling the Ming army to mitigate the wall's most impressive, but daunting, feature: its staggering length.As we near the top of the ridge, Sun quickens his pace. The Great Wall looms directly above us, a 30-foot-high face of rough-hewed stone topped by a two-story watchtower. When we reach the tower, he points at the Chinese characters carved above the arched doorway, which translate to Sunjialou, or Sun Family Tower. "I see this as a family treasure, not just a national treasure," Sun says. "If you had an old house that people were damaging, wouldn't you want to protect it?"He gazes toward the horizon. As he conjures up the dangers that Ming soldiers once faced, the past and present seem to intertwine. "Where we're standing is the edge of the world," he says. "Behind us is China. Out there"—he gestures toward craggy cliffs to the north—"the land of the barbarians."Few cultural landmarks symbolize the sweep of a nation's history more powerfully than the Great Wall of China. Constructed by a succession of imperial dynasties over 2,000 years, the network of barriers, towers and fortifications expanded over the centuries, defining and defending the outer limits of Chinese civilization. At the height of its importance during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the Great Wall is believed to have extended some 4,000 miles, the distance from New York to Milan.Today, however, China's most iconic monument is under assault by both man and nature. No one knows just how much of the wall has already been lost. Chinese experts estimate that more than two-thirds may have been damaged or destroyed, while the rest remains under siege."The Great Wall is a miracle, a cultural achievement not just for China but for humanity," says Dong Yaohui, president of the China Great Wall Society. "If we let it get damaged beyond repair in just one or two generations, it will be our lasting shame."The barbarians, of course, have changed. Gone are the invading Tatars (who broke through the Great Wall in 1550), Mongols (whose raids kept Sun's ancestors occupied) and Manchus (who poured through uncontested in 1644). Today's threats come from reckless tourists, opportunistic developers, an indifferent public and the ravages of nature. Taken together, these forces—largely byproducts of China's economic boom—imperil the wall, from its tamped-earth ramparts in the western deserts to its majestic stone fortifications spanning the forested hills north of Beijing, near Badaling, where several million tourists converge each year.From its origins under the first emperor in the third century B.C., the Great Wall has never been a single barrier, as early Western accounts claimed. Rather, it was an overlapping maze of ramparts and towers that was unified only during frenzied Ming dynasty construction, beginning in the late 1300s. As a defense system, the wall ultimately failed, not because of intrinsic design flaws but because of the internal weaknesses—corruption, cowardice, infighting—of various imperial regimes. For three centuries after the Ming dynasty collapsed, Chinese intellectuals tended to view the wall as a colossal waste of lives and resources that testified less to the nation's strength than to a crippling sense of insecurity. In the 1960s, Mao Zedong's Red Guards carried this disdain to revolutionary excess, destroying sections of an ancient monument perceived as a feudal relic.Nevertheless, the Great Wall has endured as a symbol of national identity, sustained in no small part by successive waves of foreigners who have celebrated its splendors—and perpetuated its myths. Among the most persistent fallacies is that it is the only man-made structure visible from space. (In fact, one can make out a number of other landmarks, including the pyramids. The wall, according to a recent Scientific American report, is visible only "from low orbit under a specific set of weather and lighting conditions.") Mao's reformist successor, Deng Xiaoping, understood the wall's iconic value. "Love China, Restore the Great Wall," he declared in 1984, initiating a repair and reconstruction campaign along the wall north of Beijing. Perhaps Deng sensed that the nation he hoped to build into a superpower needed to reclaim the legacy of a China whose ingenuity had built one of the world's greatest wonders.Today, the ancient monument is caught in contemporary China's contradictions, in which a nascent impulse to preserve the past confronts a headlong rush toward the future. Curious to observe this collision up close, I recently walked along two stretches of the Ming-era wall, separated by a thousand miles—the stone ramparts undulating through the hills near Sun's home in eastern Hebei Province and an earthen barrier that cuts across the plains of Ningxia in the west. Even along these relatively well-preserved sections, threats to the wall—whether by nature or neglect, by reckless industrial expansion or profit-hungry tour operators—pose daunting challenges.Yet a small but increasingly vocal group of cultural preservationists act as defenders of the Great Wall. Some, like Sun, patrol its ramparts. Others have pushed the government to enact new laws and have initiated a comprehensive, ten-year GPS survey that may reveal exactly how long the Great Wall once was—and how much of it has been lost.In northwest China's Ningxia region, on a barren desert hilltop, a local shepherd, Ding Shangyi, and I gaze out at a scene of austere beauty. The ocher-colored wall below us, constructed of tamped earth instead of stone, lacks the undulations and crenelations that define the eastern sections. But here, a simpler wall curves along the western flank of the Helan Mountains, extending across a rocky moonscape to the far horizon. For the Ming dynasty, this was the frontier, the end of the world—and it still feels that way.Ding, 52, lives alone in the shadow of the wall near Sanguankou Pass. He corrals his 700 sheep at night in a pen that abuts the 30-foot-tall barrier. Centuries of erosion have rounded the wall's edges and pockmarked its sides, making it seem less a monumental achievement than a kind of giant sponge laid across gravelly terrain. Although Ding has no idea of the wall's age—"a hundred years old," Ding guesses, off by about three and a half centuries—he reckons correctly that it was meant to "repel the Mongols."From our hilltop, Ding and I can make out the remnants of a 40-foot-high tower on the flats below Sanguankou. Relying on observation sites like this one, soldiers transmitted signals from the front lines back to the military command. Employing smoke by day and fire at night, they could send messages down the line at a rate of 620 miles per day—or about 26 miles per hour, faster than a man on horseback.According to Cheng Dalin, a 66-year-old photographer and a leading authority on the wall, the signals also conveyed the degree of threat: an incursion of 100 men required one lighted beacon and a round of cannon fire, he says, while 5,000 men merited five plumes of smoke and five cannon shots. The tallest, straightest columns of smoke were produced by wolf dung, which explains why, even today, the outbreak of war is described in literary Chinese as "a rash of wolf smoke across the land."Nowhere are threats to the wall more evident than in Ningxia. The most relentless enemy is desertification—a scourge that began with construction of the Great Wall itself. Imperial policy decreed that grass and trees be torched within 60 miles of the wall, depriving enemies of the element of surprise. Inside the wall, the cleared land was used for crops to sustain soldiers. By the middle of the Ming dynasty, 2.8 million acres of forest had been converted to farmland. The result? "An environmental disaster," says Cheng.Today, with the added pressures of global warming, overgrazing and unwise agricultural policies, China's northern desert is expanding at an alarming rate, devouring approximately one million acres of grassland annually. The Great Wall stands in its path. Shifting sands may occasionally expose a long-buried section—as happened in in 2002—but for the most part, they do far more harm than good. Rising dunes swallow entire stretches of wall; fierce desert winds shear off its top and sides like a sandblaster. Here, along the flanks of the Helan Mountains, water, ironically enough, is the greatest threat. Flash floods run off denuded highlands, gouging out the wall's base and causing upper levels to teeter and collapse.At Pass, two large gaps have been blasted through the wall, one for a highway linking to Inner Mongolia—the wall here marks the border—and the other for a quarry operated by a state-owned gravel company. Trucks rumble through the breach every few minutes, picking up loads of rock destined to pave roads. Less than a mile away, wild horses lope along the wall, while Dung's sheep forage for roots on rocky hills.The plundering of the Great Wall, once fed by poverty, is now fuelled by progress. In the early days of the People's Republic, in the 1950s, peasants pilfered tamped earth from the ramparts to replenish their fields, and stones to build houses. (I recently visited families in the town of Tanchi who still live in caves dug out of the wall during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.) Two decades of economic growth have turned small-scale damage into major destruction. In , a heavily polluted industrial city along the Yellow River in northern , the wall has collapsed because of erosion—even as the Great Wall Industrial Park thrives next door. Elsewhere in , construction of a paper mill in Zhong Weird and a petrochemical factory in Tanchi has destroyed sections of the wall.Regulations enacted in late 2006—focusing on protecting the Great Wall in its entirety—were intended to curb such abuses. Damaging the wall is now a criminal offense. Anyone caught bulldozing sections or conducting all-night raves on its ramparts—two of many indignities the wall has suffered—now faces fines. The laws, however, contain no provisions for extra personnel or funds. According to Dong , president of the China Great Wall Society, "The problem is not lack of laws, but failure to put them into practice."Enforcement is especially difficult in , where a vast, 900-mile-long network of walls is overseen by a cultural heritage bureau with only three employees. On a recent visit to the region, Cheng Dalin investigated several violations of the new regulations and recommended penalties against three companies that had blasted holes in the wall. But even if the fines were paid—and it's not clear that they were—his intervention came too late. The wall in those three areas had already been destroyed.Back on the hilltop, I ask Ding if watching the wall's slow disintegration provokes a sense of loss. He shrugs and offers me a piece of guina, the crust of scorched rice scraped from the bottom of a pot. Unlike Sun, my guide in Hebei, Ding confesses that he has no special feeling for the wall. He has lived in a mud-brick shack on its Inner Mongolian side for three years. Even in the wall's deteriorated condition, it shields him from desert winds and provides his sheep with shelter. So Ding treats it as nothing more, or less, than a welcome feature in an unforgiving environment. We sit in silence for a minute, listening to the sound of sheep ripping up the last shoots of grass on these rocky hills. This entire area may be desert soon, and the wall will be more vulnerable than ever. It's a prospect that doesn't bother Ding. "The Great Wall was built for war," he says. "What's it good for now?"A week later and a thousand miles away in Shandong Province, I stare at a section of wall zig-zagging up a mountain. From battlements to watchtowers, the structure looks much like the Ming wall at Bassline. On closer inspection, however, the wall here, near the village of Hetouyi Good, is made not of stone but of concrete grooved to mimic stone. The local Communist Party secretary who oversaw the project from 1999 on must have figured that visitors would want a wall like the real thing at Bassline. (A modest ancient wall, constructed here 2,000 years before the Ming, was covered over.)But there are no visitors; the silence is broken only when a caretaker arrives to unlock the gate. A 62-year-old retired factory worker, Mr. Fu—he gives only his surname—waives the 30-cent entrance fee. I climb the wall to the top of the ridge, where I'm greeted by two stone lions and a 40-foot-tall statue of Guanine, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. When I return, Mr. Fu is waiting to tell me just how little mercy the villagers have received. Not long after factories usurped their farmland a decade ago, he says, the party secretary persuaded them to invest in the reproduction wall. Mr. Fu lost his savings. "It was a waste of money," he says, adding that I'm the first tourist to visit in months. "Officials talk about protecting the Great Wall, but they just want to make money from tourism."Certainly the Great Wall is big business. At Bassline, visitors can buy Mao T-shirts, have their photo taken on a camel or sip a latte at Starbucks—before even setting foot on the wall. Half an hour away, at , sightseers don't even have to walk at all. After being disgorged from tour buses, they can ride to the top of the wall in a cable car.In 2006 golfers promoting the Johnnie Walker Classic teed off from the wall at Pass outside Beijing. And last year the French-owned fashion house Fendi transformed the ramparts into a catwalk for the Great Wall's first couture extravaganza, a media-saturated event that offended traditionalists. "Too often," says Dong , of the China Great Wall Society, "people see only the exploitable value of the wall and not its historical value."The Chinese government has vowed to restrict commercialization, banning mercantile activities within a 330-foot radius of the wall and requiring wall-related revenue to be funneled into preservation. But pressure to turn the wall into a cash-generating commodity is powerful. Two years ago, a melee broke out along the wall on the border between Hebei and Beijing, as officials from both sides traded punches over who could charge tourist fees; five people were injured. More damaging than fists, though, have been construction crews that have rebuilt the wall at various points—including a site near the city of Jinan where fieldstone was replaced by bathroom tiles. According to independent scholar David Spindler, an American who has studied the Ming-era wall since 2002, "reckless restoration is the greatest danger."The Great Wall is rendered even more vulnerable by a paucity of scholarship. Spindler is an exception. There is not a single Chinese academic—indeed, not a scholar at any university in the world—who specialized in the Great Wall; academia has largely avoided a subject that spans so many centuries and disciplines—from history and politics to archaeology and architecture. As a result, some of the monument's most basic facts, from its length to details of its construction, are unknown. "What exactly is the Great Wall?" asks He Shuzho Get, founder and chairman of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP), a nongovernmental organization. "Nobody knows exactly where it begins or ends. Nobody can say what its real condition is."That gap in knowledge may soon be closing. Two years ago, the Chinese government launched an ambitious ten-year survey to determine the wall's precise length and assess its condition. Thirty years ago, a preliminary survey team relied on little more than tape measures and string; today, researchers are using GPS and imaging technology. "This measuring is fundamental," says William Lindesay, a British preservationist who heads the Beijing-based International Friends of the Great Wall. "Only when we know exactly what is left of the Great Wall can we begin to understand how it might be saved."As Sun and I duck through the arched doorway of his family watchtower, his pride turns to dismay. Fresh graffiti scars the stone walls. Beer bottles and food wrappers cover the floor. This kind of defilement occurs increasingly, as day-trippers drive from Beijing to picnic on the wall. In this case, Sun believes he knows who the culprits are. At the trail head, we had passed two obviously inebriated men, expensively attired, staggering down from the wall with companions who appeared to be wives or girlfriends toward a parked Audi sedan. "Maybe they have a lot of money," Sun says, "but they have no culture."In many villages along the wall, especially in the hills northeast of Beijing, inhabitants claim descent from soldiers who once served there. Sun believes his ancestral roots in the region originated in an unusual policy shift that occurred nearly 450 years ago, when Ming General Qi Jigua Get, trying to stem massive desertions, allowed soldiers to bring wives and children to the frontlines. Local commanders were assigned to different towers, which their families treated with proprietary pride. Today, the six towers along the ridge above bear surnames shared by nearly all the village's 122 families: Sun, Chen, Geng, Li, Zhao and Zhang.Sun began his preservationist crusade almost by accident a decade ago. As he trekked along the wall in search of medicinal plants, he often quarreled with scorpion hunters who were ripping stones from the wall to get at their prey (used in the preparation of traditional medicines). He also confronted shepherds who allowed their herds to trample the ramparts. Sun's patrols continued for eight years before the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center began sponsoring his work in 2004. CHP chairman He Shushing hopes to turn Sun's lonely quest into a full-fledged movement. "What we need is an army of Mr. Suns," says He. "If there were 5,000 or 10,000 like him, the Great Wall would be very well protected."Perhaps the greatest challenge lies in the fact that the wall extends for long stretches through sparsely populated regions, such as , where few inhabitants feel any connection to it—or have a stake in its survival. Some peasants I met in denied that the tamped-earth barrier running past their village was part of the Great Wall, insisting that it looked nothing like the crenellated stone fortifications of Bassline they've seen on television. And a Chinese survey conducted in 2006 found that only 28 percent of respondents thought the Great Wall needed to be protected. "It's still difficult to talk about cultural heritage in China," says He, "to tell people that this is their own responsibility, that this should give them pride." is one of the few places where protection efforts are taking hold. When the local Funding County government took over the CHP program two years ago, it recruited 18 local residents to help Sun patrol the wall. Preservation initiatives like his, the government believes, could help boost the sagging fortunes of rural villages by attracting tourists who want to experience the "wild wall." As leader of his local group, Sun is paid about $120 per year; others receive a bit less. Sun is confident that his family legacy will continue into the 22nd generation: his teenage nephew now joins him on his outings.From the entrance to the Sun Family Tower, we hear footsteps and wheezing. A couple of tourists—an overweight teenage boy and his underweight girlfriend—climb the last steps onto the ramparts. Sun flashes a government-issued license and informs them that he is, in effect, the constable of the Great Wall. "Don't make any graffiti, don't disturb any stones and don't leave any trash behind," he says. "I have the authority to fine you if you violate any of these rules." The couple nods solemnly. As they walk away, Sun calls after them: "Always remember the words of Chairman Deng Xiaoping: ‘Love China, Restore the Great Wall!" As Sun cleans the trash from his family's watchtower, he spies a glint of metal on the ground. It's a set of car keys: the black leather ring is imprinted with the word "Audi." Under normal circumstances, Sun would hurry down the mountain to deliver the keys to their owners. This time, however, he'll wait for the culprits to hike back up, looking for the keys—and then deliver a stern lecture about showing proper respect for China's greatest cultural monument. Flashing a mischievous smile, he slides the keys into the pocket of his Mao jacket. It's one small victory over the barbarians at the gate.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in FYI
TAJMAHAL
Start writing... An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.Outstanding Universal Value.Brief synthesis.The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal with construction starting in 1632 AD and completed in 1648 AD, with the mosque, the guest house and the main gateway on the south, the outer courtyard and its cloisters were added subsequently and completed in 1653 AD. The existence of several historical and Quaranic inscriptions in Arabic script have facilitated setting the chronology of Taj Mahal. For its construction, masons, stone-cutters,The fund provided by the federal government is adequate for the buffer areas. The fund provided by the federal government is adequate for the overall conservation, preservation and maintenance of the complex to supervise activities at the site under the guidance of the Superintending Archaeologist of the Agra Circle. The implementation of an Integrated Management plan is necessary to ensure that the property maintains the existing conditions, particularly in the light of significant pressures derived from visitation that will need to be adequately managed. The Management plan should also prescribe adequate guidelines for proposed infrastructure development and establish a comprehensive Public Use plan. , carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from the Central Asia and Iran. Ustad-Ahmad Lahori was the main architect of the Taj Mahal.The Taj Mahal is considered to be the greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture. Its recognised architectonic beauty has a rhythmic combination of solids and voids, concave and convex and light shadow; such as arches and domes further increases the aesthetic aspect. The colour combination of lush green scape reddish pathway and blue sky over it show cases the monument in ever changing tints and moods. The relief work in marble and inlay with precious and semi precious stones make it a monument apart. The uniqueness of Taj Mahal lies in some truly remarkable innovations carried out by the horticulture planners and architects of Shah Jahan. One such genius planning is the placing of tomb at one end of the quadripartite garden rather than in the exact centre, which added rich depth and perspective to the distant view of the monument. It is also, one of the best examples of raised tomb variety. The tomb is further raised on a square platform with the four sides of the octagonal base of the minarets extended beyond the square at the corners. The top of the platform is reached through a lateral flight of steps provided in the centre of the southern side. The ground plan of the Taj Mahal is in perfect balance of composition, the octagonal tomb chamber in the centre, encompassed by the portal halls and the four corner rooms. The plan is repeated on the upper floor. The exterior of the tomb is square in plan, with chamfered corners. The large double storied domed chamber, which houses the cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, is a perfect octagon in plan. The exquisite octagonal marble lattice screen encircling both cenotaphs is a piece of superb workmanship. It is highly polished and richly decorated with inlay work. The borders of the frames are inlaid with precious stones representing flowers executed with wonderful perfection. The hues and the shades of the stones used to make the leaves and the flowers appear almost real. The cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal is in perfect centre of the tomb chamber, placed on a rectangular platform decorated with inlaid flower plant motifs. The cenotaph of Shah Jahan is greater than Mumtaz Mahal and installed more than thirty years later by the side of the latter on its west. The upper cenotaphs are only illusory and the real graves are in the lower tomb chamber (crypt), a practice adopted in the imperial Mughal tombs.The four free-standing minarets at the corners of the platform added a hitherto unknown dimension to the Mughal architecture. The four minarets provide not only a kind of spatial reference to the monument but also give a three dimensional effect to the edifice.The most impressive in the Taj Mahal complex next to the tomb, is the main gate which stands majestically in the centre of the southern wall of the forecourt. The gate is flanked on the north front by double arcade galleries. The garden in front of the galleries is subdivided into four quarters by two main walk-ways and each quarters in turn subdivided by the narrower cross-axial walkways, on the Timid-Persian scheme of the walled in garden. The enclosure walls on the east and west have a pavilion at the centre.The Taj Mahal is a perfect symmetrical planned building, with an emphasis of bilateral symmetry along a central axis on which the main features are placed. The building material used is brick-in-lime mortar veneered with red sandstone and marble and inlay work of precious/semi precious stones. The mosque and the guest house in the Taj Mahal complex are built of red sandstone in contrast to the marble tomb in the centre. Both the buildings have a large platform over the terrace at their front. Both the mosque and the guest house are the identical structures. They have an oblong massive prayer hall consist of three vaulted bays arranged in a row with central dominant portal. The frame of the portal arches and the spandrels are veneered in white marble. The spandrels are filled with flowery arabesques of stone intarsia and the arches bordered with rope molding.Criterion (i): Taj Mahal represents the finest architectural and artistic achievement through perfect harmony and excellent craftsmanship in a whole range of Indo-Islamic sepulchral architecture. It is a masterpiece of architectural style in conception, treatment and execution and has unique aesthetic qualities in balance, symmetry and harmonious blending of various elements.Integrity.Integrity is maintained in the intactness of tomb, mosque, guest house, main gate and the whole Taj Mahal complex. The physical fabric is in good condition and structural stability, nature of foundation, verticality of the minarets and other constructional aspects of Taj Mahal have been studied and continue to be monitored. To control the impact of deterioration due for atmospheric pollutants, an air control monitoring station is installed to constantly monitor air quality and control decay factors as they arise. To ensure the protection of the setting, the adequate management and enforcement of regulations in the extended buffer zone is needed. In addition, future development for tourist facilities will need to ensure that the functional and visual integrity of the property is maintained, particularly in the relationship with the Agra Fort.Authenticity.The tomb, mosque, guest house, main gate and the overall Taj Mahal complex have maintained the conditions of authenticity at the time of inscription. Although an important amount of repairs and conservation works have been carried out right from the British period in India these have not compromised to the original qualities of the buildings. Future conservation work will need to follow guidelines that ensure that qualities such as form and design continue to be preserved.Protection and management requirements.The management of Taj Mahal complex is carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India and the legal protection of the monument and the control over the regulated area around the monument is through the various legislative and regulatory frameworks that have been established, including the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958 and Rules 1959 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation); which is adequate to the overall administration of the property and buffer areas. Additional supplementary laws ensure the protection of the property in terms of development in the surroundings.An area of 10,400 sq km around the Taj Mahal is defined to protect the monument from pollution. The Supreme Court of India in December, 1996, delivered a ruling banning use of coal/coke in industries located in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) and switching over to natural gas or relocating them outside the TTZ. The TTZ comprises of 40 protected monuments including three World Heritage Sites - Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.The fund provided by the federal government is adequate for the buffer areas. The fund provided by the federal government is adequate for the overall conservation, preservation and maintenance of the complex to supervise activities at the site under the guidance of the Superintending Archaeologist of the Agra Circle. The implementation of an Integrated Management plan is necessary to ensure that the property maintains the existing conditions, particularly in the light of significant pressures derived from visitation that will need to be adequately managed. The Management plan should also prescribe adequate guidelines for proposed infrastructure development and establish a comprehensive Public Use plan.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in Journal
Resource rich Punjab
Start writing... Ancient Punjab formed part of the vast Indo-Iranian region. In later years it saw the rise and fall of the Maurya, Bacterias, Greeks, Sakas, Kushans and Gupta's. Medieval Punjab saw supremacy of the Muslims. Ghaznavi was followed by the Ghoroa, the slaves, the Khilji So, the Tughlakabad, the Lodhis and the Mughals. Fifteenth and sixteenth centuries marked a period of watershed in the history of Punjab. Through teachings of Guru Nanak, Bhakti movement received a great impetus. Sikhism began as a sociology-religious movement, which was more interested in fighting evils in religion and society. It was Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, who transformed the Sikhs into the Khalsa. They rose to challenge tyranny and after centuries of servitude, established a humane Punjabi Raj based on secularism and patriotism. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, in the works of a Persian writer, changed Punjab from Madam Kada to Bagh-Bahut (from the abode of sorrow to the garden of paradise). But soon after his death the entire edifice collapsed due to internal intrigues and British machinations. After two abortive Anglo-Sikh wars, Punjab was finally annexed to the British Empire in 1849.The fight against the British rule had begun long before Mahatma Gandhi's arrival on the scene. The revolt found expression through the movement of a revivalist or reformist character. First, it was the Namdhari sect, which believed in self-discipline and self-rule. Later, it was Lala Lajpat Rai who played a leading role in the Freedom Movement. Punjab was in the vanguard of India's freedom struggle on all fronts in India and abroad. Punjab's hardships did not end with Independence. It had to face the misery of Partition with large-scale bloodshed and migration. Besides their rehabilitation, there was the task of reorganization of the State.Eight princely states of East Punjab were grouped together to form a single State called PEPSU (Patiala and the East Punjab States Union) with Patiala as its capital. PEPSU state was merged with Punjab in 1956. Later in 1966, Haryana was carved out of Punjab and during the same year the erstwhile capital of Punjab was shifted from Shimla to Chandigarh.Situated in the north-western corner of the country, Punjab is bound on the west by Pakistan, on the north by Jammu and Kashmir, on the north-east by Himachal Pradesh and on the south by Haryana and Rajasthan. There are 13 Members of Parliament from Punjab and 117 Members of Legislature are elected to form the State Government.Agriculture.Punjab has accorded top priority to the development of Agriculture sector and has achieved about 3 per cent growth in the first for years of the 11th year Plan. sustenance of cereal production and productivity is not only important for the State but also for the food security of the nation. The State has been consistently contributing about 45 per cent of wheat and 25 per cent of or rice towards the central pool thereby ensuring the national food security. In the year 2010-11, the State produced 162 lakh MT paddy, out of wheat, out of which 108 lac MT has been procured. Similarly, the State produced 152 lakh MT of wheat, out of which 108 lakh MT has been procured. Only 10 districts of the State are covered under National Food Security Mission for rice even though state is its leading producer.DUSTRYThe State has 83% of its total geographical area (50.36 lakh hectares) under cultivation. The cropping intensity is around 189.69% with over 97% of the cultivable area being under assured irrigation. The State produces 19.50% of the country's wheat, 11% rice, 10.26% cotton and contributes significantly to the Central Pool with about 50% wheat and 40% rice. The paddy and wheat productivity in the State is 4022 kg/ha and 4462 kg/ha against the national average of 2178 kg/ha and 2907 kg/ha respectively. Fertilizer consumption is at 223.46 kg/ha. The State's farm economy is highly mechanized.INDUSTRY.New Industrial Policy, 2009 of Punjab has been implemented, under which special package of concessions has been provided for Information Technology of Knowledge based industries, agro based industries and food processing industries. In order to promote the IT units, new scheme relating to reimbursement of stamp duty provision of capital subsidies etc. have been included in the Annual Plan 2011-12 with an outlay of Rs.19 crore.IRRIGATION.The total Geographical area of the State is 50.36 lakh hectares, out of which about 41.74 lakh hectares area is under cultivation. After partition of the country in 1947, Indus water treaty of 1960 between India and Pakistan restricted India's right to usage to only three eastern rivers Satluj, Beas and Ravi. The State has three dams namely Bhakra Dam with storage capacity of 5.60 MAF constructed on River Satluj, Pong Dam with storage capacity 1.90 MAF constructed on River Ravi. At present the area under irrigation is 40.77 lakh hectares, which is 97.68% of the area under cultivation. The canal surface water distribution System consists of 14500 km of Canals/ Distributaries covering six major systems in the state namely: Sirhind Canal system, Bhakra Main Line, Bist Doab Canal, Upper Bari Doab Canal, Sirhind feeder and Eastern canal. Contrary to common perception only 27% area is irrigated by canal surface water and 73% area is irrigated by tubewells in Punjab. This has resulted in depletion of ground water table. As many as 112 out of 141 blocks have been categorized as over exploited or "dark blocks". The canal water and electricity are being provided free of cost to the farmer in the State.Rural Development.In its earnest endevour towards rural transformation and rejuvenation in State, government has adopted a two pronged strategy, empowerment of the Panchayati Raj Institutions through greater functional and financial autonomy and all round improvement of the rural habitats through the provision of basic amenities. Outlay for rural development has been increased by 148 per cent i.e. from Rs.209 crore in 2010-11 or Rs.516 crore for 2011-12.POWER.SThe present generation capacity of Punjab is 6900 MW including central share of 1940MW, where a peak unrestricted demand is about 10435 MW. Thus there is shortfall of 34 per cent of peak demand. The power demand is likely to go up to 11000 MW by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan.TRANSPORT.Roads: Public Works Department (Building and Roads) has been responsible for roads, bridges and buildings. The State has big network of 70528 km of roads comprising of 1749 km of national highways, 1462 km State highways, 2112 km major district roads, 4482 km of other district roads, 51059 km of rural link roads, 8130 km urban roads and 1534 km project roads.Aviation: The Department of Civil Aviation was set up in Punjab in the year 1962 with a view to make people of the State conversant with a aviation and flying.There are four Flying Clubs at Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Jalandhar. There is a domestic Airport at Chandigarh and Pathankot, an International Airport at Rajajasansi (Amritsar) and two aerodromes at Patiala and Ludhiana (Shahnewaj). Two Flying Clubs are coming up at Faridkot and Talwandi Sabo. To set up a green field International Airport near Macchiwara in Ludhiana at an estimated cost of Rs.17,500 crore on PPP mode, MoU has already been signed between Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd. (BAPL) and PSIDC.Fairs and Festivals.Besides festivals of Dussehra, Diwali, Holi, other important festivals/fairs/Melas are Maghi Mela at Mukatsar in January, Rural Sports at Kila Raipur in February, Basant at Patiala in February, Holla Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib in March, Baisakhi at Talwandi Saboo in April, Urs at Rauza Sharif at Sirhind in August, Chappar Mela at Chappar in September, Skeikh Farid Agam Purb at Faridkot in September, Ram Tirath at Village Ram Tirath in November, Shaheedi Jor Mela at Sirhind in December, Harballah Sangeet Sammelan Baba Sodal at Jalandhar in December. In addition to above Fairs and Festivals three heritage festivals at Amritsar, Patiala, Kapurthala are also celebrated every year and are very popular among the tourists.Tourism.Golden Temple, Amritsar.The State has a large number of places of tourist interest some of which include Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir, Jallianwala Bagh and the Wagah Border in Amritsar, Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib and Khalsa Heritage Complex at Anandpur Sahib, Bhakra Dam, Qila Androoni, Moti Bagh Palace and Chattbir Zoo at Patiala, Wetland at Harike Pattan, Sanghol (district Fatehgarh Sahib) and Roopnagar archeological Musem at Roopnagar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Memorial at Village Khatkar Kalan, SBS Nagar for archeological importance, Mughal Complex at Aam Khas Bagh, Rauza Sharif of Sheikh Ahmed at Graves of Afghan Rulers at Sirhind and Sodal Temple at Jalandhar, commemorative of Maharishi Balmiki Heritage.Bhangra - Folk Dance, Punjab.The origins of traditional Bhangra are speculative. According to I.S. Dhillon, Bhangra is related to the Punjabi dance 'bagaa' which is a martial dance of Punjab.Being a seasonal dance, traditional Bhangra is practiced in the month leading up to the festival of Vaisakhi. During this month, the harvest, especially wheat crop, is reaped. Local fairs mark the festival of Vaisakhi. After days of harvesting and at Vaisakhi fairs, Bhangra is performed, as a dance of men alone.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in FYI
Part of Physician Anesthesiologist
Start writing... Role of the Physician Anesthesiologist.If you’re preparing for surgery, you’ve probably given a lot of thought to the education, training and experience of the surgeon performing the procedure. But you may not have thought much about the physician anesthesiologist or the importance of his or her medical expertise in your procedure — before, during and after — to keep you safe and comfortable.Physician anesthesiologists meet with you and your surgeon before surgery to assess your health and make decisions to ensure your anesthesia care is as safe and effective as possible. They monitor your vital signs during surgery, including how well your heart and lungs are working while you’re unconscious, and they take care of you after surgery to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible while you recover.Physician anesthesiologists also play a key role in taking care of patients who are having minor surgery or who may not require general anesthesia, such as women in labor who need to be awake and alert but require effective pain management. They also help patients who have serious pain from an injury, or chronic or recurring pain such as migraines or ongoing back problems.What is a physician anesthesiologist?Physician anesthesiologists are medical doctors just like your primary care physician and surgeon. They specialize in anesthesia care, pain management and critical care medicine, and have the necessary knowledge to understand and treat the entire human body. Physician anesthesiologists have 12 to 14 years of education, including medical school, and 12,000 to 16,000 hours of clinical training.Physician anesthesiologists evaluate, monitor and supervise patient care before, during and after surgery, delivering anesthesia, leading the Anesthesia Care Team and ensuring optimal patient safety.Physician anesthesiologists specialize in anesthesia care, pain management and critical care medicine.What types of anesthesia do physician anesthesiologists provide?Physician anesthesiologists are usually in charge of providing the following types of anesthesia care:General anesthesia. This type of anesthesia is provided through an anesthesia mask or IV and makes you lose consciousness. It is used for major operations, such as a knee replacement or open-heart surgery.Monitored anesthesia or IV sedation. IV sedation causes you to feel relaxed and can result in various levels of consciousness. Depending on the procedure, the level of sedation may range from minimal (making you drowsy but able to talk) to deep (meaning you won’t remember the procedure). This type of anesthesia often is used for minimally invasive procedures such as colonoscopies. IV sedation is sometimes combined with local or regional anesthesia.Regional anesthesia. Pain medication to numb a large part of the body, such as from the waist down, is given through an injection or through a small tube called a catheter. You will be awake but unable to feel the area that is numbed. This type of anesthesia, including spinal blocks and epidurals, often is used during childbirth and for surgeries of the arm, leg or abdomen.Local anaesthetic. This is an injection that numbs a small area of the body where the procedure is being performed. You will be awake and alert but feel no pain. This is often used for procedures such as removing a mole, stitching a deep cut, or setting a broken bone.How does the physician anesthesiologist care for you during surgery?Physician anesthesiologists guide you throughout your entire surgical experience:Before surgery – In the days or weeks before your surgery, your physician anesthesiologist will be sure you are fit for surgery and prepare you for the procedure by asking detailed questions about your health, examining you and reviewing tests. Your physician anesthesiologist will answer your questions about the surgery and anesthesia. Be sure to let your physician anesthesiologist know about any medical problems you have, such as heart disease, diabetes or asthma, what medications you are taking (prescription, over-the-counter and herbal supplements) and whether you’ve had problems or concerns with anesthesia in the past. Use this time to ask questions. Understanding your care will make you feel more comfortable and confident as you prepare for surgery. Your physician anesthesiologist will create an anesthesia plan developed specifically for you to ensure a safe and successful procedure.During surgery – The physician anesthesiologist manages your pain control and closely monitors your anesthesia and vital body functions during the procedure, working alone or with an Anesthesia Care Team. Your physician anesthesiologist will manage medical problems if they occur during surgery, as well as any chronic conditions you have such as asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems.After surgery – In the recovery room, the physician anesthesiologist supervises others who will care for you and monitor your recovery — your breathing, circulation, consciousness and level of oxygen — and is immediately available if there are questions or concerns. The physician anesthesiologist typically is the person who decides when you have recovered from the effects of anesthesia and are ready to go home or be moved to a regular room in the hospital or the intensive care unit. The physician anesthesiologist also creates a plan for your recovery and may be involved in pain management after you go home.How are physician anesthesiologists involved in treating chronic pain?Physician anesthesiologists specialize in pain control, and some focus their practices on treating patients with chronic pain. If you suffer from pain that won’t go away, such as migraine headaches, back pain or pain caused by a condition such as fibromyalgia, ask your doctor about a referral to a physician anesthesiologist who specializes in treating chronic pain.
By Zarinabanu Zarinabanu2 years ago in Journal
