Do U Know - Diabetes

• A non communicable disease
• Almost 3.2 million die from it every year
• India has 30 -33 million patients suffering it
• Every 4th patient in the world suffering from it, is an Indian
• Indians are genetically more susceptible to it
• WHO predicts the figure will be 40 million by 2010 & 74 million by 2075
  And India is going to become the Diabetes capital of the world.
  
  WHO chose India to host the fourth World Congress on prevention of diabetes and its complications recently. A study conducted in India by the Diabetic Research Centre team lead by Dr.A. Ramachandran in Chennai, has found that a change in lifestyle could prevent diabetics. A change in lifestyle meant regular exercise and proper diet as the study found that a sedentary lifestyle, stress and improper food habits accentuate the chances of contracting diabetes. WHO also decided to have India and Africa as sentinel sites for the campaign based on the `Diabetic Action Now' programme. for more http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/feb/15sugar.htm
• 
  Diabetes and YouDo you think you could get diabetes.What do you think you should do to decrease the chances of getting itAnd most importantly, WHEN do you think you should think about it

Do U Know - Gold aint great

• The industry consumes a tenth of the world’s energy,
• It spews out 30-50% of the globe’s toxic emissions
• It imperils 40% of the frontier forests
• It is the world’s most polluting industry, in the conventional sense of causing waste and toxic effluents.(The top prize could go to the nuclear industry which, while admittedly not causing global warming, produces the most harmful waste, which remains radioactive for thousands of years and is virtually impossible to store, not counting the omnipresent risk of catastrophic accidents in power plants.)
• And its Gold

Seems a single gold ring generates a staggering 20 tonnes of waste! http://www.nodirtygold.org/pubs/20TonsMemo_FINAL.pdf

Due to copyright reasons dont want to post more, the above information is based on http://www.infochangeindia.org/analysis56.jsp So please refer to it if you want more information and comment. Frankly I am suprised. So if anyone has any contradicting data, do give the links :)

Do U Know - Coffee

• Its the the second most highly traded commodity in the world after oil. (Third if we count narcotics.)
• Wayanad produces 82 per cent of it in Kerala
• During the last 10 years Wayanad has earned the country foreign exchange worth Rs 4192.48 crore through the export of it alone: an average of Rs 381 crore per year
• Around 120 farmers in this area, committed suicide in 2004 due to falling prices
• Wayanad's growers have lost over Rs.800 crore on it since 2001
• Its retail price has not fallen but the producer's price has fallen from Rs.70- Rs.130 a few years ago to around Rs.15 per kg now
• The farmers may be getting three paise on each rupee that it generates
  And its Coffee
  
  Based on “ WAYANAD (KERALA): "What do you mean you have no fresh coffee?" we asked. But the waiter was firm. "We have Nescafe." This is coffee territory, yet you cannot get the local brew in any restaurant here. Drop in at the Coffee Board in Kalpetta to enquire why this is so - and they offer you a cup of tea. "We do have a filter," our host apologises, "but there's no powder in the office just now." http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/feb/psa-coffee.htm