Paris bans cars, makes transit free to fight air pollution

  
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Air pollution is about as romantic as wilted flowers, chapped lips, and corked wine, so the record-setting smog that has settled over the City of Love in the past few days is definitely dampening the mood.
Unseasonably warm weather has triggered unprecedented air pollution levels in Paris. Over the weekend, the city responded by offering free public transportation and bike sharing. (Similar measures were taken throughout nearby Belguim, which also reduced speed limits.) 

But that wasn’t enough to fix the problem, so Paris and 22 surrounding areas are taking more extreme steps, banning nearly half of vehicles from their roads.
Private cars and motorcycles with even registration numbers will be barred from the streets on Monday. Unless the air quality improves quickly and dramatically, odd registration numbers will be banned from the roads on Tuesday. Electric vehicles and hybrids will be exempted, as will any cars carrying at least three people. About 700 police officers will be stationed at checkpoints, handing out $31 (€22) fines to violators.

Ecology Minister Philippe Martin said he understood the “difficulties, the irritation and even anger” over the move, adding: “But we just had to take this decision.”

 Martin said similar measures in 1997 “had yielded results”, adding that he hoped that the number of vehicles on the roads would be “significantly lower” on Monday, without giving a figure.

Trains and buses will remain free while the car restrictions are in place, giving Parisians yet more public places where they can nuzzle and talk excitedly about government policies until the ugly smog burns off.


 Source:

• Polluted Paris prepares for partial car ban, Agence France-Presse
• Paris offers free public transport to reduce severe smog, BBC

Staring at computer screens all day 'changes your eyes', scientists say

People who spend their working hours staring at a computer screen have changes in their tear fluid typical of those who have been diagnosed with the disease dry eye, according to the results of a new study.
 A particular protein called MUC5AC makes up part of the normally occurring mucus layer, or “tear film,” that keeps the eye moist.

But a study found participants who spent the most time sat in front of a screen had levels of MUC5AC nearing those of people who had been diagnosed with dry eye.

'Dry eye' is condition that occurs when the eyes do not make produce enough tears or the tears evaporate too quickly.

A team tested the tears from both eyes of 96 Japanese office workers and measured how much of the total protein content of the tears was MUC5AC.
Those who had jobs that involved looking at computer screens filled out questionnaires about their working hours and symptoms of any eye problems.
 The team found participants who worked with computer screens for more than seven hours each day had an average of 5.9 ng/mg of MUC5AC, compared to 9.6 ng/mg for people who spent fewer than five hours daily with screens.

The exposed ocular surface area can be decreased by placing the terminal at a lower height, with the screen tilted upward.








Doctors also recommend using a humidifier at the office and avoiding being in the direct path of the wind from an air conditioner, he added.

Health Benefits of Indian Rice

Rice is a staple food in most Indian homes. Different varieties of Rice available in India :
Basmati Rice, Brown rice and White rice.
Lets take a short view......

Study says Soda drinks loss more weight than water

People taking part in a weight loss program did better over 12 weeks if they drank diet soda than if they drank only water, researchers reported Tuesday.
Among the 303 dieters, the people who drank only water lost 8.4 pounds; those who drank diet soda lost 12.1 pounds, and they reported “significantly greater reduction in subjective feelings of hunger,” the researchers said in the journal Obesity.

"This brief, 12-week study adds to the evidence that artificially sweetened beverages do not increase appetite and weight gain, though the researchers should not have published a paper until the whole year-long study was completed."

The dieters, with body mass indices of 27 to 40, enrolled in a one-year clinical trial at the University of Colorado and Temple University. The results reported Tuesday are from the first 12 weeks of that year.

The participants all exercised fewer than 300 minutes a week and drank at least three diet sodas a week. The two groups were put on the same program, except for their drinks. They all attended group meetings run by dietitians or psychologists, took part in weekly weigh-ins, and kept track of their hunger feelings.

 The water group was asked to drink at least three cups of water a day and not drink any diet sodas. They could, however, consume artificial sweeteners in foods, but they were asked not to add them in, for example, coffee.
The other group was asked to drink at least three cups of diet soda a day. Their water consumption was not restricted.

The researchers could not identify the mechanism for the higher weight loss among the people who drank diet sodas. They said it’s plausible that because they said they felt less hungry, those dieters stuck more faithfully to the diet program.

 

What can Indian Government do for Environment !

By Mayank Jain:

“The new government doesn’t believe in environment versus development,” the newly appointed Minister for Environment with additional charge of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar clarified during a recent interview. Though the statement is music to our ears, the way ahead might not be that easy for him to keep the two worlds of development and environmental conservation in harmony.

It is World Environment Day today and the theme is ‘Raise your voice, not sea levels’, which promotes environment friendly measures in our day to day life instead of tokenism on this very day to curtail the perils of global warming that comes along with dangerously rising sea levels.

Amid so much upheaval, India finds itself in a critical position since the country is among the most populated and polluted ones. The challenge for every government has been to conserve forests and water bodies and give a second lease of life to already extinct species of tigers, birds and other wildlife which are fast disappearing due to reckless human actions while others indulge in hunting and roam freely, due to their power positions.

The previous government, UPA II had a tough time managing business and civil society expectations when it comes to clearance of projects. As much as 99% of projects that applied got clearances after 2004-2005 while 94% of the projects got clearance for cutting forests. It will be a tightrope walk for the Environment Ministry here to ensure that development does not get stalled.

The statistics only take horrifying turns when you dig deeper on pollution and quality of air and water in the country. Almost 80% of the urban waste in India is dumped in the river Ganges, and the current government has promoted the cause of a clean Ganges too much to not act on it. The priority should be to provide clean rivers and subsequently clean water will follow in the country. Around 1000 children die in India due to diseases caused by polluted water every year.

The air pollution in the country is on the rise too. 50% of 290 Indian cities monitored were found to have critical levels of air pollution. Similarly, 76 of 150 major rivers in India are polluted which leaves only a few places in the country that are habitable with a safe environment.
The reckless licensing to industries need to be checked and focus of the environment ministry shouldn’t be to launch ambitious projects that fill news feeds on internet and pages on newspapers, but to improve on the existing ones which have gone horribly wrong, already. A good place to improve things for Javadekar will be to take cue from Jairam Ramesh’s footsteps and deal with environment issues with the focus on environment more than the industry.

India ranks close to the bottom on a World Bank survey on environment quality in the countries of the world. We are able to manage only 155th position among 178 countries which signifies a burning need to give environment the attention it deserves.