One third of world's food is wasted, says UN study

About one third of all food produced for human consumption goes to waste, according to a study commissioned by the United Nations food agency.

That amounts to more than one billion tonnes of waste around the world every year.

The study recommends that developing countries should improve production and distribution, so as to stop losing so much food.

It also says industrialised countries must stop throwing so much away.

Loss versus waste

The UN study, by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, was aimed at an international trade fair for the food packaging industry, to be held in Germany later this month.

Among the key findings are that consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food, 222 million tonnes, as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa.

International Nurses Day (May 12)

  International Nurses Day is observed on  May 12, to mark the Birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale who is regarded as the founder of Modern Nursing and remembered as the “lady with the lamp.” 

This year’s theme is “Closing the Gap: Increasing Access and Equity.”

Health care is as a main public priority in most parts of the world and nurses play a central role in delivering health care. Nurses help educate patients and the public on the prevention of illness and injury, provide care and assist in cure, participate in rehabilitation, and provide support. Nurses have always been in the forefront of change in health care and public health. Their round-the-clock presence, observation skills, and vigilance allow doctors to make better diagnoses and propose better treatments.

‘EARTH’: Need of the ‘HOUR’

 When we step out of our urban homes on the streets of Mumbai, Delhi or Chennai or for that matter any metropolitan hub of India, all we can see is bustling crowd, widely lit streets and shininess. We spend crores on the glitz and gloss to portray urbanity. From streets to malls or even a local vegetable market, everything that we see seems to glitter. Apart from the immense illumination that strikes us, the number of switches that we turn on is innumerable. The gizmos and gadgets that we use to make our lives better somewhere seem to have adverse effect on us. Climate Change is an infamous global phenomenon that has taken its toll on planet earth.

World Tuberculosis Day 2011

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, which falls on March 24 every year, aims to raise public awareness about tuberculosis, a preventable disease. Tuberculosis is still an epidemic in many regions of the world, annihilating the lives of many millions of people each year. Each year, over nine million people around the world get infected with TB and almost two million TB related deaths are recorded worldwide. The actual figures must be far larger than this.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

	21March 2011 -- On this day in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people peacefully demonstrating against apartheid "pass laws" in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. The notorious passbooks were a repressive tool to control the movements of black South Africans. The United Nations General Assembly subsequently declared 21 March to be the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and called on the international community not only to commemorate that tragedy, but also to work together to combat racism and discrimination wherever they exist.  Racial and ethnic discrimination occur on a daily basis, hindering progress for millions of people around the world. Racism and intolerance can take various forms − from denying individuals the basic principles of equality to fuelling ethnic hatred that may lead to genocide − all of which can destroy lives and fracture communities. Since the Sharpeville massacre, substantial progress has been made in the struggle against racism. The apartheid system in South Africa has been dismantled. Racist laws and practices have been abolished in many countries, and an international framework for fighting racism, guided by the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, has been established. The Convention is now nearing universal ratification. Yet still, in all regions, too many individuals, communities and societies suffer from the injustice and stigma that racism brings. Source: United Nations

“Get the Facts, protect yourself”: World-class cricketers champion HIV campaign at 2011 Cricket World Cup

Sri Lankan cricket player Kumar Sangakkara in a new public service announcement that encourages young people to inform themselves about HIV
Credit: International Cricket Council (ICC)

They may be rivals on the field of play, but international cricketing stars Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara have joined together to support a new “Think Wise” campaign ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

The players feature in a public service announcement—released today and available to all broadcasters across the globe—that encourages young people to inform themselves about HIV, take appropriate action to prevent HIV infection, and stand together against HIV-related stigma and discrimination. The new campaign is led by the International Cricketing Council (ICC), in partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF.

“The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 provides an opportunity to use our status as cricketers to deliver important social messages to the millions of supporters who will be watching the tournament across the world,” said India’s Virender Sehwag. “I hope this public service announcement can encourage young people to get the facts and protect themselves from HIV.”

Mangalore: Anti Plastic Campaign for a cause

Mangalore, Feb 12 (TH): Those visiting the Surathkal market on Sundays might not have missed the sight of a few persons in a stall wearing khadi caps and offering cloth bags free of cost to purchase vegetables.

This is the way members of the Balakedarara Hitarakshana Vedike have been carrying out a campaign to reduce the use of plastic carry bags.

“We want people to develop the habit of using cloth bags while going to market,” said Sriranga Hosabettu, convener of the vedike.

Ban on plastic bags

Incidentally, K.N. Vijayaprakash, Commissioner of the Mangalore City Corporation, recently ordered ban on plastic bags. Mr. Vijayaprakash has asked petty shops and vegetable sellers to stop offering plastic bags and has threatened imposition of penalty.

Campaign

The vedike has been carrying out the campaign for the past five years. Now, it has been joined by organisations such as Mitra Mandali, Surathkal; Rotary Club, Surathkal; Govindadas College and Kadala Kaligala Kalakendra.

The members have not only been raising awareness about the dangers of plastic bags, but also distributing cloth bags free of cost. Mr. Hosabettu said the cloth bags were being stitched using the funds given by private companies.

“We print the firm's name on the bag and distribute among the people. The firms get publicity while our purpose is served,” Mr. Hosabettu said.

The vedike members do not miss the opportunity of attending places where people congregate. Recently, they were seen on the Panambur beach distributing bags during the beach festival. They also had a stall a few days ago at the Karavali Utsav.

Courtesy Mangaloren.com

Satinath Sarangi Survivors’ saint

Satinath Sarangi kept the Bhopal gas tragedy unforgotten in the past 26 years and remains the primary contact for those who are concerned about the victims   
   

Suman clung to her running mother’s chest. The six-year-old had no idea what was happening. In fact, neither did Sushila, her mother. Everybody in their locality in north Bhopal was running and Sushila just followed her husband. After a few hundred metres she realised that they were part of thousands of people who were running away from the Union Carbide plant which was spewing deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas.

'54% youth take to smoking due to Bollywood, regional cinema'

PANAJI: Around 54% of youth and 30 % of general public take up to smoking due to the influence of regional cinema and , Bollywood a study by two health-related NGOs stated. 

Addressing a press conference, the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradicatoin (NOTE)-India and the Voluntary Health Association of Goa (VHAG) said that India's film industry plays a major part in the glamourisation of smoking, which is backed by a 30,000 crore tobacco industry. 

"There is no safe level for smoking. In the years to come, India and China will have the most tobacco-related deaths," said Shekhar Salkar, general secretary, NOTE-India. 

Gladstone D'Costa of VHAG, pointed out that filmmakers often cited creative freedom as reasons for them to portray smoking in films. 

"What is more important? The creative freedom of the film industry or the destruction of 114 lives every hour from tobacco related diseases?" he questioned. 

Salkar added, "All creative film directors should visit hospitals offering treatment for cancer and see the suffering the patients endure. Only when the film directors see these struggles will they be aware of the consequences tobacco has on human lives." 

Salkar further said that a survey conducted in Goa showed that the state has the least number of smokers. "We have 9% of our state, the least as compared to the rest of India," he said. 

Previously, it was Punjab who had occupied the top slot of least smokers with 15%. 

Also present at the press conference was Raman Kumar, writer and director of films and serials including the popular serial of yore - Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. 

"India has a very high population of youngsters. Most of the population is below 30 years of age. This segment is very vulnerable and impressionable to what is shown on TV and movies," he said. 

With regard to NOTE's latest campaign; against the character of Aishwarya Rai Bachan smoking in the movie 'Guzaarish', Salkar produced a written reply from the film producers UTV. The reply stated: 'The scene is not meant to offend the sensibilities of any person and definitely not to encourage the youth to indulge in smoking or promote smoking in any manner. It is merely a creative requirement for the script.'


Courtesy The Times Of India

Let's fight modern slavery

The United Nations' (UN) International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is annually observed on December 2 to remind people that modern slavery works against human rights.

The day also encourages people to put meaning to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that "no one shall be held in slavery or servitude," through their actions. This holiday is not to be confused with the UN's International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

The United Nations is committed to fighting against slavery and considers bonded labour, forced labour, the worst forms of child labour and trafficking people as modern forms of slavery. Some sources say that more than one million children are trafficked each year for cheap labour or sexual exploitation. These types of slavery are global problems and go against article four of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that 'no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms'.

However, today even in our country there are children who are especially kept in servitude and also used to do various types of work, mostly due to poverty. Despite all the stringent laws, child labour continues. Do not turn a blind eye if ever you know of any children who are being forced to work, like slaves in the past.

The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery recalls the adoption of the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of.

To remember the convention, a UN report of the Working Group on Slavery recommended in 1985 that December 2 be proclaimed the World Day for the Abolition of Slavery in all its forms. By 1995, the day was known as the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.

On December 18, 2002, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2004 the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition. On November 28, 2006, the assembly designated March 25, 2007, as the International Day for the Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The UN also annually observes the UN's International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on August 23.