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A recent study disclosed that developing countries like India and China are creating a novel but dangerous waste. The e-waste is giving a serious emerging threat to environment. The reports brought out by a leading environment group, Greenpeace India, says that these booming economies are more and more dependent on electronic and electrical equipments which is giving rise to electronic waste.

“Primitive recycling or disposal of e-waste to landfills and incinerators causes’ irreversible environmental damage by polluting water and soil and contaminating air,” states the report titled as “Take Back Blues - An assessment of e-waste take-back in India”.

It is poisoning our soil and water, causing serious health problems. The report showed that in 2007 India generated 380,000 tonnes of e-waste from discarded computers, televisions and mobile phones. This, the report said, was projected to more than double by 2012, to 800,000 per annum with a growth rate of 15 per cent.

Shocked by the findings, Abhishek Pratap, Greenpeace Toxics campaigner and the principal investigator for the study questioned, “It seems like e-waste take-back in India is in no way a priority for global brands. Otherwise, how else can one explain the irresponsible conduct of brands like Sony, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, Samsung and Philips, which have no take-back service in India whatsoever?”

“Long-term exposure to deadly component chemicals and metals like lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury and polyvinyl chlorides (PVC) can severely damage the nervous systems, kidney and bones, and the reproductive and endocrine systems, and some of them are carcinogenic and neurotoxic,” the report mentions.

Now the question is how to tackle the problem before it becomes seriously out of control. Greenpeace Toxics campaigner Rampati Kumar said that the only way to tackle this novel threat is eco-friendly equipment. He believes that global and domestic brands manufacture should ensure eco-friendly equipment to control the threat.

“The solution lies with the brand owners or manufacturers of electronic products, which need to bear responsibility for financing the treatment of the own-branded e-waste discarded by their customers. If brands follow the ‘cradle to grave’ approach by ensuring take-back and bring back responsibility, it might work,” he says. ”

It was found in the study that half of the global brands have no take-back service in India. Nine out of 20 brands surveyed have no take-back service. The nine brands include Apple, Microsoft, Panasonic, PCS, Philips, Sharp, Sony, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba. Only two brands, HCL and WIPRO, stand out as having the best take-back practice in India and have come out publicly in support of e-waste legislation in India.

“As part of HCL’s eco safe programme, we give booklets along with our products that address waste disposal and inform customers of take back policies, we also host customer seminars telling them about the importance of electronic waste disposal,” George Paul, executive vice-president marketing, HCL Info Systems, said.

“Customers have to incur the cost of giving back the equipment; thus they prefer to sell it to local scrap dealers for a nominal price. Unlike in Europe where once a week the local municipality picks up the electronic waste for a charge levied at the time of purchase of goods, in India the consumer is still at a fairly nascent stage of understanding waste disposal.” He added.

Even as India heads for an e-waste crisis, most of the global electronic brands have no functioning e-waste take-back services in India.

The findings have sounded an alarm of emerging e-waste crisis and if not dealt properly at time, this e-waste will be proved harmful to the economy as well as to the global environment.

Tags: Apple, Bones, carcinogenic, China, Domestic Brands, E-waste, Eco safe, Economies, Electrical, Electronic, Endocrine Systems, Environment, Europe, Global Brands, Greenpeace India, Greenpeace Toxics, HCL, India, Kidney, Microsoft, neurotoxic, Panasonic, PCS, Philips, polyvinyl chlorides, PVC, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, Wipro

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Tea Estate - Green Tea

“Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one”- reads an ancient Chinese proverb.

A cup of Green Tea can do a magic for your body. It gives lots of benefit for our health. Green tea is used since ancient time. Ancient Chinese people are aware of the benefits of green tea for health and have always used it for medical purposes. Produced from the leaves of Camellia Sinensis by some special processes, it was used especially against the headaches and depression. But there are many other benefits also. Green tea has a special importance in China medical history.

A few of the benefits are listed here:

1. Cancer Treatment: Green tea is used for treating the deadly disease cancer.  It helps cancer patients in prevention of cancer by reducing cancerous growth. It reduces the risk of esophageal cancer also. Besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.

2. Reduce Heart Risks: It helps in reduction of heart diseases and heart attacks by reducing the risk of thrombosis. It inhibits the abnormal formation of blood clots.

3. Treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases: It is also used to stop Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

4. Treat Sclerosis: It is used to treat multiple sclerosis.

5. Increases Metabolism: Green tea raises body metabolism and increases fat oxidation.

6. Treats Immune System: It is used to treat impaired immune function. .

7. Reduce Cholesterol: Green tea inhibits the growth of certain cancer cells and reduces the level of cholesterol in blood. It improves the ratio of good cholesterol (HDL) to bad cholesterol (LDL). Thus it helps in reduction of cardiovascular problems.

8. Prevent Tooth Decay: Drinking green tea keeps the teeth healthy. It may help prevent tooth decay by killing the bacteria which causes the dental plaque.

9. Treat Arthritis: Drinking green tea can help in treating rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular diseases.

The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea is insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine.  However, unlike black tea, it has little amount of caffeine which causes to insomnia, nausea and frequent urination. Green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee.

Tags: Arthritis, Benefits of Tea, Body, Cancer Treatment, China, Cholesterol, Green Tea, Health, Heart Risks, Immune System, Medical, Metabolism, Sclerosis, Tooth Decay

The International Olympics at Beijing is going to start at 8pm on 8 August, 2008, 08/08/08 and the sports celebration will continue for 16 days till 24 August.

The number eight is considered by the Chinese as a very special number and the Olympics opening ceremony will therefore start at 08:08:08, that is 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8 in the evening (Beijing time) on the 8th day of August in the year’08. According to the reports, grand fireworks are planned by the organizers on the opening ceremony which the whole world can watch. This will be the opening and a very important moment for the celebration; hence all the possible problems are under consideration. But what if it starts raining that time??

China’s Scientists are worried about this possibility and they are engaged in the solution of this possible problem which can ruin the whole celebration. Till now, scientists are trying to make possible that in case, rain clouds come on the day, their path can be averted by rocket attack. They will be targeted by rockets and rain drops will be converted into ice that could be kicked away by rockets.

The whole world is focused on the games. With almost every country represented, there will be something to cater for everyone.

A bumper 29 sports will be on display. These are: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting and Wrestling.

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese organizers BOCOG have agreed to lift all Internet restrictions for the Beijing Games, IOC vice-president Gunilla Lindberg told reporters on Friday.

This issue had caused major stir days before the start of Olympics with IOC officials insisting there would be no censorship and BOCOG saying sensitive sites would remain blocked.

Top stars will be taking part. Athletics will have Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay in the sprints. Isinbayeva in the Pole Vault, Kenisa Bekela the great Ethiopian long distant runner and all the top Kenyans. Federer and Nadal and the Williams sisters will participate in Tennis. Kobe Byrant and Lebron James in basketball and Ronaldinho will be in football.

Tags: Archery, Asafa Powell, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Bejing, Boxing, Canoeing, Celebration, China, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Federer, Fencing, Fireworks, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, IOC, Isinbayeva, Judo, Kenisa Bekela, Kobe Byrant, Lebron James, Modern Pentathlon, Nadal, Olympics, Rain, Ronaldinho, Rowing, Sailing, Scientists, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Tyson Gay, Usain Bolt, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Williams sisters, Wrestling

It’s very good news to the Indian students and Indian nation too that the very well known and renowned Oxford University of London has rated the Indian students among the best in the world.

Oxford has presently 257 Indian students on roll, one-third the numbers of students from China. Still the Indians have won more scholarships than the Chinese. Last year, according to an Oxford journal they had won 54 different scholarships, including the prestigious ‘Rhodes Scholarship’.

The university Chancellor Chris Patten has said that they would like more of them joining its campus.

“We want more Indian students because we want the best in the world to come to Oxford,” Patten said. Most of the Indian students are in the said business school.

“About a quarter of the students are doing MBAs… But I would like to see more in social sciences and humanities, doing both under-graduate and post-graduate work,” he said.

The number of Indians is less in the university as compared to Chinese. But still they are the best.

“They (Indians) probably got more than China,” the Chancellor said. He said the number of scholarships may go up as the university improves its financial position.

“I hope as we develop our endowments we will be able to offer many more (scholarships) to post-graduate students in the next few years,” Patten said.

The university has developed a master’s program in South Asian studies. For a one-year MBA program, it could cost as much as Rs 40 lakh, including the cost of tuition fee, boarding and lodging and the out-of-pocket expenses.

Students are also satisfied in the university. They are gaining the profit of their studies in Oxford.

“It is a different world out here…We are gaining immensely,” said Karandeep Singh Vohra, pursuing MBA at the said business school.

This is really a proud feature for the Indians. Oxford is the famed university which produced the likes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Tags: China, Indian, Oxford, Student, Students

To tackle climate change, a crucial global issue, needs the involvement of developing countries like India and China. These are the views of George Bush.

“By working on new technologies and working to make sure that China and India are at the table, that’s the way to try to tackle this problem,” White House spokesperson Dana Perino said on the fall of a climate change bill after a procedural vote in the Senate on Friday.

“And President George Bush will certainly talk about this when he’s in Europe next week.” She added.

Global warming is a matter of concern all over the world. Increasing level of carbon on Earth and melting ice caps mirrors drastic changes in climate in near future.

The bill to set up a cap-and-trade system to limit climate-warming carbon emissions aimed to cut total US global warming emissions by 66 percent by 2050. Opponents said it would cost US jobs and raise fuel prices in an already pinched American economy.

“Let’s just say we did not support the bill,” said Perino. Bush had threatened to veto it in its current form citing among other things for not seeking action at home in concert with India, China and other emerging economies.

Apart from Presidential opposition, she suggested the bill fell because the Democratic majority “wasn’t even going to spend enough time to allow people to have any chance of talking about it or amending” what they called “the most important bill to face this Congress.”

“And this is a bill that would have a huge impact on the economy, and a huge impact on people, working people, in America, and probably not have a lot of impact overseas,” Perino said.

Neither the Democrat Presidential candidate Barack Obama nor his Republican counterpart John McCain cast votes on the bill.

Tags: America, Barack Obama, Bush, China, India, US

A powerful aftershock of a magnitude 6.0 in central China on Sunday destroyed tens of thousands of homes killing six people and more than 500 others were injured. The China National Seismic Network said this aftershock was the strongest of dozens in the nearly two weeks after the disaster on May 12 when the country’s worst earthquake happened in three decades.

Before the aftershock, the Cabinet said the confirmed death toll from the disaster had risen to 62,664, with another 23,775 people missing. Premier Wen Jiabao has warned the number of dead could surpass 80,000.

Some 71,000 homes that had survived the original quake were leveled in the aftershock, and another 200,000 were in danger of collapse from the aftershock that caused office towers to sway in Beijing, 800 miles away.

A mudslide caused by the aftershock blocked a road. Soldiers rushed with explosives to unblock a debris-clogged river threatening to flood homeless quake survivors.

Previous landslides loosened by the quake jammed rivers across the disaster area, creating 35 new lakes that placed 700,000 survivors in jeopardy of floods, Vice Minister of Water Resources E Jingping told reporters in Beijing.

The new Tangjiashan Lake in Beichuan Country is the most serious issue, where some 1,600 police and soldiers were hiking with 22 pounds of explosives each to blast through debris. Hazy weather prevented helicopter flights to the area, and forecasts for rain increased the risk that lakes could overflow.

Rain will “not only cause the amount of water going into the lakes to increase, but also influence their normal structure, so the situation is quite serious,” said Vice Minister E.

“It is a daunting task because of the unpredictability of when the barrier lakes will burst.” He added.

About 20,000 people have been evacuated from the disaster area due to the flood risk, and the total relocated could rise to 100,000, said Liu Ning, chief engineer at the Ministry of Water Resources. As reported, about 69 dams in Sichuan were in danger of collapse from quake damage, but reservoirs have been drained to lessen the risk.

Tags: China, Dead, Earthquake, Tragedy

After Bush has blamed Indian middle class behind the soaring food prices, India has blamed the policies of World Bank and IMF and “excessive and unsustainable” demand in developed countries for the crisis.

“This consumption trend has existed for more than a decade,” said Indian UN Ambassador Nirupam Sen.

He pointed out that over last two years, the demand for oil has gone up one per cent but prices in dollar terms have risen by 90 per cent. The issue was sparked off after the US and EU said the growth of India and China which has led to rise in consumption level has led to the shortage.

Addressing a special meeting of the United Nations economic and social council to consider the issue of rising food prices, he held financial crisis leading to weakening dollar and diversion of grains to production of bio-fuels among the major causes.

Policies followed by the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) are also behind the inflation according to Sen. He severely criticized their advice to countries to shift from food crops for domestic population to cash crops for exports.

“They seem to feel that subsidies are good for the rich but bad for the poor,” Sen said such policies had “predictable negative impact” on food production.

The debate came in the backdrop of UN agencies warning that more than one billion could added to those already needing food assistance because of high prices.

Tags: Bio Fuels, Bush, China, IMF, India, UN, US, World Bank

Harvard graduate Ma Ying-jeou has been sworn-in as Taiwan’s new President at Taipei`s ornate presidential office building today.

Ma takes over from pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian. In March elections, he defeated Frank Hsieh of Chen`s party.

The ceremony was held on Tuesday to elevates the 57-year-old Ma to Taiwan`s highest office and gives him the chance to follow through on campaign promises to stabilize relations with rival China and revitalize Taiwan`s powerful but laggard high-tech economy.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing still claims the island as part of its territory and has threatened to attack if the island makes its de facto independence permanent.

Tags: Chen Shui-bian, China, Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan

The annual Mansarovar yatra that was to begin from June one has been canceled today. Following China’s inability to receive the pilgrims due to ‘domestic reasons’, India has announced the cancellation of the visit of first two batches of pilgrims for the visit.

It is told by an official spokesman that the pilgrimage will be delayed to June 13 with batch number three scheduled to leave from New Delhi and efforts were being made with the Chinese authorities to accommodate the pilgrims of the first two batches in the following ones.

China was recently hit by a massive earthquake causing widespread death and destruction.

The government of the Peoples Republic of China conveyed to the Ministry of External Affairs, India, that on account of domestic reasons they would not be in a position to receive pilgrims before June 21.

Tags: China, India, Mansarovar Yatra, Tibet

A massive earthquake hits China on Yesterday and it is assumed that nearly 10,000 people are buried by this disaster. Earlier there was a news of over 8500 deaths and 900 students buried.

The earthquake measuring 7.8 on Richter Scale damaged life in mountainous province. Reports from various provinces are coming about the number of toll.

In Shifang, Government says that around 600 people dead which includes 81 students. In this province a major chemical leak happened after the earthquake.

Still lots of people are buried in side the debris. In the city of Mianzhu, more than 1000 people were reported dead and 5000 were still missing.

“My fellow Chinese, facing such a severe disaster, we need calm, confidence, courage and efficient organization,” Premier Wen Jiabao said.

More news and images can be found at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/12/content_8153516.htm

Tags: China, Death, Earthquake