Dona Paula - Goa

The beach view at Dona Paula - Goa, India.... It is situated 7 Km away from Panaji overlooking the Mormugao harbour..... It has the statue of Dona Paula.......

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Clean India: A Mark of a Disciplined Nation

For a clean nation, it is important for its people to be clean in every aspect of life. A clean, strong and healthy nation needs a cleaner and healthier environment and it arises from the practice of cleanliness. Thus the practice of cleanliness is vital for a disciplined nation. Cleanliness is also linked to public and personal hygiene. So it is indispensable for every citizen to understand the importance of cleanliness and follow and learn the good healthy habit of cleanliness, personal hygiene and sanitation. One should understand that a cleaner nation is healthier nation and health is the key factor for every nation to be successful. The educated population has the additional responsibility to teach the non-educated people. 

Like every habits cleanliness should also be taught at the growing age, so that it gets rooted into one’s character. It is our duty to educate our children with proper hygiene and cleanliness to have a sustainable clean and healthy nation in future. 

It is extremely necessary to follow some basic good habits and practices of cleanliness that will keep our surrounding environment clean. Good habits include some basic principles to follow in daily life like, keeping away from littering in public places, creating a clean surroundings, never to spit in the open and on roads. 

Proper awareness of cleanliness and maintaining good hygiene is of utmost importance for the welfare of our country and its progress. Every Indian should understand the significance of a clean India and should participate to make our nation clean and beautiful. Moreover, apart from having a clean mind is important to think clean and contribute to the cleanliness of the nation.

Come forward and make your voice count for a Clean India.

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Sea Beach at Goa

The afternoon view of the Vagator sea beach  at Goa........................

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Jungle Rides in Dhikala

View of wild elephants and deer during jungle rides in Dhikala, Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, India......

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Genetically Modified Food (GMF)

Genetically modified (GM) foods are those produced from organisms with modified genetic material (DNA) e.g. through the insertion of a gene from another organism. Most of the currently available GM foods are derived from plants, with possibility of GM food production from GM animals or microorganisms in the near future. Ensuring an adequate supply of food for the booming population of today’s world will be a major challenge in years to come. The introduction of GM foods can meet the need of proper a surplus food supply in a quite a number of ways as follows:

Pest resistance: Crop damage from insect pests is a devastating loss for farmers also resulting in starvation in developing countries. Tons of chemical pesticides are applied to the crop fields annually, which the consumers do not wish to eat because of potential risks to health. Production of GM foods such as Bt corn help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market.

• Herbicide tolerance: Large quantities of various types of herbicide or weed-killer are sprayed to destroy weeds. This is an expensive process that requires careful handling so as to protect the crops and environment from the harmful effects of herbicides. Genetically modified crop plants should be synthesized in a way to be resistant to one or more harmful herbicides could protect the environment by minimizing the quantity of herbicides applied. As, for example, a strain of genetically modified soybeans has been developed by Monsanto that is not damaged by the herbicide product. When grown these soybeans only require a single application of the required herbicide instead of a number of applications, thereby reducing cost of production and reducing the dangers of environmental damage.
• Cold tolerance: Extreme cold can destroy some crop plants. A gene from cold water fish has been inserted into certain plants such as potato and tobacco that are capable of tolerating frost.
• Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance: As the world population grows and more land are utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation. Creating plants that can withstand long periods of drought or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to grow crops in formerly inhospitable places.
• Nutrition: People in third world countries rely mainly on one crop plant such as rice as the main staple food. But rice lacks adequate amounts of all the necessary nutrients. A new strain of of "golden" rice has been developed by the researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Institute for Plant Sciences with an unusually high beta-carotene (vitamin A). 
• Pharmaceuticals: Certain drugs and vaccines are often costly to manufacture and also require special storage facilities quite unavailable in third world countries. Research is being carried out to develop edible vaccines in plants such as tomatoes and potatoes which will be much easier to store and administer as compared to the traditional vaccines that are injected. 

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Top 10 biotech companies in India

1.    Biocon
Established in the year 1978 Biocon, global biopharmaceutical enterprise is actively involved in the manufacturing and development of innovative technologies that includes large-scale chemical synthesis, microbial fermentation, mammalian cell culture, purification of protein & antibody and various aseptic formulations.
Chairman – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw; Corporate Office – Bangalore, India | Sector – Private | Website – www.biocon.com

2.      Serum Institute of India
Serum Institute of India Ltd. established in the year 1966 is the world's largest producer of Measles and DTP group of vaccines. The company manufactures life-saving Biologicals including Anti-Snake Venom and Tetanus Antitoxin serum, DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis) and MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) group of vaccines at affordable prices.
Chairman – Cyrus S. Poonawalla; Location: Pune, India |
 Sector – Private | Website – www.seruminstitute.com

3.      Panacea Biotech Ltd
Panacea Biotec established in the year 1976, has strong R and D capabilities with a wide range of pipeline including:
Ø  Development various complex pharmaceutical generic compounds        Technologies)
Ø  Development of New Chemical Entities (NCE)
Ø  Vaccines
Chairman – Soshil Kumar, Corporate Office – New Delhi, India |
| Business – Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology |
Sector – Private | Website – www.panacea-biotec.com

4.      Novo Nordisk 
Established in the year 1923, Novo Nordisk is the world’s leader in diabetes care, manufacturing broadest diabetes product that includes development of the most advanced products related to insulin delivery systems.
Chairman – Sten Scheibye, Corporate Office – Denmark,
Business -Sector –Pharmaceutical- Private | Website – www.novonordisk.co.in

5.      GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
One of the earliest pharmaceutical companies in India is GSK India. It was established in the year 1924. The GSK India is an important group of manufacturing products of wide range of prescription medicines and vaccines in therapeutic areas such as dermatology, anti-infectives, diabetes, oncology, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The company also manufactures vaccines for prevention of hepatitis A and B, invasive diseases caused by H. influenzae, chickenpox, DPT, cervical cancer, rotavirus, Streptococcal pneumonia etc.
Chairman – Chris Gent; Corporate Office – London, United Kingdom
Business –Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical,
Sector – Private | Website – www.gsk-india.com

6.      SIRO Clinpharm 
Established in the year 1996 the company provides a wide range of services including Clinical Operations & Clinical Monitoring, Clinical Data management, medical and scientific writing, biostatistics and statistical programming, clinical trial supplies management, pharmacovigilance .

Chairman – Dr. Gautam Daftary; Corporate Office – Thane, India | | | Business – DrugDevelopment ;Sector – Private | Website – www.siroclinpharm.com

7.      Novozymes, South Asia
Novozymes a biotech company established in 1925 strongly focus on production of novel enzymes. The company’s biosolution provides everything from the removal of trans fats in food to advancements in Bioenergy sources.
Chairman – Københavns Lufthavne; Corporate Office – Bagsvaerd, Denmark; Novozymes South Asia Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore, India; Sector – Private | Website –www.novozymes.com

8.      Zydus Cadila
Zydus Cadila, established in the year 1952, is a fully integrated, global healthcare company with complete healthcare solutions ranging from active pharmaceutical ingredients, formulations products related to animal health care to wellness products. The company is the only Indian pharma establishment that launched the world’s first drug NCE – Lipaglyn for treatment of diabetic dyslipidemia.
Chairman - Mr. Pankaj R. Patel, Corporate office-Ahmedabad, Sector- Private Website- www.zyduscadila.com

9.      Indian Immunologicals.
Indian Immunologicals Ltd. (IIL) was established in 1982 by The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) with the focus to manufacture Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine available to poor people at an affordable price. IIL provides a range of adult as well as child vaccines.
 Chairman – Dr. Amrita Patel; Corporate Office – Hyderabad, India
 Business-sector –Biotechnology-private; Website – www.indimmune.com

10.  Wockhardt Ltd. 
Established in the year 1960 Wockhardt Ltd. is an international manufacturer of biopharmaceutical formulations along with Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API).
An integrated multi-technology capability was developed by the company for manufacturing all types of dosage formulation that includes sterile injectables and lyophilised products.
Chairman – Habil Khorakiwala; Corporate Office – Mumbai, India;
Business – Sector Biotechnology and Pharmaceutics-private
Website – www.wockhardt.com

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Morning at Dhikala

Morning view of the grassland across the open field on the bank of the Ramganga River from Dhikala Rest House in Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, India.

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Book Review: God Is A Gamer by Ravi Subramanian

BlogAdda is doing a marvelous job in giving ample opportunity for avid thriller lovers like me to enjoy a few of the exceptional ones.  So I was no doubt delighted to get the chance of going through “God Is A Gamer” by participating in the Book Review program of BlogAdda. This is the second novel from Ravi Subramanian, which I came across through this program. The earlier one was the Bankster. But, I loved this one much more and in one word, God Is A Gamer is the perfect page turner thriller that I came across after a long time.

I really enjoyed the book and finished reading in barely three sittings, which is something extraordinary for me as I am usually not a very quick reader and tend to enjoy the book slowly. That is the power of the God Is A Gamer. This is no doubt the best thriller I have gone through this year.

The plot of God is a Gamer revolves around the virtual currency Bitcoins. This is the first thriller based on Bitcoins and surely the all Ravi Subramanian fans will love it.

The plot sets off with two corporate chiefs (both belonging to credit/debit card companies) engaging themselves in some serious meeting and Wikileaks a year later, completely shuddering the US Government. The people around the world come to know about Bitcoins, the virtual money, and FBI starts their investigation as a blast kills a bureaucrat.

The plot then focuses on India, where a well known banker dies after falling from the top of a building where he was attending  a party and a struggling gaming company suddenly starts to make some serious fortune.

Generally a large sum of money and corruption always go hands on with politics and in a modern world with terrorism. There is no exception in this case, but Ravi Subramanian made sure to have enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge at every juncture.

As I have already mentioned, this indeed is a page turner thriller that may be reckoned as one of the best masterpieces of Ravi Subramanian. The gripping plot will amaze you on every page and it was really hard for me to keep up with the suspense. There has always been a strong urge to go to the end of the book and know the climax beforehand. But I am always against it and somehow managed to keep aside the temptation.

The book is very well researched and there is minimum deviation from logic. There are a few loopholes, but after all it is a fiction and not a textbook. Moreover, I feel that the author may make those mistakes intentionally to avoid writing a perfect crime in a fiction. And most importantly, that does not create any hindrance in the pace or quality of the thriller.

Friends, if want your adrenaline to go pumping, just grab a copy of “God is a Gamer” and enjoy.

You can watch the trailer of the book here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruba41fF1Ag

Book Source: BlogAdda


Publisher: Penguin Books India


Price: Rs. 299/- (199/- on Flipkart)

Genre: Thriller

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

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How to Combat Diabetes

Diabetes is a persistent disease caused by either the inability of the pancreas to secrete adequate insulin or owing to lack of total utilization of secreted insulin through different systems of the body. Diabetes, if remained uncontrolled for a prolonged period can lead to severe health damages, particularly to the nerves and the blood vessels. There are mainly two types of serious complications of diabetes: -

1. Chronic complications: These types of complications are diseases linked to both large and small blood vessels which lead to severe damages to the feet, kidneys, eyes, nerves and heart.

2. Acute complications: Acute complications are associated with either extreme elevation or considerable reduction of blood sugar level (due to diabetes drugs) i.e. hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia.

Different forms of diabetes

Two major forms of diabetes are there, namely type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes

Previously the Type 1 diabetes was known as juvenile onset diabetes mellitus or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Here, the ability of the pancreas to secrete insulin is lost due to some autoimmune attack made by the body’s own immune system (the body’s immune system incorrectly generates inflammatory cells and antibodies against the body’s own cells). The attack is on the β cells of the pancreas, from which insulin is secreted. For most of the patients suffering from type 1 diabetes, there is an abundance of abnormal antibodies. Antibodies are basically proteins present in the blood that constitute the immune system of the body. This tendency towards the production of misdirected antibodies is thought to be in part inherited genetically, though detailed research is still going on. The survival of Type 1 diabetes patients depends solely on insulin medication. 

The activation of abnormal responses of antibodies against the β cells of the pancreas (insulin producers) may also happen upon exposure to several environmental toxins and due to the viral infections induced by Coxsackie and mumps viruses. Anti-insulin antibodies, anti-glutamic decarboxylase antibodies and anti-islet cell antibodies are a few of the antibodies associated with type 1 diabetes. These antibodies are usually recognized in most of the patients suffering from type 1 diabetes and thus can be used as a diagnostic indicator to determine whether a patient has a risk of developing type 1 diabetes in the near future.

Type 2 diabetes

Formerly, the Type 2 diabetes was known as adult onset diabetes mellitus (AODM) or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Here, unlike type 1 diabetes, patients do not lose the ability of producing insulin, but it cannot suffice their body’s requirement, especially in case of insulin resistance. Often the production of insulin in these patients is more than the normal, yet it cannot suffice the need of the body as most of the body’s cells (muscle and fat cells in particular) lost the sensitivity towards insulin.

In other circumstances type 2 diabetes patients suffer from increased insulin resistance and suboptimal or defective insulin secretion from the pancreas. Moreover, the control over glucose gets worse in type 2 diabetic patients with the stable reduction in the production of insulin through β cells of the pancreas leading to insulin therapy. The condition turns critical when liver in patients with type 2 diabetes starts producing glucose by gluconeogenesis in spite of elevated levels of glucose in blood. The total management of gluconeogenesis gets compromised.

Along with genetic connection, obesity is the most significant contributor in the development of diabetes. The risks of diabetes development possess direct correlation with the degree of obesity in both adults and children. The current studies suggest that with each 20% increase over normal body weight, the chance of developing diabetes doubles.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational Diabetes attacks adult women at the time of pregnancy. This situation arises as many women during their pregnancy got elevated blood glucose levels. At the same time the production rate of insulin in their body is not sufficient to transfer the blood glucose to different cells of the body, resulting in a gradual increase in the blood glucose level.

At the time of pregnancy the diagnosis of gestational diabetes can be carried out and in most of the cases adequate exercise with proper diet is enough to control the gestational diabetes. But still 10-20% of the patients suffering from gestational diabetes require some sort of medications to control the blood glucose level. If remained undiagnosed and thus uncontrolled gestational diabetes can increase the risk of complications in childbirth considerably. It usually results in larger than normal babies.

In a striking finding, the scientists of Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health established the fact that women who received diets comprised of high amount of cholesterol along with the animal fat prior to pregnancy poses higher risk of attaining gestational diabetes, in comparison to those who lived on diets containing less animal fat and cholesterol.

The main symptoms of diabetes

• An elevated rate of urination and excessive thirst
• Increased hunger
• Blurry vision
• Loss of weight and increased fatigue
• Gums becoming tender, swollen and red
• Increase in the frequency of infection with a decrease in the rate of healing
• Itchy feelings in both hands and feet
• Decrease in concentration and interest

A few essential facts on diabetes:

• As per WHO, diabetes is a silent epidemic as more than 246 million world population is suffering from this disease which makes 6% of the adult population of the world.
• The diabetes capital of the world is India. At present approximately 40 million people in India are diabetic. By 2025 the estimated number of diabetic patients in India will be touching 70 million, which signifies that every 5th diabetes patient in this world will be from India.
• One in every 20 deaths across the globe is because of diabetes. Currently diabetes is responsible for 6 deaths per minute. Diabetes and its related diseases can be accountable for nearly 3.2 million deaths every year around the world.
• As there is minimum to no early symptoms of diabetes, it can be regarded as a significant “silent killer disease”. Feeling thirsty is the most common early symptom.
• The type 1 diabetes, which mainly affects the children, constitutes 5% of the total number of diabetes cases with the rest of the 90-95% cases being of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes generally affects middle aged people. Every year, nearly 70,000 children below the age of 15 get affected by type 1 diabetes.
• Diabetes is associated with a number of other serious diseases. It is the primary reason behind renal disorder across the world. Besides, it is also responsible for one million limb amputation, 5 million blindness, cataract formation and heart diseases in the adult population.
• Destruction of the blood vessels, including the capillaries in the eyes is another dreadful symptom indicating diabetes. This leads to blurred vision and eventual blindness. Other diseases related to eye like glaucoma and cataracts can get aggravated in the presence of diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is another common eye illness associated with diabetes.
• Moreover, diabetes makes people twice as susceptible to cardiac disorders when compared to non diabetic population.
• The modern trend of sedentary lifestyle is the main contributor to this drastic increase of frequency of diabetes. A regular habit of exercise and controlled diet can lessen the chance of diabetes by more than 50%.
• Even after getting diabetic, proper control over diabetes can significantly lessen the chance of getting into other complications or aggravation of complications.
• Prevention of diabetes is possible through daily exercise for half an hour.
• Low-glycemic diet, i.e. carbohydrate-containing foods that are less likely to cause large increases in blood sugar levels reduces diabetes risk factors and makes it less likely to get the disease. 
• Deaths from diabetes are estimated to rise by 50% or even more in the next 10 years. They are predicted to increase remarkably by more than 80% in upper-middle income countries.
• Worldwide occurrence of Type 2 diabetes, previously rare in children has notably in recent years. In certain countries, almost half of diabetes diagnosed cases are found in children.

Individuals at high risk of getting diabetes include those who:

• Are more than 45 years of age
• Are obese
• Have diabetes in their family most likely parents, but also brothers or sisters
• Developed diabetes during pregnancy
• Had a child with more than 9 pound weight
• Have an elevated blood pressure
• Have an increased cholesterol level or other abnormally developed blood fats

Treatment

Type 1 diabetes

Treatment for Type 1 diabetes treatment is a daily job. It is difficult to control Type 1 diabetes in particular due to lack of insulin production by the pancreas.

Type 1 diabetes treatment needs a strict regimen that typically involves a well calculated diet plan, planned physical activity, multiple daily injections of insulin and regular blood glucose testing.

Proper management of Type 2 diabetes includes:

• Planned diet
• Proper physical exercise
• Diabetes medication if needed or insulin therapy
• Monitoring of Blood sugar 

Nutrition

In Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, it is needed to be quite aware of not only the diet, but also the management of time and quantity of food to be consumed. Following a planned meal helps reduce weight, thereby lowering the risk of developing complications.

Physical Activity

Regular physical activity is important for diabetes control and prevention of related complications such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Moderate exercise for 30 minutes like regular brisk walking is quite effective in managing diabetes.

Medications

Sometimes planned diet and physical activity is not enough for controlling Type 2 diabetes. One might need oral medication to help manage the blood glucose levels. Some of the key medications are as follows:

Ø Metformin (Glucophage, Glumetza, others)

Metformin is the first medication referred for Type 2 diabetes. It improves the sensitivity of the body tissues to insulin, thereby helping effective utilization of insulin by the system.

Metformin also reduces production of glucose in the liver.

Ø DPP-4 inhibitors

These medications besides reducing blood glucose levels tend to have a modest effect. They also help control weight gain. Some of the examples of these medications are linagliptin (Tradjenta), saxagliptin (Onglyza) and sitagliptin (Januvia).

Ø SGLT2 inhibitors. 

These are the newest medicines for diabetes in the market. They help prevent reabsorbing sugar in the blood by the kidneys; instead, the sugar is discharged in the urine.

Examples are dapagliflozin (Farxiga) and canagliflozin (Invokana). Some side effects may include urinary tract and yeast infections.

Ø Insulin therapy.

Some Type 2 diabetic patients might need insulin therapy as well.

Since insulin taken orally is interrupted by normal, it must be injected. Depending on requirement, doctors may prescribe an insulin mixture throughout the day and night. Often, Type 2 diabetic patients start use of insulin with a single long-acting shot at night.

Injections of insulin involve either a syringe and fine needle, or an insulin pen injector — a device with a get up similar to an ink pen, only the cartridge is packed with insulin.

Some of the types of insulin include:

• Insulin aspart (Novolog)
• Insulin glulisine (Apidra)
• Insulin glargine (Lantus)
• Insulin lispro (Humalog)
• Insulin isophane (Humulin N, Novolin N)
• Insulin detemir (Levemir)

Bariatric surgery

A person with 2 diabetes and body mass index (BMI) greater than 35 may possibly be a candidate for Bariatric surgery (weight-loss surgery). Blood glucose levels normalize in 55 to 95 % of patients with diabetes if surgery by passing a portion of the small intestine is performed.

Disadvantages of surgical procedures include cost, and risk of death. Additionally, drastic change in lifestyle is needed and long-term complications like osteoporosis and nutritional deficiencies may occur.

Food habits

Here comes a list of food items suitable for diabetic patients:

Diabetes and Carbohydrates

• Whole-grain bread
• Wheat flour
• Brown rice
• Baked sweet or white potato or baked steak fries
• Popcorn or corn made products

Vegetables

• Fresh vegetables, raw, roasted or lightly steamed or grilled
• Lightly steamed frozen vegetables 
• Unsalted or low sodium canned vegetables
• Spinach, Lettuces, greens, arugula, kale

Fruits and Diabetes

• Fresh fruit or 100 %fruit juice
• Sugar-free jams or fruit preserves
• Sugar-free apple sauce

Protein products

• Baked, boiled, stewed or grilled meats
• Turkey bacon
• Low-fat containing cheeses
• Skinless chicken breast 
• Baked, steamed, boiled or grilled fish
• Lightly sautéed Tofu, cooked in soup
• Beans
• Eggs
• Nuts

Hope this will help people understand diabetes better and they will be able to fight this disease with more vigour. Diabetes can be checked and kept under control if not totally cured. Do not underestimate diabetes as it is a silent killer. Help people fight against diabetes.

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Eagles silhouette

An eagle sitting on the top of a dead tree branch at the Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, India.......

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