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It's fun time, but beware of Holi ke side-effects

[email protected] (Agencies)
March 12, 2017

Mar 12: It's time to have a blast with colours, but experts have a word of caution about the chemicals that hide in the air.

holiA fourth of Holi revellers in Kolkata end up with skin blisters, rashes and even burns that take months to heal. This is due to the high chemical content and harmful dyes that are often used to impart indelible marks that can't be easily washed away with soap. Lighter, organic colours are better, suggest dermatologists.

Most liquid colours are laden with metals and chemicals incompatible with skin, pointed out dermatologist P Laha. "Colours should be avoided for they are made of chemicals and automobile dyes, which are harmful for the skin. Other than causing rashes and blisters, they could even enter the bloodstream, which could be dangerous. Metals could affect the kidneys," he said.

Lead, mercury , cadmium, arsenic are commonly used in Holi colours, pointed out Debashish Saha, consultant, AMRI Hospitals. These could lead to anaemia, abnormalities in the blood, visual impairment, skin pigmentation disorders, blisters on palms and soles, Saha said. "We rarely bother to verify the quality of the colours we use. But once we have used it, the effects tend to last. The most common result of harmful colours are rashes and blisters. While these can be treated, it's the long-term effects that one needs to watch out for. In some cases, metal-laden colours could even lead to peripheral neuropathy or a loss of the motor power of limbs," said Saha.

Skin burns are not unusual either, according to Laha. "A few years ago, a youngster came to me with a scalded forearm, the result of using a dubious colour.On examining his arm, I found bits of metal in his skin.They hadn't even been ground with the rest of the colour. He had to be on drugs for several months," said Laha.

So, what is the solution? A thorough shower usually gets rid of the colour. In case there are rashes, consulting a doctor and taking anti-allergic medicine is the best bet.

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News Network
July 28,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 28: Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday alleged that BJP is trying to destabilise the Congress government in Rajasthan.

"It is the duty of the Governor to act according to the decision of the state cabinet. But he is acting like a central government puppet," he said at a protest organised here by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

He said the Congress is protesting across the country to save democracy and save the constitution.

"We are not fighting through violence. We are protesting peacefully. The Constitution has given the right to protest in a democratic system," he said.

He accused the BJP of "being disrespectful" to the Constitution.

"Governments must walk within the framework of the Constitution. The Constitution gives everyone rights and duties. BJP destabilises elected governments and buys our legislators by horse-trading by spending crores of money. The same thing happened in Karnataka as well," he alleged.

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Agencies
March 16,2020

While Google is still working on a coronavirus screening and tracking website, Microsoft Bing team has already launched a web portal for tracking COVID-19 infections worldwide.

The website, accessible at bing.com/covid, provides up-to-date infection statistics for each country.

The COVID-19 Tracker currently lists 168,835 as total confirmed cases, 84,558 active cases, 77,761 recovered cases and 6,516 deaths.

There are at least 3,244 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the US and at least 61 deaths.

"Lots of Bing folks worked (from home) this past week to create a mapping and authoritative news resource for COVID19 info," Michael Schechter, General Manager for Bing Growth and Distribution at Microsoft, was quoted as saying in a ZDNet report on Sunday.

An interactive map allows site visitors to click on the country to see the specific number of cases and related articles from a variety of publishers.

Data is being aggregated from sources like the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Microsoft announced the website two days after US President Donald Trump said Google has begun working on COVID-19-related portal for US citizens.

Google's website is being built by Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet focused on healthcare services.

"More than 1,700 engineers are currently working on the site", Trump said during a press briefing last week.

The tool will triage people who are concerned about their COVID-19 risk into testing sites based on guidance from public health officials and test availability.

Initially, there was some confusion on Google's coronavirus portal but the company later announced that it is "partnering with the US Government in developing a nationwide website that includes information about COVID-19 symptoms, risk, and testing information."

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Agencies
June 28,2020

The US space agency has thrown open a challenge to win over Rs 26 lakh, calling the global community to send novel design concepts for compact toilets that can operate in both microgravity and lunar gravity.

NASA is preparing for return to the Moon and innumerable activities to equip, shelter, and otherwise support future astronauts are underway.

The astronauts will be eating and drinking, and subsequently urinating and defecating in microgravity and lunar gravity.

NASA said that while astronauts are in the cabin and out of their spacesuits, they will need a toilet that has all the same capabilities as ones here on Earth.

The public designs for space toilet may be adapted for use in the Artemis lunar landers that take humans back to the Moon.

"Although space toilets already exist and are in use (at the International Space Station, for example), they are designed for microgravity only," the US space agency said in a statement.

NASA's Human Landing System Programme is looking for a next-generation device that is smaller, more efficient, and capable of working in both microgravity and lunar gravity.

The new NASA challenge includes a Technical category and Junior category and the last date to send designs is August 17.

NASA's Artemis Moon mission will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024.

The Artemis programme is part of America's broader Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which astronauts will explore the Moon and experience gained there to enable humanity's next giant leap, sending humans to Mars.

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