Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm in collaboration with Planet Water, a US-based non-profit organization, has launched an initiative to provide clean, safe drinking water to Guhir village in the Thane district of India. This program will address safe drinking water needs of 900 children.

The world today stands at the threshold of an energy crisis. With petroleum and coal reserves looking to be exhausted in the next few decades, there has been a rush for innovations in the renewable energy sector. An answer may be found in the blue seas which cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface and are thus huge reserves of energy. Tidal energy is one of the forms of this energy having big prospects in being utilised by man. As is well known, tides are the periodic rise and fall in the level of ocean and sea surfaces with …

Amaranth, also called ramdhana, chua, bathua, pungikeerai or thotakura in India is a vegetable/herb that typically grows as an annual, which is defined as a plant that matures and completes its lifecycle over the course of a single year. Amaranth comes in all sizes, shapes and colours. The leaves can be round or lance shaped, five to fifteen cm long or more, light green, dark green, reddish or variegated. Seeds maybe white, yellow, pink or black and the striking flowers can be huge tassles or tiny globes, red, pink, yellow or cream that produces a huge number of tiny seeds …

Ashwagandha is a shrub with a central stem from which branches, which are covered with a dense matte of woolly hairs, extend radially in a star pattern . The flowers are small and green, while the ripe fruit is orange-red and has milk-coagulating properties. The plant’s long, fleshy, brown, tuberous roots are used for medicinal purposes. The plant has an average diameter of 9-12 inches, and grows up to 3 feet in temperate climates and up to 7 feet in areas similar to the countries it is native to (e.g., India). Their attractive berries are not edible. Children need to …

Safed Musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum), a divine herb, is a tuber crop that is partly an herb with sub-erect lanceolate leaves (Long and wide in the middle) and a tuberous root system. It can grow up to a maximum height of 1.5 ft. while the tubers can grow up to a depth of 10″. The plant is an important ingredient of CHYAWANPRASH, and is commonly found in some patches of the forest areas in India as well as in Maharashtra. The plant has reached rare status in nature due to overexploitation; and owing to its increased demand as a safe herbal …

Purslane, also known as Khulpha, Khursa in Hindi or Ghol in Marathi, is a water-retaining plant that can reach a height of 6″ – 12”. It’s smooth, reddish, thick leaves are wedge shaped. The leaves are alternately clustered at stem joints and are greenish on top and purplish on the underside. The very tiny yellow flowers are around 6 mm wide and depending upon rainfall, the flowers appear at anytime during the year. Purslane has a taproot with fibrous secondary roots and is able to tolerate poor, compacted soils and drought. All that purslane needs to grow is part to full …

Around a month back we started a new series on the influence of plants on the various chakras in our body. We had written on The Root Chakra or the Muladhara and the respective plants that help balance this chakra. This week we look into the finer details of The Sacral Chakra or the Svadhisthana. Svadhisthana, the centre of whatever constitutes the individual’s personality, is situated in the spine in the region above the genitals (in the lower abdomen). It carries on its six vermilion petals the six Sanskrit letters ba, bha, ma, ya, ra, la. In the pericarp, the …

India’s rapidly expanding solar power market represents a wealth of potential opportunities for home grown and foreign PV manufacturers and project developers. It’s not all plain sailing, though; like any emerging market, the Indian PV sector has its share of growing pains. Solar power is hot property right now in India. A glance through the finance pages of any paper should be enough to confirm that business activity in this sector is definitely on an upward trend. And the activity is far from confined to local players. A cursory review of recent announcements reveals a veritable who’s who of Indian …

Ever since I shifted to my new residence, I’ve been witnessing many beautiful sights thanks to the huge Pipal Tree in my compound. For the first time in this concrete jungle called Mumbai, I’ve been woken up by birds chirping sweetly.  They sure are very happy to wake up every morning, unlike the rest of us grumpy heads, who complain forever about getting up early. Till date I have seen at least seven varieties of birds from my window, not to mention the common crows and pigeons who think that my house is their watering hole. The tiny coppersmith barbet …

In our previous article Air Filtering Plants, we covered few commonly found plants that help purify the air. So if you ever have experienced a burning sensation in your eye, irritation in your nose and a feeling of nauseating in an indoor environment, remember there is always help at hand. These common indoor plants may provide a natural way of helping combat “SICK BUILDING SYNDROME” that is triggered by the following chemicals: Formaldehyde is a ubiquitous chemical found in virtually all indoor environments. The major sources which have been reported and publicized include urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) and particle board or …