Cereal Killing

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

Can too much be too less? Certainly, this seems to be the case for India. A supposedly poor country that has excess of everything -  be it poverty, wealth, illiteracy or  number of IT tycoons...Fathom this: Indian granaries are overflowing with stocks of wheat and rice far exceeding their buffer storages. A rotten situation, isn't it...?

Smokeless Michigan

fnbworld bureau/agencies

Michingan  becomes the 37th state in the US to ban smoking in all bars and restaurants but exempts casinos and cigar bars.  There is a sigh of relief from millions of bar/café workers ...

 Cigar Czar Gone

fnbworld bureau/agencies

Cuba’s most famous 'capitalist'  tobacco farmer Alejandro Robaina has died at 91. Robaina was part of a family that has been growing tobacco for four generations. Robaina has the distinction of having convinced revolutionary leader - and famous cigar buff - Fidel Castro that tobacco growing should remain a private enterprise...

Midgets Parked
fnbworld bureau/agencies

Queer as this may be, dwarfs or midgets have existed since the very beginning of the human race and have been looked upon with curiosity and have also been a subject of serious scientific studies. As a befitting tribute to midgets, China has come out with an innovative idea – a dwarf park in the town of Kunming.

Sugarfree EU

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

Domestic sugar shortages coupled with an all-out Opposition assault on the Government inside the Parliament compelled India to cancel the export of 10,000 metric tons of sugar to the European Union in the marketing year to September.

Microwave Macroblame

Tanya Abraham/New Delhi

The devil in microwave ovens causes cancer.  This is a fact. In India, the use of microwaves has grown phenomenally, owing to lifestyle changes and heat-to-eat foods, coupled with microwave-cooking in the high-rise metro cities...

Laughing Cows?

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

Cows are worshipped by the Hindus since Ancient times. Holy cow! It is not wine alone that benefits your heart. Drinking one glass of low fat or fat- free milk daily helps reduce risk of heart diseases, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition...

Assamese Pineapples

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

Fresh pineapple salad between meals is a refreshing snack. The natives of Brazil and Uruguay, Pineapples are grown in abundance in India and are known for their succulent taste and aromatic flavour...

Behind Bars!

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

Are Bartenders' days numbered? Bartending has got a booster of sorts as British and Japanese researchers have  developed a robot that may give bartenders a run for their money. The bots actually do the bartending without  raising their eyebrows! 

Watermelonomanic
fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

Drying Earth...

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

The next world war would perhaps be fought over the fast depleting natural resource critical for life called water. A recent AFP reportage from Davos warns that the world is heading toward 'water bankruptcy'. In less than 20 years ,water scarcity could lose the equivalent of the entire grain crops of India and the United States, said the WEF report...

Einstein & bees

By Jess Halliday

Albert Einstein once predicted if honeybees died off, then human beings would only have four years to live. It seemed far from possible for a long time. Of late, there has been an alarming decline in bee colonies globally. The last few years have seen a great reduction in bee colonies in the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Great Britain...

Frogful rains?

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

Faith binds couples in marriage. This time round, the 'froggy faith' for inviting rains tied them in wedlock! People blew trumpets and sang songs, as the priest solemnized the marriage to the chanting of Hindu hymns by putting streaks of vermilion on the female toad's head. The toads were picked up from different ponds...

Freshness beverage

fnbworld bureau/Cheryl Clock

With temperatures soaring, have you contemplated the ideal beverage that keeps dehydration away? Is it coconut water, Fresh lime-soda, an ice-cold beer, iced cappuccino, or a tall glass of iced tea? Well, it's none of the above. The answer is simpler than most people think. It is H2O (read water). Pure, unflavored, unaltered, un-everything water. With maybe a few slices of lemon, lime, even cucumber to give it a flavor.

Brainy stuff

fnbworld bureau/New Delhi

New research says oily fish can benefit dementia and delay its onset. Also called senility, dementia is a word for a group of symptoms caused by disorders of  the brain. People with dementia have serious problems with two or more brain functions, such as memory and language.

Bloody Swines!

fnbworld bureau/agencies

Ayurveda, the system of traditional Indian medicine based on natural therapies promises cures for most diseases, be it common cold or cancer! In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda comprises the words Ayur, meaning 'life' and Veda, Vid meaning knowledge and Veda meaning 'related to knowledge' or 'science'...