India needs 800 terawatt hour power annually if it wants to give reasonable quality of life to citizens, says Dr Anil Kakodkar

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad:  Eminent nuclear scientist Dr Anil Kakodkar has said only nuclear
energy would help India achieve the target of 5000 kWh per capita consumption
of electricity that would push the country on the human development index of 1.

“The per capita electricity consumption in the country at present is
10 times less than the target of 5000 kwh. We thus need to generate 10
times more power and this is possible only through nuclear and solar
energy. This is a huge task and we can achieve this by 2050. If we
reach the per capita of 5000 kWh, India will reach the human
development index closer to 1,” Dr Kakodkar said.

Addressing Dr M Channa Reddy Memorial Lecture here on January 5, Dr Kakodkar,
who earlier served as the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, said
electricity constitutes a key input for enhancing quality of life in
society. “Indian population is expected to stabilize at around 1.6
billion. Thus to support a reasonable quality of life for our people,
we need 800 TWh (terawatt hour) annually. This would need a generation
capacity of around 1400 GWe (gigawatt electric). The additional
electricity that we would need to generate would be around 40 per cent
of current electricity generation worldwide,” he added.

He regretted that the per capita consumption of electricity in the
country is four times below the world average. “If the consumption in
developed nations is not taken into account, even then we would be two
times below the average of developing nations. China is marching
forward in meeting the energy needs through nuclear sources,” he
pointed out.

Projecting thorium and solar energy as the two major sources of
electricity to meet the future needs of the country, Dr Kakodkar said
adding that nuclear capacity augmentation is thus important both for
more electricity production and for enhanced capacity of conversion of
Thorium into nuclear fuel.

“Now that embargoes on Indian nuclear programme have eased out, we can
in fact speed up this process. This would help over come immediate
electricity shortages and also enable earlier deployment of thorium on
a largescale,” Dr Kakodkar observed.

Giving the example of the new Indian concept reactor AHWR 300-LEU, he
said nuclear power plants are safe and advanced nuclear technology has
helped in making them more secure from external and internal sabotage.

Gingelly chikkies: Herbal sweet meat prepared from sesame and jaggery boosts immunity in HIV positive people

Syed AkbarHyderabad: It is hard to resist the unique taste of sesame chikkies,
and many generations of children have grown up chewing little chunks
of this special Indian sweet. But no one has ever thought that the
humble sesame chikkies will help in fighting the dreaded Human
Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV the natural way, without causing any
side effects.

Realising the health benefits of this simple Indian street
preparation, nutritionists have slightly altered the recipe by adding
a few Ayurvedic herbs and served them to HIV positive women. They
found that the chikkies have not only improved the CD4 (immune) cells
count in people living with HIV, but also improved their overall
nutrition levels and health condition.

Researchers prepared chikkies using sesame and jaggery. They also
added half a dozen Ayurvedic herbs to give them the herbal touch.
Sesame-jaggery chikkies are quite popular in South India, and they are
known as jeedilu in rural parts of Andhra Pradesh.
A group of women living with HIV and not taking anti-retroviral
therapy (ART) was selected for the research. They were given 20 grams
of chikkies twice a day for four months. At the end of the study, the
HIV positive women showed improved immunity levels. The team prepared
chikkies by adding Spirulina for children living with HIV.

“The CD4 count increased from 475.6 to 543.4 cells in the women who
took the sesame chikkies. Those who did not take the preparation
showed decreased CD4 count. It went down from 612.3 to 541.5. About 25
to 33 per cent of HIV positive people experience either short or
long-term side effects while using anti-retroviral therapy. Our novel
therapeutic strategy of including a few Ayurvedic herbs in the popular
street food (chikkies) has helped in fighting HIV the natural way,
without any side effects,” said Dr R Gandhimathy, assistant professor
in the postgraduate department of human nutrition and nutraceuticals,
Fatima (Autonomous) College, Madurai Kamaraj University. The Madurai
team gave a presentation of its research finding at the National
Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad recently.

AIDS is a disease complex characterised by a collapse of the body
natural immunity to fight infections. The two main components of
chikkies – sesame and jaggery – are known to increase the immunity
levels in human beings. The time-tested advantage of Ayurveda has
further fortified the chikkies making them a sort of natural medicine
to fight HIV and improve the CD4 cell count.

“We have statistically proved that supplementation of functional foods
incorporated chikkies showed a significant improvement of CD4 cells
count. The Ayurveda herbs we used are Tenospora cordifolia, Terminalia
chetappa, Tribulus terrestris, Achyranthes aspera, snake gourd and
rice bran,” Dr Gandhimathy added.

Million Indian teenagers study: George Institute embarks upon research to understand the psychology of youngsters

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: India has one of the highest death rates among teenagers and scientists have always wondered why this is so. Now a team of city scientists will take up a first-of-its-kind research study to understand the secrets of young minds, the complex psychology of teenagers in India and the suicidal tendencies in them. The research will help in unraveling the scientific mystery of a very high incident of death rate including suicides among adolescents in the country.

The death rates for teenagers in India are amongst the highest in the world, and little research has been done to find out why this is and how to provide appropriate healthcare for adolescents. Teenagers make up a significant proportion of India’s population. As teenagers age their health status is vitally important, since its impact is enormous on the economic growth and health systems. The information currently available on the health landscape of young adolescent Indians is quite meagre.

The city-based George Institute for Global Health in collaboration with the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, will cover a million Indian teenagers over a period of time for a proper understanding of the cause of death. “The study will strive to provide health policy makers with precise and reliable information about the
distribution of chronic diseases and injuries among the adolescent population. It will also help to reliably identify major risk and protective factors relating to mental disorders, injuries, cardiac illnesses like increased blood pressure, diabetes and obesity,” said Dr Pallab Maulik, head of research and development, George Institute
for Global Health, India.

According to him, among India’s adolescents, comprising almost one-quarter of the country’s population, mental illness and injuries are two major health problems. India has one of the highest suicide rates in the world amongst teenagers. A study revealed that the suicide rate among 10-19 year olds was 148 and 58 per lakh people for females and males respectively.

Death among teenagers due to road traffic injuries is also high in the country. In addition, many of the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes start in this age group. “There are many unanswered questions for the adolescents which need to be worked upon,” Dr Pallab added.

Climate change makes monsoon predictability a tougher task

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: Monsoon predictability is turning tougher for the
weatherman year after year as rainfall goes erratic thanks to climate
change, admit city agro-climate experts.

Research by the city-based International Crops Research Institute in
Semi Arid Tropics (Icrisat) and Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural
University show that certain areas are gradually turning arid from
semi arid while other areas are receiving intensely heavy rainfall.
The monsoon has changed its regular pattern and has become highly
non-predictive, making the task of the weatherman even tougher.

“We are unable to predict the monsoon variability. The monsoon
prediction for the country overall may be near accurate, but as far as
local level prediction is concerned, the weatherman quite often fails
in the task. The monsoon for India was near accurate, but in Andhra
Pradesh and other places it was about 40 per cent deficient while some
States witnessed floods,” said Dr AVR Kesava Rao, agro-climate expert
and scientist at Icrisat.

Stating that the climate change is showing its telltale marks in the
form of erratic monsoons, Dr Kesava Rao said the non-predictability of
the monsoon ranged from non-uniform rainfall over a larger area to
year-to-year variability, with one year receiving good rainfall, and
another witnessing drought conditions.

“The heavy rainfall events have increased in the recent times. Though
the number of rainy days has not come down, the number of high
intensity rains has gone up. This is leading to soil erosion and poor
infiltration of rain water into the water table,” he added.

Research data from Icrisat’s watershed in Nemmikal village near
Suryapet revealed that the length of growing period has been shortened
by 15 days. Icrisat analysed the data since 1971 and found that there
is increase in the dryness of the local climate. The monsoon, he said
has lost its uniformity and areas within a district experience either
intense rainfall or drought conditions.

Krishna delta front is increasing in area, according to Geological Survey of India

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad:  The Krishna delta is constantly growing at a “rapid
pace” gaining as much as 28 sq km of area in the last five decades.

A detailed analysis of the research data on the Krishna delta by the
Geological Survey of India reveals that the delta is regularly gaining
land at the “front” region. Delta front is the area that protrudes
into the sea. This in other words means that the Krishna delta has
projected further into the Bay of Bengal since the early 1960s.

The Krishna River divides into two main branches, a few kilometres
downstream of the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada. One branch joins the
Bay of Bengal at Hamsaladivi, while the other branch further divides
into three distributaries, which later join the sea downstream of
Nagayalanka.

According to GSI, the Krishna delta front is “constantly growing at a
rapid pace on both sides of all the three distributaries, particularly
the western most, through sand deposits (spits and bars). Over the
past half century, the Krishna delta has gained about 28 sq km of
area”. Since the growth is more in the western most distributary that
borders Repalle, the Krishna delta front is adding new area from the
Guntur district side.

The growth of the Krishna delta further into the sea (progradation)
has been noticed at Kaikaluru- Bapatla strandline, Gudur strandline,
Machilipatnam strandline and the Koduru strandline. The delta front is
sandy or marshy in nature with a vast stretches of wild grasses or
protected mangrove forests. The mangrove forests have gained some of
this newly added area.

The Krishna delta is “lobate” (lobe like) and unique in having the
greatest protuberance of 37 km from the adjoining coast, points out
“GSI Memoirs”, containing the summerised data of the research work
done by GSI scientists at its Hyderabad centre. As new land is added
to the delta front, the protuberance into the sea increases. The
deltaic shore is about 90 km long.

A delta is highly sensitive to any change, natural or manmade. Changes
in the Krishna delta started after the construction of dams in the
upstream. This has reduced the sediment carrying capacity of the
river. With the outflow into the sea coming down drastically in the
last few decades, the sea is depositing sands, increasing the area of
the delta front.

Foods containing legumes are good for diabetics: They help in reducing fasting blood glucose

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: Including dal-rich foods such as like idli, vada, dosa and uthappa in one’s daily diet helps to control blood sugar and diabetes.


This was a finding of a multi-city research study conducted by the Public Health Foundation of India, South Asia Network for Chronic Disease, and Centre for Chronic Disease Control. Some 6,819 people in Hyderabad, Nagpur, Lucknow and Bengaluru were part of the trial.


“Lentils, beans and peas influence blood sugar and lower it. Chana dal has the strongest effect on fasting blood glucose. The way the lentils are prepared, though, is important. Idli, dosa, vada etc. are good, but their influence is highly reduced if they are cooked in vegetables,” says Dr Preet Dhillon of the South Asia Network for Chronic Disease.


Fried lentils in namkeen and dals used to make sweets also don’t have the desired impact.


“Our results have shown that food items that contain predominantly lentils help a lot,” Dr Dhillon said.
Legumes also lower the risk of cardiovascular disease because they contain soluble fibres and alpha glucosidase inhibitors, which slow absorption and lower glycemic index. They, however, have no impact on insulin resistance.


“Legume consumption is positively associated with fasting blood glucose and diabetes, but not with insulin resistance,” Dr Dhillon said, adding that in India, where high diabetes rates prevail, adding legumes to the diet is beneficial, but the method of preparation is crucial.


India has the worst stunting and iron deficiency in the world and the largest number of people with diabetes. This shows a failure on the nutrition front.


Trade and agriculture policies have changed our diets, encouraging overconsumption of unhealthy foods and under-consumption of healthy foods, nutritionists say.