Canadian food guide

For healthy lifestyle, balanced diet is very important. The amount of diet we need depends on our lifestyle. Individuals of different ages and stages have different needs. For example growing children require more calories; women of childbearing age require extra folic acid; pregnant women need extra iron. Persons over 50’s require vitamin D supplement.

Food guide is very important for better overall health, low disease risk, a healthy body weight, feeling and looking better, getting more energetic, stronger muscles and bones. We can follow the Canadian food guide to eat balanced diet.

Source: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/tour/food_guide_en.swf

Why Daylight Saving?

You rolled back your clock by one hour on November 2nd at 2 am this year. But why? It’s because the daylight saving just ended on that day. Why daylight saving? There are several reasons for this:
• People like it because sunlight is available in the evening of summer. People can enjoy outdoor longer in summer.
• Several studies in the US and UK show that daylight saving reduces traffic accident by nearly 1%.
• Statistics shows that daylight saving reduces the violent crimes by 10% - 13% because evenings are brighter.
• Children’s pedestrian death on the Halloween night before 2007 was 4 times higher than other night. Therefore the daylight saving was extended to the first week of November for safety of trick or treaters in the Halloween.
• Energy conservation: Moving clock a-head one hour reduces energy conservation by 1% per day because as much as 25% of electricity is used for lighting and small appliances. People use more electricity if they are at home in the evening. People plan outdoor activities on longer days of spring and summer and it helps to conserve household electricity.

Source : www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html

Dashain

Dashain is the national and one of the biggest festivals in Nepal. Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal celebrate Dashain in the month of September or October for 15 days. Dashain is related to religious belief. People celebrate Dashain as a symbol of victory of goddess over wicked demons (as per holy book).

People put red colored rice (Tika) on forehead and sprouts of barley (Jamara) on their head. Red colour symbolizes happiness and rice and sprouts are symbol of prosperity. Tika and jamara is taken from elders along with blessings. I still remember that in my childhood I used to count the days for Dashain to come because I could get 15 days holiday from school and new dresses for the festival.