Top Foods that Burn Fat and are Good for Weight Loss

The calories that you burn during a workout may depend on the kinds of calories you take in before that workout, as suggested by research done in the field of nutrition. The research has been done by Dr. Mike Roussell. He is the author of `6 Pillars of Nutrition’ and a renowned nutritional consultant. People who take in rich carbohydrates for breakfast such as muesli, skimmed milk and yogurt before working out in the gym do not get their blood sugar levels spiked. They will be able to burn about fifty per cent more fat during their post breakfast workout in comparison with those kinds of people who spike up their blood sugar levels with food like white bread or corn flakes. Carbohydrates that cause the blood sugar levels to rise are referred to as high-glycemic index carbs. The carbohydrates that do not boost up the blood sugar levels are called low-glycemic index carbs. It is not easy to categorize the so-called `fat burning’ foods. Dr. Roussell states that “most foods do not proactively elicit increase in calorie burning but instead create a physiological environment in which fat burning is more easily accomplished”. For example, broccoli does not boost up your rate of metabolism but it can be categorized as a low calorie food that consists of carbohydrates that are slow to digest; it also contains fiber and phytochemicals that help in clearing off estrogen. Bahar Takhtehchian, a Co-Editor of Shape Magazine, also endorses the view that low glycemic index carbohydrates will help burn almost fifty per cent more fat than the high glycemic index carbs. Her favorite suggested recipe is cherry-almond-yogurt parfait. Two other popular fat melting foods are green tea and hot peppers. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has published a new study that finds mono-unsaturated fats, that are found in avocados and olive oil, can be added to the long list of foods that help you burn calories and fat faster. Additionally, peanuts, hazelnuts and Macadamia nuts are also among the top fat burners. Apart from muesli, skimmed milk and yogurt, other forms of low glycemic index carbohydrates are whole grains, whole grain cereals, oats, soy and linseed bread. Barry Braun, Director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has done some research on eating prior to exercise. He feels that “eating large amounts of high glycemic index carbohydrates right before exercise is probably as detrimental for overweight people as it is for the normal weight ones”. He feels that the high glycemic index carbs will come in handy for a marathon runner who needs high energy immediately before running a marathon. Regardless of whatever goals you set for yourself, it always starts with food for anyone who tries to lose weight. Dr. Mike Roussell feels that if you increase soy protein in your diet, it will help tone your muscles to burn your fat at a quicker pace and give you a contoured physique. If you want to burn your fat and lose weight at a rapid pace, it is important to pay attention to what Dr. Roussell is talking about in the Shape Magazine.

Four Examples of Hyperplasia

Hyperplasia is a condition where there is an increase in the volume of organic tissues which results from cell proliferation. It leads to enlargements of organs. It is a common type of pre-neoplastic response to stimulus. Under a large microscope, the cells get increased in numbers even though they may look like normal cells. 4 Types 1. Benign prostatic hyperplasia – This condition is also known as enlargement of the prostate. 2. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia- This is an inherited disorder of the adrenal gland. 3. Endometrial hyperplasia – This is due to the hyper proliferation of the endometrium. It results from estrogen stimulation in a setting of polycystic ovary syndrome and exogenous administration of hormones. This may also lead to endometrial adeno carcinoma. 4. Hemihyperplasia – This happens when only one side or half of the body is affected.

Scenic Vistas on the Mexican Riviera

Cruises to the Mexican Riviera are probably one of the most affordable in the world. Most of the Mexican Riviera cruises leave from San Diego in California. They are mostly of seven-night duration. These cruises are a popular choice for people as a vacation, particularly for those that live on the western coast of the United States of America. The number of cruises that are available is growing because the cruising season lasts throughout the year. The Mexican Riviera is also called the `Gold Coast’. It is on the western coast of Mexico. The cruise has many attractions. There are plenty of opportunities for shopping and fishing. There are many historic churches in the villages. There is wildlife also in the Mexican Riviera that includes whales, dolphins and sea lions. There is a large variety of tropical fish that can be seen in the vistas here. The cruise lines operating in the Mexican Riviera are the Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines, the Norwegian Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line. They offer their cruises throughout the year. Royal Caribbean offers a seven night cruise on the Mariner of the Seas liner which is the largest cruise ship that is home porting on the west coast of the United States of America. The popular ports of call on the Mexican Riviera cruise are Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. The cruises begin mostly from San Diego in California. It is an ideal location to begin and end your Mexican Riviera cruise vacation. The weather is beautiful throughout the year. San Diego has more than seventy miles of world class beaches. The Big Bay offers many adventure opportunities for the whole family. You can explore San Diego before you take your cruise. All cruises leave from the downtown ship terminal. Some of the cruise lines offer baggage service where the ship personnel will collect your baggage and take it to your cabin for you. The first usual port of call on the Mexican Riviera cruise is Cabo San Lucas. It is a resort place. You will find many famous celebrities on vacation here. The most famous attraction in this region is the Land’s End. It is a series of formations of rocks at a point where the Pacific Ocean meets the Cortez Sea. The landscape is filled with all kinds of cacti. The place is also famous for sports fishing. It is a golf circuit haven with many championship golf courses of international class. Whale watching can be done during January to March season. The official language used is Spanish. The most important structure at `Land’s End’ is El Arco which is a large arch of granite that was formed by waves and wind. The next usual port of call is Acapulco which is another well known resort point of Mexico. You can see cliff diving shows here. It has good beaches and a vibrant nightlife. It is a major sea port in Guerrero State on the Mexican Pacific Coast. The Acapulco Bay is deep blue in color. The places of interest in Acapulco are the San Diego Fort, The Zocalo or the Town Square and Nuestra Senora de la Soledad Church. You can see many dolphins at the Acapulco Magico Mundo Marino. You can watch the professional cliff divers at the La Quebrada. The next usual port of call is Puerto Vallarta which is a historical place. Its town area is full of shops and bars. You can watch the wonderful whales at the Puerto Vallarta Bay and the dolphins at the Banderas Bay. At Puerto Vallarta, you can also take the famous pirate ship tour. The Pirates of the Bay tour is a show that has impressive acrobatics too. Two costumed pirates will welcome the tourists and give them ID bracelets along with color codes for deck seating. While here, you may also visit some tequila factories or try catching the Pacific sailfish while watching the blue marlins. The next usual port of call and the last one is Mazatlan. It is well known for its deep sea fishing and water sports. It is a resort city at the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Many cruise operators are hesitant to stop over here for issues of security concern, much like the St. Croix Island in the Caribbean. The important places to visit, however, in Mazatlan are the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the Esplanade along the Olas Atlas Beach. If you are looking for reasonable cruise fares to the Mexican Riviera, you should not travel from mid-June to mid-August as the tariff is highest during this period. This is because most families travel when their children have school vacations. The off-season rates are available from January to May. The average temperature in the Mexican Riviera throughout the year is quite high and generally in the eighties (Fahrenheit). It can get quite humid and hot during the summer. The scenic vistas of deserts, beaches, blue surf and big fish are unforgettable along the Mexican Riviera and the southern region of Baja California where there is great weather all the year round. This place has been spiced up and romanticized by the Hollywood stars and writers.

What does a Private Detective do?

A private investigator can be employed for diverse purposes. It could be corporate espionage or a homicide investigation. It could be family problems related with drug usage or abduction. A detective may have to work most of the day on the street to provide logistical support to the agency he or she is working for. This representation ability is a very important characteristic in the job specification of a private investigator. Sometimes, the detective has to be ultra patient and remain for many hours, waiting for a suspect, at one particular place. The detective may have to wait endlessly in a car or at a bar or a restaurant and at the same time he or she has to blend well in the environment in order not to be spotted easily. The detective has to possess inter personal relationship qualities and be persuasive enough to get information out of people. An investigator has to be comfortable while using electronic equipment like a GPS (global positioning system) or sophisticated video cameras so as to get good results during the investigation. A detective has to be conversant with the state and federal laws to understand what can be done and cannot be done within the bounds of investigation. Private investigators will have to take on a variety of jobs that may include helping the insurance agencies to investigate cases of frauds or lending agencies to locate missing debtors. They may also have to act on behalf of individuals who are involved in family arbitration. They have to trace out missing relatives sometimes in specific cases where beneficiaries to a will are involved. To complete the investigation, a detective may have to contact private or even public organizations to get personal information out. In such cases, the detective has to be familiar with the Data Protection Act that regulates the personal information process.

Getting Rid of Clogged Drains

If you are experiencing clogged drains quite frequently in your house, you can usually fix it temporarily with Alka Seltzer tablets and white vinegar. Take two Alka Seltzer tablets, place them into the clogged drain and then pour one cup of vinegar down the drain. After about fifteen minutes, you can pour boiling hot water over it. Your drain should be considerably free of clog after that. This is not a permanent cure. We are always there to get rid of clogged drains in your house for you. We may need to clean the traps, vents and the piping pitches. Should you note that your toilet, bath, shower, bathroom sink and the kitchen drain are all clogged; then, it is possible that the main drain is blocked. Most of the clogs pile up around the stopper in your kitchen sink, the bathroom sink and bathtubs. You can try removing the strainer and cleaning it. Usually, hair will clog around the strainers. You can do this on a regular basis. Another good tool for clogged drains is the plunger. If the blockage is not too far into the main drain, a plunger can do the job. If the blockage is far, then don’t mess with it. Call us. Before using the plunger, it is effective to block any overflow holes by stuffing wet rags into them. These holes are mostly located opposite the faucets. If there is not much standing water in the basin, run some water to collect for two to three inches over the drain hole. This water will aid in forcing the obstruction out of the drain.

Stereo Cameras are the next big thing in Safety

Most of the high end luxury cars have started to pay attention to issues like detection of blind spots and technology concerning avoidance of collision. Three companies who have taken up this challenge are Autoliv Electronics, Continental and Subaru. Autoliv Electronics are doing well with the sales of radar units that help with blind spots and their sales have gone up about ten times in the last four years. They have produced over one million units last year all over the world. Autoliv Electronics is a Swedish company that started making airbags first. Now, it offers adaptive cruise control and night vision devices. It is working now on taking out stereo cameras that can help in pedestrian detection and lane departure warning. These cameras will also help in roadside recognition alerts. These cameras are likely to become popular very quickly. The blind-spot radar system along with the stereo cameras is a package that includes rear cross-traffic alert signals. This system alerts you on the approaching cars from the side when you are backing out of a parking space. This is a two-sensor system and costs about hundred dollars per sensor. These stereo cameras can do many things. Their most common feature will be lane-departure warning. The cameras can also control your high and low beams which will make it very convenient for you. The cameras can also recognize traffic signs and they can warn you about forward collision. There are certain things you can do with a camera which you cannot do with the radars and that is the recognition of traffic signs. The cost of the stereo cameras is not going to be much more expensive than the radar sensors. Introducing the stereo cameras to the cars’ safety system will help in reducing traffic accidents, particularly those accidents which involve pedestrians. The stereo cameras will use a six-dimensional analysis of image and they will be able to gauge the direction in which there is a forward movement. They will also be able to gauge a range with an accuracy of between twenty to thirty centimeters at a distance of twenty to thirty meters. The stereo cameras have a range of up to sixty meters which will help in the improvement of braking systems. The stereo cameras are going to set a good trend in the future of safety applications with their ability to help in lane departure warning and control of smart beams. About half of the reported accidents that result in major personal injuries are involving pedestrians and cars at the intersections. The stereo cameras’ ability to better gauge movements will help reduce such kinds of accidents. In heavy traffic conditions, these cameras will also alert the driver when the car ahead of him or her has moved if the driver does not react in few seconds. The technology can also help reduce damages caused by collision by cutting down the acceleration when it spots an obstacle in front and when the pedal is still being pushed forward. It will also be effective when a driver gets into the ‘drive’ mode unintentionally instead of the ‘reverse’ mode when backing out in a parking space. The design of the cameras will give an angle of detection wider than that provided by the radars.

Five Reasons you do not lose Fat when Dieting

Are you dieting and not losing fat? You are not aware of some common diet mistakes that you may be committing. Kathleen Zelman, Director of Nutrition for WebMD, says that you “may be eating a lot more calories than you think when you are on a diet”. You can check out the common diet mistakes everyone makes as per Adam Bornstein who contributes to `Shape.com’ by writing articles on weight loss strategies. 1. Not sticking to the basics – Exercises are created to relax you. Your workout has to be enjoyable. You are not going to get fit any faster if you are doing a ball balancing act on one leg. The basics will get you the same results. You will find them in the classic multi-muscle exercises such as squats and dead lifts. The fat on your butts and legs will definitely melt. While doing this, you cannot eat whenever you feel like. Do not be a victim of “eating amnesia” when you put your hand to mouth without knowing it. This happens mostly in front of a television in your living room when you snatch something from a packet or while reading a book. How can you kick this habit of mindless eating? You can get out of this habit by trying a cup of tea or a glass of water or simply chewing sugarless gum. 2. Performing more Cardio – Cardio may help you burn those calories and fat but it is not the answer or a primary solution. It is the weight training that is more likely to burn your fat. Cardio has to be secondary to weight training. Our hectic daily schedules have made us get into the unhealthy habit of eating fast. Tara Gidus, a Spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, says, “We need to adopt more of the leisurely European-style eating so that we can savor our food”. 3. There is no intensity in your workout – People try to focus more on the social aspect in the gym than concentrate on the workout itself, particularly if they go to the gym with a cycle of friends. Workout has to be intense and short. The idea is to feel your muscles work while sweating it out. You must be skipping meals besides going to the gym. Breakfast skipping is a big mistake. Research has shown that breakfast eaters weigh less on an average than breakfast skippers. Two meals, at least per day, should be taken. 4. Taking in too many liquid calories – You may not know but liquid calories from sodas, teas, sweetened juices, coffee and smoothies add that extra fat on to you. Alcohol is also in this list. A study has found that more than twenty per cent of people get their extra calories from beverages. 5. Choosing unhealthy Add-ons – When you are on a diet, you try to increase the portions in the size of your snacks or meals for the simple reason that you feel you are doing regular exercise and also skipping meals. You also develop a habit of topping your topping your diet salads with high-fat add-ons like creamy dressings, croutons, bacon and cheese.

Escape with a relaxing Croatia Yacht Charter

Croatia has become a popular destination for people who want to sail. Visitors are attracted to its beaches and blue waters on account of its hot climate. People get to see and visit more than a hundred little peaceful islands in the neighboring Adriatic Sea. Yacht charter in Croatia is an ideal way to go about visiting these islands and the major cities along the coast. It is a marvelous experience to explore these places. Croatia yacht charters can give you an opportunity to explore the Adriatic Sea by selecting all sizes of sailing boats or luxury yachts. You get the option of choosing among large sized motor yachts, gullets and catamarans. The rentals of mega yachts are very popular for sailing in Croatia. Perfect Place for Sailing You can do sailing in Croatia if you love the sea and the sun. All water sports enthusiasts rent boats in Croatia to spend a perfect summer holiday. Apart from sailing, this place has many attractions. There are many interesting archaeological sites. Among them, there are eight national parks and six sites in the World Heritage category. There is plenty of night life on offer on the islands with some great diners and bars with live music. Dubrovnik in Croatia provides a Middle Age touch to the visitors. It is an impressive sight when you arrive into Dubrovnik by the sea route. It is a perfect place to stop for a yacht charter in Croatia. Another major Croatia yacht charter town is Split which is one of the largest Dalmatian towns on the Adriatic Coast. The number of gullets and sailing yachts that are available here make this a major port. Split is an important place for tourism. The town offers many attractions in the form of restaurants and shops. Pula is another place in Croatia where its coastal waters allow the visitors to do fishing, diving and snorkeling. Pula is also known for its ancient surviving Roman monuments, the First Century Amphitheatre being the most famous. This is among the six biggest Roman arenas that have survived in the world and has been named as the `Arena’ locally. Another important attraction at Pula is the Gate of Hercules that also dates back to the first century. Private Tours and Sailing Holidays in Croatia Croatia has a lot to offer to the tourist today with neighboring Slovenia and Lake Bled as extensions to the sailing holiday. The coastline is packed with glamorous islands and ancient ports with their sights of wilderness. You can get in touch with us to plan your sailing in Croatia as we offer many private tours to suit one and all. You can plan your yacht charter in Croatia from Opatija, Dubrovnik or Split. These charters can take you to the lovely islands on tours stretching up to eight days. Croatia yacht charter can take you on private tours to explore the beauty of the coastal areas. While on tour, you can visit the Krka and Plitvice National Parks. You can also visit the historical town of Zadar which is like a cultural capital of Croatia. Explore the Hidden Gems of Europe while on a Sailing Holiday in Croatia We can arrange the private tour for you to discover and explore some of the hidden and rare places of Europe while sailing in Croatia. You can start from the Port of Dubrovnik. It is an ancient walled city that has streets of cobbled stones, vintage boutiques and fine dining places. Dubrovnik is also well known for its wine and good seafood. You can also plan a yacht charter in Croatia at Split and Opatija. The Adriatic Sea is packed with many scenic islands. Croatia yacht charter is the biggest attraction for sailing enthusiasts. The pristine beaches and the beautiful waters are a pleasing sight for many a tourist. Luxury Yacht Specialists We can offer you the largest database of rentals for boats on the Adriatic Sea as Croatia yacht charter specialists. We offer a fleet of motor boats, sailing boats, catamarans, gullets and luxury yachts to make sailing in Croatia an easy and enjoyable experience for you. Simply browse through our site and pick out a yacht that suits you from our full service yacht charter in Croatia. Our team is always ready to offer the ideal luxury yacht charter to visitors. We also offer our full charter service to private individual or business clients. The charter could be for any special occasion or just for holidaying. We can take care of all car and mini-van transfers from the airports before you decide to escape with a relaxing Croatia yacht charter.

An Essay on the Punjabi Language

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language that is spoken by people of the Punjab region in North Western India and in North Eastern Pakistan. Punjabi can be divided into two categories. The categories are Western Punjabi and Eastern Punjabi. Western Punjabi broke up into Saraiki, Potwari and Hindko. These came to be counted later almost as separate languages. Eastern Punjabi remained independently as what is Punjabi today. It is the official language of the state of Punjab in India. The term `Punjabi’ refers to the land which belongs to five waters. The word has its roots in Persian. It refers to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River. For the community of Sikhs, Punjabi is their principal language. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most spoken language. There are more than one hundred and six million native speakers of the Punjabi language. This makes it the tenth most widely spoken language in the world. There are about seventy six million native Punjabi speakers in Pakistan and about thirty million Punjabi speakers in India. Punjabi is a descendant of the Saurasheni Prakrit which was spoken as the main language in medieval Northern India. After the partition of India, the Punjab region was divided between Pakistan and India. Though the Punjabi people made up the second biggest linguistic group in Pakistan after Bengali, Urdu was declared the national language of Pakistan. Punjabi did not get any official status. The Indian territory of Punjab which also included Haryana and Himachal Pradesh became a Hindi majority region. Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where the Punjabis have migrated in large numbers such as the United States of America, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. History Punjabi can be traced back as an independent language to the ninth century after Christ. The earliest traces of Punjabi can be found in the works of Nath Yogis, Gorakshanath and Charpatnath in the ninth century. Punjab faced the brunt of Moghul invaders during the middle ages. The internal conflicts within Punjab also proved harmful to the growth and development of the Punjabi language and its literary works. Guru Nanak, who lived between 1469 and 1539, was the founder of the Sikh religion and he gave a new impetus to the Punjabi language. The fifth Guru, Arjun Dev, 1563-1606, compiled the Sikh scripture, the `Adi Grantha’ or the `Grantha Saheb’ in Punjabi. During these middle ages, the Hindu and Sikh writers wrote in the Punjabi language. The best known Hindu Punjabi poet of the seventeenth century was Chandar Bhan who was originally from Lahore. The Muslim writers were also prolific in terms of creativity in Punjabi. A Muslim poet named Abdullah, 1616-1666, wrote `Bara Anva’(Twelve Topics) in Punjabi which is a thesis on Islam. During this period, many Muslim Sufi poets came into the limelight. Their compositions, which were purely in Punjabi, form an integral part of the Punjabi literature in both content and spirit. One of the famous Sufi poets was Ali Haider, 1689-1776, who wrote a large number of `Siharfis’ or poems involving thirty stanzas. Each stanza began, though, with a letter of the Persian alphabet. Poems on historical figures and stories formed a major literary part of the eighteenth century. After the British took over Punjab, Hindi language gained prominence in Punjab. The Hindus too with their reform movements like Arya Samaj and Sanatan Dharma gave importance to Hindi. Punjabi, in its Gurumukhi character, was taken up and used mainly by the Sikhs. Dialects Punjabi language has many dialects which are spoken in the sub regions of greater Punjab. Since the partition of Punjab in 1947, Punjabi that is spoken in both Pakistan and India has drifted apart from each other. The Indians rely heavily on Sanskrit vocabulary through Hindi. The Pakistanis rely mostly on Farsi and Urdu influence with the Shahmukhi script. The Majhi dialect is Punjab’s prime dialect. It is considered as textbook Punjabi and is spoken in the historical region of Majha. It has had its influence on both Amritsar and Lahore. Modern Punjabi consists of many dialects. The Majhi or the standard Punjabi is the written standard in both parts of Punjab. The Punjabi language in India has replaced several Persian and Arabic loan words acquired through Urdu with words of Sanskrit origin because of the domination of Hindi instead of Urdu in India. Recent modernisation and industrialisation has seen an English influence in both parts of Punjab. Major Punjabi dialects are Majhi, Shahpuri, Malwi, Doabi, Pwadhi, Dogri and Multani. The Multani dialect of Punjabi is spoken in Pakistani Punjab. Riasati and Thalochri are sub dialects of Multani. It is spoken by a majority of people in the northern parts of Sindh, Hyderabad and Karachi. Dogri is spoken by about four million people in the Jammu region of India. Pwadhi is spoken in Powadh and in some regions of Punjab and parts of Haryana between the Sutlej and the Ghaggar rivers. Doabi is spoken in Indian Punjab in Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur between the Beas and the Sutlej rivers. Doabi means in Persian the land between two rivers. Malwi is spoken in the eastern part of Indian Punjab. Main areas are Ludhiana, Barnala and Faridkot. Shahpuri dialect is mainly spoken in Pakistani Punjab. It is named after the town of Shahpur. Majhi or the prime dialect is spoken in central Punjab spanning Lahore, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Amritsar and Gurdaspur. A few portions of the Guru Granth Saheb use the Punjabi dialects but the book is also interspersed with several languages including Brijbhasha, Khariboli and Sanskrit. Guru Gobind Singh, the last Guru of the Sikhs, composed `Chandi di Var’ in Punjabi. Some of his works were written in languages like Brijbhasha and Farsi. Punjabi is extra ordinary among the modern Indo-European languages because it is a tonal language. Script In the twentieth century, the Punjabi speaking Sikhs started giving importance to the Punjabi written in the Gurumukhi script as an emblem of their distinct identity. Punjabi identity was affected by the communal sentiments in the twentieth century. Pakistani Punjabis use the older Shahmukhi script which is a modified version of the Persian Nastaliqi script. Gurumukhi and Shahmukhi are the two official scripts of the Punjabi language. Gurumukhi script was derived from Brahmi which was used for Ashoka’s edicts and was known for its vowel signs. Literature The Punjabi literary origin started with Baba Farid or Fariduddin Ganjshakar in the early thirteenth century. The literary tradition continued with many ancient Sufi Muslim writers and with Guru Nanak Dev, the first Guru of Sikhism. The early Punjabi literature was essentially spiritual in nature and has had a strong oral tradition. The poetry written by Sufi saints has formed the folklore of Punjab and has still remained popular where people sing with great affection in all parts of Punjab. Muslim Sufi writers composed many works in Punjabi between 1600 and 1850. The most well known Punjabi Sufi poet was Baba Bulleh Shah (1680-1757). He wrote in the Kafi style. He practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry that was established by poets like Shah Hussain (1540-1600), Sultan Bahu (1630-1690) and Shah Sharaf (1640-1725). He was also a contemporary of the legendary poet Waris Shah (1722-1798) who wrote Heer Ranjha. This is one of the most popular medieval Punjabi works. Other popular tragic love stories are Sohni Mahiwal, Mirza Sahiba and Sassi Punnun. Shah Mohammad’s `Jangnama’ is a fine piece of poetry that describes an account of the First Anglo Sikh war that occurred after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The great linguist, George Abraham Grierson, used the word Punjabi and its dialects in his multi volume, `Linguistic Survey of India’ which he wrote between 1904 and 1928. A major figure in the revival movement of the Punjabi literary tradition, Bhai Vir Singh, started insisting that the Punjabi language was the exclusive prerogative of the Sikhs. Grammar Punjabi has three typical tones that developed from the lost voiced aspirate series of consonants. Phonetically, the tones are rising or rising-falling contours and they can spread over more than one syllable. The grammar of the Punjabi language is the study of the word order, case marking and other morphological structures. Punjabi language has homonyms. They are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but with different meanings and usually different parts of speech. Punjabi nouns have an assigned gender and they can be either masculine or feminine though some nouns can be used for both the genders due to dialectical variations. The gender value is purely grammatical for inanimate objects. The assignment of gender to inanimate objects is arbitrary. The nouns also can be singular or plural. There are two cases – direct and oblique and this applies to almost all the nouns. A typical Punjabi noun can have on an average five to six different forms depending on the values of number and case. In Punjabi, there are six types of pronouns. They are personal, reflexive, demonstrative, indefinite, relative and interrogative. Punjabi adjectives can be classified into two categories – inflected and uninflected depending upon whether they change forms for number or case or not. Punjabi verbs change forms for gender, number, person, tense and phase. Like nouns, the verbs have two genders – masculine and feminine and two number forms that are singular and plural. The verbs also take forms for three person cases – first, second and third person categories. The verbs can be in perfect or non perfect forms. The verbs take form for future tense only and an auxiliary verb form is used for the present and the past tense. Postpositions are similar to the prepositions in English. They link the noun and the pronoun to other parts of the sentence. There are various particles that are used in the Punjabi sentences for emphasis and negation. There are four main types of particles – emphatic, negative, honorific and vocative. Punjabi phrases can be classified broadly into two types – nominal phrases and verb phrases. There are at least three ways in which emphasis can be represented in written Punjabi sentences. They are iteration of words, using emphatic particles or changing the phrase order. Punjabi in Modern Culture Punjabi language is now getting accepted among the Punjabis for wider use in modern media and communications network. This language has always remained as an integral part of the Indian film scene, particularly in Bollywood. There has been a trend of Bollywood songs written totally in Punjabi. The pop and folk songs in Punjabi have become very popular both in India and Pakistan at the national level. Many television dramas based on characters from Punjab are telecast every day by various channels. The numbers of students who are opting for Punjabi literature has increased in Punjab. Punjabi cinema in India has also seen a big revival and many Punjabi films are being made nowadays.

Airlines can now fly through Volcanic Ash Clouds

A new tool will now allow air planes to fly through volcanic ash clouds and tackle unnecessary disruptions. There is a group of scientists working at the Norwegian Institute of Air Research and they have informed that their latest tool will help to keep the flight paths open. It is called Airborne Volcanic Object Imaging Detector (AVOID). This tool was earlier tested and introduced in Sicily with a test flight over Mount Etna. It is an active volcano that looms over the Mediterranean island. This technology has been designed by a British scientist by the name of Dr. Fred Prata. The system uses heat detecting cameras and combines them with satellite data and atmospheric modelling to inform the pilots where an ash cloud is located and where it could be heading. This jet testing technology can make it feasible for pilots to identify an ash cloud ahead at altitudes of almost anywhere between 5000 and 50000 feet. AVOID uses two fast sampling thermal infra red cameras that make images and identify anything that is in front of the aeroplanes. The two cameras have been tuned to identify silicates which are the components that make up the volcanic ash. The cameras would be able to identify the silicates up to a hundred kilometres or maybe more even at a mean height of around thirty thousand feet and that information can be relayed straight back to the pilots in the cockpit and they will be able to see the volcanic ash in the atmosphere ahead of the aeroplane and manoeuvre around the cloud or patches of clouds.