The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 16

The International News Weekly offbeat
16
October 06, 2017 | Toronto
Google goes to end of the Earth
Agencies
TORONTO: It's official. Google
Street View has now gone to the
ends of the Earth.
As part of a deal with Parks
Canada, the internet giant is now
showcasing Street View images
of one of the remotest places
on the planet — Quttinirpaaq
National Park on the northern
tip of Ellesmere Island.
"We want people to care
about the places that we
protect," said Emma Upton, who
manages the park. "Bringing it
into people's homes seemed a
really good idea.
"It is a difficult place to reach."
That is an understatement. Only
a tiny sliver at Greenland's apex
reaches further north.
To reach Quttinirpaaq
(pronounced kih-TURN-ihpak),
you first fly to Iqaluit, the
capital of Nunavut. Your next
flight takes you to Resolute on
Cornwallis Island. Then you
must hire a Twin Otter to fly
to the park, where there are no
communities, no services, no
nothing.
It takes days and thousands
of dollars. Fewer than 25 souls
manage it each year.
For those intrepid travellers,
however, the rewards are rich.
"It's a place where we can
still find true solitude and
we can still experience real
silence," said Upton. "You can
hike for days and you will not
see a single jet flying over you.
You will hear the wind in your
ears and a few birds and the
water rushing."
Mountains, glaciers clinging
to their sides, soar thousands
of metres from icy seas. Rivers
carve through rugged valleys
past gentle hills.
"I could read the landscape
like an open book," said Upton.
Wildlife includes herds of
muskox, Arctic fox, wolves
and 10-kilogram Arctic hares.
Gyrfalcons and owls slice the
skies.
Parks Canada staff were
trained in the use of Google
trekker cameras and spent July
2016 carrying them around the
park as part of their regular
work, said Upton.
"The camera itself is a very
sturdy piece of equipment. It
can be mounted on Ski-Doos,
ATVs, on boats. In the case of
a lot of our visits to national
parks, it was actually a person
carrying the Google trekker on
their back."
Parks Canada is trying to
make Quttinirpaaq a little more
accessible. Once a year, the
agency charters a Twin Otter
from Resolute and sells eight or
nine return seats to the public,
price available upon request. Or
you could volunteer to cook for
park staff.
Most people will have to rely
on a high-definition monitor for
the view and their imagination
for the light, the wind, the
silence.
"It's quite special to me that
we still have places in the world
that we can have that," said
Upton.
Shraddha Shashidhar to represent
India at Miss Universe
Omega-6 rich nuts,
soybean oil may cut
diabetes risk
Indo-Asian News Service
MUMBAI:
Shraddha
Shashidhar, who hails from
Bengaluru, was crowned
Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva -
Miss Universe India 2017 by
actor Shahid Kapoor here. She
will compete at the prestigious
Miss Universe pageant on
November 26 in the US.
Shahid crowned Shraddha
the winner of Yamaha Fascino
Miss Diva - Miss Universe India
2017 on Wednesday, read a
statement.
Peden Ongmu Namgyal
(Sikkim) was crowned
Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva
- Supranational 2017, and
Apeksha Porwal (Mumbai) as
Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2017.
The judges' panel included
the likes of former Miss
Universe and actress Lara
Dutta, actor Rajkummar Rao,
filmmaker Kabir Khan, boxing
champion Vijender Singh
and Miss Universe 2016 Iris
Mittenaere.
"It has been a wonderful
journey. All the girls are winners
in their own right, however
there can be only one winner. It
was difficult for the panelists to
choose that one winner from 15
divas who were all very talented
and promising," said Lara.
Agencies
SYDNEY: Eating a
diet rich in Omega-6
polyunsaturated fats,
found in bean and seed
oils such as soybean and
sunflower oils and in
nuts, could significantly
reduced the risk of
developing Type 2
diabetes, a study has
showed.
The
findings,
published in the journal
The Lancet Diabetes &
Endocrinology, showed
that individuals who had
the highest blood level of
linoleic acid -- the major
omega-6 fat -- were 35 per
cent less likely to develop
Type 2 diabetes than those
who had the least amount.
Linoleic acid is not
formed in the body and
can only be obtained
from the diet. "Our
findings suggest that a
simple change in diet
might protect people from
developing type 2 diabetes
which has reached
alarming levels around
the world," said lead
author Jason Wu, from
The George Institute for
Global Health in Sydney
For the study, the
team analysed data from
20 studies involving 39,740
adults from 10 countries
who were laboratory
tested for levels of two key
omega-6 markers -- linoleic
acid and arachidonic acid.
Linoleic acid was
associated with lower
risk, while levels of
arachidonic acid were not
significantly associated
with either higher or
lower risk of diabetes.
Some previous studies
have raised concerns
that omega-6 may have
negative health effects,
such as inflammation
leading to the increased
risk of chronic diseases.
Yet those who had the
highest levels of blood
omega-6 markers had
a much lower chance
of developing Type 2
diabetes, the researchers
noted. "Some scientists
have theorised that
omega-6 is harmful to
health," Wu said.
"But based on
this study, we have
demonstrated little
evidence for harms,
and indeed found that
the major omega-6 fat is
linked to lower risk of
Type 2 diabetes."