Tomoato ..... the red Fruit - no it can be Black & White and Vegetable too !!!

Perhaps, we eat this delicious fruit daily – it is the ‘tomato’ - the edible, red fruit -  Solanum lycopersicum, commonly known as a tomato plant. The species is believed to have originated in the South American Andes and its use as a food that is now widely grown all over the World.  The tomato is consumed in diverse ways, including raw, as an ingredient in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks. While it is botanically a fruit, it is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes.   The plants typically grow to 1–3 meters (3–10 ft) in height and have a weak stem that often sprawls over the ground and vines over other plants. An average common tomato weighs approximately 100 grams.

The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks.  More of that towards the end.

Tomatoes have  lycopene,  a carotenoid pigment that has long been associated with the deep red color of many tomatoes. Tomatoes are widely known for their outstanding antioxidant content. There are literally hundreds of different tomato varieties. We usually choose our favorite varieties by some combination of flavor, texture, and appearance.  In Chennai market, you would find the local (nattu) thakkali and the Bangalore variety.  Intake of tomatoes has long been linked to heart health. Fresh tomatoes and tomato extracts have been shown to help lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides.    

In recent times, Bangalore’s  own high-yielding tomato variety is becoming global. It is stated that Farmers and  agriculture entrepreneurs in seven countries  want to import the seeds of ‘Arka Rakshak’, the famed tomato variety developed by the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR). Arka Rakshak, developed after a five-year research by a team of the IIHR scientists, is already creating waves in the country’s horticultural sector as farmers have got yields of up to 19 kg per plant from this variety.  It is stated that  Arka Rakshak’s popularity is not just due to its high-yielding quality, but also owing to its resistance to three diseases of tomato: leaf curl virus, bacterial wilt and early blight.

…. And tomatoes need not be red !!  Away in UK, at Devon, Horticulturalists have grown the world's first black and white tomato plants – experts at Sutton Seeds, in Devon, blended rare strains to create the plant.  They previously made the world's first black tomato, named Indigo Rose.  Sutton Seeds mixed it with a white-cherry tomato strain to make new type.  For their latest creation, the green-fingered gardeners blended Indigo Rose with a white-cherry tomato type to produce the ground-breaking black and white plant.

While the black tomatoes have a more savoury taste, the white ones pack a sweet and fruity punch, the growers say.  A spokesman for Sutton Seeds, which is based in Paignton, Devon, said: 'This year we have upped the ante by grafting Indigo Rose to a creamy-white cherry variety to produce the first black and white tomato plant.  The American-bred purple tomatoes contained anthocyanin, an antioxidant said to help fight diabetes and obesity.  A spokesperson of the farm is quoted as saying - ‘They are not as sweet as normal tomatoes and have a more savoury flavour, and are nice roasted or eaten in salads’.

Over the years there are lot of re-definitions – now ‘tomatoes’ are no longer ‘fresh attractive red’ but would come in black and white too.  Now to the Q of whether tomato is a fruit or vegetable – though technically fruit, tomatoes fall under the category of "vegetable," according to the Supreme Court in USA.  The high court issued this 1893 tomato ruling in a case brought by members of the Nix family against Edward Hedden, collector at the Port of New York, to recover the fees they spent transporting tomatoes.

The Nixes sued under the Tariff of 1883, which required taxes on imported vegetables - but not fruit. Botanically, any seed-bearing structure formed from an angiosperm's (a flowering plant's) ovary is a fruit. Since a tomato protects and contains the seeds of its host plant, the juicy sphere is technically a fruit.

The court unanimously decided that the scientific classification of a tomato doesn't change common language. Therefore, the Tariff Act intended to tax tomatoes.  The opinion of the court read: Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas. But in the common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

23^rd Dec 2014.

Gold rush ~ Gold hunt ............... California 1848 and Unnao, Uttarpradesh 2014

For ages, the yellow metal Gold has attracted mankind and there have been mad rush and explorations in finding a golden treasure.  Unnao lies in Uttar Pradesh between Kanpur and Lucknow. It is approximately 18 km from Kanpur & 60 km from Lucknow ~ and was in news during Oct 2013 !! You may wonder why these crowds !!!!!

Aayirathil Oruvan (Man in a Thousand) is a 2010 Indian Tamil fantasy-adventure film directed by Selvaraghavan starring  Karthi Sivakumar, Reemma Sen and Andrea.  The film was cast in a historic age dating 1279 AD when the successor of the last great Chola Emperor, pending invasion, sends his people to a mystery location, to survive the threat. The story resumes with an archaeologist, a coolie and a member of the army going in search of the archaeologist's father to the ruined city that was the place the exiled Chola Prince retreated to.

Centuries later, in 2009, Indian archaeologists continue searching for the existence of the lost Chola group based on clues left by the ancient Pandyan warriors.  The mystery deepens with all archaeologists who attempted to search for the secret land disappearing.    Muthu, Anitha and Lavanya getting  separated,  reach the ruins of a village where they are subjected to black magic and nearly go mad before reaching the secret hideout of the Chola. – the Cholas fighting bravely but losing eventually and taken as prisoners are not part of this post..

Way back in Jan 1848, began the California Gold Rush - when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the Gold Rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848.  The lure of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad.  Of this, approximately half arrived by sea and half came from the east overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail.  The gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (as a reference to 1849), often faced substantial hardships on the trip.  At first, the gold nuggets could be picked up off the ground. Later, gold was recovered from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning. More sophisticated methods were developed and later adopted elsewhere. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold worth tens of billions of today's dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few. However, many returned home with little more than what they had started with.

The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. San Francisco grew from a small settlement in 1846 to a boomtown by 1852.  New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service. By 1869 railroads were built across the country from California to the eastern United States. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers.  The mining caused environmental harm to rivers and lakes ~ also resulted in attacks on natives.   Once extracted, the gold itself took many paths. First, much of the gold was used locally to purchase food, supplies and lodging for the miners. It also went towards entertainment, which consisted of anything from a traveling theater to alcohol, gambling, and prostitutes.  Later, the gold left California aboard ships or mules to go to the makers of the goods from around the world.

Back in our Nation, in Oct 2013, in Sangrampur (Daundia Khera) village in the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, a local seer named Shobhan Sarkar dreamt that over 1000 tonnes of gold were buried under the ruins of an old fort of a 19^th century king, Ram Baksh Singh. Sarkar wrote to the President of India, the Ministry of Mines (India) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to consider excavation for the supposed hoard. The excavation did begin on 18^th Oct 2013.  After a few futile days, the ASI concluded that there was no gold buried and stopped excavation.   

Spurred by the sadhu's dream, the Archaeological Survey  and more others were digging the land vehemently.  There were reports of CM Akhilesh Yadav having sent an emissary to meet the sadhu — to explore whether the treasure, when found, could be used to bankroll UP's development needs and that the Sadhu  magnanimously agreed.  The search was after the alleged cache amassed by Raja Ram Baksh, before he was martyred in the 1857 war of independence against the British.  The Centre and State Governments seemed to nod in approval and stood behind the digging expecting staggering riches.

Sadly, Unnao did not turn out to be a California !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

29^th Jan 2015.

Only superhumans can study reverse ~ - something on Prodigies

‘Dr. Narendranin Vinodha Vazhakku’  ( Strange Case of Dr. Narendran) was a great story by my favourite Sujatha.  Purnam Viswanathan staged it for more than 175 times.  In the drama, the highly qualified doctor  returned from abroad stands the trial for crimes of – mercy killing, planning an abortion and hastening death of a child prodigy stricken with leukaemia.  Strange case, for the accused wishes to be pronounced guilty, even as his firebrand lawyer argues out for him.   It had Sujatha touch on ethical and humane issues.  Doogie Howser, M.D. was an American comedy-drama television series that ran for four seasons on ABC from Sept 1989 to July  1993, totalling 97 episodes. It starred  Neil Patrick Harris in the title role as a teenage physician who  faces the problems of being a normal teenager.   

There are child prodigies in real life too.  Akrit Pran Jaswal (Apr 1993) is credited to have performed his first surgery at the age of seven. A couple of years ago, 13 year old Sushma Verma became the youngest science graduate from the Lucknow University and would become  the  youngest postgraduate in the country after she completes M Sc in microbiology from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) in 2015.  Sushma outdid her elder brother Shailendra Verma’s feat of the youngest graduate.  Shailendra was 14 when he completed BCA in 2007.  Daughter of a daily wage labourer and an illiterate mother, the girl  holds the distinction of being India’s youngest matriculate at a tender age of seven, which found her a place in the Limca Book of Records.

Prodigies are rare ! ~ still – only Superman can have education  in reverse order is what Justice V Ramasubramanian pronounced recently.  Here is an interesting report from Times of India, Chennai Edition.  We follow a particular order even in the matter of wearing costumes. The only exception to this is comics' book hero Superman. People who complete educational courses in reverse order can only be compared to Superman, the Madras High court  said. “No one would have ever imagined that people may acquire a postgraduate degree first, followed by an undergraduate degree, and complete the higher secondary course to a kindergarten,“ said Justice V Ramasubramanian,  refusing to permit a law graduate to enrol and practice in courts, as he had completed his graduation course without clearing his Plus Two.

The matter relates to a petition filed by G Bappudurai, who failed in one subject in Plus Two in 1999. Without clearing Class 12, he joined a bachelor's degree course under Alagappa University's distance education programme. He obtained the BA degree in history in 2010. Thereafter, he appeared for the arrear paper in Plus Two in March 2010, and cleared it.  He later joined a three year law course in Tirunelveli Government Law College in 2010-11 and completed it in 2013. Though he was issued a provisional certificate, Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University issued a show-cause notice to him after it came to know that Bappudurai did not complete his education in the prescribed 10+2+3 format.

His counsel argued that Bappudurai fulfilled the eligibility criteria in 2010-11 for joining the three-year law degree course and that the university can't question it after issuing the provisional certificate. Rejecting the argument, Justice Ramasubramanian said, “When the expression `degree' was defined in the statutes, the law makers never imagined the kind of inventions that could happen in the field of education, entitling people to acquire all qualifications in the reverse or perverse order. At the time when the expression `degree' was defined in the statute, people would have honestly believed that a student would undertake a journey from the first standard up to the school final in a sequence and thereafter undergo the entire duration of the degree course.“

Pointing out that the petitioner had not obtained his educational certificates in normal sequence, the judge said he had not fulfilled the requirement of Rule 5 of the Rules of Legal Education, 2008, and hence not entitled to use the degree for enrolment as an advocate. However, as a consolation, Justice Ramasubramanian made it clear that his degree would not go waste, and said: “If a private employer is prepared to employ him on the basis of the law degree, I do not wish to stand in the way . But, it will not entitle him to get enrolled as an advocate.”

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

29^th Jan 2015.

Fengal ~ now remains stationery !!

 ஃபெஞ்சல்  (பெய்ஞ்சல்)  புயல் வரும் !!  .. .. .. ஆனா !?!

ஃபெஞ்சல்    பெய்ந்ததா !  ~  பொய்த்ததா ?

 

In meteorology, a cyclone  is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure. Cyclones are caused by atmospheric disturbances around a low-pressure area distinguished by swift and often destructive air circulation. Cyclones are usually accompanied by violent storms and bad weather. The air circulates inward in an anticlockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere.   They are known as typhoons in the China Sea and Pacific Ocean; hurricanes in the West Indian islands in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean; tornados in the Guinea lands of West Africa and southern USA.; willy-willies in north-western Australia and tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean.

 

Only when the wind speed touches 61 kmph (to 88 kmph) it is classified as ‘Cyclonic Storm’.   Please note that Standard Fire Policy names the peril covered as Storm, Tempest, Flood & Inundation (STFI) 

A day or so back, someone wrote - this cyclone is going to give very very heavy rains to KTCC (Chennai) to Pondy belts. Extreme caution and watch need to be there tomorrow (saturday) and chances of rains extending to Sunday also exists.  

It did rain but not anywhere near what was forecast.  According to The Hindu, Cyclone Fengal, which crossed the coast near Puducherry on Saturday (November 30, 2024) night, triggered heavy rainfall and strong winds over coastal districts in north Tamil Nadu, flooding low-lying areas and disrupting flights and EMU train services in Chennai. This is the second cyclone to develop over the Bay of Bengal this season. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) at Chennai said that the cyclone’s advance spiral bands had crossed the coast by 7 p.m. with landfall expected to take three or four hours, with wind speeds gusting up to 90 km per hour. Heavy rainfall is expected to continue through Sunday (December 1, 2024), though rain intensity depends on cloud cover. The rain left areas in central Chennai, including Korattur, Koyambedu, Virugambakkam, Nungambakkam, T. Nagar and Alwarpet, inundated.  

Chennai airport was shut down and 226 flights were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Another 20 flights due to arrive in Chennai were diverted to other airports, including as far away as Guwahati. The Airports Authority of India said the airport would remain closed till 4 a.m. on Sunday (December 1, 2024).

 

According to IMD – the Cyclonic Storm “FENGAL” [pronounced as FEINJAL] over north coastal Tamilnadu & Puducherry remained practically stationary during past 1 hour and lay centered at 0030 hrs IST of today, the 01st December 2024 over the same region near latitude 12.0°N and longitude 79.8°E, close to Puducherry, as a cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph. The cyclonic storm “FENGAL” will move west-southwestwards slowly and weaken gradually into a deep depression during the next 3 hours. The system is being continuously monitored by the Doppler Weather Radar at Chennai & Karaikal. 

The report added ‘observed rainfall from 0830 HRS IST of 30^th Nov to  0030 HRS IST of 1^st Dec  (0300-1800 UTC): -  Chennai (Meenambakkam): 11.4cm Chennai (Nungambakkam): 11.4cm

 

Regards – S Sampathkumar

1.12.2024  @  8 am.