Health
Looking for a way to release some stress? Stop popping pills and let nature work its magic. According to a recent research, taking at least twenty minutes out of your day to stroll or sit in a place that makes you feel in contact with nature will significantly lower your stress hormone levels.
“We know that spending time in nature reduces stress, but until now it was unclear how much is enough, how often to do it, or even what kind of nature experience will benefit us. Our study shows that for the greatest payoff, in terms of efficiently lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol, you should spend 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking in a place that provides you with a sense of nature,” said MaryCarol Hunter, lead author of the research published in the Journal of Frontiers in Psychology.
These regular pills of nature could be a low-cost solution to reduce the negative health impacts stemming from growing urbanisation and indoor lifestyles dominated by screen viewing.
To assist healthcare practitioners looking for evidence-based guidelines on what exactly to dispense, Hunter and her colleagues designed an experiment that would give a realistic estimate of an effective dose.
Over an 8-week period, participants were asked to take a nature pill with duration of 10 minutes or more for at least 3 times a week. Levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, were measured from saliva samples taken before and after a nature pill, once every two weeks.
“Participants were free to choose the time of day, duration, and the place of their nature experience, which was defined as anywhere outside that in the opinion of the participant, made them feel like they’ve interacted with nature.
There were a few constraints to minimise factors known to influence stress: take the nature pill in daylight, no aerobic exercise, and avoid the use of social media, internet, phone calls, conversations and reading,” Hunter explains.
According to her, building personal flexibility into the experiment, allowed us to identify the optimal duration of a nature pill, no matter when or where it is taken, and under the normal circumstances of modern life, with its unpredictability and hectic scheduling.
“We accommodated day to day differences in a participant’s stress status by collecting four snapshots of cortisol change due to a nature pill. It also allowed us to identify and account for the impact of the ongoing, natural drop in cortisol level as the day goes on, making the estimate of effective duration more reliable,” said Hunter.
The data revealed that just a twenty-minute nature experience was enough to significantly reduce cortisol levels. But if you spent a little more time immersed in a nature experience, 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking, cortisol levels dropped at their greatest rate. After that, additional de-stressing benefits continue to add up but at a slower rate.
“Healthcare practitioners can use our results as an evidence-based rule of thumb on what to put in a nature-pill prescription. It provides the first estimates of how nature experiences impact stress levels in the context of normal daily life. It breaks new ground by addressing some of the complexities of measuring an effective nature does,” said Hunter.
Travel
The abdication of Japan’s outgoing Emperor Akihito and the enthronement of his son Naruhito will be solemn, ritual-bound affairs complete with sumptuous clothing and sacred paraphernalia.
Here are some of the key elements of the garb and gear that will be seen during the enthronement of the new emperor and subsequent key succession events.
The New Emperor’s Clothes
For his enthronement, the new emperor will wear an outfit in the “sokutai” or ceremonial style. The outfit is now rarely seen and is dominated by a voluminous draped brown-gold outer robe with long, wide sleeves and a cinched waist. Only the emperor wears this colour, with other royals sporting black, red, blue or other colours depending on their rank.
Royal attire often includes motifs of birds, as they were considered divine envoys in ancient times and the emperor’s outer garment is decorated with a mythological Chinese phoenix, believed to symbolise the arrival of peace. During the ceremony, the emperor and other male royals will carry a “shaku” or sceptre – a narrow plain wooden plate not unlike a large shoehorn.
In the past, royals would sometimes attach “cheat sheets” to the back of the shaku to help guide them through complex rituals, and it can also be an indicator of their attentiveness. “It would be obvious to people around you if your mind is wandering or disorderly because the shaku would start to slant to the side,” said Tomitaro Hashimoto, assistant professor of Shinto studies at Reitaku University.
But the crowning glory of the emperor’s outfit is the kanmuri hat, which consists of a simple flat black base and a towering black tail at the back that extends upright 60 centimetres (about 24 inches).
Fit for an Empress
Incoming empress Masako will wear an elaborate outfit commonly known as ‘junihitoe’ or many-layered robe. “The outfits called ‘sokutai’ (for men) and ‘junihitoe’ (for women) date back to the Heian Era,” regarded as a golden period in Japanese culture, said Keizo Suzuki, head of a kimono museum on the outskirts of Tokyo.
There is no set rule on the number of layers, though outgoing Empress Michiko wore nine robes during her husband’s enthronement. Masako is likely to choose her own colours but similar motifs to those donned by Michiko in 1989.
Michiko’s outfit was dominated by a rich red robe, its sleeves and bottom visible underneath multiple layers of varying lengths, topped by a cream overcoat with light purple lapels and patterning.
Masako’s hair will be sculpted into a style that sweeps up and out to the sides with a long ponytail extending from the back and a large golden hairpiece pinned above her forehead. The elaborate traditional outfit, which can be hard to walk in because of its weight, is rarely seen outside imperial rituals and weddings.
The Sacred Treasures
A key ritual in the enthronement process is the handover of the “three sacred treasures” – imperial regalia said to date back more than a millennium and have been bequeathed to the imperial line by the sun goddess Amaterasu.
The treasures are the ‘Yata no Kagami’, a mirror, ‘Kusanagi no Tsurugi’, a sword, and the ‘Yasakani no Magatama’, an unspecified jewel. The possession of the “three sacred treasures” is considered crucial evidence of an emperor’s legitimacy, but there are no photos and even the emperor cannot see them.
“We do not know exactly what they are like,” said Eiichi Miyashiro, a senior journalist at the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and royal expert. The treasures will be passed over in a ceremony held on May 1, which the new emperor attends in Western-style clothes and is off-limits for female royals.
During the ceremony, a replica sword and the original jewel will be handed over, wrapped in cloth. Both are kept at the palace, along with a replica mirror not used in the ceremony.
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India is one of the highest taxing nations in the world, US President Donald Trump has alleged as he again slammed the country for imposing 100 per cent tariffs on American products, including the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Such a high tariff is not fair, Trump said Tuesday during National Republican Congressional Committee Annual Spring Dinner here. Early this year, at a White House event to announce his support for reciprocal tax, Trump had said he was satisfied with the Indian decision to reduce the import tariff on Harley-Davidson motorcycles from 100 per cent to 50 per cent. “Even this is not enough, this is okay,” he said at that time.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that India is a “tariff king” and imposes “tremendously high” tariffs on American products. “I got a call from Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi of India. They’re one of the highest taxing nations in the world. They taxed us 100 per cent,” Trump said reiterating his often-heard remarks on Indian tariff structure. “They charge us 100 per cent tariffs on goods. So they send a motorcycle–and they make a lot of them–Indian cycles. They send them to our country, we charge them nothing. We send a Harley Davidson to India and they charge us 100 per cent. Not fair, okay. Not reciprocal. It’s not fair,” Trump said.
During his address to the National Republican Congressional Committee Annual Spring Dinner, Trump explained how his trade policies are successfully addressing the balance of trade issue with other countries. Trade talks with China are going on very well, he said. The world’s two largest economies are locked in a trade war since Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items from China in March last year, a move that sparked fears of a global trade war.
Trump imposed tariff hikes of up to 25 per cent on USD 250 billion of Chinese goods. In response, China, the world’s second largest economy after the US, imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on USD 110 billion of American goods. Top trade officials from America and China are holding talks to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal. “I think we’re doing very well. They need the deal more than we do. They need the deal. And they getting hurt badly with they’re paying 25 per cent on USD 50 billion worth of technology stuff and they were going to pay 25 per cent on another USD 200 billion,” he said.
Trump said his administration is fixing broken trade deals to protect the American workers. “We are standing up to China’s chronic trading abuses and theft of intellectual properties and so many other things that they’ve done to us,” he said. “I don’t know how you people allowed this to happen for so many years. You’ve been here longer than me. But they really have, they’ve taken advantage of our country. And you know what? I respect them for it. I say it. We should have been doing that to them,” he said. Trump described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a king. “I was in China making a speech,” Trump recounted. “President Xi, who is a strong man, I call him ‘king.’ He said, ‘But I am not king, I am president’. I said, ‘No, you are president for life, and therefore you are king.’ He said, ‘Huh. Huh.’ He liked that. I call him ‘king.’ I get along with him great,” he said. “So I call him King. I get along with them great. But I was really hitting him hard about how they’ve hurt our country. And I had 5,000 Chinese people, I’m China, I’m in Beijing doing this, can you believe it? And I’m looking down, he’s getting angrier and angrier. And then I saved it. I said, “You know, I don’t blame you. I blame the leaders of our country for allowing it to happen.” And it’s really true. We should never have allowed that to happen,” Trump said.
News
European Council President Donald Tusk is proposing to make an offer of a 12-month “flexible” extension to the UK’s Brexit date, the BBC reported on Friday, citing a senior European Union source.
The plan would let UK leave sooner if the British parliament ratifies a deal but will need to be agreed by EU leaders next week at a summit, the BBC said.
After her EU withdrawal deal was rejected three times by lawmakers, British Prime Minister Theresa May invited opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for talks in parliament to try to plot a way out of the crisis.
May said earlier this week she would seek a delay that is “as short as possible” to the current Brexit date of April 12.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told BBC that if the talks between UK’s Conservative and Labour parties fail, the delay is “likely to be a long one”.
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Addressing an election rally in Arunachal on Friday, BJP president Amit Shah said PM Modi had instructed ministers to visit northeast every fortnight to resolve problems in the region.
Praising the BJP government, Shah said, “Five years ago, northeast was disturbed and there was hardly any development. After five years, BJP brought peace in the region and is on path of development.”
He said all parts of the region are now connected with airways and railways and government gave Rs 50,000 crore for the development of roads of the state.
“Arunachal Pradesh earned Rs 927 crore revenue and the credit goes to Prema Khandu ji. It’s going to make this state financially independent,” Shah added.
With elections round the corner, Shah said for the first time BJP is contesting all Assembly seats in Arunachal. “Our winning streak began when 3 BJP MLAs were elected uncontested,” he added.
