Suntans and the wonder umbrella

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">LUCKNOW: Worried about the harmful effect of ultraviolet rays or tanning under blazing heat of the sun? Forget the expensive sun blocks and fairness concoctions and take shelter under the ''Beauty Care Umbrella''.<br /><br />Even tanning enthusiasts who simply love to soak up the sun need to realise that a sun tan is essentially symptomatic of injury to the skin, which protects itself using an in built defence mechanism by producing a pigment called melanin.It has been estimated that 90 per cent of skin cancers occur on skin areas that are exposed to the sun and most of the damage is done before the age of 18 when children love to play outside without any protection.<br /><br />The beauty care umbrella is no ordinary umbrella but a parasol for those with a taste for the unconventional and exotic. It is made from a patented variety of soft <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">moonga</span> silk which, unlike the umbrellas available in the market, forms a protective shield against the harmful rays of the sun. In fact, this essential summer sizzler protects the user from UV radiation up to 85 per cent, thereby effectively guarding the skin against sun burns and tanning.<br /><br />Dr PK Srivastava, from Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), said that on a recent visit to the Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN NE) at IIT Guwahati (Assam), he was pleasantly surprised to see that GIAN was working at documenting tribal innovations that have great commercial potential and also safeguarding local arts from being patented by unscrupulous entrepreneurs.<br /><br />"Products that offer protection from UV rays and free radicals that lead to aging, blotching and wrinkling of the skin is a big industry. This beauty care umbrella has been developed by Dulal Chowdhary, who left his full-time job as a mechanical engineer to devote his time to development of the moonga silk technology," he said.<br /><br />GIAN NE is mediating for the technology transfer agreement and thereby promoting indigenous innovative endeavours like these, including an ecologically friendly bicycle made entirely with bamboo. Srivastava added that in the international market such a product has great commercial potential as white skinned people unlike people of African and Asian origin are more susceptible to skin cancers and the number of patients have been escalating sharply. One estimate suggests that one million US citizens are projected to be diagnosed with skin cancer this year.</div> </div>