In a much derided 1986 television interview when asked about his habits in the garden, Prince Charles replied: "I just come and talk to the plants, really - very important to talk to them, they respond." Most people thought him crazy but later on a number studies suggests talking to plants could encourage them to grow. Animals have their vets and people have their doctors, and agriculture forms the backbone of most societies thus its only righ...

SISTER Hyacinth Barden would have been very disappointed to know that Manchester United football club lost the English Premier championship. She did not live to see her team lose the championship to their noisy neighbours Manchester City on Sunday last week. She died aged 102, on May 5, nine days to the the final. "She was very fond of football. Whenever Manchester United played, she would not miss it," said Sister Sophy of Loreto Convent Sist...

Lieutenant General Mikhail Kalashnikov wrote poetry in his youth. His dream was to become a great poet. During the 2nd World War he was conscripted into the Soviet army where he was wounded in combat and sent on leave to recuperate. While lying in bed in a military hospital, Kalashnikov overheard fellow soldiers complaining that the Soviets were losing in war because their guns were rudimentary, something that already disturbed him. It was the...

Recently while at a bus station, I noticed a group of people playing the ‘pata-potea’ game and I could not help but wonder how people get sucked into this game in this day and age. Sure enough a few minutes later I saw a young woman who had been playing start to wail saying she wanted her money back. I watched as she frantically grabbed at the conmen and felt pity for her when they shoved her aside ruthlessly – the price she ...

Private security firms are exploring ways to edge out bogus operators as the business seeks a new lease of life this year. Workers however fear the Private Security Industry Regulation Bill, which promises to inject discipline in the industry, may meet its waterloo in Parliament. “Some MPs own the firms we believe are unprofessional so there are possibilities that it may compromised,” says Kenya National Private Security Workers Un...

Primeval faces of dark stone and green moss peer out from the foliage at the dense ring of trees that hover over the garden. An enormous thorn tree initiates the conversation, an undercurrent of whispers, something about the advent of a rainstorm. Before the trees conclude their chatter, heavy rain spits frantically off their leaves. A mad patter fills the air. As the chilly grey dusk gives way to nightfall, another downpour is sovereign.Waiti...

Last week the KICC host the country's first ever National Science, Technology and Innovation exhibition organised by the National council of Technology. The main objective of the exhibition was to improve the understanding of the existing challenges and opportunities in national innovation systems and knowledge-based economic management systems. In particular, emphasis was on the review and analysis of the policy environmen...

Early this year, a section of medical practitioners converged at the Safari Park Hotel for the 36th annual scientific conference and urged the government to review laws to pave the way for safe abortion. During the conference, the sensational debate on when life begins was revisited. Currently abortion is illegal  although some provisions in the new constitution allow medics to conduct the procedure in the event that a pregn...