Chilli to Beat the Siachen Chill

Indian soldiers on the icy heights of Siachen will get a new weapon to combat the cold—a chilli

Indian soldiers on the icy heights of Siachen will get a new weapon to combat the cold—a chilli from Northeastern India. The world’s hottest chilli is known as Bhut Jolokia (Assamese for a chilli that makes one see ghosts) and Tezpur chilli (after the Defence Research Laboratory at Tezpur in Assam where it was tested on the Scoville scale, which measures how hot a chilli is). Defence Research and Development Organisation’s RB Srivastava has said the chilli, which raises body temperature, will be included as a food additive. The Defence Research Laboratory at Gwalior is also working on using the chilli to keep away wild elephants. And the Gwalior laboratory is working on using chilli powder inside non-lethal hand grenades to control mobs.

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Jaideep Mazumdar