MAY 2016: 15-30 (FORTNIGHTLY)
(15 -30) MAY 2016 (पाक्षिक)
GREEN
FEATURES
- जलवायु संकट,
पारिस्थिकी
-
प्रदूषण
- आदिवासी विमर्श
- कृषि और किसानी
- जल दर्शन
- देशज ज्ञान और स्वास्थ्य
- विविध
GOAL: 15 (SDGs)
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial
ecosystems, sustainably manage forests,
combat desertification, and
halt and
reverse land degradation and
halt biodiversity loss
******************
विषयवस्तु
|
जलवायु संकट:
·
40 million Indians at risk from rising sea levels: UN report
· सागर की सतह बढ़ी तो आ जाएगी आफत
·
बोतल बंद पानी का विकल्प
·
Action Plans fail to see through the smog
·
UNEP
releases landmark report at UN Environment Assembly
·
UN
Environment Assembly Kicks Off In Nairobi to Drive Environmental Progress on
Sustainable Development
·
बदलते पर्यावरण से उत्तराखंड मे गोरैया खतरे मे
·
शहरी नियोजन की बुनियाद
·
As the planet scorches
·
Peru declares mining-related emergency in remote part of Amazon
प्रदूषण:
·
Thermal power plants leading to spike in SO2, NO2: study
जल दर्शन:
·
सूखे तालाब को फिर से किया जीवित
(अनुपम मिश्र की पुस्तक “आज भी खरे है तालब” से)
·
मैदानगढ़ी मे गाव वालो ने की तालब
की सफाई (अनुपम मिश्र की पुस्तक “आज भी खरे है तालब” से)
·
विधायक ने लिया शमसी तालब की सफाई
केए संकल्प (अनुपम मिश्र की पुस्तक “आज भी खरे है तालब” से)
देशज ज्ञान और स्वस्थ:
·
Adilabad artisans await online marketing support
विविध
·
Largest gene database of Indians soon
·
Potassium bromate in same cancer class as coffee
*****
जलवायु संकट
|
40 million Indians at risk from
rising sea levels: UN report
May 21, 2016; The
Hindu
The
worst impacts of climate change are projected to occur in the Pacific and South
and South-East Asia.
In 2011,
six of the ten countries most vulnerable to climate change worldwide were in
Asia and the Pacific.
Nearly 40 million Indians will be at
risk from rising sea levels by 2050, with people in Mumbai and Kolkata having
the maximum exposure to coastal flooding in future due to rapid urbanisation
and economic growth, according to a UN environment report.
The ‘Global Environmental Outlook
(GEO-6): Regional Assessments’ said the worst impacts of climate change are
projected to occur in the Pacific and South and South-East Asia.
It said focussing on the population at
risk from sea-level rise by 2050, seven of the 10 most vulnerable countries
worldwide are in the Asia Pacific region.
India tops chart
India tops the chart with nearly 40 million people in the country projected to be at risk from rising sea levels, followed by more than 25 million in Bangladesh, over 20 million in China and nearly 15 million in the Philippines.
India tops the chart with nearly 40 million people in the country projected to be at risk from rising sea levels, followed by more than 25 million in Bangladesh, over 20 million in China and nearly 15 million in the Philippines.
It said changes in settlement
patterns, urbanisation and socio-economic status in Asia have influenced observed
trends in vulnerability and exposure to climate extremes.
The report said in many coastal areas,
growing urban settlements have also affected the ability of natural coastal
systems to respond effectively to extreme climate events, rendering them more
vulnerable.
“Some countries, such as China, India
and Thailand, are projected to face increased future exposure to extremes,
especially in highly urbanised areas, as a result of rapid urbanisation and
economic growth,” it said.
It listed Mumbai and Kolkata in India,
Guangzhou and Shanghai in China, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Yangon in Myanmar,
Bangkok in Thailand, and Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong in Vietnam as projected
to have the largest population exposure to coastal flooding in 2070.
“Many of these cities are already
exposed to coastal flooding, but have limited capacity to adapt due to their
fixed location,” it said.
The report, published ahead of the UN
Environment Assembly taking place in Nairobi next week, said the worst impacts
of climate change are projected to occur in the Pacific and South and Southeast
Asia.
In 2011, six of the ten countries most
vulnerable to climate change worldwide were in Asia and the Pacific.
The report said livelihoods can be impacted negatively by natural
disasters, economic crises and climate change.
On coastal areas highly exposed to cyclones and typhoons, the
poor tend to be more exposed to natural disasters because they live on land
open to hazards.
Combined impact
Evidence suggests that climate change and climate variability and sea-level rise will exacerbate multi-dimensional poverty in most developing countries.
Evidence suggests that climate change and climate variability and sea-level rise will exacerbate multi-dimensional poverty in most developing countries.
By 2050, areas of storm surge zones are expected for Bangladesh,
China, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with a combined total of over 58
million people at risk.
The UN report further said global urban populations are projected
to increase by 2.5 billion by 2050, with nearly 90 per cent of the increase in
Asia and Africa.
Action Plans fail to see through the smog
May 22, 2016, THE HINDU
Earlier
this month, the Delhi government was pulled up by the NGT for ignoring
pollution from dust and garbage burning while mostly focussing on vehicular
emissions, Independent studies have also stressed on a holistic efforts.
Delhiites have been breathing toxic
air for years now. The annual concentration of the deadly PM2.5, which is
particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, is more than twice the
safe level. While the government does recognise the problem and action plans
have been created, is it enough?
'Don't focus on one thing'
An analysis of the pollution control
action plans shows that the Centre and the Delhi Government have focused their
attention on vehicular pollution. Last week, the National Green Tribunal (NGT)
raised a similar concern. “Why do not you [Delhi government] emphasise on the
issues of dust and waste burning in a way you have emphasised on Odd-Even,” it
asked.
The NGT was right. The much talked
about Odd-Even scheme was aimed at halving the toxic emissions from cars, which
are estimated to emit 2 per cent of Delhi’s air pollution, as per a source
apportionment study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur.
Other culprits
But other sources which contribute a
similar proportion – solid waste burning (3 per cent), hotel and restaurants (3
per cent), construction and demolition waste (2 per cent) and diesel generator
sets (2 per cent) – have got far less attention or none at all.
“The kind of awareness that was
created about pollution from transportation during the Odd-Even initiative
should be created for all other sources. People don’t see industries and power
plants every day, so it is easy to gloss over. But, they are a major source,”
said Sunil Dahiya, a campaigner with Greenpeace.
“Instead of targeting smaller
sources, the government should address industrial and thermal power plants
across the National Capital Region. This will lead to a dip in pollution,” said
Mr. Dahiya.
Priority concerns
But, vehicles do deserve the
attention they are getting. Vehicular emissions, contributing to 20 per cent of
particulate matter, are one of the most consistent sources of pollution
throughout the year, as per the IIT-Kanpur report. The Odd-Even scheme happens
to be just one of the many steps.
Vehicular emissions don’t just add
to the overall pollutant concentration (ambient air quality), but lead to
direct exposure that is even more crucial from a health perspective. And,
according to a Union Health Ministry report in August 2015, “the highest
immediate priority has to be accorded to sources that lead to the greatest
levels of exposure and adverse health impacts”.
But, little has been done for two
other sources that also lead to direct exposure – domestic cooking and solid
waste burning.
Garbage burning, chulhas
Anumita Roychowdhury, the head of
the Centre for Science and Environment’s clear air programme, said that though
there was an NGT-ordered ban on burning of leaves and garbage, and a Rs.5,000
fine it wasn’t enough.
“The enforcement can’t be just
symptomatic. There is a need for strengthening the waste management system.
Civic bodies need to scale up efforts to compost, recycle, segregate and
process waste,” she said.
Domestic cooking, which contributes
to 12 per cent of particulate matter in the city, finds no place in the
government’s action plan. Though the city has been declared ‘kerosene-free’, 10
per cent of households still burn wood, crop residue, cow dung, and coal for
cooking.
“An energy transition plan should be
in place. LPG connections were given to only those with legal status, leaving
out residents of slums and unauthorised colonies,” said Ms. Roychowdhury.
As for MSW, a study by Nagpure et al
found that 2 to 3 per cent of all garbage generated is burnt every day, mostly
in winters for heating and in low-income areas that lack proper solid waste
management. Though Delhi has started working on the solution, that is
waste-to-energy plants, there have been hitches. Three WTE plants were planned,
two are functional, and one, at Okhla, faced locals’ criticism for allegedly
polluting.
The government’s plan seems to given
concrete batching plants and hotels and restaurants, which together account for
9 per cent of pollutants, a miss.
Small steps
But, steps are being taken to rein
in dust pollution, which is 38 per cent of the total. The Delhi government has
started vacuum cleaning of roads owned by the Public Works Department. Also the
government inspects construction projects and fines defaulters in order to
control dust.
The pollution sources show that
controlling emission is not a standalone problem, but interlinked with other
urban issues. Access to clean energy for cooking, regular power supply, better
solid waste management, and enhanced public transport will help reduce pollution,
and improve quality of life.
23 May 2016
UNEP
releases landmark report at UN Environment Assembly
Environmental impacts are responsible for nearly 25 per cent of all
deaths and there is an urgent need to place environmental issues at the centre
of efforts to improve human health, according to a new study published by the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).The danger posed by air pollution, chemicals, microplastics, zoonotic diseases and other environmental threats to human health have been revealed in a series of reports released at second United Nations Environment Assembly.
The reports show that environmental degradation and pollution is estimated to cause up to 234 times as many premature deaths as occur in conflicts annually.
The findings highlight the importance of a healthy environment to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The report states that environmental impacts are responsible for the deaths of more than 25 per cent of all children under the age of five.
Healthy Environment, Healthy People - published by UNEP, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, and the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions - assesses at the dangers posed by air pollution, chemicals, climate change and other issues linking environmental quality to human health and well-being.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said: "By depleting the ecological infrastructure of our planet and increasing our pollution footprint, we incur an ever-growing cost in terms of human health and well-being. From air pollution and chemical exposure to the mining of our natural resource base, we have compromised our life support systems.”
Mr Steiner (pictured) added: "A healthier planet is a rising tide that lifts all boats, including human health, but also economies and societies. By grounding development and progress in environmental health, we safeguard our own well-being. At UNEA-2, the world is focusing on pathways to ensure that the environment sustains human health rather than threatening it."
The report saysthat in 2012, an estimated 12.6 million deaths were caused by deteriorating environment conditions, or 23 per cent of the total.
The highest proportion of deaths attributed to environmental causes occurs in South-East Asia and in the Western Pacific (28 per cent and 27 per cent of the total respectively).
The number of deaths attributable to the environment is 23 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, 22 per cent in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 11 per cent and 15 per cent in the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries of the Americas region, and 15 per cent in Europe.
The report outlines the drivers of the environmental health-related impacts - including ecosystem disruption, climate change, inequality, unplanned urbanization, unhealthy and wasteful lifestyles and unsustainable consumption and production patterns.
Climate change is exacerbating environment-related health risks and estimates from WHO indicate that 250,000 additional deaths could occur each year between 2030 and 2050, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress, as a result of climate change.
The report suggest that air pollution kills 7 million people across the world annually, with 4.3 million of those deaths caused by household air pollution.
A lack of access to clean water and sanitation results in 842,000 deatsh from diarrhoeal diseases every year, 97 per cent occurring in developing countries.
The study shows that exposure to chemicals is another killer with about 107,000 people dying annually from exposure to asbestos, and 654,000 died from exposure to lead in 2010.
The report says that since 1995, 606,000 deaths have been caused by natural disasters and 4.1 billion people have been injured, left homeless or in need of emergency assistance as a result of weather-related disasters.
According to the new resear4ch, the successful phase-out of nearly 100 ozone-depleting substances (ODS) means that up to 2 million cases of skin cancer and many millions of eye cataracts may be prevented each year by 2030.
Benefits from eliminating lead in gasoline worldwide have been estimated at $2.45 trillion per year, saving an estimated 1 million premature deaths per year.
Implementing effective measures to curb emissions of short-lived climate pollutants including black carbon and methane could reduce global warming by 0.5°C by the middle of the century, and save 2.4 million lives a year from reduced air pollution by 2030.
Link:http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/unep_releases_landmark_report_at_un_environment_assembly
UN Environment Assembly Kicks Off In
Nairobi to Drive Environmental Progress on Sustainable Development
Mon, May 23, 2016
Parliament for the Environment Gets
Underway as High Level Officials Gather to Combat Some of the Most Pressing
Problems of the Day .
Nairobi, 23 May 2016 - Hundreds of key decision-makers from all over the world
meet in Kenya today for start of the second United Nations Environment Assembly
(UNEA-2), where they will tackle some of the most critical issues of our time,
from the air pollution that kills millions of people every year to an illegal
trade in wildlife that is pushing species to the brink of extinction.
Held at the headquarters of the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, UNEA is the world's
most powerful decision-making body on the environment. This year, leaders will
seek to pass a raft of resolutions that address a number of the world's most
pressing challenges, including food waste, the fading health of our oceans, the
world's natural capital, and sustainable consumption and production.
A series of ground-breaking UNEP
reports that shine a light on the state of the world's environment will also be
released during the assembly, offering solutions that will help the world
overcome these challenges.
UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP
Executive Director Achim Steiner said: "The world must seize this
opportunity - the first global decision-making platform since the 2030 Agenda
and Paris Agreement - to review and accelerate progress towards a greener,
better future for all.
"UNEA provides the world with a
chance to unite in a common struggle against the forces of hunger, poverty,
climate change and environmental damage. We must use UNEA-2 to show we can move
fast enough and hard enough to create a healthy planet, with healthy people,
which leaves no one behind."
More than one thousand delegates
from across the world - from governments, businesses and civil society - will
attend UNEA-2. Among those attending the assembly are Kenyan President Uhuru
Kenyatta, Iran's vice president, Ireland's Former President Mary Robinson, the
director-general of the World Wildlife Fund, the political director of
Greenpeace, the CEO of Kiira Motors and government ministers from across the
globe, including French Ecology Minister Ségolène Royal.
All 193 UN member states, along with
major stakeholders, are represented at UNEA-2, which convenes from 23-27 May
2016. With this wide reach into the legislative, financial and development
arenas, the body presents a ground-breaking platform for leadership on global
environmental policy.
For many, the creation of UNEA
represents the coming of age of the environment. Since UNEP's inception in
1972, the environment has moved from the margins to the centre of the world's
sustainable development agenda.
This transition was affirmed at the
historic United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June
2012, when world leaders called for UNEP to be strengthened and upgraded. The
result was a new governing body, UNEA, which - for the first time - gives the
environment the same level of global prominence as issues such as peace,
poverty, health, security, finance and trade.
About UNEA
The United Nations Environment
Assembly (UNEA) is the world's most powerful decision-making body on the
environment, and responsible for tackling some of the most critical issues of
our time. The assembly holds the power to dramatically change the fate of the
planet and improve the lives of everyone, impacting everything from health to
national security, from the plastic in our oceans to the trafficking of
wildlife. Thanks to UNEA, the environment is now considered one of the world's
most pressing concerns alongside other major global issues such as peace,
security, finance and health.
This year, hundreds of key decision
makers, businesses and representatives of intergovernmental organizations and
civil society will in May gather at UNEA-2, taking place at the United Nations
Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi, for one of the first major
meetings since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and
the Paris Climate Agreement. The resolutions passed at UNEA-2 will set the
stage for early action on implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and drive the
world towards a better future, more-just future. UNEA-2 is also inclusive, with
myunea.org allowing
citizens to feed their concerns into the meeting and take personal ownership of
the collective challenges we face.
Link:http://www.unep.org/newscentre/default.aspx?DocumentID=27074&ArticleID=36187#sthash.hpfz1aX1.dpuf
As the planet scorches
May 25, 2016; The Hindu
Study
suggests that using up all fossil fuels would make the Earth even more
unliveable
Using up all known fossil fuel
reserves would render Earth even more unliveable than scientists had previously
projected, researchers said on Monday.
Average temperatures would climb by
up to 9.5 degrees Celsius — five times the cap on global warming set at climate
talks in Paris in December, they reported.
In the Arctic region — already
heating at more than double the global average — the thermometer would rise an
unimaginable 15 C to 20 C. Most of the UN climate science panel's projections
for greenhouse gas emissions do not forecast beyond two trillion tonnes of
carbon, more than enough to unleash a crippling maelstrom of rising seas,
drought, heat waves and floods.
Indeed, to have a better-than-even
chance of holding global warming at 2 C, the total carbon budget is about one
trillion tonnes, the UN has said.
But extreme modelling scenarios
cannot and should not be ignored, said lead author of the study.
There was still no guarantee that
the 195 nations which forged the Paris Agreement will deliver on their
collective pledge to hold global warming to under 2 C (3.6 F) by cutting back
on fossil fuels.
Negotiators reconvened in Bonn this
week to start turning the landmark political deal into an operational plan, but
have found themselves bogged down in procedural discussions.
"Policymakers need to have a
clear view of what is at stake... if no meaningful climate policies are put in
place," said Thomas Frolicher, an expert on environmental physics at the
science and technology university ETH Zurich, said.
Previous research had projected that
Earth's temperature rise would slow down once the level of two trillion tonnes
is reached — beyond that threshold, the impact of additional carbon diminishes.
Using up-to-date climate models,
however, Tokarska and colleagues showed that much of this work had
over-estimated the oceans' capacity to absorb the CO2 humans pumped into the
air, along with the additional heat it generates.
"The ocean takes up heat more
slowly under those conditions," offsetting the slowdown in temperature
rise, she explained by email.
Older models had projected that
depleting fossil fuel reserves entirely would heat the planet by 4.3 C to 8.4
C. The new study revises this to between 6.4 C and 9.5 C.
Even if humanity manages to
drastically curb its use of oil, gas and coal, Nature could add massive amounts
of greenhouse gases all by itself, scientists warn.
Hundreds of billions of tonnes of
carbon, mostly in the form of methane, are locked in the increasingly misnamed
permafrost of the sub-Arctic region. Beyond a certain threshold — and no one
knows what that is — global warming could irretrievably unlock these methane
reserves.AFP
Peru declares mining-related emergency in remote part
of Amazon
The Hindu tiled “Mercury pollution leads to
emergency” (25 May 2016)
LIMA May 23 (Reuters) - Peruvian
President Ollanta Humala has declared a 60-day emergency in a remote part of
the Amazon to curb high levels of mercury poisoning from rampant illegal gold
mining, the country's environment minister said on Monday.A growing number of studies show that residents of the Madre de Dios region near Peru's southeastern border with Brazil have dangerous levels of mercury in their bodies, Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said in announcing the move.
Tens of thousands of illegal miners who dredge for gold in the rivers and wetlands of Madre de Dios use mercury to separate ore from rock, often handling the neurotoxin with their bare hands and inhaling its fumes when it is burned off.
The miners dump about 40 tonnes of mercury into Amazonian rivers per year and have destroyed more than 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres) of rainforest in Madre de Dios, according to the environment ministry.
"Forty-one percent of the population of Madre de Dios is exposed to mercury pollution," Pulgar-Vidal said in a news conference.
Indigenous and rural communities are particularly vulnerable because they rely heavily on river fish for protein, the minister added.
As part of its emergency declaration, the government plans to provide uncontaminated fish to residents in Madre de Dios. It also intends to set up mobile health clinics and monitoring centers and implement educational campaigns, Pulgar-Vidal said.
Humala, who will leave office when his five-year term ends on July 28, launched a crackdown on wildcat gold mining in Madre de Dios in 2012, but miners have continued to expand into nature and indigenous reserves. (Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Paul Simao)
Pollution
|
Thermal power plants leading to spike in SO2, NO2:
study
The
govt. notified norms for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions in
December 2015, but these have not been implemented, says expert
Clusters of thermal power plants in
Northern India were the sources of growth in emissions of highly toxic and
reactive gases in the past few years, a report released here on Monday found.
The report titled “Out of Sight: How
coal burning advances India’s air pollution crisis” by Greenpeace India used
satellite imagery from 2009 to 2015 to find that areas that had thermal power
plants in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli, Chhattisgarh’s Korba and Raigarh,
Odisha’s Angul, Maharashtra’s Chandrapur, Gujarat’s Mundra and the National
Capital Region were behind the growth in emissions of sulphur dioxide and
nitrogen dioxide.
Rise in emissions
As per the report, emissions of the toxic sulphur dioxide gas
increased by 31 per cent from 2009 to 2015.
The emissions of nitrogen dioxide, which is highly reactive,
increased by 20 per cent during the same period.
Both these gases react in the air to form secondary particles,
which account for a major chunk of Delhi’s pollution.
The Greenpeace report showed that the concentration of fine
particulate matter (PM2.5) rose by 13 per cent in the past five years.
Sunil Dahiya, one of the authors of the report and a campaigner
with Greenpeace, said that many studies had earlier found that 30 to 34 per
cent of the total PM2.5 concentration in the country was due to secondary
particles.
“Most of these secondary particles are formed from burning of
fossil fuels, like in thermal power plant. It is no coincidence that the hot
spots of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide overlap with the areas with
highest coal consumption,” said Mr. Dahiya.
In Delhi, Mr. Dahiya said that though the power generation was
limited, emission from thermal plants in the National Capital Region was
affecting air quality in the city.
‘Clear link’
In fact, a recent report by IIT-Kanpur had said that a plan to
reduce pollution in Delhi must include a radius of 300 kilometres around the
Capital.
“We have established a clear link between thermal power plants
and rise in pollution in the region. There is an urgent need to get emissions
from these plants under control,” said Mr. Dahiya.
Emission norms
The government had notified norms for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen
dioxide emissions in December 2015, but these have not been implemented till
now, said Mr. Dahiya.
He added that these norms should be in place within two years
from the notification to have an impact on air quality.
As per the report, emi 31 per cent from 2009 to 2015
जल दर्शन
|
Link:http://epaper.jagran.com/epaperimages/23052016/delhi/22del-pg19-0.pdf
City Jagaran; dated 23 May 2016
Source: http://epaper.jagran.com/epaper/26-may-2016-4-Delhi-City-Page-1.html#
Source: http://epaper.jagran.com/epaper/25-may-2016-4-Delhi-City-Page-1.html
देशज ज्ञान और स्वस्थ
|
Adilabad artisans await online marketing support
May 21, 2016 the hindu
Traditional
brass artefacts made by tribal Ojha craftsmen of Adilabad district.Photo: S.
Harpal Singh
Craftsmen
say buyers find location a handicap but they can't leave traditional markets.
The
absence of Adilabad’s traditional handicrafts in lucrative urban markets is an
aberration to the reputation enjoyed by the Dhokra metal artefacts and softwood
Nirmal Toys made by the poor Ojha and Naqash craftsmen.
The one way of bridging the gap
between the traditional craft and urban markets is to sell the products online,
which will also substantially increase the artisans’ income.
Earlier initiatives failed
Not
that there has been no effort towards such an enterprise. But a couple of
initiatives made last year to sell Nirmal toys online came a cropper. Also, the
Telangana government’s announcement of facilitating online marketing of the
softwood toys is yet to materialise.
A
non-governmental organisation developed a website for the online sale of the
toys but it could not become operative as the Naqash craftsmen found packaging
the products difficult. The Department of Posts too came forward to sell the
toys through its network, but for some reason it did not see the light of day
either.
“Purchasing
cartons for packing the toys was expensive,” said Nirmal Toys and Arts Industrial
Cooperative Society Manager B.R. Shankar.
Metal casting
For
the Ojha craftsmen of Jainoor, Kerameri and Tamsi mandals, who have
traditionally been making artefacts used by the Gond Adivasis in agriculture
and religious activities, there has been no such effort. The community has,
however, been benefiting from several workshops aimed at design development in
their brass metal casting craft.
“We
will certainly benefit from any support towards online marketing of our
products as buyers find it tough to reach our remote villages. Our location is
a handicap but we cannot leave our traditional markets,” said Uike Indrajeet,
Ojha craftsman from Belsari Rampur in Tamsi mandal.
The
Ojhas will not find it difficult to handle online marketing as it has a few
youths educated sufficiently to package and ship the products. The website,
however, needs to be developed by experts.
विविध
|
Potassium bromate in same cancer class as coffee
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/carcinogen-in-bread-potassium-bromate-in-same-cancer-class-as-coffee/article8642121.ece
Less
toxic than processed and red meat.
Potassium bromate, the chemical
additive widely prevalent in bread and refined flour and associated with
cancer, is in the same league as coffee, aloe vera, mobile phone radiation and
carbon black, a key ingredient in eye-liner.
It also is less toxic than processed
and red meat, according to a perusal by The Hindu of the list of agents
deemed potentially cancerous by the International Agency For Research on Cancer
(IARC) — a World Health Organisation body.
The intergovernmental agency’s
periodic reviews play a critical role in determining national decisions to ban
or regulate the use of certain substances and often make news when it
pronounces judgment on the carcinogenic potential of agents such as coffee and
the use of wifi.
Ubiquitous in bread
Potassium bromate, according to an
investigation made public on Monday by the Centre for Science and Environment,
was ubiquitous in several brands of bread and refined flour products including
burgers and pizza, in Delhi.
The CSE referenced the IARC’s classification
of potassium bromate to bolster its claim.
In its nearly four decades of
existence, the IARC has evaluated 989 agents for their association with cancer.
Based on the quantity and quality of
scientific evidence that is available through peer-reviewed literature and
documented reports on the risk of cancer, the IARC follows a five-step grading
scheme, the highest of which is Grade 1, or substances that are proven to cause
cancer in humans, and the lowest at Grade 4 where there is definite proof that
there is no link to cancer.
There are grades 2A and 2B which
include potassium bromate and coffee — that differentiates between agents
‘probably’ and ‘possibly’ associated with cancer. These grades makes up the
bulk — 791 — of the agents that have so far been tested by the IARC.
There are 118 agents classed in
Grade 1 and only one, caprolactam, listed as ‘probably not cancerous.’
‘No risk assessment’
An IARC spokesperson told The
Hindu that it differentiated between ‘risk’ and ‘hazard,’ where a hazard reflected
how often a substance had been linked to cancer in humans and animals, and
‘risk’ indicating the probability of someone contracting cancer by exposure.
“IARC doesn’t do risk assessment,”
Veronique Terrasse, spokesperson IARC, said.
“The types of exposures, the extent
of risk, the people who may be at risk, and the cancer types linked with the
agent can be very different across agents. Therefore, comparisons within a
category can be misleading.”
She added that the IARC would be
revisiting in June reports of links between cancer and coffee.
Active smoking, according to the
IARC’s primer on interpreting cancer categories, carried a much higher risk of
lung cancer than air pollution, although both are categorised in Group 1.
Another food safety expert said that
while India by-and-large followed international regulations to decide whether
to ban agents, there were instances of products allowed in India and disallowed
abroad.
“Aloe vera is allowed as per our
regulations [for skin products]) but internationally there have been [cancer]
concerns over it,” said S.M. Bhardwaj, a senior official in the Delhi
government’s food safety department.
Largest gene database of Indians
soon
May 21, 2016, The Hindu
Link:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/largest-gene-database-of-indians-soon/article8627591.ece
The
project will develop in phases and the entire record will be ready by 2020
In a move to create one of the
largest repositories of Indian genomes, Bangalore-based Medgenome has teamed up
with a Southeast Asian consortium that has committed to sequence 100,000 Asian
genomes. Were it to work to plan, this could mean a consolidated storehouse of
at least 30,000 Indian genomes and could help understand the wide genetic
variety in India’s various ethnic groups and midwife customised medications for
cancer and heart disease, as well as identify possible new genetic aberrations
that cause untreatable diseases.
Collection of samples
Ever
since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, that is the entire DNA
pattern in the cell that lends people their unique identity was deciphered,
several countries have announced initiatives to map genomes of their resident
populations. The so-called 1000 Genomes project is a collection of gene samples
from across the world to capture the variety of genes that are typical to
different population groups. The United Kingdom announced a plan in 2014 to
create a bank of 100,000 genomes in the nation and 100,000 Asia genomes project
— called GenomeAsia 100K — echoes similar ambitions. “Indian populations are
greatly neglected in such databases,” said Mahesh Pratapneni, Executive
Director, Medgenome, and a top official with the GenomeAsia 100K. “It is
glaring considering we’re one-sixth of humanity.”
The
project will develop in phases with an initial 1000 genomes, consisting of
India and East Asian populations, sequenced within this year, and the entire
database to be ready by 2020. Medgenome already has a bank of 200 Indian
genomes.
$120 million project
The
project will cost $120 million (approx. Rs 800 crore), though only about half
of that has been firmed up. Other key collaborators in the project are
Singapore’s Nanyang Technological Institute, Singapore, and Macrogen, a
genetics diagnostic company in Seoul. Nearly 60 petabytes of data — equivalent
to 30 trillion pages of text — are expected to be churned out in this study.
Though all this data would be publicly available to researchers, access to it
would be staggered. “We will release it all over 3-4 years but the main
contributors to the project would access this earlier,” Mr. Pratapneni told The
Hindu .
Though
human genome sequencing is a frontier area of biotechnology, it was
prohibitively expensive. Technology advancement has made prices dramatically
drop, enabling several companies to offer genome sequencing services. Experts
however say that while the cost of sequencing has fallen, it is the analysis of
genes that adds value, and that would mean being able to access and compare
huge datasets.
While
many diseases are linked to genes going awry, afflictions such as diabetes,
cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc., are usually the result of several genes
malfunctioning, and often in a domino-like effect. Identifying such culprits is
impossible without comparing genes, across individuals and population groups,
in large numbers. Thus BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 — genes associated with breast cancer
— are found in as many as one-third of women. Several of them go on to live
without ever contracting the cancer. These genes come in several varieties that
can vary on the level of families as well as ethnicities. Genome sequence
studies are effective in studying such variations.
‘Good initiative’
Nearly 30 trillion pages of text are
expected to be churned out in this study
Sustainable Development Goals
Goal1.End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture.
Goal3.Ensure healthy lives and promote well being for all at all ages
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable, quality, education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all.
Goal5.Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for
Sustainable Development
*****
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