JULY 2016: 1-15 (FORTNIGHTLY)
(1-15) JULY 2016 (पाक्षिक)
GREEN FEATURES
- जलवायु संकट,
पारिस्थिकी
-
प्रदूषण
-
आदिवासी विमर्श
-
कृषि और किसानी
- जल
दर्शन
- देशज ज्ञान और स्वास्थ्य
- विविध
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Arunachal Pradesh: Rivers, Dams and a People’s
Movement
Published on 6 Jul 2016
More than 100 large
and medium dams are planned in the North Eastern Indian state of Arunachal
Pradesh. Lama Lobsang Gyatso from Tawang Valley talks about the large
hydro-electric projects that threaten the very existence of his Monpa
community.
Biography: Lama Lobsang Gyatso was attached to the 17th century Tawang
Monastery and is the leader of the Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF)
‘We survived on mushrooms, forest produce for three
days’
A couple and their two children, who
were trapped for six days on a huge boulder on the river Saveri during a flash
flood, have been rescued by fire fighters in Boipariguda block of Koraput
district in Odisha. According to Boipariguda Block Development Officer (BDO) M.
Lehanga, the family, rescued on July 1, is now under observation of doctors at
the government hospital.
Skin infections
The
condition of Dayaban Harijan and his wife is good but their three-year-old girl
and four-year-old boy have developed serious skin infections, for which they
are being treated.
They
would be kept under medical observation for a few days and then allowed to
return to their village Haladikunda.
Dayaban
is thankful for the fire fighters who saved them. This poor family had crossed
the Saveri river to reach Chhattisgarh on the other side to collect forest
produce. They had used a makeshift bridge near Gupteswar to cross the river.
During their return, they were collecting forest produce from trees on boulders
in the riverbed as water level was low. However, due to rain on the upper
reaches of the river, a flash flood occurred in on June 25. The makeshift
wooden bridge got washed away. As water level and the current started rising,
the family climbed on a large boulder. “In three days our food stock ended and
for the next three days we survived on mushrooms and other forest produce we
had collected,” Dayaban said.
The
fire brigade officials received information about this stranded family but the
swift current delayed the rescue operation.
At
last on July 1, the fire fighters prepared two floats using long bamboo poles,
reached the family and rescue them. On June 26, two tribal youths had also
shown extraordinary courage and saved five children from getting drowned in a
flash flood in Jhanjabati river near Narayanpatna.
WHO: Climate change may kill 250k yearly
Sushmi Dey | TNN | Jul 11, 2016, 11.53 AM IST
Climate change is likely to kill
250,000 more people each year by 2030, latest assessment by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) shows. Most of these deaths will be caused from malaria, diarrhoeal disease, heat stress
and malnutrition.
India, already having a high burden of these diseases, is expected to
contribute significantly to these deaths globally.
A separate study conducted by the University of Oxford, which was published in
the international medical journal Lancet earlier this year, projected 130,000
deaths in India from climate change in 2050.
The heaviest burden of such diseases due to climate change will fall on
children, women, elderly and the poor, further widening health inequalities
between and within populations. It asked countries including India to spend
more to protect health from risks linked to climate, such as extreme weather
events and outbreaks of infectious disease, and in cleaner energy sources.
The UN agency had set up the agenda and proposed key actions for its
implementation during its recent Paris meet. The WHO estimates that climate
change is already causing tens of thousands of deaths every year. These deaths
arise from more frequent epidemics of diseases like cholera, the vastly
expanded geographical distribution of diseases like dengue, and from extreme
weather events, like heat waves and floods.
At the same time, nearly 7 million people each year die from diseases caused by
air pollution, such as lung cancer and stroke. More than half of these air
pollution related deaths are being reported from China and India. India alone
contributes 1.59 million deaths to this dismal statistic.
Climatic conditions intensely affect water-borne diseases and diseases
transmitted through insects etc. According to WHO's assessment, in the next 15
years, heat exposure
will cause around 38,000 deaths, whereas 48,000 deaths due to diarrhoea, 60,000
due to malaria and 95,000 due to childhood under-nutrition are projected.
Highlighting the benefits of switching to cleaner energy sources, WHO said it
will help reduce levels of climate and air pollutants, as well as provide
desperately needed power for health facilities in low-income countries.
"The health sector should themselves make a greater effort to promote
low-carbon healthcare facilities and technologies; these can simultaneously
improve service delivery and reduce costs as well as climate and environmental
impacts," it said.
WHO has called for countries to adopt a new approach to link health economics
assessment and climate change.
Source: http://epaper.jagran.com/epaper/05-jul-2016-4-Delhi-City-Page-1.html
A new theory on how climate impacts rates of violence
A station in Himalayas to study climate change
Environment Ministry withdraws draft forest policy
‘Almost 30 per cent of our land undergoing
degradation’
'Desertification and land
degradation are major threats to agricultural productivity in our country'
ISRO-led
study analysed satellite imageries of the country over an eight-year period
Nearly 30 per cent per cent of the
country’s total geographical area is undergoing degradation, according to a
study that analysed satellite imageries of the country over an eight-year
period.
The
degrading area has increased over 0.5 per cent to 29.3 million hectares during
the period, as shown by comparative remote-sensing satellite imageries of the
States for the periods 2003-05 and 2011-13. Desertification increased by 1.16
million hectares (m ha) and stood at 82.64 m ha during 2011-13.
Action plan
There
was high desertification and degradation in Delhi, Tripura, Nagaland, Himachal
Pradesh and Mizoram, while Odisha, Telangana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh
showed some improvement.
The
ongoing study, initiated by the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate
Change, was led by the Indian Space Research Organisation and involved 19
institutes. ISRO’s Space Applications Centre released the findings last month
in the form of a ‘Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas’, combining GIS
and remote sensing data.
India
has committed itself to the U.N. Convention on Combating Desertification that
it would fully stop land degradation by 2030. The atlas, adding 68 vulnerable
districts, would form part of the country’s action plan to arrest the
phenomenon and also be a status report to the U.N. body, ISRO said. The SAC had
undertaken a similar study in 2007.
Just
nine States together account for nearly 24 per cent of desertification; the
other States have less than one per cent of this land. The culprit States in
that order are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka,
Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
Southern
State Kerala figures among northern and northeastern States where less than 10
per cent land is degraded. With it are relatively greener States of Assam,
Mizoram, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh.
Water erosion
The
bad news is that 3.6 million ha of productive land are getting lost, while on
the positive side, some land has been reclaimed and the intensity of
degradation has been slowed down in a few other areas. “Desertification and
land degradation are major threats to agricultural productivity in our country.
Combating them is a thrust area identified [by the MoEF&CC],” ISRO said.
The main culprit is water erosion
(26 per cent) followed by degrading vegetation (rising slightly nearly nine per
cent) and land or soil erosion due to wind.
Worrisome trend
Rajendra
Hegde, head of the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning,
Bengaluru, which partnered ISRO in interpreting the data in three southern
States, affirmed that even a marginal increase in degraded land is a cause for
concern.
“The definition of desertification
implies it is degradation that cannot be reversed in a lifetime (around 60
years).”
Naidu releases water from Pattiseema
(KRISHNA GODAVARI LINK NOW A REALITY)
Did WHO’s TB care advice cause more MDR-TB cases?
Infant mortality rate: Target set by Millennium
Development Goals not met
Human Genome Project: The ‘Write’ track
Radiation processing of honey ensures microbial safety
Khasis lived in Meghalaya since 1200 BCE, says study
Pre-historic megaliths and tools discovered in Meghalaya’s
Ri-Bhoi district indicate that the Khasi tribe had made the State their home
since around 1200 BCE. A megalith is a large stone that forms part of a
prehistoric monument.
Archaeologist Marco Mitri and a team of academicians from the
North Eastern Hills University excavated the archaeological site near Lummawbuh
village in the northern slopes of Sohpetbneng (Heaven’s Naval) peak near the
NH-40.
Mr. Mitri said they found megalithic structures, and iron
implements that date back to the prehistoric period in the ridge spreading over
1.5 k.m.
Neolithic site
The excavation at Lummawbuh is the first one of a Neolithic site
in Meghalaya.
“We had sent over 20 tools and implements including grains to
Beta Analytic, a Miami-based lab for radiocarbon dating to confirm their age.
The tests confirmed that these were dated back to 12{+t}{+h}century BCE,” Mr.
Mitri said.
The megalithic structures are used in the traditional mortuary
practices that were followed by the tribes till a few decades ago. “These
Neolithic structures were first discovered in 2004. It took at least a decade
to confirm the existence of a settlement in the area till about 200 years ago,”
Mr. Mitri said.
The British Archaeological Reports had in 2009 published
Mr. Mitri’s work — ‘Outline of Neolithic Culture of Khasi and Jaintia Hills’.
The archaeologist had also edited a book titled Cultural–Historical
Interaction and the Tribes of North East India , which was published in
2010. — PTI
Other News
"A recent report by GIZ
titled ‘Making Retail Modernisation in Developing Countries
Inclusive’ underscores far-reaching implications of the supermarket
revolution for inclusive and sustainable development of farmers, traders, and
consumers"
Scientists at Arizona State University
discover potentially-harmful nanoparticles in baby formula
Overcoming nutrition
crisis. “When forests are cut, you are not only displacing unskilled,
unorganized, rural people, you are actually displacing highly wise,
knowledgeable people”
"The food
regulator's proposal to relax norms for carbonated juices, allowing a lower
threshold for their juice content, will trigger more launches in the fizzy
drinks category"
Inside the food
industry: the surprising truth about what you eat
What do Indian farmers want? Voices from
across the country
