Did lockdown improve quality of water in Indian rivers?
CHENNAI: Does lockdown make any difference to the quality of water in our rivers? No, if you go by a study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment.
CHENNAI: Does lockdown make any difference to the quality of water in our rivers? No, if you go by a study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment.
While many have been pointing out the improvement in the air quality of cities during the pandemic induced lockdown, the water quality of the rivers have not shown any noticeable improvement, according to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
The Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2020 Journey Begins, A Six-Month global edition to give voices to the local communities, with digital and physical widespread events around the world
By spraying common antibiotics on crops, farmers are exacerbating disease risk in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and elsewhere. Farmers in parts of Asia are spraying antibiotics deemed “critical” for human medicine on rice crops, raising fears they may be fuelling antibiotic resistance, say researchers.
Severe floods triggered by monsoon rains have affected 2.5 million people in India’s Assam state, struggling already to contain the Covid-19 virus that has been infecting more than 1,000 people every day for the past week in the tea-producing region.
Too much bandwidth has been lost on describing what genetically modified foods or GM foods are. As per the definition provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO), foods that have been produced using genetically modified organisms (GMO) are called GM foods. The genetic modification artificially alters the DNA structure of the food and claims to create better versions of a specific vegetable or fruit. This doesn’t occur naturally and is carried out using genetic engineering technology. It might come as a shock that GM foods can also include processed items such as ready-to-eat snacks, oils as well as crops like soy, cotton, brinjal, mustard, potato, corn, rapeseed etc.
The first edition of the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity has been awarded to Greta Thunberg. The young Swedish environmental activist was selected among 136 nominees (corresponding to 79 organizations and 57 personalities) from 46 different countries
Here’s how to get rid of those and ensure the produce you consume is clean and healthy A balanced diet must include a good portion of fruits of vegetables for the nutritional value it adds to the human body.
India Today :CSE Spokesperson : Sunita Narain Program Name - News 20-Jul-2020 - 21:08:00 Conversation with Sunita Narain DG, CSE Panel Discussion over Assam flood fury
By Kiran Pandey The world lost nearly 400 million full-time jobs in the year’s second quarter (April-June 2020) due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, said the International Labour Organization (ILO) recently. The ILO also pointed out that job losses in Africa were much more than its earlier estimates, while many more working hours were lost in Asia than earlier predictions. Almost 59 per cent full-time jobs have been wiped out in the Asia-Pacific region, while South Asia accounted for 110 million of the total 235 million full-time jobs lost this quarter. Job losses increased by over 400 per cent in South Asia and Africa each since the first quarter, said the estimates. These losses increased by nearly 158 per cent in the second three months, according to the estimates. Around 245 million additional full-time jobs were lost in three months of the pandemic. Within these months, the South Asian region — comprising of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — lost 89 million jobs, according to the estimates. The ILO drew these estimates taking into account a 48-hour work week. If a week with 40 working hours is considered instead, there would be 480 million full-time jobs lost in the second quarter. South Asia would then account for 28 per cent jobs lost. South Asia loses 17% working hours The number of working hours have consistently declined since March 2020, which meant a loss of full-time jobs, the ILO pointed out. The United Nations organisation has consistently raised alarms over the sharp decline in working hours across the world as a result of labour market disruptions from ensuing lockdown measures to curb COVID-19. Almost 14 per cent of the entire world’s working hours were estimated to be wiped out in the second quarter, the estimates showed. The dip in working hours this quarter was significantly higher than previous ILO projections. A similar estimate in May 2020 had pegged this to be around 10.7 per cent. April’s projections increased to 11 per cent. The greatest reduction in working hours was estimated to have occurred in Latin America (20 per cent decline), followed by South Asia with an 18 per cent decline in the second half of 2020. Rising job losses in Africa too: ILO The ILO also flagged the increasing loss of full-time jobs in Africa, where the total working-hour loss in the second quarter was estimated at 12.1 per cent, or 45 million full-time jobs, up from the previous estimate of 9.5 per cent. Northern Africa was the most affected, with a 15 per cent decline in total working hours. Eastern Africa was estimated to lose around 15 million jobs during the second quarter, according to the ILO. The Down To Earth State of India’s environment 2020: In figures report had earlier flagged the unemployment crisis that emerged as a result of the pandemic. In India, the second quarter was marked by a sharp increase in unemployment to 23.52 per cent in April from 8.74 per cent in March, the DTE report had said. Eleven out of 16 states had an unemployment rate over 20 per cent, according to the DTE report. The situation, however, has reportedly improved, with India’s unemployment rate reported to be 10.8 per cent as of June 30, showed recent estimates by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. Second wave of pandemic Any recoveries in the labour market in the second half of the year will be uncertain and incomplete, said the ILO. While several countries ease restrictions, the World Health Organization warned about a possible second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. India is also vulnerable to such a second wave, according to Randeep Guleria, director of the All India Institute Of Medical Science, Delhi. In such a scenario, several countries may enforce restrictions again. Nearly 12 per cent of the working hours — around 340 million full-time jobs — compared to the last quarter of 2019 would be lost, the ILO pointed out. Real labour market outcomes in the remainder of 2020 will be shaped by policy choices and actions as well as by the future trajectory the pandemic takes, said the ILO. Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General, said the UN body had called upon governments, workers and employers to use this opportunity to discuss concrete plans for implementing a job-rich, inclusive, sustainable and equitable recovery. “We must all step up to the challenge of building a better future of work,” he said. – Down-to-Earth
सुनीता नारायण। कोरोना संक्रमण की वजह से हमें इंसानियत के सबसे अच्छे और बुरे, दोनों पहलू देखने को मिल रहे हैं। सबसे पहले तो न केवल दिल्ली, बल्कि विश्वभर से हवा के साफ होने की खबरें आईं। ग्रीनहाउस गैस उत्सर्जन में गिरावट के भी संकेत प्राप्त हुए। इसके अलावा मानवीय दृढ़ता, समानुभूति व इन सबसे बढ़कर स्वास्थ्य तथा आवश्यक सेवाओं के लिए काम करने वाले लाखों लोगों द्वारा बिना किसी स्वार्थ के कार्य करने का प्रमाण प्राप्त हुआ। इस वायरस के खिलाफ चल रहे युद्ध को किसी भी सूरत में जीतने व लोगों की जान बचाने का जज्बा ही कोविड-19 की लड़ाई का हॉलमार्क बनेगा। तो वहीं दूसरी तरफ, इस वायरस से लड़ने के क्रम में हमारे द्वारा इस्तेमाल हो रही प्लास्टिक की मात्रा में आशातीत वृद्धि हुई।
Protocol says used disposable masks, gloves, aprons, head covers et al should be incinerated or given a burial — at least 100 feet deep. This is not happening. A stray dog fools around with a blue plastic coverall in a video shot in Coimbatore—endearing footage for those who know how playful dogs are, happily making a game out of anything.
2019 was a mixed year for Indian Science and Technology. The bittersweet Chandrayaan-2 Mission was a partial failure in the absolute sense, but a success in the relative sense. The PSLVC44, Kalam SAT, Microsat-R, CARTOSAT and Mission Shakti were major leaps in aerospace engineering.
Out of about 1,47,613 metric tonnes of solid waste generated daily across the States, 89,545 metric tonne (or 61 per cent) is processed while the remaining waste is dumped in the open. All statutory towns/cities of the country have been mandated under Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016 for scientific disposal of its municipal solid waste.
According to the statement, the anti-smog gun has a ‘throw distance’ of 100 metres with the size of water droplets ranging between 30 microns and 50 microns that could cover an area between 27,000 square metres and 37,000 square metres. With an aim to reduce the air pollution level, which increased after lockdown norms were relaxed, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Monday installed an ‘anti-smog gun’ in Central Park, Connaught Place.
As if the coronavirus wasn’t sufficient, India grappled with scorching temperatures and the worst locust invasion in decades as authorities ready for the top of a monthslong lockdown regardless of recording hundreds of latest infections day by day.