With 12 people dead in a major accident after the leakage of Styrene, a hazardous and toxic chemical[i], the question of civil liability of the chemic https://www.livelaw.in/columns/vizag-gas-leak-incident-a-case-for-absolute-liability-156745 https://www.livelaw.in/columns/vizag-gas-leak-incident-a-case-for-absolute-liability-156745
La nación surasiática registró fenómenos meteorológicos extremos en 242 de los 273 días entre el 1 de enero y el 30 de septiembre último, acotó el informe. Esto significa que más del 88 por ciento del tiempo durante estos nueve meses, el país fue testigo de un evento meteorológico extremo de algún tipo en una o más de sus regiones, indicó la investigación. Estos desastres cobraron dos mil 755 vidas, afectaron 1,8 millones de hectáreas de cultivos, destruyeron más de 416 mil 667 casas y mataron cerca de 70 mil cabezas de ganado, agregó el trabajo. «Hay un claro repunte en la frecuencia e intensidad de los fenómenos extremos», dijo la directora general del CSE, Sunita Narain, al presentar el reporte. Down To Earth también lanzó el Atlas de Desastres Climáticos de India, una base de datos interactiva pública en línea que se actualizará cada mes. Las regiones central y noroccidental del país registran el mayor número de días con fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, con 198 y 195, respectivamente, y en cuanto a la pérdida de vidas humanas, el centro de India encabezó la lista con 887 muertes, seguido por el este y el noreste (783 muertes). En los últimos nueve meses, los rayos y las tormentas se extendieron por 30 estados indios y cobraron 773 vidas. Todos los días de los tres meses del periodo lluvioso del monzón -de junio a agosto- ocurrieron precipitaciones extremadamente fuertes en varias partes del país. La devastación por las inundaciones no perdonó ninguna región y en el nororiental estado indio de Assam, por ejemplo, vastas zonas del territorio quedaron sumergidas, lo cual provocó la pérdida de vidas, propiedades y medios de subsistencia. Las olas de calor cobraron 45 vidas, pero los datos oficiales no recogen el impacto de las altas temperaturas prolongadas en el bienestar de la población del norte de India -desde los agricultores hasta los trabajadores de la construcción- al enfrentar el intenso calor. Las víctimas mortales a causa de los ciclones fueron pocas en el país, pero 95 mil 66 hectáreas de cultivo fueron destruidas. El Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático de la ONU define a los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos como aquellos que son «poco frecuentes en un lugar y una época del año determinados». En tanto, el Departamento Meteorológico de India coloca en este grupo a los rayos, tormentas eléctricas, lluvias intensas, corrimientos de tierra, inundaciones, olas de frío y de calor, ciclones, nevadas, tormentas de polvo y arena, borrascas, granizadas y vendavales.
The entire forest cowl (TFC) of India elevated 1,540 sq. kilometres between 2019 and 2021; it’s 713,789 sq km in 2021, based on the biennial State of India’s Forest Report 2021 (SoFR, 2021) launched by the Union Ministry of Atmosphere, Forest and Local weather Change January 13, 2022. The TFC in 2021 is 21.71 per cent of the full geographical space (TGA) of the nation as towards 21.67 per cent of the TGA of the nation in 2019. In 2017, the TFC was 21.54 per cent of the TGA. India has set a goal of bringing 33 per cent of its geographical space below forest cowl as envisaged within the Nationwide Forest Coverage, 1988. This was additionally one of many key targets enlisted within the Technique for New India @ 75 doc launched in December 2018 by the NITI Aayog. Thus, India is off-target on rising its forest cowl. This was additionally said within the State of India’s Atmosphere Report, 2022 revealed by Right down to Earth. However, there’s a rider: A more in-depth have a look at the information signifies that every one isn’t nicely. The marginal progress in India’s forest cowl is primarily on account of a rise within the space below open forests. The rise in open forests is led by industrial plantations. However, the reasonably dense forests or the world near human habitations has declined between 2021 and 2019. ‘Dense forests’ are outlined as these the place the tree cover density is 70 per cent or above; ‘reasonably dense forests’ are areas with tree cover density between 40-70 per cent. Between 2021 and 2019, the world below open forests elevated 0.09 per cent (1,582 sq km).
सार सीएसई द्वारा कराए गए सर्वे के अनुसार 2021-22 की सर्दियों में सभी क्षेत्रों में प्रदूषण ने उछाल दर्ज की। सर्वे में सभी क्षेत्रों, पूर्व, पश्चिम, उत्तर, दक्षिण, मध्य और पूर्वोत्तर को शामिल किया गया। ख़बर सुनें विस्तार मौसम विभाग द्वारा जारी हाल ही में जारी एक रिपोर्ट में खुलासा हुआ है कि सर्दियों में उत्तर भारत में सबसे ज्यादा प्रदूषित शहर गाजियाबाद रहा है जबकि दूसरे स्थान पर दिल्ली रहा है। विज्ञान एवं पर्यावरण केंद्र (सीएसई) द्वारा कराए गए ऑल इंडिया विंटर एयर क्वालिटी एनालिसिस के अनुसार 2021-22 की सर्दियों (15 अक्तूबर से 28 फरवरी तक) में सभी क्षेत्रों में प्रदूषण ने उछाल दर्ज की। सर्वे में सभी क्षेत्रों, पूर्व, पश्चिम, उत्तर, दक्षिण, मध्य और पूर्वोत्तर को शामिल किया गया।
India’s extreme summer months are not only hitting humans hard but have taken a toll on the dogs, cats and other animals living on the nation’s streets. While dogs and cats have long lived side by side with humans and depended on them for food, they have never really been considered as valued members of the country. Part of that exclusion stems from people’s perceptions — that street dogs are dangerous and a nuisance, according to a study published by a group of biologists who track the behavior of street dogs. People’s aversion to stray dogs stems from their tendency to fight with each other over food and the fact that they can carry rabies, a disease that is still a major health concern in India. Around two in every 100,000 people are affected by the virus each year, according to the study. However, the researchers found that street dogs on the whole showed little sign of aggression. Nevertheless, the people who care for dogs and cats, providing them with food and water, are often harassed. New Delhi’s dog days of summer India repeatedly hit record temperatures in April and May, with the capital city New Delhi enduring temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in early June. While the early arrival of the dry summer months in the northern and central parts of the country was partly the result of an oceanic phenomenon called La Nina, Avikal Somvanshi, an urbanologist at the Centre for Science and Environment, said climate change has also played a major role. Raj Mariwala, an animal behaviorist who lives in Mumbai, explained that extreme heat puts all animals at risk of dehydration and heat stroke. Indias forgotten stray animals suffer under record heat Mukesh Verma, a veterinarian at Friendicoes, an animal sanctuary just outside New Delhi, said animals can also suffer an array of problems from lethargy to stomach problems. The vet looks after almost 1,700 stray animals at the shelter. Verma explained that horses, often used for weddings during summer, are barely taken care of and may not get their required intake of drinking water. Too weak to fly Nadeem Shehzad and his brother, the founders of Wildlife Rescue, a bird rescue NGO in Delhi, explained that they have already treated up to 700 birds, mostly kites, this summer. Delhi’s slaughterhouses and meat processing plants have attracted a large population of predatory birds like kites. But a lack of water can keep them grounded as they are too weak to fly, leaving them even more vulnerable. “When the heat was unbearable this summer, we saw 50% in the number of baby kites that needed treatment,” Shehzad said. A large number of them were dehydrated. Cities offer little refuge from sweltering heat Experts maintained that besides the risk of dehydration, it was becoming almost impossible for animals to cool themselves down in urban centers. Not only is there a lack of sheltered spaces for them, but cities are also getting hotter than their surrounding areas, a phenomenon known as Urban Heat Island effect, explained Somvanshi, who is also an architect. The evaporation of water from the soil and plant leaves helps to cool the air in rural areas, but that effect is lost in cities because of their lack of green spaces. Indias forgotten stray animals suffer under record heat A rise in “nighttime temperatures is particularly problematic” and puts people and animals at greater risk, Somvanshi added. In addition, cities also dump waste heat — from cars or air conditioners — directly into the outside air. Animal cruelty goes largely unpunished Even though there are several laws against animal cruelty in India, they do little in terms of punishing offenders. India’s animals are protected by three broad laws — Sections 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code, where killing or maiming animals is considered a serious crime and can result in arrest, the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. The last one criminalizes cruelty to animals — which covers everything from torture to not providing them with adequate food and shelter. But the associated punishments — first-time offenders are fined between 10 rupees ($0.13) and 50 rupees. Repeat offenders can be imprisoned for up to 3 months. “No one takes the laws seriously and people constantly harass us if we feed dogs,” explained Mariwala. Similar animal cruelty crimes in the UK, for example, can result in a lifetime ban from owning pets or a fine of up to £20,000. Communities organizing to protect our furry friends There are no official figures for the number of stray dogs or animals in India, though Mariwala and other experts estimate that there are around 35 million street dogs. Indias forgotten stray animals suffer under record heat A lot of neighborhood organizations often use different ways of marking dogs to keep track — like having them wear collars. Sudhir Kudalkar, a police officer in Mumbai, established an animal welfare group in December 2020 that carries out different missions — some teams provide food for stray animals while another team takes care of complaints from feeders and tackles other civil issues. Kudalkar told DW that he is especially proud to have led a legal team to tackle animal cruelty. As a further possible sign of changing perceptions, earlier in June the eastern Indian state of Odisha also launched an animal helpline as well as a telephone veterinary service for the protection of stray and abandoned animals.
Las temperaturas en ese país, y también en Pakistán, han superado los 40 grados. Los sectores más desfavorecidos están pagando las mayores consecuencias. Todo es mucho más difícil si el termómetro arroja 45 grados. India atraviesa una gran ola de calor. También sus vecinos de Pakistán la padecen. Esta temporada, los termómetros han marcado este año 45 grados. La agencia europea Euronews se ha ocupado del tema de este modo: "para el trabajador de la construcción Yogendra Tundre, la vida en una obra en las afueras de la capital india, Nueva Delhi, ya es bastante dura. Pero este año unas temperaturas históricamente altas la han vuelto insoportable". A la par que India sufre una ola de calor sin precedentes, la gran mayoría de los trabajadores pobres del país, que suelen trabajar al aire libre, son especialmente vulnerables a las abrasadoras temperaturas. Tundre, el obrero de la construcción, dice al respecto: “Hay demasiado calor y si no trabajamos, ¿qué vamos a comer? Durante unos días trabajamos y luego nos quedamos sin hacer nada por el cansancio y el calor”. Sucede que las temperaturas en Nueva Delhi han llegado a los 45 grados centígrados, lo que a menudo hace que Tundre, y su esposa Lata, que trabaja en la misma obra, caigan enfermos. Eso, a su vez, significa que pierden ingresos. Según el Departamento Meteorológico de India (IMD, por sus siglas en inglés), es probable que la incesante ola de calor haga que algunas partes de Nueva Delhi alcancen temperaturas superiores a los 49ºC el lunes. “A causa del calor, a veces no voy a trabajar. Me tomo días libres (…) muchas veces, caigo enferma por deshidratación y luego necesito botellas de glucosa (fluidos intravenosos)”, dijo Lata mientras se encontraba fuera de su casa, una chabola provisional con techo de hojalata. Los científicos han vinculado la aparición temprana de un verano intenso al cambio climático y afirman que más de mil millones de personas en India y la vecina Pakistán corren algún tipo de riesgo por el calor extremo. India sufrió este año su marzo más caluroso en más de 100 años y algunas partes del país experimentaron sus temperaturas más altas jamás registradas en abril. En muchos lugares, incluida Nueva Delhi, se superaron los 40°C. Más de una veintena de personas han muerto por presuntos golpes de calor desde finales de marzo y la demanda de electricidad ha alcanzado máximos de varios años. El primer ministro indio, Narendra Modi, ha pedido a los Gobiernos estatales que elaboren medidas para mitigar el impacto del calor extremo. Tundre y Lata viven con sus dos hijos pequeños en una barriada cercana a las obras de Noida, una ciudad satélite de Nueva Delhi. Se trasladaron desde su estado natal, Chhattisgarh, en el centro de India, para buscar trabajo y salarios más altos en los alrededores de la capital. En la obra, los trabajadores escalan muros, colocan hormigón y transportan pesadas cargas, envolviendo sus cabezas en pañuelos de trapo para protegerlas del sol. Pero incluso cuando la pareja termina su jornada de trabajo, apenas tiene respiro, ya que su casa está caldeada tras haber absorbido el calor del sol durante todo el día. Avikal Somvanshi, medioambientalista urbano del Centro para la Ciencia y el Medio Ambiente de India, dijo que los datos del Gobierno federal muestran que el estrés térmico por calor es la causa más común de muerte causada por fuerzas de la naturaleza en los últimos 20 años, después de los rayos. “La mayoría de estas muertes se producen en hombres de entre 30 y 45 años. Se trata de hombres de clase obrera que no tienen otra opción que trabajar bajo un calor abrasador”, dijo Somvanshi. En India no hay leyes que impidan la actividad al aire libre cuando las temperaturas superan un determinado nivel, a diferencia de lo que ocurre en algunos países de Oriente Medio, dijo Somvanshi.
Abstract The agricultural farm fresh value chain in India have undergone significant transformation over the last few decades. Primarily the sector has been influenced by Government intervention in the form of subsidies, free extension services, regulated marketing and price stabilization mechanisms. The local and regional farm fresh value chainhave been facing many challenges in absence of a robust and efficient transport system, which is predominately driven by intermediaries without contributing any significant value. Some of the major challenges faced by fresh fruit and vegetables value chain in India are, Post-harvest loss, Seasonal supply shortages, Wastage in transit, Increase in Consumer Price, Poor realization for farmers and wastage at Point of Sales. Existing Food and Vegetable logistics and distribution management system presents a unique challenge considering the industry is resource constrained and lack of information flow across the value chain. Objective of the study is to evaluaterole of an efficient Logistics and Distribution management system, which would help in establishing a value based robust system, ensuring smooth flow of logistics and information by leveraging technologies. Keywords: Logistics, Supply Chain, Agriculture Market, Transport
Antibiotics that can save lives are becoming ineffective. Part of the problem is that these critically important drugs are misused and overused in the food-producing animal sector for commercial gains. The covid-19 pandemic has re-emphasised the importance of medicines that can treat – we must conserve these medicines before this silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance swamps us completely,” said Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Narain was speaking at an international webinar organised by CSE on Friday evening on conserving the use of critically important antimicrobials in food-producing animals to contain growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This webinar was the first in a series of interactions planned and led by CSE to discuss the need for coherence in global guidance, as highlighted by CSE in its new report — Conserving the use of critically important antimicrobials: gaps and possibilities in global guidance and Indian policy framework. “There is a need for coherence in global guidance on the use of these antimicrobials. Countries will struggle to take effective action unless a clear and uniform message is given to them by all the different agencies involved,” Narain added. Antimicrobial resistance is an ongoing public health crisis which, if not contained aggressively, is expected to cause catastrophic damage to human-health, animal-health, food productivity, livelihood and attainment of several sustainable development goals (SDGs). Critically important antimicrobials as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) are the sole or one of the limited available therapies to treat serious bacterial infections in humans.Use of antibiotics can lead to AMR, but one big part of the problem is that those considered critically important for humans are misused and overused in food-producing animals for reasons other than treatment, which are avoidable. The webinar was addressed by a panel that included – besides Sunita Narain — Peter Beyer, unit head a.i., AMR Global Coordination Department, WHO; Junxia Song, senior animal health officer, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Olafur Valsson, AMR liaison officer, Antimicrobial Resistance and Veterinary Products Department, World Organisation for Animal Health; J Scott Weese, professor, Ontario Veterinary College and director, Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, University of Guelph, Canada; and Amit Khurana, programme director, Food Safety and Toxins, CSE. What does the CSE report say The CSE report highlights three key issues in the global guidance of tripartite organisations — WHO, FAO, and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) – which are guiding countries to combat AMR. These are: Need for a significant overlap in antimicrobials considered critical for humans and food-producing animals Need for coherence in position on use of critically important antimicrobials Need for clarity and strong action on use of antimicrobials for disease prevention. Speaking at the webinar, Olafur Valsson acknowledged the lack of coherence: “The general direction of the tripartite is not aligned. We are working together and also more closely with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to address this issue. We are working on a tripartite strategic framework to align our work on all aspects of our response to AMR.” “The issue of disease prevention is a murky area. People tend to subsume whatever they want to call prevention under the issue—earlier it was growth promotion and later it was sub-therapeutic doses administered on a daily basis. But such use is actually abuse,” added Peter Beyer. Stressing the need to take the fight to the ground, J Scott Weese says, “Wherever we can, we should make an effort to ensure antimicrobials are not used, because they are obviously overused. We need to promote the use of drugs that cause the least damage. We need to educate our way out of antimicrobial overuse.” In the report, CSE researchers point out that sending out a coherent message is particularly important for low- and middle-income countries of the Global South, which are dependent on the global guidance. Says Amit Khurana, the lead author of the report: “The CSE report recommends that the WHO-FAO-OIE Tripartite should consider developing a uniform and strong guidance on the use of critically important antimicrobials across all food-animal sectors. It should also focus on concerted interventions to develop a good understanding of global- and country-level use of critically important antimicrobials and resistance against them in animals and humans, along with linkages.” Earlier this week, the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (GLG) also called upon countries to markedly reduce the overall use of antimicrobials, particularly the highest priority critically important antimicrobials for terrestrial and aquatic animals and plants. “We need to change the way we are producing our food. We have to work towards food systems which are less dependent on chemicals. Countries in the Global South cannot afford to first chemicalise and then spend money to clean up,” says Narain, who is also a member of the Global Leaders Group on AMR. The CSE report also presents practices and policy gaps in India related to antimicrobials considered critical for human health, but used in food-producing animals.It exposes the use of several critically important antibiotics in the poultry, dairy and aquaculture sectors in the country. It also highlights gaps in policies and recommendsdeveloping a roadmapfor different food-producing animals and changes required in policies, regulations, standards and guidelines, in addition to creating awareness, building capacity and better enforcement.
India Ahead News : News Sushmita Sengupta, Panel Discussion over Save the Yamuna.