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Cse In News

Cse In News

Terrible ola de calor en India: los obreros pobres llevan la peor parte

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.

Efficient LogisticsSystem in Agricultural Farm Fresh Market in India by Leveraging Technology

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

Stop misuse and overuse of critically important antimicrobials in food-producing animals: CSE

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.