India takes unique path to lower carbon emissions

India stands at third position in the list of global polluters.With increasing population, increasing energy demands, as new indusries open up in different parts of India and an economy growing at 8-9 percent rate, it doesn't look shocking .But the govt has come up with unique plans like Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT), by setting up benchmark levels for cement, steel and power plants and also by REC - renewable energy certificate trading scheme for wind, solar and biomass power plants.

"The policy roadmap India is adopting to curb emissions is innovative -- something that will make industries look at making efficiency the centre-piece rather than some step that follows an ineffective carrot and stick policy," said Srinivas Krishnaswamy, CEO of green policy consultants Vasudha India

Mining barons -Bellary's Reddy brothers - a fairy tale rise

Bellary's Reddy brother who changed the political landscape of BJP , had their beginings as sons of police constable. Their company - the  first big venture, a financial firm, Ennoble India Private Limited in 1989 made them  wealthy,further in 1999 they won the confidence of BJP's  Sushma swaraj  by managing the entire elections   at Bellary and eventually  they got their foothold into political circles. 

"Thus began the dream journey, both in politics and business. In 2000, the family bought Obalapuram mines. In 2001, for the first time, the Reddy family member - Somashekar - contested elections for Bellary City Municipality and got elected. The mining boom during 2002-2003 changed their life.  "

Unpublished Monroe pictures found in garage sale

At a weekend garage sale in Parsippany, New Jersey, in 1980, Anton fury pays USD 2 for a folder, not knowing what photo's are inside , but for sure it looked like some old negatives .When he opens it, he finds two envelopes of black-and-white old negatives, a little illumination and he discovers that he is in possession of unbelievable unreleased snaps of Monroe, a priceless possesion indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He contacted art dealer David W Streets, a Beverly Hills art dealer and got the photogeaphs confirmed.These snaps are released just before Monroe's 80th birthday.


"I took it home, put them on the lightboard with a loupe and, needless to say, these are Marilyn. That was probably my greatest garage sale discovery ever," added Fury.

Antarctic under threat

Marine reserves | Greenpeace International
The marine reserves of the Ross sea, Antarctica is under threat.
This is the story of how our fishermen, having taken so many fish from the seas closer to home, are now venturing to the ends of the Earth in order to maintain our insatiable appetite for seafood. This is also the story of how a group of Antarctic scientists, environmentalists, retailers, and chefs are working together to support the protection of the Antarctic’s unique and beautiful Ross Sea – the healthiest marine ecosystem remaining on Earth.


Its all due to the hunt for antarctic tooth Fish.
The oceans have been a source of meeting our various needs ever since earth came into existence, but man's greed , has pushed him beyond his limits of fishing, mining, explorations, which when crossed pose a dangerous threat to his very own existence in the long run.

Rabindranath Tagore and melancholy

Rabindranath Tagore: The interpreter of melancholy | Society | Times Crest
There is a touch of melancholy in most writings of Tagore , as he exposes the peasants struggles or the plight of being a woman in India.
His writings strive to reveal the state of the voiceless , not often heard.


From the pangs of hunger to the ache of a body lashed with a stick, from the loneliness of a child to the anguish of lovers parted, Tagore captures every shade of pain in his writing, music and paintings

Amazon activist and wife shot dead in Brazil

Amazon activist and wife shot dead in Brazil

Rubber tapper and pro amazon environmentalist Joao Claudio Ribeiro da Silva, and his wife Maria do Espirito Santo were ambushed and killed in the Amazon state of Para.He had recieved numerous death threats by cattle ranchers and loggers as he was working in defense of local people who had their livelihood based on extracting renewable products from the forests.
His death renews concern over the often violent conflicts surrounding natural resources in Latin America's largest country

Conserving Forests and Reducing Emissions in Indonesia

Major Global Palm Oil Supplier GAR Agrees to New Standards for Conserving Forests and Reducing Emissions in Indonesia
TFT is a non profit trust, based in Geneva doing a very noble work of helping businesses produce products in a responsible and environmentally sustainable way.


Based on an agreement with TFT, the worlds largest palm oil producer, US$2.3 billion,GAR,Golden Agri-Resources Limited, has agreed to work on the conservation of vulnerable carbon-rich forests and peatlands in Indonesia by establishing a Forest Conservation Policy and other measures which will ensure that GAR's plantations are not developed at the expense of carbon rich forests, or on peatlands or other forests important for local livelihood or biodiversity but to grow palm in an environment friendly manner and continue providing jobs as a large section of Indonesian population iare employed in the palm oil production .


Scott Poynton, TFT’s executive director. “It’s about going to the root causes of deforestation; we have shown that the destruction of forests is anchored deeply in the supply chains of the products we consume in industrialized nations and we are showing we can do something about that.”


Palm oil is an important ingredient in many choclates, sweets ,cosmetic products, biofuels etc.About 40 million tons of palm oil worth $20 billion is produced each year.

last habitats of orang-utan and the Sumatran tiger under threat.

tens of millions of hectares still face Axe


Vast rain forests of Indonesia, continues to disappear at an alarming rate, in the name of development and progress.
Last year, with much pressure from people and the campaign organised by greenpeace, food giant Nestle was stopped from accepting raw materials in its supply chain process, which leads to heavy deforestation.Earlier huge swamps, with peat, were being cleared, which would release a large amount of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.These areas designated High Carbon Storage (HCS), peatlands and areas of High Conservation Value - including areas vital to local livelihoods and animal habitat.
But the new moratorium , does not do much to protect the natural habitats of the Oran-gutan and the sumatran tiger, as it allows many paper pulp companies to continue pulping millions of tonnes , of Indonesian rainforest , areas of high carbon storage and peatlands, which store enormous quantities of climate changing carbon.


According to Greenpeace, about 40 million hectares of forest could still be destroyed under the moratorium.It doesnot act far enough , and millions of hectares can still be cleared.


Only new concessions to clear forest will be suspended; the millions of hectares of forest already slated for destruction continue to be under threat;

Hay Festival 2011: King James Bible reading

To mark the 400th anniversary of King James Bible , the 96 hour long bible reading , began at the Hay festival.
With many"begats", and details of births and deaths, and detailed instruction by God as to how to build the ark, the begining was much received by the audience.


The opening was done by Rev Nicholas Lowton, at the festival site with the famous words, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”


the reading was done in a tent whipped by wind and stirred by storms reminiscent of Noah’s tempest

Metsamor , Armenia ,among the most dangerous nuclear plants

Metsamor , Armenia , among the most dangerous nuclear plants still in operation as it is present in highly earthquake prone region of Ararat valley in close proximity to the populous capital of Armenia.


Its a old fashioned WER440 type, a Soviet-era nuclear power plant , sitting on an earthquake fault line in the
Ararat valley outside the Armenian capital Yeravan.


"There are five earthquake tectonic breaks [near the plant] -- one is 34 kilometers [away], another is 16 kilometers away, and one is at a distance of only 500 meters," explains Hakob Sanasarian, chairman of Yerevan's Greens' Union environmental group."


This plant with its old fashioned safety measures is highly unlikely to withstand an earthquake of the magnitude of Japan. The plant's light-water reactor is classified as one of the "oldest and least reliable" by the EU, also the plant is not protected against radioactive leaks.

Following the 1988 earthquake of 6.9 magnitude with epicenter, 75 kilometers from Metsamor, the plant was shut down.The increasing demand for power has led to its re-functioning , at present Metsamor, supplies 40 percent of Armenia's nuclear power.




The European Union, living in close proximity to the old Soviet plants, shut down Four VVER 440 units in Bulgaria and two in Slovakia were closed as a condition of those countries joining the EU, but it failed to do so in case of Armenia.


Nevertheless it has provided aid for improving its safety and other renewable energy projects.

Aurora's-The unbelievable pillars of mystic colours

The pillars of mystic colours of aurora transmit a kind of mystery, and seem to exuberate a metaphysical effect on the onlooker.Its ethereal colours, the haze, its all too unimaginable , like a giant mix of soft and vibrant colours on the canvass of the polar skies.They arrive suddenly and dissappear suddenly.For someone like me who gets excited enough to spot a rainbow in the sky , the auroras are for sure to transmit me to another world, as if signalling to me the existence of something which cannot be comprehended by human eyes.Indeed many auroras need special cameras to be seen and are not visible to human eye.


For me to conclude- wondrous are the handiwork of the creator God , who displays such unfathomable beauty stunning the human eye and transporting us to the other world.

In the otherwise all white landscape of the polar regions , its a feast to see the blazing of bright colors of aurora's which lit up the skies, transforming the entire polar landscape.

image location -

http://www.appletvsoftware.net/img/1-5-1/3d-aurora.jpg

Polar Bears Listed as Threatened , will likely be endangered in future

Polar ice sheets are vanishing , as the planet warms, causing, loss of habitat for the polar bears.
Human activity has not spared anything, the polar bear is facing the crunch.The polar bear is entirely dependent on the ice for its survival and flourishing


It has been listed as the threatened species as its numbers have declined, but if the trend of arctic melting and oil explorations and other harmful human activities continue , this species will soon be endangered and two-thirds likely to be extinct by 2050 as studies reveal."U.S. Geological Survey studies released in 2007 that found two-thirds of the world's polar bears could go extinct by 2050"


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Volcano Erupts in Iceland , yet another volcanic ash cloud in 2011

After the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in April 2010, it is now the turn of another of Icelands dangerous volcano Grímsvötn, located under he ice caps.
The previous one caused halting of air traffic for nearly a period of two weeks when the air space was totally clouded with the volcanic ash, this one has vented out 9-kilometer-high cloud of ash and volcanic lightening.


The apparently dormant surface of Icelands has many more mysteries to unfold in years to come , keeping in mind the dormant ones buried underneath.
Who knows which one will be aroused from its long slumber, causing catastrophe.
Hope by then our technologies advance fast enough to suck up the spewing ash clouds and lava.Highly doubtful''''.
Who can resist Nature's Fury, science fails and sometimes misuse of science itself is the cause of many catastrophes.

Indian Billionaires’ Private Expensive Jets

Mukesh Ambani owns a $73 million Boeing Business Jet 2, a 1,004 sq. ft. plane with a private bedroom suite , also owns a Falcon 900EX jet ,a custom-fitted Airbus 319, Anil Ambani owns Global Express jets , a Falcon 7X and a Falcon 2000 while Vijay Mallya owns An Airbus A319 ACJ, a Boeing 727, a Hawker , a Gulfstream and the richest of all Lakshmi Mittal owns a Gulfstream G550.

Source-

http://luxedb.com/indian-billionaires-private-jets/

Billionaires who were born poor

This article from business week talks about the poor kids, raised in poor or not so good upbringings, who made it to the top creamy class of richness and wealth, these billionaires were not propelled with money as the aim , their beginnings were humble and unique but their destinations sparkled.

The thrill of building a business appears to define many self-made billionaires. Gerry wakes up to quite a nice bank account. Still, as he puts it, there's nothing like the excitement that comes with starting up and growing.

sub saharan search for water

Sunday Standard - Online Edition: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
The sub saharan region along with south asia is home to about more than half of worlds hungry people, yet the cultivable land available here is mere 4%.Added to that is the shortage of ground water.Most crops in this region are rain fed crops.Most people here are dependent on agriculture for livelihood .

"Nourishing the Planet recommends three models for effective water management that can be replicated and scaled-up around the world. These recommendations are for the use of human-powered pump as the foot-operated treadle pump enables 2.3 million farmers in the developing world—some 250,000 in sub-Saharan Africa—to boost crop productivity, improve harvest reliability, and raise incomes. ."

Pakistan and India: A rivalry that threatens the world ,Six and a half decades of bloodshed

Six and a half decades of bloodshed, army half the size of India, still pakistan's fury against India hasnot subsided.A country with a stronger army and weaker govt, a country whose military boosted LeT and Taliban,
a country where more is spent on arms and less on education is fighting against itself a costly war.But a country with its lovely ordinary folks, a vibrant culture, which shares its history with India and whose citizens , would want peace with India, but whose Army is obsessed with fighting India, is becoming a disappointment to the world

A Moments Indulgence - poem by Rabindranath Tagore

A Moments Indulgence

I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works that I have in hand I will finish afterwards. Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite, and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil. Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove. Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

With no place to sleep, no toilets and no running water

With no place to sleep, no toilets and running water it’s a tough situation for the border communities of Liberia-Côte d'Ivoire .But the  Red Cross is doing a commendable task of providing clean water and sanitation facilities to these people.ICRC  has installed water purification and distribution  which in a day produces up to 75,000 litres of clean drinking water used by  more than 10,000 people.

Curtis is hosting twenty Ivorians. He knows how it is to be a refugee: he had to flee to Côte d'Ivoire during the 14-year civil war in Liberia. "When the refugees arrived, I remembered when I was a refugee on the other side of the border. I remember how homesick I used to feel. I know they feel the same way, so I give everything I have in order to make them feel better."

http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/feature/2011/liberia-feature-2011-03-23.htm

The Red Cross and the crisis at Liberia-Côte d'Ivoire border

The pouring in of the refugees from neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire, has worsened the food crisis already prevalent in Liberia. The Liberian civil war lasting for fourteen years which ended in 2004 , resulted in killing of nearly 250 thousands and much more people were displaced. Today the country is picking up the broken pieces, when one sees the infiltration of refugees is  worsening its food crisis. But people in many villages have hosted these refugees. Even without the refugees it was  a serious situation of food crisis and seed stock depletion. But thanks to the efforts of International Red cross , there seems some hope, here and there. They are helping in  increasing accessibility to villages, building bridges  apart from aiding the farmers, by replenishing the seed stock.

The ICRC, together with the Liberian Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, has launched an agricultural programme to help 3,000 families who are hosting refugees along the Liberia-Côte d'Ivoire border

Chile will become the first developed country in Latin America

The Santiago Times
Chile is a prosperous and stable nation of the South american region with its high volumes of foreign trade and sound economic policy.

Chile says the worlds richest man,will Be Latin America’s First Developed Country. Carlos Slim, the Mexican tycoon has pointed to industrial and economic reasons , behind the emergence of Chile .Chiles economy has been ranked the upper Middle class economy by the World Bank .It has pursued sound economic policies for nearly 3 decades.As per Bloomberg, Chile's economy is growing “very strongly” and probably will expand by more than 6 percent this year.Chile's economy is based on minerals exports , accounting for half of the total value of exports, Copper being the important one, being the the world's No.1 copper producer.The change began in 1974 when the country adopted free-market economic policies.Chile has been considered as model for policy making by many countries in and outside the Latin America.The Ease of doing business index created by the World Bank lists Chile as 43rd in the world that encompasses better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights.

http://www.santiagotimes.cl

Doubled yields in DR Congo, deliverence from food insecurity, PARSAR

Improved seeds, new agricultural tools,techniques and better roads, what more can the farmers of D R Congo ask for, and this is yielding wonderful results , in the form of doubling of their harvests, four or five tonnes per hectare of the Nsansa variety of cassavaas as evidenced in the southwestern Bandundu Province.

The Agriculture Sector Support and Rehabilitation Programme, known by its French acronym PARSAR, has set up smaller associations which provides the farmers with improved quality seeds of maize, rice, groundnuts and niébé - black-eyed peas, cassava etc

The country despite possessing 34% of Land suitable for farming , a mere 10% has been used for cultivation, because of which it has long faced food insecurity.

The setting up of PARSAR by the congolese goverment has changed things.Now the yields have doubled.
The seeds have shorter life cycle, increased productivity and are also disease resistant.

'This project revolves around four components: institutional support, capacity building, support for agricultural production, and the rehabilitation of basic socioeconomic infrastructure. All this is being done thanks to the financial support of the African Development Bank amounting to nearly 30 million dollars,' explains Lambert Diango, president of PARSAR's Bandundu branch.

Goldman Sachs and the food crisis,How Goldman Sachs Created the Food Crisis

 Goldman Sachs   created Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI), which  is food commodity derivative , weighing the value of some vital food commodities, this was created with the goal  to convert an investment in commodities,  like an investment in a stock, disturbing the earlier system , centuries old buy and sell system which allowed farmers to have flexibility and  invest in their farms.
Today, bankers and traders sit at the top of the food chain -- the carnivores of the system, devouring everyone and everything below. Near the bottom toils the farmer. For him, the rising price of grain should have been a windfall, but speculation has also created spikes in everything the farmer must buy to grow his grain -- from seed to fertilizer to diesel fuel. At the very bottom lies the consumer. The average American, who spends roughly 8 to 12 percent of her weekly paycheck on food, did not immediately feel the crunch of rising costs. But for the roughly 2-billion people across the world who spend more than 50 percent of their income on food, the effects have been staggering: 250 million people joined the ranks of the hungry in 2008, bringing the total of the world's "food insecure" to a peak of 1 billion .

Feeding the world

With all the novel agricultural practises at our disposal and their usage has yielded enough yield to feed the entire population of the world.On one side we hear abour many latest developments in the agriculture albeit it not getting comparable attention as healthcare sector gets, yet due to many reasons around the world , crop yield of many vital, staple crops have gone down.

Be it increasing population of India and China, use of maize as fuel crop, climatic changes, shortage of water for irrigation etc, the prices of foodgrains have been on rise and their yields falling.

The G20, G8, World Economic Forum, Many charity foundations including Gates Foundation have all given their Top priority to food or Feeding the world.

People below Poverty line of $1.25 have increased in recent years  and the prospect of reaching a goal where everybody will have food seems grim as the population of  the world is expected to touch 9 billion in 2050 from the current population of 7 billion people.

On the contrary the wastage of food in both rich and poor countries accounts for 30-50% of what is produced. The food gets either rotten or eaten by rats and mice  or gets spoilt in transit.