Deforestation rampant in Malawi as residents chop forests to produce charcoal for fuel

Author(s): DTE Staff @ 

Charcoal trade has emerged as a viable means of livelihood for the power-starved villagers

Representative picture by UN

Malawi’s poor residents are making up for the deficit power in their villages by chopping down forest trees for charcoal. The fuel has become a major source of income in urban and semi-urban areas.

Alex Thom makes charcoal by smoldering wood. “The cash crops we grow are seasonal, which means there are parts of the year when we have nothing to sell. But we can store the charcoal and sell it later,” he told Reuters.

Despite the government’s efforts to stop the economically destructive trade, deforestation is rampant in this southern African country. Malawi’s department of forestry told the news agency that researchers have put the deforestation rate at between 1.6 per cent and 2.8 per cent of forest cover per year.

According to the report, only nine per cent of Malawi’s population has access to electricity. This ensures a good market for charcoal produced by communities living near forests. But it also spells disaster for the environment. As forests are increasingly being cut down, the country will experience rising temperatures, Charles Kajoloweka, a consultant on forest issues, told Reuters. “To prevent this, laws governing protection of forests must be adhered to and stricter sanctions introduced,” he added.

Weak laws

The law in Malawi stipulates that those found felling trees should have their equipment confiscated, and where charcoal has already been produced, it should be removed. “There is a need for stiffer punishment. Snatching the charcoal counts for nothing. Charcoal means trees have already been felled,” Kajoloweka said.

In a bid to reduce the market demand for charcoal, forest guards are confiscating the fuel at roadblocks, explains Director of Forestry Clement Chilima. “That way we believe those making charcoal will be forced to seek other means of generating income. But that is not working perfectly,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The government now plans to address the problem at its source, but is tight-lipped about its strategy. Meanwhile, it is planning to issue licences to individuals who produce charcoal in a sustainable way.

Most Mount Everest glaciers will disappear with climate change, warns study

Author(s): DTE Staff @ 

Glacial retreat in the Himalayas will lead to the formation of lakes, which may pose a risk to communities living downstream

There are over 5,000 glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, which is the site of Mount Everest and other tall peaks (Credit: Patrick Wagnon/European Geosciences Union)

A recent study has painted a bleak future for most glaciers in the Mount Everest region, warning that they will either disappear or retreat as a result of temperature rise over the next century.

There are over 5,000 glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region, which is the site of Mount Everest and other tall peaks.

According to the study, the volume of several glaciers may reduce by 70 per cent to 99 per cent by 2100, which will have dire consequences on farming and hydroelectricity generation.
“The signal of future glacier change in the region is clear: continued and possibly accelerated mass loss from glaciers is likely, given the projected increase in temperatures,” Joseph Shea, a glacier hydrologist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Nepal and leader of the study, said.

The study has been published in The Cryosphere, the journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), a non-profit international association.

The research

Researchers resorted to glacier mass balance and ice redistribution model to examine the “sensitivity of glaciers in the Everest region of Nepal to climate change”. According to the study, high-elevation snow and ice cover play pivotal roles in the Himalayan hydrologic system.

In those Himalayan regions affected by monsoon, melt water from glaciers provides an important source of stream flow during pre-and post-monsoon seasons. In view of this, changes in glacier area and volume are expected to affect water availability during dry seasons, the study warns. This, in turn, will affect agriculture, hydropower generation and local water availability.
The study was conducted in Dudh Koshi basin in central Nepal which has a total glacierised area of over 400 sq km. The region contains some of the world’s highest mountain peaks, including Mount Everest, Cho Oyu, Makalu, Lhotse and Nuptse.

“The Dudh Koshi river is a major contributor to the Koshi river, which contains nearly one-quarter of Nepal’s exploitable hydroelectric potential,” the study adds.
The current status of glaciers varies across the HKH region. Most areas have seen glacier retreat and downwasting in recent years, though areas such as the Karakoram and Pamir ranges have experienced equilibrium or even slight mass gain, the paper says.

The study concludes that lower level glaciers will melt faster because the freezing level—the elevation where mean monthly temperatures are 0°C—will rise higher with rise in air temperature.
Available studies indicate that the mean annual temperatures have increased in the region, and particularly at high elevations.

Effects of glacial melt

One serious consequence of glacier retreat in the Himalayas will be the formation of lakes, which may pose a risk to communities living downstream.

Also, farming and hydropower generation downstream is likely to be greatly affected. Over a billion people in Asia depend on rivers fed by glaciers for their food and livelihood. While increased glacier melt initially increases the water flow, retreat leads to reduced melt water from glaciers during the summer months.

In the mountains of Asia, changes in glacier volumes will affect the timing and magnitude of stream flows, particularly in the pre-monsoon period, the study says.

Heat wave another manifestation of climate change, says CSE

Around 2,000 people have died due to the present heat wave, with maximum deaths recorded in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

Photo credit: Vikas Choudhary

The intense heat wave condition that is sweeping across India could be another manifestation of an extreme weather event, say researchers from the New Delhi-based research and advocacy organisation, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). About 2,000 people have been killed in India by this weather condition. In the worst-affected states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, maximum temperatures have hovered around a searing 45 degrees Celsius.

According to CSE, a heat wave is declared when the temperature is five degrees or more than the average temperature recorded on that particular day over the last three decades. Cities feel the brunt of the elevated temperatures, because of the magnified effect of paved surfaces and a lack of tree cover – this is known as the “urban heat island effect”.

Cities face ‘urban heat island effect’
“Urban heat island effects can make ambient temperatures feel 3 to 4 degrees more than what they are,” says Arjuna Srinidhi, programme manager with climate change team at CSE, in a recent press release by the non profit. He further adds, “Compared to 2010, heat wave conditions in 2015 so far have been of a shorter duration, yet with a higher death toll. This could be due to the sudden change in temperatures after a prolonged wet February and March that had kept the temperatures cool.”

Heat waves likely to worsen in future
Climate records show that human-induced global warming had turned 2014 into the hottest year on record. “Eight out of the 10 warmest years in India were during the past decade (2001-2010), making it the warmest decade on record with a decadal mean temperature anomaly of 0.49 °C,” says the CSE press release.

CSE climate researchers say more heat waves were expected as globally temperatures had risen by an average .8 degrees in the past 100 years. Night-time temperatures are rising too, with Ahmedabad and Delhi recently reporting 39 and 36 degrees Celsius. “The number of heat-wave days may go up from about five to between 30 and 40 every year,” they add.

There is also enough evidence of extreme weather events being on the rise. “This year, we saw the wettest March in about 50 years, and we have already seen the second major flood in Kashmir in a period of six months. These are all extreme weather events,” says Srinidhi.

The UV effect
“Additionally, owing to the rising temperatures, ultra violet (UV) rays emerging as a serious menace for people’s health,” says CSE. A recentDown To Earth story had cited data from the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) showing that in several cities, including Delhi, UV rays are above normal. IITM set up a monitoring system in Delhi two weeks ago and has found that UV rays are ranging between six and nine on the UV index – this carries medium to high health risk. 

Building resilience
According to CSE researchers, “Building resilience through climate change adaptation becomes an imperative role of the state and national governments. This includes building awareness about heat waves and their effects, issuing proper warning systems and building capacity of health workers to deal with such events.”

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY/27/2015

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY/27/2015

• Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today hit out at the Modi government saying it was “harping” on corruption to divert people”s attention to non-issues and asserted that he never used public office to “enrich” himself, family or friends.
• Celebrating one year in office, the NDA government has asked states to enrol allMNREGA workers under the three newly-launched social security schemes and open bank accounts for each worker under the Jan Dhan Yojana.
• The Central Board of Secondary Education is likely to start issuing mark sheets and certificates in digital format as well along with hard copies which can be stored by students in their digital lockers, according to a top official in the IT Ministry.
• IT industry lobby group Nasscom on Monday launched ‘Nasscom Cyber Security Task Force’, which aims to make India the hub for cyber securityrelated research, training and products. The development comes nearly three months after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi exhorted the domestic IT industry and youth to help address the global cybersecurity challenge.
  • The task force has proposed four working groups focused on industry development, policy enablement, technology development and skill development.
  • Recommendations from these groups will enable the task force to come up with a comprehensive cybersecurity plan for the country.
• India and Vietnam signed a Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation for the period 2015-2020 here last night. The Statement was signed by the Defence Minister ShriManohar Parrikar and the Vietnamese Minister for National Defence General Phung Quang Thanh at the end of the delegation level talks in New Delhi.
  • Both sides reiterated their commitment to further enhancing the ongoing defence engagements between the two sides for mutual benefit.

• German authorities evacuated around 20,000 people from their homes in the western city of Cologne today after a World War II bomb was unearthed during construction work.
• Militant groups that conducted the Delhi and Mumbai terror attacks continue to operate in Pakistan posing a strategic conundrum for India how to respond to future terrorism emanating from that country, two noted US defence analysts on South Asiahave said.
• About 100 students from South Africa will travel to Hyderabad next month to attend an inaugural training programme initiated by Tech Mahindra which will help them support the IT industry in the country
• US authorities have started accepting employment authorization applications for H-4 visa holders, who are spouses of H-1B nonimmigrant workers and were not allowed to work so far in the country.

• World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modion completion of one year of “visionary steps towards ending poverty” and said the world needs “more leaders like you”.
• Amid growing demand for rate cut, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan today met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and discussed a wide range of issues.
• In a major step towards shedding its long-held banking secrecy tag, Switzerland today signed an agreement for Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) with European Union, while similar pacts may follow with other jurisdictions, including India, to check the black money menace.
• China has about 36 million people, including four million children below six years, living in ”extreme” poverty, an official survey here said.
• Projecting a “tremendous” potential for Infosys to grow and lead, its CEO and Managing Director Vishal Sikka has said that the management”s mission is to prepare the company for realising the aspirational goal of achieving USD 20 billion revenue by 2020.
• Continuing to shed its famed banking secrecy veil, Switzerland today made public four fresh names about which it has been approached by foreign countries for information, but they did not include any Indian.
• The Centre has set up a committee under the Chairmanship of former Finance SecretaryVijay Kelkar to revisit and revitalize the public private partnership (PPP) model of infrastructure development.
  • This committee has been asked to submit its report in three months.
  • The terms of reference of the committee are review of the experience of PPP policy, including the variations in contents of contracts and difficulties experienced with particular conditions, if any; Analysis of risks involved in PPP projects in different sectors and existing framework of sharing such risks between the project developer and the Government, thereby suggesting optimal risk sharing mechanism.
• The government has said that FIPB’s approval will not be required for merger and acquisitions in sectors where FDI is allowed under automatic route, a move aimed at further improving the ease of doing business in the country.
  • The circular also said that government permission will not be required for issuingESOPs (Employees Stock Option Plan) in sectors under automatic route.
  • Currently, foreign investment is permitted either through the automatic route or the government approval route.
  • The move is aimed at making it easier for doing business in India. India currently ranks 142 out of the 189 countries on Ease of Doing Business
  • The initiative is aimed at clarifying the grey areas in the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy.
  • Inter-ministerial body FIPB clears investment proposals of up to Rs.3,000 crore.
• The government has notified amendments to the Companies Act, which makes it easier to do business and provides for stricter penalties for fraud cases.
  • The amendments, which were passed by Parliament earlier this month, have been made to the Companies Act, 2013, mainly to deal with board resolutions, utilisation of unclaimed dividends and setting-up of a firm among others as well as to bring the law in tune with the global standards.
  • The Act has removed threshold limit for minimum capital required for formation of private or public sector firm.
  • For setting-up a private company, new Act has done away with the norms of Rs 1 lakh minimum capital requirement and Rs 5 lakh in case of a public sector unit.
  • With regard to trying fraud cases, the new norms said that all cases under the Companies Act cannot be tried by a special court and that only serious offences will go to such courts, while the others would be tried by normal magisterial court.

Forbes Announces 12th Annual List Of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women

• Forbes today announced its 12th annual World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, withGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel topping this year’s list for the fifth consecutive year and ten times in total. She is followed by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (No. 2), and Melinda Gates, once again, at No. 3. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen falls two spots to No. 4, and General Motors CEO Mary Barra moves up two spots to No. 5.
• SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, ICICI bank head Chanda Kochhar, Biocon founderKiran Mazumdar-Shaw and HT Media chairperson Shobhana Bhartia are among the world’s 100 most powerful women, according to the Forbes’ annual list.
• Members of the 2015 ranking represent women in eight categories – technology, politics, business, finance, media, entertainment, philanthropy and billionaires.To determine the rank within each category, as well as overall rank on the list of 100, Forbes applied four metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence.
• 59-year-old Bhattacharya has been ranked 30th on the list, followed by Kochhar on the 35th spot, Mazumdar-Shaw (85) and newcomer on the list Bhartia is on the 93rd spot.
• Two women of Indian-origin PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi and Cisco Chief Technology and Strategy Officer Padmasree Warrior also made to the list.

The top 15 include:

RANK	NAME	TITLE, COUNTRY
1	Angela Merkel	Chancellor, Germany
2	Hillary Rodham Clinton	Presidential Candidate; Former Secretary of State
3	Melinda Gates	Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S.
4	Janet Yellen	U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Chair, U.S.
5	Mary Barra	CEO, General Motors, U.S.
6	Christine Lagarde	Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, U.S.
7	Dilma Rousseff	President, Brazil
8	Sheryl Sandberg	COO, Facebook, U.S
9	Susan Wojcicki	CEO, YouTube, U.S.
10	Michelle Obama	First Lady, U.S.
11	Park Geun-hye	President, South Korea
12	Oprah Winfrey	Media Mogul, U.S.
13	Virginia Rometty	CEO, IBM, U.S.
14	Meg Whitman	CEO, HP, U.S.
15	Indra Nooyi	CEO, PepsiCo, U.S.

• Nirbhay Sharma
• Lt General (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma was today sworn-in as the Governor of Mizoram at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan here.
  • He is the eighth Governor of Mizoram after the then state Governor Vakkom Purushothaman resigned on July 12 last year in protest against being transferred toNagaland.
• Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja
• The IAF today remembered Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja, who was killed by the enemy in captivity on this day in 1999 during the Kargil war.
• Mary Ellen Mark
• Documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark, called “a snake charmer of the soul” for her gift of capturing searing images of human vulnerability, has died at age 75.

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY/25 & 26/2015

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY/25 & 26/2015

1.   ICICI BANK LAUNCHES VOICE RECOGNITION SERVICE:

i.  Private Bank ICICI has launched Voice recognition service for biometric authentication.

ii.  The service will allow customers to execute banking transactions through banks call centre in a quick , secure and convenient manner.

iii. ICICI bank is India’s largest private sector bank with its headquarter in Mumbai.

iv.  Chanda Kochar is the CEO of ICICI Bank

2.   MANOJ MISHRA BECOMES CMD OF NATIONAL FERTILIZERS LIMITED:

i.    Manoj Mishra is appointed as New Chairman and Managing Director of National Fertilizers Limited.

ii.  Manoj Mishra, a Cost Accountant is currently serving as theDirector (finance) at State Trading Corporation (STC).

iii.  National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) has 5 gas based plants:

a.       Nangal and Bathinda in Punjab

b.      Panipat in Haryana

c.       Two plants in Vijaipur , District –Guna ,Madhya Pradesh

3. JOHN FORBES NASH JR. DIED:

i. Nobel awardee Mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. died.

ii.  Oscar winning Movie, A Beautiful Mind was inspired by his life.

4. MUMBAI INDIANS WON IPL 2015 TITLE:

i. Mumbai Indians have won IPL 2015 title by defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

ii.   Mumbai Indians won their 2^nd IPL title by grabbing 8^th edition of Indian Premier League

a. Man of the match in the Final – Rohit Sharma

b. Player of the tournament – Andre Russell

c. Orange cap holder – David Warner

d. Purple cap holder – Dwanye Bravo

e. Emerging Player – Shrayas Iyer

5. DOHA INTERNATIONAL BOXING TOURNAMENT 2015:

      i.  Indian Boxers have won 4 Gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at Doha International Boxing Tournament.

PLAYER	CATEGORY	MEDAL	DEFEATED
Devendra Singh	49 kg	Gold	Aldren Moreno (Philippines)
Shiva Thapa	56 kg	Gold	HYM Abdellal (Egypt)
Manish Kaushik	60 kg	Gold	Rabi Hamza (Morocco)
Manoj Kumar	64 kg	Gold	Magliquian Nicole (Philippines)
Gaurav Bidhuri	52 kg	Silver
Mandeep Jangra	69 kg	Bronze
Vikas Krishan	75 kg	Bronze

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY/24/2015

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY/24/2015

• Starting her fifth stint as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa today announced development and welfare measures worth over Rs 1800 crore, including for improving roads and drinking water facilities and extending assistance to needy families headed by women.
• Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani, on her maiden visit to China,broached the idea of establishing a consortium of higher educational institutions as part of greater collaboration between India and China besides mutual recognition of academic degrees.
• The government has begun the process of having 70 super computers in the country, which will enable high-level research in different fields for not only government agencies but also the private sector.

• British Prime Minister David Cameron plans to slap a pay freeze on his ministers until 2020 in an attempt to show that the new government will share in new austerity cuts.
• A massive landslide in western Nepal has blocked a river that also flows through India, forcing thousands of people to flee to safety and triggering fears of a flood, officials said today.
• NASA”s Mars rover Curiosity has found a new route to some interesting rocks after its original path proved too difficult to traverse due to slippery slopes.
• A leading Indian-origin entrepreneur has been elected as the head of the Bureau of International Recycling, a global organisation that facilitates free and fair trade of recyclables in a sustainable and competitive world economy.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin officially enacted a controversial law banning “undesirable” non-governmental organisations, the Kremlin said today, in a move condemned by human rights groups across the board.

• Many private non-life insurers appear to be shying away from the Modi government”s newly launched ambitious social security scheme offering Rs 2-lakh accident cover at an annual premium of just Rs 12, citing low pricing and the growing incidents of accidental deaths.
• India expects the strategic Chabahar port, which will give sea-land access to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan, to be operational by December next year, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari
• State-owned United Bank of India has become the first of the 17 lenders to publicly admit that it no longer expects to recover its dues from the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines.
• A crucial meeting of trade ministers of key WTO member countries including India and the US will take place in Paris next month to discuss the pending issues of the Doha Round and finalise the agenda for the Nairobi ministerial meeting in December.
• China, the world’s biggest gold producer, has set up a gold sector fund involving countries along the ancient Silk Road which is expected to raise $16.1 billion.
  • The fund, led by Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), is expected to raise an estimated100 billion yuan ($16.1 billion) in three phases, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. It is said to be the “largest fund” set up by China.
  • China is the world’s largest gold producer, and also a major importer and consumer of gold.
• Although India is set to become water-scarce country by 2025 due to demand-supply mis-match, the water sector is expected to see investment of $13 billion from overseas players in the next few years, a new study has said.
  • A study conducted by EA Water, a leading consulting firm in water sector.

• Mumbai Indians outclassed Chennai Super Kings in every department of the game to win the Indian Premier League 2015
• After scoring 202 runs, Mumbai Indians halted Chennai Super Kings on 161/8 to claim their second Indian Premier League title since 2013.
• Mumbai became the third side – after Chennai and Kolkata Knight Riders – to win theIPL on more than one occasion.
• John Nash
  • US mathematician John Nash, who inspired the Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind, has died in a car crash with his wife, police have said.
  • The mathematician is renowned for his work in game theory, winning the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994.
  • His breakthroughs in maths – and his struggles with schizophrenia – were the focus of the 2001 film.
  • Even this week, Nash received the Abel Prize, another top honour in the field of mathematics.
  • Nash’s famous equilibrium has grown to be perhaps the most important idea in economic analysis and has found application in fields as diverse as computing, evolutionary biology and artificial intelligence.
• Manoj Mishra
  • Government has appointed Manoj Mishra as Chairman and Managing Director of state-run National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL).