honour for chickens and compassion by humans

Continuing from the last post: One of the things we were crazy for in college was a free chicken leg. The day the hostel mess had chicken for lunch; it was a dash from the lectures. It was like our very existence was at stake if we didn’t get a good chicken piece.

I am not sure why there is so much at stake for a chicken piece because over a period of time specially since a decade or more back when I gave up non veg and stuck to veg food I started noticing people at parties and how they used to inch towards chicken items and often overate just to have their hands on an extra chicken piece.

It also maybe possible that when I gave up non veg did I acutely get aware of nature and animals around me. It is quite a site to see the way these winged birds are transported for slaughtering. I am sure the people in the trade over a period of time become used to this or anyway as they say “ they anyway are going to be killed so why care”. Strange attitude!! I also wonder how no organization, political party or individuals don’t raise their voice against this. I am sure animals also have honour. If we forget about animal honour what about human compassion???

Non veg specially chicken was a really sought after thing in the college. in the mess if the lunch had chicken on its menu we would ensure that we would do a 100m sprint from our lectures even if it involved a little pushing and shoving.

the clock has moved and with age comes maturity. but i am amazed at the fact that we were so blind that we never during those fun filled days looked or questioned "how is the chicken transported, stored and cooked"

maybe had it not been for the fact i turned a veg a decade or more back and that now i look at everything nature has to offer much closely that i see scenes which shake me to my foundation. a few photos i clicked on the move. the photos are on hens being transported for slaughter. how can one eat after seing this? however do humans specially the religious kind who feel that no meat on tuesday and saturday get themselves to put dead meat of this kind in their mouth. how can no political party, organisation or individual not object to such inhuman treatment of animals.

and here's the article from indian express about river yamuna with a view of the shit stream joining najafgarh drain from gurgaon.

New Delhi, July 13 57% of Delhi’s waste is dumped in the Yamuna.
The sole water source for Delhi’s burgeoning population is fast losing ground, with environmentalists describing the Yamuna as a “dead river”. Here is a ‘postmortem’ on what caused the ‘death’
* The Yamuna’s 22-km stretch in Delhi is barely 2 per cent of the length of the river, but contributes over 70 per cent of the pollution load.
* Pollution levels in the Yamuna have risen. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) load has increased by 2.5 times between 1980 and 2005 - from 117 tonnes per day (TPD) in 1980 to 276 TPD in 2005.
* Delhi discharges about 3,684 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage into the Yamuna.
* The faecal coliform count, which indicates the presence of disease causing micro-organisms, is nearly 25,000 times more than the limit prescribed for bathing.
* Delhi and Agra together account for 90 per cent of the pollution in the river.
* The Capital has 16 drains discharging treated and untreated wastewater/sewage into Yamuna.
* Approximately 1,900 MLD of waste water is discharged from the municipal sector and 320 MLD from the industrial sector. The installed capacity for treatment is 1,270 MLD.
* The Najafgarh drain contributes to 60 per cent of the total wastewater and 45 per cent of the total BOD load being discharged from Delhi into the Yamuna. The municipal wastewater has increased from 960 MLD in 1977 to 1,900 MLD in 1997.
* The capacity for treatment has been increased from 450 MLD in 1977 to 1,270 MLD in 1997.
* A Central Pollution Control Board study on river water quality at the upstream of Wazirabad shows dissolved oxygen (DO) level at 7.5 mg/l and BOD level at 2.3 mg/l.
* At downstream Okhla, the DO level declined to 1.3 mg/l with the BOD at 16 mg/l, indicating considerable deterioration in water quality due to discharge of sewage and industrial effluents.
* The coliform count at Wazirabad is 8,506/100 ml whereas at Okhla, it increases to 3,29,312/100 ml, as against the prescribed standard of 500/100 ml.

The Sahibi or Sabi River originates in Jaipur District of the state of Rajasthan. After passing through Alwar District in Rajasthan and Gurgaon District in the state of Haryana it enters Delhi near Dhansa.
In the earlier years, the discharges in Sahibi used to moderate till the same reached Delhi. Due to interception of Jahajgarh and other jheels and the under ground reservoirs of Rajasthan and Haryana,very little quantity of water used to enter Delhi. Due to land developments and improvement in Drainage system in Haryana, it is seen that every year, the quantity of water entering Delhi increased and the Najafgarh Jheel areas started remaining under water for the full year. To check this entry of water in Delhi, the bund and regulator at dhansa were constructed in the Year 1964 and the same year there had been an unprecedented heavy flood in Sahibi which caused breach in Dhansa Bund and resulted in submergence of most of areas of Najafgarh Block in deep waters.
Instances of heavy flood in Sahibi have been in the years 1967 and 1977. Though the flood of 1967 did not make any damage in Delhi area but 1977 flood created even worse position than 1964, when even the far off colonies of Delhi like Janakpuri, etc. were threatened by the flood waters.





This is now the famous najafgarh drain which is the 60% cause of all pollution in river yamuna.

Tree Planting : The Eucalyptus Angle

Eucalyptus was called the wonder tree. Indian Forest Department in the 1970s felt that they had found an ideal solution to increase forest cover. Eucalyptus grows very fast and hence, along major highways (for example, Delhi-Chandigarh) it was planted copiously. However as more information was gathered, there were facts about the eucalyptus that had not been accounted for. I picked up these two articles on the net and subsequently read a little about eucalyptus.
James Randerson, science correspondent of The Guardian on Friday December 23, 2005: “Neutralising your carbon emissions is becoming the must-do activity for the eco-conscious citizen. But now an international team of scientists has raised an unexpected objection: some tree-planting projects may, they suggest, be doing more harm than good.”
Researchers have found that planting trees to soak up carbon can have detrimental knock- on effects. "I believe we haven't thought through the consequences of this," says team-member Robert Jackson at Duke University, North Carolina, "I think the policy could backfire on us, but it will take decades to play out." Dr Jackson says the two most common plantation species are pines and eucalyptus trees. These fast-growing species rapidly suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, but they result in monoculture forests which support a meagre range of biodiversity. Dr Jackson stresses that planting trees is not a bad thing per se, but schemes that are not well thought through can turn out to be environmentally harmful.
Times of India Delhi, November 1, 2002: “There are a number of misconceptions associated with Eucalyptus trees, which is causing panic among the residents of Noida. The most serious among them is the belief that nothing grows under an Eucalyptus and that these are detrimental to the water level of an area. But is Eucalyptus really harmful to the environment as has been made out by a section of the society?”
“Well, most of these stories are actually myths. A survey had been carried out in Dehradun, which showed that about 223 varieties of plants grew under a Eucalyptus compared to a much smaller number of plants under a Sal tree. Since this species grow very fast it consumes more water. But even that does not mean that the water level of the area goes down as its roots do not go below 10 feet,” assures V.M. Arora, O.S.D. (Forest), Noida Authority. In 1853, the British planted this Australian tree for the first time in Nilgiri Hills, some of which can still be found there. “But the water level of these hill stations has not gone down nor has it hampered the growth of other plants,” adds Arora.

From Wikipedia I found the following on Eucalyptus:
Eucalyptus (From Greek, ευκάλυπτος meaning "well covered") is a diverse genus of trees (and a few shrubs), the members of which dominate the tree flora of Australia. There are more than seven hundred species of Eucalyptus, mostly native to Australia, with a very small number found in adjacent parts of New Guinea and Indonesia and one as far north as the Philippines islands.

An essential oil extracted from eucalyptus leaves contains compounds that are powerful natural disinfectants and which can be toxic in large quantities. Many Eucalyptus species have a habit of dropping entire branches off as they grow. Eucalyptus forests are littered with dead branches. On warm days vapourised eucalyptus oil rises above the bush to create the characteristic distant blue haze of the Australian landscape. Eucalyptus oil is highly flammable (trees have been known to explode and bush fires can travel easily through the oil-rich air of the tree crowns.) The dead bark and fallen branches are also flammable. Eucalyptus are the basis for several industries, such as sawmilling, pulp, charcoal and others. Several species have become invasive and are causing major problems for local ecosystems, mainly due to the absence of wildlife corridors and rotations management.

It is quite clear that native or local solutions work best. Sometimes humans in their quest for finding short term fast solutions forget the fact that nature has different designs. We humans still have to acquire a lot of knowledge in the natural process, to say things with certainty. AMEN!

We don't need NO education

A Gurgaon vernacular carried this newsitem: “Children to help for Environment Betterment”. It further goes on to say that TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute which earlier used to be called Tata Energy Research Institute) will take the help of children for betterment of environment. (YAWN!!)

TERI will educate children in vermi-composting and water conservation. For this the institute will tie with various schools. One research associate from TERI announced at a press conference that there will be painting and debate competitions as well as visit to environment-associated places (environment-associated places??).

So what’s new in this?
There is – and that is that this is being done under the YAMUNA ACTION PLAN 2. Money has been given by multilateral funding agencies to the Indian government to clean river Yamuna. What better way to spend this money than to involve the departments of Public Health and Forestry and “EDUCATE CHILDREN”! After all, educating children is an old and time-tested formula which is fail-safe. Nobody gets censured as everybody feels the money is well-spent, everybody is very happy and of course, no work is REALLY done. It is like peeing in your pants where you feel relieved, there is a warm feeling and the mess is rarely seen and when detected it is anyway too late so somebody else is saddled with the clean up and life goes on as normal.

I am sure a huge and reputed institute like TERI can do better than this. And the reason trotted out for going after the age-old social development formula of “Educate the children” is that “children are the future”! So, Present be damned, we will take care of the Future.

Why can’t we educate all the young adults working in BPOs; these young twenty-somethings who work to American or Australian clocks and chill out at late night parties. Why can’t we have environmental painting and debate competitions in BPOs? Simple, because no company or corporate worth its name is interested in environment. Why can’t all corporate executives in any one corporate park be taken on a nature trail along the Najafgarh drain to show them where their excreta ends up? NO, this can’t happen as no corporate (the same corporate that keenly organizes river rafting expeditions in the Himalayas for employee morale) gives time out to its executives nor does it itself organize such an environmentally enlightening nature trail. It has no press value, and therefore, it is not worth bothering about. Anyway who cares for the shit, it is supposed to be done and forgotten about.

Dear people of Public Health Department, Forest Department and all other departments as well as TERI, pollution in river Yamuna will not stop by mere debate and painting competitions or even by educating the students (those poor creatures are anyway going crazy being educated!)

The pollution will stop by finding local solutions for wastewater and sewage. By ensuring that the 34 million cu m of rainwater which flows with the sewage every monsoon is harvested, by ensuring that fresh water is not used in public parks and that each government and group housing society buildings harvests its wastewater. BUT these are difficult to do, as they require vision and hard work. So, until then let’s screw the present and take care of the future by educating the children!

Providing drinking water

On june 18 - The Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that Haryana Government had earmarked a sum of Rs. 155 crore during the current financial year under an innovative Indira Gandhi Water supply scheme for providing eight lakh water supply connections free of cost to the families belonging to scheduled castes in the State and out of these 3.82 lakh connections had already been given to the beneficiaries so far. Great job done Mr C.M.
however there is a small catch. we all forget that 80% of the water supplied to households is thrown out of the house as sewage in urban areas and wastewater in rural areas. (urban areas don't understand the concept of wastewater. for urban areas as everything in the house is connected to the sewer line all wastewater ends up as sewage.) rural people are not lucky as they have no sewer lines and 80% defecate outside so water not used or waste water is taken out of the house.

so if haryana govt. spends 155cr for providing water what about wastewater???? it is either the planners or admin people forgot that there is no sewer in the villages or they didn't think wastewater management was imp. rural people are anyway supposed to manage things on their own.

actually this has always been the case with central planning. part of the system is always left blank and somebody is supposed to fill in the blanks. we seriously now need planners and admin people to upgrade not only their knowledge but also skills to come to terms with globalisation happening. this way money can be better utilised and people can enjoy benefits.

Compact fluorescent light bulb- some compact mercury info

i was doing some background check on energy efficient buildings when i came across info on CFL or compact fluorescent light bulb. i had read about CFL earlier and was acutely aware that they are efficient vis a vis tubes and incandescent bulbs. also the fact that indian govt. had passed the Energy act 2001 based on which haryana govt. had made regulations and everybody was composing and singing raginis made on CFL. there were govt. schemes to replace incand. bulbs with cfl's. as i started reading info on cfl there are finer prints which nobody is talking about. got some info on wikipedia n some american sites. collated it. i think we need to do more work in understanding cfl's before blindly pushing it down in the market. this is all the more important as waste management has never been a very strong point with us. for most of us waste is something which needs to be thrown out , so here goes

Mercury poisoning is the ill effects on humans nervous system and other bodily systems due to the over-exposure of mercury. Mercury is a neurotoxin, meaning it affects the nervous system. The "mad hatters" of the 19th century suffered from mercury poisoning which caused personality changes, nervousness, trembling, and even dementia. The hatters were exposed to mercury in the felting process, where mercury was rubbed onto cloth to preserve it.
The degree of risk varies depending on the amount of mercury, the form, how often, and the age of the exposed person. Children (and also unborn fetuses) are the most vulnerable the effects of mercury poisoning.

If you are affected by acute mercury poisoning, your symptoms will usually begin with a cough, chest tightness, trouble with breathing, and an upset stomach. Pneumonia can develop, which can be fatal.
If you swallow inorganic mercury compounds, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and severe kidney damage may occur.

If you are exposed to any form of mercury repeatedly or for an extended period, chronic mercury poisoning can result. Health effects include nervous system effects, kidney damage, and birth defects. There are several symptoms:

Gingivitis: The gums become soft and spongy, the teeth get loose, sores may develop, and there may be increased salivation.
Mood and mental changes: People with chronic mercury poisoning often also have wide mood swings, becoming irritable, frightened, depressed, or excited very quickly for no apparent reason. Such people may become extremely upset at any criticism, lose all self-confidence, and become apathetic. Hallucinations, memory loss, and inability to concentrate can occur.
Nerve damage: It may start with a fine tremor (shaking) of the hand, loss of sensitivity in hands and feet, difficulty in walking, or slurred speech. Tremors may also occur in the tongue and eyelids. Eventually this can progress to trouble balancing and walking. It has even caused paralysis and death in rare cases.

• Besides the above, Mercury can cause kidney damage, which includes increased protein in the urine and may result in kidney failure at high dose exposure.
  Mercury has also been known to affect the development of prenatal life and infants.
  Skin allergies may develop. If this happens, repeated exposure causes rash and itching.
  Exposure to mercury vapor can cause the lens of the eye to discolor.
  Some of the inorganic mercury compounds (mercury two) can cause burns or severe irritation of the skin and eyes on contact.

Now something about CFL. A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), also known as a compact fluorescent light bulb (or less commonly as a compact fluorescent tube [CFT]) is a type of fluorescent lamp. Many CFLs are designed to replace an incandescent lamp and can fit in the existing light fixtures formerly used for incandescents.

Compared to general service incandescent lamps giving the same amount of visible light, CFLs use less power and have a longer rated life, but generally have a higher purchase price. In the United States, a CFL can save over 30 USD in electricity costs over the lamp's lifetime compared to an incandescent lamp and save 2000 times its own weight in greenhouse gases. Like all fluorescent lamps, CFLs contain mercury; this complicates the disposal of fluorescent lamps.
Modern CFLs typically have a lifespan of between 6,000 and 15,000 hours, whereas incandescent lamps are usually manufactured to have a lifespan of 750 hours or 1,000 hours. Some incandescent bulbs claim long rated lifespans of 20,000 hours with reduced light output

Broken CFL bulbs release mercury vapors which are harmful to human and ecological health. The EPA ( in USA) has a page dedicated to clean-up of broken CFL Bulbs. Although mercury in these bulbs is a health hazard, special handling upon breakage is currently not printed on the packaging of household CFL bulbs in many countries. It is important to note that the amount of mercury released by one bulb can exceed U.S. federal guidelines for chronic exposure

CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps, contain small amounts of mercury and it is a concern for landfills and waste incinerators where the mercury from lamps is released and contributes to air and water pollution. In the USA, lighting manufacturer members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) have voluntarily capped the amount of mercury used in CFLs:
Under the voluntary commitment, effective 15 April 2007, NEMA members will cap the total mercury content in CFLs of less than 25 watts at 5 milligrams (mg) per unit. The total mercury content of CFLs that use 25 to 40 watts of electricity will be capped at 6 mg per unit.

mercury from spent CFLs is not released into air if the bulbs are not broken in transport. Only 3% of CFL bulbs are properly disposed of or recycled. This comparison also only refers to the statistics of a CFL bulb surviving its full rated life.
Some manufacturers such as Philips, GE and Turolight make very low mercury content CFLs. In 2007, Turolight claimed its new Genesis Fusion line contained only 1mg of mercury, making it the lowest EnergyStar approved bulb in North America.

Safe disposal requires storing the bulbs unbroken until they can be processed. Consumers should seek advice from local authorities (in the west and not here).

Usually, one can either:
Return used CFLs to where they were purchased, so the store can recycle them correctly; or
Take used CFLs to a local recycling facility.
Broken CFLs are an immediate health hazard due to the evaporation of mercury into the atmosphere. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that, in the absence of local guideline, fluorescent bulbs be double-bagged in plastic bags before disposal.

The first step of processing CFLs involves crushing the bulbs in a machine that uses negative pressure ventilation and a mercury-absorbing filter or cold trap to contain mercury vapor. Many municipalities are purchasing such machines. The crushed glass and metal is stored in drums, ready for shipping to recycling factories.

According to the Northwest Compact Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Project, because household users have the option of disposing of these products in the same way they dispose of other solid waste, "a large majority of household CFLs are going to municipal solid waste".

What Never to Do with a Mercury Spill
· Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean up mercury (but see the "What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks" section below for more specific instructions about vacuuming broken fluorescent light bulbs). The vacuum will put mercury into the air and increase exposure.
· Never use a broom to clean up mercury. It will break the mercury into smaller droplets and spread them.
· Never pour mercury down a drain. It may lodge in the plumbing and cause future problems during plumbing repairs. If discharged, it can cause pollution of the septic tank or sewage treatment plant.
Never wash clothing or other items that have come in direct contact with mercury in a washing machine, because mercury may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage. Clothing that has come into direct contact with mercury should be discarded. By "direct contact," we mean that mercury was (or has been) spilled directly on the clothing. For example:
if you broke a mercury thermometer and some of elemental mercury beads came in contact with your clothing, or
if you broke a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) so that broken glass and other material from the bulb, including mercury-containing powder, came into contact with your clothing.
You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, like the clothing you happened to be wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
Never walk around if your shoes might be contaminated with mercury. Contaminated clothing can also spread mercury around.

What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks

Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) are lighting more homes than ever before, and EPA is encouraging Americans to use and recycle them safely. Carefully recycling CFLs prevents the release of mercury into the environment and allows for the reuse of glass, metals and other materials that make up fluorescent lights.
EPA is continually reviewing its clean-up and disposal recommendations for CFLs to ensure that the Agency presents the most up-to-date information for consumers and businesses.

Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room

Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
Carefully scoop up glass pieces and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug
Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding and Other Soft Materials
If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you are wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.

Disposal of Clean-up Materials

Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.

Once more on what happens with mercury.

Mercury poisoning is the ill effects on humans nervous system and other bodily systems due to the over-exposure of mercury. Mercury is a neurotoxin, meaning it affects the nervous system. The "mad hatters" of the 19th century suffered from mercury poisoning which caused personality changes, nervousness, trembling, and even dementia. The hatters were exposed to mercury in the felting process, where mercury was rubbed onto cloth to preserve it.
The degree of risk varies depending on the amount of mercury, the form, how often, and the age of the exposed person. Children (and also unborn fetuses) are the most vulnerable the effects of mercury poisoning.
If you are affected by acute mercury poisoning, your symptoms will usually begin with a cough, chest tightness, trouble with breathing, and an upset stomach. Pneumonia can develop, which can be fatal.
If you swallow inorganic mercury compounds, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and severe kidney damage may occur.
If you are exposed to any form of mercury repeatedly or for an extended period, chronic mercury poisoning can result. Health effects include nervous system effects, kidney damage, and birth defects. There are several symptoms:
Gingivitis: The gums become soft and spongy, the teeth get loose, sores may develop, and there may be increased salivation.
Mood and mental changes: People with chronic mercury poisoning often also have wide mood swings, becoming irritable, frightened, depressed, or excited very quickly for no apparent reason. Such people may become extremely upset at any criticism, lose all self-confidence, and become apathetic. Hallucinations, memory loss, and inability to concentrate can occur.
Nerve damage: It may start with a fine tremor (shaking) of the hand, loss of sensitivity in hands and feet, difficulty in walking, or slurred speech. Tremors may also occur in the tongue and eyelids. Eventually this can progress to trouble balancing and walking. It has even caused paralysis and death in rare cases.
Besides the above, Mercury can cause kidney damage, which includes increased protein in the urine and may result in kidney failure at high dose exposure.
Mercury has also been known to affect the development of prenatal life and infants.
Skin allergies may develop. If this happens, repeated exposure causes rash and itching.
Exposure to mercury vapor can cause the lens of the eye to discolor.
Some of the inorganic mercury compounds (mercury two) can cause burns or severe irritation of the skin and eyes on contact.

Wasteful Energy

Here’s 2 items I picked in the Indian express. Way to go about guys. People across the world are doing these things. Environment is Chic.

First Item
As energy-hungry India looks for alternative sources of electricity, a new study says there is a potential of generating 2500 MW of power from urban, municipal and industrial wastes in big cities in the next two to three years.
About 40,000 million tonnes of solid wastes and 5000 million cubic metres of liquid waste is generated every year in the urban areas of the country which can be suitably recycled for power generation, according to the study brought out by leading industry body ASSOCHAM.
According to estimates, about 1500 megawatt of power could be generated from urban and municipal wastes and an additional 1000 megawatt could be secured from industrial wastes in the country by 2010.
'Mitigating Climate Change: The Indian Perspective', suggests that expediting setting up of waste energy projects can partly solve the problem of power shortage.
The cost factor involved could be within the range of around Rs 200 crore, resources for which could be generated through municipalities and local governments with the subsidy element coming from the state governments, it said.
Several studies on Indian power sector reveal the potential for saving of around 20,000 MW through various energy efficiency measures, including renovation and modernisation of old power plants and adoption of cleaner coal technologies.
ASSOCHAM says that India has potential to reduce its projected emissions over next 30 years by nearly one-quarter.
All the energy efficiency measures in the power sector could qualify to gain the carbon credits, it says noting that initiatives by several generating and transmission companies recently towards claiming carbon credits are a positive sign for the sector.
The study also maintains that with the abundant availability of renewable sources like biomass across the country, India has vast potential to replace the current usage of fossil fuels in various industrial and commercial applications.
"This would reduce the dependence of fossil fuels in the industrial system and also reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. This is also expected to increase the economic value of the biomass fuels which in turn is likely to improve the social and economic conditions of the rural areas," the study says.
With the continuous exploration of gas reserves across the country, India is also poised to grow in this field and develop more gas-based power plants and find its usage in various industrial applications, it says.
"The Government of India's steps towards encouragement of private participation in this sector and growing potential for gas-based power plants in India would definitely play a key role in future to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in power and industrial sector," the study says.

Second Item
Marking the biggest and first of its kind tie-up in the private sector, Real Estate major K Raheja Corp is working with former US president Bill Clinton-led Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to retrofit their buildings across the country to cut Green House Gases. “Climate change is a global problem that requires local action,” Bill Clinton had said on May 17 last year, while announcing the Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program that looks at retrofitting the larger buildings in sixteen of the world’s largest cities.
Mumbai is one of the cities listed from India, where K Raheja Corp has started work on Inorbit Mall in Malad and a hotel in Powai, first in their list of 20 odd buildings to be retrofitted.
While the concept of constructing green buildings is fairly established, retrofitting existing new buildings is comparatively a new concept. And the real estate group, which plans to retrofit all its properties, is not only looking at cuts in energy bills but also at a savvy international image.
“We have signed a first-ever project development under the Clinton Climate Initiative and are working on the energy audit with Johnsons Control, one of the companies introduced as the leading energy efficiency provider by the CCI,” says Shabbir Kanchwala, associate vice president, K Raheja Corp.
And it’s not just about energy saving, he says. “Not only will we cut our energy expenditure by 20 to 25 per cent, but will also save up to 20 per cent water. Moreover, this is also building for the future as don’t sell any of our properties. Instead, we lease them out to world renowned companies like Microsoft, which like to work in savvy, eco-friendly buildings. We are the first ones to retrofit our buildings, but we are also the first to gain this competitive edge,” says Kanchwala.
Work has started in Mumbai and Hyderabad, and according to the company, 50 lakh square feet of built space (in over 20 odd buildings) will be retrofitted. For the process, smarter glass varieties (which let in light, not heat) and better suited air-conditioning systems are used. Sewage treatment is also done to conserve and recycle water. While some government buildings have been retrofitted for cutting carbon emissions, the concept is still picking up in the private sector. “Many government buildings under the CPWD have been retrofitted, like the Rashtrapati Bhawan and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The concept is catching up now in the private sector as retrofitting to cut emissions is a win-win situation,” says Sanjay Seth, Energy Economist, Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

Aravali Mountains to become green again, and again and again

• A small news item in the vernacular daily amar ujala caught my eye. The gist of the item goes as follows
  
  =Forest department to plant 23 lac saplings
  This is double the number of saplings which were planted last year (i.e. last year they planted 12.5lac saplings)
  =Selected 200 villages where along with gram panchayat’s plantation will be done.(wonder in how many villages it was done last year, did the gram panchayat get involved last year or not?)
  =This 23 lacs will be spread over districts of gurgon, rewari,mewat,mahendergarh and faridabad.
  =Out of 325 villages, 200 have been choosen(wonder what the selection criterion was?)
  =The department will plant 23 lacs saplings while another 35 lacs saplings will be given out free.
  
  Breakup of the plantations is as follows
  
  Gurgaon 1lac 76thousand
  Faridabad 3lac 80thousand
  Mewat 4lacs
  Mehendrgarh 7lac 85 thousand
  Rewari 5lac 91thousand
  
  Reading this some questions came to my mind
  
  =Is there any idea of the 12.5 lacs saplings planted last year what was the survival rate?
  =If we assume that before the aravali project started there was 0% forest cover on the aravali, the project would have increased that forest cover to say x%. these annual plantation exercises should thus incrementally increase that forest cover. Has it happened ? (in mewat where I travel regularly I can say absolutely not, in Gurgaon I see a lot of kikkar. Locals tell me forest department spread kikkar seeds . u see kikkar if not managed grows as a weed and overpowers native species.)
  =How will the free supply be done? (Obviously when saplings have been made it has incurred costs. So mode of free supply important. 35lacs saplings are a lot of saplings to be given free. It can’t be one to one, it has to be through retail outlets, which ones and how? )
  =Which species of plants will be selected? Not kikkar. Kikkar overruns most native species and ruins a forest. I also did a background check on kikkar here are the results
  
  Current name: Prosopis chilensis
  Family: Fabaceae - Mimosoideae
  Prosopis chilensis is a small to medium sized tree up to 12 m in height and 1 m in diameter; bark brown, fissured; spines a pair, stout, yellow, glabrous; root system reportedly shallow and spreading. The leaves are compound, each with numerous leaflets along several pairs of pinnae. P. chilensis has 10-29 leaflets per pinnae and no more than two pairs of pinnae per leaf. The leaflets are about 1 cm apart. The flowers are greenish-white to yellow, abundant and occur in spike-like racemes. The pods are beige to off-white, about 15 cm long and 15 mm wide. The pods have a tendency to be rolled up along the axis. Seeds many, bean-shaped, oblong, 6-7 mm long, flattened, brown, each in 4-angled case.
  
  History of cultivation In South Africa and South West Africa (Namibia), P. chilensis was introduced in 1912 by Dinter (a botanist), who distributed it widely as a fodder and shade tree over the next few years. In other countries such as the Sudan, it has been introduced by foresters to combat desertification and is now a widespread weed in most areas of western and central parts of the country.Natural HabitatP. chilensis is found in the arid and semi-arid regions with ground water of between 3 and 10 m below the surface, such as drainage channels along ground water sinks. It has been observed to grow in seawater salinity. It is a common ruderal weed, coming up singly and in groups along roadsides, round habitations, on refuse dumps and in other disturbed habitats.

Geographic distribution Native : Argentina, Chile, Peru, UruguayExotic : Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, United States of America

Lead in toys

here's something i picked up from the net. this metal leads to a whole lot of stuff including cancers. parents BEWARE.
abhay

Toxic toy story
By Nitin Jugran Bahuguna, 15/11/2007 Source: The Hindu Business Line
When global toy manufacturer Mattel recalled millions of popular children's toys sold under its Fisher-Price brand in mid-August and September this year, as they were found to contain dangerous levels of toxic elements, concerns were raised for the first time in India about the toxicity of toys.A study on the toxic elements present in toys sold in Indian markets has revealed shockingly high levels of lead and cadmium — in varying concentrations — in all of the 111 toys collected from Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai last year. The study was conducted by Delhi-based NGO Toxics Link. According to Dr Abhay Kumar of Toxics Link and a co-author of the study, lead and cadmium act as stabilisers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) toys. Manufacturers also use PVC to add bright colours to the toys in order to attract children. He emphasises that when chewed or sucked by children, these toys put them at great risk.Health riskIndia has more than 130 million children below the age of six — an age when children chew and even swallow substances. This makes a large section of the population prone to lead and cadmium poisoning from toys. A large amount of these metals in the bloodstream could lead to complications such as brittleness of bones, mental disorders and even cancer, states Kumar.According to Prof Veena Kalra, Head of the Department of Paediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), exposure to lead toxicity in children could pose several health hazards such as impaired hearing and growth, affect the child’s IQ, lead to nerve disorders, anaemia and even cause death.The government has confirmed that several Chinese toys sold in the market contain high levels of cadmium and lead. The issue was discussed in the Rajya Sabha recently when Minister of State for Health Panabaka Lakshmi confirmed newspaper reports about toxic toys from China.Observing that most toys in Chennai and Mumbai were being imported from China, the Minister stated that lead is a known neuro and haematological toxin that can lead to delayed development and lower IQ in children, while cadmium primarily affects the kidneys.Lack of enforceable standardWith regard to safety guidelines for toys, the Minister said the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has published three standards. But, India does not have an enforceable standard for toys and it is doubtful if toy manufacturers have bothered to apply for the ISI mark. According to the Toxics Link study, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai have big toy markets. In fact, Mumbai is the regional hub for plastic toys. Most of the soft toys found there are made of PVC, and Chinese toys dominate. Unbranded toys have a huge demand among lower income groups.At upmarket shops, mostly branded toys are sold. Following the international outcry, Mattel withdrew 2,000 toys in its Batman series from the Indian market.But as the bulk of toys circulating in the cities come from the unorganised industry with no regulatory control, the crisis is far from over. Over 1,000 units are in the small-sector and a larger number in the cottage sector. The use of cheap recycled plastic is a cause for grave concern. Given that the toy industry volume is estimated at $1 billion in the organised sector and about $1.5 billion in the unorganised sector, it is alarming that toy manufacturers have not yet registered with the BIS.Cost of safetyBut manufacturers have their own explanation. “The BIS guidelines with regard to toy production are that it is self-regulatory and not mandatory. Also, toy manufacturers don’t register for the ISI mark for their products because it is an expensive procedure,” says Paresh Chawala, President, Toy Association of India.The association consists of 600 members, 250 wholesalers and 350 distributors. Chawala, however, agrees that in view of the ongoing controversy, the industry would need to take a more proactive approach, keeping in mind consumer concerns. “We held a meeting recently and decided to get all the information relating to the BIS rules so we can start the process for getting the ISI mark,” he says.

Environment Day celebrations, June 5

heck no! another environment day. so what would we see. poster making competition, cycle rallies, tree(sapling) plantation and a whole lot of government babus and netas extolling the virtues of saving environment and telling everybody that we should save the planet for our children blah! blah! blah!.

all these babus and netas and the junta they address would come to designated venues of various functions in air conditioned cars, buses, two wheelers etc.

oh my gosh! nobody seemed to notice that vehicles run on petrol/diesel, burning which releases carbon dioxide. the amount of Co2 which a vehicle emits to reach a function would be far greater than what the sapling will consume which has been planted(assuming it stays to grow into a tree) but why would anybody notice that when what people are noticing is their names and photos coming in the nextday newspaper and a sense of having achieved something by doing their moral duty.
poster making/painting competitions are done on paper which is thrown right after the competition. tea/coffee/water is served in plastic/thermocol cups, sancks are served in plastic plates etc, which will then be made into a nice heap and burnt after the event is over. All these emit Co2. :(
Well in Haryana this the practice and if anybody proves me wrong then i am ready to rewrite the whole script.

So why does everybody make the right noises and does nothing. i feel it is because we don't CARE a damn for environment. and why don't we care? it is because we were never sensitised by our parents, teachers and society when we were young. we feel our job towards environment is when we can make the right noises and at best plant a sapling in some public function.

i think the best way for states to celebrate this day is to ban all functions. we will be doing more for environment this way then when we organise functions.

at an individual level we can start garbage segregation at our households, we can start carrying a cloth bag to the market, we can switch off all our electricty for 1 hour every week..........

what we can do are divided into countless possibilities. what we need is a will. when the WILL is not there at the individual level how do we expect it at the state level and thus we end up make the right noises and doing nothing.

Washing cars

There was a news item in the indian express that people in gurgaon who wud be caught washing cars on public roads would be put behind bars(jail bars and not pub bars as most ggn'ites wd like ) this has been done as some intelligent people felt that washing cars was the biggest culprit to road damage. (hmmm :-)

interesting news and throws up a few questions

1. who wd catch these people?
2 who wd authenticate the same?
3. suppose i have my car parked inside the house i.e. away from the public road and i wash my car is it ok then?
4. how wd it be proved that the water from the car wash led to road damage and not inferior material used.
5. what about washing verandas which is a favourite hobby of most middle class homes. they feel washing verandas a sure shot way of keeping the house clean. the verandas in most household links o the driveway which is cemented and extends all the way to the road. so every morning there are countless bais washing with great gusto and the memsahibs supervising to see if any sq cm area does not get left.
6 and what about the garbage burning on the roadside by households. the heat from the burning loosens the tar on the road and lead to potholes.

well so many questions are flooding my mind but then i a mere mortal. most of us want somebody outside the regulate our social behaviour and those trying to regulate us try to do their best with results just a lot of smoke and little fire.

wish it said all those who wash their cars will be taken behind beer bars and will be made to drink silly and will then be allowed to find their way home. the fear of getting runover will be higher than threatning people that fir's will be lodged against them . Amen

Valentine Day: Love in a Brave New World

Another valentine day has passed. Again there were a whole lot of people in various excitement states. Some were excited as they felt this was it. The day when anyone they had being eyeing for so long would be theirs. There were a whole lot who were excited as they felt somebody perfect who they had been dreaming of would appear on the horizon miraculously. There were a third category of excited folks, some of who felt that this was against Indian culture while some others felt that they have to oppose those who feel this celebration being against our culture. Well God bless them all. I have nothing against excited people after all if young people are not excited and don’t show their excitement then what will be left of humankind, various shades of the old.

As the day progressed a thought crossed my mind. The whole marketing story line on valentine day is “ For someone special”. Valentine day as a concept is sold on expressing your love to your beloved blah blah blah blah So we have a whole lot of couples giving each other gifts of flowers, chocolates etc. A whole lot of them swear that they will remain true to each other for life. Well, HELLO! how will you stay true for a lifetime when this earth may not be able to support you for your lifetime.

Well where is the earth going and why will it not support? Weather patterns are going crazy. Snow in the month of February, warm conditions in the month of November, cold in the morning and warm in the evening… So I thought that when we talk true love, long term commitment how about having some new ideas for excitement on Valentine Day

Ideas for those excited for Love

· Gift a potted rose plant rather than cut roses. This will save a whole lot of plastic and tape, which is used to roll and present the cut roses. A rose plant will remain with your girl/boy and will remind her/him of you. This will also save a whole lot of petrol, which is normally wasted in trying to buy roses, as they are, quite mysteriously, in short supply on this day.

· Plant a tree together: If the idea is of being together why not see life grow as your relationship grows. After all if you truly love somebody you should love nature, as true love is unadulterated.

· Gift toys and gifts to underprivileged children together : This way you not only share time together you spread happiness around. After all true love is all about happiness.

· Spend time together making sure you don’t litter parks, monuments and other public places.




Ideas for those excited for Culture

· Group together and clean up public parks and national monuments. Do take the help of couples getting excited over each other.

· Make sure couple excited for love don’t make a nuisance of themselves on roads by breaking traffic rules.

· Make sure couples excited for love don’t make a nuisance of themselves in public places by littering.

· Try planting trees rather than burning cards, breaking windowpanes etc. Burning and breaking leads to pollution, which quickens the death of our planet.

· If protecting culture is what you are excited by OUR CULTURE TALKS ABOUT RESPECTING WOMEN, so make sure this year no child marriages are held, make sure no girl is forced to give dowry, no widow is made to go to the ashrams in Haridwar and Benaras, no village bars a person from lower caste not to draw water from the village pond etc. Believe me there are 10001 way to protect our culture and they are all very exciting. (The best part, this can be done the year round)

All the above involve bashing people and maybe more satisfying then bashing a few couples who anyway will enjoy privacy if not on valentine day then on some other day.

Love will prevail whether it is valentine day or not but humans need excuses and we must have various excuses for getting excited. Maybe we can try the above ideas next year round.

2007 the year of the Bond

One more reason to celebrate the new year as we are a few years from total destruction. The dudes in delhi would remark " aapa ko ki pharak penda heh!! "

TORONTO, december 29: A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists said on Thursday, citing climate change as a “major” reason for the event.
The Ayles Ice Shelf—66 sq km of it—broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 km south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic. Scientists discovered the event by using satellite imagery. Within one hour of breaking free, the shelf had formed as a new ice island, leaving a trail of icy boulders floating in its wake.
Warwick Vincent of Laval University, who studies Arctic conditions, travelled to the newly formed ice island and was amazed at the sight. “This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian north that have been in place for many thousands of years,” Vincent said. “We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead.”
The ice shelf was one of six major shelves remaining in Canada’s Arctic. They are packed with ancient ice that is more than 3,000 years old. Some scientists say it is the largest event of its kind in Canada in 30 years and that climate change was a major element.
“It is consistent with climate change,” Vincent said, adding that the remaining ice shelves are 90 per cent smaller than when they were first discovered in 1906. Derek Mueller, a polar researcher with Vincent’s team, said the ice shelves get weaker as temperatures rise. He visited Ellesmere Island in 2002 and noticed that another ice shelf had cracked in half. “We’re losing our ice shelves and this a feature of the landscape that is in danger of disappearing altogether from Canada,” Mueller said.
—ROB GILLIES

Happy Birthday…Here is a tree for you

here's an idea from ajay jain, another extraordinary mortal who cares about his planet. read on......


There are enough companies who take care to make their employees and customers feel good on their birthdays. It could be in the form of a cake or a day off for the birthday boy or girl at office, or a card sent to a customer. How about making these occasions more memorable?

Plant a tree. And ensure provision is made to ensure it is nurtured over the years. No point having dead saplings and half trees lying around, right?

The logistics of tree birthday parties
Here are some tips that could help an organization do a good job of tree parties:

Where? Identify spots where trees can be planted. There are enough organizations who can help you. Best if it is within or near your workplace open areas.

Too many employees or customers to make it practical to gift each a tree? Have a monthly ceremony where you plant one or more trees.

Click a photo: When you plant a tree, click a photo with the employee/s who it is for. Give them that photo to cherish for life. If your customers are not there, send a photo of the tree and tell them about it.

Don’t want to hurt the sentiments of the tree? What sentiments? Hey, come on, you don’t send photos using paper made from trees, do you? Trees have feelings too. Post these online.

Find a tree manager: You need the tree to looked after. Find someone to do it. A staffer maybe. Or outsourced.

No time to plant trees and look after them? Never mind, you have an honourable escape route. Find an agency or organization to do so for you. Pay them. No, it is all right: you do not have to have your manager running around trying to plant a tree.

Name the tree: Don’t make the trees feel like orphans. Or be without an identity. Give them a name. Maybe even after your own brands. Kit Kat is a decent name for a tree. So is Fido Dido or Ronald McDonald. Even Volvo, Nirma and Bazooka will do.

What are you waiting for? You have a tree birthday to plan!!

36000 marriages and the Polar ice caps

so there are 36000 x 2 suckers who are going to tell each other today that they will live with each other for the rest of their lives. well guys i have news for you. the fire that you lit to go around is one of the reason why the polar ice caps are melting :)))

seriously now is the time for couples to do something about their environment if they want to enjoy each other's company and have a long life. for all those who are taking insurances and buying property so that their children will have a nice life .... WELL READ THIS ...................................

A new scientific research report predicts that the frozen sea areas in the Arctic circle will be completely gone by the summer 2040 due to the impact of global warming resulting from greenhouse gas emmissions.


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Carbon dioxide emissions growth accelerating, reduction efforts fail
According to the study, by a team of scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the University of Washington, and McGill University, scenarios run on supercomputers show that sea ice could be reduced so abruptly that, within about 20 years, it may begin retreating four times faster than at any time in the observed record.

The increasing rate of melting sea ice is contributing to a positive feedback system, which feeds global warming further because open ocean absorbs heat from the sun rather than reflects back into space as does ice.

"As the ice retreats, the ocean transports more heat to the Arctic and the open water absorbs more sunlight, further accelerating the rate of warming and leading to the loss of more ice," says NCAR scientist Marika Holland, the study's lead author. "This is a positive feedback loop with dramatic implications for the entire Arctic region.

"We have already witnessed major losses in sea ice, but our research suggests that the decrease over the next few decades could be far more dramatic than anything that has happened so far," "These changes are surprisingly rapid."

The team of researchers studied a series of seven simulations run on the NCAR-based Community Climate System Model for studying climate change. The scientists first tested the model by simulating fluctuations in ice cover since 1870, including a significant shrinkage of late-summer ice from 1979 to 2005. The simulations closely matched observations, a sign that the model was accurately capturing the present-day climate variability in the Arctic.

The team then simulated future ice loss. The model results indicate that, if greenhouse gases continue to build up in the atmosphere at the current rate, the Arctic's future ice cover will go through periods of relative stability followed by abrupt retreat. For example, in one model simulation, the September ice shrinks from about 2.3 million to 770,000 square miles in a 10-year period. By 2040, only a small amount of perennial sea ice remains along the north coasts of Greenland and Canada, while most of the Arctic basin is ice-free in September. The winter ice also thins from about 12 feet thick to less than 3 feet.

There is some positive news in the report however. According to the study, mankind can still affect and slow down the melting trend.

The scientists also conclude by examining 15 additional leading climate models, that if emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were to slow, the likelihood of rapid ice loss would decrease. Instead, summer sea ice would probably undergo a much slower retreat.

"Our research indicates that society can still minimize the impacts on Arctic ice," Holland said.

The Conspiracy: Watch What You Inhale

The media has been full of stories of the KGB agent Litvinenko's murder by polonium 210. i found this in today's indian express. have fun and inhale to your heart's content. better do it near somebody smoking in a public place :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
When the former KGB agent Aleksandr V. Litvinenko was found to have been poisoned by radioactive polonium 210 last week, there was one group that must have been particularly horrified: the tobacco industry.

The industry has been aware at least since the 1960s that cigarettes contain significant levels of polonium. Exactly how it gets into tobacco is not entirely understood, but uranium “daughter products” naturally present in soils seem to be selectively absorbed by the tobacco plant, where they decay into radioactive polonium. High-phosphate fertilisers may worsen the problem, since uranium tends to associate with phosphates. In 1975, Philip Morris scientists wondered whether the secret to tobacco growers’ longevity in the Caucasus might be that farmers there avoided phosphate fertilisers.

How much polonium is in tobacco? In 1968, the American Tobacco Company began a secret research effort to find out. Using precision analytic techniques, the researchers found that smokers inhale an average of about .04 picocuries of polonium 210 per cigarette. The company also found, no doubt to its dismay, that the filters being considered to help trap the isotope were not terribly effective. (Disclosure: I’ve served as a witness in litigation against the tobacco industry.)

A fraction of a trillionth of a curie (a unit of radiation named for polonium’s discoverers, Marie and Pierre Curie) may not sound like much, but remember that we’re talking about a powerful radionuclide disgorging alpha particles — the most dangerous kind when it comes to lung cancer—at a much higher rate even than the plutonium used in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Polonium 210 has a half life of about 138 days, making it thousands of times more radioactive than the nuclear fuels used in early atomic bombs.

We should also recall that people smoke a lot of cigarette—about 5.7 trillion worldwide every year, enough to make a continuous chain from the earth to the sun and back, with enough left over for a few side-trips to Mars. If .04 picocuries of polonium are inhaled with every cigarette, about a quarter of a curie of one of the world’s most radioactive poisons is inhaled along with the tar, nicotine and cyanide of all the world’s cigarettes smoked each year. Pack-and-a-half smokers are dosed to the tune of about 300 chest X-rays.

Is it therefore really correct to say, as Britain’s Health Protection Agency did this week, that the risk of having been exposed to this substance remains low? That statement might be true for whatever particular supplies were used to poison Litvinenko, but consider also this: London’s smokers (and those Londoners exposed to secondhand smoke), taken as a group, probably inhale more polonium 210 on any given day than the former spy ingested with his sushi. No one knows how many people may be dying from the polonium part of tobacco. There are hundreds of toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke, and it’s hard to sort out how much one contributes compared to another—and interactive effects can be diabolical.

In a sense, it doesn’t really matter. Taking one toxin out usually means increasing another—one reason “lights” don’t appear to be much safer. What few experts will dispute is the magnitude of the hazard: the World Health Organisation estimates that 10 million people will be dying annually from cigarettes by the year 2020—a third of these in China. Cigarettes, which claimed about 100 million lives in the 20th century, could claim close to a billion in the present century.

The tobacco industry of course doesn’t like to have attention drawn to the more exotic poisons in tobacco smoke. Arsenic, cyanide and nicotine, bad enough. But radiation? As more people learn more about the secrets hidden in the golden leaf, it may become harder for the industry to align itself with candy and coffee - and harder to maintain, as we often hear in litigation, that the dangers of tobacco have long been “common knowledge”. I suspect that even some of our more enlightened smokers will be surprised to learn that cigarette smoke is radioactive, and that these odd fears spilling from a poisoned KGB man may be molehills compared with our really big cancer mountains.

Robert N. Proctor is a professor of the history of science at Stanford University

Global warming could cast chill on India’s growth story: UK report

This story was carried by indian express on oct 31st. hold your breath and read on......


NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 30: Global warming and climate change could affect India’s growth story unless a range of steps are taken to address the effects of increased surface temperature and its effect on monsoon pattern and river flows.
Meet to set up roadmap for saving ozone layerIndia Inc tops charts with 53% of global carbon credits demandMarket for greenExplainedGreen to black: India Inc tops carbon trading, firms cash in
This is according to a report released in London today commissioned by UK Chancellor Gordon Brown and authored by Nicholas Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank. In his 700-page report, Stern calls for an urgent shift to a low-carbon economy in countries like India which could translate into huge business opportunities for the developed world.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair called the report the “final word’’ on why the world must act now. “The case for action is the final piece of the jigsaw to convince every single political leader, including those in America, China and India, that this must be top of their agenda,” he said.
There is a wealth of evidence quantifying the economic costs of climate change in India. Experts from the University of Reading have estimated that mean summer rainfall in India will increase by 10% — along with rainfall intensity — and this will be accompanied by more regional variations. This is likely to affect agriculture and, therefore, GDP growth.
The review identifies three elements of policy required for an effective response: carbon pricing, through tax, trading or regulation, so that people pay the full social cost of their actions; policy to support innovation and deployment of low-carbon technologies and removal of barriers to energy efficiency and measures to inform, educate and persuade.
Some of the key predictions, according to the Stern report, of changes over the next 100 years:
• Regional climate models suggest 2.5-5 degrees Celsius rise in mean surface temperature. Regionally within India, northern India will be warmer.
• 20% rise in summer monsoon rainfall. Extreme temperatures and precipitations are expected to increase.
• All states will have increased rainfall except Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu where it will decrease. Extreme precipitation will increase, particularly along the western coast and west central India.
• Hydrological cycle is likely to be altered. Drought and flood intensity will increase. Krishna, Narmada, Cauvery, Tapi river basins will experience severe water stress and drought condition and Mahanadi, Godavari, Brahmani will experience enhanced flood.
• Crop yield decrease with temperature and rise with precipitation. Prediction of loss of wheat is more. Rabi crops will be worse hit which threatens food security.
• Economic loss due to temperature rise estimated between 9-25%. GDP loss may be to the tune of 0.67%. Coastal agriculture suffers most (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka), Punjab, Haryana, Western UP will face reduction in yield; West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh will gain marginally.
• 100-cm sea level rise can lead to welfare loss of $1259 million in India equivalent to 0.36% of GNP.
• Frequencies and intensities of tropical cyclones in Bay of Bengal will increase particularly in the post-monsoon period and flooding will increase in low-lying coastal areas.
• Malaria will continue to be endemic in current malaria-prone states (Orissa, West Bengal and southern parts of Assam north of West Bengal). It may shift from the central Indian region to the south-western coastal states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala. New regions (Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram) will become malaria prone and transmission duration window will widen in northern and western states and shorten in southern states.


sonu.jain@expressindia.com

Diwali, Crackers, Chemicals and the Ozone Layer

The festival of lights Deepawali is again with us. I have this feeling deep down within me that we should seriously look at renaming this festival. It should now be called Patekeawali(with the number of crackers that are exploded) or Paiseawali(with the amount of money which is spend, some wisely and a lot unwisely), or it could be called Daruawali or Kharidawali with the amount of liquor which is consumed or the amount of purchases an average family makes.

In Deepawali it is the crackers which affect me the most. They affect me both at a physically as well as the emotionally level. Every time a cracker is lit I think of the money going up in smoke. Money that could be utilized for a poor child’s education. Besides the money it is the environment and the health angle that disturbs me a lot. Here’s why …….

Chemicals Found in Crackers and their affect on Health

Cadmium
Causes increased blood pressure and a disease “Itai – Itai” which makes bones brittle and lead to multiple fractures.
Can damage kidneys and cause anemia

Lead
Affects central nervous system
Cancer of lungs and kidneys
Young children can suffer mental retardation and semi permanent brain damage.

Nitrite
Nausea, vomiting, cyanosis, collapse and coma
Fall in blood pressure, rapid pulse, headaches and visual disturbances

Nitrare
Large amounts lead to dizziness, abdominal cramps, vomiting. bloody diarrhoea, weakness, convulsions and collapse.
Increased cancer incidents

Sulphur
Affects upper respiratory tract and bronchi.
May cause edema of the lungs.
Can produce respiratory paralysis

Magnesium
Particles embedded in the skin can produce gaseous blebs and gas gangrene.
Deterioration in the central nervous system.
Main Symptoms of exposure : Sleepiness, weakness, emotional disturbances and paralysis.

Phosphorous in PO4
Affects central nervous system
Acute effect on liver
Severe eye damage

Copper
Irritation in respiratory tract
Excess absorption causes “ Wilson’s disease” where excess copper is deposited in the brain, skin, liver, pancreas and middle muscular layer of the heart.

Zinc
Skin irritant
Effects pulmonary system
Stimulates the sensation of vomiting.

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) exposure to the level of 100 ppm results in headache and reduced mental acuity. The effects are more pronounced in people with heart, lung or central nervous system diseases. Sulphur dioxide is readily soluble and dissolves in the larger airways of the respiratory system. This stimulates a contraction at 2 to 5 parts per million (ppm). At higher concentrations severe contraction restricts the breathing process.

Noise :High decibel level results in restlessness, anger, fidgetiness, impulsive behaviour and over-reaction to situations. Most crackers used have more than 80 dB noise that can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss, high blood pressure, heart attack and sleep disturbances. Children, pregnant women and those suffering from respiratory problems suffer the most due to excessive noise. It results in making them hyperactive or withdrawn.

To study the chemical composition, particularly of metallic and non-metallic components of crackers, Toxics Link got some samples of sparklers ("phuljari" in Hindi and "mathappu" in Tamil) and pots ("anar" in Hindi and "pusvanam" in Tamil) analysed at the Bombay Natural History Society Laboratory, Mumbai. The following were the chief findings of the laboratory tests.

The results showed presence of highly toxic heavy metals like cadmium and lead in addition to other metals like copper, manganese, zinc, sodium, magnesium and potassium in the fire-crackers.

· Both nitrates and nitrites of few of these metals were present. Both these radicals are oxidising agents that are a ready source of oxygen in the process of combustion.
· Oxides of sulphur in the form of sulphate and phosphorous in the form of phosphate were present in the samples. The mean levels of cadmium in the crackers analysed were 5.2 mg/100g. Anar and wire showed 6 and 8mg/100g, respectively.
· The mean level of lead was 462 mg/100g with a maximum in green sparkle showing 850mg/100g. Magnesium was found in huge quantities when compared to other metals like copper, manganese and zinc. The mean levels of magnesium was 2622mg/100g and of copper was 744mg/100g. Zinc was the least among the various metals detected with a mean level of 324mg/100g.
· Four acidic radicals --nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and sulphate-- were also detected. The proportion of nitrite, phosphate and sulphate in the crackers was almost similar and ranged between 1160 to 1420 mg/100gm, while nitrates which are strong oxidising agents, were found in considerable amounts when compared to the other three. Their mean levels were 1624mg/100g.
· Among these, oxides of sulphur, phosphorous and nitrogen are very corrosive and highly acidic while carbon monoxide, one of the oxides of carbon is an extremely poisonous gas whose presence cannot be detected by our sensory system as it is odorless.
· Carbon monoxide combines more than 200 times as readily as oxygen, so that low concentration levels have adverse health effects.

So guys burn not only your pockets, the ozone layer but also your heart, lungs and kidneys as mine are anyway in smoke.

Happy Deepawali