Newly-inaugurated president Joseph R. Biden, Jr. has reversed two key policy moves of his predecessor, Donald Trump: namely, the latter’s decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change and to stop U.S. funding to the World Health Organization (WHO). Biden, who was sworn in on January 20th at the United States Capitol in […]
environment
Loss of green space in India shown to be associated with higher cardiometabolic risk
Loss of green space due to urban development may be associated with an increase in several cardiometabolic risk factors, according to a study conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). The study investigated the association between land-use changes in a periurban area south of Telangana state capital Hyderabad where urbanisation – involving the […]
Climate crisis: India earns high marks tackling it in CCPI
The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) ranks India as one of the ten best performers on tackling the climate crisis for the second year in a row. The CCPI, released earlier this week, put India at tenth place out of 57 countries grouped together as collectively accounting for more than ninety percent of global greenhouse […]
Cyclone Nivar: Impact in India further evidence of the countries vulnerability to the effects of climate change
Cyclone Nivar has caused devastation, injuries and fatalities after making landfall in southern India where torrential rainfall has lashed coastal areas of the union territory of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu state. Despite the fact it eventually weakened into a severe cyclonic storm and had been pinpointed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) as early as […]
Stubble-burning smog to blame for increased COVID death rate, says Delhi’s Health Minister
Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain has attributed the high COVID-19 death rate in the national capital to pollution caused by stubble-burning in neighbouring states. However, the Minister said that he expected a downtrend to be seen in the next two to three weeks. Jain told reporters that the pollution in Delhi came as a result […]
Child health during COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted manifold effects on society and health from all angles – including on child health. On this Universal Children’s Day, it is worthwhile assessing the impact. Telangana governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan pointed to child health earlier this week. She called for more attention to be paid to child health; as reported […]
COVID-19 situation in Delhi “unprecendented” says Niti but no new lockdown on the horizon
The COVID-19 situation in Delhi is “unprecedented” according to government think tank Niti Aayog. However, the state health minister has disavowed a new lockdown. During a meeting chaired by Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, Niti Aayog chairman Dr Vinod K. Paul warned that the COVID-19 situation in Delhi “is likely to become worse.” […]
Water crisis imminent in India’s cities, report states
Multiple Indian cities face a water crisis based on a report identifying “water risk” in the world’s cities. Of the 100 cities the report flags, almost one-third are in India. The Water Risk Filter – a digital tool developed by the World Wide Fund for Nature and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) – identifies a […]
Pollution in Delhi: Crop burning to blame?
Air pollution in Delhi is on the upswing, reports indicate – and analysts are pointing their fingers at farm fires. Stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring states has been highlighted as a probable cause of the uptick in pollution levels in the national capital. Saturday saw 3,216 stubble burning fires observed over Punjab, Haryana, Uttar […]
Air pollution in Delhi: Kejriwal takes a stand
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has taken a stand on air pollution in Delhi as the state government launches a campaign to safeguard the national capital’s air quality. Kejriwal said that the Yudh Pradushan ke Virudh campaign to fight air pollution in Delhi would provide separate and specific plans for thirteen identified air pollution hotspots. The […]