India has slipped on the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Global Hunger Index (GHI), ranking 102nd out of 117 countries. Countries are scored by the GHI between zero and 100, with India scoring 30.3 – worse than the score for the South Asia region as a whole, which the GHI puts at 29.3. India fares […]
environmental health
Pollution season: Is Delhi ready?
Authorities in Delhi have been instructed to formulate easily implementable plans for pollution control in the national capital’s pollution hotspots, as the winter – a time associated with intense air pollution in the city – arrives. “Our focus this year has to be implementation of action plans on hotspots. However, these action plans cannot be […]
Environmental toxins: AIIMS issues warning
A grave warning has been issued by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) about the sheer number of people with dangerous levels of environmental toxins in their systems. AIIMS physicians tested 216 severely ill patients for whom there was no clear reason behind their ailment. Of these, 32 (14.8 percent) displayed […]
WHO urges action on health effects of climate change
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on world leaders to take action on the health effects of climate change, calling it “one of the world’s most urgent health threats.” In a statement, Tedros said “only when countries can provide health services to all, including those in greatest jeopardy from climate […]
India must stop deforesting its mountains if it wants to fight floods
By Gayathri D Naik, SOAS, University of London Floods are now an annual nightmare in many parts of southern and western India. Valleys in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala that weren’t considered flood-prone until recently are at risk. During floods and landslides in August 2019, two villages were completely destroyed killing several people, […]
Recycling plastic into diesel: A novel approach
Recycling is one of the main ways we are encouraged to limit our output of plastic waste. In Dehradun, the Council of Scientific Research’s Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP) is taking a somewhat novel approach to the practice by converting plastic waste into diesel oil. A plant for this purpose has been established at the […]
Plastic ban calls in the face of an environmental crisis
One of India’s leading youth politicians has called for a plastic ban to be enacted. “The need of the hour is to ban production, usage and sale of plastic,” proclaimed Aditya Thackeray, who leads the youth wing of the Shiv Sena political party. In an earlier tweet, Thackeray said “banning production, use and sale of […]
Floods in Kerala kill 111, lakhs displaced
Floods continue to ravage Kerala where the death toll has crossed 100. At the time of writing, 111 fatalities have been reported with the Malappuram district being the worst-affected. The floods have led to mass displacement. More than 2.27 lakh people are being sheltered in 1,551 relief camps. Excess rainfall during the monsoon season triggered […]
Air pollution and the risk of emphysema
Long-term exposure to air pollution ups the risk of developing emphysema in a similar way to smoking, according to a recent study. The research – carried out by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), both part of the US National Institutes of Health – […]
Heavy flooding continues to ravage India
Amidst the heavy flooding plaguing eastern and northern India, a tiger displaced from Assam’s flood-ravaged Kaziranga National Park sought refuge in a nearby house – much to the shock of residents. The tiger fled the park where 92 animals have drowned. Many are still trapped by the floodwaters. In a viral photo shared by an […]