Wildflower Assam, a conservation and livelihood group of CCER, welcomes Army initiative to remove spike used as jumbo barrier in the Narengi Cantonment in Narengi, Guwahati . According to a report published in the Assam Tribune, the Army authorities are in the process of removing the spiked barrier erected inside the Narangi cantonment to “keep away elephants” and the process is likely to be completed within a week’s time.
This was informed by top Army officers today during a meeting with forest officials. wildflower suggests to build up bio fencing and dig pond in the edge area of the cantonment. Wild elephant will use water sources and lessen elephant entry into the cantonment as well as depredation in the area.
The forest team was led by the DFO of Guwahati Wildlife Division, while the Army side was headed by its station commander.
“The Army authorities conceded that the structure was not right and regretted its construction. They claimed that an earlier request by the forest authorities to remove it was also considered, but due to some communication gap it was delayed,” a forest official said.
“Now, they said they are in the process of removing it, and given the type of structure, it would take about a week’s time to remove it. After it is completed, the Army authorities agreed to take a team of forest officials to the site for verification,” the sources said.
Army
sources said several other measures, most of which were suggested by
the forest department, were being taken to keep away elephants from the
cantonment. “We are planting trees and digging trenches as deterrents.
The trenches are being built in such a manner that even if an elephant
is trapped, it can be taken out easily,” the sources said.
The
spiked barrier which had claimed lives of at least two elephants in the
past one year and injured another had drawn sharp criticism. The barrier
was basically aimed at securing the Army’s supply depot which is often
raided by elephants in search of food.
At least three to four
elephants virtually live permanently in and around the cantonment
located in the vicinity of the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary. Herds also
keep frequenting the cantonment.
In open letter, 108 economists say Indian statistics were ‘being influenced and controlled by political considerations’.9 hours ago
A group of more than 100 experts have sounded a pre-election alarm over Indian economic data, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s government of tweaking or burying unwelcoming numbers.
Modi is vulnerable over his economic record in the polls starting on April 11, in particular over a failureto meet promises to create enough jobs for the million Indians entering the labour market each month.
The warning comes after India‘s central bank chief quit in December following a spat over alleged government interference. His successor, a Modi ally, oversaw an economy-boosting cut in interest rates last month in his first monetary policy meeting.READ MORE
The 108 economists and social scientists said in an open letter on Friday that Indian statistics were “under a cloud for being influenced and indeed even controlled by political considerations”.
“[Any] statistics that cast an iota of doubt on the achievement of the government seem to get revised or suppressed on the basis of some questionable ideology,” they said.
The opposition Congress party of Rahul Gandhi, who has called Modi’s record on employment a “national disaster”, jumped on the letter.
“How much more can this govt. embarrass us on a global level?,” the party said on its official Twitter account.
Economists in fellow emerging Asian giant China and abroad have long suspected that data there is also massaged, often noting that full-year gross domestic product hits Beijing’s pre-set targets with suspicious regularity.
‘Highest in a decade!’
In 2015, the Indian Central Statistics Office (CSO) revised economic output numbers for past years, changing the base year and showing significantly faster and questionable growth rates.
The letter also questioned a revised growth rate of 8.2 percent in 2016-17, “the highest in a decade”, that “seems to be at variance with the evidence marshalled by many economists”.READ MORE
That raised particular suspicion since it was when “demonetisation” – one of Modi’s biggest and most derided economic policies when 86 percent of banknotes were withdrawn – hit businesses hard.
This was followed in 2017 by the tardy nationwide rollout of Goods and Services Tax(GST), which has been praised by experts but has had considerable teething problems.
The letter also noted that a major and overdue survey on employment has still not been released. Two senior statistics officials have resigned in protest against the delay.
Press reports have said the study, the first of its kind since 2011-12, showed unemployment was at its highest since the 1970s. The government says it has not been finalised.
“The national and global reputation of India’s statistical bodies is at stake. More than that, statistical integrity is crucial for generating data that would feed into economic policy-making and that would make for honest and democratic political discourse,” the report said.
Signatories included Sripad Motiram from the University of Massachusetts Boston, Paul Niehaus of the University of California San Diego and Abhijit Banerjee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
“Quality of data has deteriorated and governmental interference has created an atmosphere where we don’t have objective assessment of India’s economic growth,” Ashutosh Datar, an independent economist, told AFP news agency. “The government’s interference has created a huge problem.”
After marathon talks in Nairobi, countries appeared to have reached a deal over throwaway plastic items such as bags, cups and cutlery to reduce the more than eight million tonnes of plastics entering oceans each year.
NAIROBI: Nations on Friday committed to “significantly reduce” single-use plastics over the next decade, in a series of voluntary pledges that green groups warned fell short of tackling Earth’s pollution crisis.
After marathon talks in Nairobi, countries appeared to have reached a deal over throwaway plastic items such as bags, cups and cutlery to reduce the more than eight million tonnes of plastics entering oceans each year.
The final ministerial statement — issued on a day of youth protests against climate change — made only two references to man-made global warming and none to the fossil fuels that drive it.
It said countries would “address the damage to our ecosystems caused by the unsustainable use and disposal of plastic products, including by significantly reducing single-use plastic products by 2030.”
Sources close to the talks told AFP that several rich nations, led by the United States, were influential in watering down the pledge.
An initial ministerial statement at the beginning of the UN environment assembly this week had proposed a commitment to “phase out single-use plastics… by 2025” — a far stronger promise than the compromise nations appear to have reached.
“It’s hard to find one solution for all member states,” said Siim Kiisler, UN assembly president, told journalists before the final decision.
“The environment is at a turning point. We don’t need verbose documents, we need concrete commitments.”
The world currently produces more than 300 million tonnes of plastics annually, and there are at least five trillion plastic pieces floating in our oceans, scientists have estimated.
When asked specifically whether the US had played a spoiler role during the week’s negotiations, Kiisler told journalists: “I will not answer that question.”
Geo-engineering dispute
The UN this week released its periodic assessment of the health of our planet.
As much as a quarter of all premature death and disease is caused by manmade pollution, environmental damage and a lack of access to clean sanitation, said the Global Environmental Outlook report.
Joyce Msuya, the UN’s interim environment head, said states had reached consensus on “issues vital to human and planetary health”.
But unlike the UN’s parallel process on climate change, the environmental assembly has no legal means of enforcing what countries promise.
The summit started on a sombre note after several UN staffers perished in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on Sunday.
Delegates on Friday held a minute’s silence at the start of the final plenary, and UN staff lit a string of candles along the assembly hall.
Another major bone of contention during negotiations was geo-engineering, the use of untested, large-scale infrastructure projects to mitigate the climate impact of manmade emissions.
A Swiss proposal for greater oversight on these potentially powerful but risky projects was met with “fierce opposition” from the US and Saudi Arabia, one source close to the talks told AFP.
Green groups fear geo-engineering such as carbon-capture and so-called “solar radiation management” — essentially pumping reflective material into the atmosphere to bounce back more of the Sun’s rays — would allow richer nations to burn fossil fuels well into the future while seeming to commit to tackle climate change.
Even if these schemes eased global warming, they would not address the carbon dioxide emissions that are acidifying the oceans, say experts.
“They want to avoid further regulation, governance, and oversight over these technologies and it’s definitely in the interest of the fossil-fuel industry,” said Linda Schneider, senior programme officer of International Climate Policy at Germany’s Heinrich Boell Institute.
Charities gave a lukewarm reception to the commitments due Friday.
“World leaders have agreed some important steps to safeguard the environment,” Harjeet Singh of ActionAid told AFP.
“But we cannot continue to ignore the bigger picture — rising global inequality is driving unsustainable levels of consumption and destroying the world’s natural resources.”COMMENT
Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid said “more was expected from this meeting to tackle the one existential environmental crisis of our times: climate change.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
At least 49 people are dead and dozens are injured after a gunman opened fire on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday morning. It appears to be a carefully planned racist attack. Police say they also found and defused an unspecified number of explosives, and the Australian suspect is in custody.
The Latest
• An Australian man in his late 20s has been charged with murder • Three other people, two men and a woman, are in custody and police are investigating their involvement in the attack
The attack
New Zealand police said 41 people were killed at Al Noor Mosque, which is in the center of the city, then seven more were fatally shot about three miles away at a mosque in Linwood, a suburb about three miles away. Another person died at the hospital.
The attack on Al Noor mosque began at about 1:45 p.m., where people were gathered for Friday prayers. Police say the shooter broadcast the shooting on Facebook Live. The AP has a description of the 17-minute video:
A video that was apparently livestreamed by the shooter shows the attack in horrifying detail. The gunman spends more than two minutes inside the mosque spraying terrified worshippers with bullets again and again, sometimes re-firing at people he has already cut down.
He then walks outside to the street, where he shoots at people on the sidewalk. Children’s screams can be heard in the distance as he returns to his car to get another rifle.
The gunman then walks back into the mosque, where there are at least two dozen people lying on the ground. After walking back outside and shooting a woman there, he gets back in his car, where the song “Fire” by English rock band “The Crazy World of Arthur Brown” can be heard blasting from the speakers. The singer bellows, “I am the god of hellfire!” and the gunman drives away. The video then cuts out.
Len Peneha, who lives next to the mosque, told the AP that he saw a man dressed in black military-type gear enter the building. He then heard dozens of shots and saw people fleeing the building. Peneha said he saw the gunman run out of the mosque, dropping what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon in his driveway. Peneha then entered the mosque, and brought five survivors back to his home.
“I saw dead people everywhere. There were three in the hallway, at the door leading into the mosque, and people inside the mosque,” he said. “I don’t understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It’s ridiculous.”
The victims
Local health officials said 48 people were being treated at Christchurch Hospital for gunshot wounds, and some would require multiple surgeries. About 200 family members are gathered at the hospital awaiting news.
Many are still trying to locate their loved ones, the New Zealand Heraldreported. “I just want to know he’s safe, and I’m praying and hoping that he will call,” Azila Rahmad said, referring to her husband.
The alleged shooter and his motives
A 28-year-old white Australian man has been arrested and charged with murder in the attack. He is expected to appear in court on Saturday morning. Officials said he had not appeared on any security watch lists.
Authorities have not released the shooter’s name. But early reports indicate that he left behind a rambling white supremacist manifesto that cites Anders Breivik as an influence. In 2011, Breivik, also a white supremacist, shot and killed 77 young adults who were attending a Workers’ Youth League camp in Norway; since then, his actions and manifesto appear to have become a touchstone for other white supremacists committed to mass violence. Christopher Hasson, the U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant arrested for plotting the targeted killings of several left-wing politicians and journalists, also cited Breivik in his own correspondence.
According to the AP, the shooter said he came to New Zealand just to train for the attack, and he selected the location to show that no part of the world is free from “mass immigration.” He said that he planned to kill more people at a mosque in Ashburton, if he could make it there after targeting Christchurch and Linwood. He said that while he’d interacted with many white nationalist groups in the past, he was acting on his own.
White supremacist violence is on the rise in the U.S., but Friday’s tragedy is unusual for New Zealand, a country with a low murder rate and a population of just under 5 million.
In 2017 there were 48 homicides in New Zealand. There have been 49 so far today.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacina Ardern, announced last year that the country would increase its annual refugee quota from 1,000 to 1,500 in 2020. Her party had campaigned on raising the number of refugees welcomed into the country.
The investigation
Police arrested three men and a woman after the attack, but later said one of the arrests was not related to the shooting. Prime Minister Ardern said of the suspects, “these are people who I would describe as having extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand.”
Though New Zealand authorities said they have no reason to believe there are any other suspects, the national threat level has been raised to “high,” the second-highest level, for the first time. Air New Zealand canceled at least 17 flights, saying they did not have the resources to properly screen passengers after the shootings.
Two homes in Dunedin, about 220 miles south of Christchurch, were evacuated around what police called a “location of interest,” according to the Associated Press.
The reaction
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern flew to Christchurch following a press conference. “They are us,” she said of the Muslims targeted by the shooter. “The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. They have no place in New Zealand. There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence, which it is clear this act was.”
At least one right-wing senator in the shooter’s home country, however, disagreed. Australian senator Fraser Anning said that while he was opposed to violence, the shooter’s actions “highlighted the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand, of the increasing Muslim presence.”
The Kaladan project aims to connect India and Myanmar by sea and land and is expected to be operational by 2020.
Senior Indian army officers have confirmed that more than 12000 Indian troops were deployed along the India-Myanmar border between February 17 and March 2 but categorically dismissed reports of a cross-border strike by Indian armed forces along the lines of last month’s air force strike on Balakot in Pakistan.
The recent deployment, which reportedly comprised mainly of Assam Rifles units being moved south to the Myanmar border, took place simultaneous to a crackdown by the Myanmar army against rebels who were threatening and trying to extort money from Indian personnel working on the USD 484-billion Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project in Myanmar being funded by India. The project aims to connect India and Myanmar by sea and land and is expected to be operational by 2020.
While the officers confirmed that India and Myanmar were in touch diplomatically ahead of the operation with the two armies holding several meetings to plan it, it was by no means a cross-border strike as is being portrayed in some reports. “We operated in coordination with the Myanmar army and our main aim was to prevent these elements from moving into India,” said a second senior officer in the military establishment, who did not want to be named.
“We don’t need to cross the Myanmar border because there is a mutual understanding on both sides and the Myanmar army largely obliges with whatever we ask them for,” said a senior army officer closely monitoring the North-east. “The Myanmar rebels have been creating more problems on their side than ours. At their request, we had killed 5 of their rebels and captured 8-10 on our side in 2017. Thus, the Myanmar army, too, struck the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khalang) HQ in Taga on our behalf”.
At least 12 rebel positions were destroyed by the Myanmar Army which was armed with Indian hardware, a senior army officer said. Among other things, India shared radio sets with the Myanmar Army for “ease of communication and to prevent incidents of friendly fire.”
While confirming that at least one soldier of the Myanmar Army was critically injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast, they dismissed reports that two Indian army jawans had been killed in a skirmish with Myanmar-based rebels in Vathuampui on the Mizo-Myanmar border.
The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of UNSC was moved by France, UK and US on February 27
Committee members had 10 working days to raise any objections to the proposal
Just before the deadline was to expire, China put a “technical hold” on the proposal
China yet again put on hold aproposal at the UN for a ban on Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, bringing to a halt a renewed push by France, US and UK to blacklist the Pakistan-based terrorist after the Pulwama attack.
China has thrice earlier put the same proposal on a ‘technical hold’ before finally terminating the proposal. The hold can last up to a maximum of nine months, after which China can again use its veto power to formally block, or terminate, the proposal.
The Indian government said it was disappointed by the outcome. “This has prevented action by the international community to designate the leader of Jaish-e-Muhammed, a proscribed and active terrorist organization which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in J&K on February 14, 2019,” it said in a statement.
“The ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions committee (1267 Sanctions Committee), upon completion of the no-objection period on March 13, 2019, was not able to come to a decision on the proposal for listing Mohammed Masood Azhar Alvi under the UN Sanctions regime, on account of a member placing the proposal on hold,” it added.
The government said it was grateful for the efforts of the member states who moved the designation proposal. “We will continue to pursue all available avenues to ensure that terrorist leaders who are involved in heinous attacks on our citizens are brought to justice,” it said.
__________________________________________
It hardly matters that Masood Azhar has escaped once again
by Nirupama Subramanian
By the time you read this, Masood Azhar, the head of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), may have been listed under the United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 as a “global terrorist”. Or he may have escaped once again. Either way, it hardly matters. India loses too much sleep — and national energy — over 1267.
For sure, a listing will provide some satisfaction as a diplomatic victory. China had blocked Azhar’s listing over the years, and if it did not put up an objection this time, something has certainly changed. It will help India claim the shift as the result of the pressure brought to bear on Beijing in the days since the Pulwama attack and the India-Pakistan military standoff that followed. The NDA and BJP will use it as evidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diplomatic prowess. In the event he is not, India will rage, mainly through its media, against the country that prevented it.
But beyond that, 1267, adopted unanimously in October 1998, and strengthened through more than a dozen other resolutions passed over the two decades since, has proved remarkably ineffective in ending the support and safe havens that India-focussed terrorists and terrorist groups get in Pakistan. The al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee set up to implement the resolution (now renamed The Daesh and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee) updates its list of terrorists and terrorist entities every year. When the “consolidated list” of the Sanctions Committee was updated in February 2019, of the 262 individuals and 82 entities who figure in it, more than 100 are from Pakistan — either Pakistan nationals, or Pakistani passport holders, or non-Pakistanis resident in Pakistan, or groups with a Pakistan address.
In the list is India’s own most wanted, Dawood Ibrahim, with three addresses in Karachi; Ayman al Zawahiri, who took over as al Qaeda chief after Osama bin Laden was killed by the US forces; Harkat ul Mujahideen; Lashkar-e-Jhangvi; Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan; and of course, Hafiz Saeed, who entered the list in 2008, following the outrage over the Mumbai terror attack, and is named as leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) with a Lahore address.
Both the JeM and LeT have been in that list for nearly 20 years; the Jamat ud Dawa (JuD) since 2008, and JeM front groups such as Al Rasheed Trust from 2002 and Al Akhtar Trust International from 2005. The listing has made no difference to their activities in Pakistan, to carry out attacks in India, or their ability to spawn more proxies, such as Falah-i-Insaniyat Federation, a JuD front.
The 1267 regime requires states to freeze, without delay, the funds or financial assets or economic resources of designated individuals to prevent — the entry into or transit through their territories by designated individuals; the direct or indirect supply, sale and transfer from their territories or by their nationals outside their territories, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types, spare parts, and technical advice, assistance, or training related to military activities, to designated individuals and entities. States are also required to pass laws in order to align themselves to 1267 requirements.
But the events that unfolded after Hafiz Saeed’s listing are instructive on how Pakistan has adjusted to 1267 when it comes to its “strategic assets”. Days after he was listed under 1267, Saeed was among the 125 persons detained under a preventive law called the Maintenance of the Public Order. He and five other top leaders were placed under house arrest. When the maximum three-month detention term ended in March 2009, a review board extended it. It was extended again in May 2009, but this time, Saeed challenged his detention in the Lahore High Court, pleading that; one, he had not been shown the grounds for his detention within 15 days as required by the law; two, Pakistan’s sovereignty had been violated and accusing the UN of “bias against Muslim countries”; three, alleging India and the US had conspired to put him in jail; and four, the UN listing did not require the individual to be arrested.
In ordering Saeed’s release, the three-judge bench said a “bald allegation (was) being levelled by the Indian lobby” that the JuD and Saeed had links to the Mumbai incident or to al Qaeda and the Taliban. The court declared there was no evidence that the petitioners are involved in anti-state activities and are a security risk. The judgment was described as evidence of the “independence” of the judiciary, which was fresh out of its battle with the then recently ousted military ruler, Pervez Musharraf.
Saeed has gone from strength to strength since then, starting a new group called Difa-e-Pakistan Council, comprising 40 or so like-minded groups, with the stated objective of protecting Pakistan from India and the US. Last year, the group held a meeting in which a Cabinet minister from the Imran Khan government participated. Saeed also has a political party to his name, that participated in the 2018 election.
The JeM’s relationship with the Pakistan state has been more complicated than with the JuD and Saeed, but judging by the resources the security establishment has thrown into protecting Azhar and building up the group, it appears no less solid. A 1267 listing of Azhar would not change anything, unless Pakistan itself changes in fundamental ways to stop using these groups as instruments towards achieving its strategic objectives in India or Afghanistan. Every time the world’s attention has focussed on Pakistan for terrorism emanating from its soil, it has rushed to take so many steps against these groups that they should have disappeared by now. The groups have been banned under Pakistan’s own laws, their leaders and cadres detained, their funds frozen. Twice during his time as the military ruler of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf denounced these groups as terrorists, and said Pakistan would not give them room anymore. But these steps have always proved to be cosmetic. That is why no one believes the latest arrests will lead to any real changes, at least in the foreseeable future. Pakistan is not yet ready to make any of the structural changes that would really matter.
That means irrespective of the outcome at the UNSC, India would be better served ensuring that such groups get no opportunity to find their way across into the country in the first place. That not only means securing our borders better, it means putting our own house in order. Not long ago, to Sri Lanka’s accusation that the LTTE was India’s creation, India would lecture Colombo on a political resolution to Tamil rights. That was not far wrong. Same here. It would require much introspection into what has gone so horribly wrong in Kashmir that the JeM, and LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen have all been able to make a comeback in Kashmir today. Unless we fix what’s so broken in Kashmir, global lists of terrorists will be just that — lists.
This article first appeared in the print edition on March 14, 2019, with the title ‘Beyond Masood Azhar’. Write to the columnist at nirupama.subramanian@expressindia.com.
The maximum lightning incidents are attributable to climate change in the entire Indian subcontinent, central Bangladesh and Northeast India in the Brahmaputra Basin. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has recently issued a weather forecast for Assam and Meghalaya that, thunderstorm accompanied by lightning mostly occurred on March 5 and 6, 2019. The Weather Channels also predicted rain or snow accumulation in the east and Northeast India till Thursday evening. The fury of nature has been left many parts of Northeastern region of India in tatters. Incessant rainfall in most areas of Garo Hills in Meghalaya has left trails of destruction with houses, schools, and trees strewn in the aftermath of this horrific weather. While some districts of Assam and West Meghalaya have been partially affected, the districts of North and East Garo Hills in the state of Meghalaya were worst hit. Most lightning deaths and injuries occur when people are caught outdoors in the summer months during the afternoon and evening. Deaths from lightning strikes is now one of the most discussed subjects in the country. Most of the victims are the lone breadwinners in their families. The maximum lightning incidents in the entire Indian subcontinent occur in central Bangladesh and the states of Meghalaya, West Bengal, and Assam before the monsoon season (March-May) with 40 lightning strikes per square kilometer. The data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says lightning kills more people in India than any other natural calamity. According to a 2014 NCRB report, out of 20,201 accidental deaths attributable to natural causes, 12.8 percent were due to a lightning strike. The 2014 report published by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) reported the period between March 15 to June 15, 2014, Assam experienced the highest number of thunderstorms followed by Arunachal Pradesh in March, Meghalaya in April and Tripura in May and June. During the entire period, the frequency was the highest during the night (30 percent) followed by evening (21 percent). In Bangladesh the lighting strike death toll is unbelievable. On last May 2018, 29 people died from lightning in 12 districts in 24 hours, and almost all of them are farm workers. Earlier, at least 12 people died in March, and 58 people died in April 2018 in parts of Bangladesh, according to government data. In the last two days of April last year, as many as 33 people were killed as storms swept across the country, said Disaster Management Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya. The number of deaths was 160 in 2015, 170 in 2014, 185 in 2013, 201 in 2012 and 179 in 2011. Lightning poses a significant threat as an increasing number of people are losing life due to the natural disaster every year, experts say. Scores of people die every year after being struck by lightning during the rainy season in Bangladesh, which runs from April to October. The officials say the numbers are exceptionally high this year. Every day 10 to 12 people are dying from a lightning strike. Authorities declared lightning strike to be a natural disaster after 82 people were killed in a single day in May 2016. Independent monitors estimated that some 349 Bangladeshis died from lightning that year. In Bangladesh, the thunderstorm usually occurs from March to May, but sometimes it takes place until October or November. Owing to a sudden change in weather, heavy rain and strong gales that originate in the Bay of Bengal, end up causing lightning strikes and loss of lives in the Bangladesh and Indian Northeast. According to a new study, the above numbers can dramatically increase if the current rate of global warming continues. As reported in the journal of Science, it is expected to see a 12% increase in lightning activity for every 1 degree centigrade (1.8 degrees F) of warming, meaning the U.S. could experience a 50% increase in strikes by the turn of the century. In affected regions, people suffer “light dumb” disorder and significantly suffer a moderate headache. Many people succumb to severe heart failures. In Bangladesh, there are records of people suffering light heart failure and neural damage. Moreover, some suffered from moderate skin irritation and headache and some with severe heart failure and neural damage disease. Is climate change responsible? Lightning emerged as a new natural disaster in the Northeast Indian states and the Bay of Bengal area. The Brahmaputra flows through the region and ends at the confluence of the Bay of Bengal. This entire region is prone to lightning because of its complex topography, killing many people every year. Studies have shown thunderstorms are very frequent during the pre-monsoon season over northeastern India and Bangladesh. They are especially distinctive by their nature and severity compared to other storms, which occur over some other regions or during some different seasons. Lightning, as well as thunder and storms, are hazardous. Mostly they appear together. Anyone can strike and kill people, and also trigger potentially devastating wildfires. Studies exploring how lightning could change with rising temperatures are few and far between, and those that have been conducted have produced wildly different results. For the current study, scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, started by examining the relationship between atmospheric variables and lightning rates. They hypothesized that two factors– precipitation (the amount of water that hits the ground) and the amount of energy available to make atmospheric air rise– could predict lightning flash rate. These variables can both be used as measures of storm convection (the vertical movement of air), a process that is known to generate lightning which requires two key ingredients: water in all three states (liquid, solid and gas) and quickly rising clouds to keep the ice suspended. Next, they applied these variables to 11 different climate models, all of which assume that there will be no significant drops in greenhouse gas emissions, and found that lightning would likely increase by around 12% per 1 degree Centigrade. Since it is predicted that temperatures will be around 4°C higher at the end of the century, this means there could be a 50% increase in strikes in the US by 2100. This could potentially mean more human injuries and more wildfires since around half of all fires are started by lightning. The entire Bay of Bengal, a part of Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal are prone to lightning because of the complex topography. Studies have shown thunderstorms are very frequent during the pre-monsoon season in northeastern India and Bangladesh. They are especially distinctive by their nature and severity compared to other storms, which occur over some other regions or during some different seasons. Presently most scientists believe, with the increase in global temperature, the intensity of thunderstorms and lightning will magnify in intensity. The thundercloud formation because of excess heat over Bangladesh is resulting in thunderbolts and lightning, particularly in the regions where water bodies are high, such as Haor areas. The wind convergence occurs in active convection which is the upward movement of warm and moist air. The subsequent instability results in widespread precipitation with chances of thunderstorms. According to Prof Rashid, the temperature rose in April in Bangladesh, which has caused water to vaporize and leads to rain, clouds, and lightning. Bangladesh is witnessing increasing numbers of casualties from lightning, a natural disaster, for the last few days, mainly because of the rise in temperature that is leading to the formation of upper air circulation in the geographical region, experts say. The geographical location of Bangladesh with the Himalayas in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the south, as well as the Indian Ocean and Arabian sea in the proximity, it is adding to the creation of thunderstorms in the region. It is to be noted that Northeast India, together with Bangladesh, is one of the most thunderstorm-prone regions in the world, substantiated by Tetsuya Fujita of the University of Chicago in 1973. Fujita along with Allen Pearson had developed the Fujita Pearson Scale for measuring the damage caused by tornadoes. Of all the severe thunderstorm events in the Northeast region during the 55 years of the study period, about 30 percent of the incidents resulted from storms (nor’easters), with hail and lightning accounting for 18 percent and 10 percent of all recorded events. While severe thunderstorms can develop at any time of the year, over half of the severe thunderstorm events occurred in the region during March, April, and May, peaking during the latter months. A secondary peak in severe thunderstorm events occurs in September and is likely due to the impact of tropical cyclones or their remnants flowing from the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal. The data compiled by the ICRC on the occurrence of severe thunderstorm incidents show that they are first seen on an isolated day in February under the influence of a western disturbance, and it becomes a familiar feature during the hot afternoons of April to May to early morning hours of the next days. Summer monsoon season with 60 percent incidents is the most favored time of the year for the occurrence of lightning strikes in Assam, followed by pre-monsoon season with 32 percent of the incidents. During the 55-year study period, it was reported that 22 people died on an average per year from severe thunderstorm hazards in Northeast India. More than 60 percent of these death cases were due to lightning. In general, severe thunderstorm impacts like loss of life and injury, loss of livelihood and damage to infrastructure are significantly more on impoverished and vulnerable rural population in the western part of Assam. The total climatology of lightning activity showed that the region of the west of Assam experiences higher lightning activity. Another study published in the International Journal of Climatology in September 2015, which was carried out by Hupesh Choudhury, Partha Roy, Sarbeswar Kalita and Sanjay Sharma states that during the pre-monsoon season, the frequency of lightning is quite significant in the Northeast due to the interaction of moisture-laden wind with the complex topography of the region. The Meghalaya plateau and foothills of Patkai hill range, in particular, experience severe lightning. Iqbal R Tinmaker and Kaushar Ali of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology finds almost the same result attributed to space-time variation of lightning activity over Northeast India. They revealed lightning flash rate density is the maximum over the west of northeast India. The study, published in Meteorologische Zeitschrift in April 2012, said this high flash rate density is attributable to the topography and the geography of the region, along with the moisture availability. The 2014 report published by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the highest number of thunderstorms in each month of the storm period (March 15 to June 15, 2014) was recorded in Assam, followed by Arunachal Pradesh in March, Meghalaya in April and Tripura in May and June. During the entire period, the frequency was highest during the night (30 percent) followed by evening (21 percent). Apart from agriculture fishing is at risk condition at the time of thunderstorm and lightning and fishes were at very risk condition during TS ( thunder and storm) and lightning. Moreover, these (TS) affected agricultural production very much. For TS and lightning, agrarian land was unsuitable for agricultural production. Trees and crops were uprooted, damaged and fired. So, people lose their property and fail with their regular lifestyle. A thunderbolt struck farmers while they were working at paddy field and harvesting paddy field. Lack of Awareness It is observed, casualties are increasing because of a lack of awareness among people. We find that most illiterate and lack of knowledge about lighting as well as thunderstorm and they assume it as a supernatural phenomenon or God’s fury. Awareness is crucial to reduce the toll and its harmful impact. Routine research works involving government and NGO and government regulation are needed to mitigate the menace. Mohan Kumar Das, the senior research fellow of the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), said deaths from lighting could also be avoided if people take some cautious steps according to BMD. The Bangladesh government is deeply concerned about the peril of such incidents, but measures are not adequate. Moreover, Meteorologists from the developing world say lightning incidents and their impacts remain under-reported as they are sporadic, making them difficult to record. It is observed, the shortage of adequate tall trees in rural areas could be a reason for the rise in the number of deaths from lightning. So people should be aware of lightning protect forest and danger of standing under a lone high tree during bad weather. Bangladesh Government authority has recorded almost all records of lightning death, but governments in India have not done it. Despite being the most lightning-prone zone in the Northeast, Assam and Meghalaya governments do not have any separate programme to create awareness among the people about lightning and TS. The state revenue and disaster management authority do not have any independent campaign for lightning. Awareness is critical to reducing the toll and harmful impact. Routine research work with broad public awareness, government, and NGO participation, and government regulations are necessary for a safe and sound environment. The Bangladesh government is more concerned about the tragic incidents. But state governments of Assam and Meghalaya as well as Central Government in India are not profoundly involved yet. It needs an urgent policy, program, and execution at the grass-root level to address the problem. The data compiled by the ICRC on the occurrence of severe thunderstorm incidents show that they are first seen on an isolated day in February under the influence of a western disturbance, and it becomes a familiar feature during the hot afternoons of April to May to early morning hours of the next days. Summer monsoon season with 60 percent incidents is the most favored time of the year for the occurrence of lightning strikes in Assam, followed by pre-monsoon season with 32 percent of the incidents. During the 55-year study period, it was reported that 22 people died on an average per year from severe thunderstorm hazards in Northeast India. More than 60 percent of these death cases were due to lightning. In general, severe thunderstorm impacts like loss of life and injury, loss of livelihood and damage to infrastructure are significantly more on impoverished and vulnerable rural population in the western part of Assam. The total climatology of lightning activity showed that the region of the west of Assam experiences higher lightning activity. Another study published in the International Journal of Climatology in September 2015, which was carried out by Hupesh Choudhury, Partha Roy, Sarbeswar Kalita and Sanjay Sharma states that during the pre-monsoon season, the frequency of lightning is quite significant in the Northeast due to the interaction of moisture-laden wind with the complex topography of the region. The Meghalaya plateau and foothills of Patkai hill range, in particular, experience severe lightning. Iqbal R Tinmaker and Kaushar Ali of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology finds almost the same result attributed to space-time variation of lightning activity over Northeast India. They revealed lightning flash rate density is the maximum over the west of northeast India. The study, published in Meteorologische Zeitschrift in April 2012, said this high flash rate density is attributable to the topography and the geography of the region, along with the moisture availability. The 2014 report published by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the highest number of thunderstorms in each month of the storm period (March 15 to June 15, 2014) was recorded in Assam, followed by Arunachal Pradesh in March, Meghalaya in April and Tripura in May and June. During the entire period, the frequency was highest during the night (30 percent) followed by evening (21 percent). Apart from agriculture fishing is at risk condition at the time of thunderstorm and lightning and fishes were at very risk condition during TS ( thunder and storm) and lightning. Moreover, these (TS) affected agricultural production very much. For TS and lightning, agrarian land was unsuitable for agricultural production. Trees and crops were uprooted, damaged and fired. So, people lose their property and fail with their regular lifestyle. A thunderbolt struck farmers while they were working at paddy field and harvesting paddy field. Lack of Awareness It is observed, casualties are increasing because of a lack of awareness among people. We find that most illiterate and lack of knowledge about lighting as well as thunderstorm and they assume it as a supernatural phenomenon or God’s fury. Awareness is crucial to reduce the toll and its harmful impact. Routine research works involving government and NGO and government regulation are needed to mitigate the menace. Mohan Kumar Das, the senior research fellow of the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), said deaths from lighting could also be avoided if people take some cautious steps according to BMD. Despite being the most lightning-prone zone in the Northeast, Assam and Meghalaya governments do not have any separate program to create awareness among the people about lightning and TS. The state revenue and disaster management authority do not have any independent campaign for lightning.
India has entered full election mode: voting is due to begin on 11 April, with the final ballot cast more than five weeks later on 19 May. Every day, the BBC will be bringing you all the latest updates on the twists and turns of the world’s largest democracy.
The latest from the campaign trail
What is happening?
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has released the All India Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) list of candidates – and, 41%, or 17 out of 41, are women. It’s a starry list – it has two top regional actresses, Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan. Moon Moon Sen, a former actress who won in the 2014 election, will also be contesting again.
“I am so happy. This is a proud moment for us,” Ms Banerjee said, challenging other parties to do the same.
Why does it matter?
Female voter turnout has been steadily going up over the last few years, but the fact of the matter is, while seats in India’s village councils have been reserved for women since the early 1990s, parliament is still dominated by men.
As women become a more powerful voting block, parties are realising they need to actively target them.
Previously, politicians have wooed women with costly schemes and concessions, but it is becoming more and more clear that a party doesn’t just need to woo women voters, it needs to represent them.
And, following the realisation, no one is willing to be left behind: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi offered up his own promises on Wednesday, saying the opposition party would bring in the Women’s Reservation Bill – which would mean 33% of seats in parliament would be reserved for women – this year if it came to power, some 20 years after it was first proposed.
Narendra Modi channels his inner Bollywood
What happened?
The Prime Minister has been sending out a barrage of tweets since Wednesday morning, tagging celebrities, media personalities and even rival politicians, telling them to use their influence to get more people to vote.
He tweeted roughly every two minutes, each time tagging a different set of people – each with a personalised message. These ranged from “a high turnout augurs well for our democratic fabric” to “the core of badminton is the court and the core of democracy is the vote”.
However, our personal favourite is the one in which he channelled the iconic tagline from the 1990s’ Bollywood blockbuster Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham: “It’s all about loving your family.”
Tagging the two male leads of the film, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan as well as its director Karan Johar, the tweet finished with “it’s all about loving your… democracy”.
Priyanka Gandhi gets social
What happened?
Priyanka Gandhi has finally debuted on Twitter, sending two tweets just hours after she made her first speech as a fully-fledged politician in Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
“In the simple dignity of Sabarmati, the truth lives on,” her first tweet read, followed moments later by another – a photo, and a Mahatma Gandhi quote.
The calm nature of the Congress politician’s tweet was in contrast to her fierier tone earlier in the day.
“Your vote is a weapon, your awakening is a weapon, your awareness is a weapon, so use it wisely because you are going to choose your future,” she told a cheering crowd in Gujarat, in a speech which left many comparing her to her grandmother, the former prime minister.
Why does this matter?
A social media presence is key for any modern politician, as PM Modi’s 46.3 million followers will tell you. Used well, it can garner you millions of votes. Used badly, it can destroy a career before it has even got started.
How Ms Gandhi will fare remains to be seen. However, it is likely her brother Rahul – the Congress leader who has found himself trending for both positive and negative reasons over the last few hours – will be on hand to give her some advice.
Also on Tuesday….
Hardik Patel was on stage with Rahul Gandhi
What happened?
Media captionHardik Patel enjoys massive support among his Patidar community
Hardik Patel, the firebrand social activist who rose to fame challenging Prime Minister Modi in his home state of Gujarat, made his first public appearance with the opposition Congress party.
Mr Patel was on stage as Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi addressed a large rally in Gujarat to officially flag off the party’s election campaign.
He announced he was joining Rahul Gandhi’s party on Sunday.
The 25-year-old commerce graduate, who was not old enough to stand for election under India’s rules until this year, first rose to political fame as the face of massive caste protests which rocked Mr Modi’s state in 2015.
Patel is known for leading a movement demanding that the Patels – or the Patidar caste – be given better access to jobs and education through the quota system.
Why does this matter?
Mr Patel’s decision to join Congress, a dynastic party hoping to reinvent itself in this year’s election, is significant. The opposition hopes that he will be pivotal in swinging the vote in Gujarat, and for good reason.
His speeches and fiery oratory have attracted millions of supporters – many of whom have traditionally voted for Mr Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has ruled Gujarat for more than two decades.
“He brings mass appeal for the Congress, which is something the party has desperately sought in the past 20 years,” said Ankur Jain, BBC Gujarati’s editor. “They’ve never had a leader as popular as him in Gujarat.”
Mr Patel has been seen as a strong threat to the BJP ever since 2015, when caste protests took off in Gujarat. “He became a prominent voice of dissent for shaking up the status quo in Gujarat,” our editor explained.
So, should the BJP be worried? Possibly. But remember they still managed to win the state election in 2017.
“It was a close call though as the party did lose seats – and Mr Patel is one of the main reasons behind that,” notes Ankur Jain.
And Monday saw…
Concerns over the election schedule, which was finally unveiled on Sunday revealing a seven stage process which will begin on 11 April and end on 19 May.
Why does the schedule matter?
Well, while the schedule’s length is nothing unusual – India’s first election in 1951-52 took a total of three months to complete – a number of people are pointing to the unusual way some states have been split up.
For example, West Bengal – where the majority of MPs are from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) – will vote over seven separate dates.
Could this have an impact on the overall vote? Possibly, according to elections expert Sanjay Kumar.
But could that give one party an unfair advantage? Some on social media have certainly suggested it may – particularly when it comes to the ruling BJP.
Others dismissed the allegation as rubbish. For example, senior Economic Times editor Shantanu N Sharma suggested the four-phase vote in the small state of Orissa could be down to the need to move federal forces needed to patrol the polling stations from one region to the other.
Local police are seen to be partisan, so federal forces have to deployed to secure polling stations. The forces have to be freed from their duties and moved all around the country.
The Electoral Commission, meanwhile, has not given precise details of how it put the schedule together.
What about last week?
The election hadn’t even been announced, but no one could have been unaware that it was coming: the BJP had placed adverts in 150 newspapers across the country extolling its successes over the last five years – all of which had to come to a stop on Monday, due to election rules.
India’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, has 543 elected seats. Any party or coalition needs a minimum of 272 MPs to form a majority government.
Some 900 million voters – 86 million more than the last elections in 2014 – are eligible to vote at 930,000 polling stations.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used at all polling stations. The entire process will be overseen by the Election Commission of India.
Who are the main players?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who won a landslide victory in 2014 is seeking a second term for both himself and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
His main challengers are the main opposition Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi, and a consortium of regional parties called the Mahagathbandhan (which translates from the Hindi into massive alliance).
The Mahagathbandhan has seen some of India’s strongest regional parties, including fierce rivals, come together.
Image captionMany see the upcoming election as a referendum on Mr Modi
This includes the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by Dalit icon Mayawati, normally fierce rivals in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends the most number of MPs to parliament.
The alliance also includes the Trinamool Congress which is in power in the state of West Bengal and Arvind Kejriwal whose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rules Delhi.
The aim of the alliance is to consolidate regional and anti-BJP votes, in order to oust Mr Modi from power.
Other regional players including Tamil Nadu’s DMK and AIADMK and Telangana’s TRS in the south are not part of the alliance, but are expected to perform well in their own states, which is likely to make them key to any coalition government.
Image captionManafort said the case had taken everything from him
Donald Trump’s ex-campaign chief Paul Manafort has been jailed for 43 more months on charges stemming from the Russia investigation.
It comes a week after the 69-year-old was given a 47-month prison sentence for fraud in a separate case.
The latest sentencing arises from two conspiracy charges Manafort pleaded guilty to last year.
He told the federal court in Washington DC that he wanted to apologise for his actions.
“I am sorry for what I have done and for all the activities that have gotten us here today,” he said, speaking from a wheelchair.
US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Manafort to a total of 73 months, of which 30 were to run concurrently with last week’s sentence.
Both cases stem from an inquiry into alleged Russian election meddling in the 2016 US elections.
None of Manafort’s charges, however, relates to allegations of collusion with Russia. Mr Trump has always denied the charge, describing the inquiry as a witch hunt.
Manafort’s jail term is the longest handed down since the inquiry began.
“This case has taken everything from me already – my properties, my cash, my life insurance, trust accounts for my children and grandchildren, and even more,” Manafort told Judge Jackson on Wednesday.
Before sentencing, Judge Jackson said it was “hard to overstate” the number of lies and the amount of fraud involved.
“The defendant is not public enemy number one,” she said. “But he is not a victim either.”
Manafort pleaded guilty last September to two felony counts – conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice – related to his lobbying.
He also agreed to co-operate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry in a deal for a possible lighter sentence.
However, just two months later that plea deal collapsed as investigators said Manafort had repeatedly lied to the government.
![PM Modi is vulnerable over his economic record in the national election starting on April 11 [Jitendra Prakash/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/3/7/724f2accf2e742b89e3482cc62331608_18.jpg)
