In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95 billion. The year 2024 was marked by extreme temperature events in Asia that caused thousands of deaths, severe droughts in Africa affecting over 25 …
The high demand for frogs’ legs for consumption leads to the extinction of the species, says a report by international wildlife conservation groups. The report titled ‘Canapés to Extinction: The international trade in frogs’ legs and its ecological impact’ is the first ever rstudy on the frog leg market.
Leading wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy on Friday announced that it had bagged a Rs.650 crore order from Chennai-based Orient Green Power Company to supply turbines for projects with a cumulative capacity of over 100 MW. 48 wind turbine units
HealthDirty truth If you stop your children from eating mud, read this. Craving for earth—geophagy—can be one of the natural ways to protect stomach against pathogens. After studying 480 reports and analysing theories that geophagy is driven by hunger and for nutrients in the soil like iron, zinc or calcium …
Invasive species can displace natives, and thus identifying the traits that make aliens successful is crucial for predicting and preventing biodiversity loss. Pathogens may play an important role in the invasive process, facilitating colonization of their hosts in new continents and islands. According to the Novel Weapon Hypothesis, colonizers may …
Biotechnology offers many benefits, but only nineteen developing countries have commercially approved the planting of genetically engineered crops. Outreach and educational programmes could help prepare stakeholders in developing countries to influence biotechnology policies. Faculty at Michigan State University (MSU) developed a two-week course that was taught 14 times from 2002 …
An industry approach to greener hydropower is far from perfect, but it does offer a way forwards. (Editorial) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v474/n7352/full/474420a.html
The longest and darkest total lunar eclipse of the century will occur on Wednesday midnight, giving sky enthusiasts all over the country an opportunity to witness the event. An unusually long lunar eclipse with the moon immersed deeply inside the umbral (darker) shadow of the earth will occur, Nehru Planetarium …
The collision of North and South America changed the Earth's climate dramatically – and may have happened far earlier than we thought. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028161.600-united-plates-of-america-the-making-of-a-new-world.html?full=true&print=true
Cash transfers are now suggested by many as a silver bullet for addressing the problems that plague India’s anti-poverty programmes. This article argues instead for evidence-based policy and informed public debate to clarify the place, prospects and problems of cash transfers in India. By drawing on key empirical findings from …
After describing the origin, the main features and some of the impacts of Bolsa Família, a conditional cash transfer family welfare programme that has become one of Brazil’s showpiece achievements, this essay discusses the changes in the programme over time as well as the current and future challenges. The article …
The design of public cash transfers involves a careful balancing of policy priorities and objectives. Variations in the rationale for a conditional cash transfer shape benefit amounts, coverage, duration of programme participation, targeting practices and the definition of conditionality. Drawing on the experience of low- and middle-income countries in Latin …
This paper reviews the literature on health in the informal settlements (and “slums”) that now house a substantial proportion of the urban population in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Although this highlights some important gaps in research, available studies do suggest that urban health inequalities usually begin at birth, are …
The clean energy race is on. The investment and finance data presented in this report show that countries are jockeying for a leadership position in this growing and increasingly competitive sector. Countries with clear, consistent and constructive clean energy policies are powering investment forward. The clean energy race is on. …
There is a good deal of ill-informed enthusiasm about “conditional cash transfers” (CCT) among Indian policy makers, based on a superficial understanding of the Latin American experience. In Mexico, Brazil, and other pioneers of this approach, conditional cash transfers were developed to bring a fringe of poor households into the …
The Compendium on Capacity for Implementing Land Based Mitigation has been produced in response to an identified demand from Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and other country officials for greater information on national policy contexts regarding the inclusion of land in the climate change solution.
Latin American countries were the first to flirt with the conditional cash transfer model. It evolved in response to the economic crisis of the 1990s. Many governments found that in the face of the crisis the poor were not availing themselves of education and health services. At the same time …
Producing food and energy side-by-side may offer one of the best formulas for boosting countries' food and energy security while simultaneously reducing poverty according to this new FAO report. Producing food and energy side-by-side may offer one of the best formulas for boosting countries' food and energy security while simultaneously …
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) generate sizeable magnitudes of income and employment in different parts of the world for the tribal and poor people. The evidence is based on the review of past studies across different continents. The study presents a collective evidence for the role of NTFPs in development in …
To assess the effect of using stunting versus underweight as the indicator of child undernutrition for determining whether countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are on track to meet the component of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 pertaining to the eradication of hunger, namely to reduce undernutrition by half …
This article summarizes the results of water productivity assessment in 10 river basins across Asia, Africa and South America, representing a range of agro-climatic and socio-economic conditions. Intensive farming in the Asian basins gives much greater agricultural outputs and higher water productivity. Largely subsistence agriculture in Africa has significantly lower …
