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El Nino has emerged, Asia braces for crop damage

SINGAPORE In 2009, the El Nino brought the worst drought in four decades to India. It razed wheat fields in Australia and damaged crops across Asia. Food prices surged. A closely watched forecast by Japan on Tuesday confirmed its return this year. A strong El Nino will roil economies that are heavily dependent on agriculture, particularly India which is already reeling from bad weather. It would also unhinge supply chains of commodities such as rice, corn and palm oil. In fact, the heat is already up in some places in the Asia Pacific. "We’ve already been hit by a three-month dry spell. We could not plant anything since January. All of us here in Taculen are praying for more rains," said Benny Ramos, a rice farmer in North Cotabato in southern Philippines. Prayers for rains in Asia, however, may not be answered as weather forecasts show an intensifying El […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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World’s Worst Air Spurs Modi’s $25 Billion Utility Clean-Up Push

Barely 16 miles from central Delhi, a 40-year-old coal-fired power plant run by NTPC Ltd. stands testament to the bargain struck by India’s capital city: The world’s dirtiest air for electricity. The state-owned utility is now seeking to cut emissions across its facilities in India, starting with its oldest — the one in Delhi. NTPC plans to spend 12 billion rupees ($189 million) annually on technology upgrades, a company official said, asking not to identified as the person isn’t authorized to speak on the subject. “Their Badarpur plant is running way beyond its life,” said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general at Centre for Science and Environment , a lobby group based in the city. “The result is its coal consumption is very high and so are the emissions.” NTPC’s clean-up attempt is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s $25 billion spending proposal to revamp aging utilities as he seeks […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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India: Groundwater levels plummet

Scanty rainfall this year could worsen the situation. The average depth to water level was 9.59 mbgl in July this year, against the 7.39 mbgl last year, calculated from 11 locations in the city. The groundwater situation in the city and surrounding areas might become alarming if copious rains do not drench down the city in the coming one month. Water levels are already plummeting in many areas, especially in the core city, if the records are anything to go by. When compared with the data in the corresponding period last year, the subterranean water levels recorded in July this year could be cause for concern. The average depth to water level has shown an increase of 2.2 meters below ground level (mbgl) when compared with the figures in July, 2013. Groundwater is always measured in meters below ground level (mbgl), the higher value of which denotes that much […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran Deal Roils Waters For Indian Commodity Exporters

NEW DELHI—The prospect of a phased-in lifting of Western sanctions against Iran raised by last week’s preliminary nuclear agreement with Tehran has created uncertainty over the fate of an oil-for-goods barter agreement involving rice, soymeal and other products. Iran has been India’s leading buyer of high-grade basmati rice and soymeal, which has partly been helped because of the barter deal. That deal evolved as a means for India to keep importing Iranian oil and pay for it in a way that would circumvent trade and financial restrictions on Tehran. “We will have to wait and see,” said Arun Kumar Sampath Kumar, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan. He said the situation could become clearer after June 30 once the details of the nuclear deal between Iran and six Western powers are worked out. If sanctions were lifted on Iran, it is likely to become easier for the nation to […]

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India launches air quality index to give pollution information

Delhi was ranked the most polluted city on Earth in 2014 India has launched its first air quality index, to provide real time information about pollution levels. The index, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will initially monitor air quality in 10 cities. Last year the Environmental Preference Index ranked India 174 out of 178 countries for air quality. The rising and health-endangering pollution has been mainly blamed on a huge increase in vehicles, particularly diesel-driven cars, on Indian roads. Polluting industries, open burning of refuse and leaves, massive quantities of construction waste and substantial loss of forests have also led to high pollution levels in cities. A World Health Organization (WHO) survey last year found that 13 of the most polluted 20 cities in the world were in India. The capital, Delhi, was the most polluted city in the world , the survey said. It is a leading […]

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Exclusive: India makes first crude oil purchase for strategic reserve

LONDON (Reuters) – India has bought the first oil for its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), trade sources said on Monday, marking the start of a round of purchases by the world’s fourth-biggest oil consumer to build up emergency stockpiles. Oil prices have almost halved in the past year due to excess global production, leaving traders looking for any signs of new demand to help absorb the surplus. The sources said state-refiner Indian Oil Corp bought a 2 million barrel cargo of Iraqi crude from Chinese trader Unipec, which will load in May for shipping to the first stage of India’s SPR on the country’s east coast. In addition, state-refiners IOC and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd will buy another three Very Large Crude Carriers between them for the Vizag SPR storage site in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. While the first 8 million barrels for Vizag are relatively small […]

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Exclusive: India to import first oil to fill strategic reserves – source

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India is set to import 8 million barrels of Iraqi oil to fill its first strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), taking advantage of cheap prices and lending some support to a market suffering from oversupply. India’s SPR purchases could temporarily help offset the impact of an expected pause in China’s strategic stocks build and the start of spring maintenance at Asian refiners. India’s oil ministry on Tuesday instructed state refiners Indian Oil Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd to each seek two very large crude carriers (VLCC) of Basra oil for arrival in May-June, totalling 8 million barrels, two sources familiar with the matter said. The tenders are to be issued this month and plans call for the federal cabinet to approve issuing tenders at its meeting next week, said one of the sources, who declined to be identified. A committee of directors suggested Basra oil […]

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Plan to Verify Delhi Pollution Data Raises Suspicions

Photo A thick blanket of smoke at a garbage dump in New Delhi. The government says it will authenticate pollution levels before releasing the information to the public, a plan that critics say will deprive residents of the opportunity to protect themselves against bad air. Credit Altaf Qadri/Associated Press NEW DELHI — This megacity’s modest effort to warn residents about unhealthy spikes in air pollution levels in real time may soon end, after a decision to first send the data to be authenticated by the central government. Some experts and activists immediately questioned the need for such checks, accusing the government of trying to hide — or worse, alter — data that shows Delhi’s air to be the world’s most toxic at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing for greater industrialization. Recent high readings, which consistently exceed Beijing’s pollution readings, have alarmed the city’s Indian elites […]

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Filthy India air cutting 660 million lives short by 3 years

NEW DELHI (AP) — New research estimates India’s air pollution is cutting 660 million lives short by three years on average. The study published Saturday in the Economic & Political Weekly highlights the extensiveness of India’s air problems after years of pursuing an all-growth agenda with little regard for the environment. Thirteen Indian cities are now included on the World Health Organization’s list of the world’s 20 most polluted. That pollution burden nationwide is estimated to be costing more than half the population at least 3.2 years of their lives. The study’s authors acknowledge their estimations may be too conservative, as they are based in part on satellite data that tend to underestimate levels of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5. India has a sparse system for monitoring air quality.

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U.S. to Monitor Air Quality in India and Other Countries

HONG KONG — The United States says it will expand air-quality monitoring at some overseas diplomatic missions, following several years of reporting pollution data in China. The goal is to increase awareness of the health risks of outdoor air pollution, which easily spreads across borders, Secretary of State John Kerry said in announcing the program on Wednesday. The program is intended to help United States citizens abroad reduce their exposure to pollution and to help other countries develop their own air-quality monitoring through training and exchanges with American experts, he said. “We’re hoping that this tool can also expand international cooperation when it comes to curbing air pollution,” Mr. Kerry said . The program, run in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency , will begin to operate in India in a few months. New Delhi has some of the world’s worst air pollution, and residents there are becoming increasingly […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple