-Down to Earth There is scientific consensus that rapid and deep cuts to emissions in this decade, and not later, will avoid scenarios of uncontrollable warming and high mitigation costs later this century Most countries have set a target timeline — 2030 is the commonly chosen horizon — to achieve the goals outlined in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the Paris Agreement, 2015. The Paris Agreement is the international treaty to help...

-Down to Earth Bihar usually gets heavy rains in July and August; floods in June are an unusual occurrence, experts said Several villages have been flooded after 3-4 days of early monsoon rains in the catchment areas of the Gandak and Burhi Gandak rivers in Nepal and north Bihar. Affected districts include West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj and Muzaffarpur. Other rivers including the Bagmati, Koshi, Kamla Balan, Bhuthi Balan and Ghaghara are also...

-Down to Earth Half of respondents said their government was not doing enough to achieve SDGs Poverty, hunger and public health have been much stressed upon by development agencies. But now, amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, they have drawn the attention of the global financial community. The world’s top priorities today should be maintaining a healthy population along with reducing poverty and hunger, according to a new poll by market research...

-Down to Earth The proposed 804 mega watt Jangi Thopan Powari hydroelectricity project over the Satluj threatens life, livelihood and ecology in the basin The people of Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, are fighting another battle besides the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic — saving their rivers and forests threatened by a hydroelectric project. The residents of the valley have been protesting against the proposed 804 mega watt Jangi Thopan Powari hydroelectricity project (JTP HEP)...

-Down to Earth Around 88% respondents want to switch to less-polluting alternatives but report they are not easily available Around 12.3 billion sanitary napkins, amounting to 113,000 tonnes of waste, reached India’s landfills every year, according to a new study. Improper disposal and non-segregation from household waste leads to unhygienic working condition for waste workers, the report said. Commonly available sanitary napkins constitute 90 per cent plastic, the report claimed. India generates 3.3...