This week we talk about inauguration of Joe Biden and return of USA to the Paris Agreement, along with continuous struggle between farmers and the government. For the coming days, our team is reflecting on Climate Change and the threat it poses.
Oh by the way, Climate Change is real and its actually happening.
Joe Biden and commitment to combat Climate Change
On January 20th 2021 soon after the inauguration of Joe Biden as the President of the US, signed a letter which said that US would be joining back the Paris Agreement. It is the same treaty of which Trump had pulled out of, claiming it to be not in the country’s interest.
A bit about Paris Agreement-
95 countries in December 2015, signed an agreement to make efforts to reduce the impact of global warming by trying to “hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”. Along with the decision to limit the number of greenhouse gases emitted by human activities to a level that can be naturally absorbed by trees, soils and oceans.
Farm Bills and the Unrest
Farmers' Union (Samyukta Kisan Morcha) has rejected the Government of India’s proposal of delaying the implementation of three farm bills by 18 months. The farmers went for the 11th round of talks with the government, on January 22, 2021. The previous rounds of discussion have not yielded any result yet, farmers have stuck to their point and so has the government.
On Republic Day (26 January), farmers would be holding a tractor rally at the border.
Women Safety or Breach of Privacy?
Lucknow Police came with an intriguing idea, where they plan to install AI-enabled cameras across the city. These cameras would surveil the women, track their expressions when they are out and if the camera identifies ‘distress’ on the face, an alert would be sent to the nearest police station. The given idea has come under scrutiny due to its impact on the privacy of the citizens, and how effective it is in reducing crime against women.
What do you think about it? If you want to learn more about Surveillance and its impact, read the article ‘Watching You Watch Me’ By Varya Srivastava.
Public Health: Vaccination and Immunisation
India has given the first dose of covid-19 vaccine to over a million citizens. However doubts regarding the vaccine ‘Covaxin’ by Bharat Biotech were there among health personnels across the states.
India has supplied the vaccine to its neighbouring states, including Nepal and Bangladesh as a gift under ‘Neighbour First’ Policy. This action would definitely give India an edge in a China dominated region. Similar supplies would soon be sent to Myanmar and Seychelles.
Climate Change and Sustainable Development
Word of the Week- Climate Anxiety
Climate Anxiety is a result of knowing the existence of danger due to changing environmental conditions and activities, but not having any appropriate skills, scripts or direct agency in place to mitigate it.
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