Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.
Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.
The POSTs (front webpages) are mainly 'cuttings' from reliable sources, updated continuously.
The PAGEs (see Tabs, above) attempt to make the information more meaningful by putting some structure to the information we have researched and assembled since 2006.
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s smog-prone northern province of Hebei met its air quality targets by a big margin over the winter after concerted efforts to tackle emissions, a local official said on Sunday, without mentioning coronavirus-related factory shutdowns.
Average PM2.5 concentrations over the October-March period dropped 15% from a year earlier to 61 micrograms per cubic metre, while sulphur dioxide also fell by a third, said He Litao, vice-head of the provincial environmental bureau.
Most experts have attributed the significant decline in air pollution throughout China in the first quarter to the coronavirus outbreak and tough containment measures, which saw cities and entire provinces locked down and sharply reduced traffic and industrial activity throughout the country.
With millions staying at home, concentrations of lung-damaging PM2.5 particles fell by nearly 15% in more than 300 Chinese cities in the first three months of 2020.
Shanghai saw emissions fall by nearly 20% in the first quarter, while in Wuhan, where the pandemic originated, monthly averages dropped more than a third compared to last year.
However, He of the Hebei environmental bureau attributed the local decline in pollution to the “conscientious implementation” of government decisions even in the face of unfavourable weather conditions.
According to a winter action plan published last year, 10 cities in Hebei were expected to cut lung-damaging small particles known as PM2.5 by 1%-6% compared to the previous year.
Despite the decline, average PM2.5 was still much higher than China’s official standard of 35 micrograms, and the recommended World Health Organization level of 10 micrograms.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The euro zone’s trade surplus with the rest of the world grew in February, with a decline in imports from China as well as sharply lower energy needs because of mild winter weather.
The unadjusted goods trade surplus grew to 23.0 billion euros ($25.1 billion) in February, compared with 18.5 billion euros a year earlier. Exports rose by 1.6%, while imports fell by 1.0%.
For China, which already had widespread coronavirus restrictions in place in February, exports from the European Union as a whole were slightly lower than in February 2019. However, imports were down by 8.1%, according to data on Eurostat’s website.
Energy imports as a whole also declined by 9.6% in February, when comparing Jan-Feb data issued on Monday and January data from a month ago. That translated into 10.1% lower imports from Russia and 5.9% less from Norway.
The trade surplus with the United States, by contrast, grew by 21% in the month as exports increased and imports declined. The persistent surplus in goods has been a source of transatlantic tension.
On a seasonally adjusted basis the euro zone trade surplus also rose to 25.8 billion euros in February from 18.2 billion euros in January. Exports were 1.8% higher month-on-month and imports 2.3% lower.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption The population of peafowl, the national bird, has increased significantly
Much of India’s bird population has sharply declined in the past few decades, according to a major study.
The State of India’s Birds report relied on the observations of more than 15,000 birdwatchers who helped assess the status of 867 birds.
It found the greatest decline in the numbers of eagles, vultures, warblers and migrating shorebirds.
But the population of peafowl, the national bird, has increased significantly.
Hunting and habitat loss are the two main reasons behind the decline. “Collision” with electricity lines, according to the study, is a “prime current threat” to birds.
The report, the first comprehensive study of its kind, made two assessments: the drop in bird population over the last 25 years, and over the last five years.
“In the long-term trend assessment, there was appropriate data available only for 261 species, of which 52% had declined [in numbers]. For current trends, there was data only for 146 species, of which [numbers of] nearly 80% were declining,” said MD Madhusudan, co-founder of Nature Conservation Foundation.
It’s based on more than 10 million observations, drawn from sightings and meticulous notes made by professional birdwatchers.
The data was then collated on eBird, a global crowdsourced database that has real-time data on the distribution and abundance of birds.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption The population of the white-rumped vulture has gone down
Species that have suffered the highest declines
White-rumped Vulture
Richard’s Pipit
Indian Vulture
Large-billed Leaf Warbler
Pacific Golden Plover
Curlew Sandpiper
Species whose numbers have increased
Rosy Starling
Feral Pigeon
Glossy Ibis
Plain Prinia
Ashy Prinia
Indian Peafowl
(Source: State of India’s Birds report)
The local sparrow population was found to be roughly stable across the country as a whole, although it has fallen in the major cities.
The population of migratory birds – both long distance and within the subcontinent – also showed a “steep decline”.
The report says that since the 1990s, the numbers of several species of vultures, bustards and other specialist grassland birds have also drastically dropped.
Image copyright AFPImage caption The local sparrow population has declined in the major cities
Some species popular in the bird trade, such as the Green Munia, are at “dangerously low” numbers, the report says.
Meanwhile, the Jerdon’s Courser, an endangered bird with “mysterious” breeding habits which was rediscovered in 1986 after a gap of 138 years, has not been seen since 2008.
But there’s some good news as well: the Forest Owlet, another endangered bird that was rediscovered in 1997, is being reported from many more locations.
Image copyright AFPImage caption The study assessed the status of 867 birds in India
But the study cautions that its research is also a chronicle of “individual species”, and not a report on the “overall health of India’s birds, including those considered common and hence of little conservation concern”.
It says that “abundance trends” are available only for “a handful of bird species” – and mostly for those that tend to be “larger, more obviously threatened and relatively charismatic”.
“For the vast majority of Indian birds, lack of data has hindered a clear understanding of how they are faring. Such an understanding is vital for conservation science, management and policy.”
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 