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Ex-Foreign Minister Jack Straw Confirms UK Report that ‘Modi Directly Responsible’ for 2002 Riots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gYkcqExkac The Wire
 Jan 21, 2023
Jack Straw, who was Britain’s Foreign Secretary in 2002 when the Gujarat killings happened, has confirmed that the British High Commissioner in India sent a report to the Foreign Office in London which said “Narendra Modi is directly responsible” for the killings in 2002 in Gujarat. “That was the feeling of those on the ground”, he said. Mr. Straw has also said that “the allegation and belief at the time (2002)” was, as the British High Commission report put it, “Narendra Modi met senior police officers on the 27th of February and ordered them not to intervene in the rioting”. Mr. Straw has also confirmed that the report he received said the killings in Gujarat “has all the hallmark of ethnic cleansing”. He said he was “very concerned indeed about that”.

https://youtu.be/8gYkcqExkac?t=211

According to a new study, climate change is threatening the health and survival of trees grown in urban areas to keep them cool, with more than half of the species already feeling the heat. https://thredmedia.medium.com/cities-are-becoming-too-hot-for-trees-59b14192c571

If you spent your summer in a city, likelihood is you were forced to endure intense, record-breaking heatwaves throughout July.

According to the findings, climate change is threatening the health and survival of the trees we rely on to make cities liveable, with more than half of them worldwide (including oaks, maples, poplars, elms, pines, and chestnuts) said to have already been pushed beyond their comfort zones.

Within the next decade or so, this figure is expected to hit two-thirds, unless of course scientists act now — and fast — by better protecting existing trees and planting a much higher number of drought-resistant varieties.

‘We emphasise the importance of taking immediate actions in terms of the climate emergency to secure the survival and persistence of urban forests,’ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX-0szAK9Bg

Mhadei dispute: Crisis in Goa scales up challenges for CM Sawant, puts BJP in tight spot https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/mhadei-dispute-crisis-goa-scales-up-challenges-cm-sawant-puts-bjp-tight-spot-karnataka-2321481-2023-01-14 The controversy between Goa and Karanataka over the Mhadei river basin has opened a new front of a challenge for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules both states. Pamela D’Mello  Jan 16, 2023

Karnataka's argument is that its only demand was to have a rightful share of the Mhadei's fresh waters, much of which was being wasted and drained into the Arabian Sea in Goa.

Rebutting Karnataka’s claim, Goa submitted that besides being stored in several reservoirs in the state for drinking water and irrigation schemes, fresh water sustains the forest sanctuaries and prevents saline ingress further upstream, which would alter the ecosystem.

What is it about the river that gets Goans riled up? That any thought of its freshwater being diverted, is viewed as an ‘Apocalypse Now' moment? Geography has much to do with it.

The Mhadei/Mandovi river basin spans 1580 sq km, nearly half the Goa's total 3702 sq km area that calculates to 43 per cent of the state's area. It runs 76 km in north Goa, 78 per cent of the Mhadei's total 111 km.

It passes through 194 (Goa has 334 villages) of its most populous villages and towns, including the capital, Panjim.

The Mhadei/Mandovi is critical for the region's water supply, agriculture, fishing, irrigation, navigation and tourism in six of the state's twelve sub-districts. Religious, cultural and daily practices are also woven around the river.