Safety First

A school bus being tested for safety levels. 

Why Suicides?

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary describes 'Suicide' as a deliberate act of killing oneself. Is there a sudden spurt in the number of people committing suicides? A farmer, a technocrat, a police officer, a student, a bureaucrat and  an actor ... endless people end their lives  every day around the world. No action is possible without a trigger. Here a self-destructive action, a self punishing one is not possible without a provcation. The  immediate reason may be internal or external. But there is a cause to function in a certain direction.  

The American researcher Durkheim talks of four types of suicides: egoistic, altruistic, anomic and fatalistic. Out of these anomic is the most common as the economic disparities are growing since the market economy's invasion. Individuals have limited control over their income levels, irrespective of their business size. The small trees are unable to withstand strong winds and the big are unable to face the big storms. The fall is common for the rich and the poor  in market economy. Hence unemployment or underemployment or poor wages do play a role in the fatal decision making of individuals.  

Apart from the economic troubles individuals do come across innumerable critical situations that cause them severe agony which they are unable to bear. The market economy has been constantly raising the expectations of people.  The new aspiring generation are in crowded cities but feel isolated. The traditional Indian way of simplicity  is abhorred and a  longing for a luxurious life has become the order of the day. Time tested support systems in the form of joint families are slowly giving way to nuclear families. Experienced elderely persons are rarely found in our modern homes. Either they are left in the villages of found in old age homes. There is a rat race for success and there is an intense competition among the  people who are blessed with 'Success Techniques'.  

The modern indiviudals are well connected with intenet and stay disconnected with their loved ones. Almost all who live in big cities are in want of emotional security. People are unable to bear the pressure applied by their peers, family, friends, the  system and the society.  Apart from the social net working sites our people watch and read the stuff offered by the media. Most of them carry invaraibly all the negative news stories across the world. Watching a negative TV soap or a violent scne  late night and going to bed without any further interaction win any form causes immense damage to the emotional balance systems of the brain. Even in sleep, the thoughts would continue to haunt and may result in nightmares. As the humans always try to connect with what they saw or read with their real life ones,  there is every chance that more and more people become victims to the distant violence. 

Altruistic suicides are for a public cause. When mass hysteria is created over an emotive issue and spread by the media, individuals who feel close to the cause take a hard decision with a hope that their decision may have a bearing on the future outcomes.  History  tells us that a Tamil king commits suicide as enough rains had not blessed his kingdom putting his farmers to much hardship. The same tendency is still seen in the southern part of India as we  all were witness to a thousand suicides for the cause of Telengana state. 

An escape from the complex web which we have woven over ourselves is not a difficult one. Every one of us must have a person on whom one can confide in. Share and care must be the mantra. The kinship doesn't matter here. How close one is to the person concerned  only matters. Here too there is a chance for disappointment. But one has to prepare for such an eventuality too. A return to our traditional value system would go a long way in strengthening the bond among all the family members. Finally one who thinks fatally has to remember that 'Death' is surrender and 'Life' is victory. 

To smile you need not be a Monalisa.

Man always needs an invisible guide

Sins of man

Pope Francis urges action on climate change on visit to US - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34337942

Should there be Pre-school education?

In India formal education is open for the kids who have completed at least five years of age. Even till the late 1980’s teachers have to canvass among parents to admit their kids in schools. Then, kids who were even seven years old would get admitted into first standard. Due to the epochal societal and economic changes that had taken place in the recent years, tender kids who are not even two years old are out of their homes and of their mothers’ laps.

More and more women have joined the formal work force and an unprecedented migration towards cities has resulted in fragmentation of joint families into nuclear families. Left with no option, parents seek a shelter for their loved ones during the day time. Thousands of Crèches and Pre-schools have sprung up across the nation where babies and young children are cared for during the day.

The rat race for success becomes more intensive as the parents think that their kids have only one option if they want their survival and success- that is education. The rural life used to nurture multiple skills and talents in a natural environment.  Even an uneducated farmer knows the entire scheme of things for his crops, building small or big houses, riding carts or tractors to till or carry loads of produce, to attend to small electrical or mechanical faults of his pump sets and many more. But a city bred child gets no opportunity to learn such skills  from the  immediate environment  as the child is  confined to the four walls of a flat placed at a height that even birds fear to fly.

Now the central government seems to be in favor of laws that would seek extension of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act that came into effect in 2009, to Pre-schools too. This thinking has started in 2011 itself and the highest body in taking decisions on school education, CABE had constituted a drafting committee for this purpose.

It is feared that such a move would legitimate an unhealthy practice being practiced by parents and other stake holders.  The question at what age children should start formal schooling is debated upon for decades and the academicians are in favor of increasing the school entry level age to 6 or 7 from the existing 5.  There is overwhelming evidence proving that late schooling is the best option. The schools in Sweden and Finland admit kids only when they turn 7 and the academic standards and the achievements in such children are found to be quite high. 

In fact the present system has got a British legacy, as the English system was introduced in 1870 in England, to get women back into work rather than on the basis of any educational benefit to kids.

Pre-schooling not only robs our kids of their precious childhood but damages their psyche much.  The efforts taken to build a knowledge based society are laudable; but a society of healthy individuals is preferable. Increasing violence and crime and the mushrooming life style diseases have got their origin in children’s childhood.  In fact there must be no schools at all for any kid who has not attained the age 7. Today’s homes are isolated but the kids are learning fast to get connected with the outside world of knowledge and a variety of games thanks to the internet reach. As parents are also educated the kids won’t remain empty handed till they start attending the school. What would happen is learning without any burden. Such learning would be ideal as it is happening in the familiar environment of the child.

A society that wants healthy and happy citizens must spend time and money on researches that would throw more light on the functioning of its educational systems. Bringing in kids into schools at an age when they have to be playing is simply cruel.  Kids learn faster when they are allowed to play and experiment on their own instead academically directed instructional methods. Let the kids be at homes as long as they are kids.  No need to send the toddlers to schools with any more laws. 

Money is bacteria!

Literally each currency note like this carries millions of germs. But as we all love money so much we forget to wash our hands after handling cash.  Researches  have repeatedly proved this fact. It is better that we do take some precautions after we handle currency notes.

Lies Unlimited!

Indian media goes to people selling always lies. One such big lie is about the loss of 7 lakh crore wealth of investors. How did they earn this much wealth? They carried heavy gunny bags of rice or paddy! They walked along the rail tracks during night and day or on stormy days and earned this money. They sat on roadsides and  mended shoes and minted money! Just this is gambling permitted by the society to cater to some lazy people, who make money with a click of a mouse.   Bubbles do burst. The cunning media won't write a single word when sensex gains in crores.
The share market is not shared by all.
Nothing to worry.
Millions of farmers and industrial workers are on their job. This city game or cheating game has got nothing to do with the hammer,  sickle or a tiller or a Rickshaw puller... who continue to till and pull the Indian economy.

Shelter for the poor

The world over providing housing for all their citizens have become a big problem for most of the nations.  The reasons for this big tragic fiasco are many. People were taught to hate hard work and love no work. Today's kids are of the view that currency can be given by ATM machines and  food or any requirement through Google. For them all will be available at the click of a mouse or a touch of a mobile screen. The present day is almost similar to the days of Charles Dickens of Industrial Revolution. 

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

I think a similar or exact history is seen again now. Then the revolution was limited to a few countries in Europe. Today the mouse is gliding everywhere. Really the machines are well connected and the peoples' heart as usual remain disconnected. Men and women around the world have started to see the world through the net. No more mirrors that show their faces. Either they see their faces or others' faces on face book or with any other trick. Human dwellings have grown taller and the humanity shorter. In the by gone days, journey was performed by travelers for  learning and today it is for earning. A typical middle class man/woman travels two hours a day and 10 hours in a week and  it is about 2 years of his life for a period of 35 years service. This journey time for the millions across the world would be much more and their valuable, precious life time is lost in just sitting or suffering through the journey.

Even today there are billions with minimum requirements. They have mastered the art of happy living.  For these noble souls just food grains are enough to keep them happy and contented. All the ills that afflict us is the direct consequence of  naked materialism. People want 'more' and 'more' in anything and everything. This shameless hunger for materials and artificial, temporary happiness have made the earth a sad place for the majority. The innumerable temples built hundreds of years ago in India stand a testimony that people were contented with what they had.

For instance the best literature in Tamil language,  the best architecture in the Tamil land, the best art in the Tamil area, the best tunes or ragas are already there. We are not even gifted with a knowledge to read understand and enjoy... leave alone producing such literature again or building such temples of stone. Our History proves people had leisure and led a life of contentment. 

The largest house in the village would be of God's only. They had environment friendly materials for construction and every one had a roof over their heads.

Today information is there with everyone but not knowledge.  The house is full of white goods and some humans and their ears plugged with music.  This is not to wail over. A return to our natural ways of living only can save us from  this polythene and carbon earth.

  

Eco-friendly walls

The palm trees are one of the sturdiest ones. We used to use these trees for multiple purposes. But today I came to know that these black cats can act as a barrier  against erosion. These natural walls are nice to look at and eco friendly too. 

Namo in the Oil Land

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnPtwObeuDI#action=share

Some can think and some speak and only some can think,speak and act...

http://gogreenindia-krish.blogspot.in/2015/08/diversity-simplicity-and-unity-are-our.html

Bill's Pill for Clean Energy

Turning the Future Green 

We Need Clean-Energy Innovation, and Lots of It

By Bill Gates 

Last month, during a trip to Europe, I mentioned that I plan to invest $1 billion in clean energy technology over the next five years. This will be a fairly big increase over the investments I am already making, and I am doing it because I believe that the next half-decade will bring many breakthroughs that will help solve climate change. As I argued in this 2010 TED talk, we need to be able to power all sectors of the economy with sources that do not emit any carbon dioxide.

But when it comes to preventing the worst effects of climate change, the investments I make will matter much less than the choices that governments make. In Europe I got to talk about these choices with several political leaders, and in this post I want to share the steps that I encouraged them to take.

I think this issue is especially important because, of all the people who will be affected by climate change, those in poor countries will suffer the most. Higher temperatures and less-predictable weather would hurt poor farmers, most of whom live on the edge and can be devastated by a single bad crop. Food supplies could decline. Hunger and malnutrition could rise. It would be a terrible injustice to let climate change undo any of the past half-century’s progress against poverty and disease—and doubly unfair because the people who will be hurt the most are the ones doing the least to cause the problem.

In addition to mitigating climate change, affordable clean energy will help fight poverty. Although the Gates Foundation does not fund energy research (my investments are separate), we see through our work with the poorest how the high price of energy affects them by adding to the cost of transportation, electricity, fertilizer, and many other things they need.

I do see some encouraging progress on climate and energy. Environmental advocates deserve credit for getting climate change so high on the world’s agenda. Many countries are committing to put policies in place that reflect the impact of greenhouse gases. The cost of solar photovoltaic cells has dropped by nearly a factor of ten over the past decade, and batteries that store energy created by intermittent sources like solar and wind are getting more powerful and less expensive. Since 2007 the United States has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions nearly 10 percent. Since 1990 Germany hasreduced its energy-sector emissions by more than 20 percent.

World leaders will take another critical step this December at a major meeting in Paris called COP21, where they will discuss plans to reduce global CO2 emissions significantly. COP21 can build a strong foundation for solving the climate crisis—but we will need to go even further.

Scientists generally agree that preventing the worst effects of climate change requires limiting the temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius, and that doing so requires the biggest emitters to cut emissions 80 percent by 2050 and all countries to essentially eliminate them by the end of the century. Unfortunately, while we can make progress with today’s tools, they cannot get us to an 80 percent reduction, much less 100 percent. To work at scale, current wind and solar technologies need backup energy sources—which means fossil fuels—for windless days, long periods of cloudy weather, and nighttime. They also require much more space; for example, to provide as much power as a coal-fired plant, a wind farm needs more than 10 times as much land.

These are solvable problems. If we create the right environment for innovation, we can accelerate the pace of progress, develop and deploy new solutions, and eventually provide everyone with reliable, affordable energy that is carbon free. We can avoid the worst climate-change scenarios while also lifting people out of poverty, growing food more efficiently, and saving lives by reducing pollution.  To create this future we need to take several steps: 

Create Incentives for Innovation

One step is to lay the foundation for innovation by drastically increasing government funding for research on clean energy solutions. Right now, the world spends only a few billion dollars a year on researching early-stage ideas for zero-carbon energy. It should be investing two or three times that much.

Why should governments fund basic research? For the same reason that companies tend not to: because it is a public good. The benefits to society are far greater than the amount that the inventor can capture. One of the best examples of this is the creation of the Internet. It has led to innovations that continue to change our lives, but none of the companies who deliver those innovations would ever have built it. Similarly, the government’s research into hydraulic fracturing helped create today’s natural gas boom.

Expanding the government’s support for energy research will lead to another important step: attracting more private investment to the field. As early-stage ideas progress, private capital will pour in to build the companies that will deliver those ideas to market. We need hundreds of companies working on thousands of ideas, including crazy-sounding ones that don’t get enough funding, such as high-altitude wind and solar chemical (using the energy of the sun to make hydrocarbons). No one knows which of these technologies will prove powerful enough and easy to scale, so we should be exploring all of them.  

My own personal investments include companies working on new batteries and other storage methods and advances in solar technology. The nuclear design I am investing in would be safer than previous designs and would go a long way toward solving the nuclear waste problem. I spend a lot of time with the CEOs and scientists at all these companies discussing how to build a business around an innovative idea and take a product to market. If government research budgets open up the pipeline of innovation, not only will I expand my investments, but I believe other investors would join me in taking these risks.

Governments need to act quickly, because energy transitions take time. Today, renewables account for less than 5 percent of the world’s energy mix. It took four decades for oil to go from 5 percent of the world’s energy supply to 25 percent. Natural gas took even longer. I believe we can make this transition faster—both because the pace of innovation is accelerating, and because we have never had such an urgent reason to move from one source of energy to another. The sooner we start, the more suffering we can prevent.

Develop Markets That Help Get to Zero

Another important step will be to ensure that the energy market accurately reflects the full impact of emitting carbon. Today the market is not factoring in what economists call the negative externalities—the health costs, environmental damage, and so on. If the market takes these into account, renewable energy will be more competitive with fossil fuels, which will attract more innovators to the field. Many countries and states are experimenting with different ways to price carbon. Whatever approach we take, it should create incentives to develop new energy solutions while also giving energy companies enough certainty to plan and execute the transition to zero-carbon sources.

We can also be smarter about how we use subsidies. The IMF estimates that direct subsidies for fossil fuels amount to nearly $500 billion a year worldwide, shielding consumers from their true costs. Some subsidies for deploying renewable energy are also very inefficient, creating big incentives to install solar panels where it’s often not sunny or wind turbines where it’s not windy. We should be looking for ways to reduce these subsidies and invest the savings in the basic R&D that will help solve the problem.

Treat Poor Countries Fairly

Unfortunately, even if we could roll out the ideal zero-carbon solution tomorrow, some climate change is inevitable, and it will hit the world’s poor the hardest. The countries that have done the most to cause this problem have a responsibility to not only invest in mitigation, but also help poor countries adapt to a changing climate. For our part, the Gates Foundation is concentrating on one key aspect of adaptation: helping small farmers—who make up the majority of the world’s poor—adjust to hotter, more unpredictable weather by raising agricultural productivity. I will be writing more about this work later this year.

As for next steps, I’m optimistic that the spotlight of the COP meeting in Paris will help motivate governments to step up their research budgets. In my view, innovation is essential to human progress. Some people would say that it is the lens I use to look at every problem, and I have to admit that there is some truth to that. But I believe it is justified by history. In my lifetime innovation has helped eradicate one deadly disease (smallpox) and put us on the brink of a second (polio). We have cut the fraction of children who die every year by a factor of four. Digital technology has revolutionized the way people live. We can create a zero-carbon future too, if we commit to it.

Dedication of National Career Service Film

Dedication of National Career Service Film

Cry, My Beloved Country!

It was the best of times in India's History,
The birth of a Bengal nation brought forth the power of Indians,
The deserts of Rajasthan thundered deep and 
The world  wondered in silence and 
Indira emerged as India's face.
Planned was her march with none to stop... 
There came your jealous and you became very venomous...
Tempted  by your divide and ruin policy,
A warriors'  state began to war with her own mother,
And came the end of a glorious era with your cunning pen. 

A young leader was brought after much thought 
And he brought computers and  optical fibres 
He built his army with Pitrodas and Narayans.
Loved by his beauty and felled by his duty 
Country was in the race yet again to gain
Oh, in vain... your cunning pen brought in a farce, 
Called  Bofors ... day and night you showed your might,
Lions falling to foxs' tricks was not unknown in History,
And you ended the life of a leader and the life of a nation.


Now after  waging many a battle another leader is on the saddle
Unable to digest the growth of this nation, 
Unable to swallow the fame of this nation
You are at your work again for a decade and more now...
You suck this nation's blood as a leech- no issues.
Why do you want her to shed it on roads and in battle fields...
My dear brother, 
Why do you hate your own mother?

Should we allow a single  mahavishnu's family swallow this nation?
We were a slave for  the English Crown for two centuries,
How long this nation continue to be a slave for an 'English pen'?
Is there none in the country to stop this poisonous pen?


Cry, my beloved country!
Truth is fired and buried and 
Falsehood is cheered and celebrated....
The pen that seeks the death of this nation is venerated,
The hearts that seek the growth of this nation are isolated...
Cry, my beloved country!
Cry, my beloved country!

PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS IN INDIA

Family members and friends climb the wall of Vidya Niketan school in Mahnar village, 60kms from Patna, to pass on answer chits to the students appearing for SSC exams on March 18, 2015. THE HINDU

I'm very late to comment on this happening which is very common across India albeit at different levels. Leaving the question of morality in wilderness I think upon the reasons  forcing people to do such acts. The functioning of school system in India is visible in the photo. Why do these happen? When did this start? Who are responsible for the mess? What is the solution? 

Simply Exams are feared in India. Education is not for 'man making' but for 'money making'.  Learning is for earning and nothing else. The system had a commonality as long as the British ruled us. Though various committees established during the British era  suggested education through the mother tongue, still millions in India  complete their entire schooling in a foreign language. 

The Sir Charles Wood, the then secretary of State enunciated the aim of education as the diffusion of the Arts, Science, Philosophy and Literature of Europe. It laid down that the study of Indian languages was to be encouraged and that the English language should be taught wherever there was 

demand for it, and that both English and the Indian Languages were to be regarded the media for the diffusion of European knowledge.

The Despatch was considered to be the " Magna Carta of Education of in India". It was the first authoritative declaration on the part of the British Parliament about the educational policy to be followed in India.

Lord Macaulay rejected the claims of Arabic and Sanskrit as against English, because he considered that English was better than either of them.

Till date, the educational institutions are manufacturing machines that can recollect and reproduce the things learnt.  A nation which has got 1/7th of the world population has got not a single institution of higher learning among the top 500.

Leaving the occasional achievers who are fired by individual inspirations and serving elsewhere, the system remains cramped. From root to the shoot the system requires revamp. But none would do as politics is there in the soil, air and water of India. Politicians would not allow any real change to happen. 

They decide a curriculum which suits them and not the students. The leaders decide the percentage of candidates to be promoted and not the examiners. In some states they proudly declare that millions of candidates scored 100 % in some subjects and they claim credit for the same. Nowhere in the world   it is seen that politicians claiming credit at the success of a candidate in an  examination which  they never wrote.

From curriculum to teacher recruitment,from prescribing text books to purchase of note books, from class room interaction to  question paper setting every body interferes  in the school system. Setting up a private educational institution is the most lucrative business today. Alongside they become educationists and  industrialists.  They become a big fleet owners too. as they possess 10 - 300 buses or vans in which they transport their consumers every day to their educational factories.

"The Delhi High Court on Thursday upheld the 10-year jail term for former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and four others, including his son Ajay Chautala, for their role in the teachers’ recruitment scam which, the judge observed, showed the convicts’ “flagrant disregard” towards society and system." March 6 2015: Indian Express

Childhood is the best part of any human's life. But the cut throat competition and the unbridled zeal to excel in every field forces parents to goad their kids into various classes which may bring them instant fame and money. There are kids who travel 20-30 kilometers in the evenings to pursue the hobby of  their parents. For instance 'Skating'.  Rock climbing may be an option for a child in a hilly region. But the kids who have no access to hills or institutes that train them in their vicinity are forced to go farther places to help them climb up in their lives.  I'm coming across parents who complain that their kids missed just a single mark in Biology, though he/she has scored a perfect hundred in the remaining major subjects. 

The need of the hour is not students who can score marks, but students who can leave a mark in History.  As long as Politics rules our classrooms, no ethics can be expected from the learners. 

Egypt Walks Ahead

Egypt to Save Over US $2.4 Billion Annually, Cut CO2 Emissions by 13%, Water Consumption by 40% and Create 8 Million New Jobs, Through Transition to Green Economy zo, mei 3, 2015 

Egypt's transition to a green economy to create 8 million new jobs
Cairo, 5 March 2015 - A shift to a green economy pathway could lead Egypt to achieve annual savings of over US$1.3 billion in the agriculture sector, and US$1.1 billion in the water sector, as well as a 13 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions, and a 40 per cent reduction in water consumption, according to a new report released today by the Egyptian Government, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners.
Launched at the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN), the Green Economy Scoping Study for Egypt finds that economic and environmental trends such as declining water share per capita of over 30 per cent by 2025, solid waste generation increases of 36 per cent since 2000, and natural resource depletion of around 3.78 per cent annually, can be reduced and reversed through strategic policy interventions that can accelerate Egypt's sustainable development.

UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, "Challenges such as Egypt's rapidly growing population - which could reach 100 million by 2020 - coupled with an ecological footprint almost three times its available bio-capacity, according to the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, are opportunities to implement an inclusive green economy strategy that can revitalize and diversify the economy and achieve social equity while also conserving the environment, and improving health and human welfare."

"Working in favour of a transition is Egypt's resilient banking sector, its abundance of labour and entrepreneurial skills, a functional public sector, and the Egypt's determination to fulfil its aspirations for long-term prosperity and human welfare."

"This report demonstrates that greening key sectors such as water, agriculture, waste and energy is an economically and environmentally astute course of action. The savings alone make a strong case for a new policy approach that can decouple environmental degradation from economic development, create jobs, reduce emissions, attract foreign investment and develop new markets," he added.

The report, which was prepared by UNEP at the request of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency and State Ministry for Environment, presents proposed interventions and investment options, as well as expected benefits and policy approaches for greening Egypt's agricultural, water, energy and solid waste sectors.

Egyptian Minister of Environment, Dr. Khaled Fahmy, said, "Transitioning into the green economy across diverse sectors offers a clear pathway to achieving durable and equitable sustainable development for Egypt. The convening of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in Cairo this week offers an opportunity for African countries to discuss options for such a transformation to happen, not only in Egypt but across the continent. We will need to work together to create opportunities and put in place the necessary policies, mechanisms and interventions to make this happen."

Green Interventions - Agriculture

The agriculture sector currently only contributes about 14 per cent of GDP - compared to 30 per cent in the 1970s - and as a result of business-as usual practices is marred by loss of agricultural biodiversity, land erosion and loss of soil fertility.

Identified green interventions which can reverse these downward trends include investing in organic farming; changing cropping patterns; and shifting to state of the art irrigation systems. Directing investments to rural areas will also reduce rural to urban migration and the pressure this creates on the physical and social infrastructure and services in urban areas, which contributes to enhancing equity, social cohesion and improved distribution of wealth and opportunities, particularly among the poor and marginalized segments of the Egyptian population.

Green Interventions - Water

Demand for water is increasing at an alarming rate, with water share per capita set to decrease by over 65 per cent by 2050 as population growth, urbanization, and increased agricultural and industrial activities continue to increase pressure on an already scarce resource.

Identified green interventions which can help to reverse this trend include investing in non-conventional water resources development such as desalination and treated wastewater, and the upgrading and expansion of national water use-efficiency.

Green Interventions - Energy

Since 2007, a gap between energy supply and demand has existed, and is expected to continue to increase under the business as usual scenario. Public expenditure on energy subsidies has reached unprecedented levels, representing about 73 per cent of all subsidies and approximately 21 per cent of the country's budget, according to the African Development Bank.

Identified green interventions which can help reverse this trend include significant investment in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind infrastructure to increase the percentage share of renewable energy out of the total energy mix; investing in energy efficient appliances and equipment by households and economic sectors; and investing in human resource development, R&D in energy-saving technologies, practices and measures.

Green Interventions - Waste

It is estimated that annual solid waste generation has increased by more than 36 per cent since 2000, with an estimated increase of 3.4 per cent per annum, according to SWEET Net. It reached about 21 million tonnes in 2010, nine million tonnes of which is generated by greater Cairo. The current state of solid waste management is resulting in increased environmental damage and negative impacts on health.

Identified green investments which could reverse these trends include investing in waste to organic fertilizers and waste to biofuel facilities; investing in producing refuse-derived fuel for use as an energy source for cement factories and other industrial uses; and investing in human resource development, R&D and innovative recycling technologies and equipment.

Key Findings

Agriculture

• Conversion of 20 per cent of the total agricultural land from conventional to sustainable and organic cultivation amounting to about 1.44 million feddans (605,000 hectares) , could result in a saving of approximately 700, 000 tonnes of chemical fertilizers annually or EGP 1 billion annually.
  
• The potential of producing compost from agricultural residues could provide more than
  22 illion tonnes of organic waste annually, or EGP 9 billion annually.
  
• Reducing the area for cultivated for rice (or using early maturing varieties) and sugar cane could lead to water savings of EGP 4-7 five billion by 2017.
  
• It is estimated that using drip irrigation could save up to 40 per cent of water as compared to
  flood irrigation.
  

Water

• Investing in household water saving devices for domestic use including residential building is
  estimated to result in water savings between 10 to 20 per cent, or 1.4 billion m3 of water savings annually.
  
• Other benefits of water efficiency approaches include increased land productivity and yields
  estimated at between 20 to 30 per cent.
  
• Efficiency in the use and allocation of water resulting from good governance and regulatory
  frameworks is estimated to result in 10 per cent savings in water consumption of the equivalent of EGP 6.75 billion annually.
  

Energy

• 
  

Investing in renewable energy can be a driver for job creation, with an estimated 75,000 new job opportunities in solar and wind systems design, manufacturing, operational services, and sales.

Investing in energy efficiency practices such as the installation of efficient lighting equipment could lead to significant energy savings especially that 34 per cent of residential energy consumption is for lighting purposes.

Energy efficiency measures in Egypt are expected to result in about 30 per cent in energy savings estimated at 33 billion kW based on 2012 estimates of energy consumption in Egypt.
Reduction in oil consumption by 20 per cent is estimated to cut down CO2 emissions by 18
million tonnes of CO2 annually.

Key Recommendations
Possible guiding principles for a Green Economy framework for Egypt include:

• Good governance: to ensure transparency, accountability, and public participation throughout policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and assessment.
  
• Sustainability and continuity: policies should also ensure sustainability from the environmental,
  social and economic standpoint.
  
• Integrated policymaking: environmental, social and economic considerations should be integrated throughout the planning process.
  
• Inter-generational equity: future generations should not bear costs and negative implications of
  proposed policies.
  
• Equity and inclusiveness: policies should ensure the equitable distribution of wealth providing
  equal opportunities for the different segments of the population, and promote social justice and
  cohesion.
  

Ocean in Mars

NASA scientists have determined that a primitive ocean on Mars held more water than Earth's Arctic Ocean and that the Red Planet has lost 87 percent of that water to space.

Image Credit: 

NASA/GSFC

A primitive ocean on Mars held more water than Earth’s Arctic Ocean, according to NASA scientists who, using ground-based observatories, measured water signatures in the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

Scientists have been searching for answers to why this vast water supply left the surface. Details of the observations and computations appear in Thursday’s edition of Science magazine.

“Our study provides a solid estimate of how much water Mars once had, by determining how much water was lost to space,” said Geronimo Villanueva, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of the new paper. “With this work, we can better understand the history of water on Mars.”

Perhaps about 4.3 billion years ago, Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 450 feet (137 meters) deep. More likely, the water would have formed an ocean occupying almost half of Mars’ northern hemisphere, in some regions reaching depths greater than a mile (1.6 kilometers).

The new estimate is based on detailed observations made at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, and the W.M. Keck Observatory and NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii. With these powerful instruments, the researchers distinguished the chemical signatures of two slightly different forms of water in Mars’ atmosphere. One is the familiar H₂O. The other is HDO, a naturally occurring variation in which one hydrogen is replaced by a heavier form, called deuterium.

By comparing the ratio of HDO to H₂O in water on Mars today and comparing it with the ratio in water trapped in a Mars meteorite dating from about 4.5 billion years ago, scientists can measure the subsequent atmospheric changes and determine how much water has escaped into space.

The team mapped H₂O and HDO levels several times over nearly six years, which is equal to approximately three Martian years. The resulting data produced global snapshots of each compound, as well as their ratio. These first-of-their-kind maps reveal regional variations called microclimates and seasonal changes, even though modern Mars is essentially a desert.

The research team was especially interested in regions near Mars’ north and south poles, because the polar ice caps hold the planet’s largest known water reservoir. The water stored there is thought to capture the evolution of Mars’ water during the wet Noachian period, which ended about 3.7 billion years ago, to the present.

From the measurements of atmospheric water in the near-polar region, the researchers determined the enrichment, or relative amounts of the two types of water, in the planet’s permanent ice caps. The enrichment of the ice caps told them how much water Mars must have lost – a volume 6.5 times larger than the volume in the polar caps now. That means the volume of Mars’ early ocean must have been at least 20 million cubic kilometers (5 million cubic miles).

Based on the surface of Mars today, a likely location for this water would be in the Northern Plains, considered a good candidate because of the low-lying ground. An ancient ocean there would have covered 19 percent of the planet’s surface. By comparison, the Atlantic Ocean occupies 17 percent of Earth’s surface.

“With Mars losing that much water, the planet was very likely wet for a longer period of time than was previously thought, suggesting it might have been habitable for longer,” said Michael Mumma, a senior scientist at Goddard and the second author on the paper.

NASA is studying Mars with a host of spacecraft and rovers under the agency’s Mars Exploration Program, including the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers, Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, and the MAVEN orbiter, which arrived at the Red Planet in September 2014 to study the planet’s upper atmosphere.

In 2016, a Mars lander mission called InSight will launch to take a first look into the deep interior of Mars. The agency also is participating in ESA’s (European Space Agency) 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions, including providing telecommunication radios to ESA’s 2016 orbiter and a critical element of the astrobiology instrument on the 2018 ExoMars rover. NASA’s next rover, heading to Mars in 2020, will carry instruments to conduct unprecedented science and exploration technology investigations on the Red Planet.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Program seeks to characterize and understand Mars as a dynamic system, including its present and past environment, climate cycles, geology and biological potential. In parallel, NASA is developing the human spaceflight capabilities needed for future round-trip missions to Mars in the 2030s.