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Verb (lb) To make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify; to reinforce.(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616).:Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest,/ With powerful policy strengthen themselves.1851, Anonymous, Arthur Hamilton, and His Dog.:A little hardship, and a little struggling with the rougher elements of life, will perchance but. Overall, Intensify feels surprisingly complete and fully baked for a 1.0 app. Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed controversial Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) bill will intensify the fight against Corruption in the country. The President made this known at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) 2020 virtual leaders’ summit on the sidelines of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Punjab farmers on Thursday squatted on rail tracks at 30 different locations as part of their indefinite ‘rail roko’ protest against Centre’s agri Acts. Indefinite dharnas also began Thursday at 15 toll plazas where farmers sat on roads and people crossed toll barriers without paying any tax. The day also brought big corporate houses in the direct line of fire as farmers intensified their agitation.
In their speeches at different dharna spots, farmer union leaders spoke about waging war against the “mighty corporate sector” in order to stop their entry into Punjab’s agriculture sector.
Amid protests, Reliance was forced to keep shut over two dozen fuel stations in Barnala, Bathinda, Mansa, Ludhiana, Sangrur and other districts. Apart from that, three Reliance malls also did not open for business in Bhuchho, Bathinda and Amritsar. In Moga and Sangrur, protests happened outside silos of Adani Agri Logistics, which remained shuttered.
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“It is a head on fight with these corporates. We will deal with them directly. One needs to have courage to fight, no matter how powerful the opponent. It has happened for the first time that the most powerful brand of India was forced to shut its fuel stations, stores and our dharanas are indefinite,” said Dr Darshan Pal from Krantikari Kisan Union (KKU), Punjab.
Harjinder Singh youth leader of BKU (Ugrahan) said, “Log kehnde ki Modi nahi manuga, mande assi vi nahi (People say that PM Narendra Modi will not agree to our demands, but even we will also not end our struggle).”
BJP leaders face protests
Pakka morchas also kicked off on Thursday outside the houses of BJP leaders Bikramjeet Singh Cheema, president Kisan cell of the Punjab BJP, Mahila wing leader Sunita Garg’s residence at Kotkapura, the house of farmer leader Satwant Punia in Sangrur and Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik’s residence in Amritsar.
“These BJP leaders need to tell us what are the qualities of farm laws. On TV debates, they say that people who are protesting have not even read the Acts. So they need to tell us in detail and in a layman’s language as we farmers are illiterate according to them,” said Rajinder Singh, another Kirti Kisan Union leader.
“They need to tell us whether their workers have read the bills? None of the workers know anything and they too are equally confused as we are,” said Shingara Singh Maan, president of BKU(Ugrahan)’s Bathinda unit.
Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary of BKU (Lakhowal), said: “These dharnas will continue for an indefinite period. BJP leaders have said that they want to meet farmer brothers and sisters. Now, we are sitting outside their houses — come out and meet us. We will close Reliance pumps, Adani’s silos for indefinite time period. Let’s see what will be the consequences and whether they feel this heat or not.”
Dharnas at pvt silos, fuel pumps
A pakka morcha also began outside grain storage silos run by Adani Agri Logistics in village Dagru of Moga. Farmers said that the protest will go on 24×7.
While several photographs of the Moga-based Adani storage facility going around on social media claimed that this silo was established recently ‘overnight’, the fact is that this silo in village Dagru of Moga is more than a decade old and had started operations in 2007.
It was set up by in 2007 in agreement with Food Corporation of India (FCI). The facility is one of the few in Punjab which provides modern storage space for foodgrains procured by FCI so that they do not rot lying outside.
As per company’s website, “The company commissioned India’s first modern grain storage infrastructure for Food Corporation of India in 2007. It commissioned grain silos in Moga (Punjab) and Kaithal (Haryana) to store grains, and established receiving silos in Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Coimbatore, cities connected through Adani’s dedicated railway rakes.’
Sukhdev Singh Khokri Kalan, general secretary, BKU (Ugrahan), said: “As part of our protest against corporates, indefinite protests have started outside Adani silos in Dagru of Moga.”
He added: “We are gheraoing Adani owned silos and Reliance pumps because three new farm laws are directly aimed at benefiting corporate companies and the Modi government is just bothered about their profits. These protests will now go on 24×7 till the three laws are not rolled back.”
“Our protests may have caused a fraction of a dent on their total sale, but we have dared to take them on…Hale sadi zamir jagdi hai (our conscious is still alive ),” said Jagseer Singh, a protester, in Bhuchho.
(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)
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© Adem ALTAN Climate change is often felt through too much or too little water, the report saidRecord temperatures are accelerating the rise of sea levels, melting glaciers and snow coverage and threatening the water supplies for billions, according to a major UN report Wednesday charting the 'increasing and irreversible' impacts of climate change.
© Tolga AKMEN Climate change protests are increasingly frequent around the worldThe multi-agency United in Science report said the world had seen its warmest five years on record in the last five years, adding that extreme weather events bore 'a clear fingerprint' of climate change.
It comes after UN chief Antonio Guterres told AFP that nations must use the coronavirus crisis as a springboard to implement 'transformational' green policies to make energy, transport, industry and everyday life more sustainable.
If they fail, he warned humanity was 'doomed'.
The report, coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said humanity was not on track to meet the targets for emission reductions that would avert devastating global warming.
It highlighted 'the increasing and irreversible impacts of climate change, which affects glaciers, oceans, nature, economies and human living conditions and is often felt through water-related hazards like drought or flooding'.
Warmer temperatures have seen reductions in the world's glaciers and ice sheets, threatening fresh water supplies.
The United Nations' science advisory panel for climate change, the IPCC, has forecast that oceans will rise by up to a metre by the end of the century, and even more after that.
Hundreds of millions of people live in vulnerable coastal areas.
The new report said that between 2016 and 2019 glacier mass loss was greater than all past five-year periods since 1950, adding that sea-level rise was accelerating.
It said 1.2 billion people are currently at risk of flooding and predicted this will rise to 1.6 billion by 2050.
Meanwhile, water scarcity is set to increase, with up to 3.2 billion people predicted to live in areas with insufficient water by 2050, compared to 1.9 billion in the 2010s.
The loss of glaciers will severely impact access to freshwater, with annual runoff expected to peak at a global level by the end of the century and then decline.
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But the report said Central Europe and the Caucasus region were at their peak now.
In the Tibetan Plateau -- where runoff from snow cover, glaciers and permafrost provides almost half of the regional river flow -- the peak is forecast between 2030 and 2050, threatening water access for 1.7 billion people.
That would affect the mighty Mekong river, for one, which originates in the plateau and threads south through six countries.
- Emission fears -
Earth's average surface temperature has gone up by one degree Celsius since the 19th century, enough to increase the intensity of droughts, heat waves and tropical cyclones.
The UN report said the last five year period would be the hottest on record and that trend was set to continue.
Under the landmark 2015 Paris climate deal, which goes into effect this year, countries agreed to cap the rise in temperature to 'well below' two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
The United Nations says it is still possible to reach a safer goal of a 1.5C cap in temperature rise, but to get there global emissions must fall 7.6 percent annually this decade.
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The report estimated emissions would decline between 4 and 7 percent this year due to the unprecedented measures put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
During the peak of the lockdowns in April, global emissions were 17 percent lower than in 2019.
But it said this was equivalent to levels seen in 2006, 'highlighting both the steep growth over the past 15 years and the continued dependence on fossil sources for energy'.
The WMO said there was a 24 percent chance of at least one year exceeding the 1.5C level between 2020 and 2024.
'The expectations that we have in relation to the next five years about storms, about drought and about other dramatic impacts in the living conditions of many people around the world are absolutely terrible,' Guterres said, in interviews published Tuesday with AFP and other members of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of news outlets committed to increased climate coverage.
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