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<keyword id="22976106" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indoor" source="keywords">Indoor</keyword> <keyword id="19900550" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="air-pollution" source="keywords">air pollution</keyword> is a bigger <keyword id="21117961" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-risk" source="keywords">health risk</keyword> than <keyword id="20543591" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="outdoor" source="keywords">outdoor</keyword> air pollution in India, and sometimes cities are cleaner than nearby villages where <keyword id="22976772" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="household-pollution" source="keywords">household pollution</keyword> is higher, according to the country's two top policy experts. Addressing the India <keyword id="20445293" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="clean-air" source="keywords">Clean Air</keyword> Summit (ICAS) 2024, Principal Advisor, <keyword id="19904190" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ministry-of-Health-and-Family-Welfare" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Ministry of Health and Family Welfare" meta.hostid="83" meta.entityid="Ministry of Health and Family Welfare">Ministry of Health and Family Welfare</keyword>, Soumya Swaminathan said, "Studies done in Delhi have shown that women's average exposure to high levels of <keyword id="20827287" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="black-carbon" source="keywords">black carbon</keyword> (women <keyword id="19895006" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WHO" source="keywords">who</keyword> are mostly at home) is as much as auto-rickshaw passengers going around outdoor exposed to the ambient air pollution in Delhi, resulting in high systolic blood pressure." "Cities contribute less than 20 per cent to the overall state emissions, wherever they have been assessed, but household emissions predominate, ranging between 20 per cent and 40 per cent. Across the country, we are seeing is that sometimes cities are cleaner than the surrounding villages where household air pollution predominates," she said at the summit organised by think-tank Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy. This builds a strong case for expanding the scope of India's National Clean Air Programme (<keyword id="20133150" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NCAP" source="keywords">NCAP</keyword>), which currently focuses on non-attainment cities. Air pollution is a major threat to public health and contributes to a significant amount of morbidity as well as mortality. Apart from PM2.5 and PM10, short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon, methane, ozone, and hydrocarbons have the potential to harm the environment and warm the atmosphere even more than CO2. Black carbon can cause chronic respiratory illnesses, lung cancer, emphysema, pneumonia, asthma, heart disease, and low birthweight. "In terms of reducing our life expectancy, globally, PM2.5 is contributing to about 2.3 years of life lost. Just below that is tobacco. In fact, there's so much attention on tobacco and global frameworks for control, but not the same level of attention has been paid to PM2.5 and certainly not the same level of commitments," Swaminathan said. The impact of air pollution is not limited to public health but has a significant economic cost as well. Recently, the World Bank published a study highlighting that air pollution has resulted in a loss of around USD 8.1 trillion in 2019, which is 6.1 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). "We are always talking about air pollution as a problem but studies also show a strong economic case for action on clean air. There are significant positive consequences to investing in cleaning up the air in terms of the return on investments. We know air pollution is not just bad for our health, but it's also bad for agriculture, because it reduces the sunlight that's reaching the crops and it's bad for our economy or any country's economy as it deters people from coming and living or visiting those places," Swaminathan added. Kalpana Balakrishnan, Director, WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, said that the main barrier to shifting to clean cooking fuels that can help reduce household air pollution levels is finance. "If we give free LPG to women for two years, they are unlikely to shift back to biomass cooking even if you remove the subsidies," she said. Through Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) launched in May 2016, more than 100 million households in India received LPG cylinders by the end of March 2023. Studies shows over 50 per cent of the households that received new LPG cylinders under PMUY did not choose to refill it even once. Around a third of the world's population - 2.4 billion people globally (including 500 million people in India) - still lack access to clean cooking solutions. Although the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOPNG) claims that the country's household LPG "coverage" stands at 99.8 per cent, the National Family Health Survey conducted in 2019-21 (NFHS-5) shows that 41 per cent of the population still cooks on biomass.

Indoor air pollution poses greater health risk than outdoor: Experts

Incidence of stroke and related deaths are rising substantially around the world, with <keyword id="19900550" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="air-pollution" source="keywords">air pollution</keyword>, <keyword id="21334318" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="high-temperatures" source="keywords">high temperatures</keyword> and metabolic risk factors such as high blood pressure and physical inactivity, driving these increases, according to estimates published in The Lancet Neurology journal. Researchers found that the contribution of high temperatures to poor health and early death due to stroke has increased 72% since 1990 and is likely to continue increasing in the future, thereby highlighting how environmental factors can impact growing stroke burden. Further, for the first time, particulate matter or PM air pollution was found to have the same contribution as smoking towards causing a fatal form of brain bleed, according to the researchers forming the <keyword id="20691740" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Global-Burden-of-Disease" source="keywords">Global Burden of Disease</keyword>, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) group. The GBD study, the "largest and most comprehensive effort to quantify health loss across places and over time", is coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, US. Globally, the number of people experiencing a stroke for the first time rose to 119 lakh in 2021 -- up by 70% since 1990 -- while deaths related to stroke rose to 73 lakh, which was up by 44% since 1990, making the neurological condition the third leading cause of death after ischaemic heart disease (short supply of blood to heart) and COVID-19. They added that over three-fourth of those affected by strokes live in low- and middle-income countries. According to lead author Valery L. Feigin from Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, the rapid growth in the number of people affected by stroke strongly suggested that <keyword id="23228151" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stroke-prevention" source="keywords">stroke prevention</keyword> strategies currently used are not sufficiently effective. "New, proven effective population-wide and motivational individual prevention strategies that could be applied to all people at risk of having a stroke, regardless of the level of risk, as recommended in the recent Lancet Neurology Commission on Stroke should be implemented across the globe urgently," said Feigin. The researchers also estimated that stroke-related liabilities attributable to 23 modifiable risk factors, including air pollution, excess body weight, high blood pressure, smoking and physical inactivity, increased from 100 million years of healthy life lost in 1990 to 135 million in 2021. These risk factors are present in huge numbers in Eastern Europe, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, they said. The authors also acknowledged substantial progress made in reducing the global stroke burden from risk factors linked to poor diet, air pollution and smoking. Poor health resulting from diets high in processed meat and low in vegetables declined by 40 % and 30%, respectively, while that due to PM air pollution and smoking fell by 20 % and 13%, respectively, they found. The results suggested that strategies for reducing exposure to these risk factors over the past three decades such as clean air zones and public smoking bans have been successful, the authors said. They called for implementing and monitoring the evidence-based recommendations set out in the 2023 World Stroke Organization-Lancet Neurology Commission on stroke for drastically reducing the global burden of stroke in the years to come and improving brain health and overall well-being of millions of people around the world. The recommendations include stroke surveillance programmes that monitor indicators of stroke such as incidence, recurrence, death rates and risk factors in a country, and care and rehabilitation services for people affected by stroke.

Stroke cases increasing globally, air pollution, high temperatures driving numbers, notes Lancet Study

The United States has invested significantly in expanding its strategic partnership with <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> and is pursuing a robust agenda to deepen the bilateral cooperation, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt <keyword id="20428643" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="campbell" source="keywords">Campbell</keyword> has said. Addressing the ongoing India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Summit in California on Monday, Campbell said successive administrations in Washington and New Delhi have invested time and political capital to bring the partnership to greater heights. "But in the last year, I like to say, our partnership has reached 'escape velocity'," he said. "The United States has invested significantly in expanding our strategic partnership with India, and we are pursuing a robust agenda to deepen cooperation for the rest of the year - not only diplomatically, but also through iCET ( initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology)," Campbell said. The third edition of the two-day INDUS-X summit began on Monday. It is organised by the <keyword id="20263494" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="us-india-strategic-and-partnership-forum" source="keywords">US India Strategic and Partnership Forum</keyword> (<keyword id="20252677" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="usispf" source="keywords">USISPF</keyword>) at Stanford University in California. "Our defence establishments, research institutions, private industry, and startups possess a deep bench of talent and mutual thirst for innovation, which is why INDUS-X was designed to create the necessary ecosystem and partnerships for new ideas, research, and development to flourish," the top American diplomat said. Asserting that the two countries are "more closely aligned than ever before" today, Campbell said the US and India have pursued an "ambitious agenda" of summits, joint challenges, and exchanges in over a year since the launch of the INDUS-X. INDUS-X, which stands for enhanced strategic and defence partnership between India and the US, was launched on June 21 last year by the <keyword id="20331010" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="us-department-of-defence" source="keywords">US Department of Defence</keyword> and the <keyword id="22082092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-ministry-of-defence" source="keywords">Indian Ministry of Defence</keyword> during Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="narendra-modi" source="Orion">Narendra Modi</keyword>'s state visit to Washington, DC. "I expect these efforts will continue, given the deep bonds that tie our countries together and the strategic challenges we both face. INDUS-X is now, and will be, a cornerstone of our continuing efforts to advance the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology - iCET," Campbell said. The iCET was launched by Prime Minister Modi and US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the QUAD summit in Tokyo on May 24, 2022. Observing that technological leadership is increasingly at the heart of the strategic competition, Campbell said it is the great differentiator in the US foreign policy approach. "And India is in a very small group of countries with whom we work most intimately on tech. The iCET, which places technology at the very heart of the US-India partnership, has greatly accelerated our strategic cooperation," he said. Talking about the second iCET meeting that took place between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan in June, Cambell said it "showed the immense progress we are making across a range of sectors including space, semiconductors, advanced telecommunications, artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, and clean energy". "Deepening defence cooperation is also a key pillar of iCET," said the top American diplomat. "Our work together driving innovation and developing cutting-edge technologies will help us maintain a critical advantage for our armed forces. We've taken unprecedented steps to increase operational coordination, information sharing, and defence industrial cooperation, including co-production," he said. "In fact, we've authorised an unprecedented level of technology transfer as part of the GE engine co-production arrangement, and our two governments have just finalised a Security of Supply Arrangement to reinforce our supply chain resilience," he said. Last year, GE Aerospace and <keyword id="19998363" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hindustan-aeronautics-limited" source="keywords">Hindustan Aeronautics Limited</keyword> (HAL) inked a pact to jointly produce fighter jet engines for the <keyword id="19992067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-air-force" source="keywords">Indian Air Force</keyword>'s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk-II - Tejas. "Under INDUS-X, the US and Indian governments have also announced: awards of USD 1.2 million in seed funding to ten US and Indian companies under Joint IMPACT 1.0 Challenges; our intent to launch two additional joint challenges in other domains, including space; and the launch of a INDUSWERX Testing Consortium of industry, academia, and nonprofit organisations across the US and India to promote our companies' access to testing and experimentation facilities," Campbell said.

US invested significantly in expanding strategic partnership with India: Kurt Campbell

India offers huge <keyword id="20009960" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment-opportunities" source="keywords">investment opportunities</keyword> worth over <keyword id="20120060" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="USD-500-billion" source="keywords">USD 500 billion</keyword>, particularly in <keyword id="19914923" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="clean-energy" source="keywords">clean energy</keyword> value chain including <keyword id="19955662" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="renewables" source="keywords">renewables</keyword>, <keyword id="19990484" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="green-hydrogen" source="keywords">green hydrogen</keyword> and <keyword id="19931191" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="EV" source="keywords">EV</keyword>, by 2030, the <keyword id="19910473" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Commerce-ministry" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Commerce ministry" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Commerce ministry">commerce ministry</keyword> said on Thursday. This was stated by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, who is in Singapore for the two-day meet of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Clean Economy Investor Forum. The meeting, which started on Wednesday, brought together the region's top investors, clean economy companies, and start-ups to mobilise investments into <keyword id="20900661" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sustainable-infrastructure" source="keywords">sustainable infrastructure</keyword>, <keyword id="21246486" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-technology" source="keywords">climate technology</keyword>, and renewable energy projects. The 14-member IPEF bloc was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23, 2022, in Tokyo. Together, they account for 40 per cent of the world's economic output and 28 per cent of trade. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy. India has joined all the pillars except the trade. Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam are members of the bloc. Barthwal, during the inaugural IPEF Clean Economy Investor Forum, acknowledged the forum as a unique platform that brought global investors, policy makers, and academia under one roof, which would be instrumental in advancing sustainable infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific Region. The secretary while addressing the forum underlined the huge investment opportunities that "India offers of more than USD 500 billion, particularly in the clean energy value chain including renewables, green hydrogen and EV and its infrastructure transition, by 2030". Barthwal also highlighted key reforms around ease of doing business in India to improve business environment over the last decade. During the two-day event, more than 300 participants from financial institutions, multilateral development banks, venture capital funds, project owners, entrepreneurs and government agencies from IPEF partners actively participated under the sustainable infrastructure and climate tech engagement tracks. In the sustainable infrastructure track, after the screening, "four companies (ReNew Power, Avaada Energy Pvt Ltd, Indusbridge Capital Advisors LLP. Founder, SEIP, and Powerica Ltd) from India were shortlisted for pitching their concepts on energy transition, transport and logistics, and waste management/waste to energy to global investors," the ministry said. Similarly in the climate tech track, 10 Indian startups and companies (BluSmart, Recykal, LOHUM, Sea6 Energy, EVage Ventures, Kabira Mobility, Batx Energies, Newtrace and Alt Mobility, igrenEnergi, Inc.) were selected to pitch their innovative ideas, technologies and solutions that contribute to mitigating or adapting to climate change. Further, the ministry said that the forum resulted in USD 23 billion investment opportunities for sustainable infrastructure projects in the Indo-Pacific. The coalition estimates that its members, taken together, have over USD 25 billion in capital that can be deployed in Indo-Pacific emerging market infrastructure investments in the coming years. DFC's (Development Finance Corporation) Board has also approved an equity investment as part of the USD 900 million Eversource Climate Investment Partners-II fund, which will provide capital, management, and expertise to innovative companies using new and existing capabilities to address climate change in India and Southeast Asia. It added that the IPEF partners and the Private Infrastructure Development Group announced the operational launch of the IPEF Catalytic Capital Fund, which would deploy concessional financing, technical assistance, and capacity-building support to expand the pipeline of quality, resilient, and inclusive clean economy infrastructure projects in emerging and upper-middle income economies, for instance, projects in development include a renewable energy platform in India. The fund's founding supporters include Australia, Japan, Korea, and the US, which plan to provide USD 33 million in initial grant to catalyse up to USD 3.3 billion in private investment. "A coalition of investors, including Singapore's Temasek and GIC, have committed to injecting USD 25 billion in infrastructure investments in emerging markets that are part of an economic alliance between the US and several Asia-Pacific countries," it added. The event also witnessed signing of an offtake agreement between Sembcorp Green Hydrogen India, Kyushu Electric and Sojitz for production and export of 200 KTPA (kilotonne per annum) green ammonia from India to Japan. The programme was attended by ministers from Singapore and Japan and Barthwal. The agreement aims to increase production and export of 200 KTPA green ammonia in Phase-I (total 800 KTPA in 4 phases) at Tuticorin Port in India and export to Japan. The project proposed above would further the objective of the National Green Hydrogen Mission implemented by India towards making the country as global hub for production and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives. During an interaction with Indian companies and startups, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce and India's Chief Negotiator for IPEF Rajesh Agrawal said the forum provides an opportunity for Indian companies and startups to seek funding and collaborate with global investors.

India offers USD 500 billion investment opportunities in clean energy, green hydrogen and EV by 2030

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The 2023 World Air Quality Report showed that only a few countries have acceptable air quality.</li><li>Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India were listed as the most polluted.</li></ul>Hardly any countries have clean enough air to hit a global safety benchmark, according to new research.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.iqair.com/world-most-polluted-countries">Data from the Swiss company IQAir</a> found that 124 of 134 regions failed to meet standards set by the World Health Organization for small-particle pollution known as PM2.5.The only seven countries deemed acceptable were Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius, Australia, and New Zealand.Two territories also made the list: Puerto Rico and French Polynesia.IQAir, which sells air-purification products, compiles an annual ranking from data in 7,812 locations in the 134 territories.The data came from ground-level air monitoring stations distributed by governments, educational institutions, and nonprofits.<div type="image" title="A road in Skógar, Southern Iceland." height="1414" width="1885" msid="108624368" hostid="261" sizebytes="309690"></div>PM2.5 pollution is made up of tiny, invisible particles.Each particle measures less than 2.5 micrometers, which is around one ten-thousandth of an inch.Prolonged exposure to PM2.5 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/21/air-pollution-quality-harmful">has been linked to heart and lung problems</a>.And, per the ranking, 92.5% of nations on earth have too much of it.The countries with the highest exposure levels were Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, which all had more than 10 times the WHO recommended levels of PM2.5."Unfortunately things have gone backwards," Glory Dolphin Hammes, chief executive of IQAir in North America, told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/19/air-pollution-health-report">The Guardian</a> on Tuesday."The science is pretty clear about the impacts of air pollution and yet we are so accustomed to having a background level of pollution that's too high to be healthy. We are not making adjustments fast enough."For the first time in the report's history, Canada was the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-did-wildfires-start-in-canada-2023-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">most polluted country</a> in Northern America last year due to the wildfires which lasted from May until October.The US experienced a slight increase in PM2.5 levels for the same reason, the report said.However, the report also noted that wildfires on the West Coast decreased significantly due to new technology for early warning systems.<div type="image" title="Smoky haze from wildfires in Canada diminishes the visibility of the Chrysler Building" height="683" width="1024" msid="108624370" hostid="261" sizebytes="19874"></div>Cities were also included in a ranking. According to the report, only 9% of cities surveyed achieved WHO's guidelines in 2023.Helinski (Finland), Tallinn (Estonia), Hamilton (Bermuda), Reykjavik (Iceland), Canberra (Australia), Wellington (New Zealand), and San Juan (Puerto Rico) had the lowest PM2.5 concentrations.Columbus, Ohio was the most polluted US city in 2023, while Las Vegas was the cleanest major city.

Only Iceland, Finland, and 5 other countries had clean enough air to meet a global safety standard: data

A newly-developed air filter supported by special grants from <keyword id="1707932" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Science-and-Engineering-Research-Board" source="Orion">Science and Engineering Research Board</keyword> (SERB) can deactivate the germs, '<keyword id="2215621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="self-cleaning" source="Orion">self-cleaning</keyword>' them out of the system, using ingredients commonly found in green tea. A research team led by Suryasarathi Bose and Kaushik Chatterjee at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, developed <keyword id="15812341" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="germ-destroying-air-filters" source="Orion">germ-destroying air filters</keyword> that can inactivate germs using ingredients like polyphenols and polycationic polymers commonly found in green tea. These 'green' ingredients rupture the microbes through site-specific binding. Impure air might make our life shorter to the extent that Indians lose 5-10 years of their lives because of air-borne contaminants leading to respiratory diseases, adversely affecting physical health as well as mental health, according to a report by University of Chicago. The research was supported by special grants from SERB during the challenging Covid-19 pandemic and SERB-Technology Translation Awards (SERB-TETRA) funds and a patent has been filed on this. Over continuous usage, the existing air filters become a breeding ground for captured germs. The growth of these germs clog the pores of the filter, reducing the life of the filters. Resuspension of these germs can infect people in the vicinity. The novel anti-microbial air filters were tested at the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and were found to deactivate SARS-CoV-2 (delta variant) with an efficiency of 99.24 per cent. This technology was transferred to AiRTH, a startup that is replacing the existing germ-growing air filters with germ-destroying air filters for commercialisation, said the Ministry of Science and Technology on Saturday. As this innovation holds promise to develop antimicrobial filters that can prevent endemics caused by air-borne pathogens, a patent was granted in 2022. These novel antimicrobial filters in our ACs, central ducts and air purifiers can play a crucial role in our fight against air pollution and mitigate the spread of air-borne pathogens like coronaviruses. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/new-zealands-air-contains-over-3-million-plastic-bottles-worth-of-microplastics-study/articleshow/96280077.cms" style="">New Zealand's air contains over 3 million plastic bottles worth of microplastics: study</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/dysons-futuristic-air-purifying-noise-canceling-headphones-are-ready-to-hit-the-market-from-january-2023/articleshow/96081759.cms" style="">Dyson’s futuristic air-purifying, noise-canceling headphones are ready to hit the market from January 2023</a>

IISc research team develops germ-destroying air filters

<keyword id="6358064" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="isro" source="Orion">ISRO</keyword>'s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre has conducted the Integrated Main Parachute Airdrop Test (IMAT) of its crew module deceleration system for the much-awaited maiden <keyword id="6797456" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaganyaan" source="Orion">Gaganyaan</keyword> human spaceflight programme at the Babina Field Fire Range (BFFR) in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh. The IMAT conducted on Friday marks a significant milestone toward realising the nation's ambitious Gaganyaan project, the <keyword id="116095" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="indian-space-research-organisation" source="Orion">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword> (ISRO) said in a statement. The Gaganyaan deceleration system consists of three main parachutes, besides the smaller ACS, pilot, and drogue parachutes, to reduce the speed of the crew module to safe levels during its landing, the space agency said. Two of the three main chutes are sufficient to land the astronauts on earth, and the third is redundant, ISRO said adding that the IMAT test simulated the case when one main chute failed to open. The IMAT test is the first in a series of integrated parachute airdrop tests planned to simulate different failure conditions of the parachute system before it is deemed qualified to be used in the first human spaceflight mission. In this test, a five-tonne dummy mass, equivalent to the crew module mass, was taken to an altitude of 2.5 kilometres and dropped using the <keyword id="15141" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="indian-air-force" source="Orion">Indian Air Force</keyword>'s IL-76 aircraft. Two small pyro-based mortar-deployed pilot parachutes then pulled the main parachutes. The main parachute sizes were initially restricted to a smaller area to reduce the opening shock. After seven seconds, the pyro-based reefing line cutters cut the area restricting line, allowing the parachutes to inflate fully. "The fully inflated main parachutes reduced the payload speed to a safe landing speed. The entire sequence lasted about 2-3 minutes as the scientists watched the different phases of the deployment sequence unfold with bated breath. There was loud cheer and applause as the payload mass landed softly on the ground and the gigantic parachutes collapsed," the statement read. The design and development of the parachute-based deceleration system is a joint venture of ISRO and the Defence <keyword id="73655" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="research-and-development" source="Orion">Research and Development</keyword> Organisation (DRDO). "The overall system design, analytical simulations of parachute deployment and crew module descent under various conditions, the design and development of ordnance devices for parachute extraction and ejection, assembly, mechanical and electrical integration of deceleration system, it's instrumentation and avionics for conducting this drop tests are done at ISRO's leading Research and Development centre, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram," the space agency explained. Senior ISRO and DRDO scientists and airforce officers were present when the crucial test was done. "Besides proving the calibre of the scientists of ISRO and DRDO, the test also demonstrated the active coordination between the country's premier agencies, namely ISRO, DRDO, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Army," ISRO said quoting a senior official. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/india-on-course-to-become-worlds-second-largest-economy-by-2050-says-gautam-adani/articleshow/95622223.cms">India on course to become world’s second largest economy by 2050, says Gautam Adani</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/article/festive-releases-fail-at-the-box-office-but-theatres-pin-hopes-on-big-ticket-releases-to-return-to-pre-covid-glory/articleshow/95608276.cms">Festive releases fail at the box-office, but theatres pin hopes on big-ticket releases to return to pre-Covid glory</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/all-is-not-that-well-say-market-experts-even-as-stocks-chase-new-highs/articleshow/95599973.cms">‘All is not that well’, say market experts even as stocks chase new highs</a>

ISRO conducts parachute airdrop test of Gaganyaan programme

The counting of votes cast by 64.2 crore hopeful Indian voters during the six-week-long 18th <keyword id="19923279" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha-elections" source="keywords">Lok Sabha elections</keyword> officially began at 8 AM today and it is suffice to say that the air is crackling with equal parts excitement and trepidation. Over 700 aspiring parties participated in the world’s largest democratic exercise. But the main duelling parties remain consistent with previous trends: the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (<keyword id="19894848" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BJP" source="keywords">BJP</keyword>) led by Prime Minister <keyword id="19895781" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi" source="keywords">Narendra Modi</keyword> and the opposition bloc led by the <keyword id="19964138" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-National-Congress" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Indian National Congress" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Indian National Congress">Indian National Congress</keyword> (INC). Modi is shooting for a third, historic win after spending the last ten years in office, but the road ahead does not seem as smooth as anticipated. A political party in India requires at least 272 seats to cross the majority mark in the 543-member lower house of the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha. The PM has audaciously declared that he is expecting a huge win exceeding 400 seats, the slogan ab ki baar 400 paar is stuck in every Indian’s head — irrespective of their political inclination. The Congress-led India bloc, on the other hand, is aiming for a relatively modest 295. On Saturday, most exit poll surveys predicted 350-370 seats for the BJP and between 107-140 seats for the opposition. However, the early trends are showing a very different picture with the INDIA bloc exceeding expectations in many states. Polls have been off the mark a few times before, but as NDA looks poised to win a third term, albeit with a few last-minute struggles, here’s a look back at the previous elections responsible for Mr Narendra Modi’s unmatchable dominance over <keyword id="20184421" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-politics" source="keywords">Indian politics</keyword>. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Inside BJP’s decade-long winning streak" comment="subhead" text="Inside BJP’s decade-long winning streak">Inside BJP’s decade-long winning streak </cmsannotation>The BJP has come a long way since 1984 when the party won just two seats. Its pro-Hindutva stance pushed it to prominence over the decades, especially in the 1990s. The BJP was in power for a considerable amount of time under Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s leadership at the turn of the century. But the kind of support that Narendra Modi has received since 2014 has been unmatched in the history of modern Indian politics. In 2014, the BJP saw a surprising landslide victory with 282 of the 543 seats. But what factors contributed to its sweeping win with a 31.3% majority? Throughout its campaigning ahead of the general elections that year, the BJP kept stressing its interest in fixing the economy and combating corruption allegedly caused by the Congress party’s rather inept governing. Modi, who called himself a chowkidar or watchman, vowed to set the government and bureaucracy to rights. He promised more jobs for young Indians and even launched a social media campaign to appeal to the younger generation. Many experts suggested that Modi created the brand “NaMo'' for himself through relentless media campaigning, something that <keyword id="19895780" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rahul-gandhi" source="keywords">Rahul Gandhi</keyword> and other major political leaders could not do at the time. Additionally, he is also said to have had the support of the 45,000 country-wide RSS branches — the Hindu cultural nationalist parent of the BJP. However, after the leader had managed to comfortably settle into his new role as the Prime Minister of India, he announced the demonetisation of all ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series on 8 November 2016. As per a 2018 report from the Reserve Bank of India said that “the effort had failed to remove black money from the economy”. Modi was widely criticised for the way this move impacted the middle-class people of India. Despite this setback as well as criticism against his economic reforms like GST, he continued to implement bold policy changes to strengthen the core economy. His tilt towards a digital economy and seemingly tough actions against corrupt practices received widespread acclaim. He also successfully invoked a strong sense of nationalism and security in the people through the Balakot airstrike, a bombing raid conducted by Indian warplanes in February 2019. And it worked! BJP came to power again in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, this victory being bigger than the last. The BJP won a whopping 37.36% of the vote — the highest by a political party since the 1989 general elections with 303 seats. However, similar to 2019, towards the end of his second term in 2024, joblessness appears to be on the rise and incomes of farmers continue to plummet. Amid major issues like food inflation and the threat of AI to the job market, the ruling party relied on not-so-subtle religious polarisation and a ton of welfare programmes. From being chowkidar in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been depicted to be a saint today by many of his followers. While past leaders in India have tried to hold on to their secular image, Mr Modi has been seen flouting this convention on multiple occasions, expressing that he takes pride in his religion. With crores of followers still supporting him, the PM seems to be already on a path to victory. Only time will tell if the struggles during the last phases of this year’s election will come back to haunt him. In the meantime, stay tuned to Business Insider India for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/elections/lok-sabha-election-results-2024-live-counting-begins-at-8-am-as-bjp-led-nda-hopes-for-a-historic-third-term/articleshow/110685785.cms">more updates on the Lok Sabha elections 2024</a>.

As PM Modi awaits his third big win, here’s how BJP created history during the 2014 & 2019 Lok Sabha elections

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kagan-dissent-supreme-court-climate-change-EPA-ruling-2022-6">Supreme Court</a> ruled in the case of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-ruling-west-virginia-v-epa-biden-climate-change-2022-6">West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency</a> on Thursday.</li><li>The court says the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/epa-to-regulate-hazardous-forever-chemicals-household-items-2021-10">EPA</a> can't make <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/historically-low-california-reservoirs-threaten-power-grid-photos-2021-6">power plants</a> switch to sustainable energy sources under the <keyword id="12422215" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="clean-air-act" source="Orion">Clean Air Act</keyword>.</li></ul>The <keyword id="11893011" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="supreme-court" source="Orion">Supreme Court</keyword> dealt a blow to US efforts to limit <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rising-temperatures-make-it-deadlier-to-cross-us-mexico-border-2022-6">climate change</a> on Thursday, but it stopped short of completely blocking such efforts.Partially siding with conservative states and fossil-fuel companies on the case of West Virginia v. <keyword id="12338657" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="environmental-protection-agency" source="Orion">Environmental Protection Agency</keyword>, the court offered a narrow interpretation of the Clean Air Act. In an opinion delivered by Justice John Roberts, the court ruled 6-3 that the EPA cannot require <keyword id="14244143" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="power-plants" source="Orion">power plants</keyword> to shift away from fossil fuels to lower-emission forms of energy.The decision limits the EPA's ability to drastically cut greenhouse-gas <keyword id="12152918" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="emissions" source="Orion">emissions</keyword> and facilitate a transition to more sustainable energy systems. But it does not prohibit the agency from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions under the Clean Air Act in order to prevent catastrophic levels of <keyword id="11896311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">climate change</keyword>, according to Tom Lorenzen, who previously spent a decade managing the legal defense of EPA rules at the Justice Department."There is continuing uncertainty, and there will certainly be litigation over how far EPA can go. But this is not the decision that the petitioners were looking for," Lorenzen told Insider.<div type="image" title="smokestacks puff clouds into blue sky at coal fired power plant" height="1666" width="2222" msid="92581870" hostid="261" sizebytes="58328"></div>"My big fear was that EPA was going to have no authority to regulate greenhouse gases. EPA still has ample authority to do that," he said.However, the decision could hinder all kinds of federal <keyword id="11929846" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="regulation" source="Orion">regulation</keyword> going forward. It enshrines a new principle called the "major questions doctrine," which says that federal agencies can't make decisions about questions of major economic or political significance without specific, clear instructions from Congress. It's up to courts to determine which questions are major enough to require this level of congressional guidance.That doctrine opens the door for challenges to regulations across US agencies — rules for healthcare, workplace safety, the financial sector, or telecommunications, for example. Challengers could argue that Congress, rather than the experts who work at federal agencies, should provide hyperspecific guidance on those topics."We are a very complex society, and it is virtually impossible for Congress to address all those complexities down to the smallest detail in statute. So the argument against this is it would basically paralyze the federal government," Lorenzen said.Indeed, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kagan-dissent-supreme-court-climate-change-EPA-ruling-2022-6">dissent from Justice Elena Kagan</a>, signed by Stephen Breyer and Sonya Sotomayor, argued that the ruling could paralyze climate action."The stakes here are high," Kagan wrote, adding, "The Court appoints itself — instead of Congress or the expert agency — the decisionmaker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening."<h2>How did this case end up in front of the Supreme Court?</h2><div type="image" title="People rally outside the Supreme Court on February 28, 2022 in Washington, DC." height="2552" width="3403" msid="92581871" hostid="261" sizebytes="461984"></div>Legal experts have been asking the same question.The dispute began with the 2015 <a href="https://archive.epa.gov/epa/cleanpowerplan/fact-sheet-overview-clean-power-plan.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clean Power Plan</a>, announced by former President Barack Obama, in which the EPA would require many coal-fired power plants to shift to energy sources with lower emissions, like gas, solar, or wind power. The agency's authority to do so came from the Clean Air Act of 1970.In 2019, however, former President Donald Trump's EPA <a href="https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/electric-utility-generating-units-repealing-clean-power-plan#:~:text=Additional%20Resources-,Rule%20Summary,the%20Affordable%20Clean%20Energy%20rule.">repealed</a> the plan and replaced it with the more relaxed <a href="https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/affordable-clean-energy-rule">Affordable Clean Energy Rule</a>, which simply imposed rules to make power plants more energy-efficient.That didn't last long. In January 2021, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the Trump rule was a misinterpretation of the Clean Air Act — it was too weak.Before President Joe Biden's EPA could set forth its own rules, attorneys general from 19 states, led by West Virginia — and a handful of coal companies — pushed for the Supreme Court to review the lower court's decision.To the surprise of many legal experts, the court accepted the case, despite having no active regulation to rule on."There's no regulation under the Trump rule. There's no regulation under the Obama rule. What is the court reviewing?" Lorenzen said.That's why some legal experts, including Lorenzen, have said there's no constitutional reason for the Supreme Court to have taken this case in the first place.Many of the attorneys general behind the case are fueled by donors who also supported the nomination and confirmation of five of the current Supreme Court justices — John G. Roberts, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/19/climate/supreme-court-climate-epa.html">The New York Times</a> reported. All five of those justices co-signed Thursday's ruling.<h2>What exactly did the Supreme Court decide?</h2><div type="image" title="protestors wearing rain jackets hold signs saying stop burning our planet stop adding coal to the fire" height="1669" width="2225" msid="92581872" hostid="261" sizebytes="475946"></div>The Supreme Court invoked the major questions doctrine to say that EPA doesn't have the authority to cap the power industry's carbon-dioxide emissions at a level that forces it to transition to more sustainable forms of energy. The court argued that Congress did not specifically give EPA the authority to implement such rules, which is necessary under the major questions doctrine."If an issue is a big deal, they expect Congress to be explicit about it," Lorenzen said.However, he added, "There's no plain test for identifying when a regulation is that important."Under the major questions doctrine, challengers can argue that agencies can't enact regulations without hyperspecific guidance from Congress. In the future, that could mean more regulations are decided by Congress, rather than by the experts in federal agencies, and it could get more regulations caught up in court.That's what the Supreme Court was really deciding in its session, Lorenzen said: How much authority should be given to federal agencies, as the executive branch of government?"This is really a fight about executive power, and the climate is the collateral damage," Ed Carr, who studies climate adaptation at Clark University in Massachusetts, told Insider.In the case of the EPA, the court only ruled that the major questions doctrine applies to regulations about which types of fuel power plants use to generate energy. So the EPA may not be able to require power plants to shift to renewable energy, as it tried to under Obama's Clean Power Plan."They have left the door open for EPA to do potentially much more than the Affordable Clean Energy Rule promulgated by the Trump administration," Lorenzen said. "In fact, that dissent takes the majority to task for not defining what the limits on EPA's authority are."<h2>What does this mean for the environment?</h2><div type="image" title="car tailpipe emits exhaust" height="1666" width="2222" msid="92581873" hostid="261" sizebytes="197682"></div>This decision isn't the death knell for US climate goals that many experts feared. It leaves room for the EPA to enact new regulations that would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.The Supreme Court's decision to take this case in the first place may have slowed federal climate action, though. Now the Biden administration's EPA must act quickly to enact a new set of regulations in the two years before a new administration could take over.Though the US has been slowly reducing emissions for about a decade, it is still the world's second-biggest <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/11/01/climate/paris-pledges-tracker-cop-26.html">emitter of greenhouse gases</a>.In April, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-crisis-could-turn-around-this-decade-ipcc-report-2022-4">the world must reach its emissions peak</a> and begin reducing its output of greenhouse gases immediately, in order to avoid warming the planet more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial standard.Failure to drastically cut emissions could lead global temperatures to rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, causing further <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-animal-extinctions-climate-change-un-ipcc-report-2022-3">mass animal and plant extinctions</a>, significant increases in the frequency and severity of heat waves and droughts, and tipping points that could lock in even greater levels of warming.Emissions must peak by 2025 at the latest, according to the hundreds of scientists who authored the report — though some authors <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61110406">argued</a> that we don't even have that much time.If the court had ruled that the EPA couldn't regulate greenhouse-gas emissions, Carr said it would have ended "any real hope of staying under 1.5 [degrees]."

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