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New Delhi, Jun 28 () The country will have to focus on defeating coronavirus and bolstering the economy as it exits from the lockdown and enters the "unlock" phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday underscoring the need to keep guard against the deadly virus. <p>He also stressed that India has always transformed adversities into stepping stones to success and this year won't be different. </p><p>"During this unlock period, one will have to focus on two points  -- defeating coronavirus and strengthening the economy," Modi said in his monthly "Mann ki Baat" radio address.</p><p>He said as people move out during the unlock period, they have to remain more vigilant compared to the lockdown period. </p><p>"Always remember, if you do not wear a mask, do not observe the two-yard social distancing norms or do not take other precautions, you are putting others at risk besides yourselves, especially the elderly and children at home," he cautioned. </p><p>Referring to the recent decisions taken by his government, Modi said during this unlock phase, "many other things are getting unlocked", which had shackled the country for decades. </p><p>He referred to reforms in the mining, space, agriculture and other sectors, saying these will not only pace up the movement towards self-reliant India, but also boost the advancement of technology in India. </p><p>On the various challenges thrown up during the year 2020, Modi said people often discuss as to when the year will end. </p><p>Referring to coronavirus, the prime minister said as if one calamity wasn't enough, the country has had to face an unending slew of challenges. </p><p> "A few days ago, our east coast had to face the fury of cyclone Amphan; on the West coast it was cyclone Nisarg. In many states, farmers had to bear the brunt of swarming locust ... many parts of the country have been witnessing intermittent earthquakes," he said. </p><p>In an apparent reference to China's actions in east Ladakh, he said, "amidst all these, the country has had to deal with the designs of some of our neighbours." </p><p>Rare are the occasions when one gets to hear of adversities of this kind, that too simultaneously, he said. </p><p>The prime minister was of the view that despite adversities, people should not consider 2020 as a bad year. </p><p>"Historically, India has always emerged brighter and stronger, ensuring victory over all kinds of disasters and challenges. For centuries, myriad tyrants invaded India pushing her to the edge of such an abyss of adversities that people once used to feel that the very idea, the fabric of Bharat would be wiped out: her culture would be annihilated. But India overcame the scourge, and more gloriously so," he said. </p>India has always transformed adversities into stepping stones to success, he said adding that this year will prove to be a "record setter, path breaker on new fronts for the country".  KR/NAB DV DV

In unlock phase, focus on defeating coronavirus, boosting economy: PM

As the incessant monsoon rains continued, <keyword id="395412" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="flood-situation">flood situation</keyword> in <keyword id="6354915" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="assam">Assam</keyword> further worsened on Saturday with 1,289 villages in 21 districts being inundated, distressing 4.63 lakh people, while the Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at many places in nine districts, officials said.<br /><br />Meanwhile, officials of the state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) said that due to the heavy downpour over the past few days, Baghjan - where its leaking oil well caught fire - and adjoining areas in Tinsukia district have been badly hit by flood water and the accident site has been inundated, affecting the efforts to douse the blaze.<br /><br />"All connecting roads to the OIL's oil well site have been submerged with flood water. Bridges were damaged. At many places water is flowing over the road with knee to waist deep water. OIL's operational areas are heavily inundated," an OIL release said. <br /><br />A massive fire broke out on June 9 at OIL's Baghjan oil well near the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park that had been spewing natural gas and oil condensates uncontrollably since May 27.<br /><br />An important bridge en route to Baghjan, around 550 km east of Guwahati, was damaged due to the floods and the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the official to build a bailey bridge for unimpeded movement of emergency services.<br /><br />An official of <keyword id="9477368" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-assam-state-disaster-management-authority">the Assam State Disaster Management Authority</keyword> (ASDMA) said that the flood-hit districts are Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Udalguri, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Chirang, Bongaigaon, South Salmara, <keyword id="325889" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Goalpara">Goalpara</keyword>, Kamrup, Morigaon and Tinsukia.<br /><br />The official said : "Over 4.63 lakh people affected by the floods and over 37,313 Ahectares of crop were badly affected due to the floods. Around 19,500 people took shelter in 132 relief camps."<br /><br />The official said that in the current wave of floods, three persons died in Goalpara and Dibrugarh districts while in the first wave of floods from May 22 claimed 15 lives in different districts of Assam.<br /><br />In all, at least 2,49,300 various pets (domestic) animals were affected due to the current wave of floods since early this week. <br /><br /><keyword id="4449695" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-National-Disaster-Response-Force">The National Disaster Response Force</keyword>, Assam State Disaster Response Force personnel, along with local administrations, are continuously working to rescue the affected people and rendering the relief services, including distribution of relief to the marooned villagers.<br /><br />TThe Chief Minister has also directed the Deputy Commissioners of all the affected districts to address the needs of the flood-hit people urgently while also adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols. Meanwhile, the heavy monsoon rains affected the normal life in most of the other northeastern states. <br /><br />The rain water has inundated vast low lying areas of Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/what-ceos-say-india-can-learn-from-china-to-get-more-electric-vehicles-on-the-road/articleshow/76669260.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">What CEOs say India can learn from China to get more electric vehicles on the road</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/swarms-of-locusts-blanket-indias-national-capital-region-pilots-and-airlines-alerted-ahead/articleshow/76660948.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"><strong>Swarms of locusts blanket India’s national capital region — pilots and airlines alerted ahead</strong></a><br />

Assam flood situation worsens, 4.63 lakh people affected across 1,289 villages

(Eds: Adds inputs) <p>Kolkata, Jun 11 () Insisting that the COVID-19 crisis should be turned into an opportunity to create an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said this is the time to make bold decisions and investments. </p><p>Addressing the 95th annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata through video conference, he said, steps have to be taken to ensure that products imported from abroad are manufactured in the country and exported. </p><p>"In the last five-six years, India's goal of self- reliance has been paramount in the policy and practice of the government. The COVID-19 crisis gave us lessons on how to speed up efforts in that direction. It is from this lesson - Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) campaign has started. </p><p>It is time for bold decisions and bold investments, and not for conservative approaches. This also is the time to move from command and control economy to plug-and-play and to build a competitive global supply chain," he said. </p><p>The Prime Minister said everybody must work towards making India an exporter of all products which it is currently forced to import. </p><p>Appreciating the efforts of small traders, he said, that when we buy local produce from them, we are not just paying them for their goods and services, but are rewarding their contributions. </p><p>While noting that people-centric, people-driven and planet-friendly development has become part of the BJP-led central government's way of governance, the prime minister said recent decisions by the Centre had freed the farmers and rural economy from years of "slavery" as they now have the freedom to sell their produce anywhere in the country. </p><p>"India is fighting multiple challenges along with COVID-19, including floods, locust attack, earthquakes...We have to turn crises into opportunity for creating an Atmanirbhar and take steps to ensure that products which we import from elsewhere are manufactured in India," Modi said. </p><p>Now is the time to make each village, each district of the country self-reliant, he said. </p><p>Quoting Swami Vivekananda, who had once written that Indians should produce for themselves and find markets in other countries, the prime minister said they had for long wished the country to become self-reliant in areas like medical equipment manufacturing, defence manufacturing, coal and minerals, edible oil and many more. </p><p>Lauding the resolve of the countrymen to turn disaster into opportunity, the prime minister said the pandemic "will be a turning point for the country". </p><p>"We have to make it a big turning point.....a turning point for creating a self-reliant India," he asserted. </p><p>The prime minister also said that the country has already ushered in several reforms like changing the definition of MSMEs, decriminalising certain things (under the Companies Act), introducing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, bringing in more competition in coal mining, altering the APMC and the Essential Commodities Act. </p><p>Citing the campaign to free the country from single use plastic, Modi said it will benefit West Bengal by giving a fresh impetus to the jute industry. </p><p>He said time has come to revive Bengal's historical pre-eminence in manufacturing. </p><p>Modi said banking services have now reached the "have nots". Initiatives such as Jandhan accounts and Aadhaar have made it possible to reach necessary support to millions of people without leakage. </p><p>Referring to the efforts to develop the North-East as a hub of organic farming, Modi said the government's current cluster-based approach to local produce will provide opportunity for all. </p><p>Along with this, clusters will also be created for bamboo and organic products. Like Sikkim, the entire North- East can become a huge hub of organic farming. Organic farming can become a huge movement in the North-East and dominate the global market, he said. </p><p>Underlining that people, planet and profit are interlinked, Modi said all three can simultaneously co-exist and flourish. </p><p>He cited the example of the reduction in price of LED bulbs over the last six years. Its extensive use has resulted in savings of about Rs 19,000 crore in electricity bills every year. </p><p>The prime minister urged the industry to invest in research and development, and manufacture better batteries to increase the storage capacity of solar panels for enhanced energy efficiency. </p>He also highlighted how small self-help groups and MSMEs can benefit from providing their goods and services directly to the Government of India on the GeM platform. DC PNT SK SK

COVID crisis an opportunity, time for bold decisions and investment: Modi

<ul><li>On <keyword id="18996" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Environment-Day">World Environment Day</keyword>, it is important for brands to reflect on how sustainable their products are. </li><li>Ophira Bhatia, Director – Corporate &amp; Government Affairs, India, Mondelēz International writes how the brand has lived its purpose this year by doing its bit for the environment.</li></ul>2020 has been an unusual year to say the least! We are all living through the threat of Covid-19 impacting our lives and loved ones. Over the last few weeks we have experienced cyclones in Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal or the locust invasion. All of this reinforces the power of nature and the need for us to urgently live in balance with our environment.<br /><br />At Mondelēz International, growing our positive impact on people and the planet is the core of who we are as a company. Our Purpose to <em>empower people to snack right</em> is deeply embedded in making snacking both sustainable and mindful by creating a future where people and planet thrive. More importantly consumers today expect their loved brands and companies to go beyond creating products. They want to know they can feel good about our snacks because they are made the right way, sustainably with high-quality ingredients and with respect to people and planet. Our approach to sustainability covers the efficiency of the farms where our raw ingredients grow, through the impact of the supply chain that produces and delivers our products, to the recyclability of the packaging that our consumers dispose of and to highlighting how our consumers can snacking mindfully.<br /><br />Using our Purpose as its framework, our 2019 Snacking Made Right report details our achievements and objectives as we seek to deliver the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way for consumers and customers all over the world. The report outlines Mondelēz International’s ongoing commitment to leverage its global scale to deliver positive change. Our success in snacking made right lies in our ability to drive impact at scale and, as such, we focus our efforts in the two areas where we can make the biggest positive impact on the wellbeing of people and planet: sustainable snacking and mindful snacking.<br /><br />Our India business has made significant strides as we live our purpose and stay tuned into local needs of our consumers and the environment. So how are we making a real difference to sustainability? It starts with our business approach which takes into consideration our ecological, social and economic environment.<br /><br />As we make our snacks the right way, I am so proud of the partnership we have with over 100,000 cocoa farmers in India to grow our key raw material for chocolates. This partnership goes back 55 years, when Cadbury brought the first cocoa sapling to be planted in Kerala. Cocoa is not a native crop to India and when we started this journey in the southern states of the county, little must we have imagined that today we provide 3 million seedlings annually to support farmers grow cocoa as an intercrop. Our team continues to support farmers in growing cocoa – with extension services, R&amp;D through academic and research partnerships. This whole partnership has been built on sustainability – leading to increase in farm productivity, income stability (since farmers grow cocoa as an intercrop, they get a dual income from their primary crop and cocoa) and generating employment which has positively impacted communities. <br /><br />From raw materials to packaging. Plastic packaging and Multi Layered Plastics (MLP) contribute to food safety by effectively addressing key issues like adulteration, contamination and infestation. Globally, 93.3% of our total packaging (both plastic and non-plastic) is designed to be recyclable – our goal is to make all packaging recyclable by 2025. In India, all our MLP is 100% recycled through our Extended Producer Responsibility commitments. This implies we work with NGO partners to collect, segregate and dispose of plastics equivalent to the quantity of plastic that we use in manufacture of our products, which unfortunately ends up as waste when consumers have consumed the product. <br /><br />Mondelez is perhaps one of the few companies in India which is certified by EY as being water and carbon positive and zero waste to landfill. We have been consistently working to increase the usage of alternate sources of energy. By end of 2019, Mondelez India manufacturing facilities ran on 44.4% renewable energy. For example, we have invested in a biodiesel project at our manufacturing plant at Induri, Maharashtra, where we have successfully reduced CO2 emissions at the plant by 1,450 tons (15%) per year. One of our largest plants in India, at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, has a captive solar plant. And just over the last two years, we have planted very 25,000 trees in our communities – many of them fruit trees.<br /><br />Sustainability also implies our support of society and community. For the last 6 years, our Shubh Aarambh community project across 8 states has been engaging with communities to improve feeding practices, health and hygiene, nutrition and childhood development services to strengthen the future resilience of our communities. The aim of the project is to promote healthy lifestyles and ensure regular play/sports helping the children and young people to stay active and fit. The project has also partnered with communities to provide clean water supply, developing kitchen gardens and playgrounds and green spaces across various locations. This work becomes more important post the Covid pandemic as health and hygiene take centerstage.<br /><br />With a strong foundation of beloved iconic brands, stakeholder partnerships and purposeful signature programs like Cocoa Life, I feel truly proud of the work we do. Very often purpose and values are words on a wall for organisations – but at Mondelez our business strategy is built around our purpose bringing benefits not only to our people, planet, communities but also driving business success.<br />

Living our purpose

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Master model builders construct the massive <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/lego">Lego</a> structures, like the ones replicating American cities, at <keyword id="1240696" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Legoland">Legoland</keyword>.</li><li>A baby wrangler is hired by <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/movies">movie</a> productions to make babies cry onscreen.</li><li>Marble harvesters extract 4 million tons of marble per year from the famous quarries in Carrara, Italy.</li></ul><p><em><strong>Following is a transcript of the <keyword id="21654" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="video">video</keyword>: </strong></em></p><p>From people who harvest giant blocks of marble to master <keyword id="6380548" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="lego">Lego</keyword> builders, to people who can make babies cry in <keyword id="406" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Movies">movies</keyword>, there are a lot of fascinating and unexpected jobs out there. But just because you haven't heard of them doesn't mean you haven't seen their work on the big screen, on your plate, or in your blankets. Here are 21 jobs you probably never knew existed.</p><p>This cinder-block was made to be broken. And it was created by NewRuleFX's Ryan Johnson, who specializes in breakaway movie props. His most frequently requested props are these glass bottles. They're made with a thin resin plastic that looks exactly like the real thing, but an actor can break one over their head on camera without getting injured. Some other props include chairs and bricks that can fall apart with just a little pressure and glass shards that are actually made from rubber. Breakable windows are made by gluing together multiple panes of glass. So while the shards are real, they won't hurt the actor as long as they punch straight through the pane.</p><p>To be a great bonsai artist, one needs to dwarf real trees, and then master bending and twisting trees into intricate and artful shapes. But there's one trait a bonsai tree artist like Chiako Yamamoto needs to master, patience. It takes three years for a transplant to create new roots and five years for the tree to adapt to any of Yamamoto's changes. According to Yamamoto, this small bonsai took 15 years to finish. And this one here took 25 years to look like this. And while this is an art form, these are living things, so they constantly change and respond to light and water. It's no wonder that one can sell for around a hundred million yen or just under a million dollars.</p><p>Matt Slagle is one of the master model builders behind these massive Lego replicas of major cities. Here's New York, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. The builders used 10 million blocks on Miniland USA, with New York alone using three million. And everything there from a car to the Statue of Liberty, had to be built exactly on a one-to-20 scale of its real life counterpart. And master model builders have to get every tiny detail right, like you can see here in each of San Francisco's Painted Ladies. Their crowning achievement? The One World Trade Center replica. At 26 feet tall, it stands as the tallest Lego model in the U S.</p><p>More marble has come from the quarries in Carrara, Italy, than anywhere else on earth. The quarries produce four million tons per year, and it takes 13,000 people to harvest and extract all that material, including 600 truck drivers who make their way up dangerous roads every single day. To remove the marble, quarriers have to carefully drill three holes in a slab, creating one vertical line and two horizontal lines. These meet in one central strategic spot. They then carve it out using a five-millimeter diamond wire until the marble is fully removed from the mountain. More wires or a chainsaw can then cut these marble blocks down even more.</p><p>Real truffles are only found underground by a truffle hunter like James Fever. First Fever's dog has to sniff out the truffles' location. Then Fever has to dig each one out by hand. He also needs to sniff it to make sure it's even ripe after picking it. And even if he does get a good one, it can go bad after just five days, so they need to be sold quickly. However, a truffle can reap big rewards. An 80-gram truffle can net you $90, while the world's largest white truffle sold for $61,000 in 2014.</p><p>Elaine Hall is what is known in Hollywood as a baby wrangler. Her job is to make sure that child actors are safe on set and that they give the best performance possible. Hollywood has specific time limits for how long young stars can work, so Hall makes sure her stars nail their takes as quickly as possible. When working on "Akeelah and the Bee," she was able to get a baby to hysterically cry on command simply by fake crying herself.</p><p>The Greenland shark is the most toxic shark in the world, but in <keyword id="55091" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Iceland">Iceland</keyword>, Gurjon Hildibrandsson and his family have been making and selling fermented meat from it for generations. It's a laborious six month process to make these sharks edible. The meat is first fermented in cold storage rooms for six to nine weeks. Then it needs to be hung outside for six months to dry out while still retaining the correct texture.</p><p>While certain food items you see on screen might be fake, a lot of food and movie scenes is real. And for those occasions, productions hire a food stylist like Zoe Hegedus. Her job is to make sure all the food on camera is both appealing to the cameras and edible for the actors. Sometimes that even involves substituting real food with edible lookalike props. For example, when working on the film, "Midsommar," Hegedus had to make a Scandinavian dish topped with egg yolk. However, the real egg yolks wouldn't hold together on the long hot shoot days. So instead she concocted a sphere made of mango and orange juice that looked exactly like a real egg.</p><p>Before eiderdown fibers end up in high-end duvet covers, they first need to be harvested from ducks. Farmers start by collecting every eider nest by hand. The job entails a lot of wandering because the nests are located far apart, and a harvester needs several nests, as each one yields just 15 grams of material. The harvesting process is both ethical and completely natural, and at the same time, incredibly difficult, but that's only a fraction of the work. Machines help the harvester sort through the nests, but unwanted objects like rocks, sticks, seaweed, and feathers need to be picked out by hand. Cleaning one kilo of it can take up to five additional hours.</p><p>Stephen Kutcher is known as The Bug Man of Hollywood, training bugs for the big screen. To get a spider to crawl across the floor and into a slipper in "Arachnophobia," he guided the spider to where it needed to go using invisible vibrating wires. In Spider-Man, Kutcher put a spider on a paintbrush, then tapped it once the spider was at the end to get it to drop down to an exact spot. And in "Exorcist II: The Heretic," he trained 3,000 locust to cling onto the wall of a cage by shining a heat emitting light at it, drawing them to the warmth.</p><p>Not all scissors are mass produced. Some are still handmade by master putter-togetherers at this factory in England and can cost anywhere between 100 and $315. Cliff Denton is one of just two remaining master putter-togetherers at the Ernest Wright factory. And it takes years of training to get to his level of craftsmanship. The final stage of scissor making alone can take five years of training. If you hit the wrong spot while hammering the blade, the entire pair of scissors will be ruined.</p><p>Sophia Bogle is a book conservationist whose daily job is to restore 120-year-old archival books. The process begins with deconstruction. Vogel removes the acidic old tape from the book cover. She also sands it and then cleans it with a repair knife. Then she washes the individual pages in hot water and restores them using Japanese tissue to fix any tear she finds. The rest of the process involves touching up the cover, embossing, and then gluing and pressing it all together. And the tiny details matter. If she uses the wrong type of black pen on the cover, she can damage it.</p><p>A lot of those sounds you hear in nature docs are actually fake since it's often too difficult to capture the real sounds in the field. So Foley artists like Richard Hinton have had to find creative ways to pair sounds with nature. Some of the sounds he has mastered are swimming schools of fish, lava, and even an orangutan eating.</p><p>Just one of these Kolinsky sable paint brushes can take a week and a half to make, with brush makers separating hundreds of strands of hair by hand. And it's the hair that makes these brushes remarkable. The brushes are made from the strong high-quality tail hairs of the Kolinsky sable in Siberia. Sandra Harris is one of only nine brush makers in the world who can make these Series 7 Kolinsky sable watercolor brushes. It can take three years of training to get to her level.</p><p>Fugu, or puffer fish, is a poisonous fish that's a delicacy in Japan. To properly prepare the fish and make it edible, chefs like Yutaka Hattori must carefully remove its toxic eyes, gills, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, and ovaries. The Japanese government tightly controls who can prep the fugu. Only a few select chefs are trained to make it edible, and they must take an extensive exam to legally serve the fish. One of the biggest challenges is that the poisonous parts vary by species and can be more difficult to identify in hybrid puffer fish.</p><p>Rogan art is created with a castor oil based paint combined with different colors. Before using it, it needs to be lit up. It's a dangerous process that only a few artists are skilled enough to handle, as it can catch fire at any time. During this process, Abdul Gafur Khatri swirls paint on his palm to create heat, and then uses a metal rod to create designs on fabric. This art form has been in the Khatri family in India for eight generations, and they are the last family still keeping it alive. These days, they find themselves competing with mass produced textiles. It's a completely freehand painting process, meaning the design can come out completely different than originally planned. This is one of the reasons it takes years to learn, and also what makes both this skill set and the craft itself so unique.</p><p>Filmmakers can't achieve the realistic look of their characters' weapons in close-ups if they resort to plastic blades. Enter blacksmith Tony Swatton, who has been forging weapons for movies and TV for over 30 years. He made the swords in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and the hook from "Hook." And Swatton can design weapons from all eras and cultures. Zoro's blade in "The Mask of Zorro" was created using two curved hunting swords from the 1500s that were cobbled together to look like the classic rapier.</p><p>Cheryl Eisen stages <keyword id="513494" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="luxury-apartments">luxury apartments</keyword> up for sale in New York. That means she makes them look stylish enough that people will actually want to buy them. Eisen selects her decor from a 60,000 square foot warehouse in Jersey City, full of custom furnishings, lighting, and artwork. She might choose an oversized print to make a room look bigger, or throw in some floor-to-ceiling drapes to make ceilings appear higher than they really are. A stager must have a good eye to nail the right aesthetic for the location and the prospective buyer. Staging an apartment shows the buyer how they can live in and furnish a space, which you wouldn't see in an empty apartment.</p><p>Your favorite video game characters might be created digitally, but somebody still needs to act out all of their motions. Enter Richard Dorton, a creature performer who specializes in all kinds of video game characters. His movements become the base of these characters thanks to motion capture. First Dorton's full body is scanned and his motions are captured by a computer in real time. These actions are then translated to the CG character in the game. And to make this all the more realistic, he has to get really physical, especially for particularly dramatic moments like this roar. The most commonly seized item at JFK International Airport is actually food, and it's an agricultural specialist's job to seize and destroy all of it. These agents are trained to prevent the spread of any pests or diseases that could harm US livestock or crops. So before dropping any fruits or vegetables in the grinder, agents like Ginger Perrone must cut open and inspect each piece for evidence of disease or pests. But Perrone gets a little help from some four-legged canine friends like Biscuit, who's trained to sniff out food in luggage. These dogs' sense of smell is so strong that they have an estimated 90% accuracy rate.</p>

21 jobs you probably never knew existed

<p>&#xa0;</p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>The 2015-16 El Niño has <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/">likely reached its end</a>. Tropical Pacific Ocean temperatures, trade winds, cloud and pressure patterns have all dropped back to near normal, although clearly the event's impacts around the globe are still being felt.<p>Recent changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures have been comparable to the decline seen at the end of the 1998 El Niño, although temperatures remain warmer than at the end of the most recent El Niño in 2010. Models suggest that ocean cooling will continue, with little chance of a return to El Niño levels in the immediate future.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><p>The 2015-16 El Niño will go down as one of the three strongest El Niño events since 1950. Every El Niño is different, but typically the stronger the event, the greater its global impact. The 2015-16 El Niño was no exception, with wide-ranging effects felt around the world.</p><p>El Niño also added to the globe's warming trend, making <a href="https://theconversation.com/2016-is-likely-to-be-the-worlds-hottest-year-heres-why-59378">2015 the world's hottest calendar year on record</a>. Early indications are that 2016 could be hotter still.</p><p>So as El Niño fades, let's take stock of its impacts worldwide.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><h2>Africa</h2><p>Drought meant that <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/business/news/farmers-owe-banks-r125bn-as-crops-wither-1971244">South African food production</a> was around six million tonnes below normal levels - the lowest since 1995.</p><p>In Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, maize prices were at least 50% higher than usual, with drought unlikely to break until rains in summer 2016-17. In the <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/not-so-rainy-season-drought-southern-africa-january-2016">driest areas of Zimbabwe</a>, more than 75% of crops were lost. In May 2016, Zimbabwean national parks put wildlife up for sale in a bid to save animals from drought.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/chocolate-prices-to-rise-as-el-nino-brings-big-dry-to-west-africa/news-story/7b68da82787af93e2557435638699c47">cost of chocolate</a> hit a four-year high as a result of drought and lost production in the world's major cocoa producer, Ivory Coast.</p><p>Drought also affected Ethiopia, Somalia, Swaziland, Zambia and parts of Madagascar, with more than 10 million Ethiopians in need of food aid.</p><p>In December 2015, <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5282e.pdf">Rift Valley fever</a> was reported in East Africa. The disease is associated with heavy rainfall providing a fertile breeding ground for the mosquitoes that carry the virus.</p><p>In Tanzania, <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/el-nino-induced-floods-ravage-east-africa/a-19245333">heavy rain destroyed crops and food reserves</a>, while in Kenya <a href="http://www.unocha.org/el-nino-southern-africa">heavy rains aggravated cholera outbreaks</a>. In May 2016, landslides in Rwanda cost many lives and heavy rains damaged infrastructure and hundreds of homes.</p><h2>The Pacific region</h2><p>El Niño is often, but not always, associated with <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-indian-ocean-and-el-nino-join-forces-things-can-get-hot-and-dry-48969">drought in Australia</a>. But the drying influence of the 2015-16 El Niño was initially tempered somewhat by very warm temperatures in the Indian Ocean. From April to August, above-average rainfall fell over parts of inland Western Australia, New South Wales and eastern Victoria.</p><p>But by spring, the Indian Ocean was helping El Niño, resulting in Australia's third-driest spring on record, limiting growth at the end of the cropping season. A record early heatwave in October further <a href="http://www.farmonline.com.au/news/agriculture/cropping/grains/el-nio-hammers-wheat-crop/2745601.aspx">reduced crop production in the Murray-Darling Basin</a>.</p><p>However, the lack of heavy rains in the north and west meant <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mining-australia-elnino-idUSKCN0S601W20151012">reduced downtime for mining</a>.</p><p>The northern wet season produced a record-low three tropical cyclones in the Australian region. The previous record was five, which happened in 1987-88 and again in 2006-07 - both El Niño years.</p><p>Fewer clouds and less tropical rain contributed to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/coral-bleaching">most severe coral bleaching</a> event on record for the Great Barrier Reef.</p><p>The combination of heat and low rainfall brought a very early start to the fire season, with more than 70 fires burning in Victoria and around 55 fires in Tasmania during October. Dry conditions in Tasmania also resulted in hundreds of fires being started by dry lightning in mid-January 2016. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/fires-in-tasmanias-ancient-forests-are-a-warning-for-all-of-us-53806">fires damaged large areas of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area</a>, including areas of rainforest and bogs, which may not have seen fire for centuries.</p><p>In Papua New Guinea, <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-papua-new-guinea-faces-worsening-drought-a-past-disaster-could-save-lives-46390">drought and frost led to crop failures and food shortages</a>. Staple sweet potato crops in the highlands were severely damaged by August frosts - the result of El Niño reducing night-time cloud cover - which also destroyed wild plants that are usually eaten as a backup source of food.</p><p>Vanuatu, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga experienced <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/12/14/el-nino-warning-bells-ringing-oxfam">worsening drought</a>. Islands closer to the Equator such as Kiribati and Tuvalu had intense rain causing flooding, as well as higher sea levels due to warmer waters and weaker trade winds.</p><h2>Asia</h2><p>In the Philippines, drought was declared in 85% of provinces. Indonesia experienced its worst drought in 18 years. <a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesia-fires-threaten-to-send-even-modest-climate-ambitions-up-in-smoke-49155">Forest fires caused poor air quality</a> over vast neighbouring areas including Singapore, Malaysia, southern Thailand and the southern Philippines.</p><p>In the Mekong Basin, delayed monsoon rains reduced rice production, with significant reductions in Vietnam. In Thailand, severe water shortages led to water rationing and delayed rice planting. The Thai government <a href="http://time.com/3960462/thailand-drought/">lowered its forecast for rice exports</a> by two million tonnes. This led to some African countries increasing their imports, fearing a price rise.</p><p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-28/malaysian-palm-oil-production-to-worsen-on-el-nino-mistry-says">Palm oil prices rose</a> as supplies became limited due to drought in Malaysia and Indonesia. In April 2016, a heatwave set national temperature records for Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.</p><p>Northern parts of China experienced drought in 2015. Heavy rainfall in southern China persisted through the second half of 2015, with flooding and landslides recorded along the Yangtze River Valley. China's December-to-February rainfall was approximately 50% above normal. In May 2016, heavy rain caused <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1949392/torrential-rains-claim-eight-lives-southern-chinas-guangdong">flooding and landslides in China's Guangdong province</a>.</p><p>In India, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-03/india-is-suffering-one-of-its-worst-droughts-in-decades">below-average monsoon rains</a> in June to September led to reduced rice, corn, cotton and sugar output in 2015. Below-average rainfall between October and December also affected India's wheat harvest. Major water shortages emerged in some areas, including Mumbai - the result of two years of failed rains.</p><p>Indian Premier League cricket matches were relocated from Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur due to water restrictions. Record heat affected the north and west of the country in May, setting a <a href="http://reliefweb.int/report/india/india-sets-new-heat-record-temperatures-soar">new national record of 51?</a> in Phalodi.</p><p>Conversely, some <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/12/10/before-and-after-satellite-imagery-of-the-historic-flooding-in-chennai-india/">southern parts of India had exceptionally wet conditions</a>, with record-breaking rains and widespread flooding in Chennai in November and December. The city received over 300mm of rainfall on December 1, 2015; the wettest day in more than a century.</p><h2>South and Central America</h2><p>Peru experienced widespread flooding and mudslides in early 2016, with heavy rain leaving more than 5,000 people homeless. In Ecuador, flooding and landslides damaged properties and affected shrimp production.</p><p>More than 150,000 people were evacuated from <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35184793">flooded areas in Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina</a> in December 2015. Some experts have linked El Niño flooding to outbreaks of <a href="http://who.int/hac/crises/el-nino/22february2016/en/">mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika virus</a>.</p><p>In January 2016, Argentina experienced its worst locust plague since 1954, following heavy rains and warm temperatures. Heavy rains returned to Argentina and Paraguay in April 2016, causing large agricultural losses.</p><p>In contrast, <a href="http://latincorrespondent.com/2016/02/el-nino-wreaks-havoc-in-colombia/">Colombia experienced drought and forest fires</a>, which caused severe damage to crops and pushed up food prices, leading to malnutrition in some areas. In November 2015, the United Nations warned that 2.3 million people would need food aid in Central America.</p><p>The Caribbean also experienced drought; Cuba had its most severe dry season in 115 years; Barbados, Dominica, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Barbuda and Saint Lucia experienced water shortages, with the latter declaring a national emergency. The Dominican Republic experienced serious agricultural losses.</p><p>Brazil had a particularly high number of forest fires during 2015, exacerbated by ongoing drought conditions in the Amazon region. Drought in Brazil and Colombia (and Indonesia) meant <a href="https://weather.com/science/environment/news/el-nino-weather-damages-coffee-crops">coffee prices soared</a> as dry conditions affected all the major coffee-producing countries.</p><p>In contrast, excess rain in northeast Brazil flooded crops, leading to rises in the sugar price worldwide.</p><h2>North America</h2><p>In California, many hoped that El Niño would bring relief from five years of drought. But despite some regions getting heavy rain more typical of El Niño, leading to mudslides, El Niño failed to end the long-term dry.</p><p>In the southeast and south-central United States, rainfall was above normal. Major flooding occurred along the Mississippi River. Missouri received three times its normal rainfall during November and December 2015.</p><p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-17/crabs-carpet-california-beaches/7420956">Warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures</a> offshore meant warm water species such as sea snakes, red tuna crabs and hammerhead sharks were found on Californian beaches.</p><p><em>For information on the current and forecast state of ENSO, keep an eye on <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/">the Bureau's ENSO Wrap-Up</a>.</em></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div></div></div></div><p><span><a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/alison-cook-269168">Alison Cook</a>, Climatologist, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/the-bureau-of-meteorology">Australian Bureau of Meteorology</a></em>; <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-b-watkins-2818">Andrew B. Watkins</a>, Manager of Climate Prediction Services, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/the-bureau-of-meteorology">Australian Bureau of Meteorology</a></em>; <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/blair-trewin-3692">Blair Trewin</a>, Climatologist, National Climate Centre, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/the-bureau-of-meteorology">Australian Bureau of Meteorology</a></em>, and <a href="http://theconversation.com/profiles/catherine-ganter-259928">Catherine Ganter</a>, Senior Climatologist, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/the-bureau-of-meteorology">Australian Bureau of Meteorology</a></em></span></p><p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/el-nino-is-over-but-has-left-its-mark-across-the-world-59993">original article</a>.</p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div></div></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/weather-system-in-a-box-2016-3">This is a weather system in a box</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="E0dTNpMTE6pr_yrk_cImaAg0baJy6XE7" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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