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The national capital's air quality slipped into the "very poor" category on Friday morning, and was expected to decline sharply over the weekend owing to changing weather and "significant" stubble burning. The city's overall air quality index (AQI) stood at 306 on Friday. It was 276 on Thursday. The overall AQI at DTU, <keyword id="61537" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dwarka">Dwarka</keyword> Sector 8, Narela, Wazirpur and Bawana was 312, 316, 310, 312, and 341 respectively, which falls in the "very poor" category. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe. The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality research and forecast service, SAFAR, said the reason for deterioration of air quality at present is the "gradual change in weather conditions -- slow surface winds and cooling -- towards unfavourable side". The share of stubble burning to Delhi's PM2.5 concentration would be 10 percent on Friday. It is predicted to increase to 18 per cent on Saturday, according to SAFAR data. "Stubble burning incidents in <keyword id="41646" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Haryana">Haryana</keyword>, Punjab, and nearby border regions have shown an increasing trend over the last three days. Additionally, a few new fires have been observed over western <keyword id="6357713" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uttar-Pradesh">Uttar Pradesh</keyword>," it said in a report. The period between October 15 and November 15 is considered critical as maximum number of stubble burning incidents take place in this span in Punjab and adjoining states and is one of the main reasons for alarming spike in pollution in Delhi-NCR. Despite a ban on stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, farmers continue to defy it amid lack of financial incentives. State governments are providing 50 to 80 per cent subsidy to farmers and cooperative societies to buy modern farm equipment for in-situ management of paddy straw and running a massive awareness campaign against stubble burning. While the Delhi government has repeatedly stressed that stubble burning was the major reason for Delhi's deteriorating air quality, the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority has said local sources of pollution was the primary concern. "It is not that local pollution has increased, it is that weather has turned adverse and so, air pollution is again on the rise. If we keep focusing on external reasons, we will not fix our problems," EPCA member Sunita Narain said on Thursday. Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist at the India Metereological Department (IMD), said predominantly slow <keyword id="2765449" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="easterly-winds">easterly winds</keyword> are blowing in the region. Slow wind speed is not favourable for dispersion of pollutants. There is an active <keyword id="511525" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="western-disturbance">western disturbance</keyword> over parts of Jammu and Kashmir, <keyword id="44522" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uttarakhand">Uttarakhand</keyword>, Punjab and Haryana. It is expected to reduce the impact of stubble burning slightly, he said. "After October 20, the wind speed is likely to increase and as a result the city's air quality is expected to improve," Srivastava said. IMD officials said that due to the occurrence of mist and high concentration of pollutants, the visibility levels at Safdarjung and Palam decreased to 1,500 metres at 8:30 am from 2,500 metres at 5:30 pm on Thursday. GVS DV DV

Delhi air quality which is very poor is likely to shop further this weekend

<ul><li> Astronomers from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Science (ARIES) have discovered 228 new variable stars in the <keyword id="11096504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="pacman-nebula">Pacman Nebula</keyword>.</li><li>The cosmic cloud of gas and dust is located 1,000 light years above the plane of the Milky Way offering a clear view of the star-making process, </li><li>Among the collection of new stars, 51 haven’t reached adulthood yet — they’re still collecting gas and dust before they burst into the nuclear fusion of hydrogen.</li></ul>Not every star shines bright in Earth’s sky. In fact, some of them are clearly visible one moment but dulled out in the next. These stars are called variable stars. And astronomers in India just spotted over 200 new ones in the Pacman Nebula. The Pacman Nebula — officially known as NGC 281 — is around 9,500 light years from Earth, which is relatively close in the astronomical sense. <div type="image" title="PacMan_Nebula_edited" msid="82060497" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The Pacman Nebula lies around 9,500 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way&amp;#39;s Perseus Spiral Arm.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> A team of astronomers, led by Sneh Lata of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Science (ARIES), set their sights on this cosmic cloud of gas using the largest reflecting telescope in Asia — the 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical Telescope (<keyword id="16054" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="DoT">DOT</keyword>). It is set up near Nainital in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. And they managed to find 228 new variable stars. Out of these, 81 turned out to be cluster members. Stars within the same cluster are assumed to have formed at nearly the same time, from the same cloud, and with the same composition. The only difference between them is their mass. The other 147 variable stars likely belong to the field population. They’re located in the same area as the cluster stars, but don’t necessarily share the same characteristics. <div type="image" title="NGC 281" msid="82060551" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The observed image in V band which contains open cluster NGC 281. The stars detected as variables are encircled. &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="They found stars that are yet to become adults" comment="subhead" text="They found stars that are yet to become adults">They found stars that are yet to become adults</cmsannotation> Among the variable stars detected, 51 were pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars. This means they’re still in the early stages of their life, acquiring mass from the dust and gas that surrounds them. They will only start burning hydrogen in nuclear fusion once they reach adulthood. Until then, they’re just gathering the resources they need. Among these PMS stars, 30 are less than ten million years old, called T-Tauri stars. These are smaller than 2 solar masses. However, stars with a mass 2.5 times the size of the <keyword id="24879" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sun">Sun</keyword> were also present. These are called Herbig Ae/Be stars. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Stars get age spots too — and it affects the way they glow" comment="subhead" text="Stars get age spots too — and it affects the way they glow">Stars get age spots too — and it affects the way they glow</cmsannotation> The researchers found that the bigger the star, the smaller its amplitude. For a star, its amplitude is the range of its luminosity — the most bright and the dullest it can be. According to the paper, the smaller aptitudes for larger stars could be due to the lack of material around them to chomp on or that distribution of spots on the photosphere — the outermost surface — of the stars is uneven. And the variability of the amplitude also increases with age. This suggests that the distribution of spots on the surface of these variables changes with their age. The Pacman Nebula has been key in examining the birth of stars and how they evolve. And it's unlike other star forming regions because it's located 1,000 light years above the plane of the <keyword id="410481" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Milky-Way-Galaxy">Milky Way Galaxy</keyword>. This means that astronomers have a nearly unfettered view of the star formation happening within.

Indian astronomers spot over 200 new stars in the Pacman Nebula — and 51 of them are yet to reach adulthood

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A second <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> wave is devastating <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>, where a new "double mutant" virus variant emerged.</li><li>Insider spoke with people on the ground and experts about the threat and ways to address it.</li><li>Politicians so far have largely been unwilling or unable to apply strict restrictions.</li></ul>Hospitals in India are overwhelmed as the country grapples with a second wave of COVID-19.There is a severe shortage of beds, the drug remdesivir, and medical oxygen. Desperate patients have been traveling hundreds of miles, searching helplines and social media, to find hospitals with enough capacity. The worsening situation forced British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week to cancel a visit to the country. The UK and the US have also issued strong travel advisories for India.On Saturday, when 261,394 new cases were reported in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi <a href="https://twitter.com/ndtv/status/1383419909128933377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1383419909128933377%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloombergquint.com%2Fcoronavirus-outbreak%2Fhope-and-heartbreak-on-indian-covid-twittertter">boasted</a> about the size of his election rally in West Bengal, where a huge crowd was crammed together.Rallies have taken place in West Bengal and three other states, with thousands attending, without much adherence to COVID-19 precautions.This reflects how dramatic India's turnaround has been with the coronavirus. Early this year, experts hypothesized that this country of 1.3 billion people had reached herd immunity as cases steadily fell. The government's own modeling study suggested the country's outbreak would be over by February. In January, a health minister <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-has-flattened-covid-19-curve-no-new-cases-in-one-fifth-of-country-govt-11611824857809.html">said</a> India had "successfully contained" COVID-19.Weddings, functions, and political rallies resumed as politicians encouraged a return to normal.Now, India has more than 2 million known active cases, compared with 200,000 in January. Daily reported cases are three times as high as the peak of the first wave in September, with 314,835 announced on Thursday.<div type="image" title="COVID Daily cases India graph" height="2400" width="3400" msid="82202329" hostid="261"></div>A "double mutant" variant - which contains notable mutations that had been separately identified in two previous variants of the original virus - has taken hold.Insider spoke with people on the ground about the extent of devastation this wave has caused as well as the constant challenge of enforcing restrictions at mass gatherings."Things have worsened this time around," said Dr. Sonali Vaid, who previously worked for the World Health Organization and is now helping patients find beds in New Delhi."Many patients with severely low oxygen-saturation levels have had to manage at home, some with dire consequences, due to lack of beds," Vaid added. "Things weren't as bad last year."Despite this, the country's largest religious gathering went ahead. The centuries-old Kumbh Mela sees tens of millions of Hindu pilgrims travel to bathe en masse in rivers in a ritual meant to cleanse them of their sins. It has brought millions this month to Haridwar, north of Delhi."The flow and blessings of Ma Ganga" - Mother River Ganges - "will ensure that coronavirus does not spread," said the chief minister of Uttarakhand, the northern state where the event is taking place for all of April.The <a href="https://scroll.in/latest/992233/kumbh-mela-cant-be-compared-to-nizamuddin-markaz-claims-uttarakhand-cm">government</a> shortened the event from four months to one and insisted it was following Health Ministry guidelines on containing the coronavirus - such as mandatory negative test results and discouraging older, more vulnerable people from taking part.But Deepak Rawat, a government official who runs the event on behalf of the state government, said these were impossible to enforce during the days of Shahi Snan, or royal bath, when devotees bathe in the Ganges.<div type="image" title="Shahi Snan April 12 2021 water bathing" height="2595" width="3900" msid="82202332" hostid="261"></div>On a single day, an estimated 2.1 million pilgrims were taking part, most of them neither wearing masks nor socially distancing."Enforcing COVID-19-appropriate behavior during these processions would be a folly, and we would be risking a stampede," Rawat told Insider.A senior official at the festival <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210416-top-seer-at-india-religious-mega-festival-dies-from-covid-19">told AFP</a> on Friday that they had "around 2,000 positive cases" in the previous four days. That week a senior priest was taken to a hospital from the site and died after a positive test.Facing a backlash, Modi later tweeted appealing for the Kumbh Mela to be scaled back.Dr. T. Sundararaman, the global coordinator for the health-activism network People's Health Movement, said the Kumbh Mela should have been restricted in line with religious ceremonies elsewhere like the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca."What you now have is a runaway celebration with a great potential to act as a superspreader event," he added.In Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, which neighbors Uttarakhand to the south, <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/video/rows-of-burning-pyres-in-lucknow-authorities-place-barricades-around-crematoriums-1791333-2021-04-15">videos</a> emerged of crematoriums full of rows of burning pyres, raising fears official figures were missing many who were dying without having been tested.The double-mutant variant of the virus that emerged in the country, B.1.617, may be behind the surge in cases.Authorities don't yet have the data to prove this, though the variant has mutations that were found in others to make them more transmissible and less likely to confer immunity on people who recover, said Gautam Menon, a physics and biology professor at Ashoka University."This wave is far more transmissible than the first one," said Dr. Lancelot Pinto, a consultant in respiratory medicine at P. D. Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, which was badly hit during both waves.During the first wave, it was common for only one or two members in a family to be infected, but Pinto said he was seeing entire families testing positive now."We are getting many younger patients - those in their 30s and 40s - with moderate to severe disease," he said, adding: "This could be because of the new strain or just because of the sheer numbers of infection this time."<div type="image" title="Public meeting" height="2656" width="3992" msid="82202334" hostid="261"></div>Vaccination has offered other countries a glimmer of hope, but while India has been able to vaccinate millions of people in a single day, only about 8% of its enormous population have had a first dose so far.<a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/covid19-at-current-vaccination-pace-india-won-t-reach-70-coverage-until-yearend-11618797627025.html">At its current pace</a>, India would not vaccinate 70% of its people until December. It has authorized Russia's Sputnik V for use, amid severe shortages of Covishield and Covaxin, which are made domestically.Two political parties campaigning in West Bengal have called off rallies, while Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/elections/west-bengal-assembly-election/bjp-limits-rallies-to-500-people-in-west-bengal-amid-surge-in-covid-19-cases-101618844234707.html">decided </a>this week to limit its rallies to 500 people, two days after the prime minister boasted about the size of his crowds. The Kumbh Mela is continuing until the end of the month.In a Tuesday public address, <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-modi-to-address-nation-on-covid-19-situation-at-8-45-pm-today-live-updates-101618929630164.html">Modi said lockdowns</a> should be only a "last resort" because of the damage they would do to workers' livelihoods. He said making everyone over 18 eligible for vaccination starting in May would ensure laborers were inoculated sooner.He asked states to focus instead on containing specific sites of outbreaks.Delhi began a weeklong lockdown on Monday - closing businesses and ordering people to travel only for essential reasons - saying the city's health system had reached a "tipping point." Maharashtra, the worst-affected state, is severely restricting travel until the end of the month.Dr. Srinath Reddy, the president of the Public Health Foundation of India, who sits on national committees on COVID-19 management, said that for six weeks the country should ban gatherings of more than five people and require masks to be worn outdoors - the type of measures the country eschewed when it thought it was all over.

Indian politicians encouraged a return to normal as COVID-19 cases fell. Now hospitals are overwhelmed as a 'double mutant' variant takes hold - but mass gatherings continue.

When God decided to create days and nights, and blessed the earth with sunlight, he must have assumed that humans could easily figure out how to use that light to meet all their energy needs. Although the Homo sapiens claim to be the most intelligent ‘species’ on Planet Earth, it seems their intelligence has evolved more slowly than most. Look around and be humbled as plants and shrubs have already sorted it. They thrive on <keyword id="6357019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="solar-energy">solar energy</keyword> and less water, harness both and grow without a murmur! As for humans, they have simply taken thousands of years to realise that solar energy could be their ultimate answer to energy needs. 
 
But jokes apart, India is among those countries which have caught the fancy of the world. With its futuristic use of technology (like wind turbines that power Tirupati Complex and low cost mission to Mars), this tropical country, blessed with ample sunlight, is capable to fend for itself and its ever-growing population. 
 
Due to its rapid economic expansion and futuristic policies, a traditional country like India has to meet its energy requirements by leveraging fossil fuels such as coal. Nearly 70% of the energy consumed is generated from coal, followed by crude oil (24%) and natural gas (accounting for a mere 6%). It is, therefore, not difficult to comprehend that India is largely dependent on fossil fuel imports – so much as that by 2030, more than half the country’s energy needs will have to be met with large energy imports. Our own limited fossil reserves have long threatened the country’s stability as far as energy needs are concerned. 
 With a vast population of 1.1 billion and the urban areas housing the majority of industries and labour forces, India is moving dangerously close to the greenhouse effects with every passing year. While carbon emissions are getting high, the agricultural land is also getting increasingly barren and arid due to the indiscriminate use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers. The effects of <keyword id="6366055" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="global-warming">global warming</keyword> in this highly populated country are for everyone to see. From Tsunami in the past to the Uttarakhand floods in the recent years, from progressively botched up summers to extreme winters, the calamities are too many and India is bound to emerge as one of the foremost nations being affected by global warming. 
 
India’s energy experts have been warning against the high use of exhaustible energy resources bought from other countries, which is causing a serious dent in the country’s exchequer. 
 
Almost 400 million Indians (nearly a third of the country’s population) have no access to electricity. And this power deficit compels more than 100,000 villages to live in the dark ages, quite literally. Lack of energy sources has also left India in a rather vulnerable condition as far as growing basic infrastructure is concerned. Its per capita energy consumption stands at just 639 KWh (Kilo Watt per hour), which is among the lowest. 
 This apart, what compounds India’s energy problem is the fact that three quarters of the electricity is produced by burning coal and natural gas. India may well boast a steadily growing <keyword id="35050" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="gdp">GDP</keyword>, but what has also been dangerously steady, and progressively high, is its carbon emissions. During the last decade, India turned out to be one of the biggest carbon-emitting countries, touching 1.6 million kilotonnes in 2007 alone. 
 Plagued by crippling energy crises that cannot be dealt with if the same pattern of energy generation, import and consumption continues in the near future, India has started experimenting with <keyword id="188239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="alternative-energy">alternative energy</keyword> sources. Being blessed with a tropical climate and intense summers, the country is naturally predisposed to receiving abundant <keyword id="70990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Solar-power">solar power</keyword> for the major part of the year. 
 
The country has already entered a solar partnership programme with the US, under the US-India Energy Partnership Programme called SERIIUS. This initiative will also enable India to take the fullest advantage of its deserts and arid lands, and reap energy benefits without harming Mother Nature. India can even supply this energy to other countries, thus encouraging bilateral trades and adding to the country’s robust economic growth. However, India will require at least $13 billion in the next three years to fund this second phase of the solar energy generation unit. 
 
Solar projects are already generating a lot of energy for some states in India. Most of these plants are located in Gujarat, with some spread across Orissa, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, among others. While Gujarat has been the bellwether in the solar projects space in India, Rajasthan will be home to the world’s largest solar plant very soon. That solar photovoltaic power plant will have an estimated life of 25 years and is expected to generate 6.4 billion kilowatt-hours per year, as per official figures. 
 
Gujarat has been clocking about 823.9 MW, with its biggest success being the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. What has boosted the power scenario here is the state’s pro-solar policies and its subsequent access to a consistent flow of clean energy. Encouraged by the positive growth, Gujarat has also launched about 75 solar projects over two years. Moreover, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has always been a believer in entrepreneurship. Therefore, harnessing the solar power is the most sensible thing the Modi government has done for the state, which is high on industrial production. 
 
India currently does not have an over-reaching energy strategy, but what it has in place could be called disparate policies. With the country being blessed with 5,000 TWh (Terra Watt per hour) of solar insolation annually, India stands to gain a lot as far as clean energy production goes. It can also set up independent energy generation units to make its villages and cities self-sustainable. 
 
Image: Thinkstock

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Delhi air quality which is very poor is likely to shop further this weekend

PTI

Indian astronomers spot over 200 new stars in the Pacman Nebula — and 51 of them are yet to reach adulthood

Prabhjote Gill

Indian politicians encouraged a return to normal as COVID-19 cases fell. Now hospitals are overwhelmed as a 'double mutant' variant takes hold - but mass gatherings continue.

Swagata Yadavar

Let’s Harness The Sun's Energy For Better India

Preetam Kaushik

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