Microsoft Wins India Over, Facebook Still Struggles - http://clapway.com/2015/12/31/microsoft-wins-india-over-facebook-still-struggles-123/

India is a tough market, but it has had special victories with Microsoft and very special struggles with Facebook. This week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella declared the company will be lending a helping hand to Indian startups, which was very well received. Facebook, meanwhile, is still struggling to convince India of the benefits of Internet.org.

Microsoft Wins India Over Through Support

Though Microsoft’s T-Hub, Nadella hopes to spread awareness on startups and encourage them. Microsoft is also looking into launching white space technology in India, making use of the unused spaces in TV. This will be an experimental phase, where districts within certain states can invest in providing widespread internet with the help of white space technology.

Microsoft: Indian Startups Have Great Potential

Microsoft was briefed in regards to many IT efforts, including fibergrid and e-Progress, and is even considering opening a Microsoft campus in the region of Andhra Pradesh. The goal is to build a healthy startup environment that can use the help of Microsoft to make India more connected at a low cost. Not only that, it allows India to do all the work themselves.

Microsoft CEO: ‘Do Not Be Discouraged By Your Failures’

Microsoft was quoted as declaring that these companies have their full support so as to bring India to a higher grade of development. The successes in India are nearly always instant headlines, the world is looking out for them. So this partnership will only give them a helping hand and a rock base, and it’s a step in the right direction.

India has the largest startup ecosystem after the US and the UK, with 4,200 new companies registered in 2015. They’re also looking into digitizing classrooms to bring the rate of literacy up and promoting the use of cloud technology for enterprises.

Facebook Has Good Intentions, But Bad Rapport

Over the past week, Mark Zuckerberg has gone through some trouble to communicate the true message behind Free Basics. The platform brings very basic internet access free of charge, and helps people become more connected.

Since the service was first introduced, it received mixed reviews. On the one hand, it does allow for internet access, but it is extremely limited. Zuckerberg defended this by saying that Free Basics is better than having no internet at all, but there is certainly more to that. If Free Basics is selective about the access it gives, then it can choose what becomes available in India. Ultimately, it also chooses what is popular. This betrays the main concept of the project.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Main Problem with India

The reason why Internet.org will probably not succeed in India is because it’s trying to decide what’s best for the Indian people. As pointed out by chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, if Facebook or Mark Zuckerberg decide to dictate what the poor, disconnected and underdeveloped have access to, they would be taking away from the people’s right to choose what they want for themselves, and what they think is best for them. No one could have said it better.

Microsoft Wins India Over, Facebook Still Struggles

NASA Reveals China and India Caused Sinking of Marshall Islands - http://clapway.com/2015/12/15/nasa-reveals-china-and-india-caused-sinking-of-marshall-islands-123/

NASA has released the results of a new study conducted from 2005 to 2014. The study analyzes and quantifies energy usage, environmental policy and civil unrest around the world.

NASA Particularly Looked at Nitrogen Dioxide Levels

Nitrogen dioxide is a commonly emitted gas from cars, power plants and industrial machinery. This compound can become ground-level ozone and is a major breathing pollutant particle in urban smog.

Nitrogen dioxide is often used as an indicator of air quality, and can be spotted over most major cities of the world. NASA’s research team looked into nitrogen levels around the globe and compared nitrogen dioxide levels with emission control regulations, national GDP and urban growth.

The Findings Confirm that Pollution and Changes in Air Quality Aren’t Random

The data has a direct reflection of the disparity between what government officials say about handling gas emissions and what actually happens. The team behind the study reveal that the largest emitter of nitrogen dioxide in the world were the United States and Europe though they have had a 50% decrease since previous years. This is thanks to environmental regulations that have been successfully carried out in both regions.

How Has the Syrian Civil War Affected Air Pollution?

Interesting data comes from nitrogen dioxide readings in Syria, where the population has been largely displaced because of the civil war. The mass exodus of Syrians have peaked nitrogen dioxide levels to neighboring countries while levels over Syrian territory have greatly decreased.

Air Pollution in Oceania

All major cities in Australia, according to the study, had their nitrogen dioxide levels decrease between 17.5% and 37.5%. Melbourne was the city to have the most dramatic change, also because the country has made some drastic changes to environmental regulations. In the same breath, Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, saw an 8% increase in levels of the compound.

China

China and India Reveal a Ridiculous Increase in Nitrogen Dioxide Levels

China is well on its way to peaking emissions. The country’s nitrogen dioxide levels rose 20%-50%  because of the increasing use of coal to power the cities and factories. In spite of that, Beijing, Shanghai, and the Pearl River Delta have seen up to 40% decreases.

While this may sound like good news, it means that these areas will take longer to peak gas emissions. Countries like China and India must peak gas emissions in order to bring them down. At the recent Paris Climate Conferences, China was one of the first countries to pledge that they will quickly peak emissions to bring them down.

India, on the other hand, has said that they will take their time peaking emissions. The West had ample time to flood the environment with harmful compounds, and they have been doing so since the Industrial Revolution.

China and India’s Failure to Peak Emissions Could Be Causing the Sinking of Marshall Islands

Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, is flooding severely. This particular region of Oceania is incredibly vulnerable to rising sea levels and any kind of extreme weather event. The UN declared that more than 600 people have since been evacuated from the islands due to the heavy flooding.

The capital has been flooding since 4 AM on December 15, and videos are all over social media showing the true expanse of the damage. There are parts of the city that are only barely above sea level, at 30cm at most. This time is ‘king tide’ season for the region when tides are largest and strongest. While this is a seasonal hazard, it shows how much damage the islands will suffer if sea levels continue to rise and the planet continues to warm.

While China has expressed a passion for protecting the environment to the best of their ability, it’s important that the process is quick and efficient. Hopefully, China and India can collaborate so that the threat to the Marshall Islands can be controlled at the very least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMnDoXuTGS4

NASA Reveals China and India Caused Sinking of Marshall Islands

Air Pollution in India is Unavoidable Trend - http://clapway.com/2015/12/05/air-pollution-in-india-is-unavoidable-trend/

India has many cities that are living through the effects of global warming. The air pollution levels in India have gotten completely out of control. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) posted what the Air Quality Index was in some of India’s major cities. The numbers are frightening to say the least.

THE AIR QUALITY INDEX FOR THE AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA

The first thing that should be explained is how the CPCB is measuring the Air Quality Index. Air Quality index has six potential indexes: good, satisfactory, moderate, poor, very poor, and severe. Good is meaning that there is a minimal impact with the air. Satisfactory means there will be minor breathing issues. Moderate will mostly affect those with asthma. Poor, very poor, and severe all make it hard for people to breathe when they are outside.

THE CITIES MOSTLY AFFECTED BY THIS AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA

The CPCB numbers are as follows. Only one of the cities that the CPCB measured had a good air pollution level, Jaipur. Only one city got a score of satisfactory, Hyderabad. Moderate scores were given to three cities: Chandrapur, Mumbai, and Navi Mumbai. Only one city received a poor rating, Pune. Unfortunately, the numbers go down massively from there. A whopping six cities were given an air pollution score of very poor. Agra, Delhi, Faridabad, Jodhpur, Muzaffarpur, and Varanasi were the cities that were deemed to have very poor air pollution levels. There was also one city to score severe and that was Lucknow.

AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA IS DESTROYING THEM

Nobody should have to live like this, but the reality is many in India are. The results of global warming are destroying the air in most of India. Hopefully, this will improve for the people in India. The issue is global warming seems like it is a disease that can not be cured. One thing that is for sure is the people over there need people’s support and prayers. The air pollution in India is making their citizens live through unstable conditions.

Air Pollution in India is Unavoidable Trend

Indian City of Chennai Lost the Battle with Global Warming - http://clapway.com/2015/12/03/indian-city-of-chennai-lost-the-battle-with-global-warming/

Global warming has hit the city of Chennai, and it has hit them hard. Chennai is currently experiencing massive flooding in their city. The rain seems to not want to stop for them, as the federal weather office has stated that they believe they could be experiencing three more days of rapid rain. This is bad news, as the city is already suffering from the flooding.

CHENNAI COMPLETELY DEVASTATED BY FLOODING

The amount of water that is present in Chennai is amazing. In November, they experienced a week in which there was non-stop rain and then it got worse. Recently, there were three straight days of rain that led to the town being terrorized by the flooding. Several authorities in Chennai are saying that all schools, factories, and various other buildings are shut down currently. They also said that many people are without power. The last thing the authorities mentioned was that all flights are being shut down there.

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED IN CHENNAI

Obviously, everyone there is affected by this flooding one way or another. The schools being shut down affects the students. The factories being shut down will affect families income. This is not to mention all of the people who are just trying to live through this. The army reported that they had rescued more than 2,000 people already. However, it is known now that at least 269 people have died from this flooding.

GLOBAL WARMING IS NOW APPARENT IN CHENNAI

This flooding can be linked to global warming. Of course, what can not be accounted to global warming these days. There is nothing that the citizens of Chennai can do about the flooding when the rain does not stop. There is no defense for them other than being prepared for it. However, eventually it will take over their lives and, unfortunately, it appears like that has already happened.

Indian City of Chennai Lost the Battle with Global Warming

India to Triple its Carbon Emissions in the Coming Decades - http://clapway.com/2015/12/02/india-to-triple-its-carbon-emissions-in-the-coming-decades-123/

People looking to have carbon emissions decreased in India may not be happy. India has been said to be a very important country in the meeting of climate change in Paris. An agreement is trying to be reached and all the countries are trying their best to lower the emissions of carbon dioxide.

INDIA’S CARBON EMISSIONS NOT LOOKING GOOD

It has been said by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, that India’s proposal at the meeting in Paris will triple the amount of carbon emissions in India in the next couple of decades. This is obviously news that no one wanted to hear. However, Modi stated that this was the downside in their proposal of significantly increasing the amount of renewable energy. Modi also stated that part of the problem was the way this world is powered by fossil fuels. He went on to say that the people in India are facing those consequences currently.

THE CONTRACT TO TRY AND DIMINISH CARBON EMISSIONS

All of the countries and participants of the meeting in Paris are trying to come to an agreement that would help on climate change. India may be as important as any country with deciding the new agreement. Modi also announced that India is going to be starting an alliance with 120 countries to speed up the process of making affordable solar energy. It is obvious that India is going to be very important whenever an agreement is reached in Paris.

IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY ARE TRYING THEIR BEST TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS

The world is trying to help out climate change and reduce carbon emissions, but it is not an easy thing to do. However, tripling the amount of carbon emissions in India is doing a complete 180 and is going the wrong way. Hopefully the members of this meeting in Paris can avoid having carbon emissions triple in India, but can they?

India to Triple its Carbon Emissions in the Coming Decades

New Apple Watch is Worth 3 Month Salary in India - http://clapway.com/2015/11/10/new-apple-watch-is-worth-3-month-salary-in-india123/

The new Apple Watch has made it to Indian shelves, and its cost is the average citizen’s pay of three months. The device will come in its 38mm and 42mm size and can be combined to make 40 different watches. Customers will be able to choose from the 1,300 apps native to the Apple Watch and all devices come loaded with WatchOS. The starting price of the device is $665 for the 38mm and $751 for the 42mm.

flickr.com

This is the cheapest price for the Apple Watch worldwide, but it costs the average Indian citizen three paychecks.

The prices escalates when combined with accessories as it starts to look like customers looking to buy the new Apple Watch will have to have at least $1,200 at the ready, $22,000 at most. The Hermes designer watch will also be available in India for the price of $30,585. It’s not clear just how much profit Apple will make from selling their gold plated or designer labeled devices.

One thing is for certain, for the sake of fad and technology, the cheaper versions of the new Apple Watch are expected to sell quite well. It’s not too clear why India garners the cheapest prices for the new Apple Watch, but even then they seem steep for the majority.

 

 

New Apple Watch is Worth 3 Month Salary in India

We Could Lose Tropical Forests the Size of India #deforestation #india #forest - http://clapway.com/2015/08/25/tropical-forests-india123/

Approximately 289 million hectares worth of tropical forests ⎯ a size equivalent to India or four times Texas ⎯ could be wiped off the earth by 2050, if we don’t do anything about it. An analysis by the Center for Global Development has predicted that during the next 35 years we would burn through one sixth of the planetary carbon budget.

How was the data collected for this analysis?

The analysis led by Jonah Busch and Jens Engelmann projected future emissions due to deforestation using measurements culled from 18 million satellite images of forest loss between 2001 and 2012. The analysis covered factors related to topography, accessibility, protected areas, crop suitability and forest carbon stocks. They also looked at how land users have responded to cost fluctuations in agricultural produce in the past and used that to predict how they would respond to the costs of forest conservation policies.

What does the future of tropical forests look like?

The results of the analysis look scary, but we do have options to deal with it. It is estimated that the carbon emissions associated with the widespread deforestation will be close to 169 billion tons⎯that’s the same as keeping 44,000 coal plants running for a year. But the good news is we can avoid this by put a price on carbon. The emissions could be reduced by quarter by attaching a $20-per-ton carbon cost and by nearly half if tropical forest countries are charged $50-per-ton carbon.

Saving the Tropical Forests: Why is preventing deforestation better than other emission-cutting measures?

Curbing deforestation is a cheap, efficient means of reducing emission; it’s better than some of the other measures used. For example, the European Union produced the same number of emissions as deforestation did between 2001 and 2012. However, the cost of reducing emissions by forest conservation is just one fifth the cost of the European Union cutting emissions to the same extent. There is also an incentive in this strategy for rich countries to pay tropical countries to maintain their tropical forests. This way, the rich countries could reduce their costs for keeping the earth green, and the tropical countries could earn money by maintaining it so. Also, we can predict how future deforestation would change, based on future agricultural prices. Low prices result in low deforestation, which could help tailor the carbon costs accordingly.

This analysis outlined that reducing deforestation is one of the⎯if not the only⎯cost-effective means to reduce our carbon footprint. It would be interesting to see if the United Nations Summit in December would discuss how this initiative could be funded.

What do you know about climate change?

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Tropical forests are too beautiful to die out. Make sure you preserve them.

We Could Lose Tropical Forests the Size of India

But how costly is NOT #fighting #climatechange going to be? - http://clapway.com/2015/07/14/india-100-billion-not-enough-alone-to-combat-climate-change-234/

The Challenge That Is Overcoming Climate Change

In India, global warming could be the next great obstacle to overcome. The risks associated with climate change across multiple sections of science and lifestyle were discussed by authorities in the field in India.

According to these individualized assessments, global warming could contribute to more than just environmental issues. These authorities stated that climate change could fuel issues of safety and social concern, such as terrorism and migration patterns.

There was also talk of other national superpowers assisting by contributing close to $100 billion towards the Green Climate Fund every year by 2020. However, even a monetary contribution of this size would not be enough to truly shift climate change, unless other action is also taken.

This statement comes at a time when India is finalizing its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) report by the September 30 deadline. A representative stated that India wouldn’t restrict their overview of the INDC, but would use the reporting to best steer their sustainability goals.

What the INDC Reports Reveal

The cross-specializational group included input from authorities in climate science, finance, energy analysts, as well as military and security consultants. As brought up by the authors’ analysis of the situation, it is suggested that most of the effort used to conquer the problem be directed at eradicating climate change.

They advise that the solution includes proper risk assessment and active, direct efforts of lowering human contributions. These direct human responses contribute the most to the effects of climate change. Emissions were also part of the conversation on how to better combat these effects.

The report itself was a collaborated effort between multiple niversity-associated experts – Cambridge University Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Harvard University Center for the Environment, Tsinghua University in China and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water from India. The report also includes recommendations on how to treat these risk assessments.

Post-Report Importance

It is important to note that the submissions to the INDC play a crucial part in understanding the goals and concerns of developing and developed countries alike. These comprehensive INDC reports also link the importance that other sections of science and lifestyle play in combatting climate change.

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India: $100 Billion Not Enough Alone to Combat Climate Change

New Butterfly Species Found in India - http://clapway.com/2015/07/12/new-butterfly-species-found-in-india432/

Perhaps one’s first images of India is exotic-tasting food, or those fond childhood memories of parents The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling aloud. By habit, we form associations to the exotic place, and one that most zoologists immediately form to India is the staggering amount of biodiversity.

New butterfly species is found

Recently,news has been circulating about a new butterfly species being found in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh. The find was released in the Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera back in June in the forty-eighth volume.

The new butterfly species has been given the scientific name Hypolycaena. It is otherwise known as the Banded Tit butterfly. The butterfly’s existence on paper was documented and sent in around April to the journal but wasn’t accepted until the first of June then printed on the 23rd.

The official announcement of the new butterfly species was released by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr. Yogesh. Dr. Yogesh has research experience of 28 years in microbial ecology, molecular taxonomy, and biology. He has contributed to science journals with his research numerous times over his career.

What does the finding mean for the region?

Dr. Yogesh commented on the discovery of this new butterfly species by saying that this latest species finding emphasizes just how unique the diversity of animal species, is in this region. At the moment, there is not much known about the species apart from initial impressions and categorizations.

The uniqueness of the new butterfly species

This butterfly is a fascinating find because of its life cycle, in that the mature butterflies only live for two weeks in March every year and are speculated to spend the rest of the year inactive as pupae or larvae. The infancy stages are still unknown and not much study has been done but the food reliance is on bird droppings by streams.

Because of the lack of sufficient in-depth research, much about the butterfly is not known including behavior and environment and other such things. To put things into perspective, it was only a few years ago that another different butterfly species was discovered in the region called the Bright-eyed Argus. So, there is much that still isn’t known about many species, and still others be waiting to be discovered.

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New Butterfly Species Found in India