Category: Life & Style

The temperature of Europe was the warmest on record for last year, breaking the previous highest mark by a considerable distance this year. Temperature across the continent was more than 1.9C above the average.

The scientist looked concerned over the State of Climate report from the American Meteorological Society that says the temperature in the Arctic is also rising rapidly. It recorded its highest temperature over land there since records began in 1900. 2020 was confirmed as Europe’s warmest and one of the three hottest globally. This year the margin was significantly greater than previous year. It was not only 1.9C above the long-term average but more than 0.5C greater than the previous year’s high mark.

A senior climate scientist at the UK Met Office Dr. Robert Dunn said that this level of difference to the previous long-term average is a large difference. This is something that is concerning and it is time to sit up and take notice of the situation. However, it’s not just the temperature that is increasing but the extreme events like the heat waves we are facing this year and last year as well. He said these responses are being recorded throughout the globe.

On Thursday, a top Chinese official said that “all-round efforts are needed to ensure Tibetans speak and write Chinese. China wants Tibet to speak standard spoken and written Chinese and share the “cultural symbols and images of the Chinese nation”.

The remark was made by Wang Yang in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa which is the home of Tibet’s traditional Buddhist leaders. Mr. Wang, who is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee addressed a handpicked audience in the ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Chinese invasion of the vast Himalayan region. He said that the separatist and sabotage activities committed by the Dalai Lama group and hostile external forces have been crushed. He warned that by only following the CPC leadership and pursuing the path of socialism, Tibet will achieve development and prosperity.

As China tightens its grip on Tibet, questions are arising of the future of its diaspora community. China denied any contact with the self-declared Tibetan government in exile and the Dalai Lama has long separated himself from politics.

For 70 years, Chinese policies have turned Tibet into an open-air prison with restrictions on all aspects of Tibetan life.

UNESCO Director-General Auddrey Azoulay has declared that “the fundamental right to education for all, in particular for girls and women, must continue unhindered” amid the rapidly evolving events in Afghanistan.

The agency said in a statement that they will spare no effort to support all Afghans to ensure their right to education. Azoulay said in the statement that education is a fundamental human right indispensable for the exercise of other human rights and for the development of Afghanistan. UNESCO calls on all to guarantee the right to education without any discrimination. Students, teachers and education personnel must have access to safe educational environments, including girls and women, who have to continue learning and teaching without any restrictions. The Director General further added that the enormous progress was made in the country which included the educational sector which should not be lost.

They focus on continuing to educate girls and women and believe the future of the nation depends on them. They have provided technical assistance to strengthen education in Afghanistan since 1948. UNESCO has invested in the education policy specially for girls whose office is in Kabul. It was the largest literacy campaign in the history of the organisation. It reached 1.2 million Afghans which included 8,00,000 women.

Those who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in America will be given booster COVID-19 shots in September. According to the U.S. Department of Health of Human Service, the shots will be given regardless of age, eight months after getting the second shot of vaccine.

The officials are preparing for the booster vaccine shot in September this year. The approval from the Food and Drug Administration is pending. Those who received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine are also likely to receive booster shots. The final decision on these shots will be given in the next few weeks after the health and medical experts collect more data.

The initial doses of the booster shots are scheduled for the health care providers, nursing home residents, and other seniors who were fully inoculated earliest in the vaccine rollout. The shot will be available free of cost at about 80,000 vaccination locations across the nation.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said that his administration has planned for the supply of the shots in advance. He said it will be easy to get the booster by just showing your vaccination card. No other ID, no insurance, no state residency will be required for these shots.

Despite the opposition from the World Health Organisation Israel, France and Germany have also decided to administer booster shots.

Israel is currently facing a surge in coronavirus cases since January. On Wednesday, new restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus across the nation took effect.

The restriction measures involve showing the vaccination certificates or negative coronavirus tests to enter public spaces. According to the Health Ministry, the public spaces which will require the certificate and reports include restaurants and bars, cultural and sports venues, hotels, and gyms. The rules will also be applied to the worshippers wishing to enter synagogues, mosques, or churches with more than 50 people in attendance. The authorities also issued a list for the capacity of stores, shopping malls and industrial parks to be limited to one person per seven square meters (75 square feet).

One million people in the country have not been vaccinated even though they are eligible. More than 8,700 people have tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. This was the highest single-day surge since January.

The vaccination drive in Israel that was launched last December was widely praised and has drastically brought down the infection. However, that trend has reversed after the spread of the more contagious Delta Variant of the virus hit the country. Israel had earlier lifted its restriction in June which was later reimposed in July.

The creator of the popular number puzzle game Sudoku Maki Kaji died on Tuesday at 69. Maki Kaji was suffering from bile duct cancer at his home in Mitaka, Tokyo. He is known as the Godfather of Sudoku whose life’s work was spreading the joy of puzzles.

Sudoku is made up of the Japanese characters for number and single and players place the number 1 through 9 in rows, columns, and blocks without repeating them. This game was not famous until 2004 when it finally became a global hit after a fan from New Zealand pitched it. He got it published in the leading British Newspaper. However, two years later Japan rediscovered its puzzle as a gyakuyunyu or re-import.

Kaji created the puzzle to be easy for children and others who don’t want to think too hard. He was the chief executive at his puzzle company Nikoli Co. until July. Initially, Sudoku was known as Suji-wa-Dokushin-ni-Kagiru that translated to numbers should be single, a bachelor. The most popular pencil puzzles have now even come out in digital versions. The company’s championships have drawn around 200 million people in about 100 countries over the years. The sudoku was trademarked within Japan only.

The United Kingdom has donated 7,00,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine to Nigeria. On Monday, UK gave the delivery of 6,99,760 doses of vaccine. The UK government has pledged to share 80 million doses of vaccine with COVAX.

Due to the unavailability of the vaccine, those who took the first jab of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine were not able to take the second jab which was mandatory. The delivery took place through the COVAX facility which is an initiative aimed at equitable distribution of vaccines globally. The vaccine was unveiled by the Nigerian government at the country’s National Strategic Cold Store near Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja which is the Federal Capital territory.

The first phase of vaccination was on March 5 for Nigerians. They have received approximately four million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Later the first phase ended abruptly due to exhaustion of the vaccine. Over 3.9 million eligible people were vaccinated across 36 states and FCT.

1,77,600 doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID vaccine were also received by the country from the African Union.

A new positive case of COVID-19 has been identified in the community according to New Zealand. The case is now under investigation. The Health Ministry said in a statement that the case was reported in Auckland and the link between the case and the border or managed isolation is yet to be established.

In February, New Zealand reported its last community case. The entire nation is under strict lockdown by New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after a single case was reported. From Wednesday, the entire nation will be in lockdown for three days. Auckland and Coromandel where the infected person had spent time will be in lockdown for seven days.
Ardern addressed the new conference and said that the best thing they can do to get out of this as quickly as they can is to go hard. They have decided on the basis that it is better to start high and go down levels rather than to go low, not contain the virus, and see it move quickly.

The case was assumed to be the Delta variant infection although that has not been confirmed. The nation has followed a hard strategy that has helped it virtually eliminate COVID-19 domestically and allowed people to live without the restriction. However, its international borders remain largely closed.

As set down by The United States website, The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) has issued an improved Travel Health Notice for India. It indicates a moderate level of COVID-19 in the country. The United States has lowered India from the highest Level 4 which means “No Travel”, Level 3 which urges citizens to “Consider Travel” to ultimately at Level 2 which is “Moderate Travel”.

The notice has reported the risk of contracting the virus and developing severe symptoms that may be lower if one is fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine. The CDC also showed the “exercise increased caution” in India due to coronavirus. On April 30 US president Joe Biden imposed new travel restrictions on India due to the pandemic. This barred most of the US citizens who had been in India within the previous 14 days from entering the US.

More than 70 countries are currently listed by CDC as its travel advisory rating. The US lifts Turkey from the “no travel restriction for travelers” list. Last week Canada was lowered to “Level 2” by the U.S. State Department and CDC. In August, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients reiterated that “due to Delta Variant, the United State will maintain the existing travel restriction”.

Co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates said his climate investment fund would pledge $1.5 billion. The joint project pledged with the federal government to combat climate change if Congress passes a bipartisan infrastructure plan that funds clean energy technologies.

The bill is yet to pass through the House and provides the Department of Energy with $25 billion for projects that demonstrate the viability of clean energy technologies for widespread adoption. It’s the Senate’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill which will be a part of a broader investment in programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Gates will spend the money over three years which are run by his firm Breakthrough Energy to lower the emission. The project aims to focus on zero-emission plane fuel, green hydrogen, long-duration, and direct air capture.

In a statement, Bill Gates said, “ if the infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act becomes law, this collaboration will not only send us on a more durable path to net zero but will create both immediate and long-term jobs in communities across the country. Gates collaborated earlier with the public sector in June and announced a partnership to boost investment in critical climate technologies to enable a net-zero economy.