UNICEF: Air Pollution Deadly Hazard to 2 Billion Children

New Delhi, India, – Over the weekend, Indian skies were filled with extravagant fireworks. The celebration, however, adds another significant misery to their daily lives. The smoke coming from the fireworks aggravated the city’s air pollution problems and is a severe health risk to residents, particularly children.

New Delhi turns out to be one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Deadly health hazard

According to The United Nations Children’s Fund report, air pollution worldwide affects 2 billion children. A third of the statistical data lives in Northern India and nearby countries. The outcome could not have been more serious, if not deadly. Serious health problems can be developed in prolonged exposure to air pollution which includes lung and brain damage to top the list.

Out of the 2 billion children worldwide, 300 million, including 200 million in Southeast Asia suffer unhealthy exposure. These children are subjected to the pollution level six times more that the average of the World Health Organization standard.

Sure enough, the cause of the pollution is the customary garbage burning of residents to stay warm in winter. Hence, air pollution in the Indian capital is at its highest during winter which is further exacerbated by the season’s weak airstreams.

The Diwali Effect

Prior to the much anticipated Hindu holiday, the Diwali festival, experts noted the high levels of concentration of microscopic lung- obstructing particles called PM 2.5. On Friday, the presence of PM 2.5 recorded was beyond 300 micrograms per cubic meter.

After the festive celebration, PM 2.5 levels rose above 900 mcg per cubic meter. The World Health Organization recommends no more than 10 mcg per cubic meter exposure to PM 2.5. Diwali’s aftermath pollution on Monday was more than 90 times greater than normal.

Correspondingly, local officials released health warnings mostly for children, elderly and to people suffering respiratory or heart problems. The notice instructs residents to just stay indoors because of the pollution. The nearby states of Punjab and Haryana worsened the condition because of an on-going burning of spent agricultural crops.

An 18-year-old student in Delhi, Dharmendra said, “My eyes are irritated, I’m coughing and I find it difficult to breathe”. He added that because of the pollution, he does not “go out so much nowadays.” The teenager is using only one name, an ordinary custom in India.

Health disaster

The executive director of the Centre for Science and Environment, Anumita Roy Chowdhury said, “Pollution levels every winter gallop, and we are already beginning to see the signs of it”.

Several local studies show that a third of the city’s children have acquired lung and respiratory illnesses which “signals health disaster”, according to Chowdhury.

Children are more vulnerable to develop air pollution related diseases since they breathe twice as fast compared to adults. Their brain and body are taking in more air while their immune systems are still developing.

According to UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, “The impact is commensurately shocking”. A study published on Monday showed that 600,000 children not more than 5 years old are dying worldwide because of air pollution related problems. He added that “Millions more suffer from respiratory diseases that diminish their resilience and affect their physical and cognitive development.”

The Real Deal

Out of the total 2.26 billion children worldwide, 2 billion children suffered from air pollution; 620 million in South Asia, mostly in northern India, 520 million children in Africa and 450 million, chiefly in China.

The report was taken in ‘combined satellite images’ of air pollution with ground data to pinpoint demographic patterns of the highest risk areas. For the WHO, it is a very alarming state where a huge total of the population were exposed to unhealthy air.

“Change the Air”

New Delhi, well aware of their air pollution situation started to pass legislation to control the worsening condition.

They started to ban cargo trucks from main highways and require drivers to purchase new vehicles which can meet the higher emission standards. They created a strategic limitation of the number of vehicles on the road and planned experimental traffic control.

However, other major pollution sources like construction dust, burning wood or kerosene remains unmonitored.

Authorities also turn to mobile phones for their advocacy. Last week they launched “Change the Air” app. They hope it will spark a chain reaction for residents to send in photos and report illegal sources of pollution.

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India; Police Detain Pigeon with Hostile Note for PM Narendra Modi

Indian police detained a pigeon after finding that it carried a written warning message addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The bird was captured within the area of the heavily defended border with Pakistan.

Members of the Nation’s Border Security Force discovered the Pigeon at the City of Pathankot in India’s state of Punjab. This is also the location where militants based in Pakistan initiated a lethal attack on an airforce base in January.

In a telephone interview with AFP, Patahankot police inspector Rakesh Kumar said, “We took it into custody last evening.”

“The BSF found it with a note in Urdu saying something like ‘Modi, we’re not the same people from 1971. Now each and every child is ready to fight against India’,” Kumar added.

The last full-scale war that India fought with Pakistan was in 1971.

Kumar also said stated that the note was ostensibly signed the a Jihadist group based in Pakistan named Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He folowed with “so we are investigating the matter very seriously”.

New Delhi believes the same rebel group recently attacked an army base in Kashmir, killing several soldiers. Tensions remain on a very high level due to that raid.

India’s retaliatory strike – simultaneous cross-border assaults by special operations troops on militant bases, severely enraged Islamabad.

In connection with the pigeon incident, Indian forces found the same type of messages in two balloons in Punjab.

Jail birds

This is not the first instance that birds became involved in the seemingly perpetual hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

Indian police held a pigeon last year that they suspected of being used as an instrument for spying by Pakistan. It was X-rayed to spot any hidden surveillance equipment.

Furthermore, in 2013, soldiers found a dead falcon with a small camera attached. In 2010, another pigeon was also detained for being suspected spying.

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Militants Strike Anew on Indian Army Base in Kashmir Killing One and Wounding Another

At least six militants attack another Indian army base, north of Kashmir on Sunday. Ensuing firefight resulted in the death of one border guard and has wounded another. The attack came just barely two weeks after a similar attack that killed 19 Indian soldiers.

Militants attacked the base at around 10:30 pm local time (1700GMT).  Firefight between the militants and the Indian units erupted after the militants tried to enter the base. The army base houses the 46^th Rashtriya Rifles in Baramulla as well as a unit of the Border Security Force.

Baramulla Superintendent of Police Imtiyaz Hussein said that the militants have reached the camp by boat through the river that passes through the town.

The militants had escaped as “they fled under the cover of darkness,” according to Hussein.

After the attack, India sent in the 4^th Para Special Forces to Baramulla. Ground and air operations continued till the morning to secure the camp.

Baramulla is a district capital located on the road from Srinagar. The area is near the frontier settlement of Uri where the first attack that killed 19 Indian soldiers happened.

India’s Retaliatory Strike

According to India, the armed forces had launched “surgical strike” last Thursday against identified militant camps in Pakistan. Reports say that the attack on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LoC) inflicted heavy casualties.

Pakistan on the other hand has denied of any attack claimed by India.

India’s cross-border raid has raised international fears that the military action could lead to an armed escalation. India and Pakistan both has nuclear capabilities and has been at arms against each other over Kashmir for nearly 70 years now.

Pakistan said that the national security advisers of both countries are in contact to attempt to pacify the situation on the LoC.

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Cooler Heads Prevail Amid Rising Tension Between India and Pakistan

War between two nuclear capable nations is what apocalyptic movies are made up off. However, this time, the threat of nuclear war looms not from the usual suspects between the US and Russia or from China for that matter, but between two warring countries fighting over their border.  The fight is between India and Pakistan.

The two nation have already clashed four times since the British relinquished its control over India in 1947. Three of the skirmishes were in Kashmir, over the Himalayan region. New Delhi and Islamabad are both claiming the entirety of the region. This resulted in a massive military buildup, which makes Kashmir one of the most militarized in South Asia. The two nation is divided by a de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC). Since both countries have nuclear capabilities, a potential apocalyptic collision is a possible horrifying scenario.

World attention has been focused on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the attack on the Indian military outpost on Sept 18. Four gunmen were able to cross the LoC and killed eighteen soldiers in the Kashmir town of Uri. The attack is the worst of its kind in more than two decades. Pakistan rejects India’s presumption that the gunmen came across the LoC from the Pakistan side of the border.

Clamor for a strong response is growing among the people, as well as with close allies of the Prime Minister. Ram Madhav of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have upped the ante with a war-like rhetoric. He said that the days of Indian restraint is over. “For one tooth, the complete jaw. If terrorism is the instrument of the weak and coward (sic), restraint in the face of repeated terror attacks betrays inefficiency and incompetence. India should prove otherwise.”

Indian Media has also demanded that the country to show that it will not take the murder of 18 soldiers sitting down. The uncertainty is growing on what will be the next move by the Indian government following the Uri attack.

Last weekend, Prime Minister Modi gave a speech that had the world breathe a sigh of relief, at least for the time being. Modi is stepping up efforts to pressure Pakistan diplomatically rather than the use of military force. At a BJP meeting in southern India, Modi said. “I want to tell the people of Pakistan, India is ready to fight you,” he added. “If you have the strength, come forward to fight against poverty. Let’s see who wins. Let’s see who is able to defeat poverty and illiteracy first, Pakistan or India.”

Experts believe that Modi’s approach is a result of India recognizing the downside of a military confrontation. India’s growing economy which has one of the fastest growth in the world, would have adverse effect and would definitely pull down their sustained growth. Happymon Jacob, an expert from Delhi’s Jawaharla Nehru University stated. “Having gone through some discussion, the government of India has come to the conclusion that you can only escalate this diplomatically and politically, which is exactly what they are doing.”

Ashok Malik, a senior member at the Observer Research Foundation think tank sees India’s situation as volatile. The Prime Minister domestically faces pressure “to be seen to be doing something in response to this attack.”

On the global scale however, India needs to build “an even stronger case against Pakistan and emphasize that [terrorism linked to] Pakistan is a challenge not just for India but also the rest of the world.”

Adding Diplomatic Pressure

India also withdrew from the upcoming summit for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. The regional meeting will be in Islamabad. This is to add to the diplomatic pressure India is currently undertaking on Pakistan.

Although the world can sleep better with Prime Minister Modi’s approach, the possibility of a military confrontation will always be an available option.  Malik said. “I don’t think Modi has given up on the military option for the remainder of his term [in office, which expires in 2019].”

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