(1) Cyclone Fengal brings heavy rainfall to Tamil Nadu
A depression over Bay of Bengal intensified into cyclone Fengal over the last week, bringing widespread, heavy rains to Tamil Nadu. It made landfall in Puducherry on November 30 at around 5:30 pm with wind speeds between 70 to 90 kmph. Now, it is moving towards Bengaluru, set to weaken into a well-marked low pressure area.
While daily rainfall exceeded normal amounts by percentages in excess of 4,000 in some districts due to the impact of the cyclone, cumulative rainfall (from 1-10-2024 to 2-12-2024) was recorded at a deficiency in some districts. The heavy downpour over the past couple days led to inundation in several parts of Chennai, with residents having to wade through knee-dee water in some.
Also read:Cyclone Fengal tracker: Tamil Nadu districts rainfall warnings, school closures, and more
(2) Israel agrees to ceasefire in Lebanon in a U.S.-brokered deal
After months of fighting, several thousand casualties and internal displacements, Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday (November 26) in a deal brokered by the U.S. and France. The deal will see Israeli forces leave Lebanon and return to the Blue Line in 60 days, and Hezbollah forces leave the region south of the Litani river. The Lebanese army along with UNIFIL will take control in south Lebanon.
While the ceasefire deal is a positive development, it comes with a warning from Israel that it will not hold back fire if it has reason to believe the Hezbollah has violated the terms, and will surely retaliate.
Ever since the October 7 Hamas attack last year, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have traded fire at the borders. Tensions rose sharply after Israel exploded multiple Hezbollah communication devices, triggering more frequent, far-reaching attacks from both sides. Over 3,000 people have died in Lebanon.
Also read: Israel-Hezbollah conflict: Deaths and displacement rise in Lebanon
(3) U.S. charges Gautam Adani with defrauding investors
Indian businessman Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest people, has been indicted in the United States on charges he duped investors by concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme.
Mr. Adani, 62, was charged in an indictment unsealed on Wednesday (November 20, 2024) with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The case involves a lucrative arrangement for Adani Green Energy Ltd. and another firm to sell 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government — enough to light millions of homes and businesses.
The indictment paints Mr. Adani and his co-defendants as playing two sides of the deal.
It accuses them of portraying it as rosy and above-board to Wall Street investors who poured several billion dollars into the project over the last five years while, back in India, they were paying or planning to pay about $265 million in bribes to government officials to help secure billions of dollars’ worth of contracts and financing.
Hours after a statement from the New York Eastern District court, the Adani group denied the allegations against Adani Green calling them baseless.
However, the Adani Group founder responded for the first time on Saturday (November 30, 2024) to allegations by U.S. authorities, saying that his ports-to-power conglomerate was committed to world class regulatory compliance.
“Less than two weeks back, we faced a set of allegations from the U.S. about compliance practices at Adani Green Energy. This is not the first time we have faced such challenges,” Mr. Adani said in a live-streamed speech at an awards ceremony.
“What I can tell you is that every attack makes us stronger and every obstacle becomes a stepping stone for a more resilient Adani Group,” Mr. Adani said in Jaipur.
Meanwhile, Mr. Adani and his nephew Sagar have been summoned to explain their stand on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegation. Summons have been sent to Adani’s Shantivan Farm residence in Ahmedabad and his nephew Sagar’s Bodakdev residence in the same city for a reply to SEC within 21 days.
(4) India’s GDP growth at 5.4%
India’s GDP grew by 5.4% in FY24’s second quarter, government data released on Sunday (November 29) showed. This growth rate is the lowest in seven quarters, and a sign of trouble, according to economists. However, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said that the downturn will not expected to persist.
Gross Value Added growth rate was recorded at 5.8%, down from 6.8% the previous quarter.
When it comes to sector-wise figures, four of eight sectors recorded a lower growth rate compared to the second quarter of the previous year.
(5) COP29 deal on plastic remains elusive
An international meeting to formulate a treaty to curb plastic pollution fell through with no deal reached on December 1. Countries could not agree on some aspects of the treaty after a week of deliberations beginning November 25 in Busan, South Korea. Had the meeting been a success, it would have produced a legally binding treaty, and a significant milestone in handling plastic pollution.
The failed meeting comes after reports about increasing plastic production and waste, and inappropriate disposal. Global plastic use will go from 434.9 million tonnes in 2020 to over 730 tonnes in 2040 if no measures are taken, according to OECD. Close to 240 million tonnes of waste will be generated, up from around 170 in 2020.
Most of the waste will come from plastic used in packaging. Such plastics are used and discarded over very short time periods (six months on average), unlike plastics used in other sectors like building and construction (35 years) and textiles (5 years).
Also read:What to know about the plastic pollution treaty talks in South Korea
Moreover, the proportion of waste that is recycled is far outweighed by that sent to landfills, incinerated or mismanaged. The recycled proportion will hardly increase over the years, with most waste being sent to landfills. The graphic below shows future estimates published in OECD reports.
Published – December 03, 2024 10:07 am IST
