The director of IIT Mandi is facing backlash on social media for claiming that recent cloudbursts and landslides in Himachal were due to meat eating.
Laxmidhar Behera
Laxmidhar Behera, director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, and an expert in computing and robotics is facing a strong backlash on social media for a video that shows him claiming that recent cloudbursts and landslides in Himachal were the result of “meat-eating”.
In the clip, which has gone viral, Behera, addressing a group of students in an auditorium says that to become a good human being, they have to avoid eating meat.
“To become good human being what you have to do?,” he asks and then answers: “No meat eating.” He further exhorts students to repeat the answer.
“Himachal Pradesh will have a significant downfall, if the innocent animals are butchered.”
Behera did not respond to phone calls or text messages seeking comment.
It isn’t known when he made the speech shown in the video.
Geologist and Dean, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), Ambrish Kumar Mahajan said that the recent disasters were result of geological reasons coupled with anthropogenic factors.
The protest – one of many to target sporting events in recent months – delayed the showdown between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Climate activists have interrupted the women’s semi-final at the US Open. The protesters were wearing shirts that said End Fossil Fuels – and began causing disruption from the stands at the start of the second set.
At least one demonstrator had glued their shoes to the ground, making them harder to remove.
Pic: AP
They appeared to be from the Extinction Rebellion group – and fans began to cheer as police officers arrived to take them away.
The protest – one of many to target sporting events in recent months – delayed the showdown between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Coco Gauff reacts as play is disrupted. Pic: AP
Gauff initially sat on the sidelines and ate fruit from a plastic container while waiting for play to resume, and hit a few practice serves before heading to the locker room with her opponent.
It took more than 35 minutes for the protesters to be removed, and play was suspended for the best part of an hour.
Back in July, two matches were interrupted at Wimbledon after environmental activists jumped out of the stands at an outside court and scattered orange confetti and jigsaw pieces on the grass. Protests have also taken place at The British Open golf championship, The Ashes, and the World Snooker Championship.
Japan has started dumping the water from the Fukushima nuclear plant north of Tokyo into the sea.
South Korean people chant slogans during a protest against Japan’s discharge of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, in Seoul, South Korea, Aug 26, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Kim Hong-ji)
SEOUL: Protesters gathered in the capital of South Korea on Saturday (Aug 26) to demand that the government take steps to avoid what they fear is a looming disaster from Japan’s release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Japan began dumping the water from the plant north of Tokyo into the sea on Thursday despite objections both at home and abroad from fishing communities and others worried about the environmental impact.
“We will not be immediately seeing disasters like detecting radioactive materials in seafood but it seems inevitable that this discharge would pose a risk on the local fishing industry and the government needs to come up with solutions,” said Choi Kyoungsook of the Korea Radiation Watch group that organised the rally.
About 50,000 people joined the protest, according to the organisers.
Japan and scientific organisations say the water, distilled after being contaminated by contact with fuel rods when the reactor was destroyed in a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, is safe.
South Korean people take part in a protest against Japan’s discharge of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, in Seoul, South Korea, August 26, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
The utility responsible for the plant, Tokyo Electric Power has been filtering it to remove isotopes, leaving only tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is hard to separate.
Japan’s fisheries agency said on Saturday fish tested in waters around the plant did not contain detectable levels of tritium, Kyodo news service reported.
South Korea has said it sees no scientific problems with the water release but environmental activists argue that all possible impacts have not been studied.
Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, a polarising move that prompted China to announce an immediate blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan.
China is “highly concerned about the risk of radioactive contamination brought by… Japan’s food and agricultural products,” the customs bureau said in a statement.
The Japanese government signed off on the plan two years ago and it was given a green light by the U.N. nuclear watchdog last month. The discharge is a key step in decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant after it was destroyed by a tsunami in 2011.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) (9501.T) said the release began at 1:03 p.m. local time (0403 GMT) and it had not identified any abnormalities.
However, China reiterated its firm opposition to the plan and said the Japanese government had not proved that the water discharged would be safe.
“The Japanese side should not cause secondary harm to the local people and even the people of the world out of its own selfish interests,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.
Tokyo has in turn criticised China for spreading “scientifically unfounded claims.”
It maintains the water release is safe, noting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also concluded that the impact it would have on people and the environment was “negligible.”
Japan has requested that China immediately lift its import ban on aquatic products and seeks a discussion on the impact of the water release based on science, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.
Japan exported about $600 million worth of aquatic products to China in 2022, making it the biggest market for Japanese exports, with Hong Kong second. Sales to China and Hong Kong accounted for 42% of all Japanese aquatic exports in 2022, according to government data.
China customs did not give details on the specific aquatic products impacted by the ban and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DECADES LONG PROCESS
The Fukushima Daiichi plant was destroyed in March 2011 after a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake generated powerful tsunami waves causing meltdowns in three reactors.
The first discharge totalling 7,800 cubic metres – the equivalent of about three Olympic swimming pools of water – will take place over about 17 days.
According to Tepco test results released on Thursday, that water contained about up to 63 becquerels of tritium per litre, below the World Health Organization drinking water limit of 10,000 becquerels per litre. A becquerel is a unit of radioactivity.
A demonstrator holds an image of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a protest in Hong Kong after Japan’s announcement that it would start releasing treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean, August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
The IAEA also released a statement saying its independent on-site analysis had confirmed the tritium concentration was far below the limit.
“There are not going to be any health effects… There is no scientific reason to ban imports of Japanese food whatsoever,” said Geraldine Thomas, former professor of molecular pathology at London’s Imperial College.
But Japanese fishing groups, hit with years of reputational damage from radiation fears, still oppose the plan.
“All we want is to be able to continue fishing,” the head of the Japan Fisheries Co-operative said in a statement that touched on the “mounting anxiety” of the community.
Separately from China, Hong Kong and Macau have announced their own ban starting Thursday, which covers Japanese seafood imports from 10 regions.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said import bans on Fukushima fisheries and food products will stay in place until public concerns were eased.
Japan will conduct monitoring around the water release area and publish results weekly starting on Sunday, Japan’s environment minister said. The release is estimated to take about 30 years.
