Don't hold your breath: Amazon fires aren't depleting Earth's oxygen supply

There's enough oxygen in the air to last for millions of years, and the amount is set by geology rather than land use.

Fires in the Amazon rainforest have captured attention worldwide in recent days. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office in 2019, pledged in his campaign to reduce environmental protection and increase agricultural development in the Amazon, and he appears to have followed through on that promise.

The resurgence of forest clearing in the Amazon, which had decreased more than 80% following a peak in 2004, is alarming for many reasons.

Tropical forests harbor many species of plants and animals found nowhere else. They are important refuges for indigenous people, and contain enormous stores of carbon as wood and other organic matter that would otherwise contribute to the climate crisis.

Some media accounts have suggested that fires in the Amazon also threaten the atmospheric oxygen that we breathe.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted on Aug. 22 that “the Amazon rain forest – the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen – is on fire.”

ALSO READ: Amazon is still on fire: 4 essential reads on Brazil's vanishing rainforest

The oft-repeated claim that the Amazon rainforest produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen is based on a misunderstanding.

In fact nearly all of Earth’s breathable oxygen originated in the oceans, and there is enough of it to last for millions of years. There are many reasons to be appalled by this year’s Amazon fires, but depleting Earth’s oxygen supply is not one of them.

Business Standard

Smartphones beat slowdown as sales up 10%; Xiaomi tops Indian market

According to analysts, one of the key factors that differentiates smartphones from other products is their expose to the e-commerce market.

Business Standard : Raghu Reddy, head of categories and online sales for India’s leading smartphone company Xiaomi, is unfazed by the slowdown that has gripped the consumer goods market.

His confidence is not unfounded. According to the IDC India data, smartphone shipments grew by 10 per cent during the April-June quarter to reach 37 million units, the highest for the quarter. June quarter growth is traditionally the slowest, when shipments usually remain lower than the second half of the year.

The feat comes at a time key players in sectors such as automobile and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) have struggled to repeat last year’s performance. Volume growth in FMCG fell to 6.2 per cent in April-June this year from 13.2 per cent three quarters ago. Growth in rural market remained dismal at 5.9 per cent, which was lower than urban after several years.

Offtake of passenger vehicles, a barometer of consumer sentiment for big-ticket items, fared worse in over a decade. It fell by 18.4 per cent during the quarter. Country’s largest automaker Maruti Suzuki’s sales fell for six consecutive quarters till July. In June, its volume sales fell by 17 per cent and it plunged by a whopping 36 per cent — the highest in two decades — in July. Hyundai Motor India, the second-largest player in the sector, witnessed a 10 per cent drop in sales in July, after a 3.2 per cent dip in June.

Smartphone players, however, are way ahead. Xiaomi, which continues to lead the segment with 28.3 per cent market share, grew by 5 per cent. While Samsung, the second-largest player by volume, grew by 16.6 per cent, Vivo and Oppo expanded their shipments by 31.6 per cent and 41 per cent in June quarter, respectively. Realme, a sub-brand of Oppo and currently the fifth largest player, grew by a whopping 602 per cent year on year.

According to analysts, one of the key factors that differentiates smartphones from other products is their expose to the e-commerce market.

“The online channel continued its growth momentum fuelled by multiple launches, attractive offers, and affordability schemes such as EMIs or cashbacks. This resulted in YoY growth of 12.4 per cent for the online channel,” said Upasana Joshi, associate research manager, Client Devices, IDC India.

Foreign airlines ban MacBooks on Indian flights; DGCA mulls similar move

Apple issued a similar replacement programme last year for the latest 13-inch Pros over issues related to battery expansion.

With several international airlines banning some older models of Apple's flagship laptop MacBook Pro in both check-in or hand luggage, including in India, fears of battery fire have returned to haunt users of the device.

In June, Apple announced a voluntary recall of its faulty 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there's a chance that the devices sold between September 2015 and February 2017 could overheat and potentially cause fires.

Seeing this, India is pondering if it should ask the airlines to restrict the affected MacBook Pro models. “The DGCA is examining the issue and if need be, will do the needful,” said a senior official.

Singapore Airlines (SIA), a major operator to India, on Sunday said on its website: "Customers are to refrain from bringing the affected (MacBook Pro) models either as hand-carry or in checked baggage until the battery has been verified as safe or replaced by the manufacturer. Please visit Apple’s MacB ook Pro Battery Recall Program page to get more information on whether your product is affected, as well as on the available battery replacement options." Thai is also not allowing 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks sold between September 2015 and February 2017 on the aircraft either as carry-on or checked luggage.

The iPhone-maker reportedly said it had received 26 reports of the laptop's battery overheating, with as many as five consumers reporting minor burns and one suffering from smoke inhalation.

Nearly 432,000 potentially affected MacBook Pro units were sold in the US and 26,000 in Canada.

Apple issued a similar replacement programme last year for the latest 13-inch Pros over issues related to battery expansion.

In 2016, battery fires in Samsung's flagship smartphone Galaxy Note 7 caused the firm operating losses of some 6.1 trillion won ($5 billion).

Business Standard

G7 unity under stress as it wrestles with Iran, Amazon fires and trade

Trump arrived in Biarritz fresh from having upped the ante with increased tariffs in the escalating trade struggle with China.

Business Standard : G7 leaders close their summit on Monday with discussion of world problems including the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest, but overshadowed by President Donald Trump's trade wars and questions over the group's unity.

The summit in Biarritz, a high-end surfers' paradise in southwestern France, saw a dramatic shift of focus Saturday when Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew in to discuss the diplomatic deadlock on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

Zarif's presence had not been expected and it represented a gamble by French host Emmanuel Macron who is seeking to soothe spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States.

The Iranian top diplomat didn't meet Donald Trump, French diplomats said, but the presence of the two men in the same place at least sparked hopes of a detente. Just this July, the US government imposed heavy sanctions seeking to hamper Zarif's travel, and effectively banning him from the United States.

"Road ahead is difficult. But worth trying," the US-educated Zarif tweeted after meeting Macron and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, as well as British and German representatives.

French officials said Trump, who has imposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian economy over its nuclear programme, had been aware of the arrival.

The sources suggested that the secretive visit had also been discussed during an impromptu two-hour lunch between the US president and Macron on Saturday.

"We work with full transparency with the Americans," one diplomat told reporters on condition of anonymity, despite US media reports that the White House had been taken by surprise.

Trump, who will give a press conference before returning to Washington on Monday, proclaimed that the G7 summit was going "beautifully" on Sunday.

Four reasons why Sitharaman's stimulus measures are short on vision

Allowing larger firms to flourish, enabling smaller firms to secure cheap financing and forcing the state to retreat from business would be the great news the private sector has been waiting for.

India is belatedly acknowledging that something’s gone wrong with what was once billed as the world’s fastest-growing economy.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that New Delhi still doesn’t have a cohesive strategy to reverse the slowdown.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did offer a stimulus package on Friday. The highlight was the rollback of a tax surcharge on overseas investors that she herself had imposed in July’s budget. It’s a welcome concession, though there’s no logic in giving global banks a break on derivatives they trade in India while denying the same tax benefit to local hedge funds.

This unfair discrimination against a nascent industry in domestic alternative assets is Exhibit A of the nonstrategic thinking that’s clouding policy-making in India. Exhibit B is the so-called angel tax on startups, a much-hated levy that has finally been removed. The tax was introduced by the previous Congress Party-led government and treated money raised by fledgling firms as income. Why did this instrument for harassing private businesses stay on the statute books for seven years, when getting rid of it was so simple?

The finance minister’s plan to deal with a long and painful slide in the auto industry, where July sales slumped 36 per cent, is Exhibit C. The government will buy more cars for its fleet, she said. That, and an assurance that vehicles purchased now won’t become illegal when stricter pollution standards kick in next year, should help deal with some of the inventory buildup. But carmakers are unlikely to ramp up production until they see a sustainable return to normal volumes. That will require dealing with both depressed incomes of consumers and a financing funk.

Enter Exhibit D. Sitharaman will hasten the injection of Rs 700 billion ($9.8 billion) of additional capital into state-run banks, a policy she announced in July. It’s not enough. Lenders still need to absorb the full hit from Rs 2.4 trillion of bad debt accumulated in just 16 companies, which they’re trying to address outside the courts. Half of that reflects loans to troubled shadow banks, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. The figures for haircuts being discussed in the media are so large that banks will have little spare capital to expand their balance sheets.

Business Standard

PM Modi holds marathon talks with Prez Macron to boost strategic relations

The one-on-one interaction was followed by the delegation-level talks.

Business Standard : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday held marathon one-on-one meeting during which they reviewed the entire gamut of the dynamic and multi-faceted relationship to further boost the strategic partnership.

Ahead of the meeting, Modi said the talks will add to the ground covered during previous interactions with the French leadership.

The two leaders held "more than 90-minute long one-on-one meeting reviewing the entire gamut of our dynamic & multifaceted relationship," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"Our strategic partnership is a very important pillar of our foreign policy," he added.

The one-on-one interaction was followed by the delegation-level talks.

In his departure statement, the prime minister had said his visit to France reflects the strong strategic partnership which the two countries deeply value and share.

"India and France have excellent bilateral ties, which are reinforced by a shared vision to cooperate for further enhancing peace and prosperity for our two countries and the world at large," the prime minister said.

He said the strong strategic and economic partnership is complemented by a shared perspective on major global concerns such as terrorism and climate change.

ALSO READ: Kashmir should be settled bilaterally; no place for third party: Macron

"I am confident that this visit will further promote our long-standing and valued friendship with France for mutual prosperity, peace and progress," Modi said.

Ahead of the meeting at Chateau de Chantilly, one of the finest jewels of French cultural heritage, located about 50 kms north of Paris, Macron explained the historic significance of the chateau to Modi and took him around the centuries-old building.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi was accorded a red carpet welcome at the airport where he was received by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"India and France enjoy extremely friendly ties and have been working together bilaterally and multilaterally for years," Modi tweeted soon after his arrival.

Months ahead of Tokyo Olympics, WADA suspends India's dope testing lab

The NDTL has been instructed to stop all testing procedures with immediate effect and all the samples need to be safely moved to an accredited lab.

Business Standard : The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) for six months in what could be a massive blow to anti-doping movement in the country with less than a year left for Tokyo Olympics.

It is understood that National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) can still carry on with sample collection (blood and urine) but will have to get it tested by a different WADA accredited laboratory outside India during the suspension period of NDTL.

"This suspension has been imposed due to non-conformities with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) as identified during a WADA site visit," WADA stated in a media release on its website.

The WADA also stated that it's Laboratory Expert Group (LabEG) initiated a disciplinary proceedings with regards to status of WADA accredited laboratories.

"In May 2019, disciplinary proceedings were initiated by WADA's Laboratory Expert Group (LabEG) and subsequently carried out by an independent Disciplinary Committee, which was mandated to make a recommendation to the Chair of the WADA Executive Committee regarding the status of the laboratory's accreditation. This process is now complete," WADA informed.

The NDTL has been instructed to stop all testing procedures with immediate effect and all the samples need to be safely moved to an accredited lab.

"The suspension, which took effect on 20 August 2019, prohibits the NDTL from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.

"During the period of suspension, samples that have not yet been analyzed by the NDTL; samples currently undergoing a confirmation procedure; and any samples for which an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) has been reported, must be securely transported to another WADA-accredited laboratory. This is in order to ensure continued high-quality sample analysis, which also helps preserve athletes' confidence in this process and the wider anti-doping system," it stated.

The suspension came into effect from August 20 but NDTL can appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne in the next 21 days.