Phase 2 Lok Sabha polls, Nestle sugar controversy, Uttarakhand forest fires, and more | The week in 5 charts

(1) Nearly 64% voter turnout in phase 2 Lok Sabha polls

A voter turnout of nearly 64% was recorded in 88 constituencies across 13 states and Union territories in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Friday, the Election Commission said.

Polling was held in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 6 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.

Outer Manipur recorded the highest turnout of 81.90%. Assam saw 81.17% voter turnout, while the lone Tripura seat witnessed 80.30% polling. A voter turnout of 76.58% was recorded in West Bengal, while Chhattisgarh saw 76.24% polling.

Karnataka’s 14 constituencies that went to the polls on Friday saw a 69.56% voter turnout, according to the Election Commission. But in the three urban constituencies of Bengaluru, nearly half the voters kept away. The approximate voter turnout in Bangalore Central was 54.06%, Bangalore North – 54.45% and Bangalore South – 53.17%. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the turnout in Bengaluru Central was 54.32%, Bengaluru North – 54.76% and Bengaluru South – 53.70%.

The voter turnout in Kerala was updated to 71.27% on April 29. Of the total 2,77,49,158 voters in Kerala, 1,97,77,478 exercised their franchise. In all, 1,03,02,238 women, 94,75,090 men and 150 transgender voters cast their votes on April 26, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO – Kerala) Sanjay Kaul said. None of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State registered a turnout higher than in the 2019 edition of the Lok Sabha polls. Kerala had seen a voter turnout of 77.84% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Accounting for two phases of polling, the total voter turnout for all the 25 seats of Rajasthan was tentatively recorded at 61.60%. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the voter turnout stood at 63.02% in the state.

The Jammu parliamentary constituency saw peaceful polling and recorded nearly 72.22% voter turnout on Friday. In the last general election, 74% voters exercised their franchise. While polling percentage in Bihar saw an increase from the first phase, it was just above Madhya Pradesh at 59.45%. In Madhya Pradesh, the voter turnout was around 58.59%, while polling was about 62.71% in eight constituencies in Maharashtra.

A voter turnout of 55.19% was recorded until 8 pm in the eight Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh.

(2) Nestle products have higher sugar content in India, NGO says

Nestlé baby products sold in India, as well as in African and Latin American countries had higher added sugar than their counterparts in European countries, according to a joint analysis by a Swiss NGO, the Public Eye and International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN). ).

Lab analysis showed that all 15 Cerelac products for six-month-old babies, which are sold without any added sugars in the United Kingdom and Germany, contained 2.7 grams of added sugar per serving in India.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned in 2019 high sugar content in baby foods might lead to a preference for sugary foods from an early age. It called for a ban on foods with added sugar marketed for babies. Consuming excess sugars could cause problems with excess insulin production in babies, increasing diabetic risk.

Also read | The bitter truth about sugar

(3) Odisha records maximum temperature

Odisha recorded a maximum temperature of 44.6°C on April 21. The temperature was observed at Baripada town in Mayurbhanj on Sunday. According to a bulletin of IMD’s Bhubaneswar centre, nine places in the state recorded a maximum temperature of 43 deg Celsius or above during the day.

With 44 degrees Celsius, Nuapada town in western Odisha was the second hottest place in the state.

The temperature was 43.8° Celsius at Talcher, followed by Jharsuguda (43.6°), Keonjhar (43.6°), Angul (43.3°), Bolangir (43.2°), Sundergarh (43°) and Boudh (43°). Apart from the above places, 21 other places registered a day temperature of 40° C or above.

The temperature was 41.6° Celsius at both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities. By Thursday, April 25, Odisha had replayed under server heatwave conditions with Jharsuguda recording the maximum temperature of 43.8° Celsius, officials said. The map below shows the expected normal temperature and observed temperature in Bhubaneshwar in Odisha. Temperatures soared to 44.6°C on Saturday, April 27.

The map below shows whether there was a heatwave detected in Odisha’s districts as of April 22 and April 29. A heatwave has been detected across the entire State as of April 29, as shown below.

(4) Over 140 hectares gutted in Uttarakhand forest fires

By April 27, massive forest fires were sweeping through the dense foliage of the State’s mountains for 72 hours already. This gutted over 142 hectares of forest land, and with a fire reaching the vicinity of an Air Force Station near the Nanda range, the Indian Air Force on Saturday deployed a Mi-17 V5 helicopter to douse the flames using a ‘Bambi Bucket’.

The Forest Department said 23 new forest fires were reported on Saturday (April 27). Thirty-one such fires were reported on Friday and 54 on Thursday. Expressing concern over the raging forest fires, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the government was working hard to bring them under control. “The forest fires are a challenge for us. This is a big fire. We are working for all the essential needs. We have asked for help from the Army… I am going to conduct a meeting in Haldwani today. We have conducted a meeting in Dehradun also regarding this. “We will try to control the fire as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the respective district administrations had been directed to take action against those found guilty of setting fire to the forests.

While this is an alarming incident, and has placed Uttarakhand State officials on high alert, it is, unfortunately, not an isolated one. From November 1, 2023 until now, 575 incidents of forest fire, affecting 689.89 hectares of forest area and costing the State exchequer more than Rs. 14 lakh, have been reported in Uttarakhand.

As per a 2019 report from the Forest Research Institute, which comes under the Environment Ministry of India,95% of forest fires are caused by humans.

Often, grazers set fire to dry grass in the hopes of encouraging the cultivation of new grass. Slash and burn and shifting cultivation also use fire. Unattended campfires, burning of waste, lit cigarette stubs as well as intentional lighting of fires with criminal intent are some other man-made causes. Natural causes included the rubbing of dry trees or bamboo, sparks set off by stones, or lightning.

Local community patterns are also responsible for instances of forest fire. Till April 25, Uttarakhand’s forest department registered 146 cases of ‘man-made’ fire incidents. Recently, three men were arrested and sent to jail for reportedly starting forest fires in Jakholi and Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand. Sheep herder Naresh Bhatt of Tadiyaal village of Jakholi was reportedly caught in the act while setting a fire in the forest. During interrogation, Bhatt said he started the fire to grow new grass for grazing his sheep.

(5) US students’ protest over Israel-Gaza war

In the days since police arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University on April 18, a protest encampment has been re-established on the New York campus and hundreds of protesters have been arrested at schools from California to Massachusetts.

The protests over the conflict between Israel and Palestinians – and the response from administrators, politicians, faculty and students to the demonstrations – have roiled college campuses and divided the American public.

The protests at Columbia have been organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which describes itself, opens new tab as a coalition of more than 100 student groups. It was founded in 2016, and unsuccessfully sought to end investments by Columbia in weapons manufacturers and other companies that support Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

Students, including Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian members, “reactivated” the coalition and its divestment demands after the deadly hostage-taking incursion by Hamas militants from Gaza into Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel’s fierce response in the Gaza enclave controlled by Hamas.

Among the lead student groups in the coalition are the Columbia chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. The two decades-old anti-Zionism advocacy groups that protest Israel’s military occupation have chapters across the country that have been key to protests on other campuses.

Columbia suspended both groups in November, saying they had helped organize a protest that violated the school’s events rules.

The protests have increasingly polarized student groups and pitted them against each other. While the pro-Palestinian movement has asserted that their movement is peaceful and that their sole goal was to fight against the ongoing “genocide” in Gaza and the US’s complicity in the same, certain Jewish student groups allege that there have been instances of anti- Semitism in the protests and that Jews feel unsafe on the campus. Several Congresspeople have said the protests were the reason for the alleged increase in anti-Semitism on the campus.