See how unprecedented mining in the forests of Odisha has violated a raft of laws and regulations, severely despoiled the complex eco-system, and resulted in windfall profits for miners at the cost of the public exchequer. [Photo Thread] 1/n

Full story: https://t.co/oH82uzNHzg

North Odisha’s rich deciduous forests and mountain ranges hold 1/3 of India’s haematite iron ore reserves. Here, a mining company constructs a road through the forests around the mining town of Bonai. Mining is done in over 45,000 hectares (ha) of which 34,000 is forested area
This makes it the site of the state’s largest corruption scam. Truck traffic ferrying iron ore dominates the area’s roads. They only halt on Sundays, after villagers agitated for this weekly break so that they could use the roads to attend church and visit markets. 3/n
Trucks jam the road leading up to the mines in the Kurmitar mountain range. The Supreme Court-appointed Justice MB Shah Commission estimated that at current rates of extraction, quality iron ore reserves in this region could run out in 35 years—the government rejected the claim
The Shah Commission’s report was tabled in Parliament on February 10, 2014. Over the past decade, fuelled by a commodity boom led by exports to China, mining increased manifold. These images show the contrast between the mined landscape, and areas that are yet to be mined. 5/n
An indigenous man walks across a dried mountain stream. He says locals have seen the stream’s fish population disappear in the past 7 years. During the rainy season, waste from the mine flows downhill into the stream, making it impossible to cultivate the kharif crop. 6/n
The remoteness of villages ensures that the limited safeguards which Adivasi communities have, such as participating in environmental public hearings or consenting to chopping off of trees for projects, are effortlessly violated by mining companies and government officials. 7/n
The area’s indigenous Adivasis are deeply dependent on forest produce, including lac, mahua, and sal for food, fuel, and livelihood. The loot is encouraged as much by opaque governing, as by the state’s traditional contempt for these marginalised Adivasi communities. 8/n
Post a 9-hour workday in Orissa Mining Corporation’s iron ore mine, Jaitru Giri and his family return to their shack, at the mine’s outskirts. The Shah Commission criticised mining companies for not paying labourers a fair wage despite making profits from illegal mining. 9/n
Villagers opposed South Korean steel giant POSCO’s plans to start a mine in the area. The residents' primary fear was the mine’s environmental impacts on the area’s network of mountain streams, which currently irrigate their farms, allowing them to grow crops all through the year

More from Society

A long thread on how an obsessive & violent antisemite & Holocaust denier has been embraced by the international “community of the good.”

Sarah Wilkinson has a history of Holocaust denial & anti-Jewish hatred dating back (in documented examples) to around 2015.


She is a self-proclaimed British activist for “Palestinian rights” but is more accurately a far Left neo-Nazi. Her son shares the same characteristics of violence, racism & Holocaust denial.

I first documented Sarah Wilkinson’s Holocaust denial back in July 2016. I believe I was the 1st person to do so.

Since then she has produced a long trail of written hate and abuse. See here for a good summary.


Wilkinson has recently been publicly celebrated by @XRebellionUK over her latest violent action against a Jewish owned business. Despite many people calling XR’s attention to her history, XR have chosen to remain in alliance with this neo-Nazi.

Former Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP is among those who also chose to stand with Wilkinson via a tweet.

But McDonnell is not alone.

Neo-Nazi Sarah Wilkinson is supported and encouraged by thousands of those on the Left who consider themselves “anti-racists”.
I've seen many news articles cite that "the UK variant could be the dominant strain by March". This is emphasized by @CDCDirector.

While this will likely to be the case, this should not be an automatic cause for concern. Cases could still remain contained.

Here's how: 🧵

One of @CDCgov's own models has tracked the true decline in cases quite accurately thus far.

Their projection shows that the B.1.1.7 variant will become the dominant variant in March. But interestingly... there's no fourth wave. Cases simply level out:

https://t.co/tDce0MwO61


Just because a variant becomes the dominant strain does not automatically mean we will see a repeat of Fall 2020.

Let's look at UK and South Africa, where cases have been falling for the past month, in unison with the US (albeit with tougher restrictions):


Furthermore, the claim that the "variant is doubling every 10 days" is false. It's the *proportion of the variant* that is doubling every 10 days.

If overall prevalence drops during the studied time period, the true doubling time of the variant is actually much longer 10 days.

Simple example:

Day 0: 10 variant / 100 cases -> 10% variant
Day 10: 15 variant / 75 cases -> 20% variant
Day 20: 20 variant / 50 cases -> 40% variant

1) Proportion of variant doubles every 10 days
2) Doubling time of variant is actually 20 days
3) Total cases still drop by 50%

You May Also Like

Department List of UCAS-China PROFESSORs for ANSO, CSC and UCAS (fully or partial) Scholarship Acceptance
1) UCAS School of physical sciences Professor
https://t.co/9X8OheIvRw
2) UCAS School of mathematical sciences Professor

3) UCAS School of nuclear sciences and technology
https://t.co/nQH8JnewcJ
4) UCAS School of astronomy and space sciences
https://t.co/7Ikc6CuKHZ
5) UCAS School of engineering

6) Geotechnical Engineering Teaching and Research Office
https://t.co/jBCJW7UKlQ
7) Multi-scale Mechanics Teaching and Research Section
https://t.co/eqfQnX1LEQ
😎 Microgravity Science Teaching and Research

9) High temperature gas dynamics teaching and research section
https://t.co/tVIdKgTPl3
10) Department of Biomechanics and Medical Engineering
https://t.co/ubW4xhZY2R
11) Ocean Engineering Teaching and Research

12) Department of Dynamics and Advanced Manufacturing
https://t.co/42BKXEugGv
13) Refrigeration and Cryogenic Engineering Teaching and Research Office
https://t.co/pZdUXFTvw3
14) Power Machinery and Engineering Teaching and Research
1. Project 1742 (EcoHealth/DTRA)
Risks of bat-borne zoonotic diseases in Western Asia

Duration: 24/10/2018-23 /10/2019

Funding: $71,500
@dgaytandzhieva
https://t.co/680CdD8uug


2. Bat Virus Database
Access to the database is limited only to those scientists participating in our ‘Bats and Coronaviruses’ project
Our intention is to eventually open up this database to the larger scientific community
https://t.co/mPn7b9HM48


3. EcoHealth Alliance & DTRA Asking for Trouble
One Health research project focused on characterizing bat diversity, bat coronavirus diversity and the risk of bat-borne zoonotic disease emergence in the region.
https://t.co/u6aUeWBGEN


4. Phelps, Olival, Epstein, Karesh - EcoHealth/DTRA


5, Methods and Expected Outcomes
(Unexpected Outcome = New Coronavirus Pandemic)