China outperforms US on green issues

China is often accused of not doing enough to reduce the carbon dioxide and other pollution pouring from its factories and coal-fuelled power stations. But a new report suggests the country is doing more to tackle climate change than it gets credit for: in fact, its environmental standards surpass the US in some key measures.

The World Resources Institute (WRI), a respected environmental think tank based in Washington DC, says China is on track to meet its main climate change target, which is a 20 per cent reduction in energy intensity – the amount of energy used per dollar of gross domestic product – by the end of next year. Cutting the energy intensity of the Chinese economy like this will put a brake on the growth of the country's carbon dioxide emissions

China is also making good progress towards its goal of generating 15 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, according to the report. By the end of the next decade it will have 150 gigawatts of wind power installed – over five times the current US level. One in 10 Chinese homes already has solar heaters, with the number growing by 20 per cent per year.

China's coal-fuelled power stations are also more efficient that those in the US. The thermal efficiency of US stations – the fraction of heat turned into electrical energy – plateaued at just under 33 per cent in the early 1960s. But the efficiency of China's stations has been rising steadily and now exceeds 35 per cent.

The WRI says that China's progress shows the country is serious about climate change and that its reluctance to set a cap on its emissions, a stance that has been much criticised in the US, should not be a barrier to international collaboration.

"China is making substantial progress in controlling its emissions of climate gases," says Deborah Seligsohn, the author of the WRI report. "The challenge for US-China collaboration in climate change mitigation is for each country to understand the other's approaches, and to find creative solutions when those approaches don't align."

Source: http://www.newscientist.com

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भ्रमण भियतनाम #photoblog #vietnam

गएको दशैँको रमझम राम्रोसँग सकिन नपाउँदै एकहप्ते भियतनाम यात्रामा हिँड्नुपर्ने भयो । कार्यालयमा सँगै काम गर्ने कर्मचारीसाथीहरुको एउटा सानोतिनो फुटबल टिम जत्रै समुहसँगको यात्रा बिभिन्न हिसाबले रमाइलो रह्यो । पहिलो गाँसमै ढुंगो भनेझैँ पुर्वी एसियामा आएको समुन्द्री आँधीले भियतनामको राजधानी हनोइको हवाइयात्रा स्थगित भएपछी थप एक रात चिनको ग्वान्झाउ मै बिताउनु पर्ने भो । सामाजीक संजालहरुको सम्बन्धहरुबाट बञ्चित गणतन्त्र चिनको बसाइ एक प्रकारले अत्यासलाग्दो नै भयो । सबै काम जिमेलबाटै मात्र कहाँ गर्न सकिने रछ र आजभोली ।। भोलिपल्ट हनोइमा विमान अवतरण गर्दा अघिल्लो दिनको आँधीको प्रभाव आकाशबाटै देखियो । मुद्रा आतंक यहाँबाट हिँड्दा भियतनामी मुद्राको बारेमा सारै जानकारी थिएन । बिमानस्थलको अराइभलका फास्टफुड पसलहरुको भित्तामा खानेकुराको दाम देख्दा त एकचोटी चित खाइयो । बर्गरको ७०००० अनि कफीको ४०००० भियतनामी दोङ । पछी थाहा भो एक अमेरीकी डलर बराबर झन्डै २१००० दोङ हुँदोरछ । अनि पो सबै चिजहरु हजारौँ पर्ने हुँदारहेछन् । यस्ता ठुला अंकका कारोबार गर्न त नोट पनि ठुलै बनाउनु पर्ने भो । भियतनाम बसाइकै दौरान पाँच ल...

गजल

( हुन त आफुले सिर्जना गरेका सबै रचनाहरु माया लाग्दो नै हुन्छन् । तर केही सिर्जनाका सन्दर्भ र प्रसंगका भिन्नताले अरुभन्दा बिशेष बन्छ । स्नातक पढ्दै गर्दा एक जना साथीलाइ परेको अप्रिय घटनाको समवेदनामा सिर्जित यो रचना आज पनि मलाइ बिशेष लाग्छ । र त्यो नमिठो समयले फेरी एकपटक छोएझैँ हुन्छ ।) तिमीलाइ चोट पर्दा दुखेको छ मलाई पनि । दैवले अन्याय गर्दा दुखेको छ मलाई पनि । दशनङ्ग्री गरी गरी बल्ल बल्ल जोडेको त्यो फुलबारीमा पैह्रो झर्दा दुखेको छ मलाई पनि । खाटा बस्न लागेको त्यो घाउहरु उप्किएर अझ नुन चुक छर्दा दुखेको छ मलाई पनि ।

Mystery of Playing Cards

(The Season of Festivals arrived in Nepal and I think Those festivals will be incomplete without the Playing Cards (Poker Cards). Every people know the Playing Cards very well but there are some more interesting facts behind those cards. Let’s find out some of the artistic explanations about the Playing Cards.) The mystery of playing cards is that we don't know exactly who invented them. Playing cards date back to somewhere between A.D. 800 and A.D. 1100. There is reference to them in an ancient Chinese dictionary that said they were originated during the time of Seun-Ho around 1120. Supposedly, he used them to amuse and entertain himself and the people he lived with. In Egypt and India they were used for religious purposes. At first, cards were round in shape. If you've ever dropped a deck of cards, you can appreciate how much easier it would be to pick them all up and get them aligned with circular cards! In about 1500, the cards changed and started depicting the kings and...

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