Greta Thunberg: What does the teenage climate change activist want?.

Greta Thunberg is the Swedish teenager who skipped school and inspired an international movement to fight climate change.

She has become a leading voice, inspiring millions to join protests around the world. On Friday, she addressed students in Bristol.

But who is she and what does she want?

Who is Greta Thunberg?

She is a 17-year-old who grew up in Stockholm, in Sweden. Greta's mother, Malena Ernman, is an opera singer and former Eurovision Song Contest participant.

Her father Svante Thunberg, is an actor, and is a descendant of Svante Arrhenius, a scientist who came up with a model of the greenhouse effect. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903.

The elder of two girls, she says she learned about climate change when she was eight, but that her parents were not climate activists.

Greta has Asperger's syndrome, a developmental disorder, and has described it as a gift and said being different is a "superpower".

When did she start campaigning?

In May 2018, aged 15, Greta won a climate change essay competition in a local newspaper.

Three months later, in August, she started protesting in front of the Swedish parliament building, vowing to continue until the Swedish government met the carbon emissions target agreed by world leaders in Paris, in 2015.

She held a sign that read "School Strike for Climate" and began regularly missing lessons to go on strike on Fridays, urging students around the world to join her.

Her protests went viral on social media and as support for her cause grew, other strikes started around the world, spreading with the hashtag #FridaysForFuture.

By December 2018, more than 20,000 students around the world had joined her in countries including Australia, the UK, Belgium, the US and Japan. She joined strikes around Europe, choosing to travel by train to limit her impact on the environment.

What has she done since then?

The teenager took the whole of 2019 off school to continue campaigning, to attend key climate conferences, and to join student protests around the world.

In September 2019, she travelled to New York to address a UN climate conference. Greta refuses to fly because of its environmental impact, so she made her way there on a racing yacht, in a journey that lasted two weeks.

When she arrived, millions of people around the world took part in a climate strike, underlining the scale of her influence. Addressing the conference, she blasted politicians for relying on young people for answers to climate change.

She said: "How dare you? I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean, yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you?"

She was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year.

• 'You have stolen my dreams and my childhood'
• Greta: 'Sorry, you're not trying hard enough'

What does she want?

Greta says big governments and businesses around the world are not moving quickly enough to cut carbon emissions and has attacked world leaders for failing young people.

Initially, her protests focused on the Swedish government's climate targets, and she urged students around the world to make similar demands in their own countries.

But as her fame has grown, she has called for governments around the world to do more to cut global emissions. She has spoken at international meetings, including the UN's 2019 climate change gathering in New York, and this year's World Economic Forum in Davos.

At the forum, she called for banks, firms and governments to stop investing and subsidising fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and gas. "Instead, they should invest their money in existing sustainable technologies, research and in restoring nature," she said.

• Greta named Time Person of the Year for 2019
• 'She is happy, but I worry' - Greta Thunberg's father

What do people say about her?

Millions of students around the world have been inspired by her strikes, and Greta has received support from climate activists, scientists, world leaders and the Pope, who told her to "continue" her work.

Broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough told her she had achieved things many others have failed to do, adding: "you have aroused the world. I'm very grateful to you."

Transcript: Greta Thunberg's Speech At The U.N. Climate Action Summit

Climate activist Greta Thunberg, 16, addressed the U.N.'s Climate Action Summit in New York City on Monday. Here's the full transcript of Thunberg's speech, beginning with her response to a question about the message she has for world leaders.

"My message is that we'll be watching you.

"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!

"For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.

"You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.

"The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in 10 years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees [Celsius], and the risk of setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control.

"Fifty percent may be acceptable to you. But those numbers do not include tipping points, most feedback loops, additional warming hidden by toxic air pollution or the aspects of equity and climate justice. They also rely on my generation sucking hundreds of billions of tons of your CO2 out of the air with technologies that barely exist.

"So a 50% risk is simply not acceptable to us — we who have to live with the consequences.

"To have a 67% chance of staying below a 1.5 degrees global temperature rise – the best odds given by the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] – the world had 420 gigatons of CO2 left to emit back on Jan. 1st, 2018. Today that figure is already down to less than 350 gigatons.

"How dare you pretend that this can be solved with just 'business as usual' and some technical solutions? With today's emissions levels, that remaining CO2 budget will be entirely gone within less than 8 1/2 years.

"There will not be any solutions or plans presented in line with these figures here today, because these numbers are too uncomfortable. And you are still not mature enough to tell it like it is.

"You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.

"We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.

"Thank you."

Markets may remain weak, auto stocks in focus

Indian stock markets are likely to remain weak on Monday as global equities continue to buckle under the pressure of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Asians shares sank as a rising tide of national lockdowns threatened to overwhelm policymakers' frantic efforts to cushion what is likely to be a deep global recession. Singapore’s SGX Nifty is dropped 7% in the early deals.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 3.8%, with New Zealand's market shedding a record 10% as the government closed all non-essential businesses.

Shanghai blue chips dropped 2.3%, though Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8% aided perhaps by expectations of more aggressive asset buying by the Bank of Japan.

There was little to cheer in coronavirus news as the global death toll exceeded over 14,000 with more than 300,000 infections.

Airlines cancelled more flights as Australia and New Zealand advised against non-essential domestic travel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) halted flights for two weeks and Singapore and Taiwan banned foreign transit passengers.

Nearly one in three Americans were ordered to stay home on Sunday to slow the spread of the disease, while Italy banned internal travel as deaths there reached 5,476. US President Donald Trump went on TV to approve disaster deceleration requests from New York and Washington, while St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard warned unemployment could reach 30% unless more was done fiscally.

US stocks have already fallen more than 30% from their mid-February peak and even the safest areas of the bond market are experiencing liquidity stress as distressed funds are forced to sell good assets to cover positions gone bad.

"Please Stay At Home": Delhi Police Hand Out Roses Amid "Janata Curfew"

New Delhi: 

Lakhs observing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Janata Curfew" call - test run for social distancing amid coronavirus scare, Delhi woke up to quiet streets this morning. Cops on duty across the national capital were seen giving red roses to people stepping outside their homes, defying the 14-hour self-curfew call.

In a tweet, Delhi Police urged people to "stay at home". "We are on the roads for your safety. Please stay at Home!! Policemen giving flowers to motorists requesting them to stay at home. Please support us!! (sic)," the post read.

On Saturday, amid rumours doing rounds on social media, Delhi Police dismissed concerns that Rs 11,000 fine would be imposed on those who violate the curfew. "We have spotted this fake notice being circulated purportedly issued by Delhi Police. We have not issued any such advisory on imposition of a fine on March 22. Please tell your family and friends that this is false and fake," read a tweet by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South Delhi along with a picture of the fake notice.

Delhi Lockdown: Here's What's Still Open

The Delhi Metro will remain shut till March 31. All kinds of transport such as private buses, taxis, autorickshaws, rickshaws and e-rickshaws other than buses of the state-run Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will not run. The DTC fleet that is deployed on the roads, however, will be only 25 per cent of its full capacity to ferry people who are working in services considered essential.

All the services and businesses that are considered essential and which will remain open are:

• Offices charged with law and order and magisterial duties
• Police
• Health
• Fire
• Prisons
• Fair price shops (public distribution system)
• Electricity
• Water
• Municipal services
• Activities related to functioning of legislative assembly of Delhi
• Pay and accounts office (only for salary/wages/contingent/health and essential services related expenditure)
• Print and electronic media
• Cashier/teller operations of banks (including ATMs)
• Telecom, internet and postal services
• E-commerce of all essential goods including food, pharmaceutical and medical equipment
• Food items, groceries (fruit/vegetables/milk/bakery items, meat, fish, etc)
• Milk plants
• General provision stores
• Takeaway/home delivery in restaurants
• Chemists and pharmacies
• Petrol pumps, LPG/oil agencies (including their godown and transportation-related activities)
• Animal fodder
• Manufacturing, processing, transportation, distribution, storage, trade/commerce and logistics related to all the above services/establishments and commodities required for delivery of these above services
• Any other essential service/establishment that may be exempted by the government

The government has said it will ensure essential items are available across Delhi and has asked people to guard against panic-buying.

"Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday. "We have been fortunate. In our country, the virus came late. We had the advantage of watching and learning from the experiences of Italy and China. But if we still cannot take the right step at the right time, we would never forgive ourselves," he added.

Gurgaon DM Advises Firms to Let Employees Work From Home Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

To prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus epidemic, Gurugram District Magistrate (DM) on Tuesday issued an advisory asking all companies in the city to allow their employees to work from home till March 31. The advisory said all MNCs, IT firms, industries, BPOs, corporate offices "situated in district Gurgaon are advised to allow their officer employees to work from home till 31 March 2020 with immediate effect to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 in larger public interest".

The advisory came a few hours after the Mumbai Municipal corporation ordered all comapnies not to work with over 50% of their staff. Many private firms in their own capacities have issued similar advisories to their employees. Ford, Volvo India, Fiat Chrysler India, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra are among the companies that have asked their employees to work from home, and in case any of their employees returned from a foreign trip, to quarantine themselves for a period of two weeks.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday said the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India has jumped to 137, including 24 foreigners.

However, to some relief, Chennai-based Trivitron Healthcare Group is pitted to be the first Indian manufacturer to have developed a testing kit for the virus. Though, it may take another 2-3 weeks for the kits to enter the market as they would have to first undergo testing at a government-approved facility

Coronavirus Outbreak: All Cinemas, Malls and Weekly Bazaars Shut in Gurgaon Till March 31

Gurugram: With the number of positive coronavirus (Covid-19) cases rising in the region, the Gurugram District Administration on Wednesday suspended a number of activities with immediate effect to prevent and control the Covid-19 outbreak in the district.

Gurugram has so far recorded two positive Covid-19 cases.

According to a notification issued by Gurugram District Magistrate Amit Khatri, the following activities stand suspended till March 31, 2020: Operations of all cinema halls, theatres, multiplexes, night clubs, gymnasiums, swimming pools, spas and lounges.

The official said that the Haryana Epidemic Disease, Covid-19 Regulations, 2020 has been notified under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897. As per the fresh guidelines, the operations of all weekly bazaars and shopping malls, (except pharmacies, medical establishments, grocery stores and supermarkets) also remain suspended till March 31.

Any gathering such as social/cultural/political/religious/academic/sports/ seminars/conferences and family gatherings is restricted to a maximum of 50 persons, the notification said.

It further said all restaurants having in-dining facility are restricted to the capacity of 50 seats. Public dealings at government offices should be minimised without impacting time-bound essential services.

The notification also directed the owners of saloons, beauty parlours and grooming centres to decontaminate their premises frequently besides ensuring the availability of hand sanitisers at all entry points. Private cab operators have also been issued similar guidelines

GURUGRAM: Just as the ‘janata curfew’ ended at 9pm on Sunday .

However, all essential and emergency services will remain functional during the lockdown period, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, appealing to people not to panic or worry.
The lockdown period in seven districts will start immediately after the 14-hour-long 'Janta curfew', which began at 7 am, ends.
Haryana has so far reported eight positive cases that include four from Gurgaon, one each from Panchkula, Faridabad, Panipat and Sonipat.
According to an order issued by Haryana's Home Department, no public transport services, including operation of taxis, auto-rickshaws, will be permitted.
The exception will include transport of all kinds to and from hospitals, airports, railway stations, bus terminals/bus stands and for the purpose of essential services.
Apart from restrictions in the seven districts, all inter-state bus services will remain suspended in entire Haryana, the order said.
All deputy commissioners will establish control room in each district in the state to coordinate and monitor all activities for prevention and control of coronavirus.
All those who return from abroad are required to remain under strict home quarantine for a period as decided by local health authorities, as per the Home Department's order.
"People are required to stay at home and come out only for basic services while strictly following social distancing guidelines," the order said.
Any person found violating the containment measures shall be deemed to have committed an offence punishable under Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), it said.
However, restrictions will not be applicable to essential and emergency services, including electricity, water, sewerage and municipal services, banks and ATMs.
"E-commerce (delivery) of all essential goods, including food, pharmaceutical and medical equipment, take away/home delivery restaurants/eateries, have also been exempted from the restrictions in the seven districts," the order said.
Besides, private establishments that support or are linked to the efforts for containment of COVID-19 will remain open.
According to the order, congregation of more than five persons will be prohibited at public places.
Transport plan will be prepared by the deputy commissioner concerned for the services of essential commodities/services.
The resident welfare associations have been directed to take necessary measures for social distancing and maintaining essential services and intimate police if they find any violation.
The government order stressed that containment measures were necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state.
As many as 6,600 people are under surveillance for coronavirus in Haryana.
A majority of those who returned from abroad recently are from the seven districts, where lockdown has been ordered.
In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s call for a ''Janta curfew'', people across Haryana preferred to stay indoors on Sunday.
The 14-hour-long 'Janta curfew' from 7 am to 9 pm was part of a social distancing exercise to help stop the spread of the virus.
Khattar said he is grateful to the people of the state for the success of 'Janta curfew' and for supporting it.
Khattar told the people that the government is with them in this fight against coronavirus.
"Defeating coronavirus will require the participation of every citizen, and I am confident that our resolve and persistence will help us overcome COVID-19," he added.

Flyovers or underpasses for Gurgaon’s Sohna Road & Huda City Centre crossings in the works.

Gurgaon: A meeting of the special task force constituted to monitor development work in Gurgaon on Thursday (07/04/2016), gave its nod for the appointment of consultants to construct flyovers or underpasses on Sohna Road and Huda City Centre crossings.

The consultants will conduct a feasibility study before deciding on the modalities of construction. The meeting was presided over

by chief secretary D S Dhesi.

Huda City Centre is often dogged by traffic problems, with autos parked outside the Metro station eating up a lot of road space. On a bad day, one could take 30 minutes just to cross the road here.

At the meeting, proposals to build flyovers or underpasses on Sohna Road at Fazilpur Chowk, Vatika Chowk and Subhash Chowk were made. They are expected to smooth traffic flow to a great extent.

The authorities are also planning to construct a flyover or underpass near Atul Kataria Chowk. “It will help reduce traffic load on Old Delhi Road,” said deputy commissioner T L Stayaprakash.

Heavy movement of commercial vehicles belonging to some automobile firms, often cause huge traffic jams on this road, he said.

The Haryana government is also awaiting the Union government’s nod to build flyovers on Sohna Road, as they are part of the national highway project.

In the meeting, it was decided that MCG will take over the construction of the remaining portion of the service road on Sohna Road, from Rajiv Chowk. The conversion of Basai Road into a four-lane highway is held up due to pending acquisition of 2,000 sq yd of land in the area.

Delay in shifting gas pipelines hits Subhash Chowk underpass completion

Work on the Subhash Chowk underpass in Gurugram, part of the Rs 1,300-crore Badshahpur-Sohna Road project, might get delayed, said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), as the Haryana City Gas (HCG) and GAIL pipelines have to be shifted. There are two pipelines exactly below the Subhash Chowk junction where the underpass will be built and these pipelines need to be shifted, said an NHAI official.

Work on the Badshahpur-Sohna Road project began in March this year and NHAI officials said that if pipelines are not shifted then the work may stretch beyond its 30-month deadline.

“There was an issue with the shifting of gas pipelines which belong to HCG and GAIL. Although HCG has started the process for shifting their pipelines, GAIL does not seem to have taken any action so far and this is likely to delay the Subhash Chowk underpass project,” said Ashok Sharma, project director, NHAI Gurugram.

GAIL officials maintained that they have finalised the contractor for shifting the pipelines. “We are working with the NHAI, and a contractor has been identified. The highways authority needs to deposit ₹1 crore with us for shifting the pipelines. We also want the work to be done,” said a GAIL official who did not wish to be named.

NHAI officials, however, refuted this claim and said they had received no such estimate from the natural gas supplier.

NHAI contractor said that they had started making the entry ramp of the underpass, but work could not process as they hit the pipelines. “Before the construction ban, we had started making the entry ramp of the underpass. Once the pipeline issue will be sorted out we will start construction for the underpass box too. For now, we will start with the flyover work after the construction ban is lifted,” said the Oriental Structural Engineers Pvt Ltd, NHAI contractor for the project.

This comes as a double whammy for the project which is already behind schedule because of the ban on construction activity across the national capital region because of the alarming level of air pollution in the region. On November 1, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority had imposed a ban on construction activity and since then no work has been done on any project in the city.

The highways authority official said that once the flyover is constructed, they will open it even though the underpass may take some more time to be completed. NHAI officials said that work on the elevated flyover has started and was moving along at a good pace till the construction ban was imposed.

“The delay in shifting of the pipeline will mean the 5km flyover (Subhash Chowk to ISKCON temple in Badshahpur ) will be made first and we’ll have to wait for the underpass to be constructed till the pipelines are shifted,” Sharma said.

The highways authority is planning to shift utilities on the Badshahpur-Sohna Road for this project. “The number of cables and wires are high on this stretch; plans are being made for the shifting of utilities. Roughly, around Rs 20 crores will be spent only on the shifting of utilities on the entire Badshahpur-Sohna road site (20 km),” said an NHAI official.

The underpass is being built under phase 1, which will also involve the construction of a five-kilometre elevated section between Subhash Chowk and Badshahpur. The entire length of the project under phase 1—from Rajiv Chowk to Badshahpur—is around 8.94km and is being be made at a cost of ₹707 crore.

Sohna elevated road project slows traffic on Subhash Chowk-Vatika Chowk

Traffic movement on the Subhash Chowk-Vatika Chowk stretch on Sohna Road was severely affected on Friday, especially during peak hours, due to ongoing construction of the Sohna elevated road near South City 2 Chowk. It took commuters an average of 20 minutes to cover the 1.5-kilometre-long stretch on Sohna Road, opposite the entrances of Uniworld Garden 1 and Radisson Hotel. Officials said the work would be completed by Sunday so motorists are unlikely to face problems on Monday.

Two service lanes of Sohna Road, about 50 metres ahead of the Radisson Hotel, were blocked on Friday for recarpeting, leaving only one lane on the carriageway for motorists to drive on. This was in addition to the one lane that has been barricaded on the opposite carriageway for work, which is being done by Oriental Structural Private Limited (OSPL), the concessionaire of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the project.

The 21-kilometre-long Sohna elevated road is being widened and underpasses and flyovers added to ensure signal-free travel between Rajiv Chowk and Sohna to reduce the overall travel time between Gurugram and Alwar to under two hours. It currently takes commuters three hours to cover the 120 kilometres.

The OSPL is widening a nine-kilometre stretch between Rajiv Chowk and Badshahpur. It includes a five-kilometre flyover between Subhash Chowk and Vatika Chowk, and an underpass at Subhash Chowk. This section of the project is expected to cost ₹700 crore.

HG Infrastructure is constructing the other part of the Sohna elevated road, between Badshahpur and GD Goenka University in Sohna, covering a distance of 12 kilometres, for ₹600 crore.

The overall project cost if ₹1,300 crore.

On Friday, rollers were operated to recarpet a 100-metre stretch of the two lanes and workers engaged in laying drainage pipelines along it. The only available lane also has a u-turn for commuters to head towards Subhash Chowk, leading to heavy congestion on the carriageway heading towards Vatika Chowk with the backlog stretching till the entrance of Uniworld Gardens 1.

“After driving for more than 15 minutes, I had managed to only cover a distance of 500 metres. I decided to avoid proceeding further and drove through South City 2 to reach my destination. Though there were a lot of traffic police personnel, vehicles was moving at a snail’s pace on Sohna Road,” Sector 50 resident Prithviraj Sengupta said.

Traffic police personnel said the recarpeting work is expected to be completed by Sunday, and until then they will deploy a lot of manpower at the South City 2 junction and the Radisson hotel stretch.

“A total of 16 police personnel and four private marshals have been deployed at various points along the stretch between Subhash Chowk-South City 2 junction. Since Friday morning, we have positioned seven police personnel at the South City 2-Radisson Hotel stretch to keep traffic moving. There will be heavy congestion on Sohna Road until the work on the elevated road is completed by early 2022. We will continue to deploy a high number of personnel along the stretch and would advise motorists to take alternate routes, whenever possible, to reach their destinations,” said inspector Rajesh Kumar, who oversees traffic on the Subhash Chowk-Vatika Chowk stretch.

OSPL officials said that recarpeting of the service lanes is a precursor to construction work which will start on the main carriageway.

“The service lanes are being recarpeted as we will be diverting traffic towards them from the main carriageway when work starts on the elevated road. We are working with whatever space is available and there will be congestion on the stretch until the project is completed, but thereafter it will be a smoother ride,” OSPL project manager Pankaj Gautam said.

Greta Thunberg: TIME's Person of the Year 2019 | Time

Time's cover

Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg FRSGS (Swedish: [ˈɡrêːta ˈtʉ̂ːnbærj]; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who has gained international recognition for promoting the view that humanity is facing an existential crisis arising from climate change. Thunberg is known for her youth and her straightforward speaking manner, both in public and to political leaders and assemblies, in which she criticizes world leaders for their failure to take sufficient action to address the climate crisis.

Thunberg's activism started after convincing her parents to adopt several lifestyle choices to reduce their own carbon footprint. In August 2018, at age 15, she started spending her school days outside the Swedish parliament to call for stronger action on climate change by holding up a sign reading Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for climate). Soon, other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together, they organised a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future. After Thunberg addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world. In 2019, there were multiple coordinated multi-city protests involving over a million students each. To avoid flying, Thunberg sailed to North America where she attended the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit. Her speech there, in which she exclaimed "how dare you", was widely taken up by the press and incorporated into music.

Her sudden rise to world fame has made her both a leader and a target for critics. Her influence on the world stage has been described by The Guardian and other newspapers as the "Greta effect". She has received numerous honours and awards including: honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society; Time magazine's 100 most influential people and the youngest Time Person of the Year; inclusion in the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women (2019) and two consecutive nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize (2019 and 2020).