Category Social Sciences

Why is political party funding?

Political party funding is the means which a party raises money for its functioning and campaigns. Party members, individual supporters, organisations which support a party or its ideologies or which could benefit from the party’s victory, contribute to this funding. Political parties can also receive foreign funds.

Parties need money to reach voters, to advertise in print, electronic and social media, to pay party workers and to organise election rallies. (in the 2019 general election, a staggering Rs 55,000-60,000 crore was spent by the political parties on election-related activities, according to a study by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), a not-for-profit multi-disciplinary development research think-tank. The Bharatiya Janata Party spent about 45% of this total amount!).

 

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What is it like to plunge into the Devil’s Pool at the Victoria Falls in Africa?

Victoria Falls also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (‘smoke that thunders’), is a breathtaking waterfall located in Africa. A World Heritage Site, the waterfall is formed as the river Zambezi drops over the edge of a 100m deep chasm. One of the tourist attractions at the Victoria Falls is the Devil’s Pool.

The Devil’s Pool is a naturally formed pool located near the edge of the falls. Every year, when the dry season reduces the water level and makes the current safe, tourists take a dip in the pool and swim as close as possible to the edge of the waterfall.

The Devil’s Pool is definitely not for the faint-hearted. It takes a rocky walk and swim in the Zambezi to reach the pool before slipping into the adrenalin-pumping swimming hole. When people jump or step into the waters they face the terrifying prospect of being pulled by the water currents towards the edge before the rock wall stops them just a few feet away from the 100m fall!

The view from the edge is totally exhilarating as you feel the force of the Zambezi flowing past you and crashing down over the precipice; a hundred metre drop.

 

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WHAT ARE THE SEASONS IN TEMPERATE ZONES?

          Spring brings warmer weather. Flowers come into bloom, trees regain their leaves and blossom. Some sunshine will be accompanied by cool breezes and light showers of rain.

          In summer, the days are long and the land receives a lot of sunshine. Temperatures are high and trees and plants are green and leafy. Thunderstorms will bring rain.

          Temperatures drop during autumn, as the days begin to get shorter. Some places may experience violent storms at this time of year. Leaves go brown and fall from the trees.

          In winter, the days are short and the skies may be filled with dark, grey cloud. Many trees are bare, and the ground is often covered with frost, snow or ice.

          In geography, the temperate or tepid climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes, which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. In most climate classifications, temperate climates refer to the climate zone between 35 and 50 north and south latitudes (between the subarctic and subtropical climates).

          These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout the year and more distinct seasonal changes compared to tropical climates, where such variations are often small. They typically feature four distinct seasons, Summer the warmest, Autumn the transitioning season to Winter, the colder season, and Spring the transitioning season from winter back into summer. In the northern hemisphere, the year starts with winter, transitions in the first half year through spring into summer, which is in mid-year, then at the second half year through autumn into winter at year-end. In the southern hemisphere, the seasons are swapped, with summer between years and winter in mid-year.

          The temperate zones (latitudes from 23.5° to the polar circles at about 66.5°, north and south) are where the widest seasonal changes occur, with most climates found in it having some influence from both the tropics and the poles. The subtropics (latitudes from about 23.5° to 35°, north and south) have temperate climates that have the least seasonal change and the warmest in winter, while at the other end, Boreal climates located from 55 to 65 north latitude have the most seasonal changes and long and severe winters.

          In temperate climates, not only do latitudinal positions influence temperature changes, but sea currents, prevailing wind direction, continentally (how large a landmass is), and altitude also shape temperate climates.

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Do feeders invite predatory birds?

Some argue that by feeding birds, we invite predatory birds like blue jays and starlings that have the habit of taking hold of nests of other species and killing their young. Look at it this way. No one is sure if this happens near all the feeders. But thanks to feeders, parent birds are better nourished and can spend less time searching for food and more time tending to the nest. The number of chicks is seen to increase in places where birds rely on feeders. According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, bird species that frequent feeders do well or better than those that don’t.

 

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Will birds starve if the feeders are removed?

Some people worry that birds that frequent feeders may become totally dependent on them. And if, for some reason, feeders become defunct, their food source is removed suddenly. It will take time for the birds to find new sources of food. Naturalists point out that most birds, along with seeds, pick up insects, berries and small vertebrates. They do not live on seeds alone. They constantly forage for food when they are not building nests or hatching eggs. You must have seen sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches and titmice picking up insects from the ground. So, removing a feeder will not starve them. When trees are covered with snow, the backyard food supply gives them the wholesome food they need, even though birds will be looking for insects in tree barks and bushes.

 

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Are bird feeders all that good?

Some people argue that feeding wild birds will affect the bird population, and will cause a whole host of problems for wild birds and the environment. They say that wild birds will stop looking for food in their own habitats, and instead go for the easy access to grains in the feeders. While doing so, they may pose a threat to smaller birds they hunt as food. Still, setting up feeder points and creating a natural system around it is great service to the birds. In snowy winters they won’t starve, in hot summer days they won’t go thirsty.

Making our backyards as bird-friendly as possible seems, on the surface, a smart ecological decision, and one of the easiest things we can do to set right some of the damage we bumbling humans have done to this planet.

When we bring back native plants and encourage the proliferation of natural systems, at least on our little plot of land birds benefit. We benefit by getting to witness many common songbirds, and nature as a whole benefits.

So let’s be good residents of the natural world.

 

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