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Treatment of Malaria: Guidelines For Clinicians (United States)
Malaria is a nationally notifiable disease. We encourage clinicians to report all cases of laboratory-confirmed malaria to their state health department to help CDC's surveillance efforts. Refer to our information on the Malaria Case Surveillance Report Form.
Evaluation and Diagnosis
General Approach to Treatment
Treatment of Uncomplicated Malaria
Alternatives for Pregnant Women
Treatment of Severe Malaria
Because malaria cases are relatively rare in North America, misdiagnosis by clinicians and laboratorians has been a reoccurring issue. However, malaria is a common cause of febrile illness in areas where it is transmitted; therefore, the diagnosis and management of malaria should routinely be considered for any febrile person who has traveled to an area with known malaria transmission in the several months preceding symptom onset. The CDC's Algorithm for Diagnosis and Management of Malariapdf icon provides guidance on the recommended steps to adequately assess and treat malaria patients.
Symptoms of malaria are generally non-specific and most commonly consist of fever, headache, malaise, weakness, gastrointestinal complaints (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), neurologic complaints (dizziness, confusion, disorientation, coma), back pain, myalgia, chills, and/or cough. The diagnosis of malaria should also be considered in any person with fever of unknown origin regardless of travel history.
Patients suspected of having malaria infection should be urgently evaluated. Treatment for malaria should not be initiated until the diagnosis has been confirmed by laboratory testing. "Presumptive treatment", i.e., without the benefit of prior laboratory confirmation, should be reserved for extreme circumstances, such as strong clinical suspicion or severe disease in a setting without availability of prompt laboratory confirmation, usually by microscopy.
Laboratory diagnosis of malaria can be made through microscopic examination of thick and thin blood smears. Thick blood smears are more sensitive in detecting malaria parasites because the blood is more concentrated allowing for a greater volume of blood to be examined; however, thick smears are more difficult to read. Thin smears aid in parasite species identification and quantification. Blood films need to be read immediately; off-hours, qualified personnel who can perform this function should always be on-call. A negative blood smear makes the diagnosis of malaria unlikely. However, because non-immune individuals may be symptomatic at very low parasite densities that initially may be undetectable by blood smear, blood smears should be repeated every 12–24 hours for a total of three sets before the diagnosis of malaria can be ruled out.
After malaria parasites are detected on a blood smear, the parasite density should then be estimated. The parasite density can be estimated by looking at a monolayer of red blood cells (RBCs) on the thin smear using the oil immersion objective at 100x. The slide should be examined where the RBCs are more or less touching (approximately 400 RBCs per field). The parasite density can then be estimated from the percentage of infected RBCs, after counting 500 to 2,000 RBCs. Gametocytes should not be counted when determining parasitemia. More information on diagnostic procedures on malaria can be found on CDC's DPDx website.
In addition to microscopy, other laboratory diagnostic tests are available. Several antigen detection tests (rapid diagnostic tests or RDTs) using a "dipstick" or cassette format exist, but only one, BinaxNOW™, is approved for general diagnostic use in the United States. RDTs can more rapidly determine that the patient is infected with malaria, but they are less sensitive than microscopy and cannot confirm the species or the parasite density. Therefore, microscopy should also be done as soon as possible to confirm RDT results, and determine both species and parasite density. Laboratories that do not provide in-house on-the-spot microscopy services should maintain a stock of malaria RDTs, so they will be able to perform malaria diagnostic testing urgently when needed.
Parasite nucleic acid detection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is more sensitive and specific than microscopy but can be performed only in reference laboratories. Therefore, PCR results are often not available quickly enough for routine diagnosis. However, PCR is a very useful tool for confirmation of species and detecting of mutations associated with drug resistance. CDC offers malaria–drug-resistance testing for all malaria diagnosed in the United States free of charge. Serologic tests, also performed in reference laboratories, are not practical for routine diagnosis of acute malaria. Your state health department or CDC can be contacted for more information on utilizing one of these tests.
It is preferable that treatment for malaria not be initiated until the diagnosis has been established by laboratory testing. "Presumptive treatment", i.e., without the benefit of prior laboratory confirmation, should be reserved for extreme circumstances, such as strong clinical suspicion or severe disease in a setting where prompt laboratory diagnosis is not available.
Once the diagnosis of malaria has been made, appropriate antimalarial treatment must be initiated immediately. Treatment should be guided by the following four main factors:
Infecting Plasmodium species;
Clinical status of the patient;
Expected drug susceptibility of the infecting parasite as determined by the geographic area where the infection was acquired; and
Previous use of antimalarials, including those taken for malaria chemoprophylaxis.
Infecting Plasmodium species: Determination of the infecting Plasmodium species for treatment purposes is important for three main reasons. Firstly, P. falciparum and P. knowlesi infections can cause rapidly progressive severe illness or death, while the other species, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae, are less likely to cause severe disease. Secondly, P. vivax and P. ovale infections also require treatment for the hypnozoites, which remain dormant in the liver and can cause relapsing episodes. Thirdly, P. falciparum and P. vivax species have different drug resistance patterns in different geographic regions of the world. Finally, for P. falciparum and P. knowlesi infections, the urgent initiation of appropriate therapy is especially critical.
Clinical status of the patient: Patients diagnosed with malaria are generally categorized as having either uncomplicated or severe malaria. Patients diagnosed with uncomplicated malaria can be effectively treated with oral antimalarials. However, patients who have one or more of the following clinical criteria (impaired consciousness/coma, severe anemia [hemoglobin <7 g/dL], acute kidney injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome, circulatory collapse/shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, spontaneous bleeding, acidosis, jaundice [along with at least one other sign of severe malaria]) and/or parasite density of ≥5% are considered to have manifestations of severe disease and should be treated aggressively with intravenous antimalarial therapy.
Drug susceptibility of the infecting parasites: Knowledge of the geographic area where the infection was acquired provides information on the likelihood of drug resistance of the infecting parasite and enables the treating clinician to choose an appropriate drug or drug combination. If the diagnosis of malaria is suspected and cannot be confirmed or if the diagnosis of malaria is confirmed but species determination is not possible, antimalarial treatment effective against chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum must be initiated immediately and revisited once confirmatory results become available.
Previous use of antimalarials: It is important to consider if a malaria infection occurred while an individual was taking a drug for malaria chemoprophylaxis. In this case, the treatment regimen should not involve the drug or drug combination used for prophylaxis.
The Malaria Treatment Tablepdf icon can be used as a guide for treatment of malaria in the United States. The drug or drug combination recommended for each specific situation are listed in bold on the first line of each box in the adult and pediatric dosing columns. It is important to note that the base/salt conversions for antimalarials are a recurrent source of confusion and can contribute to treatment errors. In the treatment tablepdf icon, where appropriate, the antimalarial dose is expressed in base with the salt equivalency noted in parentheses.
After initiation of treatment, the patient's clinical and parasitological status should be monitored. In infections with P. falciparum, P. knowlesi, or suspected chloroquine-resistant P. vivax, blood smears should be repeated every 12–24 hours to monitor parasitological response to treatment, i.e., decrease in parasite density. Gametocytes should not be counted in assessing parasite density.
CDC clinicians are on call 24/7 to provide advice to healthcare providers on the diagnosis and treatment of malaria and can be reached through the CDC Malaria Hotline (770) 488-7788 (toll free: (855) 856-4713) Monday–Friday, 9 am to 5 pm EST. Off-hours, weekends, and federal holidays, call (770) 488-7100 and ask to have the malaria clinician on call paged.
P. falciparum or Species Not Identified — Acquired in Areas With Chloroquine Resistance
For P. falciparum infections acquired in areas with chloroquine resistance, four treatment options are available. These include artemether-lumefantrine (Coartem™), which is the preferred option if readily available, and atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone™). These are fixed-dose combination therapies that can be used for pediatric patients ≥5 kg. Quinine sulfate plus doxycycline, tetracycline, or clindamycin is the next treatment option. For the quinine sulfate combination options, quinine sulfate plus either doxycycline or tetracycline is generally preferred to quinine sulfate plus clindamycin because there are more data on the efficacy of quinine plus doxycycline or tetracycline. Quinine should be given for 3 days, except for infections acquired in Southeast Asia where 7 days of treatment is required. The fourth option, mefloquine, is associated with rare but potentially severe neuropsychiatric reactions when used at treatment dose. We recommend this fourth option only when the other options cannot be used. In addition, mefloquine is not recommended for infections acquired in certain parts of Southeast Asia due to drug resistance. Options for treatment of pregnant women is presented in the "Alternatives for Pregnant Women" section below. Due to the risk of progression to severe disease, uncomplicated malaria treatment should be initiated as soon as possible with the regimen that is most readily available. In addition, clinicians should hospitalize patients with P. falciparum infection to monitor clinical response and check parasitemia every 12–24 hours. Then, clinicians can consider outpatient completion of treatment for patients with improved clinical symptoms and decreasing parasitemia.
For pediatric patients, the treatment options are the same as for adults except the drug dose is adjusted by patient weight, and artemether-lumefantrine (Coartem™) and atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone™) can only be used in children ≥5 kg. The pediatric dose should never exceed the recommended adult dose. Pediatric dosing with quinine may be difficult due to unavailability of non-capsule forms of this antimalarial. If unable to provide pediatric doses of quinine, consider one of the other three options. If using a quinine-based regimen for children less than 8 years old, doxycycline and tetracycline are generally not indicated; therefore, quinine can be given in combination with clindamycin as recommended above. In rare instances, doxycycline or tetracycline can be used in combination with quinine in children less than 8 years old if other treatment options are not available or are not tolerated, and the benefit of adding doxycycline or tetracycline is judged to outweigh the risk.
For infections attributed to "species not identified" in areas with chloroquine resistance that are subsequently diagnosed as being due to P. vivax or P. ovale, additional treatment with primaquine or tafenoquine should be administered (see P. vivax and P. ovale, section below).
P. falciparum or Species Not Identified — Acquired in Areas Without Chloroquine Resistance
For P. falciparum infections acquired in areas without chloroquine-resistant strains, which include Central America west of the Panama Canal, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, patients can be treated with oral chloroquine. Alternatively, hydroxychloroquine may be used at recommended doses.
In addition, any of the regimens listed for the treatment of chloroquine-resistant malaria may be used for the treatment of chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum malaria. Prompt initiation of an effective regimen is vitally important, so using any one of the effective regimens that is readily available would be the preferred strategy. Due to the risk of progression to severe disease in patients with P. falciparum infection, patients should be hospitalized to monitor clinical response, and check parasite density every 12–24 hours until clinical presentation improves and a decrease in parasite density becomes apparent. Then, clinicians can consider outpatient completion of treatment for patients with improved clinical symptoms and decreasing parasitemia. If infections initially attributed to "species not identified" are subsequently diagnosed as being due to P. vivax or P. ovale, additional treatment with primaquine or tafenoquine should be administered (see P. vivax and P. ovale section below).
P. malariae and P. knowlesi
There has been no widespread evidence of chloroquine resistance in P. malariae and P. knowlesi species; therefore, chloroquine (or hydroxychloroquine) may still be used for both of these infections. In addition, any of the regimens listed above for the treatment of chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum may be used for the treatment of P. malariae and P. knowlesi infections. Due to the risk of complications among patients with P. knowlesi, clinicians should consider hospitalization to monitor clinical response and check parasite density every 12–24 hours until clinical presentation improves and a decrease in parasite density becomes apparent.
P. vivax and P. ovale
Chloroquine (or hydroxychloroquine), remains an effective choice for P. vivax and P. ovale infections except for P. vivax infections acquired in Papua New Guinea or Indonesia as there is high prevalence of chloroquine-resistant P. vivax in these countries. Rare cases of chloroquine-resistant P. vivax have also been documented in Burma (Myanmar), India, and Central and South America. Persons acquiring P. vivax infections from regions other than Papua New Guinea or Indonesia should initially be treated with chloroquine. Note that, if chloroquine is not available, antimalarial regimens composed of artemether-lumefantrine, atovaquone-proguanil, quinine sulfate plus doxycycline or tetracycline or clindamycin, or mefloquine are effective. While the first three regimens are equally recommended, mefloquine should be used as a last resort due to its side effect profile. If chloroquine is given and the patient has an inadequate response including persistence or worsening of clinical symptoms or no decrease in parasite density, treatment should be changed to one of the regimens recommended for chloroquine-resistant P. vivax infections (see below), and your state health department and CDC should be notified (CDC Malaria Hotline: (770) 488-7788, Monday–Friday, 9 am to 5 pm EST; (770) 488-7100 after hours, weekends, and holidays).
Persons acquiring P. vivax infections in Papua New Guinea or Indonesia should initially be treated with a regimen recommended for chloroquine-resistant P. vivax infections. These include artemether-lumefantrine, atovaquone-proguanil, or quinine sulfate plus doxycycline or tetracycline or clindamycin, and are equally recommended. Mefloquine can be used if no other options are available, because of rare but potentially severe neuropsychiatric reactions when used at treatment dose.
In addition to requiring the acute phase treatment of blood stage parasites, P. vivax and P. ovale infections can relapse due to hypnozoites, which are dormant forms that remain in the liver. To eradicate the hypnozoites, patients should be treated with either tafenoquine (KrintafelTM) or primaquine phosphate. Tafenoquine can be used in patients 16 years old and over and is given as a single dose. If primaquine phosphate is used, CDC recommends a dose of 30 mg (base) by mouth daily for 14 days. Due to reduced efficacy of primaquine in patients ≥70 kg, the total dose of primaquine should be adjusted in these patients to 6 mg/kg. This total dose should be given in daily doses of 30 mg for the number of days needed to complete the total dose. A daily dose >30 mg is not recommended due to safety concerns. Because both tafenoquine and primaquine can cause hemolytic anemia in persons with glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, quantitative G6PD testing must occur prior to starting treatment with these drugs.
For persons with intermediate G6PD deficiency, clinicians could consider giving primaquine at 45 mg (base) by mouth once per week for 8 weeks with close monitoring for hemolysis. Consultation with an expert in infectious disease and/or tropical medicine is advised if this alternative regimen is considered in intermediate G6PD-deficient individuals. Primaquine and tafenoquine must not be used during pregnancy (see section on alternatives for pregnant women below). Tafenoquine must not be used in children less than 16 years old, or in those with a history of a psychotic disorder. Patients with G6PD deficiency who are not expected to tolerate primaquine or tafenoquine should be put on chloroquine prophylaxis (300 mg [base] po once a week) for 1 year from the acute infection, as most of the relapses resulting from hypnozoite reactivation occur within this timeframe.
For pediatric patients ≥5 kg, the treatment options for the acute phase are the same as for adults except the drug dose is adjusted by patient weight. The pediatric dose should never exceed the recommended adult dose. In addition, for children <8 years of age, doxycycline and tetracycline are generally not indicated; therefore, the other treatment options should be used. For pediatric patients <5 kg, either mefloquine or quinine plus clindamycin are the only options. If those are not available or tolerated and if the treatment benefits outweigh the risks, atovaquone-proguanil or artemether-lumefantrine could be used in those instances. Primaquine should be given to pediatric patients only after they have been screened for G6PD deficiency, and tafenoquine can only be used in patients 16 years or older.
Malaria infection in pregnant women is associated with high risks of both maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. While the mechanism is poorly understood, pregnant women have a reduced immune response and, therefore, less effectively clear malaria infections. In addition, malaria parasites sequester and replicate in the placenta. Pregnant women are three times more likely to develop severe disease than non-pregnant women who acquire malaria in the same area. Malaria infection during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, premature delivery, low birth weight, congenital infection, and/or perinatal death.
For pregnant women diagnosed with uncomplicated malaria caused by P. malariae, P. ovale, chloroquine-sensitive P. vivax, or chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum infection, prompt treatment with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine (treatment schedule as for non-pregnant adult patients) is recommended. For chloroquine-resistant P. vivax infections, quinine plus clindamycin, or mefloquine should be given instead. For women in their second or third trimesters, artemether-lumefantrine is an additional option.
For P. vivax or P. ovale infections, primaquine phosphate and tafenoquine for radical treatment of hypnozoites should not be given during pregnancy. Pregnant patients with P. vivax or P. ovale infections should be maintained on chloroquine prophylaxis for the duration of their pregnancy. The chemoprophylactic dose of chloroquine phosphate is 300 mg base (=500 mg salt) orally once per week. After delivery, for pregnant patients with P. vivax or P. ovale infections who are not G6PD deficient, subsequent treatment with primaquine phosphate or tafenoquine is needed, but will depend on breastfeeding. If not breastfeeding, either drug can be used. For women who are breastfeeding, infants should be tested for G6PD deficiency and if found to have normal activity, oral primaquine phosphate can be given to the mother. Tafenoquine is not recommended during breastfeeding. Women who after delivery cannot take primaquine or tafenoquine should be maintained on weekly chloroquine prophylaxis for a total of 1 year after the acute malaria episode.
Pregnant women diagnosed with uncomplicated malaria caused by chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum infection in the second and third trimesters can be treated with artemether-lumefantrine. Artemether-lumefantrine may be used during the first trimester if other treatment options are not available, and if the potential benefit is judged to outweigh the potential risks. In addition, pregnant women of all gestational ages can be treated with mefloquine or a combination of quinine sulfate and clindamycin. Quinine treatment should continue for 7 days for P. falciparum infections acquired in Southeast Asia and for 3 days for infections acquired elsewhere; clindamycin treatment should continue for 7 days regardless of where the infection was acquired.
Pregnant women diagnosed with severe malaria should be treated aggressively with parenteral antimalarial therapy as described below.
Doxycycline and tetracycline are generally not indicated for use in pregnant women. However, in rare instances, doxycycline or tetracycline can be used in combination with quinine if other treatment options are not available or are not being tolerated, and the benefit of adding doxycycline or tetracycline is judged to outweigh the risks.
Atovaquone-proguanil is not indicated for use in pregnant women because of the paucity of data on its safety in pregnant women. However, for pregnant women diagnosed with uncomplicated malaria caused by chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum infection, atovaquone-proguanil may be used if other treatment options are not available or are not being tolerated, and if the potential benefit is judged to outweigh the potential risks.
Patients with manifestations of severe malaria should be treated promptly and aggressively with parenteral antimalarial therapy regardless of the species of malaria seen on the blood smear. If severe malaria is strongly suspected but a laboratory diagnosis cannot be made at that time, blood should be collected for diagnostic testing to be done as soon as it becomes available and parenteral antimalarial drugs should be started.
All patients with severe malaria, regardless of infecting species, should be treated with intravenous (IV) artesunate. Clinicians caring for patients with suspected severe malaria should call CDC to obtain IV artesunate, which is available through CDC as part of an expanded-use investigational new drug (IND) protocol. The CDC Malaria Hotline, (770) 488-7788 or toll free (855) 856-4713, is available Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm EST. Outside those hours, providers should call (770) 488-7100 and ask to speak with the CDC Malaria Branch clinician on call.
Severe malaria can progress to a fatal outcome rapidly, so its treatment should be initiated as soon as possible. While timely delivery of IV artesunate is anticipated, healthcare providers should consider treating the patient with an oral treatment while waiting for IV artesunate to arrive. If patient is unable to tolerate oral medications, healthcare providers will need to decide the most feasible strategy to administer oral medicines while awaiting IV artesunate. For example, if this intolerance is due to nausea and vomiting, an anti-emetic preceding the antimalarial may help, and, for comatose patients, a nasogastric tube can be considered.
The preferred antimalarial for interim oral treatment is artemether-lumefantrine (Coartem™) because of its fast onset of action. Other oral options include atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone™), quinine, and mefloquine. Intravenous clindamycin and IV tetracyclines, such as doxycycline, are not recommended. These drugs are slow-acting antimalarials that would not take effect until well after 24 hours, and they are not effective antimalarials for treatment of severe malaria when used alone.
When IV artesunate arrives, immediately discontinue the oral medication and start parenteral treatment. Three doses of IV artesunate should be given as follows:
Adults and children ≥20 kg: 2.4 mg/kg at 0, 12, and 24 hours;
Children <20 kg: 3.0 mg/kg at 0, 12, and 24 hours.
The slightly higher dose in children <20 kg is in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations based on the larger volume of distribution in these children. Patients on treatment for severe malaria should have one set of blood smears (thick and thin smear) performed every 12–24 hours until a negative result (no Plasmodium parasites are detected) is reported.
After the course of IV artesunate is completed, if parasite density is ≤1% (assessed on a blood smear collected 4 hours after the last dose of IV artesunate) and patient can tolerate oral treatment, a full treatment course with a follow-on regimen must be administered. Artemether-lumefantrine (Coartem™) is the preferred follow-on treatment but adequate alternatives are atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone™), quinine plus doxycycline or clindamycin, or mefloquine. Because of a risk of severe neuropsychiatric adverse events at treatment doses, mefloquine should only be used if other options are not available. If the patient received oral treatment prior to receiving IV artesunate, the same medication can be used as follow-on treatment, but a full regimen is required. As for any malaria treatment, the regimen selection should not include the medication used for chemoprophylaxis.
If, after the 3rd IV artesunate dose, the patient's parasite density is >1%, IV artesunate treatment should be continued with the recommended daily dose until parasite density ≤1% for a maximum 7 days. Doses given at 0, 12, and 24 hours count as 1 day, which means up to 6 additional days. Clinicians should proceed with full-dose oral follow-on treatment as above as soon as parasite density ≤1% and the patient is able to tolerate oral medications. Clinicians can consider placement of nasogastric tube or use of antiemetics to facilitate administration of oral treatment. Call CDC Malaria Hotline if additional artesunate is needed and/or advice on treatment
For those patients with parasite density ≤1% but who still cannot tolerate oral medications after completing IV artesunate treatment, clinicians can (1) continue IV artesunate, 1 dose daily not to exceed a total course of 7 days, or (2) switch to treatment with IV doxycycline (up to 7 days) or IV clindamycin (up to 7 days) and give quinine via nasogastric tube or with antiemetic. Placement of nasogastric tube or use of antiemetics should be considered to facilitate administration of oral treatment. Patients should then receive a full course of the oral follow-on treatment as above. Call CDC Malaria Hotline if additional artesunate is needed and/or advice on treatment.
Intravenous artesunate is safe in infants, children, and pregnant women in the second and third trimesters. There are limited clinical data on women taking IV artesunate in the first trimester of pregnancy, but no harmful effects have been observed. Given that severe malaria is especially life threatening for pregnant women and their fetuses, and the lack of other treatment options for severe malaria in the United States, the benefits of treatment with IV artesunate outweigh the risks and IV artesunate should not be withheld. The only formal contraindication to IV artesunate treatment is known allergy to IV artemisinins.
In addition, IV artesunate is well tolerated. While rare, delayed post-artemisinin hemolytic anemia has been noted in published case reports following treatment of severe malaria with IV artesunate. Persons with higher parasite density seem to have a higher likelihood of delayed hemolytic anemia after treatment with IV artesunate. All persons treated for severe malaria with IV artesunate should be monitored weekly for up to four weeks after that treatment for evidence of hemolytic anemia. Weekly laboratory evaluation should include hemoglobin, reticulocyte count, haptoglobin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and total bilirubin. Depending on the intensity of hemolysis, blood transfusion may be needed.
Previously, CDC recommended exchange transfusion be considered for certain severely ill persons. However, exchange transfusion has not been proven beneficial in an adequately powered randomized controlled trial. In 2013, CDC conducted an analysis of cases of severe malaria treated with exchange transfusion and was unable to demonstrate a survival benefit of the procedure. Considering this evidence, CDC no longer recommends the use of exchange transfusion as an adjunct procedure for the treatment of severe malaria.
Healthcare providers can report serious side effects to antimalarials to FDA via MedWatchexternal icon , FDA's Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program, or by phone at (800) FDA-1088 (800-332-1088) or fax at (800) FDA-0178 (800-332-0178).
Page last reviewed: December 11, 2019
Content source: Global Health, Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria
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Halt to palm oil investments welcomed
Jakarta, Indonesia, September 11, 2009 -- Friends of the Earth International welcomed the announcement by the IFC, the World Bank's private sector arm, that it will stop all palm oil investments.
"Investments in large-scale oil palm plantations lead to deforestation and human rights violations", said Torry Kuswardono of Friends of the Earth Indonesia/WALHI. "We are encouraged that the World Bank Group is finally recognizing the problems, and we hope that other banks will follow suit."
The World Bank Group statement was unveiled in a letter from its president Robert Zoellick, responding to an appeal from Indonesian and international NGOs. [1]
The 28th August letter announces suspension of all World Bank private sector arm funding for palm oil until a revised strategy for the financing of this troubled sector is in place.
A coalition of local and international NGOs, spearheaded by the UK organization Forest Peoples Program, [2] had previously filed a complaint at the IFC's internal watchdog, the Compliance Advisory Ombudsman office (CAO) about a series of loans to palm oil giant Wilmar International.
A joint report by three NGOs (Friends of the Earth Netherlands, Kontak Rakyat Borneo and Gemawan), which examined Wilmar's plantations in Sambas, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, found that the company is working with dubious licenses, and is entangled in land rights conflicts and illegal logging activities. [3]
The complaint triggered an audit by the CAO, which concluded that the IFC had violated its own procedures, and that commercial interests had overruled the IFC's environmental and social standards. [4]
In his letter, World Bank Group President Zoellick states that "until we have a new strategy in place, IFC will not approve any new investments in palm oil. I have also asked IFC to review the environmental and social performance of all portfolio investments in palm oil." [5]
"This assessment should be applied to other monoculture agrofuels plantations. We encourage other banks to follow the World Bank's step and review such investments," said Friends of the Earth International's Torry Kuswardono.
This was the second blow to the agrofuels sector this week. On Wednesday, Friends of the Earth International welcomed the banning by the UK Advertising Standards Authority of an advert by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council claiming palm oil is "sustainable". This was the result of an earlier complaint filed by Friends of the Earth International. [6]
A note on agrofuels
Friends of the Earth groups from Indonesia to Colombia have fought for years for an end to destructive large- scale palm oil plantations and their financing. The large- scale expansion of palm oil plantations is responsible for the destruction of forests and peatlands, high carbon dioxide emissions, and land grabs from indigenous peoples.
Palm oil is prominent not only in the food and cosmetics industry, but is increasingly used as a biodiesel, despite its substandard environmental record. European and US mandatory targets for the use of biofuels are a major driver behind the unsustainable expansion of oil palm plantations.
Friends of the Earth International strongly opposes the use of edible oils for energy purposes, and denounces agrofuels such as palm oil as a false solution to climate change.
Torry Kuswardono, Friends of the Earth International Agrofuels Campaign Coordinator and Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI); +62- 811383270 or torry@walhi.or.id
[1] The news and the letter are online at: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0909-palm_oil_ifc.html
[2] See http://www.forestpeoples.org
[3] The July 2007 report 'Policy, Practice, Pride and Prejudice: Review of Legal, Environmental and Social Practices of Oil Palm Plantation Companies of the Wilmar Group in Sambas District, West Kalimantan, Indonesia', by FoE Netherlands/Milieudefensie, Lembaga Gemawan en Kontak Rakyat Borneo, is available at: http://www.milieudefensie.nl/globalisering/publicaties/rapporten/policy-practice-pride-and-prejudice.pdf
[4] See http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/uploads/case_documents/Combined%20Document%201_2_3_4_5_6_7.pdf
[5] See http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0909- palm_oil_ifc.html
[6] See http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/sustainable_palm_oil_adver_09012008
> A Just Recovery Renewable Energy Plan for Africa


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'God particle' reveals universe's secrets
Postedby Ryan S. Cunningham
The international scientific community had a unique cause for celebration in March. The European Organization for Nuclear Research—known by its French acronym, CERN—announced in March that the 125-giga electron-volt particle recorded by researchers at Switzerland's Large Hadron Collider during an experiment last summer was in fact the elusive Higgs boson.
Photo by Kayla Nguyen
The discovery of this "god particle," the constituent element of the proposed "Higgs field" that gives mass to all matter, confirms the predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics. This gives new weight to a theory that reduces every force—with the glaring exception of gravity—to the interactions of subatomic particles.
You've unlocked the mysteries of the universe, eggheads—it's time to celebrate! Roll up the starched sleeves of your lab coats, snort some lines off your pocket protectors and hit up the strip clubs.
This breakthrough is important for a number of reasons. The addition of the Higgs boson completes the Standard Model's 61-piece particle puzzle, and unless evidence surfaces to support competing models like string theory or supersymmetry, this means that humans, for the first time, have drawn a more-or-less complete picture of the universe's mechanics.
The Higgs field may also be responsible for splitting the electroweak force into its lower-energy electromagnetic and weak nuclear constituents. Electroweak unification is another step toward combining each of the four fundamental forces under an overarching "theory of everything."
The 1960s dream of a dazzling techno-future wasn't just tripped-out hubris after all. We stand at the end of history: Soon everything, from the tiniest oscillation of visible light to the orbit of an extrasolar gas giant, will be quantified and projected years in advance. Bring on the superconductors, flying cars and robot sex slaves!
Humanity's scientific elite holds the secrets of the universe at its fingertips. Which socially relevant line of inquiry should it pursue first?
Scientists should get off their esoteric, subatomic high horse and get down to ascertaining the fundamental law behind the inexorable increase in the cost of higher education.
According to a reputable source, when this columnist graduated from high school in 2005 the total average yearly tuition for a resident undergraduate student at Portland State was a mere $4,761. This figure is chump change compared to the total cost of education—$6,764—at this same university in 2011, the year he received his bachelor's degree.
This is a whopping 70 percent increase in university tuition cost. And, puzzlingly, during this six-year period inflation remained at historically moderate levels. Tuition costs at private universities and other state higher education systems have increased commensurably.
The reader may observe that the conundrum of the skyrocketing cost of education in the U.S. may be better left to economists, public policy experts and other varieties of candy-ass social scientists. But there is no pseudo-magic invisible hand of self-interest at work behind the curtains here—only the stone-cold reality of tiny particles bumping into each other in such a way as to cause a general rise in the already dear price of a university education.
Why are universities shafting students so hard and so fast?
Students, university professors, money, textbooks, brand-new student-housing complexes that incorporate mixed retail outlets and, yes, even state legislators are each fundamentally composed of the same matter and governed by the same physical forces that are purportedly determined by the now-affirmed Standard Model. So it should be no stretch for scientists to work out what weird stew of combinations among these constituent elements of the closed system of higher education is resulting in this unsustainable climb.
This columnist's largely uninformed opinion on the subject is that the system's surplus of state legislators is increasing its general level of entropy, which in turn necessitates that an ever-increasing amount of additional energy (in the form of student dollars) be injected into the system. Which brings him again to his cure-all solution to every social ill: Kill the politicians.
It's simple science, guys.
Deeply Thought Thoughts
Food Inc.
The road to red-state serfdom
The Great Official Oregon State Microbe Debate of 2013
Papal conclave should elect a gay black Muslim woman


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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Steve Brosky, Jimmy Meyer, 8 p.m. Aug. 11, Musikfest, ArtsQuest Center, Bethlehem.
Steve Brosky 'Grateful' for his world
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 by REBEKAH HAWK Special to The Press in Focus
Steve Brosky, having won 21 Lehigh Valley Music Awards, is one of the Lehigh Valley's best-known singer-songwriters.
This year, at Musikfest, Brosky and his duo partner, Jimmy Meyer, are part of the Martin Guitar Lyrikplatz series, 8 p.m. Aug. 11, Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema, ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.
Brosky, a Whitehall Township resident, and Meyer are expected to perform some of the 11 songs from "Grateful," Brosky's CD released last month, which includes those he wrote, "Buck-A-Man Blues," "Ugly N Personal," "What Do You Mean by That," "It's Not The End Of The World," "My Coupe DeVille," "Fred," "Jimi On Guitar," "Vietnam Blues" and the title cut, plus "It's Only Money," written by singer-songwriter J.D. Hawk of Salisbury Township.
Brosky's style ranges from rock, R&B, country, garage band to Americana, with a bit of funk.
"I was influenced by artists such as the Beatles and Bob Dylan," says Brosky in a recent interview. "It's inside of me so when I write I'm influenced by these artists."
Brosky, who occasionally is backed by his Big Lil Band, mostly gigs with Meyer, who, according to Brosky, has "an interesting, fanatical way of entertaining people with the guitar." They met in 2005. Brosky has been performing since 1980.
"I needed a guitar player. We began to talk. One thing led to another and we started doing gigs together," Brosky says.
"Grateful" was produced at Dan's House Studio, Center Valley, by Brosky and Dan McKinney, who also plays keyboards on the CD.
Other musicians on the CD include Meyer, guitar; Darlene Brotztman and Doug Ashby, vocals; Suavek Zanieskienko, bass; Jim Ruffi, drums; Wayne Dillon, trumpet, flugelhorn, and Joe Vitale, saxophone.
A drawing by Lillie, the daughter of Steve and his wife, Renate, is the artwork for the CD cover. Lillie did the drawing when she was around six- or seven-years-old and she's now 33-years-old.
The CD's title song is dedicated to his wife. Brosky wrote another song for her, "You Mean The World To Me," recorded on a previous CD.
Brosky's CDs include "Steve Brosky Chronicles" (2007), "Trouble" (2005), "Limestone & James" (2000), "Hey Now! Hits From Allentown" (2000) and "Any Minute Now" (1995).
When Brosky returned to Allentown in 1969, from having served in the Army during the Vietnam War, he didn't know that writing songs and playing music would become his career. Success with "Do the Dutch (Hey Now, Let's Get Down To Allentown," an "answer song" to Billy Joel's "Allentown," brought him regional radio airplay and national publicity.
"From there, I realized I can write songs that people really like," Brosky says.
Brosky writes about what he knows and that's what his latest CD contains. He said it took him a long time to write "Vietnam Blues," which tells of his experiences as a returning Vietnam vet.
"Not The End Of The World" is about the region's economy and its residents. "It's about how unemployment is so high, and the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer," Brosky says.
On average, Brosky and Meyer play four nights a week at venues in the Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill County and New Jersey.
"My favorite thing about these gigs is that I'm able to play and people know me. The Lehigh Valley has been very good to me. People keep coming back to see me and that's what I like the best about being a local performer," says Brosky.
Of his performance attire -- usually a fedora and sunglasses -- Brosky jokes, "I believe that fashion is temporary and style is forever."
In addition to his Musikfest concert and gigs at area restaurants, Brosky performs at noon Aug. 6, Allentown Arts Park, adjacent to the Baum School of Art along Fifth Street between Hamilton and Linden streets.
"In the future, I would like to release another CD. There's another CD inside of me just asking to come out," Brosky says.


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For those of you who don't check my Twitter feed with religious regularity, the dearth of posting lately has been caused by the fact that I spilled a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper on the keyboard of my laptop. The good news is that I was able to salvage the old hard drive with no problems, and currently have it installed in an external drive kit I can plug into any available Mac machine. The bad news is that, yes, I am sans computer, save for Violet's laptop of which she so very graciously allows me the use for basic tasks such as the checking of e-mail and schoolwork. So, all the awesome posting I had planned for Christmas break - ka-blooey!
Anyway, one of the unfortunate effects of the accident is that I have had to put together my year-end top-ten list for the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop as something of an afterthought. Usually in December I have plenty of time to catch up on all the music I missed over the previous eleven months, a process that involves discovering stuff I hadn't known about as well as reconsidering stuff I had dismissed. This year, because I didn't have a computer available for regular use, I had to put this together in a few spare minutes based almost solely on memory, my Last.fm charts and a quick look over the Pitchfork and SPIN lists to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything obvious. This is hardly the most adventurous list you'll read this year, and it's fairly predictable in many respects, but I've got a deadline and this is what stuck out at me.
I should point out, once I sat down to compose the list my #1 and #2 were obvious, but the rest was a bloodbath.
There's a lot of stuff I haven't heard that could conceivably have made the list but of which I can't in good conscience be any judge: the Field, the Roots, Zomby, Tom Waits, SBTRKT all spring to mind, all albums on my shopping list for the next time I go record shopping. And of course when I have the time, I need to do the usual go-through of all the other year-end lists to see the stuff I didn't know I was missing.
Albums that disappointed: Bon Iver (how the hell is such a mediocre album Pitchfork's #1?), St. Vincent, Hercules & Love Affair, Panda Bear.
Albums that didn't necessarily disappoint but didn't set the world on fire: Stephen Malkmus, REM, GaGa, Wild Flag (I'm as shocked as you), Wilco (better than Sky Blue Sky, some signs of life, but no home run), Mirah & Thao, Nicholas Jaar, Tim Hecker, Tyler the Creator (and wow am I surprised to see this left off so many Best-Of lists - or am I?), .
Albums that were shit: Fleet Foxes, Girls (considering how much I loved his debut it pains me to say that this new albums was a sleeping pill), Fleet Foxes, James Blake (this is supposed to be "good"?), Fleet Foxes. Did I mention Fleet Foxes?
Honorable mention: Boston Spaceships (nice appetizer for new GBV!), Gang Gang Dance (if the whole album had been as good as "Glass Jar" they would have been a shoe-in), Mates of State (don't judge me!), Fucked Up (kind of obvious, but still good), Atlas Sound.
Top Ten of 2011 as of 12/22/12 -
10. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
9. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
8. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
7. The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love
6. They Might Be Giants - Join Us
5. Low - C'mon
4. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
3. Yacht - Shangri-La
2. Destroyer - Kaputt
1. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
If I can find some time over the next couple days I would like to write at least a few words on each of these albums. In the meantime, tell me your ideas of anything you think I missed or underrated.
Posted by Tegan O'Neil at 9:51 PM 1 comment :
He ended up really, really, really sad.
Within the first few seconds of the first song ("Ana Ng") the listener is aware that something is different. Everything that had been present on They Might Be Giants can still be accounted for, but perhaps it would be better to say that everything which was present had been amplified and strengthened. Whereas their first album had been occasionally sparse, intentionally discordant in places, and doggedly lo-fi, everything on Lincoln was arranged with absolute precision. The jagged guitar riff and stomping kick drum that open the album are perfectly compressed for maximum impact: the song hits like a hammer and never lets up for the space of three-and-a-half minutes. To say that "Ana Ng" is one of the duo's best songs is something of an understatement: the development and maturation of their songwriting and recording skills in the two years between their debut and their sophomore album - even 23 years later - is simply astounding.
They had a lot to prove with this record. They were a novelty act who had probably already outlived the most generous career expectations: a song on MTV and heavy rotation on college radio, all riding atop an album of strange synthesizer noises and a few classically formalist pop songs. They obviously had an idea of what kind of sound they wanted to produce but their first album was too scattered to fully realize this ambition. Lincoln was a bolt from the clear blue sky, a mature and disciplined statement dedicated to (seemingly) immature thoughts and random ideas. In the space between their first and second albums, They Might Be Giants discovered focus, and this was the key: you can get away with doing anything you so desire as long as you have the chops and the discipline. Lincoln is a forty-minute long laser beam, 18 songs in 40 minutes, a murderers' row of one catchy, complex, and deceptively melancholy ditty after another, marching in perfect military time. They Might Be Giants were essentially a hardcore group with a drum machine, and song-for-song I'd put Lincoln toe-to-toe with Double Nickles on the Dime any day of the week.
The problem with Lincoln is that all the copious skill on display only made it that much easier to underplay and undersell the actual content of the songs themselves. Because, yeah, the album is partially defined by a handful of purely silly nonsense songs, tracks like "Cowtown" and "Pencil Rain" that resist all but the most annoyingly abstruse allegorical reading. They're goofy songs built around tongue-twisters. If anyone wanted an example of They Might Be Giants as a joke band, a gimmick band of no real consequence who produce stupid ditties for the clever kids in the back of math class, well, those are the tracks to which one would go first.
But if there's one thing about which I am convinced after having lived with this album as a fixture of my life for over twenty years, it's that there's something real and haunting behind the glib facade. If you listen to the album without really listening to the album you might hear a procession of clever tunes built around puns and wry humor. You might think that some of the jokes are corny and some of the jokes are witty, and you might think that some of the attempts at pathos feel strangely hollow. But it would be a terrible mistake to hear the album as anything other than a holistic unit. It hangs together remarkably well as a unit because on Lincoln the Johns mastered the trick that would essentially make their careers: making deceptively happy songs that were, in fact and on closer examination, remarkably sad.
Listen to the album the first time and you might hear a remarkable assortment of tongue-in-cheek ditties, some great sarcastic pastiches and high-energy larks. Listen again in a different frame of mind and the whole thing takes on a decidedly darker pallor that becomes altogether harder to shake. You could dismiss one sad song, you could dismiss two sad songs, but a whole album comprised of (with only a few exceptions) unremittingly depressing, anxious, heartbroken, jaded, exhausted, and downright bleak songs? That's something that not everyone seems to get. There's real panic behind the mania.
Take a look for yourself:
Everything sticks until it goes away /
And the truth is, we don't know anything.
Somebody's reading your mind /
Damned if you know who it is /
they're digging through all of your files /
Stealing back your best ideas.
Should you worry when the skullhead is in front of you /
Or is it worse because it's always waiting where your eyes don't go?
A woman's voice on the radio can convince you you're in love /
A woman's voice on the telephone can convince you you're alone.
I know you deceived me, couldn't sleep last night /
Now my tear stains on the wall reflect an ugly sight.
I'm going to die if you touch me one more time /
Well I guess that I'm going to die no matter what.
It must be raining because a man ain't supposed to cry /
But I look up and I don't see a cloud.
Don't call me at work again no no the boss still hates me /
I'm just tired and I don't love you anymore.
What's the sense in ever thinking about the tomb /
When you're much too busy returning to the womb?
I love the world and if I have to sue for custody /
I will sue for custody.
If it wasn't for disappointment /
I wouldn't have any appointments.
Now you're the only one here who can tell me if it's true /
That you love me and I love me.
The reason Lincoln is their masterpiece, why this is the one They Might Be Giants album more than any other that exemplifies why they are such great and gifted songwriters, is that this is the album on which the line between energy and anxiety was most neatly effaced. They're not singing jerky, fast jingles because they're having a great time: no, they're actually quite miserable, desperately unhappy, and it's only by going so fast that they lose their breath that they can actually begin to express the deep discontent lying underneath the happy exterior.
The last third of the album (from the final breather of "You'll Miss Me") is one long sled ride down the hill from paranoia through despair right on to delusion. The album's climactic track, "Kiss Me, Son of God," is perhaps the single most demented kiss-off ever written by someone who wasn't actually in a padded room. It's They Might Be Giants's version of slamming the mic on the ground and walking offstage after delivering a ferocious "fuck you" to everyone who ever kicked their shins in gym class. The only ways you could possibly follow-up the end of Lincoln would be to hang yourself from the rafters or sign a major-label deal. You know the score, but anyone coming to Lincoln fresh might legitimately worry for the mental health of the men who wrote it.
Some "scamp" took down the album version, so here's an OK live version.
All of which might well be summed up as supremely conceited and self-satisfied . . . and you'd be 100% correct in doing so. That's the point: one of the reasons - perhaps the main reason - why They Might Be Giants took off the way they did was that the spoke to the dramatic self-absorption and feigned martyrdom of the American teenage nerd in a way that no other musical group or cultural phenomenon had ever quite done before. This is something that no one under a certain age - say, 25 at the youngest - can really understand without having to be told: until very recently, nerd media was mass media, and it only stuck with nerds because they were too stupid to realize that sci-fi TV shows and fantasy books were not things that grown men (and women, but let's be frank, the Android's Dungeon was a boys club for decades) should care about. It was all well and good for normal people to love Star Wars, but to keep caring about it long after you left the theater - and to obsess about it long past grade school - that took a special kind of willful suspension of disbelief in the way life was "supposed" to be lived. And the people who went to sci-fi conventions and traded VHS tapes of dubbed anime and played AD&D and listened to Tarkus long after anyone else cared about ELP - they did so because they needed something else to fill the void in their lives, because all the things that "normal" people were supposed to care about in the industrialized west just weren't cutting it.
Is the image of the self-hating nerd a cliche? Is there any truth to the stereotype of the basement-dwelling troll with Cheeto-stained fingers and a soiled "I GROK SPOCK" T-shirt, awkwardly fumbling through gym class and desperately ashamed of the fact that he can't really complete any aspects of the President's Physical Fitness Test to satisfaction? Perhaps in its most extreme forms this is an exaggeration, but there's no doubt whatsoever that until very recently - as in, within the last decade and change - nerds were decidedly off the mainstream. And they - hell, who am I kidding? we - were self-righteous about the fact that we had been excluded from the mainstream. Even if the only people who had excluded us were us. We had our reasons, or at least we believed that we did.
And this is what They Might Be Giants got. Being young and brilliant also sometimes means being a self-absorbed asshole. Sometimes, being stuck on a loop in your own head can be a fate worse than death. When I was younger I thought that the best track on Lincoln was "They'll Need A Crane," and while I still think that's a fantastic song, as I get older I see that the album's real masterstroke is "Snowball in Hell." It's a great song about growing up and being desperately unhappy with your life, a sentiment that can best be summed up in the phrase "money's all broke, and food's going hungry." It's a song about unhappy adulthood that somehow sounds wistful without seeming maudlin, and defiantly chipper despite increasingly dire circumstances. It's a better song than it has any right to be, considering just how unlikely They Might Be Giants ever were.
Anyone who cared to pay attention past the goofs and the weirdness was rewarded with a shimmering gem of a pop song: but in order to pay attention you had to have the patience, and in order to have the patience you had to care. Being able to care about something as nerdy and unimportant as a weird indie rock album was definitely a sign of deep commitment, and once They Might Be Giants found a way to broadcast directly to those fans with a heavy investment in being deeply committed . . . well, the rest was history.
(out of five)
Not Dead Yet For those of you who don't check my ...
He ended up really, really, really sad. Lincoln...


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Florida Keys Residents Celebrate Gay Marriage Ruling
Filed Under:Aaron Huntsman, Aqua Nightclub, Circuit Judge Luis Garcia, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Gay Marriage, Judge Garcia, Key West, Monroe County, Same Sex Marriage, William Lee Jones
Aaron Huntsman, left, and William Lee Jones, right, embrace during a celebration Thursday, July 17, 2014, in Key West, Fla. Jones and Hunstman and about 100 other people marked a Florida Keys judge's ruling overturning Florida's ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday after a legal challenge. But an appeal by the Florida Attorney General's office changed the couple's plans to get married. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)
KEY WEST (CBSMiami/Florida Keys News Bureau) – Nearly 100 people gathered in a Key West nightclub Thursday night to celebrate as a Florida Keys judge legalized same-sex marriage in Monroe County. The county encompasses the entire island chain.
The ruling came Thursday as Circuit Judge Luis Garcia decided Florida's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage was discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Key West residents Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones, a couple for 11 years, filed a lawsuit protesting the ban.
"I actually dropped my phone when I got the call," said Jones during the celebration at Key West's Aqua nightclub. "I was so excited, so proud and happy, so glad that we made it this far so far."
Florida's attorney general, Pam Bondi, filed an appeal Thursday afternoon that changed the couple's plans to wed. But that didn't seem to dampen the spirits of those celebrating in Key West, recognized for decades for its openness and accepting gay-friendly attitude.
Judge Garcia, whose ruling applies only to Monroe County, initially said same-sex couples in the Keys could get marriage licenses as early as Tuesday. However, the appeal will likely delay their issuance for an undetermined time.
Huntsman said the appeal was expected, but the ban is hurtful and wrong.
"We did this to change the laws for everybody in the state of Florida — not just for us, but for all the people that have been hurting over this undue law that is not right," said Huntsman. "We thought that just two average guys could be able to maybe make a difference, especially here in Monroe County."
Key West elected an openly gay mayor in 1983, and many other high-profile elected and appointed civic positions have been and are held by gays. The city and surrounding Monroe County adopted the motto One Human Family more than a dozen years ago, proclaiming equality and acceptance for everyone.
The Florida Keys News Bureau contributed to this report.


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Podcast Review: TED Society & Culture- How I climbed a 3,000 foot vertical cliff–without ropes by Alex Honnold
For this week's podcast review, I'm reviewing a episode of the TED Society & Culture podcast called How I Climbed a 3,000 foot vertical cliff–without ropes by Alex Honnold.
This episode is about how Alex Honnold free soloed (climbing without ropes) Half Dome and El Capitan. Both of these mountains are located at Yosemite National Park.
Alex Honnold begins the episode talking about his passion for climbing and when he began to free solo. He describes taking on the challenge of climbing a cliff at Half Home, which is 2,000 ft high. Though he thought he was ready to free solo it, he panicked on a part of the cliff where there was only a small groove to place his right foot. Luckily, he had strength to overcome this obstacle and successfully free soloed it. None the less, my palms and feet began to sweat listening to this part of the story.
You would think Alex would be elated at such a feat but he was not. His struggle on that part of Half Dome haunted him. He remembered this as took on the challenge of climbing El Capitan.
As described in the podcast, Honnold thought about climbing El Capitan for 7 years but each time he looked up at he said "No fricking way." When he finally committed to making the climb, he was methodical in his preparation. He even removed rocks from its face via backpack. He mentally prepared himself, too. He recalls visualizing each step of the way and memorizing each foot and hand movement to make the climb.
On the day of the climb, his focus and preparation paid off. He talked about scaling the cliff with rapid determination. At a part of the mountain called the Boulder Problem that involves a karate kick to put one's foot in the right position, Honnold's preparation enabled him to overcome this obstacle without hesitation. El Capitan usually takes a rock climber 3 or 4 days to climb. It took Honnold 3 hours and 56 minutes.
After Honnold struggled at at Half Dome, he strove to master the climbing of El Capitan. I found this to be inspirational. I do not plan on ever free soloing a cliff but Alex set an example to me for mastering an obstacle or difficult situation. What he articulated in this podcast is how necessary it is to methodically prepare oneself for a certain situation and have the mental strength to overcome it. For Alex it was El Capitan, but it can be different for anyone- it can be a giving a business presentation or running a marathon. There are tips in this podcast for everyone to achieve their dreams and goals. Besides hearing about Alex Honnold's amazing climbing accomplishments, there is a motivational competent to this podcast that is worthwhile to hear.
To listen to this podcast, download TED Society & Culture on Apple Podcats, the TED Android app, Spotify, or other podcast apps. You can also watch it on YouTube.
Materials about Alex Honnold's ascension of El Capitan and Yosemite National Park are available at the Yonkers Public Library or through the Westchester Library System. To reserve an item, see the display below.


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Gorilla, Manchester. Saturday 09 December 2023
Gorilla, Manchester
Saturday 09 December 2023 at 19:00 .
GENERAL ADMISSION £25.95 (£22.50) Quantity selection for ticket type GENERAL ADMISSION 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
View venue accessibility information for Gorilla, Manchester


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/ High Court / Karnataka High Court / New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs Hanumakka And Others on 20 March, 1991
New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs Hanumakka And Others on 20 March, 1991
March 20, 1991 / January 25, 2014 by Legal India Admin | Leave a comment
Equivalent citations: I (1992) ACC 183, 1992 ACJ 687, 1992 75 CompCas 764 Kar, ILR 1991 KAR 2387, 1991 (2) KarLJ 277
Bench: K J Shetty, M R Jois
1. In this appeal presented under section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 ("the Act" for short), by the New India Assurance Company Limited, the following question of law arises for consideration.
"Whether section 147(2) of the Act which provides for continuance of the liability of an insurance company as it existed prior to the coming into force of the Act or four months, does not apply to the liability of the insurance company to answer the no fault liability of the owner of the vehicle under section 140 of the Act and, therefore, the no fault liability of the insurance company on and after July 1, 1989, in case of death is Rs. 25,000 ?"
2. The brief facts of the case are these :- A claim petition under section 166 of the Act was presented before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Tumkur, claiming compensation for the death of Ramaiah, husband of the first respondent in a motor accident which occurred on July 17, 1987. In the claim petition, a compensation of Rs. 25,000 was also claimed under section 140 of the Act. The Tribunal having found that the vehicle in question was involved in the accident, proceeded to award compensation on the ground of no fault at Rs. 25,000 as fixed under section 140 of the Act and fixed the said liability on the insurance company. Aggrieved by the said order, the appellant has presented this appeal.
3. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, as it originally stood, compensation for injury or death caused by a motor accident was payable on proof of negligence on the part of the driver of the vehicle concerned. Subsequently, Chapter VII-A was introduced into the Act for the first time creating "no fault" liability. According to section 92A of the Act, in respect of death, a compensation of Rs. 15,000 was made payable without going into the question of fault. In other words, the said amount of compensation was payable irrespective of the question of negligence. The question under what circumstances was the compensation fixed under section 92A was payable by the insurer and the insurance company came up for consideration before the Full Bench of this court in United India Insurance Co. v. Immam Aminasab Nadaf [1990] 67 Comp Cas 287; [1990] ILR Kar 16. The Full Bench held the "no fault" liability under section 92A of the 1939 Act was independent of the liability to pay compensation in a claim petition under section 110A of the Act on the basis of fault. It was further held that a sum of Rs. 15,000 as fixed under section 92A was payable in the case of death, by the owner, the moment it is proved that the vehicle was involved in the accident. Further, it was held that though the liability under section 92A of the Act is fixed only on the owner of the vehicle and there was no reference to the insurance company, in view of section 93(b-a) of the Act, the insurance company was liable to pay the compensation awarded under section 92A of the Act, subject to the condition that the risk was covered by the insurance policy.
4. The 1939 Act was repealed by the Act which came into force on July 1, 1989. The provision corresponding to section 92A of the 1939 Act in the 1988 Act is section 140. It reads :
"140. Liability to pay compensation in certain cases on the principle of no fault. – (1) Where death or permanent disablement of any person has resulted from an accident arising out of the use of a motor vehicle or motor vehicles, the owner of the vehicle shall, or, as the case may be, the owners of the vehicles shall, jointly and severally, be liable to pay compensation in respect of such death or disablement in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) The amount of compensation which shall be payable under sub-section (1) in respect of the death of any person shall be a fixed sum of twenty-five thousand rupees and the amount of compensation payable under that sub-section in respect of the permanent disablement of any person shall be a fixed sum of twelve thousand rupees.
(3) In any claim for compensation under sub-section (1), the claimant shall not be required to plead and establish that the death or permanent disablement in respect of which the claim has been made was due to any wrongful act, neglect or default of the owner or owners of the vehicle or vehicles concerned or of any other person.
(4) A claim for compensation under sub-section (1) shall not be defeated by reason of any wrongful act, neglect or default of the person in respect of whose death or permanent disablement the claim has been made nor shall the quantum of compensation recoverable in respect of such death or permanent disablement be reduced on the basis of the share of such person in the responsibility for such death or permanent disablement."
5. The only difference between section 92A of the 1939 Act and section 140 of the 1988 Act is the enhancement of rate of compensation payable, i.e. in the case of death, it is Rs. 25,000 and, in the case of permanent disability, it is Rs. 12,500. The provision corresponding to section 93(b-a) is section 145(c), which expressly provides that the liability wherever used in relation to the death of, or bodily injury to, any person, includes liability in respect thereof under section 140. In view of section 145(c), there is no doubt that the amount payable under section 140, on the ground of no fault by the owner or a vehicle, is also the liability of the insurance company, subject of course to the condition that the risk was covered by the insurance policy which was in force on the date of accident.
6. After the 1988 Act came into force, in the case of Rukmaniyamma v. A. M. Venkata Swamy [1991] ILR Kar 778, the question whether the higher rate of no fault liability at Rs. 25,000 fixed in the case of death in section 140 applied even in respect of accidents which occurred prior to July 1, 1989, the date on which the Act came into force, arose for consideration. In the said decision, it was held, following the ratio of the decision of the Supreme Court in Padma Srinivasan v. Premier Insurance Co., to the effect that the extent of liability to pay compensation stands determined by the law which was in force on the date of accident and not the law which was in force on the date of filing of the claim petition or on the date on which the claim petition was decided. Accordingly, it was held that, in respect of death caused by a motor accident which took place prior to July 1, 1989, "no fault" liability was Rs. 15,000 and, in the case of death caused by an accident which took place after July 1, 1989, the "no fault" liability was Rs. 25,000 in view of section 140 of the Act.
7. Learned counsel for the appellant contends that, even after July 1, 1989, up to a period of four months, the liability of the insurance company continues to be the same liability which was in force prior to the commencement of the Act and, therefore, in the present case, "no fault" liability that could have been fixed on the appellant-insurance company was only Rs. 15,000 and not Rs. 25,000. Section 147(2) of the Act on which learned counsel relies reads :-
"147(2) Subject to the proviso to sub-section (1), a policy of insurance referred to in sub-section (1), shall cover any liability incurred in respect of any accident, up to the following limits, namely :-
(a) save as provided in clause (b), the amount of liability incurred;
(b) in respect of damage to any property of a third party, a limit of rupees six thousand :
Provided that any policy of insurance issued with any limited liability and in force, immediately before the commencement of this Act, shall continue to be effective for a period of four months after such commencement or till the date of expiry of such policy whichever is earlier."
8. Learned counsel pointed out that, in view of the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 147, the liability of the insurance company has been limited by the insurance policy which was in force immediately prior to the date of commencement of the Act and continues to be effective for a period of four months thereafter. Relying on the above provision, learned counsel submitted that the accident in the present case had taken place on July 17, 1989, i.e., within a period of four months after the commencement of the Act on July 1, 1989, and hence the liability of the insurance company even under section 140 of the Act was limited to Rs. 15,000.
9. The argument addressed by learned counsel, though at first sight is very attractive, on a closer examination, is devoid of any merit. As held by the Supreme Court in the case of Padma Srinivasan, , the liability of the insurance company stands determined by the law which was in force on the date of the accident irrespective of the liability undertaken under the policy. Therefore, applying the ratio of the decision of the Supreme Court in Padma Srinivasan, , even if the risk covered by the insurance policy which was in force prior to the date of coming into force of the Act on July 1, 1989 was only Rs. 15,000, the liability of the insurance company stands determined by the provisions of section 140 read with section 145(c) of the Act. In other words, if there is any conflict between the quantum of compensation payable by the insurance company under the policy and under the provisions of the Act, it is the latter which prevails.
10. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that, that would have been the position but for sub-section (2) of section 147 of the Act. Whatever may be the position of the saving clause incorporated in section 147(2) of the Act regarding the fault liability incurred in respect of any accident, as far as "no fault" liability fixed under section 140 of the Act is concerned, section 144 of the Act gives overriding effect to section 140. That section reads :
"144. Overriding effect. – The provisions of this Chapter shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act or of any other law for the time being in force."
11. As can be seen from the wording of the above provision, notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act or any other law for the time being in force, the provisions contained in Chapter X prevail. Therefore, in so far as it relates to "no fault" liability fixed under section 140 of the Act that section prevails over the provisions of section 147(2) of the Act.
12. For the aforesaid reasons, we answer the question first set out as follows :
"Section 147(2) of the Act which provides for continuance of the liability on an insurance company as it existed prior to the coming into force of the Act on July 1, 1989, for four months thereafter, has no application to the liability of the insurance company to answer the 'no fault' liability of the owner of the vehicle fixed under section 140 of the Act and, therefore, the no fault liability of the insurance company on and after July 1, 1989, in case of death is Rs. 25,000.
Before concluding, we make it clear that the question we have decided is in respect of interpretation of sections 140, 144 and 147(2) of the Act only in so far they relate to the "no fault" liability prescribed under section 140 of the Act and not in respect of any other liability.
In the result, we make the following order :
13. The appeal is dismissed.
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State Of U.P. And Ors. vs Shanti Devi And Ors. on 21 March, 1991