davidanugraha/M4-RAG huggingface dataset:
Mahama Refugee Camp

Mahama Refugee Camp is a refugee camp in Kirehe District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda, near the Kagera River which is the border with Tanzania. In 2016, it had over 50,000 residents, making it the size of one of Rwanda's ten largest cities. In 2021, there were over 100,000 refugees in Rwanda and most of them were here. In 2023 the population was reported to be 62,486 individuals from 16,941 households with the majority from Burundi.
Since 2015, more than 280,000 Burundians had been forced to flee and to seek refuge in neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Among them, were more than 47,000 who went to Rwanda. Mahama Refugee Camp was founded in April 2015.
In September 2016 it was estimated that the camp housed just over 50,000 refugees of several nationalities with more arriving each day. This camp is considered to be a model case of refugee management in the East African Region. Initially the camp consisted of just tents but within 18 months semipermanent buildings were being built using mud bricks. The camp in 2016 had a school with over 100 classrooms where over 11,000 children attended what had become the largest school in Rwanda. The camp had local leaders in the 25 "villages" that make up the camp as well as two health centres, a bus service and a market of stall holders. In eighteen months the refugee camp rivalled the sixth biggest city in Rwanda in terms of population.
In 2021 there were estimated to be 125,000 refugees in Rwanda despite 27,000 returning to Burundi. Only 10% of these still in Rwanda were not in refugee camps. The vast majority of these were in Mahama. The camp remains full as refugees were moved here from Gihembe camp which closed in October and another camp's refugees (Kigeme) will be moved in when Mahama has space to spare.
In 2021 the International Paralympic Committee decided to support six athletes as part of the Independent Paralympic Athletes at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. Parfait Hakizimana of the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation, who is from Mahama, was one of the athletes. He competed in Tokyo at Taekwondo in the under 61 kg category. At the Games, Hakizimana withdrew from the repechage section due to an injury.
In September 2023 UNHCR said that there were over 62,000 people living there with the majority being under the age of eighteen.
Burundian parataekwondo practitioner Parfait Hakizimana resides in the camp.
Alluvial plain

An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the smaller area over which the rivers flood at a particular time. In contrast, the alluvial plain is the larger area representing the region over which the floodplains have shifted over geological time.
As the highlands erode due to weathering and water flow, the sediment from the hills is transported to the lower plain. Various creeks will carry the water further to a river, lake, bay, or ocean. As the sediments are deposited during flood conditions in the floodplain of a creek, the elevation of the floodplain will be raised. As this reduces the channel floodwater capacity, the creek will, over time, seek new, lower paths, forming a meander (a curved path). The leftover higher locations, typically natural levees at the margins of the flood channel, will be eroded by lateral stream erosion, local rainfall, and possibly wind transport if the climate is arid and does not support soil-holding grasses. These processes, over geologic time, will form the plain, a region with little relief (local changes in elevation) yet with a constant but slight slope.
The Glossary of Landform and Geologic Terms, maintained by the United States National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS), defines an "alluvial plain" as "a large assemblage of fluvial landforms (braided streams, terraces, etc.) that form a low gradient, regional ramps along the flanks of mountains and extend great distances from their sources (e.g., High Plains of North America)". Use of "alluvial plain" as a general, informal term for a broad flood plain or a low-gradient delta is explicitly discouraged. The NCSS glossary instead suggests "flood plain".
Alluvial plains have similar traits to a river delta; however, the river delta will flow into a larger body of water. Alluvial plains generally lack this.
Tussock grass

Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants, most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens.
Many species have long roots that may reach two meters (6+1⁄2 feet) or more into the soil, which can aid slope stabilization, erosion control, and soil porosity for precipitation absorption. Also, their roots can reach moisture more deeply than other grasses and annual plants during seasonal or climatic droughts. The plants provide habitat and food for insects (including Lepidoptera), birds, small animals and larger herbivores, and support beneficial soil mycorrhiza. The leaves supply material, such as for basket weaving, for indigenous peoples and contemporary artists.
Tussock and bunch grasses occur in almost any habitat where other grasses are found, including: grasslands, savannas and prairies, wetlands and estuaries, riparian zones, shrublands and scrublands, woodlands and forests, montane and alpine zones, tundra and dunes, and deserts.
In western North American wildfires, bunch grasses tend to smolder and not ignite into flames, unlike invasive species of annual grasses that contribute to a fire's spreading.
Sequía en el Sur de Ecuador de 1968

Fue uno de los fenómenos naturales más fuertes que afrontó el país, que, teniendo antecedentes desde 1946,​ afectó a la sierra de la región sur del Ecuador en la década de 1960,​​ específicamente a la provincia de Loja. La gran sequía, como fue conocida,​ produjo la mayor oleada de migración interna en el país, provocando entre estos 20 años, la salida de 164 183 personas aproximadamente, más otros factores.​​ La mayor parte comprendía a la población económicamente activa, de entre 20 y 40 años de edad.
Se produjo durante la última dictadura del Ecuador, en un tiempo donde se implementó una reforma agraria,​ que atraería a los emigrantes a las ciudades más pobladas, como lo eran Quito, Guayaquil​ y a las ciudades aledañas a estas, a más de también, hacia la costa, en la provincia de El Oro, en el tiempo del auge de la industria bananera.​
Su punto más crítico se llevó a cabo en el año 1968,​ en donde los cultivos como maíz, hortalizas, fréjol, arroz se producían en la provincia por hectáreas.​​ La cultura lojana, tuvo una inclinación independiente al país, a raíz de la guerra peruano-ecuatoriana y esta sequía, influyendo en: la política, como la reforma agraria; sociedad, como la migración; gastronomía, con platos de bajo costo como el repe lojano; y arte, como los murales.​
Chupe

El chupe (del quechua chupi "sopa") es una sopa picante típica de América del Sur, que varía de país en país.
Es a base de pan remojado en leche o agua, mientras está remojado se le retira la corteza y solo se deja la miga, para después hacer una base de verduras en brunoise con pimentón rojo, cebolla, ajo, zanahoria rallada, ají de color o paprika, crema de leche, queso rallado y algunas veces pan rallado para que tome consistencia. Esta preparación también lleva vino blanco, si se desea. Finalmente debe espesar, para agregarle un ingrediente base o que le dé el nombre como "chupe de loco", de camarones, de machas, de ostiones, de guatita, etc. se sirve en pocillos de greda individuales, hirviendo, con queso rallado en la parte superior para gratinar.
En la comida ecuatoriana, el de pescado es el chupe más solicitado. Se prepara con filetes de pescado, aliñados en sal y ajo y pasados por harina antes de echarlos a freír; luego se agregan al sancocho cuando las legumbres (papa, zanahoria, choclo) están casi listas.​
Es típico de la provincia de manabí, por lo que muchas veces se agrega como ingrediente a la sazón el maní. Sin embargo, también existen versiones alternativas en otras provincias como Guayas o Los Ríos.
En el Perú hay diversos tipos de chupes como chupe de pallares,​ chupe de habas, chupe de olluco, chupe verde, chupe de zapallo, chupe de camarones,​ etc.
En Arequipa, el chupe es una sopa muy consistente que se come con cuchara grande ayudado de tenedor y cuchillo para cortar los trozos de carne o pelar los camarones. Se prepara con carne de res, cordero, gallina o pollo, así como con interiores como con intestinos o tripas (chaque de tripas) y panza, cecinas y en ocasiones con camarones y pescado (chupe de viernes). Lleva abundantes vegetales como habas, zapallo, trigo mote, apio, porro, nabo, zanahoria, avena, maíz, trigo, entre otros. Algunos son bastante condimentados e incluyen ají en su preparación. La papa siempre está presente en el chupe de diferentes formas, incluyendo el chuño, ya sea blanco o negro.
La ciudad de Arequipa tradicionalmente tiene un chupe diferente para cada día de la semana, así el lunes el chaque de tripas, el martes el chayro, la chochoca para el miércoles, el jueves la timpusca y la mazamorra negra o mazamorra de chuño negro para el viernes. Sin embargo, estos no son los únicos chupes que se cocinan en Arequipa, existen muchos otros como el caldo blanco o caldo de lomos, el pebre, el timpo de rabos, el puchero, el alocrado, rachi de panza y otros que son preparados durante los fines de semana, ocasiones especiales o días festivos. Por ejemplo para Viernes Santo se prepara el chupe de viernes que no lleva carnes rojas pero si pescado y mariscos, leche, huevo, cecinas de pescado, ají, papa y abundantes verduras. Para el Domingo de Pascua se prepara el caldo de Pascua que lleva varios tipos de carne. Los domingos o días festivos se come el adobo de chancho muy temprano en la mañana para después de una noche de celebración.
Sopa de cebolla

La sopa de cebolla es una sopa cuyo principal ingrediente es la cebolla caramelizada. Considerada originaria de Francia, país donde se popularizó y que extendió su receta por el mundo en el siglo XIX, es una receta de la que se tienen registros históricos desde la Edad Media en muchos países europeos.​
Para la preparación del plato se corta abundante cebolla en forma de brunoise o juliana que se sofríe en mantequilla o cualquier aceite vegetal. Algunas recetas añaden harina para espesar ligeramente con un roux, y vino blanco, jerez o brandy a voluntad.​ Todo ello se hierve posteriormente en agua o en un caldo ligero de hortalizas o de carne (ternera, buey o ave).
Se suele servir caliente en un cuenco o un tazón, con un poco de queso gruyer o emmental rallado. Se puede verter la sopa sobre una rebanada de pan colocada en el fondo del tazón, a la manera de las sopas medievales. La versión francesa dispone de una variante muy tradicional llamada gratinée (gratinada): una vez la sopa servida en los tazones, se cubre con una rebanada de pan blanco en la que se espolvorea queso rallado, y se gratina al gril o al horno para formar una costra dorada. Esta sopa se sirve como entrante en muchos restaurantes europeos. En la tradición francesa se sirve frecuentemente a altas horas de la noche o de madrugada, cuando se trasnocha.
Es una sopa antiquísima (se conservó la tradición medieval de verterla sobre una rebanada de pan), y es probable que existiera en otros países europeos. Aparece en la edición más antigua del libro de cocina del siglo XIV, llamado Le viandier, de Taillevent, conservado en la Biblioteca Nacional de Francia.​ La costumbre de añadirle queso rallado es, lógicamente, muy posterior. Era un plato humilde elaborado con ingredientes 'sencillos', a veces identificado con las épocas de hambruna.
Esta sopa ganó su fama en el siglo XIX, cuando se extendió en París la costumbre de tomar algo caliente en los pocos sitios abiertos a altas horas de la madrugada, en las tabernas y restaurantes que rodeaban las Halles de París, el mercado central de abastos. La sopa de cebolla pasó de ser la sopa que tomaban los trabajadores del mercado a ser también un tentempié para noctámbulos. En la segunda mitad del siglo XX las Halles fueron derribadas, pero la tradición no sólo se mantuvo en ese barrio parisino sino que se extendió y se incorporó en las costumbres de los franceses de todo el país.
Cebolla amarilla

La cebolla amarilla (Allium cepa L.​​) es una variedad de cebolla seca con un sabor fuerte. Tienen un interior blanco verdoso,​ amarillo claro​ o blanco;​ sus capas de piel parecida al papel tienen un color amarillo-marrón o dorado pálido.
Tiene un mayor contenido de azufre que la cebolla blanca, lo que le da un sabor más fuerte y complejo.​​
Se cultivan una docena de variedades de cebolla amarilla, según la época del año. Aunque varían en contenido nutricional, todas contienen quercetina (un flavonol).​
Las cebollas amarillas suelen estar disponibles durante todo el año​ se cultivan entre la primavera y el otoño y luego se almacenan durante el resto del año. Es la cebolla más frecuente en el norte de Europa​ y constituye el 90% de las cebollas que se cultivan en los Estados Unidos. Deben almacenarse a temperatura ambiente fresca en un lugar oscuro. El almacenamiento a largo plazo requiere que se envuelvan en papel y se coloquen en el refrigerador. Las cebollas cortadas o peladas también deben guardarse en plástico en el refrigerador, pero solo durarán unos días.
Tienen un rico sabor a cebolla y son aptos para platos como sopa de cebolla francesa, otras sopas, guisos y estofados, platos salteados y brochetas shish kebab.​ Puede volverse pegajosa y dulce cuando se caramelizan.​
Sopa de fideos

La sopa de fideos se puede considerar como una definición bajo la cual hay un gran número de sopas en las que el ingrediente principal, o secundario, son los fideos. No obstante, la sopa de fideos es uno de los elementos más diferenciadores de las cocinas asiáticas.
Existen en la cocina china multitudes de sopas que pueden entrar en esta definición en China, así como otras que servidas en otros países tienen como origen este país.
La sopa de pasta tradicional lleva sal, ajo, cebolla, un cubo o una cucharada de polvo de concentrado de caldo de pollo y jitomate licuado o molido en un mortero, lo especial de la sopa mexicana es que se dora el fideo con aceite antes de empezar su proceso de cocción con todos los demás ingredientes ya molidos. En los pueblos inclusive se le agrega piezas de pollo para añadir un sabor aún más casero.
En Macao, los restaurantes de sopa de fideos son conocidos en portugués como estabelecimentos de sopa de fitas. La sopa de fideos es un desayuno muy popular en Macao. Las más conocidas son:
Las sopas de fideos son muy populares en Tailandia y puede verse frecuentemente por las calles elaborándose en los puestos callejeros, así como en las cantinas y los food courts. Los fideos se sirven en un caldo de pollo, a menudo cubiertos con una rebanada de carne o albóndigas y algunas hojas de coriandro. Cada comensal «ajusta» el sabor con azúcar servido al lado de la sopa, nam pla (salsa de pescado), chiles secos y chiles en vinagre, etc. Al contrario que otra comida thai, los fideos se comen con palillos.
Sopa de tortilla

La sopa de tortilla elaborada con caldo de tomates molidos, ajo y cebolla, sazonada con epazote, y servida con tiras fritas de tortilla de maíz y chile pasilla, aguacate, queso asadero o fresco, y crema.​ Se suele confundir con la sopa azteca, que sustituye el caldo de tomates por caldo de frijoles. También es muy similar a la sopa tarasca, considerándose esta una variante de la sopa de tortilla.
Su origen se asocia al estado de Tlaxcala, en el centro del país.​ Sin embargo, se ha extendido a todas las regiones tanto en las clases populares como en las acaudaladas.​ En algunas cantinas y restaurantes sirven el caldo con tan solo las tiras de maíz, acompañado de la variedad de guarniciones para que el comensal pueda personalizarse su propia sopa.​​
La receta también se ha exportado a otros países, como Guatemala,​ Honduras​ o Costa Rica, en donde el aguacate se sustituye por algún tipo de carne o leche.​
Sopa de llullucha

La sopa de llullucha es un plato tradicional de la gastronomía boliviana, sobre todo en el departamento de Potosí, donde tiene variantes como el katuchupe.​
El platillo es representativo del cultura local, tanto así que ha sido declarado parte del patrimonio cultural boliviano a través de diferentes normativas, entre ellas una Ley Nacional y una ley municipal.​​Con respecto a la Ley nacional, de 2014, la misma menciona en su primer artículo:
Es un chupe, o sopa sustanciosa, de carne de res o de cordero, con maíz, trigo y colonias de cianobacterias del género Nostoc, conocidas localmente como llullucha, algas habitualmente encontradas en bofedales. Entre las especies más consumidas se encuentran Nostoc commune y Nostoc sphaericum.​ Un estudio del 2014 sobre las llulluchas cita:​
La sopa incluye carne, cebolla, zanahoria, maíz pelado, trigo pelado, ajo, ají y otros, existen variantes de la sopa según zonas y comunidades.​
Existe la costumbre de preparar esta sopa para los dolientes que se amanecen en los velorios y generalmente es acompañada con una vena de ají para darle picor.​
Patasca

La patasca (del quechua phatasqa, reventado, abierto o partido)​ son una variedad de caldo que se prepara con mote en zonas de Bolivia, Perú y el noroeste de Argentina, donde también se lo llama "charquisillo".​ Está hecho a base de trozos de carne vacuna ( a menudo desmenuzada), cerdo o cabrito, dependiendo de las variaciones regionales y algunas verduras.
Es preparado con mondongo y carne de res, mote y en algunos lugares se utiliza la cabeza del carnero que le da un sabor peculiar a esta preparación.​
La patasca es una sopa muy popular en la región de los Andes, muy sustanciosa, nutritiva y con una gran concentración de sabores debido a los ingredientes con que cuenta.​ Se sirve caliente para combatir el frío de la región andina.​ Incluso se suele consumir para el desayuno.​
Esta sopa toma el nombre de patasca, que es el maíz o trigo pelado y reventado con una cocción de horas en el fogón agregándose carne de res, carnero, mondongo, patas de ternera y hierbas de la región andina.
En algunas regiones del Perú esta sopa se conoce con el nombre de sopa de mondongo debido a que esta víscera es uno de sus ingredientes, o también, particularmente en la costa peruana, como sopa de mote.​ Cuando es preparada con cabeza de carnero o res, la llaman caldo de cabeza.
Es un plato muy antiguo, siendo su origen prehispánico. En aquella época era preparada con carne de alpaca, cuy, aves y yerbas del lugar. El jesuita Bernabé Cobo, en el siglo XVII, escribió en un capítulo dedicado a las comidas y bebidas de los indios, sobre un guisado llamado “motepatasca”, preparado con maíz cocido hasta reventar.
A fines del XVIII, el escritor y poeta español Esteban Terralla y Landa (1750-1805) que se estableció en Lima en 1787, menciona a la patasca como uno de los potajes que se acostumbraba comer en la Ciudad de los Reyes.​
La patasca, según una receta limeña del siglo XIX, se preparaba sancochando patas de vaca, mondongo en agua con sal y hierbabuena. El escritor y poeta Federico Flores y Galindo, quien publicó en 1872 su “Salpicón de Costumbres Nacionales”, nos dio una idea de lo que se comía en aquellos días, y escribió que la patasca llevaba como ingredientes básicos la papa y el mote junto con el caldo. Con el transcurrir de los años la costumbre de comer patasca en Lima se perdió. Sin embargo en algunas ciudades de provincias especialmente en la sierra, continúa siendo un plato muy popular.
En Bolivia se llama patasca a un guiso preparado con carne de cerdo —incluyendo la cabeza— y maíz en los departamentos de Tarija, Santa Cruz y el Beni.​
En Argentina (región andina del NOA se lo llama tanto "patasca" como "charquisillo" y es una especie de guiso a base de charqui cocinado con cebolla de verdeo, papas, arroz y condimentos.
En el NEA (especialmente en áreas rurales de Corrientes) se hace un derivado zonal llamado "chatasca",​ que consta de charqui guisado con algunos otros ingredientes, como cebolla de verdeo, mandioca y condimentos; y no lleva ninguna variedad de maíz.
Plantain soup

Plantain soup is eaten in various cuisines. In Colombian cuisine, the dish is known as sopa de patacón (fried plantain). There is also sopa de platanos (plantain soup) in Latin American cuisine including Cuban cuisine and Puerto Rican cuisine.
Caldo de bolas de verde (green plantain dumpling soup) is from coastal Ecuador. The dumplings (balls) are made from green plantains stuffed with meat and vegetables. The beef broth includes corn and yuca.
Aguají is a rustic Dominican plantain soup.
Mohinga is a Burmese soup made with banana/plantain stem.
In Puerto Rico the soup is called sopa de plátano (plantain soup) and crema de plátano (plantain cream), and is made with a ratio of three green plantains to one yellow plantain. They are cooked in sofrito, spices, broth, and milk, and the cooked mixture is then pureed. The soup is similar in texture and appearance to chowder and cream soup, and is topped with cheese.
Cheese soup

Cheese soup is a type of soup prepared using cheese as a primary ingredient, along with milk, broth and/or stock to form its basis. Various additional ingredients are used in its preparation, and various types and styles of cheese soup exist. It is a part of some cuisines in the world, such as American, Colombian, Mexican, Swiss, French, and Tibetan cuisines. Mass-produced cheese soups may be prepared with the addition of food additives to preserve them and enhance flavor. A list of cheese soups is included in this article.
Cheese soup is a part of various cuisines, such as American cuisine, Colombian cuisine, French cuisine, Mexican cuisine, Swiss cuisine and Tibetan cuisine. Mote de queso is a traditional cheese soup dish in the Córdoba Department of Colombia. In Spanish, 'cheese soup' translates to sopa de queso, and a published Mexican recipe from 1893 exists for the dish under this name. In Switzerland, cheese soup is referred to as Kassuppe, and it is a specialty dish in Central Switzerland. Churu is a Tibetan cheese soup prepared with churu cheese of Tibet.
Cheese is a main ingredient in cheese soup, and is typically used in the dish in grated form or in chunks or pieces. Cheeses used include hard cheeses like Cheddar, Gruyère and Parmesan cheese and soft ones such as farmer cheese, Gouda cheese, muenster cheese, queso blanco and queso Chihuahua. The cheese adds both flavor and nutritional value to the soup. Processed cheese (including Velveeta), such as pasteurized process cheese and pasteurized process cheese food is sometimes used instead of natural cheese. Some cheese soups have a rich flavor and may be high in fat due to the use of high-fat ingredients such as butter and heavy cream, in addition to the fat in the cheese. Fat content of the soup can be reduced by the use of ingredients such as low- or non-fat cheese, fat-free milk and fat-free stock.
Milk and/or broth such as chicken broth or stock are used to form the liquid basis for cheese soup. Additional ingredients can include half and half, beer, bread crumbs, butter, eggs, onion, onion juice, garlic, vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and celery, spices and seasonings. Ingredients that can enhance the flavor of cheese soup include chopped bacon, beer and chopped broccoli, among various others. Croutons are sometimes used as topping.
Cheese soup is sometimes cooked in a bain-marie (double boiler) to prevent it from burning or scorching, which can occur when it is cooked over the direct heat on a stove burner. Cheese soups can also be reheated using a double boiler.
Mass-produced cheese soups may have additives to enhance their flavor and to preserve them. For example, modified-butterfat products are used in some mass-produced cheese soups as a flavor enhancer. Gels formed from pectin are used in some mass-produced cheese soups as a fat replacement.
Ice stupa

Ice stupa is a form of glacier grafting technique that creates artificial glaciers, used for storing winter water (which otherwise would go unused) in the form of conical-shaped ice heaps. During summer, when water is scarce, the ice melts to increase water supply for crops. Channelling and freezing water for irrigation has existed for hundreds of years. It was re-invented, popularised and scaled up by Sonam Wangchuk in Ladakh, India. The project is undertaken by the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh NGO. Launched in October 2013, the test project started in January 2014 under the project name The Ice Stupa Project. On 15 November 2016, Sonam Wangchuk was awarded the Rolex Awards for Enterprise for his work on ice stupas.
Ladakh is a cold desert where agriculture is not practised during the winter due to frozen soil and low air temperatures. During spring, the water requirement for sowing increases, while at the same time, streams dry up. With annual rainfall of less than 50 millimetres (2.0 in), agriculture in Ladakh is solely dependendent on snow and glacier meltwater. Due to climate change, the region experiences hotter summers with an increase in ice melt, together with a shift in the timing and precipitation of the melts. Subsequently, during the spring season, water is more scarce, which in turn impacts agriculture and food supplies.
In the month of May, Sonam Wangchuk noticed ice under a bridge. Despite summer temperatures and being at the lowest elevation in Ladakh, the ice had not melted because it was not in direct sunlight. Wangchuk realised ice could last longer in Ladakh if it could be shaded from the sun. Since providing shade to larger bodies of water was not possible, Wangchuk thought of freezing and storing water in the shape of a cone, which offers minimum surface area to the sun while containing a high volume of water.
In October 2013, Sonam Wangchuk created a prototype 6 metres (20 ft) high ice stupa by freezing 150,000 L (40,000 US gal) in Leh without any shade from the sun. Water was piped from upstream by gravity, without using electricity or machinery. The ice stupa did not completely melt until 18 May 2014, even when the temperature was above 20 °C (68 °F).
The Ladakh region experiences water shortage for the needs of agriculture during spring, which restricts even further the cultivation period in a subarctic climate area. By harnessing a fraction of the abundant wind, hydro and solar power potential of the Ladakh region without the need for energy storage, ice stupas can be made using snow cannons to irrigate all the cultivable land for crops, arcades, plantations, etc.
With the aim of promoting artificial glaciers and saving water for irrigation, an Ice Stupa Competition has been held since 2019. In 2019, 12 ice stupas were built, and in 2020, around 25.
Glacier growing

Glacier growing, artificial glaciation or glacier grafting, is a practice carried out in the Hindu Kush and Himalaya regions aimed at creating small new glaciers to increase water supply for crops and in some cases to sustain micro hydro power. In order to encourage the growth of a glacier local farmers acquire ice from naturally occurring glaciers, and carry it to high altitude areas where the ice is put inside a small cave dug out in a scree-slope. Along with the ice other ingredients such as water, salt, sawdust, wheat husks and charcoal are also placed at the site. The use of glacier grafting is an old skill of the mountain farmers of Baltistan and Gilgit, where it is used for irrigation purposes since at least the 19th century. This technique was described by Lieutenant David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer (1876–1962) in the 1920s. Allegedly glacier grafting also has been used to block mountain passes.
In the high Himalaya water is the limiting factor for agriculture and many farmers experience scarcity of water in late autumn - a period critical to the maturation of crops. Farmers living in watersheds without glaciers are especially vulnerable since they largely depend on snow melt for irrigation, in contrast to other areas where glaciers are a reliable source of water. In such communities glacier grafting is often attempted as a means to encourage the growth of new glaciers and thus ensure the existence of water resources.
The first step involves looking for a suitable location to glacier growing. The preferred terrain, according to glacier growers in Baltistan and Gilgit, is in shadowed scree-slopes overlooked by steep headwalls. Commonly the sites are located between 4,000 and 5,000 metres above sea level. Such locations are susceptible to snowfall and avalanches during winter and spring, creating an environment conducive to the accumulation of ice.
Ice is transported in baskets of woven willow twigs by teams of two and two, who take turns to carry the baskets. This usually involves ascents from lower lying valleys (around 2,000-3,000 metres above sea level) up to the site selected for the glacier growing.
Similar efforts are being carried out by the noted engineer Chewang Norphel, in the adjacent Ladakh region.
Media related to glacier growing at Wikimedia Commons
Chewang Norphel

Chewang Norphel (born 1935) is an Indian civil engineer from Ladakh, who has built 15 artificial glaciers. He has earned the title of Ice Man.
Coming from a middle-class family of Leh, Norphel went to Amar Singh College in Srinagar as a student of science. He completed a diploma course in civil engineering from Lucknow in 1960. In June 1960, he joined the rural development department of Jammu and Kashmir in Ladakh as a civil engineer. He retired in 1995.
In 1996, Norphel joined the Leh Nutrition Project, a non-governmental organisation, as project manager for watershed development.
Norphel noticed a small stream had frozen solid under the shade of a group of poplar trees, though it flowed freely elsewhere in his yard. He realized the reason for this phenomenon: the flowing water was moving too quickly to freeze, while the sluggish trickle of water beneath the trees was slow enough to freeze. Based on this, he created artificial glaciers by diverting a river into a valley, slowing the stream by constructing checks. The artificial glaciers increase the ground-water recharge, rejuvenating the spring and providing water for irrigation. He constructed them at lower elevations, so that they melt earlier, expanding the growing season.
By 2012, Norphel had built 12 artificial glaciers. Norphel's largest glacier is the one at the Phuktsey village. It is 1,000 ft long, 150 ft wide and 4 ft in depth. It can supply water for the entire village of 700 people and cost Rs 90,000 to make.
Documentary film-maker Aarti Shrivastava also directed a short film on his life titled White Knight, which was screened at film festivals in India and abroad.
He is a recipient of the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2010. He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2015.
Vijay Chandru

Vijay Chandru Reddy is an Indian entrepreneur. He is a co-founder and chairman of Strand Life Sciences.
Chandru received his bachelor's degree from BITS Pilani in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Science from UCLA in Engineering Systems and a PhD from the MIT Operations Research Center in 1982. He started his academic career in teaching and research in 1982. He served professor as Purdue University for 1982-1992. Later in 1992 he joined at the Indian Institute of Science. From 2003 to 2013 he served as Research Affiliate of the Lab for Information and Decision Systems at MIT.
He has co-authored the book Optimization Methods for Logical Inference, published by Wiley Interscience in 1999. He is also a founder of the Association of Biotech led Enterprises (ABLE) and continues to serve as an executive council member. He is one of the inventors of the Simputer.
Professor Chandru was elected as a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1996 and of the Indian National Academy of Engineers in 2010. Chandru has received the Dewang Mehta Award for innovation in information technology for the development of the Simputer in 2001. In 2006, Chandru received the President's Medal of INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences). Reddy was named a Technology Pioneer of the World Economic Forum in 2006 for his work with Strand Life Sciences and biotechnology. He received the Biospectrum Biotech Entrepreneur of 2007.
Climate Solutions Caucus

The Climate Solutions Caucus is a bipartisan caucus of U.S. legislators supported by the Citizens' Climate Lobby whose members work to achieve action addressing the risks from climate change. The House of Representatives and Senate each have a caucus. The House caucus was founded in February 2016, during the 114th Congress, by Representatives Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Ted Deutch (D-FL). The Senate Caucus was founded in 2019 by Senators Mike Braun (R-IN) and Chris Coons (D-DE).
On November 27, 2018, House caucus members Ted Deutch (D-FL), Francis Rooney (R-FL), Charlie Crist (D-FL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and John Delaney (D-MD) introduced the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 763), which would implement a national carbon fee and dividend. It had also been introduced in the Senate in 2018 as S. 3791.
The 2018 midterm elections illustrated a growing partisan divide over climate, and one third of incumbent Republican members of the Caucus, including co-chair Curbelo, lost their seats. One study concluded that this showed limited value for GOP members in pursuing bipartisan climate action.
The House caucus went partially dormant after the 2018 elections, relaunching in 2023 with leaders Andrew Garbarino and Chrissy Houlahan.
The House Caucus web site describes the Caucus as "working together to combat climate change while also protecting the economic prosperity of the United States. This is a group dedicated to building a constructive dialogue about climate change, economics, energy, and conservation among Members of Congress, global leaders, environmental organizations, and business leaders."
Membership of the caucus is restricted to consist of equal representation of Republicans and Democrats. After the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections for the 116th Congress this rule was loosened, but strict balance was restored again in 2023 in the 118th Congress. In the 118th Congress, the 66 members were as follows:
The Senate Climate Solutions Caucus was announced by Senators Mike Braun (R-IN) and Chris Coons (D-DE) on October 23, 2019. The two Senators wrote in an op-ed announcing the caucus:
The Climate Solutions Caucus in the Senate is bi-partisan, the rules of the caucus require that new members may only join with a member of the opposite party to ensure that the number of Democrats and Republicans stays the same. All actions by the caucus require unanimous agreement among the members. The caucus membership for the 116th Congress is as follows (independent Angus King (I-ME) caucuses with the Democrats):
Aridity

Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability. These areas tend to fall upon degraded soils, and their health and functioning are key necessities of regulating ecosystems’ atmospheric components.
The distribution of aridity at any time is largely the result of the general circulation of the atmosphere. The latter does change significantly over time through climate change. For example, temperature increase by 1.5–2.1 percent across the Nile Basin over the next 30–40 years could change the region from semi-arid to arid, significantly reducing the land usable for agriculture. In addition, changes in land use can increase demands on soil water and thereby increase aridity.
A December 2024 report from the UNCCD concluded that more than three-quarters of the Earth's land "has become permanently dryer in recent decades", that "drier climates now affecting vast regions across the globe will not return to how they were", and that a quarter of the global population lives in expanding drylands.
List of North American deserts

This list of North American deserts identifies areas of the continent that receive less than 10 in (250 mm) annual precipitation. The "North American Desert" is also the term for a large U.S. Level 1 ecoregion (EPA) of the North American Cordillera, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome (WWF). The continent's deserts are largely between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre Oriental on the east, and the rain shadow–creating Cascades, Sierra Nevada, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges on the west. The North American xeric region of over 95,751 sq mi (247,990 km) includes three major deserts, numerous smaller deserts, and large non-desert arid regions in the Western United States and in northeastern, central, and northwestern Mexico.
The following are three major hot and dry deserts in North America, all located in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico.
The largest cold desert is the Great Basin Desert, which encompasses much of the northern Basin and Range Province, north of the Mojave Desert.
Other cold deserts lie within the Columbia Plateau/Columbia Basin, the Snake River Plain, and the Colorado Plateau regions.
Listed from north to south, distinct North American desert regions include:
The separately defined western arid regions of North America are continental regions of aridity based on available water in addition to rain shadow-diminished rainfall and which have many non-desert shrub-steppe (EPA) and xeric shrublands (WWF) in addition to desert ecosystems and ecoregions. This large arid region of 190,000 sq mi (490,000 km) includes: deserts, such as the Great Basin Desert and Sonoran Desert; and the non-desert arid region areas (with greater than 10 inches (250 mm) annual precipitation) in the Great Basin arid region, Colorado Plateau, Mexican Plateau, and others. This arid region extends from the top of the North American Desert in Washington and Idaho southward into Mexico in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The 'western arid region' is east of and (except for Mojave sky islands) discontiguous from the Mojave Desert, unlike the southwestern Great Basin deserts adjacent with ecotones to the northern Mojave Desert.
CACI

CACI International Inc. (originally California Analysis Center, Inc., then Consolidated Analysis Center, Inc.) is an American multinational professional services and information technology company headquartered in Northern Virginia. CACI provides services to many branches of the US federal government including defense, homeland security, intelligence, and healthcare.
CACI has approximately 23,000 employees worldwide.
CACI is a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies, the Russell 2000 index, and the S&P MidCap 400 Index.
CACI was founded by Herb Karr and Harry Markowitz, who left RAND Corporation in 1962 to commercialize the SIMSCRIPT simulation programming language. The company went public in 1968. "CACI", which was originally an acronym for "California Analysis Center, Incorporated", was changed to stand for "Consolidated Analysis Center, Incorporated" in 1967. In 1973, the acronym alone was adopted as the firm's official name; reflecting the name customers had grown familiar with.
Their CACI Limited (UK) subsidiary was founded in 1975.
In February 2020, CACI announced the hiring of former White House staffer Daniel Walsh as corporate strategic adviser and senior vice president.
In April 2022, CACI announced that it had been awarded the Gold Edison Award, for its critical data dark web analysis intelligence platform DarkBlue.
CACI's growth has been predominantly via acquisitions of other IT companies.
CACI's SIMSCRIPT software product line added object-oriented capability, and added a new government contracting area: Space.
On June 9, 2004, a group of 256 Iraqis sued CACI International and Titan Corporation (now L-3 Services, part of L-3 Communications) in U.S. federal court regarding CACI's alleged involvement in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. Details are still, in 2019, under review by authorities, and also as of 2023, where a judge refused CACI's 18th dismissal request.
A 2017 story in The Washington Post reported that "a group of former Iraqi detainees got to make the case before a judge ... that they were tortured and that the contractor CACI International is partly to blame."
As of April 2024, an Alexandria, Virginia federal civil jury was deliberating whether to hold CACI liable for its employees' torture of three Iraqi citizens at Abu Ghraib. In November 2024, a jury awarded a total of US$42 million to the plaintiffs.
Depending on the focus (USA, International), competitors to CACI include Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, Capgemini, Infosys, Leidos, and Science Applications International Corporation.
Innovative Solutions In Space

ISISPACE (Innovative Solutions In Space) is a Dutch NewSpace company based in Delft dedicated to the design, manufacture and operation of CubeSats.
The company is one of the market leaders in Europe on the nano-satellite domain. ISISPACE has supported the launch of 367 satellites on multiple launch vehicles as of October 2019. Some of the launch vehicles that have launched payloads for ISISPACE in the past or are scheduled to launch payloads in the future are the PSLV, Vega and Electron rockets. Out of the 104 satellites on the ISRO's record breaking PSLV-C37 mission, 101 were provided by ISISPACE. Through Innovative Space Logistics (ISL), its launch services subsidiary, ISISPACE also facilitates the launches of small satellites by contracting piggyback launch opportunities to low Earth orbit on a variety of different launch vehicles. The company focuses on a CubeSat bus design in the range of 1 to 30 kg.
ISISPACE was founded in January 2006 as a spin-off from the Delfi-C3 nanosatellite project from Delft University of Technology.
In 2017 ISISPACE was developing a satellite for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, the Brik-II.
Arvind Gupta

Arvind Gupta is an Indian science educator, toy inventor, author, translator and scientist. He received the civilian award Padma Shree from the Indian government on the eve of Republic Day, 2018.
A graduate from IIT Kanpur (1975 batch), Arvind Kumar Gupta took a year's study leave from TELCO (in 1978) to work with the grassroots village science teaching programme for children in the tribal district of Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh called Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme. While there, he developed many useful low-cost teaching/science teaching aids using locally available materials. The possibilities of using ordinary things for doing science and recycling modern junk into joyous products appealed immensely to children.
Arvind Gupta's first book, Matchstick Models and other Science Experiments, was translated into 12 Indian languages by various Popular Science groups and sold more than half a million copies. Gupta has conducted workshops in over 2000 schools and has won many national and international awards. As a student in the 1970 s in Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Gupta became a socialist in belief but eschewed action-less discourse; he stated that instead he "placed more faith in small positive action than empty rhetoric." Gupta began his social service by teaching the children of the mess staff who had no opportunities for formal education.
Gandhian in outlook, Arvind Gupta participated in the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme (HSTP) in Madhya Pradesh in 1978. While he was there he developed his idea of creating simple toys and educational experiments using locally available materials as well as items usually thrown as trash. These simple toys, he found, fascinated children and Gupta went on to make these as the hallmark of his movement of popularising science. His first book, "Matchstick Models and other Science Experiments" was reprinted in 12 languages. Gupta's website holds instructions, including short video clips on YouTube, in a number of languages, for making hundreds of improvised toys, which he makes available freely without copyright restrictions. Gupta draws inspiration from a number of people, including Gautama Buddha, George Washington Carver and his mother.
His popular TED Talk: Turning Trash into Toys for learning gives an insight into his work and philosophy. His talk was among the 10 best TED talks compiled by Sir Ken Robinson and Sugata Mitra's 5 favorite education talks.
On 10th December 2024, Arvind Gupta was conferred Honorary Doctorate D.Sc. degree by Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun.
He has won several awards for his lifelong efforts at popularizing science and in designing teaching aids for young children. These include:
Arvind Gupta has translated over 290 books to Hindi.
Angklung buncis

Angklung buncis mangrupa seni pintonan hiburan, anu tumuwuh di Baros (Arjasari, Bandung).
Dina mulanya buncis dipaké dina acara-acara tatanén anu nyambung jeung paré. Tapi dina mangsa ayeuna, buncis dipaké minangka seni hiburan. Taun 1940-an bisa dianggap minangka lekasanana fungsi ritual buncis dina penghormatan paré, alatan saprak harita buncis robah jadi pintonan hiburan. Saluyu jeung éta, tempat-tempat penyimpanan paré ogé mimitian ngiles ti imah-imah nu nyicingan, digantian kalayan tempat-tempat karung anu leuwih praktis, sarta gampang dibawa ka mana-mana. Paré ogé ayeuna loba anu langsung dijual, henteu ditunda di lumbung. Ku kituna kasenian buncis anu tadina dipaké pikeun acara-acara ngunjal (mawa paré) henteu diperlukeun deui.
Instrumen anu dipaké dina kasenian buncis nyaéta 2 angklung indung, 2 angklung ambrug, angklung panempas, 2 angklung pancer, sarta 1 angklung enclok. Saterusna 3 buah dogdog, diwangun ti 1 talingtit, panembal, sarta badublag. Dina perkembangannya saterusna ditambah kalayan terompet, kecrek, sarta goong. Angklung buncis berlaras salendro jeung lagu vokal bisa berlaras madenda atawa degung.
Wewengkon anu masih ngamumulé kasenian angklung buncis antarana: angklung buncis (Parahiangan/Bandung), angklung badud (Parahiangan Wétan/Ciamis), angklung bungko (Indramayu), angklung gubrag (Bogor), Angklung Ciusul (Banten), angklung dogdog lojor (Sukabumi), angklung badeng (Malangbong, Garut) sarta angklung daéng anu idéntik jeung Angklung Nasional jeung tangga nada diatonis, anu dimekarkeun saprak taun 1938.
Rombongan angklung anu dawam memainkan lagu “Buncis”, digigireun lagu-lagu séjénna. Angklungna aya 9 hiji, nyaéta singgul, jongjrong, ambrung, ambrung panerus, pancer, pancer panerus, engklok, roel, sarta roel panerus. Dilengkepan kalayan rombongan dogdog diwangun ku opat dogdog anu gurat tengahna béda, ti anu pangleutikna ukuranana 25 cm, beuki badag nepi ka anu ukuranana 45 cm, dingaranan tilingtit, panempas, jongjrong, sarta bangbrang atawa badugblag anu pangbadagna. Digigireun éta aya ogé paniup tarompet kendang penca.
Para pamaén angklung nabeuh waditrana bari usik jeung ngigel sakapeung aya ogé anu maénkeun angklungna bari nangkarak. Sadengkeun nu maén dogdog sarta tarompet henteu kudu ngalakonan léngkah-léngkah kitu, cukup nangtung atawa ngaléngkah leutik mundur atawa maju. Maranéhanana ngawih silih gentenan bari ngabodor.
Kajaba lagu “Buncis”, lagu séjén anu dawam dicoo nyaéta “Badud” sarta “Tonggeret”. Angklung buncis aya di Ciwidey, Ujungberung, Bandung. Biasana dipintonkeun dina hajatan, poé raya nasional, pesta désa kawas sabéak panén, jsb.