Plants that absorb mercury
Trees that absorb mercury compounds could be the next step in 'bioremediation' - the use of organisms to clean up the mess left by people. In a report in Nature Biotechnology, Clayton L. Rugh and colleagues from the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, bred seedlings of a tree, the yellow …
Plants can soak up gold from soil
Scientists have found a way to make plants soak up gold from ore, suggesting a new way of mining the precious metal. This approach, called phytomining, has been demonstrated before for recovering nickel. Scientists have also studied plants for removing pollutants like lead from soil.Researchers said hybrid poplar trees might …
Cooling down
Solar powered air conditioning which for, the first time ever, has proved workable in a large test project in Jiangmen City, in southern China. The system become operational in early 1998. It is the absorption chiller used in conjuction with the solar collectors that is novel. Another novelty is the …
Almatti dam row
SC names expert : The Supreme Court has appointed an engineering expert as commissioner to examine all aspects relating to the erection of crest gates on Almatti dam and submit a detailed report to it. Sethi, director, of the National Institute of Hydrology in Uttar Pradesh, has been entrusted with …
Racket detected in Dhanbad
Dhanbad's only electric crematorium at Mohalbani, 20 km from Dhanbad on the bank of Damodar river, has turned into an instrument for smuggling of human organs. This obnoxious game, in operation since the past few months with the blessings of a police criminal nexus, was exposed recently when the body …
U.S. panel backs Glaxo Wellcome's hepatitis drug
An AIDS drug could soon become the first pill approved in the U.S. to treat chronic hepatitis B. A U.S. government advisory panel unanimously recommended that Glaxo Wellcome Inc.'s Epivir-HBV be approved to combat the fatal liver disease.
World Bank clears 24 health projects
The World Bank has approved 24 district projects in 17 States to provide health services in slums and semi-slum areas across the country. Of these Haryana has been granted two projects - one each at Faridabad and Bhiwani involving a total budget of Rs. 14 crores.
Health meet in Ahmedabad
The first International conference on multiple haling systems will be held in Ahmedabad from December 4. The three-day conference will be hosted by Healthcare International Multi-Therapy Institute, Ahmedabad.
152 new cases of HIV positive in U.P.
Nearly 152 persons have tested HIV positive in Uttar Pradesh with nine full blown cases of AIDS, according to the State Health Minsiter, Mr. Ramapati Shastri.An official press release, quoting the Minister, said that altogether 7,131 people had tested for HIV till August this year.
Tree of life
Japan's leading car maker, Toyota Motor Corp., has a new product : It's a super tree with the capacity to absorb 30% more toxic gases from smog than its regular botanical cousin. Toyota is into trees in a big way. Forty researchers have been beavering away in the company laboratory …
Orissa birth control drive under cloud
The family planning programme of the state government is mired in controversy in the tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district following the death of a beneficiary and with several others developing post-operative complications. While the district family planning department holds the lack of modernised medical equipment responsible, nearly 15 tribal beneficiaries from Sana, …
Medical team rushed to Malda
The West Bengal government rushed a 16-member medical team to Malda as there has been a fresh outbreak of gastroenteritis which has claimed seven lives and affected 500 since yesterday. Finance minister Asim Dasgupta assured today that the situation is not alarming,but he pointed out that precautionary measures has to …
World Bank aid for health project
The World Bank has agreed to provide financial aid to the tune of Rs 546 crore for the Karnataka health system development project, State Health and Family Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa said on Tuesday.
Study predicts fewer kids, empty schools in Kerala
Kerala will have fewer and fewer children going by recent trends in fertility and mortality rates. With many schools here already short of students, a worse situation should be expected, warn demographers. The fertility rate in the state has been on a decline over the past 20 years. The Crude …
Drive against blindness
About 500 children, including visually-impaired children, from eight-schools in Delhi participated in a parade organised at the National Stadium on Tuesday, as part of a drive against blindness in India. These children pledged to help blind people overcome their handicap. This public awareness campaign has been launched by ORBIS, which …
Chinese report says population under control
China's efforts to control population growth have proven successful, with a population that is 200 million less than what it could have been had nothing been done, according to the State Statistical Bureau. A SSB report says that population changes have helped improve the national strength and people's living standard …
China completes third biggest dam
China has completed the $725 million Wanjiazhai water control project on the Yellow River, its third biggest dam, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Mumbai HC sets aside BMC order on stray dogs
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) assured Bombay High Court that dogs in the city will not be killed indiscriminately, but only when they pose a danger to public health. Acting on this assurance, the High Court has set aside the August 4 mayor-in-Council (MiC) resolution that proposed to kill strays …
Ayurveda meet in New York
An ayurveda conference is being held in New York on October 31 and Novemebr 1 to create an awareness about its use and methods and how it can be a bona fide and authentic alternative system of modern medicine.The conference is organised by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
