The Punjab Energy Development Agency has released a draft green hydrogen policy aiming to achieve a green hydrogen and ammonia production capacity of 100 kilo tonnes per annum by 2030. The policy proposes extending incentives under the existing “Punjab Industrial and Business Development Policy 2022” to new green hydrogen and …
behind their facade of apparent passivity, plants possess a sophisticated behavioural repertoire. In particular, they respond to pathogens by mounting a variety of self-protection measures. Recent work by Sreeganga Chandra and colleagues at Purdue University, us, provides an insight into the method by which plants resist microbial infection (Proceedings of …
in the very first instance in India of tribals getting intellectual property right (ipr), the Kani tribe in the agastyar hills in south Kerala has been awarded Rs 5 lakh for an anti-fatigue drug they have been making from a local herb. The scientific name of the herb is Trichopus …
the European Commission (ec) hopes that soon most cars meant for scrapyards will be reused. Car owners could soon be taking their old cars for recycling with the same ease and community spirit as they take newspapers, bottles and cans. New proposals are expected from Brussels during the next three …
the satellite industry has come a long way from the first commercial launch of intelsat (also known as the Early Bird) on April 6, 1965. Research and development work in a large number of fields is relying heavily on the data being sent from various satellites orbiting the earth. The …
If you are in Bhutan and get caught carrying a pheasant feather, you can be fined Nu 500 by the nature conservation section (ncs) of the country's forestry service division. Fines for killing protected animals range from Nu 1,000 (for a piece of otter skin) to Nu 50,000 (for a …
Agracetus, a company in Middle town, Wisconsin, US , has genetically engineered cotton plants to produce fibres containing granules of plastic for making ultrawarm winter wear, carpets and insulation material. Maliyakal John of Agracetus injected cotton plants with genes from Alcaligenes eutrophus , a bacterium that makes a biodegradable plastic …
A report recently released by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (fao) and the World Food Programe (wfp), has predicted that Rwanda will need substantial food assistance this year, following the influx of over one million returnees. This was stated in a un Information Centre press release around mid-January. …
Pilots can now fly daring low-level missions at night using the Nightbird forward looking infrared (FLIR) imaging system. The system has revolutionised the operational effectiveness of military aircraft and can also add to safety in civil airlines. The FLIR, which was recently demonstrated in a display at London's science museum, …
• The need to check poaching of migratory birds at the Pong sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh has recently been stressed upon by a forest officer who has conducted a six-year-long study in the area. It was pointed out that the birds come into direct conflict with locals cultivating the area. …
a group of British biochemists have discovered a cavity in the molecular structure of an enzyme, essential to the malarial parasite, which could act as a docking point for tailor-made drugs designed to inactivate the enzyme and disable the parasite. The most deadly parasitic protozoan Plasmodum falciparum , which kills …
a recent move by the Centre to commission the services of foreign consultants for studying wastewater treatment has been strongly resented by the World Wide Fund for Nature (wwf)-India. The wwf-India stressed that a study on the same subject has already been carried out by Dhrubajyoti Ghosh, an environmental engineer …
ashok Gadgil, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (lbnl), California has invented a device that uses ultraviolet (uv) rays to disinfect water. The invention could dramatically improve health conditions in India and other Third World countries. The uv purifier, called uv Waterworks, uses just a fraction of energy …
alone and uncared for? Reach out to others, or you may grow up to be disturbed and dangerous individuals, who are likely to die at a young age. This is the outcome of a recent conference organised at Georgetown University by the New York Academy of Sciences. Called
women who eat poorly before and during pregnancy have babies who grow up with a tendency to heart disease and stroke, according to David Barker and his colleagues at the Medical Research Council's Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, uk. Barker observes that the nutritional status of the mother during …
quasars are among the most fascinating objects in the universe. These relatively small objects are believed to be at the far edges of the universe. Given their distances, the amount of energy received from them is truly enormous, leading to one of the great unsolved mysteries of cosmology: what is …
john Dwyer, head of Centre for Microporous Materials in Manchester, uk, has introduced several projects to conserve natural resources ( Spectrum , No 255). One such project is distillation of fuel from dirty, mixed plastic waste
The Madras High Court has pulled the brakes on the Kolli Hills hydroelectric power project in Salem district of Tamil Nadu. The court directed the Tamil Nadu electricity board to stop work on the project and directed the board to seek permission from the Centre for clearance of the project. …
