Tamarind seeds has antiviral properties and can potentially be used to develop antiviral medication for chikungunya, according to a research by Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee. The research conducted
This World Malaria Day, April 25, the State has a reason to smile, as the number of malaria cases has gone down drastically in the last three years with no deaths being reported since 2011. “The numbers
All private water tankers in the City will henceforth have to mandatorily mention the source of water in their trade licence. As part of the drive to keep a tab on private tankers supplying water, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has directed all the private water suppliers to obtain licences from competent authorities. Private tankers have also been asked to make sure that they have the registration certificate and permit issued by the Regional Transport Authority.
The rising pollution in the City has led to drastic increase in asthma among children during summer, according to a study conducted by Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) of Indian Institute of Science (IISc). According to the study report, the incidence of asthma has gone up by 10 times in the last 16 years - from 2.8 per cent in 1994 to 28.8 per cent in 2010. Construction works, road widening, tree felling and increasing vehicular population have contributed in making Bangalore the asthma capital, said Mahesh Kashyap, a research fellow with CiSTUP. He was delivering a lecture at a workshop on fuel efficiency on Tuesday.
Cough up more tax for registering second vehicle Going for a second car? Think again. For, once the “congestion tax” comes into play, not only will one be required to cough up double tax during the registration of the second vehicle, but also show additional parking space to obtain vehicle permit. Further, one will be have to pay additional entry fee to enter certain pockets of the City during peak hours. Among moves to reduce traffic congestion across various metros in the country, Union Ministry for Urban Development has suggested imposition of congestion tax the in central business district areas in all major cities.
The river is now one big sewerage line; its catchment area once fed 1,775 lakes The Arkavathy River was once the lifeline of the region. But all that is left of it today are just fond memories. The river basin that used to boast of 1,775 lakes along its pathway, now has only a few hundreds surviving. Even during the rainy season, some of the lakes are not filled with water from the basin. The industries along the river stretch and sand mining activity have practically destroyed the river bed, residents claim.
Bangalore University’s Department of Environmental Science has claimed that it has developed a “green” method to clean up nearly 90 per cent of all pollutants in the City’s lakes. Scientists at the department explained that their project, titled the ‘Green and eco-friendly technology for treating waste water entering into wet lands of urban Bangalore,’ aims at resuscitating all polluted lakes and water bodies in the City. They added that their system was superior to the existing method used by the government, which boasts of only 50 per cent efficiency.
The water level at the Shiva Balance Reservoir (SBR) again dropped below the minimum level on Sunday, forcing the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) engineers to make repeated requests to Cauvery Neeravari Nigam(CNN) engineers to immediately release water. A BWSSB engineer says that if the water level keeps dropping, they may have to turn off certain water pumps at TK Halli, Harohalli and Tataguni to avoid dry run due to lack of water supply. This may affect the water supply to the City, the engineer added.
‘Chances of being infected with the disease lower during summer’ A total of four H1N1 cases have been reported in the district since January 2013. Of the cases reported, all the patients suffering from the influenza have been cured or are currently recuperating from the viral infection. District Surveillance Officer, Dr D G Nagaraj said that the potency of the virus declined with the increase in temperature. Therefore, the chances of being infected with the disease was lower in summer months. “All the four people who were infected, were infected during the months of winter,” he said.
The government of Karnataka has failed to achieve the target of providing safe drinking water to 17.35 per cent of the state’s rural habitations during 2012-13 and spent only 46 per cent of Rs 800.38 crore allocated under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) till January 31, two months before the end of the financial year. The state government has also missed the target of addressing the problem of contaminated drinking water in 2,467 rural habitations and is estimated to have helped only 1,500 in the just-concluded financial year.
Both the countries will sign the agreement today Germany will lend India a soft loan of one billion euros to create infrastructure for green energy projects in the country. The Union Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Germany’s Ministry for Economic Co-operation will ink a deal in this regard on Thursday. The agreement will be part of a joint declaration on co-operation in the energy sector.
