The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
The assassination of Dutch rightwing populist Pim Fortuyn, and the stunning electoral advances of his French counterpart Jean-Marie Le Pen have brought some lingering trends in European politics to the forefront. Rightwing movements and parties, mostly campaigning on anti-immigration, anti-globalisation and anti-establishment sentiments, have been advancing in quite a number …
the European Union's (eu) efforts to boost passenger and goods transport on railways have not quite succeeded. The Eurostat report on transport infrastructure reveals that railway network is lagging behind motorway network. According to Eurostat, the statistics agency of the eu in Brussels, motorways grew by one quarter while the …
a recent report released by an expert committee recommended that France should continue testing new genetically modified (gm) organisms in open fields. However, the advisory committee
the human-monkey linkage certainly seems to be a strong one. Along with leaving their mark on the humans, the primates also seem to be responsible for transmitting fatal diseases like aids to their so-called descendents. This was recently revealed during a study conducted by researchers from France who identified a …
taking into account charges levelled against the French government, alleging that it had downplayed risks to public health after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a judge has ordered that official documents be seized as part of a probe to establish the truth. The accusations have been made by the Commission …
at least 27 million vehicles are junked every year. Ever wondered what happens to them? Studies show that they spawn an environmental disaster that governments are finding difficult to handle. The European Union (eu ) has taken the lead in reversing this trend. From April 21, 2002, with the implementation …
FOR three minutes, the night sky lit up on March 1, 2002, at the European Space Agency (ESA) launch centre at Kourou in French Guiana on the northern coast of South America. It was from here that an Ariane-5 rocket blasted off and put into orbit ENVISAT - the largest …
the Austrian health ministry seized 13.62 kilogramme of Dutch calves' liver that tested positive for the antibiotic chloramphenicol (cap). The authorities confiscated the meat immediately and placed the stock under strict veterinary quarantine. It is believed that a Dutch slaughterhouse had exported veal contaminated with the potentially dangerous cap to …
recently, a group of Kolkata-based taxi drivers did something quite unusual. They decided to tamper with the fuel in their taxis. They mixed 20 litres of diesel with one litre of mustard oil and ran their taxis on it. For them the doping made perfect economic sense. By default, researchers …
A French ban on the import of British beef is illegal, ruled the European Court of Justice. France imposed the ban three years earlier following an outbreak of mad cow disease. Jean Mischo, the court's advocate-general, said that the French government could not refuse meat imported directly from the UK …
Australian nuclear waste will now be shipped and processed in Argentina. Officials of both the countries recently signed an agreement to this effect, which has caused concern among the environmentalists. Australia presently sends its spent fuel to France for reprocessing. But following the treaty, Argentina will import the spent uranium …
the Indian system of medicines can take a leaf out of the French experience when it comes to marketing their products. Geographically labelling the medicinal plants used in various preparations, which shows their source of origin, would translate into better business. Not only would it put a seal of genuineness …
although emissions trading between industrialised countries to meet reduction targets will officially begin only when the Kyoto Protocol comes into force, private companies in countries like the uk , Denmark, France and Norway are already engaging in such trading. The latest addition to this list is the us . As …
A novel lighting device using carbon nanotubes that could give competition to conventional light bulbs and fluorescent bulbs has been developed by researchers at Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne, France. The device uses a central wire covered with carbon nanotubes that gives out electrons when a voltage is applied. These electrons …
Nissan Motors Corporation and Renault SA of France have decided to develop cars with fuel cells that run on hydrogen. The fuel cell vehicles will be available in the market by 2005. Fuel cell cars run on electricity produced by fuels such as hydrogen. As the exhaust emissions consist of …
revolutionary Electric Vehicle Alternative, or reva, the brainchild of Chetan Maini, managing director of Bangalore-based Maini group of companies, is not another smoke belching fossil fuel guzzler. The noiseless piece of machinery, first developed in 1996, is electrically driven. reva , India's first electric car, has been much delayed in …
The former head of the biggest hunting association of France has been directed to pay a penalty for violating a European Union's (EU) law aimed at protecting migratory birds. Pierre Daillant, former president of the National Union of Local Hunters' Federations, will pay US $5,300 to two associations of bird …
Oysters have feelings too and neglecting them could have implications for their health, as well as for that of other sea animals suggests a recent study research done in France. The scraping and shaking that farmed oysters ( Crassostrea gigas ) experience during grading and transportation is stressful and stressed …
To contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, Indonesia has banned the import of leather goods from Argentina and France. The country's agriculture department issued the ban and said that it would lift the ban only after Argentina and France are declared free from the highly contagious disease (see Down To …
