The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed online shopping behaviours, according to a survey of about 3,700 consumers in nine emerging and developed economies.The survey, entitled “COVID-19 and E-commerce”, examined how the pandemic has changed the way consumers use e-commerce and digital solutions. It covered Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, the Republic …
ever since acrylamide was found in food it seemed to be the ultimate confirmation that everything tasty is bad for health. Here was a compound that was a probable carcinogen and a possible neurotoxin, present in practically every fried or baked food. Fortunately, for gastronomes, an enzyme could offer a …
The war over Glivec, a cancer treatment drug, is expected to intensify as two writ petitions filed by Novartis AG, the Swiss pharmaceutical group, come up for hearing on September 26, 2006, in the Madras High Court. Petition 24754 was filed against the January 25, 2006, order of the assistant …
bacterial hold: Bacteria have hair-like protrusions with a sticky protein on the tip that enables them to cling to surfaces. The coiled, bungee cord-like structure of the protrusions helps the bacteria hang on tightly, even under rough fluid flow inside the body, claim a group of researchers at the University …
Just before the Conference of Parties (COP) began, news had spread that the big seed companies were trying to slip in text in a resolution to dodge the moratorium on terminator seeds. These seeds are genetically altered to make them sterile and thus prevent reuse. Developing countries and civil society …
A five-year temporary ban has been imposed on the use and import of genetically modified (gm) crops and plants across Switzerland. This was approved by 55.7 per cent voters in a referendum on November 27, 2005. Many Swiss farmers are considering moving into the booming organic farming business and thus …
Twenty years after the worst ever man-made disaster in the country, victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy got a direction from the Supreme Court for the disbursement of a Rs 1,567 crore compensation to them, paid by US pesticide major Union Carbide.
Supreme Court order dated July 19 2004 directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to release Rs 1503 crore deposited with it by the company for disbursement to Bhopal gas tragedy victims.
When deliberations began on May 13, 2004 the world's forest policy-makers thought that all was well at the fourth UN Forum on Forest meet (UNFF-4). But by midnight everything had collapsed: two resolutions were dropped and another significantly watered down. By next afternoon, the delegates were on their way home, …
Three months since the Cancun debacle, the collapsed world trade talks still hang in the balance. World Trade Organization (wto) members met on December 15-16 to follow-up on the failed negotiations but little substance emanated from behind closed doors except an agreement on procedural issues of restarting negotiations through the …
more than 40 per cent of bacteria found in meat on sale in Switzerland are resistant to at least one antibiotic, shows a research. The findings have grave implications
1992: Proposal for a convention fails at Earth Summit 1995: Ad hoc open-ended Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) set up for policy deliberations under Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) 1997: IPF fails to arrive at consensus on issues such as finance, transfer of environmentally sound technologies and international mechanisms. Open-ended …
A new international pact will force companies to disclose the pollutants they emit, factory by factory. The treaty, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ece), was finalised in Geneva by more than 30 countries of Europe, Central Asia and North America. The accord will …
if iceland made a dramatic re-entry into the International Whaling Commission (iwc), the sequel to the event promises to be equally startling. For, after having voted in favour of Iceland despite its plans to resume commercial hunting of whales, Sweden has done a volte-face terming the move an "unfortunate mistake'. …
star trek's antimatter-driven warp drive may still be a fantasy but the idea of antimatter itself got a fillip. The ever-controversial Geneva-based European Organisation for Nuclear Research (cern) has recently produced antihydrogen
rampant clearance of tropical forests to produce vegetable oil continues. However, Switzerland's largest supermarket chain, Migros, has committed itself to buying palm oil exclusively grown from ecologically sound sources. The Swiss retailer, in conjunction with Worldwide Fund for Nature (wwf) has formulated a set of minimum environmental and social criteria …
The Swiss take pride in their lush landscapes, and Bolly wood buffs know why. The breathtaking alpine pastures of this small mountain country have replaced strife-torn Sri nagar and polluted and overpopulated Ooty as a backdrop for frolicking fantasies as our buxom actresses and burly actors join Heidi in yodeling …
are the tiny grass blades capable of lighting up our houses? Farmers in Switzerland are coming up with the world's first commercial grass power station. The station, in the Schaffhausen town of northern Switzerland, would produce about three million-kilowatt hours of electricity annually from 4,400 tonnes of grass. More than …
