The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
A NEW, almost completely biodegradable credit card was jointly launched by the Greenpeace and the Co-operative bank at the Design Museum, London, on May 7. This is the first time that a card which is 99.9 per cent polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-free has been produced. 'The card is made of a …
Of late, jazzy terms like 'natural product' (for a traditional herbal drink), 'bio-yoghurts', 'super eco' (for unleaded gasolene) and 'natural supermarkets' have invaded the 'mercosur' trading block (comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) of Latin America. Ecologically-inclined slogans like "Protect the environment, fix your sidewalk" put up by a cleaning …
Sound from acoustic guitars may soon become more melodious for environmentalists. Hiroyuki Yano, Yuuzoh Furuta and Hiroyuki Nakagawa of the Kyoto Prefectural University in Japan have discovered a replacement for Brazilian rosewood, an endangered tree that has been used to make the backs and sides of the best guitars. The …
when green begins to mean 'stop, look and then proceed', corporate bigwigs and chief executives had better take note. The green watch on industry in India has begun, initiated by a non-governmental organisation (ngo). On May 2, 1997, the Centre for Science and Environment (cse) launched its much awaited Green …
JAPANESE followers of fashion can now buy the latest thing in sartorial elegance: fabrics printed with the same technology used by millions of computer printers worldwide. Canon, the electronics company and Kanebo, the clothing company, have developed the bubble jet textile printing system, which the companies say can be faster …
HERBAL REMEDY:A sore throat reliever, the first of a new range of herbal oral care products, has been launched by the Mumbai-based Kopran Pharmaceuticals. The company will also introduce a mouth ulcer gel, a mouth deodoriser a destaining toothpaste and a cracked voice healer under the Smyle range of products. …
green banking has become big business in the Netherlands. Two years ago, politically-correct banking and investment was limited to three small idealistic banks-Triodosbank (originated from the anthroposophic movement which sees human beings in relation to the cosmos), asn Bank (founded by the trade unions) and the Other Investment Fund (founded …
NEW Delhi's Bhatti and Asola mines, abandoned after endless quarrying, were homes to hectares of extensively degraded gullies and ravines devoid of vegetation. Mining had threatened the hydrological balance as well as reclamation of the soil in this area. A team of botanists from Delhi University led by C R …
NEATLY painted white and bearing the inscription safa tempo (meaning clean three-wheeler in Nepali language) on the sides in green letters - the electric passenger vehicles have come as a blessing in disguise to rescue the residents of Kathmandu. Although only seven in number at present, in the safa tempo, …
A VISIT to a factory that manufactures batteries is riot a very pleasant experience. A factory manufacturing lithium batteries uses electrodes made from lithium and manganese dioxide (mo) Which are used to run anything from wristwatches to camcorders. Lithium reacts explosively with water, therefore the humidity in the factory must …
Environmental contamination and high production cost could now be eliminated with the discovery of a botanical pesticide using Jatropha curcas (tubang-bakod), say scientists from the Central Development Research Institute> based in Baltac, Ilocos Norte, the Philippines. Pesticide from Jatropha can be easily prepared by farmers themselves. The formulated product is …
nearly hundred and fifty years ago, William Grove, an amateur British scientist, discovered that he could produce electricity as a byproduct of the process which mixes hydrogen and oxygen to make water. Now, some British engineers say that his discovery will be the key to smog-free driving in the next …
india will soon be in a position to produce environment-friendly detergents based on zeolites, using indigenous know-how. Scientists at the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (csmcri) in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, a constituent of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (csir) are the people behind this technological breakthrough. Zeolites …
Zeolites are alluminosilicate minerals that contain alkali and alkaline-earth metals, such as sodium, potassium and calcium as well as water molecules within their structural framework. The lattice structure is relatively porous, enclosing interconnected cavities in which the metal cations (positively charged atoms) and water molecules reside. The cations and water …
boston's Logan Airport in the us now has cleaner buses to transport passengers. These shuttle buses are designed to run on a blend consisting of 80 per cent diesel and 20 per cent
A K NANDA, a young scientist from Berhampur in Orissa, has developed a commercially viable process for production of bio-degradable plastic sheets and films using starch. The polythene films developed from starch undergo complete degradation in two months of soil burial, unlike polymer plastics which take upto 100 years to …
WITH the deadline to phase out ozone depleting substances (ODS) of the industrialised nations of the world already getting over, the countdown for developing nations has begun. As if to signal the urgency, an international conference on eco -refrigeration - fridges using chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) substitutes - was held in New …
AS THE world's fossil fuel reserves decline, the search for a clean, inexpensive and sustainable source of energy hots up. At a site near Abingdon, a us $794 million experiment to develop a new and virtually non-polluting energy source has entered the final phase of its programme. The experiment, known …
