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China’s Chongqing Water up 57 pct in Shanghai debut

March 29, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

SHANGHAI, March 29 (Reuters) – Shares in Chongqing Water Group Co (601158.SS) opened 57 percent higher in their first day of trade in Shanghai after it raised 3.49 billion yuan ($511 million) in its IPO, bucking a recent trend of lacklustre trading debuts for major mainland listings.

Utilities

Chongqing Water, which holds a monopoly in its business in the Chongqing region of central west China, opened up at 10.99 yuan on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday, compared with its IPO price of 6.98 yuan.

Analysts had expected the shares to rise up to 25 percent in their debut because of strong fundamentals, including a growing population and urbanisation trends that are set to boost water consumption in China. ($1=6.826 Yuan) (Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

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Group to air new toxic tip fears

March 27, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

A group opposed to a new tip on the New South Wales south coast, which will accept waste from outside the region, says it has fresh concerns.

The Southern Joint Regional Planning Panel will consider a development application for the facility at Tomerong later this year.

A Shoalhaven Unwanted Tip group spokesman, John Levett, says new fears about toxic material will be raised with the panel.

“The site of the leachate dam is a matter of metres from Duck Creek, which runs down into Moona Moona Creek and into the back end of Jervis Bay, also it’s about 60 metres from Tomerong Creek, which of course runs into St Georges Basin,” he said.

“That’s a big issue as well because St Georges Basin is under heavy pressure from urbanisation and it doesn’t flush out.”

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Workshop on use of textiles in agriculture to begin today

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sept 18 (ANI): The Ministry of Textiles and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will jointly organise a workshop on use of textiles in agriculture here today.

Over 100 delegates from various sectors like agriculture, the State Governments, agricultural universities, forest departments and institutes will attend the workshop.

The technical textiles are used in agriculture to fabricate shade-nets, crop-covers, mulch-nets, anti-hail nets, bird protection nets, fishing nets and greenhouse covers. The use of these items is very limited in the context of Indian agriculture.

The objective of the workshop is to sensitize stakeholders about myriad applications of technical textiles in agriculture and environmental engineering.

It will also create awareness amongst the stakeholders about the benefits of these items.

The workshop will also focus on various rules/legislations that need to be amended to facilitate the use of these textiles in various applications.

Technical textiles products used in the agriculture are known as Agrotech and those used for environmental protection are called Oekotech.

The major applications of Oekotech are for landfill waste management. It includes products used to prevent leakage of municipal or hazardous waste in landfills and suitable use of waste.

The consumption of these technical textiles products remains limited despite their perceived benefits.

With rapid urbanisation, the waste management has become major issue in India and Oekotech applications provide an effective way of managing the waste in an environment friendly manner. (ANI)

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Landslide in Nainital claims three lives

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Nainital, July 10 (ANI): Incessant overnight rains resulted in landslide at Nainital in Uttarakhand on Friday.

Due to the impact of the landslide, a boulder fell on a house in the early morning hours crushing three members of a family while they were asleep.

“There was a boulder lying behind the house. It rolled down all of a sudden and fell on the house. My brother was inside the house,” said Damodar, a kin of the victim and an eyewitness.

The house was being demolished, probably for a renovated construction and almost all the household items were stored in a single room. All these things were also extensively damaged by the fall of the boulder on the house.

“Today in the morning when it was raining, a boulder fell down on the members of a family who were sleeping because of which they died. A couple and a child died in this mishap,” said H S Hayanki, Police Inspector, Nainital.

Landslides have been a recurring phenomenon in Nainital, which is located in the hills.

Civic officials in Nainital say that although much had been done in the past to prevent the landslides, excessive urbanisation has upset the physical topography of the region and nullified the efforts of the administration. (ANI)

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Designer mirrors dismal realities of metropolis life

March 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Mar 19 (ANI): Sombre shades of city life were reflected in designer Nitin Bal Chauhan’s collection for the Autumn/Winter’09 collection at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.

Infused with drama, the designer put together a show, which had shades of dark and explored the grim realities of the urban lifestyle at the much awaited five-day fashion extravaganza, which kick started here on Wednesday.

Aptly titled ‘Conditions Apply Part II’, the collection in hues of grey and tinge of light black, lived up to the theme and brought to life successfully the nine stories of vanity, deliverance, teen suicide, mediocrity, accidents, urbanisation, senior citizens, sealing and divorce which centre round the lives of most of the metropolitan people.

Dresses, jackets, suits, skirts, pants and coats in woollen fabrics brought to platform the conditions that applied to those living in an urban set up.

“My creation is inspired by people around that I see leading different kinds of life and different kind of dilemmas. The cuts were very clean. It was lot of experiment with fluidity and structure. The palette is quite dark. There is lot of darkness around, which is the flip side of urban life which is being portrayed in this collection,” said Chauhan.

If the phobias of urban life inspired one designer, the story of silk formed the theme of designer Samant Chauhan’s collection.

Inspired by the Bhagalpur silk, Chauhan saluted the weavers who use the threads to weave together a beautiful body of fabric.

A colour palette of shades of beige brought about a rustic and rich feel to the garments.

Skimpy and slim tunics, coats almost vintage in appeal, frocks, jackets and trousers both for men and women in simple silhouettes brought forth the beauty of silk in various forms.

With 102 designers and around 175 buyers, Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week is the country’s premiere fashion extravaganza, which brings together the business of fashion and expert designers as well as connoisseurs of lifestyle on a common platform.

This gala event will culminate on March 23. (ANI)

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Australian milk product exports to India to resume

March 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Mar 3 (ANI): Exports of Australian milk products to India are set to resume for the first time since 2003 following an agreement between the governments of both countries.

Australian dairy exports to India were worth around 6 million dollars annually when the trade was suspended after the Indian Government changed its requirements for importing goods.

The Australian Government is hopeful that exports will grow beyond the 2003 mark when trade recommences in the near future.

The Indian Government recently approved a new system for the health certification of Australian milk products developed by the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service, News.com.au reported.

Trade Minister Simon Crean said the reopening of the trade reflected the growing agricultural relationship between Australia and India and the benefits of ongoing cooperation on bilateral trade issues.

“India’s changing demographics, particularly its growing middle class and urbanisation, is creating real potential for the trade growth and Australia is well placed to provide high-value dairy products,” Crean said.

Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said it was an important opportunity for the industry at a time when Australian dairy producers were going through a difficult period.

The breakthrough in India follows the signing of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement last week that will deliver better access for Australian dairy farmers to a South East Asian market with more than 600 million people. (ANI)

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Efforts to save wetlands in Kashmir

February 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Srinagar, Feb 13 (ANI): The Wildlife Department in Kashmir has taken all the measures to save the wetlands as deposition of silt and, human encroachment have led to drop in water levels and increase in pollution level.

The State of Jammu and Kashmir has nineteen wetlands, with nine of them in Kashmir Valley.

Experts predict that these wetlands will vanish in about seven years if the authorities continue to neglect them.

The Hokersar wetland, situated at 16 kilometres north of Srinagar, is just one of the favoured destination for migratory birds. It has shrunk to 4.5 square kilometers against its original area of 13.75 squareilometers. large number of satellite wetlands found in areas adjourning bigger water bodies have completely vanished due to rampant urbanisation and encroachment.

Some believe that the diversion of flood channels to wetlands has caused them to dry up.

The wildlife protection department of the state is embarking on a massive de-silting and de-weeding campaign to regain the wetlands and the Central Government has agreed to provide funds to help to save these wetlands.

AK Srivastav, Chief Wildlife Warden said that the department was doing its best to save these wetlands.

“Wetlands in Kashmir are very important for us and we are trying our best to save them. We are talking all the scientific measures to save them. The Government of India has been asked for funds to save these wetlands. Three wetlands have been included in the Prime Minister’s construction package namely: Wular Lake, Surinsar Mansar in Jammu region and Sobrari wetland in Ladakh,” said A.K. Srivastav.

Even the local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) are working for protection of wetlands.

“Kashmir valley is known for its wetlands all over the world. But I think people in Jammu and Kashmir do not know much about the wetlands. We are trying to create awareness among them on this issue. We want to make them understand that wetlands are nature’s kidneys. If the wetlands are there then agriculture and horticulture in the state will also thrive,” said Nazir, a member Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

Wetlands are among the most important life support systems for a large species of birds, yet two-thirds of these wetlands in Kashmir have been reportedly destroyed since 1950s.

The surviving wetlands are among the threatened natural areas and are in need of serious protection and preservation. The migratory birds fly in groups over continents in search of food. They travel long distances to inhabit amenable environments on seasonal basis.

During their six-month long stay in India, many of the birds lay eggs and bring up the chicks till they are capable to undertake journey back home. by Parvez Butt (ANI)

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Industrialization of China increases fragility of global food supply

January 25, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

Washington, Jan 22 (ANI): A new research by the University of Leeds, UK, has determined that industrialization of China is increasing the fragility of global food supply, with reports indicating that global grain markets are facing a breaking point.

Experts predict that if China’s recent urbanisation trends continue, and the country imports just 5 percent more of its grain, the entire world’s grain export would be swallowed whole.

The knock-on effect on the food supply – and on prices – to developing nations could be huge.

Sustainability researchers have conducted a major study into the vulnerability of Chinese cropland to drought over the past 40 years, which has highlighted the growing fragility of global grain supply. Increased urban development in previously rich farming areas is a likely cause.

“China is a country undergoing a massive transformation, which is having a profound effect on land use,” said Dr Elisabeth Simelton, research fellow at the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of Leeds, and lead author of the study.

“Growing grain is a fundamentally low profit exercise, and is increasingly being carried out on low quality land with high vulnerability to drought,” she added.

The study looked at China’s three main grain crops; rice, wheat and corn, to assess how socio-economic factors affect their vulnerability to drought.

Researchers compared farming areas with a resilient crop yield with areas that have suffered large crop losses with only minor droughts.

They found that traditionally wealthy coastal areas are just as susceptible to drought as areas with poor topography in the east of the country.

At the moment, the Chinese government claims that China is 95 percent self sufficient in terms of grain supply.

If China were to start importing just 5 percent of its grain, the demand would hoover up the entire world’s grain export. The pressure on grain availability for international grain markets could, in turn, have a huge knock-on effect.

Poorer countries are particularly vulnerable, as demonstrated by the 2007-2008 food crisis.

Published in the journal Environmental Science and Policy, the study used provincial statistics of harvests and rainfall together with qualitative case studies to establish the differences between land that is sensitive to drought and land that is not.

“One aim of this research is better understanding of the socio-economic responses to difficult conditions so that we can improve models of climate change,” said Dr Simelton. (ANI)

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