Friday, May 20th, 2011
South Africa’s rail network needs investment of R97-billion to radically change the way South Africa travels, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said. “Let us be clear, the coffers of the state are not sufficient to fund such a large programme. Therefore, a significant and sustained commitment from local and international financiers will be required to complete
Friday, May 20th, 2011
Global consumption of natural resources could almost triple to 140 billion tonnes a year by 2050 unless nations take drastic steps, the United Nations warned Thursday. A UN environment panel said the world cannot sustain the tearaway rate of use of minerals, ores and fossil and plant fuels. It called on governments to “decouple” economic
Friday, May 20th, 2011
Residents of Las Condes borough will now be able to dispose of recyclable items at the Punto Verde (Green Spot) recycling station located in Parque Araucano, next to Parque Arauco mall. Santiago’s newest recycling depot was inaugurated on Tuesday by Environment Minister María Ignacia Benítez. Las Condes Mayor Francisco de la Maza also attended the
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
“Being the southernmost fjord in North America, Howe Sound has verdant green mountains with snow-capped peaks rising out of deep blue glacial waters. This is represented in the colour scheme. The design itself honours maritime history, particularly old cartography which knew little of these mysterious waters perched on the edge of the earth and therefore
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
Russian bloggers are becoming increasingly influential in ecological and environmental issues, participants at a Moscow forum said. “Right now, bloggers probably have more impact on the local authorities,” Yevgeny Arsyukhin, a columnist with the Izvestia newspaper, said at the EcoBlogy forum. “It all depends on the official,” blogger Oleg Kozyrev said. “Some officials want to listen to people,
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
Dubai is poised to set up a new committee to regulate urban and regional planning in a bid to match construction projects to future demand, it has been announced. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, ratified the principles of establishing a supreme committee for planning at a meeting
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
ESA is helping to take the bite out of mosquitoes and their deadly diseases by tracking their distribution and habitat via observation satellites, satnav, and mobile communications. The Vecmap initiative is testing the accurate mapping of mosquitoes in Europe, in particular, mosquitoes carrying diseases, for public health agencies and regional mosquito controllers. Testing began in 2009
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
It gave me – and many others – a momentous insight: The Earth is humanity’s home in space. Or with the words of the Stockholm conference in 1972: Only one Earth. We learned that the sphere of life, our Earth’s biosphere, is thin, fragile fabric that can easily be disturbed. Here the entire history of humanity
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
The Malta Information Technology Agency and IBM held a high profile joint business event that tackled the developments unfolding in the world of Open Source Software (OSS). The event, targeted for both public and private sectors, attracted a large number of attendees from various government ministries, local industry players and multinationals. MITA chairman Claudio Grech opened
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
African governments could become more sensitive to what their people really need by harnessing the wealth of available geospatial information, a meeting of scientists and policymakers has heard. This was one of the recommendations put forward by a meeting of the sub-committee on geo-information on the sidelines of the Second Session of the Committee on Development
