Category: Environment

Oct 13, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Expolanka Holdings has expanded and renamed its recycling subsidiary and also intends to venture into recycling electronic waste or ‘e-waste’. Group unit Neptune Papers has been rebranded as Neptune Recyclers and has moved into recycling plastic, polythene and scrap metal in addition to its existing waste paper business, […]

MANILA, October 10, 2011 (AFP) – The World Health Organization’s chief on Monday urged governments to unite against “big tobacco”, as she accused the industry of dirty tricks, bullying and immorality in its quest to keep people smoking. This covers an area with a population of 1.6 billion people, including China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, […]

PANAMA CITY, October 8, 2011 (AFP) – Climate negotiators said Friday they made progress on laying out ways to help poor countries but deep differences remained on core issues ahead of a make-or-break talks in South Africa. With scientists warning that the planet is far behind on meeting pledges to control climate change, officials from […]

PARIS, October 6, 2011 (AFP) – Nearly two dozen countries next Wednesday will take part in a full-scale test of the Indian Ocean’s tsunami alert system, using the 2004 Sumatra quake as the basis for the exercise, UNESCO said on Thursday. Exercise IOWAVE 11 will re-enact the seismic events of December 26, 2004, simulating a […]

PARIS, October 6, 2011 (AFP) – Nearly two dozen countries next Wednesday will take part in a full-scale test of the Indian Ocean’s tsunami alert system, using the 2004 Sumatra quake as the basis for the exercise, UNESCO said on Thursday. Exercise IOWAVE 11 will re-enact the seismic events of December 26, 2004, simulating a […]

Oct 01, 2011 (LBO) – Volunteers in Sri Lanka are teaming up to combat rabies spread with free vaccinations which can save lives and also make a dent in 500 million rupees spent each year to treat dog bite victims. Dozens of volunteers teamed up on a hot Sunday afternoon to offer free rabies vaccination […]

NEW YORK, September 29, 2011 (AFP) – In the ultimate accolade for the world’s mad scientists, spoof Nobel prizes were awarded Thursday for studies into beetle sex, yawning, the desperation of people dying to urinate, and other daffy investigations. The annual Ig Nobel prizes, now in their 21st year, were given out at Harvard University […]

MANILA, September 29, 2011 (AFP) – The waters around India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are home to the world’s most endangered sea turtles, according to a study released Thursday aimed at setting a blueprint for global conservation. While it was well known that almost all sea turtle species face extinction, the study by 30 scientists […]

MEXICO CITY, September 27, 2011 (AFP) – Footprints from early humans that are between 4,500 and 25,000 years old have been discovered in a remote area of northern Mexico, researchers said Monday. The five footprints set in stone “are among the few impressions of the first inhabitants in the American continent found in Mexico,” the […]

WASHINGTON, September 21, 2011 (AFP) – What goes up must come down. But where? That’s the big question when it comes to a 20-year-old NASA satellite the size of a tour bus which is careening toward Earth and set to crash-land later this week. The US Department of Defense and NASA are tracking the six-ton […]

September 16, 2011 (AFP) – An international animal rights group warned Sri Lanka Friday against giving the Philippines a baby elephant, saying the creature would face a “lifetime of confinement, boredom and abuse”. The Asian unit of US-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wrote to Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne […]

WASHINGTON, September 10, 2011 (AFP) – NASA on Saturday launched a 0 million pair of washing-machine-sized satellites on a mission to map the Moon’s inner core for the first time. The twin spacecraft took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a three-month journey to the Moon at 9:08 am (1308 GMT) […]