Environment

KANPUR: Cloudy weather brought respite from extreme precipitation and humidity as the rains eased the restlessness of the city dwellers on Monday. 

During the early morning and evening, the rains comforted the uncomfortable people.

The heavy showers in the morning soothed the people intensely. The cloudy weather remained throughout the day.  However, there was a bright sky for some time too.

Tokyo, Jul 5 (AP/PTI) Deep floodwaters and the risk of more mudslides that left about 20 people confirmed or presumed dead hampered search and rescue operations on Sunday in southern Japan, including at elderly home facilities where more than a dozen perished and scores are still stranded.

Rescue helicopters plucked more people from their homes in the Kumamoto region. Up to 10,000 defense troops, the coast guard and fire brigades are taking part in the operation.

KUNMING/CHONGQING, July 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – Thousands of people have been affected, as rainstorms continue to ravage southwest China.

In Yunnan Province, heavy downpours since Monday night have led to three deaths and one missing, in the city of Zhaotong, as of 9.00 p.m. on Tuesday, local authorities said yesterday.

The lives of over 90,000 people in the city have been disrupted by the rainfalls and floods, according to the city’s emergency management department.

30 June 2020; MEMO: Two Turkish energy companies signed an agreement for the development and construction of a solar power plant in Italy, Anadolu Agency reported today.

Turkish companies Naturel Enerji and KURTEKS Tekstil Enerji announced that they will be working with Italy to develop and construct a 50-megawatt solar power plant.

It is stated that the total value of the contract is €45 million ($50.4 million), excluding VAT, with Naturel Enerji providing project funding.

28 June 2020; MEMO: Ethiopia will start filling its $5 billion hydroelectric dam on the Nile River in two weeks, the government said Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The announcement came after an online summit between leaders of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt convened by the African Union (AU) for negotiations on guidelines for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

KOTA KINABALU, June 28 (NNN-BERNAMA) —  Another five districts in Sabah have been hit by floods as at 12 pm today, bringing the total number of districts inundated to 10 from five at 8 am this morning, following heavy rain since yesterday.

The five new districts affected by the floods are Tenom, Pitas, Beaufort, Membakut and Papar, besides the earlier affected districts of Kota Belud, Kota Marudu, Penampang, Keningau and Tuaran .

Mumbai, Jun 26 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Friday that Ganesh mandals should not install idols with a height of more than four feet in the coming Ganesh festival.

Thackeray had earlier appealed Ganesh mandals -- groups which celebrate the festival in public -- to keep the celebrations low-key this year in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ganesh festival is set to begin from August 22.

Tall Ganesh idols are especially popular in Mumbai.

25 June 2020; MEMO: Lebanon has the highest pollution linked death rate in the Middle East, a Greenpeace report published yesterday has revealed.

According to the study, entitled “Toxic Air: The Price of Fossil Fuels”, the estimated number of deaths in Lebanon attributable to fossil fuels was 2,700 in 2018 – a rate of four deaths per 10,000 people.

MEXICO CITY, June 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck southern Mexico has risen to ten, the federal government said.

The 7.4-magnitude quake, which was followed by more than 1,500 aftershocks, was felt in Mexico City, some 700 kilometers away from the epicenter in Oaxaca.

It sent people fleeing their homes and workplaces and forced the closure of an oil refinery.

Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said in an interview with Milenio TV earlier in the day that 2,000 homes had been damaged.

MEXICO CITY, June 24 (NNN-Xinhua) — A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca on Tuesday, killing four people and injuring four others, the National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC) said.

The epicenter of the quake, which hit at 10:29 a.m. local time (1629 GMT), was located 23 km south of La Crucecita, a Pacific Coast village in southern Oaxaca state, the National Seismological Service (SSN) said via Twitter.

Two men and a woman were among the dead in separate incidents as a result of damage to roofs and walls.