A new study reveals the presence of a new bacteria in UK waters posing a serious health risk. Surprisingly rising sea temperatures are the reason behind this. New species of bacteria found in the UK waters A new species of Vibrio bacteria are present in the waters around the UK. Rising temperatures are making waters […]

Mumbai Dec 25 PTI Maharashtra on Saturday reported 1485 new coronavirus cases and 12 fatalities which took the caseload to 6756240 and death toll to 141416 officials said The tally of active patients in the state rose to 9102 As many as 796 coronavirus patients recovered during the day taking the tally of recoveries to 6502039 The state recorded two new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the tally of such cases to 110 As many as 57 of these patients have been discharged With 117793 samples being examined in the last 24 hours the number of coronavirus tests conducted in the state rose to 68353269 As per the official release 92048 people are undergoing home isolation and 887 are in institutional quarantine The states recovery rate is 9768 per cent and fatality rate is 212 per cent Mumbai reported 731 cases but no death in the last 24 hours while the larger Mumbai division witnessed 1011 new cases and one fatality Nashik division added 118 new cases Pune division reported 289 cases and nine deaths Kolhapur and Aurangabad divisions recorded 11 and 13 new cases respectively Latur Akola and Nagpur divisions added nine six and 28 cases respectively Nagpur Latur Kolhapur and Nashik divisions did not report any COVID-19-related death while Akola and Aurangabad divisions witnessed one death each Maharashtras coronavirus figures are Total cases 6656240 New cases 1485 Death toll 141416 Total recoveries 6502039 Active cases 9102 Total tests 68353269 PTI ND BNM KRK KRK

Bhopal Oct 23 PTI Madhya Pradesh on Saturday reported 11 new coronavirus infections but no fresh deaths on account of the pandemic The states caseload thus rose to 792740 while the death toll remained unchanged at 10523 The recovery count rose to 782138 with 12 persons getting discharged leaving the state with 79 active cases With 59991 samples being examined during the day the number of coronavirus tests conducted in MP went up to 19842620 As many as 399158 coronavirus vaccine doses were administered during the day taking the tally of jabs given in the state to 68501813 Coronavirus figures of MP are as follows Total cases 792740 New cases 11 Death toll 10523 no change Total recovered 782138 Active cases 79 Number of tests conducted 19842620 PTI ADU KRK KRK KRK

New Delhi Oct 21 PTI The fourth General Assembly of multilateral body International Solar Alliance ISA concluded on Thursday with a promise to achieve USD 1 trillion global investments in solar energy by 2030 The fourth General Assembly of the ISA was held virtually between October 18 and October 21 It was presided over by Union Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh who is also the president of the ISA General Assembly The General Assembly approves a solid action agenda to mobilize USD one trillion in solar investments by 2030 including a blended finance risk mitigation facility ISA said in a statement A total of 108 countries participated in the assembly including 74 member countries 34 observer and prospective countries 23 partner organisations and 33 special invitee organisations US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry delivered the keynote address and European Commission Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans addressed the gathering on October 20 During the General Assembly two new programmes were launched -- management of solar PV panels and battery usage waste and solar hydrogen programme it said The new hydrogen initiative is aimed at enabling the use of solar electricity to produce hydrogen at a more affordable rate than what is available currently USD 5 per KG by bringing it down to USD 2 per KG Making hydrogen cost competitive with natural gas presents major challenges for both supply and performance However bringing down the costs can unlock a cascade of benefits The discussions at the assembly highlighted that the MSME clusters can replace diesel gensets with hydrogen which are viable even at todays solar hydrogen prices The discussions also focused on how ISAs waste management programme will be pivotal for the growing volume of waste and toxic materials lack of waste specific legislation and high cost of waste treatment An update on the One Sun One World One Grid OSOWOG initiative was also discussed at the assembly The concept of a single global grid for solar was first outlined at the First Assembly of the ISA in late 2018 It envisions building and scaling inter-regional energy grids to share solar energy across the globe leveraging the differences of time zones seasons resources and prices between countries and regions The OSOWOG will also help decarbonise energy production which is today the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions Aiming to synergise its efforts and actions with other similar initiatives globally OSOWOG has joined hands with GGI Green Grid Initiative to form a unified GGI-OSOWOG initiative This aims to contribute to the collaborative rapid development of resilient grids globally -- building on continental regional and national grid infrastructure programs The UK COP Presidency the Government of India and the Presidency of the ISA are expected to announce this collaboration at COP26 to facilitate increased technical financial and research cooperation to help deliver the joint vision of the two initiatives This collaboration will be another leap towards a global ecosystem of interconnected renewables shared for mutual benefits and global sustainability and collectively become as one of the most resilient steps to mitigate climate change and support the global energy transition The ISA also announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to mobilise USD 1 trillion in global investments for solar energy across ISA member countries The two organisations will work with the World Resources Institute WRI to develop a Solar Investment Action Agenda and a Solar Investment Roadmap which will be launched at COP26 Delivering the presidential address Singh said It is time for all of us to get together to make energy access using solar and renewable energy available We have successfully done this in India and it can be replicated globally Solving the problem of energy access is more important than the energy transition The energy transition is meaningless for those without energy The ISA can enable energy access for 800 million people worldwide it added He further said it is time for developed countries to direct the energy transitions funds they had committed at previous climate conferences ISA will cover credit guarantees and help in driving green energy investments in these countries Developed nations must decide whether economic development should take place through clean energy or by burning coal and firewood The developed world cannot escape this responsibility he added ISA Director General Ajay Mathur said ISA targets USD 1 trillion of investment in solar by 2030 which would be significant in bringing the world closer to energy transitions needed The ISA is an inter-governmental treaty-based organisation with a global mandate to catalyse solar growth by helping to reduce the cost of financing and technology PTI KKS KKS ABM ABM