Tamil Nadu — The central bank of India has updated its co-lending model to allow for collaboration by banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) on loans to the priority sector. Also under this scheme, banks are permitted to co-lend with housing finance companies (HFCs), based on a prior agreement. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) circular published on Nov. 5 states that “to better leverage the respective comparative advantages of the banks and NBFCs in a collaborative effort, it has been decided to provide greater operational flexibility to the lending institutions… .” The primary focus of the revised scheme, referred to…
Author: zenger.news
Islamabad — In a bid to reduce rising levels of pollution and help mitigate negative effects of climate change, Pakistan has approved a national electric vehicle policy with tax incentives to encourage the manufacture of EVs and get more of them on the roads. While the policy is touted as an environmental initiative and promotes electric buses and two- and three-wheelers, some 3 million registered automobiles in the country — which contribute greatly to air pollution — are not included. “One of the major objectives of policy include reduction of emissions; however, no vehicle retirement policy is in place in…
TEOFILO OTONI, Brazil—Most sloths prefer spending their time in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America. But that’s not the case in Teofilo Otoni, a city of about 135,000 residents in southeast Brazil, where a group of eight to 10 sloths has taken up residence in a town square — and experienced a spate of births in recent months. The most recent delivery took place Oct. 28 in Tiradentes Square, the city’s center. The mother sloth after giving birth. (Janaina Mendonca Pereira/Newsflash )“About two months ago, two females had cubs, and recently, we were surprised that one of…
ARONA, Spain—Four robbers armed with fake guns were recently arrested after police on Tenerife in the Canary Islands caught them in the act at a mini-casino. The criminals tried to rob a mini-casino in the municipality of Arona on the island of Tenerife in September, the Spanish Civil Guard Command of Santa Cruz de Tenerife told Zenger News on Nov. 2. Frame of the actual moment of the robbery in mini casino. (Newsflash)Police began investigating the group in August, after they robbed a bank branch in a nearby town. Officers were later able to trace their vehicle and waited within…
VALSAN VALLEY, Romania—A 65-million-year-old “living fossil” fish feared to be extinct has been filmed and photographed, providing fresh hope for its long-term survival. While the Asprete is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List, leading Romanian environmentalist Alex Gavan feared it might have become extinct. “It is the rarest fish in Europe, and according to some researchers, the world,” Gavan said, who is also a noted alpinist. The organization lists 32,000 endangered species, of which 28% are crustaceans and 30% are sharks and rays. The Asprete, which once roamed with the dinosaurs,…
Mumbai — Environmental activists are up in arms over the government’s plan to relocate 18 coral colonies along the coast of Mumbai in the path of a planned multilane road. Though moving the corals is aimed at protecting them, activists say there is little expertise available to handle the complex project. “These corals are now doomed,” said Indian environmentalist Stalin D. M. K. Rao, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), told Zenger News that the corals would be moved in the same habitat and within the same region as their original sites. Rao said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the city’s…
New Delhi — Marieswaran, who runs a small-scale firecracker factory in India’s firecracker capital Sivakasi, saw sales dip 25 percent lower than usual this year and was waiting for the Diwali festival to bring some cheer. But a state government ban on firecrackers has left him with no option but to shut down his business. In addition to Marieswaran, hundreds of other fireworks manufacturers in Sivakasi fear they’ll have to shut down. The town, in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, has around 1,000 manufacturing units and supplies products to the whole of India. The yearly turnover of India’s firecracker industry…
Islamabad — Pakistan’s troubled southwestern province of Balochistan and the mountainous regions of Waziristan are seeing a resurgence in terrorist activities. In the latest incidents on Oct. 15, some 20 soldiers and civil security personnel were killed. The province is home to Islamist, separatist and sectarian insurgents. Moeed Yusuf, national security adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, has accused India of funding the merger of Taliban splinter groups and the terrorists operating in Balochistan. He also accused India of using think tanks in Afghanistan to funnel money to fund the terrorists in the province. In the first incident on Oct.…
Tamil Nadu — A water crisis in the southern Indian city of Chennai, often called the Detroit of India because of automobile industries, has been in the news recently, but a new report states that 30 other cities are facing a similar problem. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in its report that Bengaluru, India’s technology hub, and financial capital Mumbai are among the cities that will face a serious water crisis by 2050. The Water Risk Filter report named 100 cities across the globe in South Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa. These cities are home to 350…
Colombo — An unprecedented surge in air pollution in Sri Lanka over the past week is being blamed on winds from India’s peninsular region blowing in high levels of bad air. The recent high pollution levels in Sri Lanka were recorded soon after air pollution levels in India’s capital of New Delhi increased to “severe” on Oct. 23. “The pollution levels in northern Sri Lanka are higher than the southern parts because of the northern winds blowing from the Indian peninsular region,” said Sarath Premasiri, a senior scientist at the National Building Research Organization (NBRO), which monitors the country’s Air…