It’s bloom season at one of Asia’s largest tulip gardens in Indian-administered Kashmir. Due to sustained low numbers of COVID-19 cases in India, thousands of tourists are visiting the garden where more than 1.5 million tulips, hyacinths and daffodils are on display.
Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden, previously Model Floriculture Center, is a tulip garden in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
It is the largest tulip garden in Asia spread over an area of about 30 ha (74 acres).
It is situated on the foothills of PanchalDhar Range nowadays Pir Panjal Range with an overview of Dal Lake. The garden was opened in 2007 with the aim to boost floriculture and tourism in Kashmir Valley.
It was formerly known as Siraj Bagh.
About 1.5 million tulip bulbs, all in multiple colours, were brought Keukenhof tulip gardens from Amsterdam.
Besides there are 46 varieties of flowers, including daffodils, hyacinth and ranunculus which were also brought from Holland. The tulip Garden is home to around 65 varieties of tulips.
The garden is built on a sloping ground in a terraced fashion consisting of seven terraces. Apart from tulips, many other species of flowers – hyacinths, daffodils and ranunculus have been added as well.
Ukraine Nuclear Power Operator Says All Russian Forces Have Left Chernobyl
All Russian troops who occupied the Chernobyl nuclear power station after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine have left the decommissioned plant, Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom said on March 31.
The troops headed toward Ukraine’s border with Belarus, Energoatom said.
“According to the staff of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, there are now no outsiders on site,” Energoatom said in a statement. State-owned Energoatom had earlier said most troops had gone, leaving only a small number behind.
The operator said that the Russian military also left Slavutych, a nearby town where Chernobyl workers live.
There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had not been able to confirm reports of Russian troops receiving high doses, according to the AP news agency. It said it was seeking more information.
Russian troops seized control of Chernobyl soon after the February 24 invasion, but the plant’s Ukrainian staff continued to oversee operations there.
Although the plant is decommissioned, it needs electricity to power cooling systems for the spent nuclear-fuel storage facility and other systems. Tons of waste at the plant must be constantly cooled to keep radiation from leaking.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk demanded that Russian forces occupying the power station pull out of the area after Ukraine’s armed forces warned of the danger of ammunition exploding at the site.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, traveled to Ukraine on March 29 for talks with senior government officials on the delivery of “urgent technical assistance” to ensure the safety and security of the country’s nuclear facilities.
Grossi arrived on March 31 in the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad for talks on April 1 with senior Russian officials. The IAEA didn’t provide further details of his agenda.
Ukraine has 15 active nuclear reactors at four plants, one of which, at Zaporizhzhya, is under the Russian military’s control.
The head of Energoatom on March 31 urged the UN nuclear watchdog to help ensure Russian nuclear officials do not interfere in the operation of Chernobyl and the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
527 Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne
1229 Martyrdom of Abraham of Bulgaria. While living as an Islamic merchant, he converted to Christianity and is killed by Muslims for changing religions.
1748 Ruins of Pompeii rediscovered by Spaniard Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre
1952 Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & George Gamow
1974 Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an Islamic Republic in Iran
1976 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs found Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs’ parents house in Cupertino, California
HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY
TODAY IN FILM & TV
1930 “The Blue Angel” starring Marlene Dietrich in her breakthrough role premieres in Germany
TODAY IN MUSIC
2017 Bob Dylan receives his Nobel Prize for Literature at a private ceremony in Stockholm
TODAY IN SPORT
1992 NHL players begin first strike in 75-year history; 10 day action earns large playoff bonus increase, more control over licensing of their likenesses and changes to free agency system
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1934 Clyde Barrow kills two young highway patrolmen, H. D. Murphy and Edward Bryant Wheeler, at the intersection of Route 114 near Grapevine, Texas. Bonnie Parker’s role in the murders helps turn public perception against the gang for good
WOULD YOU BELIEVE THIS FACT ABOUT TODAY?
2004 Google introduces Gmail: the launch is met with skepticism on account of the launch date
United Parcel Service of America, popularly called UPS, has announced that it was trying out a four-wheeled “eQuad” electric cargo bike for deliveries in densely packed urban areas, where bikes have better and easier access, to complement its push into electric vehicles.
According to UPS vice president of fleet maintenance and engineering, the package-delivery giant is trying out 100 of the bikes, designed and built by British firm Fernhay, in seven European markets and will also launch trials in the United States and some Asian markets, Luke Wake,
As well as making public commitments to cut their carbon footprints, package-delivery companies are seeking new ways to cut the cost of last-mile deliveries amid soaring e-commerce orders.
UPS’ eQuad has an electric-assisted top speed of around 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) –which if you pedal harder you can go faster – and haul up to 200 kilograms (441 lb) of packages. Its electric battery has a range of around 40 miles (64 km), which Wake said would be more than adequate for urban routes.
The vehicle is only 36 inches (91 cm) wide, so can legally use bike lanes and enter pedestrian zones that UPS’ vans and trucks cannot access. Under normal circumstances, drivers would have to get out of their vehicles, load packages on carts and haul them to customers.
A representative of the company says the Atlanta-based company sees an opportunity to scale up the use of the bikes in “megacities” and complement its range of vans and trucks.
“There are more and more opportunities for zero-emission solutions like this that can alleviate inner-city congestion,” Wake said while demonstrating the eQuad at a UPS package facility in London. “It can also help our operations be more efficient at the same time.”
Rivals FedEx and Deutsche Post unit DHL are also experimenting with electric cargo bikes as part of their own zero-emission vehicle plans.
The Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) has distributed free tree seedlings to guests at the 25th Convocation Ceremony of the Lagos State University (LASU), at the Buba Marwa Auditorium, Ojo.
According to its General Manager, Adetoun Popoola, the exercise was in furtherance of the agency’s awareness and sensitisation drive aimed at stimulating and awakening the consciousness of residents to plant trees for the protection of the ecosystem.
Popoola said the organisation will continue to propagate the tree planting gospel to inhabitants of the state to encourage them to plant, saying it is the only natural defence mechanism to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“We are here at LASU to advocate for a sustainable greener environment. We are giving out free plants and educating the audience on how to plant a tree,” she added.
The general manager acknowledged that the sensitisation exercise afforded the agency the opportunity to interact and have one-on-one conversations with some of the visitors to know their disposition towards planting, stressing that feedback generated would help reinforce the organisation’s advocacy programmes.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is slated to launch its fourth space tourism mission today as the company continues its mission to make high-speed flights to the edge of space a mainstay of pop culture.
The six passengers, which include a Blue Origin engineer and five paying customers, are slated to take off aboard their Blue Origin New Shepard capsule Thursday after 9:30 am ET.
Those interested in catching the action — which is expected to look much like Blue Origin’s three earlier suborbital jaunts — can tune into Blue Origin’s webcast Thursday morning.
Boosted by a 60-foot-tall rocket, they will soar to more than three times the speed of sound, or more than 2,000 miles per hour. Their capsule will vault past the Kármán Line at 100 kilometres (or 62 miles) altitude, which is widely recognized as the altitude at which outer space begins.
And at the peak of the flight, they’ll experience a few minutes of weightlessness and, out their window, sweeping Earthly views.
It’s not clear how much the trip cost the five paying customers. Blue Origin has not publicly disclosed a fixed per-seat price point, though it had auctioned off one ticket for US$28 million.
But that was for a seat to ride alongside Bezos himself, and the auction winner didn’t end up going. (He is slated to fly later this year, however.) Blue Origin’s direct competitor, Virgin Galactic, sells seats for $450,000.
This flight had been slated to include Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson, but he dropped out of the mission after Blue Origin announced a schedule change earlier this month. The company cited the need for additional ground tests on the New Shepard rocket as the reason for the delay.
Gary Lai, who has been with Blue Origin for 18 years and holds several patents related to the New Shepard rocket’s design, flew in Davidson’s place and was the sole non-paying customer on the flight.
Lai’s crewmates included Marty Allen, an investor and the former CEO of a party supply store; Jim Kitchen, an entrepreneur and business professor; George Nield, a former associate administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation; Marc Hagle, an Orlando real estate developer, and his wife, Sharon Hagle, who founded a space-focused nonprofit.
WHAT IT ALL MEANS
Business activity in space — largely led by SpaceX — is booming. From building cheaper rockets and designing new uses for satellites to imagining futuristic space hotels, the industry has attracted record levels of investment.
After years of quiet development, Blue Origin’s space tourism rocket made its crewed launch debut last year with Bezos, flying alongside a heroine of the space community, Wally Funk, as well as his brother Mark Bezos and a paying customer.
Since then, Blue Origin made headlines for flying other well-known names on two subsequent flights, including Star Trek star William Shatner and Good Morning America host Michael Strahan.
Blue Origin’s goal is to make these suborbital spaceflights a mainstay of pop culture, giving a 10-minute supersonic joyride to invited guests — who thus far have mostly been celebrities — and anyone else who can afford it.
The ultra-high-speed hyperloop proposed to take people between Edmonton and Calgary in about 45 minutes took another step forward this week after securing funding to finance the system.
Countries in Europe and Asia are filled with high-speed bullet trains, bringing passengers from Paris to London or Tokyo to Kyoto within 2.5 hours.
But hyperloops could bring passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 45 minutes.
Elon Musk introduced the concept of the hyperloop in 2013, but the US still doesn’t have one. So what’s the holdup? It all comes down to technology, money, and construction.
Two companies, UK-based Broughton Capital Group and China-East Resources Import & Export Co., have agreed in principle to provide a combined US$550 million finance to accelerate the development of the TransPod Line between the two Alberta cities.
The high-speed transportation system is being developed to carry passengers and cargo in a low-pressure tube environment at 1,000 km/h.
The vehicles would be powered by electrically driven magnetic propulsion.
The textile sector accounts for between 2 and 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Producing one kilogram of textiles also uses over half a kilogram of chemicals, and consumes huge quantities of fresh water.
Globally, $460 billion of value is lost each year by discarding clothes that could still be worn.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is implementing a three-year project funded by the European Union (EU) to develop innovative business practices and economic models in the textile value chain to help reduce environmental impact and improve livelihoods.
Africa Collects Textiles is one of the first Kenyan start-ups to participate in the InTex project, to develop their business model, determine their product environmental footprint and implement life-cycle thinking to up-cycle textile waste into quality rugs, carpets and toys.
Africa Collect Textiles (ACT) is a social enterprise in the business of used textiles collection and recycling.
ACT rolls out a new model for; collecting and redistributing used clothing in order to provide underprivileged communities with decent outfits; building the foundation for a circular textile and fashion industry, by preparing large quantities of sorted materials, suitable for repurposing and recycling; designing and developing products from textile waste
By collecting used textiles clean and dry, carefully sorting them, and determining and designing the best possible application for each and every item, ACT reduces pollution caused by dumping and burning, creates jobs, provides fitting outfits to vulnerable groups, and lots more.
Currently, ACT has 25 convenient drop-off points for used textiles in the city of Nairobi.
The goal for 2021 is to grow to 50 drop-off points. ACT offers a pick-up service for bulky items (such as mattresses and curtains) and accepts corporate workwear and uniforms.
After collecting and sorting, wearable items are re-distributed, denim is recycled into shoes, patchworks, facemasks, and carpets. Wool and acrylic are recycled into blankets and park ranger uniforms into school bags.
ACT’s goal is to save more and more used textiles from landfills or from being burned in the open air.
Simultaneously we are developing our sorting and recycling processes. Through collaborations with local designers, producers, and artisans we push the textile/fashion industry towards circularity.
The government of Zambia is executing a new four-year project to help communities near the Lukanga and Bangweulu wetlands in the Central and Luapula provinces of the country.
Drawing on an increasingly valued approach for building climate resilience, termed ecosystem-based adaptation, the project is restoring wetland and forest ecosystems to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to climate change.
Wetlands and forests reduce the impacts of climate change by absorbing excess rainwater into the ground during floods and providing sources of water during droughts.
As the ecosystem disappears, so too do these vital climate defenses, and communities become trapped in the constant oscillation between flood and drought.
Atlantic Lithium has announced Interim Results for the half-year period ended 31 December 2021.
A full copy of today’s report (including tables and diagrams referred to in this release) is available through the Investor Centre of the Company’s website.
“Atlantic Lithium’s progress in the reporting period, and subsequently, has been truly remarkable.
In July 2021, we were delighted to announce a binding agreement with Nasdaq listed lithium exploration and development company Piedmont Lithium Inc. to fully fund and fast track the Company’s industry-leading asset, the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana, to production.
“The agreement reduces the funding requirements for Atlantic Lithium and its shareholders and sets the Project on the path to becoming West Africa’s first lithium-producing mine.
With global demand for lithium growing exponentially in line with the adoption of electric vehicles and more sustainable practices, the agreement establishes an entrance for Atlantic Lithium and West Africa to play an integral role in the lithium supply chain.
The agreement provides Atlantic Lithium with a strong cash balance to further stimulate growth for the Company.
“Significant exploration developments have been made at the Ewoyaa Project since the start of the period, which continues to add value to the Project. This includes a total of 37,690m RC and diamond core resource drilling and 38,730m of exploration auger drilling completed during the period.
“This work has culminated in a MRE upgrade to 21.3Mt at 1.31% Li2O in December 2021, which was upgraded again post-period end to 30.1Mt at 1.26% Li2O. Earlier this month, we announced the start of RC drilling designed to test new targets to the north and south of the current MRE.
“To date, approximately 28 km2 has been auger drill tested, with only 13 km2 drill tested within our broader 560 km2 portfolio in Ghana. This demonstrates the true untapped value potential that the Ewoyaa Project offers, which we are looking to capture.
“We were also proud to announce a Scoping Study on Ewoyaa, which incorporated the 21.3Mt JORC resource and demonstrated a significant improvement in project economics and life of mine.
“The Scoping Study retains a business case for a 2 Mtpa production operation, producing an average 300,000tpa of 6% Li2O spodumene concentrate and with life of mine revenues estimated to exceed US$3.43 billion.
The most recent MRE of 30.1Mt is expected to significantly improve the fundamentals of the Project once more, while future resource upgrades are anticipated to further improve project economics.
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