Author: News Desk

India aims for 50% of fuel stations owned by public sector oil companies to be operated by solar power within five years under the government’s green energy drive, its oil minister said on Tuesday. Dharmendra Pradhan said India’s three state-backed fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum, which operate about 63,150 fuel station across India, are moving to deploy solar panels across their operations. They have currently installed a combined 270 megawatts (MW) of solar power capacity and will add 60 MW more capacity in the coming year, Pradhan said. With government encouragement, Indian oil and…

Record floods in Sudan have threatened sites housing the royal pyramids of Meroe and Nuri, two of the country’s most important archaeological areas, an official said on Tuesday. The royal bath at Meroe, a basin that fills during the annual flooding of the Nile, was at risk from unprecedented water levels, and teams have been working since Monday to protect the site from being swamped, said Hatem al-Nour, director of Sudan’s antiquities and museums authority. Meroe is an ancient city on the east bank of the River Nile about 200 km (125 miles) northeast of the capital Khartoum. It was…

The Environment Authority conducted a study to measure the variation in air quality in three areas in the Governorate of Muscat as a result of conditions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. The study, which includes analysis of surrounding air in the areas of Al Khuwair, Al Mawaleh and Al Wuttiyah, pertains to the directives of the Supreme Committee tasked with tackling developments resulting from coronavirus. Upon the outbreak of the pandemic months ago, the Supreme Committee issued Stay-at-Home directives which largely confined people to their homes. Lockdown conditions were imposed and Command and Control Checkpoints were activated, restricting movement…

The top United Nations human rights official called on Russia on Tuesday to conduct or cooperate with a full independent investigation into Germany’s “unequivocal” findings that opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok nerve agent. Kremlin critic Navalny has been removed from a medically induced coma and is responding to speech, Berlin’s Charite hospital said on Monday. The hospital, which has been treating Navalny since he was airlifted to Germany after falling ill on a Russian domestic flight last month, said his condition has improved and he is being weaned off mechanical ventilation. “The number of cases of poisoning,…

The Frontline Heroes Office (FHO) has established a comprehensive national database of over 80,000 frontline professionals and volunteers actively protecting the UAE and its residents in the fight against COVID-19. The new registry is a significant milestone in an initiative to care for and champion those who put themselves on the frontline in service to the people of the UAE. The registry provides a detailed national picture of all those who serve on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19, to not only recognise and champion their commitment to public service but also to support their ongoing wellbeing through enabling…

PUBG Corp, the unit of a South Korean company behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), will no longer give Tencent Games the rights to publish its popular mobile game in India, it said in a blog. The announcement came a week after India banned 118 apps, mostly of Chinese-origin, PUBG among them, to step up pressure on Beijing over a months-long border standoff between the nuclear-armed rivals. “Moving forward, PUBG Corporation will take on all publishing responsibilities within the country,” the company said, adding that it was exploring ways to provide gaming experiences to Indian users in future. It was not immediately…

August of 2020 was the fourth hottest August in Bahrain since 1902 with only August 2015 equaling it in temperatures. The Meteorological Directorate said that the mean temperature of the month was 36.1°C, 2.1°C above the long-term normal for August. Only August 2017 with a record of 36.6°C, August 1998 with a record of 36.5°C, and August 2016 with a record of 36.4°C had higher temperatures in 118 years. The mean maximum temperature of the month was 40.2°C, which is 2.2°C above the long-term normal and the eighth highest mean temperatures for August since 1946. The highest mean monthly maximum…

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday the world must be better prepared for the next pandemic, as he called on countries to invest in public health. More than 27.19 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 888,326​ have died, according to a Reuters tally, since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. “This will not be the last pandemic,” Tedros told a news briefing in Geneva. “History teaches us that outbreaks and pandemics are a fact of life. But when the next pandemic comes, the world…

Whenever Jassim Amer went to the vast International Exhibition and Convention Center in Manama, it was mainly for shopping or for admiring the impressive items displayed during Jewelry Arabia and other high-profile shows. However, this time, as he entered the high-ceilinged edifice, he felt he was on a patriotic duty in the service of his country and its people in particular and humanity in general. Jassim is among the thousands of people who volunteered in the campaign to test the efficacy and safety of a vaccine produced by Chinese drug giant Sinopharm on healthy men and women from a large cross-section of the population. “I did not have the slightest hesitation to sign up as a volunteer in the clinical trials…

His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, again proved that Bahrain and the ruling family welcomes all religion with wholehearted love and respect. https://youtu.be/B-BAQGUs51A HH Shaikh Nasser with his two sons inaugurated Kerala’s Onam festival by lighting the welcome lamp and joined the delicious assortment of food lunch and photo sessions with staff. This gesture of His Highness Shaikh Nasser is clear evidence that amid all the conflicts plaguing the region and the world,…