Life expectancy by year

Not just Bengaluru, many towns and cities across India — Jodhpur, Patna, Guwahati, Silchar, Surat, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Gurugram (above), to name a few — were flooded after spells of intense rain that overwhelmed their poor and choked urban infrastructure. (Image: @ashwinning/Twitter) While there are a host of manmade and natural factors behind the increasing incidence of floods in Indian cities, it is the former that is more to blame, experts have warned, emphasising that the environment must be respected and things set right before it is too late. Unplanned construction in low-lying areas and wetlands, rampant concretisation, choked and overwhelmed storm-water drains, as well as disappearing water bodies and natural water channels are responsible for urban floods, which throw life out of gear in cities every monsoon. A spurt in spells of very heavy rainfall in short durations triggered by erratic weather patterns is a double whammy for already-choked urban infrastructure, … [Read more...] about Intense rain, choked infrastructure: Why urban India sinks every monsoon

Much of the hope for a revival of India’s jute industry rests on bans on single-use plastics that dozens of countries, including India, have enacted in recent years (Representative Image) Sameer Yasir NADIA, India — When shoppers in places like America take a woven reusable bag to the store, they aren’t just saving the planet. They are reviving a storied industry thousands of miles away in India. Jute, a coarse fibre used to make fabrics like burlap, has been cultivated for centuries in the warm and humid climate of the Ganges Delta. Some of India’s jute factories have been in operation for more than a century, and today the country is the world’s largest producer. But in recent decades, the industry has struggled as less expensive synthetic substitutes have flooded the market. Farmers turned to other crops, cheap labour moved elsewhere and mills deteriorated from lack of investment. Now, though, what had been jute’s weakness is its potential strength. As much of the … [Read more...] about That reusable Trader Joe’s bag? It’s rescuing an Indian industry

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin 01/01 Update below. This post was originally published on December 29 iPhone 15 range leaks have revealed a number of potentially tantalizing upgrades coupled with jaw-dropping price increases . But now a new report claims Apple may slash prices. In a blog post, historically reliable industry insider yeux1122 reveals that Apple’s internal analysis of underwhelming iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus sales concluded that their decline is “far beyond the range predicted” — even allowing for ongoing component shortages caused by the pandemic. And as a result, Apple will aggressively price its successors. “The biggest problem is the price,” the insider reports. This makes sense. The $899 iPhone 14 Plus costs just $100 less than the iPhone 14 Pro, despite having an inferior display, chipset, camera and older design. With most buyers spreading purchase costs over a two-year carrier contract, the reason to go Plus … [Read more...] about Insider Claims iPhone 15 Will Be ‘Aggressively’ Priced

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Updated Jan 5th: article originally posted Jan 2nd. You might have missed a stunning moment in Apple’s history. For the first time in the 21st century, Apple did not release a new Mac in the holiday quarter. What happens now? Update: Tuesday January 3rd. One of the biggest missing machines is the Mac Pro. Not only is the Mac Pro missing from the portfolio, the ultimate Mac Pro may never appear. Just as the Intel-powered Mac Pro had a multitude of options in terms of chip specification, so the Mac Pro is expected to offer a number of Apple Silicon options. Much like the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models that sport both the M1 Pro and M1 Max as user configurations, Mac Pro choices could include the presumptively named M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, and an M2 Ultra building on the M1 Ultra found in the Mac Studio. There has also been talk of an M2 Extreme chipset that would lie at the heart of the Mac … [Read more...] about Apple Ended 2022 Without A New Mac.

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin They’re all closed. Movie Theaters. Bars. Nightclubs. Arenas. Cafes. In New York, Broadway and museums are shuttered. In San Francisco it’s even more dire. Across the country and the world, cities are shutting down, leaving humans from Seattle to Shanghai without traditional ways of finding distraction. The mandate for social distancing that has proven essential at slowing the spread of the coronavirus will cut about $12 billion of entertainment revenue from the U.S. if the shutdown lasts until July, as President Trump signaled . Billions more are not being spent on creating new content as film and television production is frozen. Things could get a lot worse. “ This is definitely unprecedented and turning everyone's lives completely upside down,” says Ryan Borba, managing editor at concert tracker Pollstar. The concert and live event industry brought in $34 billion last year, according to … [Read more...] about Coronavirus Could Be A $12 Billion Hit To Entertainment And Audiences May Never Be The Same