India

Elderly Indian man

For the first time, India’s elderly and disabled are able to vote from home

India’s election commission now allows and facilitates home voting for the elderly and persons with disabilities in the 2024 national elections. Voters at or above the age of 85 and those with 40% disability have been given the option to vote from home. More than 17 million such voters have registered across the country, the commission said.

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Coal

Coal’s share of power capacity in India drops below 50% for first time since 1960s

India is rapidly emerging as a renewable energy powerhouse on the world stage with a surge in both capacity addition and tendering to add more plants, according to new research. Renewable energy accounted for 71.5% of the record 13,669 MW power generation capacity added by India in the first quarter of 2024, while coal’s share of total power capacity dropped below 50% for the first time since the 1960s.

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space debris in Earth orbit, dangerous junk orbiting around the blue planet

India aims to achieve debris-free space missions by 2030

Low Earth orbit is littered with about 30,000 objects larger than a softball and millions smaller than a centimeter. A bombshell study found unexpectedly high amounts of vaporized metals polluting Earth’s stratosphere, which is home to the fragile ozone layer, whose chemical makeup can be altered by satellite material. Another study posted to the preprint server arXiv suggested that debris from burning satellites could be altering our planet’s magnetic field.

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Indian flag

India approves massive $9 billion rooftop solar plan

A massive subsidy program to help Indian households install rooftop solar panels in their homes and apartments aims to provide 30 gigawatt hours of solar power to the nation’s inventory. The scheme, called PM-Surya Ghar, will provide free electricity to 10 million homes according to estimates, and the designing of a national portal will streamline the process of installation and payment.

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Aerial view of oil tanker

India stops accepting Russian oil delivered by U.S.-sanctioned tankers

Indian oil refineries have stopped accepting Russian crude oil delivered by tankers operated by Russia’s largest commercial shipping company that has been sanctioned by the U.S., likely as a result of the war on Ukraine. The move deals a significant blow to Russia’s economy as India has emerged as a major importer of Russian crude oil over the past two years.

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Aerial photography of solar photovoltaic power plants in sunny weather

The world’s largest clean energy plant is now under construction in the Indian state of Gujarat

Situated just 12 miles from one of the world’s most dangerous borders separating India and Pakistan, Adani Green Energy Ltd.’s gargantuan new park will cover more than 200 square miles once completed. At a cost of about $20 billion USD, it will likely be the world’s biggest renewable park when it is finished in about five years, and should generate enough clean electricity to power 16 million Indian homes.

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Asiatic lion

Asiatic lions in India upgraded from endangered to vulnerable status in conversation win

In its recent report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has reclassified the Asiatic lion from “endangered” to “vulnerable,” signifying a significant improvement in their conservation status. This is a major win for Gujarat, India, the world’s sole home of these big cats.

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River dolphin

11 countries sign global pact to protect endangered river dolphins

Since the 1980s, the combined populations of river dolphin species have plummeted by 73%. With the Global Declaration for River Dolphins, 14 countries are expected to join forces to protect six surviving species. So far, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and Venezuela have signed the declaration.

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