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Hans India
28-04-2025
- Science
- Hans India
Conocarpus is a climate ally, not a threat: Experts
Tirupati: Amid rising misinformation about the Conocarpus plant, environmentalists are intensifying efforts to educate the public on its ecological benefits. Speaking at a press conference organised by Jana Chaitanya Vedika in Tirupati on Sunday, environmental expert Prof K Bayyapu Reddy strongly defended the species, urging citizens to protect rather than vilify it. Conocarpusfrom Yemen has thrived across several countries. Prof Reddy highlighted the plant's potential as a powerful tool against climate change, citing its ability to absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide, release abundant oxygen. He pointed out that many everyday crops like tomatoes, potatoes, and coffee were also introduced from abroad. He noted that Bengaluru institutes have thousands of Conocarpustrees,but no student complained any health issue. He further dismissed fears about the plant's roots damaging infrastructure, citing the example of Guntur, where Conocarpus trees planted along road dividers grew without causing any structural damage. Responding to few claims, he explained that its dense foliage makes it unsuitable for nesting but does not repel avian life. Prof Reddy called for the formation of a scientific committee comprising environmentalists, scientists, and doctors to study and publicise the true environmental impact of Conocarpus. Jana Chaitanya Vedika State President Vallamreddy Lakshmana Reddy stressed the urgent need to improve India's low tree-to-person ratio and supported research confirming Conocarpus's remarkable carbon absorption capacity. The organisation announced plans to launch awareness campaigns. The event was attended by several notable personalities, including chartered accountant E Phalguna Kumar, former APCOST Member Secretary and geologist Prof TV Krishna Reddy, and National BC Front Convener KML Narasimha.
Belfast Telegraph
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Fit-again Michael Sweeney feels ‘stronger' after putting horrific injuries behind him
Michael Sweeney made a winning return from serious injury at last year's Cookstown 100,but the Skerries man says he was far from his best.
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
What we learned from Scotland's Six Nations so far
A glance at the Six Nations table is all that is needed to realise Scotland's hopes of the title are all but done after three matches. Hopes were high for Gregor Townsend's side after a bright Autumn Nations Series, but injuries to several key players, especially talismanic captain Sione Tuipulotu, dampened turns out there was good reason to be cautious. Scotland proved too strong for Italy,but were then flattened by an Ireland side who did not need to get into top gear at Murrayfield to sweep aside the home chances then meant the Calcutta Cup was finally returned to English hands last time you look beyond the cold hard facts on the scoreboard, though, what else can we glean from Scotland's three outings so far? Squandered chances & a lack of kicking from hand The obvious place to start is where Scotland left off. They were the better and more fluent side for long spells at Allianz Stadium yet lost by a had 58% possession and 59% territory, carried for 462m more than England and made nine line breaks to the opposition's problem was that in 10 entries to England's 22 they came away with no points. Attention focused on Finn Russell's three missed conversions, but had Scotland made more of their prime field position - or even taken the pragmatic option of kicking a penalty or drop-goal - they would have extended their stranglehold over addition to costly missed conversions, Scotland's kicking from hand has also been Scots have averaged 8.7 passes for every kick, considerably higher than every other side in the tournament. England have made only three passes for every have kicked 69 times in total for an average distance per match of 660.4m. Every other side's average is above clearly feel they are better served with ball in hand and that has helped star backs such as full-back Blair Kinghorn carry more (58) and for more metres (500.3) than any player in the competition. Jones and Van der Merwe look likely Lions Before the championship, several members of Scotland's talented backline would have fancied their chances of making this summer's British and Irish Lions tour of Tuipulotu - who faces a race against time to make the trip - Kinghorn and Darcy Graham will surely all be in the discussion for Andy Farrell's squad, while in-form Ben White and the versatile Tom Jordan will be in with a two that appear to have nailed down their spots are Huw Jones and Duhan van der hat-trick against Italy demonstrated his innate try-scoring ability and he has also vastly improved his defence. Only France wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey has more tries in this year's der Merwe's attributes are obvious. He possesses pace, power and - like Jones - is a try-scoring South Africa-born wing has made five line breaks and carried for 318.2m so far, with 140m of those against his favourite opposition, England. Darge to fore, but lack of grunt an issue When Tuipulotu was ruled out of the tournament with a pectoral muscle injury, head coach Townsend selected Russell and Rory Darge to share leadership is the team's superstar, the supremely talented fly-half who produces moment of magic. He is a charismatic figure who plays the game with rare dexterity and co-captain is the opposite. He is a reserved talker and far from flamboyant, but he is developing into a world-class flanker who leads with his Glasgow man has hit 112 attacking rucks in the three games, the most of any player in the championship. He has also made 27 clean-outs and 38 tackles, the most on both counts of any Scotland is another firmly in contention for a Lions place. There were fears heading into the tournament over Scotland's lack of size up Richardson, Scott Cummings, Josh Bayliss, Max Williamson and Andy Onyeama-Christie have all been absent through injury and Scotland just do not have the depth to replace those big men with other big brawn of Cummings, Williamson and Onyeama-Christie - who was superb last season when Scotland's pack went toe-to-toe with Ireland - in particular has been sorely relatively modest performances so far of the normally abrasive Matt Fagerson have not (49%) and their next opponents, Wales (48%), are the only two sides to have a gain-line success rate below 50% across the opening three rounds, while Townsend's side also have the lowest dominant carry rate (23%).Against England, Scotland made just one dominant tackle in 80 minutes. While Scotland had plenty of ball, it was not the sort of super-quick variety that backs thrive on and fed into the costly lack of incision.
Telegraph
03-03-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Will buying an electric car save you money?
Electric cars are a lightning rod: some owners are evangelical, while other drivers think they are overpriced and overrated. But they are the future. Auto Trader has forecast a tenfold leap in the number of electric cars on our roads over the next decade, from just under 1.3 million to over 13 million. So does it make financial sense now to switch to electric? Or would you save money in the long run with a new combustion engine car instead? It depends on several factors including the type of car you drive, your mileage and (crucially) whether you have a driveway. Use our tool to find out whether it's time to take the plunge. How the calculator works Example 1 Say you drive 10,000 miles a year and are considering buying either a petrol hatchback or an electric hatchback. If you don't have a driveway or a way of charging an electric car at home, you will have to rely on public charging points, which are far more expensive. The calculator indicates that, in purely financial terms, it is probably not worth making the switch as your total costs would not be lower with an electric car within ten years. Even if you re-ran the calculator with the same information, but this time said you did have home charging, it still would not be cheaper to run an electric car than a petrol one within a decade of purchasing. Of course, many things could change over ten years. The price to charge at public points could dramatically drop or the premium currently paid for an electric car over a petrol or diesel equivalent (assumed to be £12,500 in the calculator) could disappear. And there are other reasons people may decide to switch, from preferring the modern aesthetics of a Tesla, for instance, to concern over air quality. Example 2 This time we're assuming you drive 20,000 miles a year, want to buy a hatchback and that you have a driveway. Now the calculator suggests the break even point – when the total cost of an electric car becomes lower – is at around eight years. Example 3 We're still assuming an annual mileage of 20,000 but this time you want to buy an SUV. Now, the break even point is just three years, because SUVs using internal combustion engines guzzle petrol or diesel at a high rate. It should be noted that the calculator results are merely indicative. Comparing fuel efficiency is very difficult as there are many factors at play and the calculator assumes an average efficiency for electric cars but has more precise estimates for petrol/diesel equivalents. Why are buyers cautious about going electric? Affordability remains a major sticking point: electric cars tend to cost more than their petrol or diesel equivalents. This was found to be the single biggest barrier for would-be buyers, according to a survey by YouGov. But this premium is plummeting. Electric cars were 59pc more expensive on average in January 2020, according to Auto Trader,but five years later it had dipped below 25pc for the first time. This is equivalent to an average of £12,500, which is reflected in our calculator as an upfront cost for an electric car. Leasing is of course an option, but in this analysis we are focussing on outright purchases alone. The Government is also stripping away the relative tax advantages of electric cars. When first registered, the rate of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) depends on carbon dioxide emissions – this covers the car for 12 months. Electric cars used to be exempt from this so-called 'showroom tax', but the Chancellor has imposed a charge of £10 from April. This remains, however, considerably lower than the £540 average for a new mid-sized petrol car. From the second year onwards, all new cars – including electric – will pay the standard VED rate of £195. An expensive car supplement is added on top of this for five years if the list price exceeds £40,000. This is set at £425 per year for 2024-25, bringing the total road tax bill to £620. The exemption sparing electric cars is also ending in April, meaning the tax advantage of an electric car is much less advantageous. Have a driveway? Electric cars make a lot more sense Savings, therefore, mostly come down to the cost of refuelling versus recharging. Combustion engine drivers are at the mercy of the forecourt. Petrol was about 7p per litre cheaper than diesel at the start of 2025, but diesel cars tend to be more efficient and so will likely prove more economical over 1,000 miles. When you have an electric car, the advantage of having a driveway – and so being able to charge at home – is huge. According to Zapmap, rates at public charging points have hovered around 80p/kWh over the past year. Off-peak home rates, meanwhile, came in 10 times cheaper at 8p/kWh. Many energy providers now offer two-rate tariffs, which supply electricity to homes at much lower rates at night. After affordability, the next most-cited concerns about buying an electric car, according to YouGov, both relate to range: a lack of charging infrastructure, and a worry the car will have low mileage at full charge. According to the Electric Vehicle Database, the current average range of cars currently on the market is just over 230 miles. Many new petrol cars, on the other hand, can go up to 400 miles on a full tank, with diesels often surpassing 500. How far you get on a single tank or charge is largely dependent on driving style and usage. The UK is now expected to have more public charging points than fuel nozzles. The number of forecourts has been in decline for years, falling by a third since 2000 to just over 8,000. Charging points, on the other hand, are multiplying. There were 73,334 in January 2025 – up by 36.5pc in 12 months. Of those, just under one in five offered rapid or ultra-rapid speeds – whose fastest connector is above 25kW and 100kW respectively – allowing for 80pc battery charge in as little as 30 minutes, according to Zapmap. Over the longer term, it is also worth considering that while electric cars tend to be more reliable, a shortage of qualified technicians in some areas could push up repair costs. The Institute for the Motor Industry forecasts a shortfall of 16,000 by 2035. Battery life shouldn't be a worry: recent research by Which? found they lost between 1pc and 2pc of their capacity each year, with little change in engine efficiency. Most manufacturers offer a 100,000-mile, eight-year battery warranty. Despite this, residual values – what a car is worth when it's time to trade in – are considerably lower. Auto Trader found that a typical electric car halves in value after three years, at which point petrol and diesel cars had fallen by just a third. Ian Plummer, of Auto Trader, said: 'New electric vehicles still maintain a price premium, but this has dropped dramatically over time and more affordable models from both new and established brands are helping to close the gap. 'With running cost savings of around £660 a year, compared to petrol and if you're charging at home, there are plenty of reasons why now is a great time to consider electric – especially if you have a driveway.'
