New technology that makes energy capture from waste water and re-use of grey water possible can contribute to energy- and resource efficiency — but the widespread application of such technology requires a new, collaborative approach, shows a new study. Taking radical innovation in urban water systems beyond the pilot stage will require cooperation between a variety of stakeholders, suggest the findings of expert interviews and workshops.

Sustainable river management is increasingly informed by hydromorphological stream assessments — evaluations and classifications of stream conditions which account for both hydrological (the movement, distribution and quantity of water) and geomorphological (the processes and forms deriving from the interactions of water and sediment movement) features. In order to provide a more accurate and comprehensive assessment of river character and dynamics, scientists have developed three novel methods. Together, these tools represent a promising technique for conducting collaborative assessment and monitoring of river conditions in Europe.

Areas of mariculture — where marine organisms are cultivated for food — have been identified as important source areas for the dispersal of invasive alien species (IAS) via artificial floating litter. In order to identify IAS at high risk of dispersal via this method, researchers have analysed fouled anthropogenic litter sampled on beaches in two important European mariculture areas. Overall, the team detected eight aquaculture-related IAS attached to anthropogenic litter. All of these species are well adapted to rafting on artificial surfaces and have high potential to disperse in this way, suggesting that they are suitable candidates for closer monitoring and policy action in the future.

Groundwater pumping and irrigation can disrupt natural atmospheric processes, affect the whole water cycle, and potentially worsen water shortages during heatwaves, a new study suggests. The findings contribute to our understanding of how to manage water resources under future climate change conditions. The study shows how some of the most intensively water managed areas of Europe — such as the Iberian Peninsula — could be affected by extraction of groundwater during years when conditions are especially hot and dry, potentially amplifying water scarcity in already-stressed regions.

Domestic water saving is important — not only to address water scarcity and drought, but also to save energy and tackle climate change. Water-management strategies are needed to prevent these shortages, and include incentives to change consumers’ behaviour concerning water use. This study examines the design of a behaviour-change system and a linked incentive model to stimulate a sustainable change in water-consumption behaviour.

River flooding costs billions of euros annually in the EU. When one river floods, others nearby often do so at the same time — extending the overall impact beyond the border of an individual drainage basin. With this in mind, this study analysed the spatial extent of flood events across Europe from 1960 to 2010, using data from the European Flood Database (EFD). The research presents key findings for flood forecasting, risk financing and flood-mitigation policy.

Low oxygen levels (‘hypoxia’) are a pressing concern for marine and freshwater ecosystems worldwide, and this may deteriorate as ocean temperatures rise. Hypoxia causes stress in organisms, which can cause reproductive impairments that persist across generations — even the offspring that have never been exposed to hypoxia. Previous studies discovered that hypoxia can disrupt sex hormones, resulting in birth defects and affecting reproduction of male fish over several generations. This study shows how hypoxia can also affect female marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) over multiple generations — and thus may pose a significant threat to the sustainability of natural fish populations worldwide.

Hari Menon pointed out that deliveries were largely constrained due to lack of on-ground staff that had left cities in large numbers prior to the lockdown

Online retailers such as Myntra and Tjori have their consumer engagement teams working on to engage their customers till the time the lockdown eases.

​​ According to IAMAI's 'Digital in India' report, India had 504 million active Internet users, who logged onto the web at least once in the last one month, at the end of November 2019. In rural India, the number of accessing Internet daily had grown by 30 million from March 2019, it added.

Direct messages on the desktop have been in the works for a while now.

The Kerala government on Monday decided to waive off rent for three months for all the IT/ITeS companies who have taken up to 10,000 square ft of space for operating in government-owned buildings.

Taiwan-based electronics contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd or Foxconn has reportedly said that the production of the 5G iPhones is likely to start on schedule for the fall launch of the new handsets.

Organic growth will be difficult and consumers will only buy a phone out of necessity or maybe settle for a refurbished one depending on their spending ability

With the expiry of additional ad-hoc incentive for January-March, the benefit for mobile phone makers under the Merchandise Export Incentives Scheme (MEIS) has fallen back to 2% from 4% even though the scheme has been extended to December 31.

While the coronavirus lockdown is set to be lifted to May 3, you can now buy mobile phones on Flipkart.

Bharti Airtel is doubling down on growing its Internet of Things (IoT) business in India and is now specifically targeting the country’s auto the sector to drive growth and partnerships.

In conversation with ETCIO, Biswabrata Chakravorty, CIO, IndusInd bank shares how innovative and cutting-edge modes of banking such as video, gesture, and Whatsapp are all adding to customer experience.

Microsoft has seen a huge 775 per cent increase in its Cloud services in regions that have enforced social distancing or 'shelter-in-place orders.

While the cloud was seen as a good technology to adopt until some time ago, it has now become a must in order to navigate through these challenging times. Companies that are 100 percent on the cloud have been able to transition far more rapidly than others, making them more agile than their peers.

While workloads are increasingly moving from traditional to cloud data centers - both private and public, hybridization has allowed mission-critical workloads to stay on-premise. Multi-cloud adoption is also being driven by the evolution of new orchestration and management services that are helping to define and run cloud processes and create competitive solutions.

As Indian firms realign their focus on revenue growth, they need to leverage customer and market behaviour to place their bets on long-term, sustainable growth, a new report said.

Analytics allows firms to see the full picture that’s painted when all the data sources come together.

The world's most comprehensive digital biodiversity database has been developed, enabling access to over 177 million records. However, over two-thirds of the records are from just three countries: the USA, Sweden and the UK, and focus on certain groups such as birds. Changes in policy and funding could help widen the scope of the data.

A new global study on the economics of ecosystem services and biodiversity loss suggests that governments can achieve more resilient economies and receive higher rates of return on their public investment strategies when they recognise and target the value of ecosystem services.

Many species around the world are likely to become extinct as ecosystems and the diversity of life found in them are threatened by pressures, such as pollution, overexploitation, climate change, invasive species, fragmentation, degradation and loss of habitat. A recent report has examined the causes of biodiversity loss and the policies surrounding efforts to tackle this loss

New research in Estonia indicates that plant biodiversity in field boundaries varies with features, such as ditches, trees and nearby roads. It suggests that, in addition to common non-weedy plants, more consideration should be given to rare weeds by broadening of field boundaries and reducing the use of agrochemicals and fertilisers near these boundaries.

According to researchers, opportunities for carbon sequestration and benefits for biodiversity offered by forest rehabilitation schemes mean they should be given greater value as a tool for carbon offsetting. A new study demonstrates the value of forest rehabilitation for rainforest birds.

New research has updated a major report on the monetary value of biodiversity. The second EU-funded Cost of Policy Inaction (COPI II) report has expanded the existing valuation database to include more regions, more ecosystems and more information on the services they provide and their economic values. The new data could be used to calculate a more accurate figure for the global value of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Sustainable urban planning recognises the importance of green space networks to conserve biodiversity. A recent study in China has assessed whether a development plan for Jinan City improves the city's urban green networks.

A report commissioned by the French Government has calculated reference values for French ecosystems. These range from ???600 per hectare/per year for pastureland to ???2000 per hectare/per year for some types of forest. The methods used to calculate these values were carefully analysed.

A new study has reinforced the view that biodiversity improvements and greater provision of ecosystem services are complementary. An analysis of projects that restored ecosystems indicated that restoration produced a 44 per cent increase in biodiversity and a 25 per cent increase in the provision of ecosystem services.

Researchers have developed a new cost-effective tool to assess the impact of policy on biodiversity at a European scale. The study used it to assess the policy of expanding woody biofuel plantations in the EU, which indicated that 28 per cent of wild species would be negatively affected and 10 per cent would experience beneficial effects.

Researchers have developed a new model to estimate the impact of harvesting wild species and land use change on biodiversity. Unlike previous models, it considers the indirect effect of harvesting or pest control on landscape structure through reducing the variety of species.

New research indicates that successful integration of conservation into local land-use planning needs a combination of regulatory measures and community values. This could be encouraged by better education on conservation, and greater collaboration between neighbouring geographical areas.

Tradable permits have been proposed as a flexible instrument to integrate biodiversity conservation and economic development. New research indicates that permits are not a universal solution, but do have potential in certain economic and ecological situations.

We are still losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate, according to a new report prepared by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The report confirms that the world failed to meet the 2010 target to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss and calls for policy makers to take urgent, coordinated action to address the challenge of combating biodiversity loss and in so doing, address the linked challenges posed by climate change.

A new study of European river restoration projects has indicated that their impact on the physical characteristics of rivers depends on the region, river type and restoration approach. However, regardless of the river, region or approach, impacts on the biodiversity of riverbed species is limited. Larger scale projects could be more effective.

The importance of predicting future threats to the areas connecting biodiversity hotspots when planning conversation projects is highlighted in a new study. Using Costa Rican forest as a case study, researchers compared forward-looking planning methods to those that focus exclusively on current threats and found the forward-looking approaches to be more effective and reliable.

An analysis of conservation management strategies in the EU identifies a number of options for increasing the cost-effectiveness of conservation within the Natura 2000 network of protected areas. More time and money should be given to implementing conservation measures than planning them and governments should guarantee conservation funding over longer terms, say the researchers.

Organic farming has often been found to have benefits for biodiversity, but the benefits can depend on the individual species and landscape in question. Research on vine farming in Italy suggests that the impact of organic methods on the number or diversity of pollinating insects may depend on local context. For example, the lack of connectivity between organic vine farms may limit benefits in some circumstances.

A global team of marine biologists have recently completed a Census of Marine Life, which contributes to our basic understanding of marine ecosystems. Among its findings - marine biodiversity in the Baltic and Mediterranean are among the most threatened globally.

Indications suggest global biodiversity mostly continues to decline, confirming that the goal of halting the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010 has not been met, according to a recent study. Pressures on biodiversity are increasing despite increasing policy and management responses. However, with greater resources and political will, the researchers argue that the loss of biodiversity could be halted or even reversed.

Activists and policy makers are often considered to be separate influences on environmental issues. A new review suggests that the key to long-term conservation policy could lie in the creation of 'Conservation Systems'. These are a collective of activists, organisations and policy makers which could make biodiversity conservation efforts more resilient to major external changes, such as economic crises, change in government or conflict.

Researchers have developed a new scientific method to estimate the time lag between the introduction of an alien species and its extensive spread. For New Zealand weed species, the study estimated that the average lag was around 20-30 years. Although this may seem to be a long time, seemingly rare but fast-spreading species could become tomorrow's harmful weeds.

Human pressures on freshwater resources have seriously reduced the security of water for people and river biodiversity across the world, according to a recent study. Almost 80 per cent of the world's population is at high risk from threats to water security and 65 per cent of river habitats are under threat.

One-fifth of the world's mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish are threatened with extinction, according to a recent report. The study notes that there have been many conservation success stories, but far greater long-term resources are needed to improve the outlook for the world's threatened vertebrate species.

Social and economic aspects should be considered alongside environmental issues when valuing benefits provided by ecosystems and biodiversity. A recently published study outlines the use of multi-criteria assessment methods for valuation that simultaneously take into account a wide variety of economic, social and environmental decision criteria.

Tradable permits can be used to conserve biodiversity by allowing habitat destruction only when a permit has been acquired through the restoration of another habitat. New research has indicated that the costs of conservation, amount of habitat turnover and time lags in restoration all influence the efficiency of the permit market.