Fruit peels can help water filtration: Research

Singapore: A research team in the National University of Singapore (NUS), led by an Indian-origin scientist, has found that fruit peels can be used for water purification, something that can help millions of people across the world without access to clean drinking water.

The team, led by Ramakrishna Mallampati, found that tomato and apple peels act like a sponge in polluted water and help in 'vastly reducing levels of heavy metals, pesticides and dyes', the Straits Times reported Thursday.

The two-year study showed that the peel of eight tomatoes can remove heavy metal ions such as lead from a litre of water within a period of one hour.

The findings can help nearly 800 million people without access to clean water to get safer drinking water at a low cost.

According to Mallampati, an alumnus of India's University of Pune, the results can help a vast number of people living in remote areas without access to water purification devices and people living in villages with groundwater contaminated by industrial pollution.

Mallampati, a researcher in material chemistry, is doing his Ph.D in the NUS on 'synthesis and characterisation of novel materials for potential applications including water treatment and catalysis'.

(Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at radhika.b@ians.in)

Fruit peels can help water filtration: Research

Singapore: A research team in the National University of Singapore (NUS), led by an Indian-origin scientist, has found that fruit peels can be used for water purification, something that can help millions of people across the world without access to clean drinking water.

The team, led by Ramakrishna Mallampati, found that tomato and apple peels act like a sponge in polluted water and help in 'vastly reducing levels of heavy metals, pesticides and dyes', the Straits Times reported Thursday.

The two-year study showed that the peel of eight tomatoes can remove heavy metal ions such as lead from a litre of water within a period of one hour.

The findings can help nearly 800 million people without access to clean water to get safer drinking water at a low cost.

According to Mallampati, an alumnus of India's University of Pune, the results can help a vast number of people living in remote areas without access to water purification devices and people living in villages with groundwater contaminated by industrial pollution.

Mallampati, a researcher in material chemistry, is doing his Ph.D in the NUS on 'synthesis and characterisation of novel materials for potential applications including water treatment and catalysis'.

(Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at radhika.b@ians.in)

Smart pen that vibrates when you make spelling error

Washington: German inventors have developed a new hi-tech pen that gently vibrates every time it senses a spelling mistake or sloppy handwriting. 

Lernstift is a regular pen with real ink, but inside is a special motion sensor and a small battery-powered Linux computer with a WiFi chip. 

Together those parts allow the pen to recognise specific movements, letter shapes and know a wide assortment of words. If it senses bad letter formation or messy handwriting, it will vibrate, 'ABC News' reported. 

Users can choose between two functions: Calligraphy Mode - pointing out flaws of form and legibility or Orthography Mode - recognising words and comparing the word to a language database. If the word isn't recognised it will vibrate, according to Daniel Kaesmacher, the 33-year-old co-founder of Lernstift from Munich. 

The other co-founder Falk Wolsky, 36, had the idea for the pen last year while his 10-year-old son was doing his homework. 

"His son had been struggling with his work and staying focused and Falk thought there should be a pen that gives him some sort of signal so he stays focused," Kaesmacher said. 

After a year and a half in development, the founders have now brought Lernstift to Kickstarter to begin raising money and gauging interest.

Smart pen that vibrates when you make spelling error

Washington: German inventors have developed a new hi-tech pen that gently vibrates every time it senses a spelling mistake or sloppy handwriting. 

Lernstift is a regular pen with real ink, but inside is a special motion sensor and a small battery-powered Linux computer with a WiFi chip. 

Together those parts allow the pen to recognise specific movements, letter shapes and know a wide assortment of words. If it senses bad letter formation or messy handwriting, it will vibrate, 'ABC News' reported. 

Users can choose between two functions: Calligraphy Mode - pointing out flaws of form and legibility or Orthography Mode - recognising words and comparing the word to a language database. If the word isn't recognised it will vibrate, according to Daniel Kaesmacher, the 33-year-old co-founder of Lernstift from Munich. 

The other co-founder Falk Wolsky, 36, had the idea for the pen last year while his 10-year-old son was doing his homework. 

"His son had been struggling with his work and staying focused and Falk thought there should be a pen that gives him some sort of signal so he stays focused," Kaesmacher said. 

After a year and a half in development, the founders have now brought Lernstift to Kickstarter to begin raising money and gauging interest.

Money arguments top predictor of divorce

Washington: Arguing with your spouse about money? You may be headed for a divorce. 

According to a new study by a University of Kansas researcher, couples who argue about finances early in their relationships are at a greater risk for divorce. 

"Arguments about money is by far the top predictor of divorce," said Sonya Britt, assistant professor of family studies and human services and programme director of personal financial planning. 

"It's not children, sex, in-laws or anything else. It's money - for both men and women," she said. 

Britt conducted the study using longitudinal data from more than 4,500 couples as part of the National Survey of Families and Households. 

"In the study, we controlled for income, debt and net worth. Results revealed it didn't matter how much you made or how much you were worth. Arguments about money are the top predictor for divorce because it happens at all levels," Britt said. 

It takes longer to recover from money arguments than any other kind of argument, according to Britt, and such arguments are more intense. Couples often use harsher language with each other, and the argument lasts longer. 

"You can measure people's money arguments when they are very first married," Britt said. 

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was, but when they were first together and already arguing about money, there is a good chance they are going to have poor relationship satisfaction," she said. 

By continuing to have financial arguments, couples decrease their relationship satisfaction, Britt said. Even if divorce is not a possibility because of low income, the low relationship satisfaction could make matters worse. 

Aside from a negative effect on children, increased stress leads to a further decrease in financial planning that could help better the situation. 
The study is published in the journal Family Relations.

Money arguments top predictor of divorce

Washington: Arguing with your spouse about money? You may be headed for a divorce. 

According to a new study by a University of Kansas researcher, couples who argue about finances early in their relationships are at a greater risk for divorce. 

"Arguments about money is by far the top predictor of divorce," said Sonya Britt, assistant professor of family studies and human services and programme director of personal financial planning. 

"It's not children, sex, in-laws or anything else. It's money - for both men and women," she said. 

Britt conducted the study using longitudinal data from more than 4,500 couples as part of the National Survey of Families and Households. 

"In the study, we controlled for income, debt and net worth. Results revealed it didn't matter how much you made or how much you were worth. Arguments about money are the top predictor for divorce because it happens at all levels," Britt said. 

It takes longer to recover from money arguments than any other kind of argument, according to Britt, and such arguments are more intense. Couples often use harsher language with each other, and the argument lasts longer. 

"You can measure people's money arguments when they are very first married," Britt said. 

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was, but when they were first together and already arguing about money, there is a good chance they are going to have poor relationship satisfaction," she said. 

By continuing to have financial arguments, couples decrease their relationship satisfaction, Britt said. Even if divorce is not a possibility because of low income, the low relationship satisfaction could make matters worse. 

Aside from a negative effect on children, increased stress leads to a further decrease in financial planning that could help better the situation. 
The study is published in the journal Family Relations.

Diesel losses widen to Rs 9.45 per litre

New Delhi: With the rupee continuing to remain weak against the US dollar, losses on diesel have climbed to Rs 9.45 per litre, upsetting the government's subsidy maths. 

"We are now losing Rs 9.45 per litre on diesel as against Rs 8.60 (in the previous fortnight)," said P K Goyal, Director (Finance), Indian Oil Corp (IOC). 

The government in January decided to raise diesel prices in small doses of 40-50 paise a litre every month till such time that losses on the fuel are wiped out. Regular hikes in fact brought down the losses on diesel to just Rs 2.62 in March from Rs 8.64 per litre. 

But with the rupee dropping below 60 to a US dollar, losses on diesel have now climbed back to Rs 9.45. 

The next revision in diesel price, as per the monthly rate hike authorisation from the government, is due at the month end. 

Besides diesel, oil firms are also losing Rs 30.53 per litre on kerosene and Rs 368.58 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder, he said. 

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum at the beginning of the fiscal had projected Rs 80,000 crore revenue loss on selling diesel, cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene at government-controlled rates during 2013-14. 

Of this, the Finance Ministry had committed to meet Rs 20,000 crore and the rest Rs 60,000 crore was to be borne by the upstream firms like ONGC. 

But with rupee depreciation, the under-recoveries or revenue loss is now being projected at Rs 125,000 crore, he said. 

In 2012-13, oil firms lost Rs 1,61,029 crore in revenues at an average crude price of USD 107.07 per barrel and an exchange rate of Rs 54.45 to a US dollar. 

Goyal said every one rupee depreciation against the US dollar increases annual revenue loss by a Rs 8,000 crore while an increase of USD 1 a barrel in international crude oil price leads to annual rise in under recoveries by Rs 4,300 crore. 

The rupee has depreciated by 11.8 per cent since the beginning of the fiscal year in April and reached an all-time low of 61.21 against the US dollar on July 8. Some predict the rupee will touch 62 in a month. 

The Indian currency today declined 0.7 per cent to 60.027 per dollar, the biggest drop in almost two weeks. 
IOC and other oil firms today hiked petrol price by Rs 1.55 per litre, excluding VAT, as the rupee averaged 60.03 to a US dollar in the first half of July as compared to 58.94 in the previous fortnight. 

Oil firms have over the past six weeks raised petrol prices four times, a cumulative Rs 6.12. 
  

Five killed, 30 injured as buses collide in Kollam

Kollam: Five persons were killed and around 30 others injured in a collision between two buses near Chadayamangalam in Kollam Monday.

The injured have been admitted to various hospitals in the district and Thiruvananthapuram Medical College where the condition of two was stated to be serious, police said. The deceased included four women.

A KSRCT Super Fast bus was proceeding to Pamba from Thiruvananthapuram, while the private bus was on its way to Punalur from Kadakkal. According to reports, the private bus hit the KSRTC bus while trying to overtake a car at a bend.

The victims have been identified as Priya Augustiyaraj of Shasthamangalam, Thara (30) of Vilappilshala, Jayashree (16) of Anchal, her mother Ambili and Shasheendran of Thiruvananthapuram.

The accident occurred when a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus proceeding to Pampa from Thiruvananthapuram and a private bus going to Kadakkal from Punalur collided, police said.

Five killed, 30 injured as buses collide in Kollam

Kollam: Five persons were killed and around 30 others injured in a collision between two buses near Chadayamangalam in Kollam Monday.

The injured have been admitted to various hospitals in the district and Thiruvananthapuram Medical College where the condition of two was stated to be serious, police said. The deceased included four women.

A KSRCT Super Fast bus was proceeding to Pamba from Thiruvananthapuram, while the private bus was on its way to Punalur from Kadakkal. According to reports, the private bus hit the KSRTC bus while trying to overtake a car at a bend.

The victims have been identified as Priya Augustiyaraj of Shasthamangalam, Thara (30) of Vilappilshala, Jayashree (16) of Anchal, her mother Ambili and Shasheendran of Thiruvananthapuram.

The accident occurred when a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus proceeding to Pampa from Thiruvananthapuram and a private bus going to Kadakkal from Punalur collided, police said.

Diesel losses widen to Rs 9.45 per litre

New Delhi: With the rupee continuing to remain weak against the US dollar, losses on diesel have climbed to Rs 9.45 per litre, upsetting the government's subsidy maths. 

"We are now losing Rs 9.45 per litre on diesel as against Rs 8.60 (in the previous fortnight)," said P K Goyal, Director (Finance), Indian Oil Corp (IOC). 

The government in January decided to raise diesel prices in small doses of 40-50 paise a litre every month till such time that losses on the fuel are wiped out. Regular hikes in fact brought down the losses on diesel to just Rs 2.62 in March from Rs 8.64 per litre. 

But with the rupee dropping below 60 to a US dollar, losses on diesel have now climbed back to Rs 9.45. 

The next revision in diesel price, as per the monthly rate hike authorisation from the government, is due at the month end. 

Besides diesel, oil firms are also losing Rs 30.53 per litre on kerosene and Rs 368.58 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder, he said. 

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum at the beginning of the fiscal had projected Rs 80,000 crore revenue loss on selling diesel, cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene at government-controlled rates during 2013-14. 

Of this, the Finance Ministry had committed to meet Rs 20,000 crore and the rest Rs 60,000 crore was to be borne by the upstream firms like ONGC. 

But with rupee depreciation, the under-recoveries or revenue loss is now being projected at Rs 125,000 crore, he said. 

In 2012-13, oil firms lost Rs 1,61,029 crore in revenues at an average crude price of USD 107.07 per barrel and an exchange rate of Rs 54.45 to a US dollar. 

Goyal said every one rupee depreciation against the US dollar increases annual revenue loss by a Rs 8,000 crore while an increase of USD 1 a barrel in international crude oil price leads to annual rise in under recoveries by Rs 4,300 crore. 

The rupee has depreciated by 11.8 per cent since the beginning of the fiscal year in April and reached an all-time low of 61.21 against the US dollar on July 8. Some predict the rupee will touch 62 in a month. 

The Indian currency today declined 0.7 per cent to 60.027 per dollar, the biggest drop in almost two weeks. 
IOC and other oil firms today hiked petrol price by Rs 1.55 per litre, excluding VAT, as the rupee averaged 60.03 to a US dollar in the first half of July as compared to 58.94 in the previous fortnight. 

Oil firms have over the past six weeks raised petrol prices four times, a cumulative Rs 6.12.