Italian coastguard rescues 4200 migrants in 24 hours from 22 boats in the Mediterranean Sea

#ItalianCoastGuard #Libya #mediterraneansea #Syria In one of the largest rescues in recent days, the Italian coastguard has coordinated the rescue of about 4200 migrants based on distress signals from 22 boats sailing across the Mediterranean Sea. During the rescue, they discovered 17 corpses on three inflatable dinghies.
300 other migrants were rescued alive from the three inflatable dinghies where the 17 corpses were recovered. This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 30 May 2015.

The distress calls originated from 22 different boats, many of these were off Libya but some were off the southern Italian coast.
The rescue operations were led by the Italian coastguard and included the assistance of Italian, German and Irish naval ships that were working under the auspices of the EU's Frontex border agency. Migrants fleeing from the troubled locations in Syria, Libya have to be rescued on humanitarian grounds and taken care of till rehabilitation is arranged. Till now, more than 40,400 boat migrants have landed up in Italy since the start of the year.
On a rough estimate, the total number of migrants rescued in a period of 24 hours is believed to be one of the highest in recent years. The previous numbers were 3791 migrants on April 12 and 3690 on May 2.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Good news for Indian Alphonso mangoes – EU to lift ban on imports from India

#alphonsomango #mangoban #fruitflies The EU had imposed a ban on import of Indian mangoes last May because some shipments of the fruit were found to have fruit flies in them. Since there had been "significant improvements" in India's mango export system, the European Commission has decided to lift the ban on import of mangoes from India after the unanimous vote.
The ban had led to a drastic fall in revenue from export of the mangoes. As revealed by the Mr M Rafeeque Ahmed, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, the exports were in the region of $307.4m between April and November in 2013 but had dropped to $291.4m in the same period last year.
Once the ban on Indian mango imports into the European Union is lifted, it would pave the way for them to return to the UK and other member states.
The decision has come as a big relief to mango farmers of Ratnagiri district located some 325-Km south of Mumbai and close to the border with Goa. The district is famous for its Alphonso mangoes, also known as the 'king of fruits'. Europe is a significant market for the industry.
However, some other foodstuffs such as Indian aubergines, two types of squash, and a type of leaf used in cooking will remain restricted. Other food items in the banned list are bitter gourds, snake gourds and patra leaves – these would remain in banned category subject to sustained improvements in plant pest control.

Curse of the go-green revolution – crossing the Channel will cost more from January 2015

Come January 2015 and the cost of a return ticket from Dover to Calais would increase from £160 to £210 as a result of new EU green laws – this fare would be applicable for Britain’s biggest ferry operator, P&O Cruises.
Therefore, families who would take a ferry across the English Channel in the New Year would face this 30 per cent hike in ticket prices since the EU wants to herald in tough new green rules.
In the opinion of the UK Chamber of Shipping, this move of the EU could be the death knell for the ferry industry and that those routes that were teetering on the edge of economic viability would be pushed off the edge.
As per the new EU rules, shipping firms would have to switch over to expensive low- emission fuel and it is feared that this would push traffic on to the roads, drive up the cost of diesel for cars and result in the loss of 2,000 jobs.
Moreover, a European committee has warned that the fuel switch could give rise to other problems like engine breakdowns and fires and such happenings could leave the ferry boats minus power and at the mercy of the element, especially in busy shipping lanes.
Brussels has ordered that all ships in the English Channel, North Sea and Baltic Sea must act to reduce sulphur emissions from January 1.