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Beijing, Oct 12 (PTI) Calling for ambitious, pragmatic and balanced global environmental protection targets, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday announced a USD 233 million fund to support biodiversity protection in developing countries

Xi was addressing a UN conference- Leaders' Summit of the 15th meeting of Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity- via a video link in Beijing

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Amid raging debate globally over social media regulation and controls, microblogging platform Twitter on Tuesday cautioned that 'Open Internet' is more at risk now than ever before, and asserted the need for coordinated, multi-stakeholder strategy to defend free, secure, and global open internet.

In its position paper on 'Protecting the Open Internet', Twitter said governments that seek to defend and expand online freedom cannot stand by while other countries seek to silence critics, censor journalists, and block access to information.

Chandigarh, Oct 12 (PTI) The Chandigarh administration Tuesday imposed a complete ban on the sale or use of firecrackers of any kind to prevent the risk of spread of COVID-19 due to polluted atmosphere, according to an official order.

The order said these directions will come into force with immediate effect and will remain in effect until further notice.

The decision was taken after an extensive consultation with health, environment experts and other stakeholders, the order said.

12 Oct 2021; MEMO: A US official said yesterday that the White House stands by its calls for oil-producing countries to "do more" to support the global economic recovery, as crude prices recorded their highest levels in years, Reuters reported.

The official said the administration was closely monitoring the cost of oil and gasoline and "using every tool at our disposal to address anti-competitive practices in US and global energy markets to ensure reliable and stable energy markets."

Mumbai, Oct 11 (PTI) The rupee slid by 37 paise to close at a 15-month low of 75.36 against the US dollar on Monday as crude oil zoomed towards seven-year high and the greenback hardened in the overseas markets.

The Indian currency for the first time this year settled below the 75 level as fears of high import bill due to costlier crude oil and forex outflows due to firming US bond yields weighed on the local unit. The rupee had fallen by 20 paise to end at 74.99 on Friday.

Stockholm, Oct 11 (AP-PTI) A US-based economist won the Nobel prize for economics Monday for pioneering research that showed an increase in minimum wage does not lead to less hiring and immigrants do not lower pay for native-born workers, challenging commonly held ideas. Two others shared the award for creating a way to study these types of societal issues.

New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday held a meeting with Power Minister R K Singh and Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi amid reports of the ongoing coal shortage in the country, officials said.

During the hour-long meeting, the three ministers were believed to have discussed the availability of coal to power plants and the current power demands.

11 Oct 2021; MEMO: A main concern of Iran in any talks to rescue the 2015 nuclear deal would be around ways to verify the lifting of US sanctions, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Saturday, reported Reuters.

The talks, which aim to bring Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear pact aimed at curbing the Iranian enrichment programme, were adjourned in June after hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran's president.

11 Oct 2021; MEMO: Lebanon has no centrally generated electricity after fuel shortages forced its two largest power stations to shut down, a government official told Reuters on Saturday.

"The Lebanese power network completely stopped working at noon today, and it is unlikely that it will work until next Monday, or for several days," the official said.

11 Oct 2021; MEMO: Traffic was being diverted away from Lebanon's Zahrani oil facility this morning after a fire broke out at a gasoline storage tank, a security source told Reuters.

The areas surrounding the fire, which was still not under control, were being cooled to prevent it spreading, the source said. There was no immediate official comment or reports of casualties at the Zahrani oil facility on the Mediterranean coast.