Bali’s youth is saving the paradise from plastic plague

Bali, one of the best and most preferred beach-holiday destination, is witnessing an overload of plastic, not just on the sands of its beaches, but also in the oceans. A tropical paradise destination, Bali, has been witnessing a record-breaking number of tourists flying into the island every year. The long beaches, palm trees, and its party lifestyle have not just attracted tourists, but also a lot of trash particularly plastic, which lines up the beaches even more than the palm trees do.

More than half of the trash generated ends up in the sea, waterways or on the land due to the lack of sufficient waste disposal plants and collection systems in Bali. Daily beach cleanups are organized by many different groups and other organizations, helping clean the plastic, at least temporarily. The next day, a new wave brings in a new load of plastic from the oceans to its beaches. The fact that tourists generate about 3 times more waste than locals, doesn’t deter the country from welcoming tourists, as a considerable part of its economy is driven by the tourism industry. Bali has started the construction of recycling facilities. Special lessons in environmental science are now being conducted for school children. Proper waste management systems are also being introduced along with the plastic ban.

FDA supports the adoption of lab animals that have completed experimentations

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken a firm initiative on the adoption of lab-tested animals, which are being appreciated all over. FDA in a recent press met announced that the animals which have been used for research by them will now be available for adoption instead of euthanizing them. It has updated its policies which will allow people to adopt lab animals such as healthy dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and some farm animals. The FDA will be transferring these animals to sanctuaries and shelters after using them for lab experiments.

Earlier the animals which were being used for lab experiments were euthanized. But FDA has now taken a firm decision to let health animals for adoption. FDA's first initiative to retire animals in lab experiments was implemented in the year 2018. The agency retired 26 squirrel monkeys which were being used to study the effect of nicotine. FDA spokesperson Monique Richards said the FDA "has supported and continues to support the transfer, adoption of retirement" of animals that have completed experimentations and "meet applicable eligibility criteria".

The FDA uses animals in drug testing, vaccines, and other biologics. Now the agency has announced that those animals which are healthy will be allowed for adoption. This move by FDA is appreciated by everyone, which will direct federal agencies to assist with the relocation of these precious animals into sanctuaries and loving homes.

Neutral Venue for Asia Cup will be decided in the next ACC meet

When Ehsan Mani, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, spoke during the launch of Pakistan’s T20 league PSL (Pakistan Super League) in National Stadium, he had stated that the Venue for conducting Asia Cup will be decided based on the decisions made by the majority stake-holders in the Asian Cricket Council and he also gave an indication that their country might give up its hosting rights for the upcoming Asia Cup T20 tournament. Mani furthermore stated that they have to focus on the associate nations more than the full members. The upcoming ACC meet in March will be used to finalize the venue and other details for the Asia Cup.

Mani’s statements were due to India’s refusal to play in Pakistan for the Asia Cup and BCCI insisted that the tournament must be held in neutral venue for them to participate. CEO of the PCB, Wasim Khan stated that if they are not allowed to conduct the whole tournament at home, Pakistan would forego its hosting rights. Pakistan had visited India in 2012 to play a short ODI series. However, since 2008, India has not played a full test bilateral series in Pakistan and this was due to the strained political situation between the two countries.

Sunil Kumar wins Gold in the Greco-Roman category for India

Sunil Kumar from India ended the country’s dry stint of 27 years without a gold medal in the Greco-Roman category. The event took place in New Delhi on the 18th of February and he beat his opponent Azat Salidinov of Kyrgyzstan 5-0 top clinch the victory. Before this win the last winner from India was Pappu Yadav, he won a gold medal in the 48kg Greco-Roman title in 1993 for India. For the major part of the match, Sunil with his comprehensive defense had an upper hand. Salidinov was left clueless and he finally went down without a fight back. In the earlier part of the competition, Sunil has made an impressive comeback.

 In the semifinal, Sunil was down 1-8 against his opponent Azamat Kustubayev from Kazakh but eventually, Sunil went on to win the match by getting 11 points on the trot. In last year’s event, Sunil Kumar had managed to reach finals but he ended up winning a silver medal. He stated that he was ecstatic to win a Gold medal for India and he also stated that he worked really hard on his ground techniques and it feels great to be on the winning side. There were other participants too from India like Arjun Halakurki (55kg), Mehar Singh (130kg), Sajan, and Sachin Rana.

Burberry’s China event might be postponed due to Virus outbreak

The chief creative officer of Burberry, Ricardo Tisci in the London fashion week stated that he wants to share the British style globally and he also wants to use the heritage to humanize and build the house. Burberry is one of the significant luxury brands in Europe and London is considered as its home. The fashion week event in London is expected to boost the brand’s morale. Asia is Burberry’s heartbeat because almost 40 percent of the revenue comes from there. They are one of the brands that were hit economically because of the corona virus outbreak. With a group of premium supermodels, Tisci’s 4^th season at Burberry was smooth like a cheerleading routine.

 The glamour is very much etched on the label’s vein and this season the looks were focused more globally to make it bankable. Tisci’s predecessor Christopher   had made the brand look more romantic, whereas Ricardo made Burberry sexy. There are almost 64 stores for Burberry in mainland China, and now following the virus outbreak, almost a third of them have stopped functioning. London fashion week show was all set to be reprised in China during the month of April. The event was expected to be attended by influencers, Chinese press, and clients.

30-year-old war veteran is all set to feature in the new Netflix fashion competition

Julian Woodhouse is a 30-year-old war veteran who graduated from the University of St. Thomas, recently made an appearance in a new Netflix fashion competition. The show will have designers from all around the globe and they will compete for a cash prize of $250,000. The show premiered recently and its contestants can’t stop talking about it. Julian became a part of the fashion industry when he launched his brand in 2015. He stated that the contestants will get 7 hours to make a full look and they must also work alongside someone new who might have a different taste and style direction. He felt that he was in a completely different arena and the competition was very challenging.

Woodhouse’s inspiration to join the fashion industry struck him when he was stationed in Seoul, South Korea. He was the first black man to feature in the Seoul fashion week. Julian is working relentlessly to take his brand Woodhouse army to the next level through this competition. He works alongside his partner Kirill Kabachencko; to make his company environmental friendly and they also want to make their brand less fast fashioned. Julian is trying to give his best to the brand and he wants to make a big difference in the fashion world.

Teenager builds app to promote Indian Culture to Tourists

“India Story” – an app to chronicle the story of India through its monuments – was built by a 17-year-old teenager, Avantika Khanna, from Gurgaon, India. The app had been launched for both the Android and iOS platforms and provides audio-guides in cities like Kolkata, Bangalore, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Mumbai, and Delhi.
The Social Entrepreneur’s idea was born during a family trip to UK a few years ago, where she realized the perfect maintenance of monuments, and audio-guided tours. Both of these aspects of tourism were not so good in India, along with the unavailability of guides in certain lesser known monuments. This triggered the fire in her to promote India’s rich history and culture to the world using technology, and she began working on “India Story” way back in 2016. Today, avantika handles a total of 30 staff – writers, photographers, history lovers, and programmers – who works as a team. Certified tour guides can be contacted through the app along with organizers of cultural walks.Both the app’s user interface and the business model, was designed by Avantika herself. She has been able to raise seed funding from the Indian Angel Network, only after overcoming many hurdles. She now looks forward to expanding to more states and cities.