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Orange Sahara dust haze descends over Athens
A dramatic orange haze has descended over Athens as clouds of dust have blown in from the Sahara desert.
It is one of the worst such episodes to hit Greece since 2018, according to officials.
Greece had already been struck by similar clouds in late March and early April, which also covered areas of Switzerland and southern France.
The skies are predicted to clear on Wednesday, says Greece’s weather service.
Air quality has deteriorated in many areas of the country and on Wednesday morning the Acropolis in Athens was no longer visible because of the dust. The cloud has reached as far north as Thessaloniki.
Greeks with respiratory conditions have been urged to limit the time they spend outdoors, wear protective masks and avoid taking physical exercise until the dust clouds clear.
The Sahara releases 60 to 200 million tonnes of mineral dust per year.
Most of the dust quickly descends to Earth, but some of the small particles can travel huge distances, sometimes reaching Europe.
The atmosphere especially in southern Greece has become stifling because of the combination of dust and high temperatures.
Meteorologist Kostas Lagouvardos compared the view from one weather station to the planet Mars.
The fire service on Tuesday reported 25 wildfires in the past 24 hours. One fire broke out near a naval base on the island of Crete – where temperatures soared above 30C (86F) – and homes and a kindergarten had to be evacuated, according to local reports.
Dust plumes from the Sahara are not uncommon across Europe and can vary in intensity, however, they tend to occur most often during the spring and autumn.
This current event across the Eastern Mediterranean was caused by an area of low pressure over Libya that brought strong southerly winds, drawing in high concentrations of dust and sand from North Africa into Greece, particularly on Tuesday. The southerly winds also brought hot desert air with them. Temperatures rose to well above the average for late April across the Greek mainland and islands, with 36.6C recorded in the Chania region of Crete.
The highest concentrations of dust will be focussed further east on Wednesday as a cold front with cleaner, fresher air continues to sweep in from the west. By the end of the week fresher, cleaner air will return to the Eastern Mediterranean with temperatures also back closer to normal for the time of year.
(BBC)
Three newly appointed Court of Appeal Justices were formally sworn in before President Anura Kumara Disanayake today (11), at the Presidential Secretariat.
Accordingly, the appointments were conferred upon High Court Judges W.K.S.U. Premachandra, K. Priyantha Fernando and A. Premashankar.
Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake was also present at the occasion.
It has been noted that the provisions of the Industry Promotion Act No. 46 of 1990 existing at present are not sufficient to compile industry policies that enable fulfilling the contemporary requirements in the fields of technical, trade, skills, and environment in the industry sector. Therefore, approval has been granted to amend the said Act at the cabinet meeting held on 08-03-2021.
At present, the legal draftsman is in the process of amending the said Act, and the legal draftsman has shown the necessity of obtaining the policy consent of the present cabinet of ministers for the function of amending the Act.
Accordingly, taking into consideration the proposal presented by the Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to grant the policy consent for the expeditious completion of the function of preparation of the said draft.
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 11.01.2021 to amend the Tea Control Act No. 51 of 1957 including the following particulars:
• An introduction of a definition as “Reclaimable Tea” to the disposed portion of tea after categorizing at the process of production in tea factories.
• Naming the portion remaining as Refuse Tea after further extracting processed tea from the reclaimable tea.
• Registration of tea processors, issuance of licenses for them and administration of them. And including other legal provisions affecting them
The Legal Draftsman is proceeding with the amendments to this act by now and has pointed out the requirement of obtaining the approval of the present Cabinet of Ministers.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to complete the bill drafting process as soon as possible, considering the proposal furnished by the Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Facilities.
Three new Court of Appeal Justices sworn In
Cabinet approves payment of annual subscription to International Solar Alliance and to and sign Country Partnership Framework
Cabinet nod to amend industry Promotion Act No 46 of 1990
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