Polluted skies at northern provinces

'We turn around and see a Bengali family, a set of six, nervous, anxious and monkey-capped; one of them looking around in the bushes through his telescopic lens. Some of them were in the act of stuffing their faces with potato wafers acquired at the gates and now they sit frozen and goggle-eyed, the momentarily-forgotten food silently falling on their woollens.' 'Why can't the tigers just sit around and do whatever it is that the tigers do? Then comes the answer: The tiger is always on the move.' Shubir Rishi/ Rediff.com continues his jungle adventure and narrates the morning safari on day 2 at the Pench National Park. The Gaur, otherwise known as the Indian Bison is a tough cookie. It is fair to compare this bovine with Juggernaut from the X-Men series; for it is not a naturally aggressive animal, but IF it is aroused it is extremely difficult to stop it. Hence the term: bull in a china shop. Photograph: Srinath S, aged 19 D ay 2 Right after ... » Learn More about Locking horns with the fearless Indian Bison

Video Player Close SHIBERGHAN, Afghanistan, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- In militancy-plagued Afghanistan, it is not easy for women to run their own businesses, but Malalai Mobariz is among a handful of women who confronted the challenges and opened a coffee shop in the country's northern Shiberghan city. "My prime objective of running the coffee shop is to display the ability of women from one hand, and from the other hand to provide job opportunities for women," Mobariz, 25, told Xinhua recently. Living in Shiberghan city, capital of the relatively peaceful Jawzjan province, 390 km north of Kabul, the female entrepreneur hoped to build her career as businessperson from running the coffee shop. Named as "Orange Cafe" and opened four months ago by Mobariz with a fund of 5,000 U.S. dollars, the coffee shop is gaining popularity. Expressing satisfaction over the income of her coffee shop, Mobariz said up to 80 customers including boys and girls, men and women visit Orange Cafe ... » Learn More about Feature: Afghan women runs coffee shop with “resilience, hard work and courage”

On a cold, dark evening recently, inspector Li Tao, 47, made his rounds of the Kelameili gas field in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. It was a frigid -20 C and his breath froze instantly. But more curious was Li's furry companion－an unusual animal with yellow hair. It was no dog but a corsac fox. "I remember the first time I saw a fox－around 2015, on another cold winter night," Li said. "It was making a weird sound, and I didn't know what it was. When I turned on the flashlight, it ran off quickly. I could sense its fear." Located in the center of the Gurbantunggut Desert, the gas field, which is affiliated with China National Petroleum Corp, is about 230 kilometers from downtown Karamay. It mainly produces natural gas, liquefied gas and ethane, according to Xie Hu, its general manager. In 2017, it produced 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas, helping to ensure the supply for northern Xinjiang. Li, who was on patrol that cold night, was born in Sichuan province. He has been ... » Learn More about In cold Xinjiang gas field, foxes are family