Ranger Michael Marion talks about the history of Baker Island in Acadia National Park while leading a tour. Friends of Acadia has provided funds to help preserve the islands historic structures/FOA, Julia Walker Thomas

A visit to Acadia National Park can take you back to the 19th century if you make the journey out to Baker Island. Home to a lighthouse at the southern entrance to Frenchman Bay, the island was also a backdrop to generations of the Gilly family, which lived on the island for 123 years running. But time has taken a toll on the island's structures, some of which contained hazardous materials.

During the past year the Park Service staff at Acadia began tackling some of the restoration work at Baker Island. Provided with funding raised by Friends of Acadia, the agency was able toassess the presence of hazardous materials, including lead paint, asbestos, and universal waste such as petroleum products and mercury switches. Licensed contractors removed asbestos roof shingles from the oil shed, enabling the park service to repair the leaking roof with cedar shingles and prevent further degradation, according to the friends group.

Asbestos was also found in the keepers house in floor tiles, pipe insulation, and the stove thimble, notes a story in the winter issue of the Friends of Acadia Journal. A treatment or removal plan has not yet been decided.

According to Friends of Acadiam "(T)he historic structures on the island date mostly from the mid- to late 1800s and have been closed to the public due to hazardous materials and conditions. Great strides were made in 2019 by the National Park Service toward protecting the historical integrity of these structures and making them safer for the public to enjoy."

In addition to the funding provided for the restoration work, the friends group also provided $34,242 toward the production of detailed drawings and a conditions assessment report of the lighthouse tower, the keepers house, the oil shed, and the fuel house. That funding in turn leveraged $28,000 in federal contributions from Acadias entrance fees.

The National Park Services Historic Preservation Training Center will be working through February 2020 to document the conditions of the facilities and prepare recommendations for treatment and future uses for each building. The report will serve as the roadmap for future stabilization and restoration.

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Baker Island Restoration Work Helped By Friends Of Acadia - National Parks Traveler

WHEN Christian and Ana Cox found this Georgian townhouse, tucked behind Windsor Castle, in 2010, it was a shadow of its former self. One of three houses that had been clumsily converted into offices for an insurance company, its glorious original features had been stripped out and it had no floors and no roof.

The only original feature was an ornate fanlight above the front door and the mahogany staircase, recalls Christian, who runs a property development and design company. It felt like the bones of a fish, once youve finished eating it. But we fell in love with the Georgian faade and the staircase.

It was only after the couple met the landlord of the nearby 16th-century pub, Two Brewers, who produced pictures and paper cuttings of everything to do with historic Park Street, that they were able to piece together images of the original cornicing, the shade of the mortar and the shape of original bookshelves and cupboards. Scaffolding had been holding the house up for around seven years but was now unsafe.

A few weeks into the refurbishment, we had a message from a member of staff at the castle that the Queen was delighted the scaffolding had come down and her view of Park Street had improved vastly, Christian says. We took that as a joke.

It then took us almost a year to refurbish it and create this nearly 3,000sq ft home. It was a lot of work.

Today the exquisite Grade II-listed, four-bed property is a comfortable home to Ana, Christian and their children, James and Clara. It has been restored to its magnificent origins, with lofty 13ft-ceilings in the hall and lavish living rooms, and has been beautifully adapted to modern living. All the bathrooms, and the tiled living areas on the lower-ground floor, have underfloor heating and theres air-conditioning in the splendid master bedroom, with its enormous dressing area (once a separate room), outdoor terrace and elegant en-suite bathroom. At the back of the house, an incredible double-height glass atrium has been added, with sliding doors leading into a lush and leafy landscaped garden.

Then in 2012, when the Coxes received an answerphone message, from the castle to inform the couple that they were to receive an award from the Royal family for the beautiful home they had recreated, they thought it was a prank.

I told my wife about it, but deleted the voicemail, Christian recalls. I thought it was a friend playing a joke.

But 12 days later, a lovely chap from the 2012 Windsor Facelift came to the house concerned we hadnt RSVPd and explained we were receiving an award for works in improving Park Street.

Two days later the Coxes received the award from Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. The photo now sits among a gallery of family pictures in their hallway. But it is the recreation of this glorious house that continues to give them the greatest pleasure a home which sagely nods to the past but has all the facilities desirable for contemporary living.

The grand living room boasts original working fireplaces, engineered oak floors, exquisitely recreated coving, and enormous sash windows to front and rear. There are two vast mirrors one of which craftily conceals the television and a grand piano.

Huge sash windows at the front overlook the stables block at the back of Windsor Castle where the Coxes have often seen Prince Philips carriage horses being exercised.

The kitchen has large, slabbed porcelain floor tiles, an island and classic Corian work surfaces.

In the dining room, within the vast glass atrium, a 19ft x 5ft bespoke picture, created on perspex, depicts family and friends in front of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona the couple once lived in the city for six months.

From the top of the atrium, a Bocci pendant light-fitting, with hand-blown glass globes, adds sparkle and drama.

A nearby snug or playroom features a panel of wallpaper showing an 1850s map of Windsor, while another wall boasts an historic map of Notting Hill, another former home for the couple.

On the landing to the top floor, there are two further bedrooms, one with expansive views of the nearby Great Park, and a study.

A Holloways of Ludlow Swan chandelier holds pride of place, while a galleried family bathroom has a remote-controlled velux skylight, which is a constant delight to the children. The greatest challenge in creating this outstanding family home was the sheer amount of dirt we had to remove from the garden says Christian, as some 300 tonnes of mortar, rubble and dirt were taken out to restore it to its former level. He happily admits, however, that he left much of the day-to-day negotiations with builders down to his wife.

Ana runs the builders, he says. Im far too easy going, Im told. Im happy to leave early to the pub and tell them to get on with it.

The couple is selling with great reluctance and because they now have a third child on the way. It has been wonderful here, but it is a townhouse, Ana says.

I feel with a larger family we need a different kind of home. But it will be a wrench to leave this one.

Park Street is on the market for 2.95million, struttandparker.com

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Property: How the restoration of one Windsor home met with a Royal seal of approval - Metro Newspaper UK

We all get the reminders that construction is happening near our homes, etc. or do we? Its not until you cant walk down your sidewalk that you realize that things are happening. Here is an official run-down from the District Department of Transportation on which sidewalks to need to look out for in the next couple of weeks:

Citywide Pavement Restoration projects in Ward 6:

Citywide Sidewalk Restoration projects in Ward 6:

In addition to this construction in our area, DDOT will be changing the signange on Interstate 395, so if you are a late-hours commuter, here is some information about that:

The following lane and shoulder closures will be in place nightly from 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM, Monday, January 13, 2020 through Friday January 17,2020, weather permitting:

I-395/I-695 Southbound/Westbound

I-395/I-695 Northbound/Eastbound

The following lane and shoulder closures will be in place daily from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Monday, January 13, 2020 through Friday, January 17, 2020, weather permitting:

I-395/I-695 Southbound/Westbound

I-395/I-695 Northbound/Eastbound

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Heads-Up: DDOT construction coming to a sidewalk near you | The Hill is Home - The Hillishome

Nutria, also known as coypu or swamp rats, are large rodents that live in areas with lots of freshwater.

These mammals are native to South America and were introduced into the United States between 1899 and 1930 through the fur industry, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Nutria are now considered a nuisance in the U.S. and other parts of the world where their populations have grown and their presence has disrupted the native ecosystem.

Nutria (Myocastor coypus) are relatively big rodents that grow to between 17 and 25 inches long (43 to 64 centimeters) from head to rump, which is about the same size as a raccoon. Their tail adds another 10 to 16 inches (25 to 41 cm) and the animals weigh between 15 and 22 pounds (7 to 10 kilograms), according to National Geographic. Although they're about the size of a raccoon, nutria look more like a cross between a small beaver and a giant rat, with two large, orange front teeth and long, rounded tails.

Nutria breed year-round and can have up to three litters a year with between two and 13 offspring per litter, allowing their populations to rapidly grow, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). These mammals become sexually mature as early as 4 months of age, and females can breed again about 1 to 2 days after giving birth, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). After a gestation period of about 4 months, nutria pups will nurse for about 7 to 8 weeks and stay with their mom for around 10 weeks, but pups can also survive on their own when they're as young as 5 days old.

Nutria are aquatic creatures and prefer freshwater to saltwater. They live in burrows connected by tunnels that they dig near rivers, canals, lakes or in wetlands, according to National Geographic.

These animals live in groups that typically consist of two to 13 individuals, according to the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology's Animal Diversity Web. The group often includes related adult females, their offspring and a single adult male. Young adult males are usually solitary, but don't often wander far from where they were born. Males have a home range of about 14 acres, while females stay even closer to home, keeping within about a 6-acre radius.

It's estimated that up to 80% of nutria don't survive their first year, and those that do survive, only live for two or three years, according to FWS. However, nutria in captivity may live up to about 12 years, according to Oregon State University.

Nutria have a voracious appetite for wetland plants and will chow down an entire plant roots, bark and all, according to Animal Diversity Web. The furry rodents will occasionally eat small invertebrates such as insects and snails, according to FWS. But nutria aren't considered picky eaters as they're often caught eating crops such as rice, sugarcane and corn.

Nutria are native to the marshes and coastal lakes in Bolivia and Southern Brazil, according to Columbia University. Their populations in those locations are kept in check by the seasonal drought-flood cycles. Periods of drought decimate their population, but thanks to their rapid reproduction rate, the nutria are able to recover during the flooding season.

In the 1800s, fur traders brought nutria to the U.S. so that the animals could be easily harvested for their thick and soft undercoat of fur. But when the fur market collapsed in the mid 1900s, many nutria farmers couldn't afford to keep their animals and released them into the wild.

The nutria not only survived, but thrived in their non-native homes. Today, nutria populations are found across the U.S., primarily in the coastal states, according to FWS. They're also an invasive species in Europe, Asia and Africa due to fur-farm escapees, according to the Global Invasive Species Database.

Nutria are now considered one of the most ecologically harmful invasive species on the planet.

"As an exotic invasive species in our North America wetlands, they can be especially destructive since plant species did not evolve with this forager," said Thomas Gehring, a professor of ecology and biology at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

Nutria eat about 25% of their body weight each day in plants and their roots, wreaking havoc on the native ecosystem. Because the animals eat the entire plant, the vegetation are less likely to grow back, according to National Geographic. The removal of the root systems destabilizes the soil around the water, which causes it to quickly erode and become open water.

The burrowing habits of nutria also damages flood-control levees that protect low lying areas and water retaining levees used in agriculture, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Damage Management extension. Their activity can cause such extensive damage that the levees need to be completely reconstructed. The destructive creatures also burrow into the flotation supports under boat docks and wharves, underneath building foundations, roads, streams and dams, which can weaken these structures and cause them to lean, sink and collapse.

As mentioned, nutria will dine on numerous agricultural crops, such as rice, corn, wheat and more. They've also been known to gorge on home vegetable gardens and freshly planted grass.

Not only are invasive nutria catastrophic for the environment, but they also play host to several diseases and parasites including tuberculosis, tapeworm, liver flukes and nematodes. It can be a significant health hazard for people and animals to drink or swim in water contaminated by nutria feces and urine, according to FWS.

Because nutria are such a prolific and resilient species, controlling their populations to curb further environmental damage is a significant challenge. Environmental groups around the U.S. have tried a range of tactics, with varying success.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has found that excluding nutria from their preferred environments to be the most effective approach. The agency recommends building 3-foot (91-cm) wire fences buried at least 6 inches (15 cm) underground around gardens and lawns, putting electric wire fences around vegetation, or constructing sheet metal shields around wood structures to prevent nutria from gnawing on them.

But other agencies and experts think a more offensive approach is better. "The only effective means we have is trapping and/or shooting nutria," Gehring said. "But that takes a concerted and sustained effort."

Related: Swamp Rats & Baby Dolphins! How Hurricanes Impact Animals

State agencies from Maryland, Virginia and Delaware have partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and FWS to eradicate local nutria populations. The groups are working with public and private landowners to monitor the animals' habitats, so that they can set traps and humanely euthanize the mammals, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some groups also use dogs to detect, track and trap nutria to prevent them from re-establishing their populations in locations where they had been removed, Gehring said.

Continuous monitoring and removal of nutria is especially important as global warming increases the number of potential nutria habitats in North America, according to a 2019 study published in The Journal of Wildlife Management.

In many of the places involved with containment and eradication of nutria, groups are working to rebuild the ecosystem that the animals damaged or destroyed. In some instances, a wetland area can recover and rebuild itself on its own, but oftentimes active restoration efforts, such as planting native plants and replenishing the soil, are required to help rebuild the ecosystem, Gehring said.

It just takes a single, pregnant female to quickly repopulate an area from which nutria were previously eradicated. So, in order to keep restoration efforts moving forward, it is important that any sightings of the creatures be reported to state and federal wildlife agencies, even in places where the animals are thought to be completely absent.

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Nutria: The Invasive Rodents of Unusual Size - Livescience.com

BARRIE -- Feces and human waste is floating in basements of several Innisfil homes this weekend.

The Town of Innisfil blames significant rainfall, and the frozen ground for causing a strain on the water treatment system; resulting in wastewater flowing back in neighbouring homes on St. John's Road and 6th line.

Carol Griffith's family spent the weekend cleaning the mess. "This is unacceptable," says Griffith. "Twenty-two years, never a problem."

Restoration crews were in Griffith's home on Monday, trying to remove furniture, carpet and appliances damaged in the mess; more than 48 hours after wastewater started pouring from toilets, showers and sinks.

Walter Malcolm, president of InnServices, says crews were quick to respond.

"We're sympathetic to the residents. This was a tragic event that happened." Malcolm says 65 millimetres of rain fell over the weekend. "This is an extreme climate change weather event that occurred... It was a huge downpour of water that came down at one time."

But Griffith isn't buying the town's response.

"They told me straight out on the phone, the gentleman, that the plant itself overflowed and flooded out," she says.

Her family's basement was submerged in sewage for hours. Family photos and valuables were soiled and lost.

"The dirt and the crap and whatever it all is, the toilet paper; it's all disgusting," says Melanie Pugh of Bristol Restoration.

Mitch Schaub of PuroClean worked alongside a crew of a dozen cleaning floors and walls and removing damaged property in several homes.

"At the bottom step, stairs going down into the basement, that's how high it was, and it was sewage," he explains.

Residents say sump pumps seized up, and furnaces stopped working. They expect hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims and have been told by insurance companies future claims likely won't be covered.

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'This is unacceptable': Basements flooded with sewage and wastewater - CTV News

Following the high-profile renovations of The Secretariat and Tourist Burma Building last year, the latest colonial-era structure to receive another refurbishment is the former Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise office building on the Merchant Road as National Library Myanmar.

In 2016, then-President U Htin Kyaw approved the invocation of Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) to use the four-storey building as the National Library located in Yankin Township was away from downtown.

The building was left vacant after the countrys administrative seat was moved from Yangon to Nay Pyi Taw in 2006. It had been patched up here and there following the ravages of Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

Daw Moe Moe Lwin, director of conservation at YHT, said I had worked in its first maintenance project as a secretary of the Association of Myanmar Architects back in 2011. The attic and the roof of the building were damaged; the original architectural works need to be preserved so the maintenance team must follow the blueprints precisely.

When the official statement from the President Office has repurposed it as a library, the buildings overhaul restoration began in 2017. The Ministry of Construction handled the restoration and YHT served as an advisory body.

The books will be kept on the ground floor. The upper floors will be used as multipurpose halls for public access, according to the director.

The main challenge lies in fireproofing the building. Since there are many books and ancient scripts, we cant use water to kill the fire. So, we had to install systems to employ gas as a fire extinguisher. The librarys functions will be digitised and therefore we set up digital centres, says Daw Moe Moe.

The building has served different purposes throughout the century. It was constructed in 1908 as an office for the Scottish trading firm Finlay, Fleming & Co. and later became the headquarters of Burmah Oil.

After World War II, it shared premises with a nursing home, called San Pya Clinic. Burmah Oil was nationalised in 1963 and eventually became Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise.

Likewise, Myanmars National Library has had many homes since independence.

It was originally called Bernard Free Library, after Sir Charles Edward Bernard who founded it as the first free public library in 1883. It was located at what is now called No 1 Basic Education High School, Latha Township.

In 1952 the government moved it to the Jubilee Hall on the Shwedagon Pagoda Road and reopened it as the State Library under the then Ministry of Culture. It had not been called the National Library until 1964.

Some years later it was moved, again, to Pansodan Street and then to Yangon City Hall. After moving twice more, the books were temporarily kept in a building in Tamwe Township until it was damaged by Cyclone Nargis in 2008. In October that year, the books were moved to the current location in Yankin.

The National Library is one of the two research libraries in Yangon (the other is Yangon University Library), housing more than 600,000 books, periodicals, handwritten manuscripts of the countrys famous writers and ancient texts. Its original collection was nearly 1 million and some of them are now at the National Library (Nay Pyi Taw).

The restoration of the building was finished late 2019. The books are now being recorded and transported to the new location. The library is expected to open in April 2020. This time, for every citizen, I hope the National Library finds its forever home.

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National Library finally finds forever home? - MYANMORE Yangon

Express News Service

CHENNAI:Mylapore being an amalgamation of temples (old and new), agraharams, modern semi high-rises, commercial establishments and abandoned entities is perhaps one of the most dynamic areas of the city. While the changes over the years have helped it reap the benefits of modernity and assimilation, it has forgotten to keep an eye on the rich heritage it has managed to hold on to. For the number of vintage houses most of them in squalor and some, complete desertion tucked away in its narrow lanes are in danger of being lost to time, all for the want of conservation and the discerning eye. If only we could get our people to wake up to the wonders they coexist with and rally behind the need for its protection. Enter: Madras Inherited.

In an effort to get people to notice and marvel at the tangible history of the ancient settlement, architect Tahaer Zoyab and his team have been leading people down the roads of Mylapore and introducing them to its architectural timeline.The walk hosted on Sunday as part of the Mylapore Festival followed the teams well-researched and wandered route. But for the 50-odd people who showed up at Nadu Street at 7 am, it was a journey of discovery.

Locked beautyThe first stop on this journey a house left abandoned for at least a few decades set the tone for what lay ahead. Minimalism, a soft colour palette, Mangalore tile roof, wood work that had withstood the onslaught of time and natural forces, and a thinnai that had connected the house to the world outside. That the house had been in disuse, despite the beautiful potential it holds for recovery and restoration, was no surprise, says Tahaer. In many cases there is no proper documentation as to who the house belongs to; it might have once been in the hands of the temple trust. The lack of ownership per se that leads to conditions such as this. This house has been locked for as long as we have been doing this walk, he explains.

Architectural marvelsWhile it proved to be true for too many houses curated for the walk, the one next in line was a pleasant surprise. Easily dating back to the 1920s, the two-storey house was as functional as it could be. The owners a charming old couple used to the attention from the heritage walkers greeted the travellers at the door to share some of the secrets of their happy home. The thing with old houses like this is that it was not built with cement. Instead, it used mortar and lime. This and the high ceilings means that we have never had the need for air-conditioning even in the peak of summer, says the woman, as her husband gives a quick explanation of what makes construction lime. The house also had a feature that is becoming increasingly difficult to find in the matchbox apartments of today huge windows. The windows ensure cross-ventilation. There is always enough air, enough light in the house, Tahaer adds.

The house also stood testament to the ways people had to improvise and adapt to the space in hand. In many cases, the staircase was an addition once we all figured out, from a construction perspective, how to build on top of the ground floor. That is one of the reasons a lot of these staircases seem ridiculously small. It is not really a conscious effort to save space; it was what one could do with the space that was available, Tahaer says.

Conserving relicsWhile the couple could not offer the huge crowd a tour of their home, a lived-in house further down the tour was made available for the purpose. This two-storey house came with an inner courtyard too. Typical for its times, this house was marked by its solid columns, sturdy wood work, simple grill work that eschewed ornamentation for the celebration of geometry, small rooms that suggested symmetry but was quite off the mark, staircases within the house that were only wide enough for one. The house was home to architectural relics wooden beams and members supporting the ceiling, a functional hand pump and red-oxide floors the ones that does not leave your feet red. Despite the heritage it represented, its upkeep was far from ideal. For there are few who know about these treasures scattered across the busy town and hence, few who call for its conservation, says Tahaer.

This was evident in the signs of structures that once were a single column left standing, a beautifully decorated wrought-iron signage that now hangs empty, broken statues guarding the gates of old temples. Very few seem to have managed to hold on to the old while changing with the climes. A Dutch-style house had been preserved in form and altered only in paint.Another house from the early 20th century had retained its facade that is begging for restoration while completely rebuilding the rooms inside. Some others had preserved their heritage only in a name or a legend.

More abandoned structures stood testimony to the Nawab of Arcots reign, the Mughal influence, and neo-classical style of architecture. And the stories they held! If only we could get our people to wake up to the wonders they coexist with and rally behind the need for its protection.

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High on heritage - The New Indian Express

Written by Sanjaya Baru | Updated: January 14, 2020 10:41:23 am S Jaishankar, who took as foreign secretary, was to launch the annual Raisina Dialogue, a conclave of foreign policymakers and analysts from around the world.

An important foreign policy initiative that the external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, took as foreign secretary was to launch the annual Raisina Dialogue, a conclave of foreign policymakers and analysts from around the world. The two questions that would be uppermost on the mind of most foreign delegates to the conference would have little to do with the external affairs ministers remit. These would be the medium term prospects for the Indian economy and restoration of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and, given widespread student protests, in the rest of the country.

As is now widely accepted, the Rising India narrative scripted over the two post-Cold War decades, 1991 to 2011, was based on the improving performance of the economy and Indias political ability to deal with many longstanding diplomatic challenges within a paradigm of realism. Three successive prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh scripted the narrative of India rising as a plural, secular democracy, as opposed to Chinas rise within an authoritarian system.

Indias improving economic performance had opened up new vistas for cooperation with major powers and neighbours. Now the economys subdued performance and domestic political issues have created new challenges for Indian foreign policy. To add to these external concerns, the new approach to relations with India adopted by both President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping has created a more challenging external environment. What, then, are the prospects for 2020?

Through most of this year, President Donald Trump will remain pre-occupied with his re-election. On the economic side, he is unlikely to resolve all bilateral differences on trade policy. Each time New Delhi has tried to meet a US demand, Washington DC has come up with new demands. Moreover, any resolution of his differences with China, even if short-term and aimed at pleasing domestic consumers before elections, can only reduce whatever little bargaining clout India has. The US has, in fact, actively lodged complaints against India at the World Trade Organisation. On the geopolitical side, US intervention in West Asia has always imposed additional economic burden on India and we must remain prepared for more such initiatives that may not be reassuring for the Indian economy.

There has been continuity and consistency in India-China policy over the past two decades, with some ups and downs, but as the bilateral power differential widens, China has little incentive or compulsion to be accommodative of Indian concerns, much less interests. Xis China never fails to remind India of the growing power differential between the two. In dealing with China, India will have to, paraphrasing Deng Xiaoping, build its strength and bide its time. Russia, the other major power, will remain focused on Eurasian geopolitics and the geo-economics of energy. Both these factors define Russias relations with China, and increasingly, with Pakistan, posing a challenge for India.

The governments Pakistan policy has run its course. It yielded some short-term results thanks to Pakistans efforts not to get black-listed by the Financial Action Task Force, but the fact is that the rest of the world is happily doing business with Pakistan, lending billions in aid. The global community may increasingly accept future pleas from Pakistan that terror attacks in India are home-grown, related to the situation in Kashmir or concerns about the welfare of Muslims, unless incontrovertible evidence to the contrary is offered. India needs a new Pakistan policy. Back channel talks should be resumed and visas given liberally to Pakistani intellectuals, media and entertainers to improve cross-border perceptions as a first step towards improving relations.

If much progress cannot be expected this year in relations with Trumps America and Xis China, then which countries should engage the attention of the external affairs minister? There is a category of nations that share Indias concerns about the direction that Trump and Xi have been taking, especially in trade policy and West Asian geopolitics. Like India, these countries have a stake in what the US and China do, but little influence over either.

Opinion | A new, fractured global order is upon us. Indias response must evolve accordingly

These are the worlds Middle Powers Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam and perhaps South Korea. One could include Russia, Nigeria and South Africa also in this group. It is a mix of developed and developing economies, some friends of the US and others friends of China. It is an amorphous group but can emerge into a grouping of the like-minded in a world of uncertainty capable of taming both the US and China. A new Middle Powers coalition may be the need of the year.

At home, a New India script is being written in a period of domestic and global uncertainty that has already influenced global perceptions about India. We are moving from an era of predictability to an era of unpredictability at home and abroad. Fresh doubts are being raised about Indias place in the world in the 21st century its economic significance, its political standing and its ideological moorings.

An economic turnaround and restoration of domestic political equilibrium will widen the space for foreign policy initiatives. Persistent economic uncertainty and radically disruptive politics at home will mean that the external affairs minister can at best conduct a holding operation, ensuring that the external environment does not also deteriorate.

There is a view among some policy analysts at home that India too can adopt a disruptive approach as a clever tactic in foreign affairs. This is an illusion. Disruption is not an end in itself. It has to be a means to an end. Powerful nations can afford disruption as tactics. However, given that the strategic elements defining Indian foreign policy in the post-Cold War era have not changed, India cannot risk such tactics without measuring the risk they pose to strategy.

Merely because domestic politics has changed, we cannot afford to be adventurous in foreign policy. The principal question for policymakers is: Has a proper risk assessment been undertaken with respect to the external consequences of domestic policy initiatives? The US may be able to pursue policies at home and abroad without adequate measurement of risk. But India has to assess external economic and geopolitical risk carefully and improve the quality of the external communication of her national interests and personality.

This article first appeared in the print edition on January 14, 2020 under the title The world from Raisina. The writer is a policy analyst and former media advisor to prime minister of India.

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We are moving to an era of unpredictability. A new Middle Powers coalition may be needed - The Indian Express

With his long leathery neck, dull-yellow face and beady eyes, theres just something about Diego.

A tortoise more than 100 years old, Diego has had little trouble mating.

A member of Chelonoidis hoodensis, or the giant tortoise species from Espaola Island in the Galpagos in Ecuador, he was one of 15 tortoises in a captive breeding program at the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Center on the island of Santa Cruz.

Among the males, Diego displayed an exceptional sex drive, so much so, hes credited with helping save his species from extinction.

Now, with the future secured, he gets to retire.

In a statement on Friday, the Galpagos National Park announced the end of the breeding program, saying an evaluation showed it had met its conservation goals.

The program began in 1965, with efforts first dedicated to saving the tortoise population on Pinzn Island, another island in the Galpagos. In 1970, researchers began saving the Espaola Island tortoises.

At the time, there were 14 tortoises left: 12 females and two males, according to the Galpagos Conservancy. In 1976, a third male was introduced to the tortoise restoration breeding program, Diego, who had lived at the San Diego Zoo in the United States for 30 years.

The breeding program helped increase the tortoise population to 2,000 from 15, Jorge Carrin, the director of the Galpagos National Park, said in a statement.

Paternity tests indicate that Diego is responsible for about 40 percent of the offspring produced, James P. Gibbs, a professor of environmental and forest biology at the State University of New York in Syracuse, said.

Another more reserved, less charismatic male E5 has generated about 60 percent, he said. The third male E3 virtually none. So Diego has been critical.

What was it about Diego? Why did he attract so many mates and garner such international attention, especially if another male was more productive?

Professor Gibbs says Diego has a big personality quite aggressive, active and vocal in his mating habits and so I think he has gotten most of the attention.

But it clearly is the other quieter male that has had much more success, he added. Maybe he prefers to mate more at night.

Professor Gibbs said it was all about who the females select.

It might come as a surprise to many but tortoises do form what we would call relationships, he said. The social hierarchies and relationships of giant tortoises are very poorly known.

Mr. Carrin, the director of the national park, had a simpler explanation: Without a doubt, Diego had some characteristics that made him special.

Professor Gibbs said the giant tortoises became endangered because easy access to the island allowed whalers, pirates, fishermen and others to remove them for food primarily in the 1800s.

Feral goats overran the island for many years and not only competed with tortoises for food, but also destroyed much of their habitat, he added.

In an interview on Saturday night, Mr. Carrin said he believed Diego was taken from his home island of Espaola sometime in the 1930s.

Conservationists also worked on the ecological restoration of Espaola Island, including promoting the growth of cactuses, which are a source of food for the tortoises. That, in turn, helped bring the species from the brink of extinction, Mr. Carrin said.

The tortoises uniquely shaped shells allow them stretch to reach food. Diego, fully stretched out, extends about five feet. He weighs about 176 pounds.

The breeding program is a part of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, a collaborative effort led by the Galpagos Conservancy and the Galpagos National Park Directorate.

The tortoise center on Santa Cruz was established by the Charles Darwin Research Station in 1965, the Galpagos Conservancy said on its website. There are now three tortoise centers, which are all managed by the Park Directorate.

Relying on available data since 1960 about the island and its tortoise population, including a 2019 census, researchers developed mathematical models with projections for the next 100 years.

The conclusion was that the island has sufficient conditions to maintain the tortoise population, which will continue to grow normally even without any new repatriation of juveniles, Washington Tapia, the Galpagos-based director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, said in a statement.

Almost 80 years after he was taken, Diego is expected to return to Espaola Island in March.

The island is very dry, arid even, Mr. Carrin said, but to Diego, its home.

Johnny Diaz contributed reporting.

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Diego, the Tortoise Whose High Sex Drive Helped Save His Species, Retires - The New York Times

There are seven homes comprising San Francisco's iconic Painted Ladies row, and one of them is for sale for $2.75 million.

The home at 714 Steiner Street has all of the elements of that quintessential San Francisco charm: the pointed roofs, the crown molding, the ornate detailing, the opulent colors. But the century-old house is also badly in need of a complete interior renovation.

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Painted Ladies homes on the market are a bit of a rarity only two were listed in the past ten years, Rushton said. In a city with a housing crunch, and with its status as an unofficial San Francisco landmark, it will likely find a buyer despite its needed renovations, even if it's used as a second home, a trend among some deep-pocketed San Francisco homebuyers.

Take a look inside one of the famous, brightly-colored Painted Ladies homes.

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Inside one of San Francisco's iconic Painted Ladies homes that's a 'fixer-upper' and on sale for $2.75 million - Business Insider