Posted on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 08:28 am:

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Volkswagen’s Audi premium-car division agreed to buy Italian motorcycle company Ducati for about € 860 million ($1.12 billion) including debt, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Ducati's liabilities are well below €200 million. AFP

Ducati’s liabilities are well below €200 million, one of the people said. Audi has reached a pact with Ducati’s main shareholder, Investindustrial and plans to announce the acquisition on Wednesday, sources told Reuters last week.

Audi and Investindustrial may agree to withhold the exact purchasing price in the statement, which they plan to publish on the eve of VW’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hamburg, one of the sources said.

The people declined to be identified because the matter remains confidential.

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Posted on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 06:16 am:

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WASHINGTON: Per capita meat consumption need to be halved by 2050 in the developed world if the emission of nitrous oxide (N2O), one of the most important greenhouse gases, is to be curbed, as set out by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

This is the finding from a new study, which also claims that N2O emissions from the industrial and agricultural sectors will also need to be cut by 50 percent if targets are to be met.

The findings have been made by Eric A. Davidson of The Woods Hole Research Center, Massachusetts, and demonstrate the magnitude of changes needed to stabilize atmospheric N2O concentrations as well as improve the diets of the growing human population, the journal Environmental Research Letters reported.

N2O is the third highest contributor to climate change behind carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4); however, it poses a greater challenge to mitigate as nitrogen is an essential element for food production, according to a university statement.

It is also the most potent of these three greenhouse gases as it is a much better absorber of infrared radiation; however, the total man-made emissions are about six million tonnes of nitrogen as N2O compared to 10 billion tonnes of carbon as CO2.

The main sources of N2O are from the spreading of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers onto agricultural soils and storage and use of livestock manure. The nitrogen contained in fertilizers and manure is broken down by microbes that live in the soil and released into the atmosphere as N2O.

Davidson believes that N2O emissions can be reduced through better management of fertilizer and manure sources, as well as reducing the developed world's per capita meat consumption to relieve pressure on fertilizer demand and reduce growth in the amount of manure being produced.

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Posted on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 06:12 am:

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The heavyweight industrialist, Yash Birla, is as dedicated about his training as he is about business

Yash Birla's spacious private gym is housed on the terrace of his Malabar Hill heritage home. A serene spot, the gym offers a 360 degree view of where old money and old world charm reside amidst leafy bylanes.

The Birla scion, banters away with his trainer Jivesh about the photo shoot. The latter has been training Yash for seven years now and the comfort level is evident. Yash is parked on a bean bag next to a torso shaped statue. Instead of scooting closer, he teases Jivesh about demonstrating his superior muscle power to move the heavy sculpture. "Show your physique. Go ahead," says Yash. Jivesh slides it closer with monumental effort. "You want applause?" Yash jokes, "Well done!" We settle down for a serious chat about his training:

Daily fix
Yash likes to work out late in the evenings after work. He says, "Mornings don't work for me. I work out for an hour on an average. I weight train four times a week and do cardio twice. I like cycling, power yoga, walking or martial arts but I love weight training. My trainer used to make me do 60-70 Surya Namaskars in a go."

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