Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
India will miss its renewable energy target for the end of the year, with experts saying "multiple challenges" including a lack of financial help and taxes on imported components are stalling the clean energy industry.
The country has installed just over half of its planned renewable energy capacity, a high level parliamentary report found last week.
The target, set in January, 2018, would have increased India's renewable energy capacity to 43 per cent of its current energy mix. The government now says it hopes to achieve the goal by mid-2023.
The shortfall is down to "inconsistent federal and state-level renewable energy policies, excessive custom duties on renewable energy related products as well as financing issues," said Vibhuti Garg, an energy economist based in New Delhi, who added that the solar industry is particularly vulnerable to such roadblocks.
She added that "improving the financial health of government-owned power companies" would help build out renewable capacity in India. State-owned power companies have been struggling as a result of delays in government grants and consumer payments and the COVID-19 pandemic which led to shutdowns of energy-heavy industries.
India's parliamentary committee stated that ministry-level approvals for solar projects take "an unduly long time" making it difficult for new solar parks to open.
It added that state-owned energy companies owe 117 billion rupees (US $1.5 billon) to renewable energy generators and developers and the debt contributed to the slow buildout of clean energy.
The Indian government's ministry of new and renewable energy, which is in charge of meeting the nation's renewable energy targets, attributed the failure to meet targets to the COVID-19 pandemic.
India, the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide after China and the U.S., recently finalized its climate targets and pledged that 50 per cent of power generation will be from clean energy sources by 2030. The country's energy needs are expected to double by the end of the decade as the populations grows and the government seeks to improve living standards.
India's climate targets were rated as "insufficient" by Climate Action Tracker, an organization which conducts independent scientific analysis to determine if a country's ambitions are in line with limiting warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius.
Other observers say that the failure to meet these targets is not as big a setback as it appears to be.
While the target won't be achieved, "it has played an important role in directing India's electricity and power generation systems towards renewable energy," said Ashish Fernandes of Climate Risk Horizons, an organization which looks at the risks climate change poses to India's economy.
He added that long-term agreements to purchase coal power has stopped federal and state energy companies from investing heavily in renewables.
"We need to start retiring old, expensive coal plants and replacing them with renewable energy. This can save energy companies and consumers a lot of money as well," he said.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is 'deeply appreciative' of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Quebec will invest $603 million over five years to counter the decline of French in the province, French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge announced Sunday.
A senior Qatari official has urged Israel and Hamas to show "more commitment and more seriousness" in ceasefire negotiations in interviews with Israeli media, as pressure builds to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a ceasefire in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war woke up in tents at college campuses across the United States Sunday morning planning more protests demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies accused of enabling the conflict.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”