Space exploration recently got a significant breakthrough after the astronauts in the International Space Station were able to generate clean water successfully by distilling urine and capturing moisture.&nbsp;

This milestone was achieved by the team by utilising the space station's Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS).&nbsp;

The system was designed to collect wastewater, which included moisture released from the sweat and breath of the crew. The wastewater was sent to the Water Processor Assembly (WPA), where the astronauts produced drinkable water.&nbsp;

Additionally, water from urine was recovered by the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) through vacuum distillation. However, urine brine was generated from this distillation process, which contained some water components. &nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/mysteries-of-universe-to-be-revealed-by-euclid-telescope-say-scientists-605804">Mysteries of universe to be revealed by Euclid telescope, say scientists</a>

<h2>A step ahead in the advancement of the life support system</h2>

The new technology, the Brine Processor Assembly (BPA), is being tested by scientists to further enhance the recovery of water from the brine. The BPA, which is a subsystem for extracting wastewater, is being evaluated by experts in a zero-gravity environment.

Through the technology brine, after it is produced by the UPA, is subjected to special membrane technology, after which warm, dry air is blown over the brine to evaporate the water.&nbsp;

In this process, humid air is created, which along with the breath and perspiration of the crew members, is collected by the water collection systems of the station.&nbsp;

Team member at Johnson Space Centre Christopher Brown, hailing the achievement, called it an important step in the advancement of life support systems.&nbsp;

He further emphasised the importance of recycling water in space, adding that it is a remarkable accomplishment to launch with a limited water supply and lose only two pounds of water while allowing the remaining 98 per cent to circulate.

WATCH |&nbsp;First Saudi Arabian woman travels to space

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<h2>Water cleaner compared to drinking water on Earth</h2>

Scientists stated that the water produced from urine and sweat is far cleaner compared to the drinking water which is available on Earth.&nbsp;

He stated that crew members are not directly drinking urine but are actually consuming reclaimed, filtered, and thoroughly cleaned water.

This historic feat underscores the rigorous ground testing done and sophisticated processes adopted to ensure that clean and potable water is being produced in space.&nbsp;

Water, because of its multifaceted significance, remains critical for long-duration space travel. Firstly, water is essentially important for the well-being and survival of astronauts. It is needed for food preparation, hydration, food preparation, and personal hygiene.

The crew's health and performance can be severely compromised without the constant supply of clean water. Water also plays an important role in the sustenance of life support systems on spacecraft.&nbsp;

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Space exploration recently got a significant breakthrough after the astronauts in the International Space Station were able to generate clean water successfully by distilling urine and capturing moisture.

Space exploration recently got a significant breakthrough after the astronauts in the International Space Station were able to generate clean water successfully by distilling urine and capturing moisture. This milestone was achieved by the team by utilising the space station's Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The system was designed to collect wastewater, which included moisture released from the sweat and breath of the crew. The wastewater was sent to the Water Processor Assembly (WPA), where the astronauts produced drinkable water. Additionally, water from urine was recovered by the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) through vacuum distillation. However, urine brine was generated from this distillation process, which contained some water components. ALSO READ | Mysteries of universe to be revealed by Euclid telescope, say scientists A step ahead in the advancement of the life support system The new technology, the Brine Processor Assembly (BPA), is being tested by scientists to further enhance the recovery of water from the brine. The BPA, which is a subsystem for extracting wastewater, is being evaluated by experts in a zero-gravity environment. Through the technology brine, after it is produced by the UPA, is subjected to special membrane technology, after which warm, dry air is blown over the brine to evaporate the water. In this process, humid air is created, which along with the breath and perspiration of the crew members, is collected by the water collection systems of the station. Team member at Johnson Space Centre Christopher Brown, hailing the achievement, called it an important step in the advancement of life support systems. He further emphasised the importance of recycling water in space, adding that it is a remarkable accomplishment to launch with a limited water supply and lose only two pounds of water while allowing the remaining 98 per cent to circulate. WATCH | First Saudi Arabian woman travels to space Water cleaner compared to drinking water on Earth Scientists stated that the water produced from urine and sweat is far cleaner compared to the drinking water which is available on Earth. He stated that crew members are not directly drinking urine but are actually consuming reclaimed, filtered, and thoroughly cleaned water. This historic feat underscores the rigorous ground testing done and sophisticated processes adopted to ensure that clean and potable water is being produced in space. Water, because of its multifaceted significance, remains critical for long-duration space travel. Firstly, water is essentially important for the well-being and survival of astronauts. It is needed for food preparation, hydration, food preparation, and personal hygiene. The crew's health and performance can be severely compromised without the constant supply of clean water. Water also plays an important role in the sustenance of life support systems on spacecraft. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Can you drink it? Astronauts use their own urine, sweat to make clean water in space

Looking for the cleanest bathing waters in Europe? Save this list for your next trip

A team of scientists at the Tufts University School of Engineering has developed a new filtering technology inspired by biology that could help curb a drinking water-related disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide and potentially improve environmental remediation, industrial and chemical production, and mining, among other processes.

Reporting in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrated that their novel polymer membranes can separate fluoride from chloride and other ions - electrically charged atoms -- with twice the selectivity reported by other methods. They say the application of the technology could prevent fluoride toxicity in water supplies where the element occurs naturally at levels too high for human consumption.

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It is well known that adding fluoride to a water supply can reduce the incidence of tooth decay, including cavities. Less well known is the fact that some groundwater supplies have such high natural levels of fluoride that they can lead to severe health problems.

Prolonged exposure to excess fluoride can cause fluorosis, a condition that can actually weaken the teeth, calcify tendons and ligaments, and lead to bone deformities. The World Health Organization estimates that excessive fluoride concentrations in drinking water have caused tens of millions of dental and skeletal fluorosis cases worldwide.

The ability to remove fluoride with a relatively inexpensive filtering membrane could protect communities from fluorosis without requiring the use of high-pressure filtration or having to completely remove all components and then re-mineralize the drinking water"The potential for ion-selective membranes to reduce excess fluoride in drinking water supplies is very encouraging," said Ayse Asatekin, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering in the School of Engineering.

"But the technology`s potential usefulness extends beyond drinking water to other challenges. The method we used to manufacture the membranes is easy to scale up for industrial applications. And because the implementation as a filter can also be relatively simple, low cost, and environmentally sustainable, it could have wide applications to improving agricultural water supplies, cleaning up chemical waste, and improving chemical production," Ayse added.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-extends-ingenuity-copters-mission-on-mars-indefinitely-411301" hreflang="en">NASA extends Ingenuity copter's mission on Mars indefinitely</a>

For example, theoretically, the process could improve yields from limited geological reserves of lithium for sustainable lithium battery production or uranium needed for nuclear power generation, said AsatekinIn developing the design of the synthetic membranes, Asatekin`s team was inspired by biology. Cell membranes are remarkably selective in allowing the passage of ions into and out of the cell, and they can even regulate the internal and external concentrations of ions and molecules with great precision.

Biological ion channels create a more selective environment for the passage of these small ions by lining the channels with functional chemical groups that have different sizes and charges and different affinities for water. The interaction between the passing ions and these groups are forced by the nanometer dimensions of the channel pores, and the rite of passage is affected by the strength or weakness of the interactions.

The filtration membranes created by Asatekin`s team were designed by coating a zwitterionic polymer -- a polymer in which molecular groups contain closely linked positive and negative charges on their surface -- onto a porous support, creating membranes with channels narrower than a nanometer surrounded by both water-repelling and plus and minus-charged chemical groups.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/climate-change-us-extreme-weather-conditions-associated-to-arctic-warming-410374" hreflang="en">Climate change: US extreme weather conditions associated to Arctic warming</a>

As with the biological channels, the very small size of the pores forces the ions to interact with the charged and water-repelling groups in the pores, allowing some ions to pass much faster than others. In the current study, the composition of the polymer was made to target the selection of fluoride vs chloride. By altering the composition of the zwitterionic polymer, it should be possible to target the selection of different ions, the researchers say.

Most current filtering membranes separate molecules by significant differences in particle or molecular size and charge, but have difficulty distinguishing single atom ions from each other because of their small size and when their electric charges are nearly identical.

By contrast, the Tufts researchers` membranes are capable of separating ions that differ by only a fraction of their atomic diameter even when their electric charges are nearly identical.

Zwitterco, a Cambridge-based company that helped fund this work will be exploring the scale-up in manufacturing the ion separating membranes to test their application in industrial settings.

A team of scientists at the Tufts University School of Engineering has developed a new filtering technology inspired by biology that could help curb a drinking water-related disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide and potentially improve environmental remediation, industrial and chemical production, and mining, among other processes.

A team of scientists at the Tufts University School of Engineering has developed a new filtering technology inspired by biology that could help curb a drinking water-related disease that affects tens of millions of people worldwide and potentially improve environmental remediation, industrial and chemical production, and mining, among other processes. Reporting in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrated that their novel polymer membranes can separate fluoride from chloride and other ions - electrically charged atoms -- with twice the selectivity reported by other methods. They say the application of the technology could prevent fluoride toxicity in water supplies where the element occurs naturally at levels too high for human consumption. Also read | COVID-19 may not impair lung function in young adults, research shows It is well known that adding fluoride to a water supply can reduce the incidence of tooth decay, including cavities. Less well known is the fact that some groundwater supplies have such high natural levels of fluoride that they can lead to severe health problems. Prolonged exposure to excess fluoride can cause fluorosis, a condition that can actually weaken the teeth, calcify tendons and ligaments, and lead to bone deformities. The World Health Organization estimates that excessive fluoride concentrations in drinking water have caused tens of millions of dental and skeletal fluorosis cases worldwide. The ability to remove fluoride with a relatively inexpensive filtering membrane could protect communities from fluorosis without requiring the use of high-pressure filtration or having to completely remove all components and then re-mineralize the drinking water"The potential for ion-selective membranes to reduce excess fluoride in drinking water supplies is very encouraging," said Ayse Asatekin, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering in the School of Engineering. "But the technology`s potential usefulness extends beyond drinking water to other challenges. The method we used to manufacture the membranes is easy to scale up for industrial applications. And because the implementation as a filter can also be relatively simple, low cost, and environmentally sustainable, it could have wide applications to improving agricultural water supplies, cleaning up chemical waste, and improving chemical production," Ayse added. Also read | NASA extends Ingenuity copter's mission on Mars indefinitely For example, theoretically, the process could improve yields from limited geological reserves of lithium for sustainable lithium battery production or uranium needed for nuclear power generation, said AsatekinIn developing the design of the synthetic membranes, Asatekin`s team was inspired by biology. Cell membranes are remarkably selective in allowing the passage of ions into and out of the cell, and they can even regulate the internal and external concentrations of ions and molecules with great precision. Biological ion channels create a more selective environment for the passage of these small ions by lining the channels with functional chemical groups that have different sizes and charges and different affinities for water. The interaction between the passing ions and these groups are forced by the nanometer dimensions of the channel pores, and the rite of passage is affected by the strength or weakness of the interactions. The filtration membranes created by Asatekin`s team were designed by coating a zwitterionic polymer -- a polymer in which molecular groups contain closely linked positive and negative charges on their surface -- onto a porous support, creating membranes with channels narrower than a nanometer surrounded by both water-repelling and plus and minus-charged chemical groups. Also read | Climate change: US extreme weather conditions associated to Arctic warming As with the biological channels, the very small size of the pores forces the ions to interact with the charged and water-repelling groups in the pores, allowing some ions to pass much faster than others. In the current study, the composition of the polymer was made to target the selection of fluoride vs chloride. By altering the composition of the zwitterionic polymer, it should be possible to target the selection of different ions, the researchers say. Most current filtering membranes separate molecules by significant differences in particle or molecular size and charge, but have difficulty distinguishing single atom ions from each other because of their small size and when their electric charges are nearly identical. By contrast, the Tufts researchers` membranes are capable of separating ions that differ by only a fraction of their atomic diameter even when their electric charges are nearly identical. Zwitterco, a Cambridge-based company that helped fund this work will be exploring the scale-up in manufacturing the ion separating membranes to test their application in industrial settings.

New filtering method promises safer drinking water, improved industrial production

The Biden administration intends to revive federal environmental protections for millions of streams, marshes and other bodies of water across the country that had been eliminated by former President Donald Trump in his quest to please homebuilders, farmers and ranchers.

The Environmental Protection Agency made the announcement Wednesday after it said it had found that the changes under Trump caused “significant environmental degradation.”

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/restoring-environmental-rules-rolled-back-by-trump-could-take-years-358684">Restoring environmental rules rolled back by Trump could take years</a>

The problem is particularly glaring in arid states such as New Mexico and Arizona, where nearly every one of more than 1,500 streams lost environmental protections under the Trump rules, said Michael Regan, administrator of the EPA. More than 300 development projects were able to go forward without regard to whether they were polluting streams or waterways under the changes made by Trump, the EPA said.

It marked the latest in a series of decisions by President Joe Biden to restore environmental protections that Trump had weakened or repealed, and it sets the stage for a regulatory and legal battle over an issue that has pitted environmental groups against agricultural interests for decades.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-using-last-days-to-lock-in-policies-and-make-bidens-task-more-difficult-344719">Trump using last days to lock in policies and make Biden’s task more difficult</a>

The effort also will be a test for Regan, who came to Washington with a reputation as a consensus builder who could find common ground between industry and environmentalists. In a statement Wednesday, Regan said the agency is “committed to establishing a durable definition of ‘waters of the United States’” and added that he intends to draw “from the lessons learned” from the Obama and Trump administrations.

By starting early to revise the policy, the Biden administration stands a greater chance of defending it against the legal challenges that are expected to come, said Richard Revesz, a professor of environmental law at New York University. “That makes it much more likely it will stick,” Revesz said.

Republicans on Wednesday criticized the move and vowed to fight it, saying Trump’s policy had protected farmers and removed what many felt were onerous cleanup burdens. “It’s a shame the Biden administration wants to undo the good work of the Trump administration,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said, adding that his state was “well-positioned in the event of overreach” to fight the Biden EPA’s plan. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, called it a “gut punch” to her state. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., dubbed it a “Biden administration power grab.”

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-administration-secretly-seized-phone-records-of-times-reporters-389303">Trump administration secretly seized phone records of Times reporters</a>&nbsp;

The original measure, known as the Waters of the United States rule, dates to the Obama administration and extended the range of bodies of water that were subject to the 1972 Clean Water Act, an issue that had for decades lacked clarity.

The Obama administration protected about 60 per cent of the nation’s waterways, including large bodies of water such as the Chesapeake Bay, Mississippi River and Puget Sound, and smaller headwaters, wetlands, seasonal streams and streams that run temporarily underground. It limited the discharge of pollutants such as fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals into those waters.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-revokes-trumps-ban-on-chinese-apps-tiktok-wechat-orders-criteria-based-decision-390430">Biden revokes Trump's ban on Chinese apps TikTok, WeChat; orders 'criteria-based decision'</a>

Trump repealed the policy in 2019, calling it “one of the most ridiculous regulations of all,” and claimed that his repeal caused farmers to weep in gratitude. One year later, his EPA finalized the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which removed protections for more than half of the nation’s wetlands and hundreds of thousands of miles of upland streams by narrowing the definition of what constitutes a “water of the United States.”

In doing so, Trump framed the change as the rightful return of power from the federal government to landowners and states. In a statement on Wednesday, Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Homebuilders, expressed concern that changes to the water rule will “add unnecessary requirements” that will hurt housing affordability.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-was-scared-biden-would-be-replaced-with-hillary-clinton-or-michelle-obama-book-claims-390209">Trump was scared Biden would be replaced with Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama, book claims</a>

Tuesday’s announcement does not start the process of revising the regulation. That will come when the EPA officially promulgates a proposed new rule, possibly later this year. Wednesday’s action was a legal move in which the Department of Justice and Department of the Army formally requested repeal of the Trump-era rule.

“Communities deserve to have our nation’s waters protected,” Jaime Pinkham, acting assistant Army secretary for civil work, said in a statement. He said the Trump-era rule resulted in a significant drop in determinations of waters that would otherwise have been afforded protection.

Environmental groups and Democrats in Congress praised the announcement and pressed the administration to work quickly to unravel the Trump policy. “Every day the ‘Dirty Water’ rule remains in effect, it causes irreparable harm to our health, to our environment, and to our economies,” Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said in a statement.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-administration-moves-to-unkink-supply-chain-bottlenecks-390215">Biden administration moves to unkink supply chain bottlenecks</a>

However, some legal experts said that by moving to repeal Trump’s measure and start over again, rather than building on the previous rule, the Biden administration might only prolong the back and forth that has gone on for years. “It could perpetuate this place we are in, in which each administration throws out what the last administration does, and that is not good for anyone who is interested in this issue,” said Kevin Minoli who served as a lawyer at the EPA in the Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump administrations.

Regan has years of experience working with Republicans on the clean water rule, which was a major issue in North Carolina where he served as head of the state’s Department of Environmental Quality before leading the EPA.

When he testified before lawmakers in April, Regan vowed not to return to what many Republicans felt was the Obama administration’s overly expansive definition of a federal waterway. “We’ve learned lessons from both, we’ve seen complexities in both, and we’ve determined both rules necessarily did not listen to the will of the people,” he said. “We don’t have any intention of going back to the original Obama Waters of the US&nbsp;verbatim.”

The Biden administration’s decision to restore the federal protections is one in a string of reversals it is making to Trump-era environmental decisions, which were themselves reversals of Obama administration actions. The Trump administration repealed or weakened more than 100 environmental rules or laws, loosening or eliminating rules on climate change, clean air, chemical pollution, coal mining, oil drilling and endangered species protections.

The Biden administration intends to revive federal environmental protections for millions of streams, marshes and other bodies of water across the country that had been eliminated by former President Donald Trump in his quest to please homebuilders, farmers and ranchers.

The Biden administration intends to revive federal environmental protections for millions of streams, marshes and other bodies of water across the country that had been eliminated by former President Donald Trump in his quest to please homebuilders, farmers and ranchers. The Environmental Protection Agency made the announcement Wednesday after it said it had found that the changes under Trump caused “significant environmental degradation.” Also read | Restoring environmental rules rolled back by Trump could take years The problem is particularly glaring in arid states such as New Mexico and Arizona, where nearly every one of more than 1,500 streams lost environmental protections under the Trump rules, said Michael Regan, administrator of the EPA. More than 300 development projects were able to go forward without regard to whether they were polluting streams or waterways under the changes made by Trump, the EPA said. It marked the latest in a series of decisions by President Joe Biden to restore environmental protections that Trump had weakened or repealed, and it sets the stage for a regulatory and legal battle over an issue that has pitted environmental groups against agricultural interests for decades. Also read | Trump using last days to lock in policies and make Biden’s task more difficult The effort also will be a test for Regan, who came to Washington with a reputation as a consensus builder who could find common ground between industry and environmentalists. In a statement Wednesday, Regan said the agency is “committed to establishing a durable definition of ‘waters of the United States’” and added that he intends to draw “from the lessons learned” from the Obama and Trump administrations. By starting early to revise the policy, the Biden administration stands a greater chance of defending it against the legal challenges that are expected to come, said Richard Revesz, a professor of environmental law at New York University. “That makes it much more likely it will stick,” Revesz said. Republicans on Wednesday criticized the move and vowed to fight it, saying Trump’s policy had protected farmers and removed what many felt were onerous cleanup burdens. “It’s a shame the Biden administration wants to undo the good work of the Trump administration,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said, adding that his state was “well-positioned in the event of overreach” to fight the Biden EPA’s plan. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, called it a “gut punch” to her state. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., dubbed it a “Biden administration power grab.” Also read | Trump administration secretly seized phone records of Times reporters The original measure, known as the Waters of the United States rule, dates to the Obama administration and extended the range of bodies of water that were subject to the 1972 Clean Water Act, an issue that had for decades lacked clarity. The Obama administration protected about 60 per cent of the nation’s waterways, including large bodies of water such as the Chesapeake Bay, Mississippi River and Puget Sound, and smaller headwaters, wetlands, seasonal streams and streams that run temporarily underground. It limited the discharge of pollutants such as fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals into those waters. Also read | Biden revokes Trump's ban on Chinese apps TikTok, WeChat; orders 'criteria-based decision' Trump repealed the policy in 2019, calling it “one of the most ridiculous regulations of all,” and claimed that his repeal caused farmers to weep in gratitude. One year later, his EPA finalized the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which removed protections for more than half of the nation’s wetlands and hundreds of thousands of miles of upland streams by narrowing the definition of what constitutes a “water of the United States.” In doing so, Trump framed the change as the rightful return of power from the federal government to landowners and states. In a statement on Wednesday, Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Homebuilders, expressed concern that changes to the water rule will “add unnecessary requirements” that will hurt housing affordability. Also read | Trump was scared Biden would be replaced with Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama, book claims Tuesday’s announcement does not start the process of revising the regulation. That will come when the EPA officially promulgates a proposed new rule, possibly later this year. Wednesday’s action was a legal move in which the Department of Justice and Department of the Army formally requested repeal of the Trump-era rule. “Communities deserve to have our nation’s waters protected,” Jaime Pinkham, acting assistant Army secretary for civil work, said in a statement. He said the Trump-era rule resulted in a significant drop in determinations of waters that would otherwise have been afforded protection. Environmental groups and Democrats in Congress praised the announcement and pressed the administration to work quickly to unravel the Trump policy. “Every day the ‘Dirty Water’ rule remains in effect, it causes irreparable harm to our health, to our environment, and to our economies,” Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said in a statement. Also read | Biden administration moves to unkink supply chain bottlenecks However, some legal experts said that by moving to repeal Trump’s measure and start over again, rather than building on the previous rule, the Biden administration might only prolong the back and forth that has gone on for years. “It could perpetuate this place we are in, in which each administration throws out what the last administration does, and that is not good for anyone who is interested in this issue,” said Kevin Minoli who served as a lawyer at the EPA in the Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump administrations. Regan has years of experience working with Republicans on the clean water rule, which was a major issue in North Carolina where he served as head of the state’s Department of Environmental Quality before leading the EPA. When he testified before lawmakers in April, Regan vowed not to return to what many Republicans felt was the Obama administration’s overly expansive definition of a federal waterway. “We’ve learned lessons from both, we’ve seen complexities in both, and we’ve determined both rules necessarily did not listen to the will of the people,” he said. “We don’t have any intention of going back to the original Obama Waters of the US verbatim.” The Biden administration’s decision to restore the federal protections is one in a string of reversals it is making to Trump-era environmental decisions, which were themselves reversals of Obama administration actions. The Trump administration repealed or weakened more than 100 environmental rules or laws, loosening or eliminating rules on climate change, clean air, chemical pollution, coal mining, oil drilling and endangered species protections.

Biden administration to restore clean-water protections ended by Trump

A leading charity has criticised the government's plan to reduce funding for overseas water and sanitation projects during the coronavirus pandemic after a leaked memo reveals details of cuts in the foreign aid budget.&nbsp;

If a leaked memo is to be believed, the funding for water, sanitation and hygiene bilateral projects will be cut by more than 80%.&nbsp;

According to a BBC report, WaterAid's Tim Wainwright has criticised the timing of ‘savage cuts'.&nbsp;

The Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office said COVID-19 had 'forced us to take tough' decisions.&nbsp;

The government had also announced last year it would cut UK aid spending from 0.7% of national income to just 0.5%, which amounts to a reduction of more than £4bn - but it is yet to confirm which programmes will be affected.&nbsp;

The 'temporary measure' was also being defended at this time as supported by voters, with some MPs saying domestic spending should come first during the pandemic.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the UK is currently moving through its domestic priority lists for COVID-19 vaccines and therefore, has no surplus doses to share with countries in need such as India at this stage, Downing Street said recently. &nbsp;

In reference to India's devastating second wave of the pandemic, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesperson said the process is kept under constant review, while the country sends an assistance package made up of 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators to India to meet the supply shortages over the course of the week. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The first tranche of 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators arrived in New Delhi early on Tuesday. &nbsp;

"We committed in February to sending excess doses from the UK's supply to the COVAX procurement pool and to countries in need, once they are available," the UK PM's spokesperson said. &nbsp;

"Right now, we are moving through the UK prioritisation list for our domestic rollout and don't have surplus doses, but we keep this under constant review. We recognise that no one is safe until we're all safe in this pandemic which is why the UK has contributed GBP 548 million to COVAX and sent vital medical supplies to India," the spokesperson said. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

A leading charity has criticised the government's plan to reduce funding for overseas water and sanitation projects during the coronavirus pandemic after a leaked memo reveals details of cuts in the foreign aid budget.

A leading charity has criticised the government's plan to reduce funding for overseas water and sanitation projects during the coronavirus pandemic after a leaked memo reveals details of cuts in the foreign aid budget. If a leaked memo is to be believed, the funding for water, sanitation and hygiene bilateral projects will be cut by more than 80%. According to a BBC report, WaterAid's Tim Wainwright has criticised the timing of ‘savage cuts'. The Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office said COVID-19 had 'forced us to take tough' decisions. The government had also announced last year it would cut UK aid spending from 0.7% of national income to just 0.5%, which amounts to a reduction of more than £4bn - but it is yet to confirm which programmes will be affected. The 'temporary measure' was also being defended at this time as supported by voters, with some MPs saying domestic spending should come first during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the UK is currently moving through its domestic priority lists for COVID-19 vaccines and therefore, has no surplus doses to share with countries in need such as India at this stage, Downing Street said recently. In reference to India's devastating second wave of the pandemic, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesperson said the process is kept under constant review, while the country sends an assistance package made up of 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators to India to meet the supply shortages over the course of the week. The first tranche of 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators arrived in New Delhi early on Tuesday. "We committed in February to sending excess doses from the UK's supply to the COVAX procurement pool and to countries in need, once they are available," the UK PM's spokesperson said. "Right now, we are moving through the UK prioritisation list for our domestic rollout and don't have surplus doses, but we keep this under constant review. We recognise that no one is safe until we're all safe in this pandemic which is why the UK has contributed GBP 548 million to COVAX and sent vital medical supplies to India," the spokesperson said. (With inputs from agencies)

UK’s aid cuts for clean water projects overseas criticised 

The densely-populated Gaza Strip has long lacked sufficient drinking water, but a new project helps ease the shortage with a solar-powered process to extract potable water straight from the air.

Extracting potable water from air | This Israeli firm in Gaza is turning air into drinking water

Mumbai's tap water was declared fit to drink. Delhi Jal Board says it's water is safe to drink. Meanwhile clean tap water in just two cities in India. In India there are 75% households who don't have clean drinking water. Watch this video to know more.

India Watch: Crisis For Clean Water In India

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