India

Train passengers will soon be able to order food from McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, or KFC to be delivered straight to their seats as they pass through selected stations across India. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has begun a pilot “station-based e-catering” project, which lets people order meals online, by calling a toll-free number, or by sending an SMS. A dedicated call center will run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and meals can either be paid for in advance or upon delivery. IRCTC general manager Debashis Chandra told The Hindustan Times:

Food prices are to be market-driven but we are focused that the food items supplied are hygienically packaged in eco-friendly, bio-degradable take-away packets and usage of plastic for packaging must be minimal if not totally eliminated.

Costa Rica

Citizens of Central American countries should be on guard for snakes in the coming months, as a study in Costa Rica has shown that rates of snakebites double or even triple during El Niño events. It turns out that the hotter and wetter weather associated with El Niño increases plant growth, which provides more food for rodents, which in turn supports a larger snake population. Snakes can also hunt longer in hotter weather, increasing their chance of coming into contact with humans. The researchers involved in the study have urged the Costa Rican government to prepare and set new planning policies accordingly.

Abkhazia

Officials in the breakaway Georgian republic of Abkhazia have decided that current seatbelt laws are too strict and have relaxed them. Within city limits, in areas with speed limits between 25 and 37 m.p.h., drivers will soon be allowed to travel without strapping in. “Adults are capable of driving a few streets from home to work without buckling up,” said interior minister Leonid Dzapshba. The region currently has one of the highest per capita road fatality rates in the Caucasus region.

China

The city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province is planning to install “smart” trash cans equipped with built-in Wi-Fi, solar panels, and energy storage. The bins only open when someone approaches and include an automatic sanitizer to prevent bad smells. When garbage reaches a certain level inside, street cleaners are automatically summoned to perform emptying duties. The trash cans will be installed at the end of October 2015.

Iceland

A coach driver in Reykjavik has volunteered to take refugees on free tours to see the dramatic landscapes of Iceland. Hans Gudmundsson, who runs what he describes as “the smallest bus company in Iceland,” has already taken one group of 30 refugees to see the Reykjanes peninsula — and is calling on larger tour companies to follow suit. “Some of the big bus companies here have 50 to 70 buses,” Gudmundsson told the BBC. “Hopefully they will also do a little, like I did. If many do a little then it’s a lot.”

South Africa

BMW’s car assembly plant in Pretoria has inked a deal to buy 4.4 megawatts of electricity from a biogas plant about 50 miles away, which produces power from local cattle-keepers. The plant gets 160 metric tonnes of manure delivered every day, collected from the 30,000 cattle that graze in the lands surrounding the plant, as well as paper sludge from a local toilet paper manufacturer and other organic waste. The smell? Apparently, after a while at the site, you don’t notice it any more.