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The US and California officials have shrunk area for renewable energy plants in California desert. The officials announced Tuesday that they have more than halved the amount of California desert land, which allows local governments to decide how they want to handle large-scale solar, wind and geothermal projects on private land.

The Renewable Energy Action Team agencies, which include the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and California Energy Commission, said that regulators will initially concentrate on about 10 million acres of federal land. Their initial plan, which was revealed in September, designated 22.5 million acres across seven counties.

President Obama, on Tuesday, has issued a clarion call to all the Americans who are saddled by student debt, and has advised the student borrowers to fight for their rights. President Obama declared a combination of modest steps to bring a notoriously chaotic system into some order.

Obama revealed his "student aid bill of rights" in the front of a gymnasium full with around 10,000 students at Georgia Tech. He said that the nation should work together to bring about deeper changes to student loans.

He added that it should be done in such a way that not only every American should be able to afford college, but should also be able to afford the loan payments that kick in with a vengeance after their graduation.

An announcement has been made by Dunkin' Donuts that it is dropping titanium dioxide from its list of ingredients after an environmentalist group said that it can cause DNA and chromosomal damage and is also unsafe for human use.

According to the group, titanium dioxide is a nanomaterial that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned. The chain said that titanium dioxide is not a nonmaterial, but still took the decision to remove the chemical.

The company revealed that this step is not going to change the look of its baked goods. According to experts, titanium dioxide is utilized so that the powdered sugar can appear brighter. It is also used in sunscreen and paints.

Taxi-hailing service Uber has planned to hire more female drivers, citing safety concerns. The San Francisco-based company announced Tuesday that Uber will create 1 million jobs for women within the next five years in a partnership with the United Nations. The alliance aims to recruit drivers not just in the United States, but around the world.

Uber has been criticized in the past for a number of driver assaults on passengers. Also, highly-publicized assaults on women passengers, including the rape of one passenger in New Delhi, which has been cited as the main reason behind Uber's new move.

According to Salle Yoo, Uber's general counsel, driving for Uber offers flexibility and options that are particularly attractive for women.

Although Florida is known as the Sunshine State, when it comes to harnessing solar power, lots of customers find it less profitable, as electricity in Florida is already cheap and there are very less incentives made available to shift from fossil fuels.

Now, anger over the issue has led to the coalition of hardline conservatives, evangelical Christians and liberal environmentalists. They all want to break down the monopoly of the big power companies.

Some others who are involved in the union include the Sierra Club, the Christian Coalition, the Libertarian Party, the Evangelical Environment Network, Greenpeace USA and Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Rising employment and personal incomes may make the spring travel season for the US airlines the best one. It could see maximum passenger numbers in seven years, said industry group Airlines of America.

It is said that around 134. 8 million passengers or around 2.2 million people per day are expected to fly in March and April. If the projections for 2015 turn out to be true then it would be a 2% boost from the 132.2 million people who flew on US airlines in the same period last year.

John Heimlich, Airlines for America vice-president and chief economist, was of the view that two factors, firstly, high consumer sentiment and secondly, the continued affordability of air travel, may add to a busy travel season.