[http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=70678]

NEW DELHI: All government agencies of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on Monday came out with their joint three-month action plan to check air pollution in the national capital region.

The action plan include strict action against polluting vehicles in Delhi, phasing out of 18 coal-based industrial units in Ghaziabad, ban on registration of non-BS IV compliant vehicles in Haryana and stepping up efforts to phase out three old polluting
power-generating units of the NTPC's Badarpur Thermal Power Plant in the Capital.

[http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=70679]

In an effort to make students aware of environmental issues, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked universities to introduce courses in environmental studies. All UGC affiliated universities will have to rework their programmes in order to include
this new subject.

The core module has both theory and practical work. It is a 50 unit subject which has to be compulsorily conducted in the second year of graduation. V Ramana Rao, the convenor of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad said, "Around 1.5 lakh
students are taking up this course in which they are taught about pollution, the eco-system, and social issues related to the environment, etc." The institutions have been asked to implement this order immediately.

[http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=70624]

DARJEELING: Aimed at providing better infrastruture to the tourists to the hills, theGorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) today introduced three battery powered cars.

The eco-friendly cars, plying along the most frequented 2-km route from Darjeeling Mall to the Zoo, is aimed at projecting a tourist-friendly image of the picturesque Hills to the domestic and foreign tourists

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LUCKNOW: Your lung is an easier prey to pollution now. Thanks to the presence of nano pollutant called PM1 in city's air which has worried health experts as well. Chest experts, who gathered in the city for a sector update meeting here on Sunday, predict
an increment of about 10 per cent in asthma, chronic bronchitis and COPD cases due to the pollutant.

PM1 is particulate matter of size 1 (measured in micro meters). It is the smallest variety of finely divided solids or liquids that emanate from combustion processes, industrial activities or natural sources and remain suspended in the air. They are so
small that they are not even pulled down by gravitational force thus obtaining a 'repairable' character. All kinds of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) are a threat to pulmonary health. 

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The expert forest committee of environment ministry has held back the forest clearance for two 1,000MW hydro power projects - Siyom Hydro Electric Project (HEP) and Naying HEP - proposed on Siyom River, Arunachal Pradeshowing to the absence of a cumulative
impact assessment study of the Siyom River Basin. The Siyom HEP requires diversion of 1,500 hectares of forest while the Naying HEP needs 644 hectares of forest. Both the projects are located in the West Siang district that has dense forest cover and as per
state forest officials, 86% of the district is forest area. A total of 1.89 lakh trees would have to be cut for the two projects combined. The project plan includes building of dams on the Siyom River. 

[http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=70610]

COIMBATORE: Rajeshwari R, a resident of R S Puram, has been in desperate need to clear her home of her old computer monitor, tape recorders and printing machines. "Every month, several electronic items get accumulated in the store room at my residence,
but I do not know whom to approach or where exactly to dispose them" she said.