Meerut poaching, arms racket: Slovenian sent to Tihar, officials say just tip of a global syndicate [http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=90479]Meerut: A day after a huge racket of poaching and international arms smuggling was uncovered during 17-hour-long joint raids carried out by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and wildlife department at the house of a retired colonel and his national-level shooter son in Meerut, a Slovenian national and two Delhi shooters, one of whose kids are national-level shooters, have been sent to Tihar Jail on Monday.

Call to preserve habitat of Great Indian Hornbills in the Nilgiris [http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=90458]With the breeding season of the Great Indian Hornbill (Bucerosbicornis) almost at an end this year, the need to preserve what’s left of its habitat in the Nilgiris has never been greater.Researchers said that the bird’s prime nesting grounds are located in the evergreen forests that come under the jurisdiction of the Nilgiris North-Eastern Range in the Nilgiris, where many pairs of the bird, which usually mate for life, were spotted this year during the breeding season, which extends from January till around April every year.

DOES POOR AIR QUALITY AFFECT AUTO DRIVERS? IF YES, HOW? [http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=90460]First it was the traffic police men and now auto drivers. Anti-Pollution Drive (APD) Foundation has initiated the Phase-2 to assess the health impact of air pollution on auto rickshaw drivers of coastal city by conducting the Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) on auto drivers.

Polythene-eating caterpillars may help fight plastic pollution [http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=90328]London: A commercially bred caterpillar can quickly break down polythene bags and may help get rid of the plastic waste accumulating in landfill sites and oceans, scientists say.Researchers, including those from University of Cambridge in the UK, exposed around a hundred wax worms - the larvae of the common insect called greater wax moth - to a plastic bag. Holes started to appear after just 40 minutes and after 12 hours there was a reduction in plastic mass of 92 milligramme (mg) from the bag, researchers said.

VEHICLES ‘Misconception’ that only diesel pollutes: govt to NGT [http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=90386]The government today told the National Green Tribunal that there was a “misconception” that only diesel pollutes the environment. “NGT has concluded that diesel vehicles are more polluting than petrol and CNG. The government has submitted that there are various pollutants that cause air pollution from vehicles. “Diesel may be inferior to petrol in some pollutants such as particulate matters and oxides of nitrogen, but petrol is also inferior to diesel in some other pollutants

Biomedical waste needs immediate treatment [http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/newspaper/details.asp?id=90385]Chennai: In a clear violation of the Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2016, formulated a year ago, none of the 22 government medical college hospitals in the state owns an effluent treatment plant (ETP) to treat the liquid medical waste. In a ground check conducted by Deccan Chronicle, it was learnt that Government College Hospitals, including Stanley Medical College and Madras Medical College, let out their highly pathogenic liquid into the common city sewer system, without an adequate treatment.