‘Green’ tyres to boost mileage, cut pollution

WASHINGTON - A new generation of ‘green’ tyres that will boost fuel efficiency without affecting safety or durability is in the pipeline.

India won’t accept legally binding emission cuts: Jairam Ramesh

NEW DELHI - Do not expect anything much from next month’s climate summit in Copenhagen, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said Thursday, reiterating that India is not going to accept any legally binding cuts on its greenhouse gas emissions.

Smaller airports pose bigger pollution threat than suspected

WASHINGTON - Air pollution poses a largely overlooked threat to people living near smaller regional airports, says a new study.

70 percent of Cuba’s farmland under threat

HAVANA - Seventy percent of Cuba’s land under cultivation is being affected by erosion, salinity and acidity, agriculture ministry officials said.

40 percent Indian households still powerless: Greenpeace

NEW DELHI - Despite India’s growing electricity generation and increasing carbon emissions around 40 percent of households — a majority of which are in villages — do not have electricity, says a Greenpeace report released here Tuesday.

Haryana tells oil firms to shift depots from residential areas

CHANDIGARH - Concerned over the devastation caused by the recent oil depot fire near Jaipur, the Haryana government has asked leading public sector oil companies to review and shift their depots located near residential areas in the state.

Oil leak in Haldia-Paradip pipeline in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR - An oil leak was Tuesday spotted at a crucial pipeline

Himachal restores its resthouses in lap of nature (IANS Travel - with images)

SHIMLA - Wooden frames and shingled eaves, the sound of birds and rustling leaves — the Himachal government has begun restoration of its resthouses in forests to promote ecotourism and to give visitors a chance to unwind far from the madding crowd.

Can tropical forests save the world? (Comment-Countdown to Copenhagen)

Expectations about a new global climate deal have reached a fever pitch with only a few weeks to go before the start of the 15th annual United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen to finalise a global climate pact beyond 2012, when the first term of the Kyoto Protocol will expire.