The Planning Commission hailed it as a future fuel and the industry projected it as a viable biofuel crop. But the Union Rural Development Ministry led by Jairam Ramesh feels otherwise. Citing negative reports, the Ministry has put on hold the Jatropha plantation programme for biofuel purpose. It has thus also put a question mark on the future of the proposed National Mission on biofuels.

The super-vision mission team of World Bank, with the help of District Poverty Initiatives Project, appreciated the self-confidence, vision and awareness of rural women trying to earn their livelihood. Through innovative initiative of the project, team members spread awareness about the solar energy lantern and mobile charging stations among the rural people. The establishment of solar energy lantern and mobile charging stations is being done through regeneration committee set up for villages.

NEW DELHI: Rapping the rural development ministry's land resources department for the "inordinate delay" in finalising a bio-fuels programme, a parliamentary panel has sought for the matter be placed before the cabinet at the earliest for a decision on its continuance.

The Minister for Environment and Forests, Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, on Wednesday termed the European Union’s emission tax on airlines as a “unilateral" decision.

She said in the backdrop of global efforts to tackle climate change challenges, the EU’s tax on international airlines was a “deal breaker”. The Minister was speaking at a TERI event here on Wednesday.

At Solar Energy Centre in Gurgaon, solar ACs have replaced conventional devices. Some other buildings have switched to alternative cooling techniques to limit electricity bills

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a global collaboration, on Thursday launched two new standards to empower corporates to better measure, manage, and report emissions. Developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the standards — Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) and Product Life Cycle Standards — enable companies to save money, reduce risks, and gain competitive advantages, a The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) release said.

Builders are now turning their attention on green buildings in a big way after the government unveiled a national rating system for green building design
Apart from vertical developments, builders are also focusing their projects on green developments. For this, they are getting approval from GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment), in India. Some developers like Ansal API, 3C, Central Park,Chintels Ltd,Earth Infrastructure and Falcon Group have already launchedprojects in and around Gurgaon, under this system.

Untreated Industrial Effluent Dumped On Yamuna Floodplain
New Delhi: The next time you stop along the Yamuna to buy those fresh leafy vegetables, think twice. A study carried out by The Energy Research Institute (TERI) has found that the continuous dumping of untreated industrial effluent and sewage into the river has contaminated the riverbed soil, and several vegetables, specifically the green leafy ones, contain high levels of toxic metals.

Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has been honoured with the International Green Globe Foundation Award for outstanding achievement in environment sector, official sources said today.

The award was jointly given by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Vizcraft International, they said.

The award was given during Delhi Sustainable Development Summit-2012 held in New Delhi recently.