China's heavily polluted capital, Beijing, plans to reduce air pollution levels by 15 percent by 2015 and 30 percent by 2020 through phasing out old cars, relocating factories and planting new forests, state media said on Thursday.

The level of air pollution in the capital varies, depending on winds. But a cocktail of smokestack emissions, vehicle exhaust, dust and aerosols have at times blanketed Beijing in a pungent, beige shroud for days on end over the past few months, and has even forced the cancellation of flights.

Slash-and-burn agricultural practices, banned by governments because of the risk of uncontrolled fires, provide better growing conditions for valuable new trees than more modern methods of forest clearance, a study suggests.

Starting in 1996, researchers cleared 24 half-hectare areas of tropical forest in Quintana Roo state, in southern Mexico, using three methods: clear-felling, where most of the trees are cut down; bulldozing; and slash-and-burn, a practice common among smallholders, in which trees are felled, left to dry and then burned, to prepare the land for agriculture.

The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi) favours re-opening of mines categorised as A and B in Karnataka.

“The Supreme Court has stopped all iron ore mines in Karnataka. We understand that the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has now finished the survey of all mines and classified them into A B and C categories. We are hopeful that at least the mines in A and B categories be allowed to open,” said Mr Basant Poddar, Chairman, Fimi-South.

The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi) said Bellary district administration has misled ICFRE team on impact of mining in the district.

“The Bellary district administration held the mining industry responsible for lower agriculture productivity during 2003-2010,” said Mr D.V. Pichamuthu, Director, Fimi-South.

“However, the official figures show that during this entire period, the rainfall was below normal except for one year,” he explained.

KOCHI: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has cleared the Kochi-Koottanad-Bangalore-Mangalore pipeline project. Though the MoEF has given the ‘go ahead’, the details are yet to be received, a top official with the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) said.“The implementation of the project is a joint effort involving different departments. Clearance by the MoEF is a primary step towards the realisation of the project,” Vandana Chanana, general manager, (corporate communication), GAIL, told Express.

The green cover in the state has declined by 554 sq km. This was revealed on Wednesday in the report of the Forest Survey of India. The forest cover (sanctuaries and protected area) recorded a nominal decline of just one sq km while the trees outside the forest area recorded a decrease of 553 sq km. Additional principal chief conservator of forest, social forestry, H S Singh, said, "The data released in the report 2011 is for the year 2008-09.

Rajasthan will soon accord the bio-diversity rich Jawai Bandh forests in Pali district the status of a conservation reserve. The rich forests and the water bodies along the Jawai dam in Sumerpur tehsil have a large presence of crocodiles. The wildlife census in 2011 had put their number at 288.