-The Hindustan Times The Yamuna Expressway may well turn out to be yet another worry for the Taj Mahal, already battling pollution and signs of decay. The expressway — opened on August 9 — has almost doubled the weekend visitors to the Taj, pushing the Archaeological Survey of India into asking the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) to conduct an environment-impact study pending since 2006. Earlier, around 15,000 to 20,000 people...

-The Telegraph A government laboratory has detected cancer-causing fungal toxins exceeding safety limits in samples of ultra-high-Temperature processed milk, suggesting that a contamination problem highlighted eight years ago remains unresolved. Scientists at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, have found a compound called aflatoxin M1, a fungal product labelled a carcinogen, in about 20 per cent of the samples of UHT milk they examined. Earlier studies in India over the past...

-The Hindu Says Central, State Governments have taken safety measures The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board have applied their mind in all clearances and statutorily passed various orders relating to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP). There is no scope for the Madras High Court to presume that the orders are arbitrary, a Division Bench has held. Passing orders...

-The Times of India The monsoon in August has beaten most expectations, including the India Meteorological Department's outlook of 96% rain for the month, by registering 99.6% of normal rainfall (till August 29). The rain rally, particularly impressive in north India, has raised hopes of a better than expected kharif crop output. The overall monsoon deficit now stands at 12%, considerably better than 19% when the month began. The northern states, which...

-The United Nations More consolidated efforts to combat the threat of climate change and counter its ripple effects on global food security are needed amid an intensifying global drought and increasing Temperatures worldwide, the United Nations declared today. “Climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of droughts, with impacts on many sectors, in particular food, water, and energy,” said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Michel Jarraud in a...