Japanese researchers say they have developed a smog sensor the size of a finger nail that could be carried around and used to measure pollution in the air that people breathe each day. It is significantly smaller than the sensors as big as bulky boxes that are currently used to measure smog and continuously take measurements. "In the future you could measure the pollution at the end of the day when you come home,' one researcher involved in the study at NTT Energy and Environment Systems Laboratories said.

Dean C. K. Cox for The International Herald Tribune The Dutch ship Schieborg, employed by Stora Enso, uses the shore-side electrical plug at the Port of Gothenburg. GOTHENBURG, Sweden

After several hurdles, a consignment of air-monitoring devices that calculate nicotine levels in buildings has finally reached the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD), which is coordinating with the Health Ministry in its fight against tobacco. With the aim of making Delhi, Chennai, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad smoke-free, Johns Hopkins University sent 160 air-nicotine monitors

The state environment department

The state environment department has kept in abeyance its notification to make production of vehicle pollution control certificate mandatory for getting diesel following a strike threat by petrol pump owners.