Pakistan's Kalabagh dam project has stirred up a hornet's nest. To counter hostile critics in the North West Frontier Province and Sindh, a new strategy, chalked out on the World Bank's guidelines,

Traffic police in Delhi will be granted an allowance for breathing polluted air. The compensation amount will be graded according to rank, ranging from Rs 100 for constables to Rs 200 for inspectors.

Extensive domestic use of coal in China has led to an increase in the incidence of respiratory illnesses, which are now among the leading causes of death in the country

Hyderabad, Nov. 1: One of the indirect causes of pneumonia is high pollution levels in the twin cities.

PLANT SCIENCES Never too late Flowers are more resilient than they appear. They shoot up against all odds. The credit goes to genetic matter called microRNA that inhibit protein formation crucial to flowering in young plants. External cues like sunlight make them flower. But in the absence of cues, too, flowers do blossom; the activity of

biological sciences Water bears in space Life for a certain kind of tiny invertebrates is possible in space. About 1.5 mm long water bears were found to survive there, a European Space Agency (esa) experiment showed. This makes the eight-legged invertebrates, also called tardigrade, the first animals known to survive the harsh combination of low pressure and intense radiation.

Pollution levels rose sharply in Beijing on Tuesday, just 2- months before the Olympic Games in the city, prompting authorities to warn residents with respiratory problems to stay inside. Air quality in the capital was rated as "heavily polluted" due to a sandstorm from Mongolia, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said. The bureau advised people susceptible to particles in the air to avoid outdoor activities. Such sandstorms usually hit the city in March and April.

phosphorous pentoxide: Severe eye and skin injury and chemical burns to the respiratory track, if inhaled

aromatic alcohol (also known as phenol): It's a poisonous chemical that is corrosive in nature and readily seeps through the skin and causes burns

vinyl alcohol and magnesium hydroxide: Cause eye irritation with nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea

Industries spew poison unchecked in Chhattisgarh