The withdrawal of subsidy by The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) on March 31, 2012 has affected the sales of electric two-wheelers.

The finance ministry is not in favour of increasing excise duty on diesel vehicles as it comes at a time when most of India Inc is battling a demand slowdown.

JAIPUR: In a bid to facilitate hassle-free movement for pedestrians, the Jaipur Development Authority is planning to develop footpaths on major city roads.

In this regard, the Jaipur Development Authority's engineering wing has been directed to prepare a status report on city roads on the basis of which the design for the footpaths will be drafted. JDA chief engineer Lalit Sharma said, "The footpaths will be designed according to the road width and the vehicular movement. The plan for footpath on every city road will be different."

A new set of hot wheels from India is set to enter the racing circuit. What’s more, it’s green.

Diesel fumes cause lung cancer, the World Health Organisation declared Tuesday, and experts said they were more carcinogenic than secondhand cigarette smoke.

The WHO decision, the first to elevate diesel to the “known carcinogen” level, may eventually affect some American workers who are heavily exposed to exhaust. It is particularly relevant to poor countries, where trucks, generators, and farm and factory machinery routinely belch clouds of sooty smoke and fill the air with sulfurous particulates.

A month after the deadline to install GPS in vehicles transporting hazardous waste in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam has passed, the devices are yet to be installed. Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) had in March asked the authorities to install GPS devices on these vehicles and link them to the Board’s server within two months.

The decision, taken during the tenure of Dana Kishore as member-secretary of APPCB, was seen as a means to link updates of handling and disposal as also enable constant monitoring of treatment, storage and disposal Facilities (TSDF) of hazardous wastes in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.

Diesel cars may get expensive by . 2.55 lakh, with the oil ministry planning to impose a special tax on such vehicles. The government plans to impose additional levies of .

Writes to Pranab on the revenue being lost in not doing so, wants steep levy

The government is planning to compensate the subsidy on diesel by taxing cars fuelled by it. Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy has recommended a steep Rs 2,55,000 additional tax on large and medium diesel cars and Rs 1,70,000 on small diesel cars. In a letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, he has said the government was earning Rs 12.72 less in excise duty on diesel compared to petrol, which attracts Rs 14.78 a litre in excise duty. Besides, Rs 12.53 is the under-recovery on sale of a litre of diesel.

As many as 708 challans were issued and eight vehicles impounded by the Transport Department of the Delhi Government on Monday, the first day of its week-long drive to check compliance with regard to pollution under control (PUC) certificates by all types of vehicles.

Stating that the drive would continue up to June 18, the Department said 30 enforcement teams have been deployed in various parts of the city to check the PUC certificates.

Jaipur: The draft report of Rajasthan State Action Plan on Climate Change has brought out some alarming facts about the water situation in the state. According to the report, the state has the highest probability of drought occurrence in the country. It also falls within areas having greatest climate sensitivity, maximum vulnerability and lowest adaptive capacity.

According to the report, “high dependency on groundwater has resulted in its overexploitation, with nearly 80% of groundwater witnessing depletion. The quality of groundwater has also progressively deteriorated. The stage of groundwater exploitation which was 35% in 1984 has reached a level of 138% in 2008