• India was one of the signatories to the draft international convention on liability and compensation for damages in connection with the carriage of hazardous and rundous substances by sea, organised by the International Maritime Organization. The convention was ratified on April 15 in London.

• Come June, and the first pollution- free computerised Petrol station in India will he commissioned at Mumbai by Avery India Lid for Indian Oil Corporation. The station will he equipped with 26 pumps and a vapour recovery system as safety measures.

• More than 200 tanneries in Tamil Nadu will have to cease their operations following a Supreme Court order on April 9. The closure was directed following the failure of the industries to comply with repeated orders by the Court to set up pollution control devices.

• For setting up an integrated solar power project at Mathania in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, the US-based Global Environment Facility (GEF) will he extending a Rs 160-crore grant, the largest ever financial assistance given to any project in the world by the GEF. The solar power plant is expected to generate 35-40 MW of electricity.

• Help is on the way for the endangered great Indian bustard of Rajasthan. The Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Natural History Group will generate funds for a 'great Indian bastard trust' in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh to preserve and protect the rare species. The birds are threatened by loss of habitat.

• Participants at a recent meeting of the steering committee for the Ninth Five Yew Plan in New Delhi set up working groups to deal with various aspects of the application of science and technology in different socio- economic sectors like petroleum, coal and power.

• Ruling on a petition filed by the Delhi-based World Wide Fund for Nature-India, the Delhi High Court banned the illegal felling of trees in the capital on April 9. The Court directed the state government to appoint officials for implementing the order.