Root cause

A wide variety of low priced fuels and solvents in the market are an immediate enticement to greed. High taxes on petrol make it vulnerable to adulteration with cheap solvents and naphtha. Diesel is easily mixed with subsidised kerosene and cheaper LDO. Says Rita Pandey, Fellow, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, "The difference in duty structure is the main motive for indulging in adulteration. Any rationalisation of duty structure could help in at least reducing adulteration cases."

No diesel without filter

Even as the European Union passed, in February 2003, a law requiring lesser amount of sulphur in petrol and diesel by 2005 -- with a total phase-in of "sulphur free" fuels by 2009 -- a campaign to clamp down on particulate emissions diesel-run engines release has auto giants worried. (Directive 98/70/ec, amended for this purpose, mandates a limit of 50 ppm of sulphur in diesel by 2005.

2001 onwards

Towards the end of 2001, as part of an ongoing public interest litigation on air pollution in Delhi, the apex court took notice of the ugly business of adulteration. It has repeatedly pointed out the merit of the CNG programme in culling this menace. But the Union of India, in its affidavit of October 2001, almost wished away the problem. It claimed that out of the total numbers of samples tested by them throughout that year, only 7.5 per cent had failed.

Bytes

profiling the menace: Researchers have taken snapshots of the ever-changing protein profile of Plasmodium falciparum -- the malaria parasite. In Africa, where the disease is most menacing, P falciparum rapidly develops resistance to most drugs due to its ever-changing character. The parasite goes through 10 or more growth phases. Elizabeth Winzeler and her colleagues from the Scripps Research Institute, USA, built a chip and recorded gene activity of nine stages.

Don't junk it

a recent development can revolutionise the concept of waste management. Alka Umesh Zadgaonkar, head of the department of applied chemistry at the Nagpur-based G H Raisoni College of Engineering, has demonstrated how plastic waste can be converted to diesel, gasoline and lubricant oil. V A Juvekar of the department of chemical engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, agrees that it is possible to make gasoline from plastic because it has the same hydrocarbon chain of molecules as petrol.

It's official now

THE authorities are caught in a logjam. They cannot shy away from the challenge of restricting the use of dirty fuels, as it is no longer a 'mere plea' of a few civil society groups. Pointer to shallow policies, a report commissioned by the Union ministry of environment and forests (moef) proposes to combat air pollution through a harsh tax regime.

Carry on polluting

Yet again a handful of manufacturers of diesel engines for generator sets have succeeded in getting more time to comply with emission standards. The norms were notified by the Union ministry of environment and forests (moef) in 2002, after it had dithered on the issue for a long time. While the industry was originally supposed to have fallen in line by January 1, 2003, the extended deadline for it to adhere to air and noise emissions standards was July 1, 2003.

Diesel engine makers generate discontent

manufacturers of diesel engines for generator sets are a divided lot today. Battlelines have been drawn between those who have complied with the emission standards set by the Union ministry of environment and forests (moef), and those who want the July 1, 2003, deadline for their implementation extended.

Diesel car sales zoom

• Maruti Udyog Limited is unable to keep pace with the demand for Zen-D, the diesel variant of one of its best-selling models. • There is a huge order backlog and a six-week waiting period for the Accent crd i, the diesel version of Hyundai Motors' mid-sized car.

In Short

flawed trials: Yet another controversy has erupted over genetically modified (GM) crops -- this time in the UK. Green groups have alleged that farm trials of transgenic crops in the country are flawed. A recent report of the international environmental group, Friends of the Earth, states that the trials fail to offer conclusive evidence about the kind of harm GM plants can do to farmland life.