These greenhouse gases are triggering the reduction of free electrons in ionosphere that extends from about 80 km above the earth's surface, says P Mitra, scientist at the National Physical Laboratory. People had to depend more on satellite communication that is costly, he said.

Confusion on shahtoosh shawls
Indian policy about high-fashion shahtoosh shawls made from the wool of the protected Tibetan antelope appears to be in confusion. At the same time that government officials from a variety of agencies are seizing shahtoosh shawls and arresting traders, the state of Jammu and Kashmir ismaking plans to license shahtoosh weavers. According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) in the last 60 days, nearly 300 shahtoosh shawls have been seized in five cases in New Delhi.

Belinda Wright, WPSI executive director, says the group has evidence that raw shahtoosh wool from Tibet is still reaching Srinagar in substantial quantities. This is the only place in the world where these shawls are made. Despite the fact that India is a member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which banned the trade in shahtoosh at its inception in 1975, the trade is still legal here. Two weeks ago, the J&K government announced it plans to license shahtoosh weavers for a fee of Rs 5,000 a year.

Space activity endangers biosphere
Space activity has a negative side to which not enough attention is paid. The state-of-the-art astronautics is environmentally unfriendly. It is maintained at the expense of unrecoverable natural resources and has a harmful impact onhuman health. This is the subject of the world's first analytical review Environmental Hazards of Space Activity, presented recently by the Center for Russian Environmental Policy. The main conclusion of the book is that the man's activity in space has already led to disturbance of important natural characteristics of near space especially the energy balance and chemical composition of the upper atmosphere. If the current trend in developing space continues, in 20 to 30 years the existence of humankind and biosphere of the earth will be endangered, Vlasov and Krichevsky warn.

National Biodiversity Board on anvil
The promise of former Indian minister for Environment and Forests, Suresh Prabhu, to set up a National Biodiversity Board has been placed in doubt by the fall of the Vajpayee government. At best, the proposal for a National Biodiversity Board has evoked mixed response from environmentalists. While most have welcomed the very idea, biodiversity experts are keeping their fingerscrossed.

Prabhu recently said that the government is finalising plans to set up a National Biodiversity Board to regulate access to the country's wealth of diverse and unique species. Bioprospecting, extraction and screening of biological diversity and indigenous knowledge for commercially valuable genetic and biochemical products has recently been a subject of heated debate.

PVC industry in trouble
Europe's plastics industry has made a pre-emptive strike against possible future European Union (EU) restrictions on the manufacture and use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). An industry representative said that he believed that forthcoming European Commission studies into the environmental consequences of PVC would exonerate the plastic and rule out the need for drastic new legislation.

PVC is used in medical supplies, toys construction and electrical materials, furniture and vehicles. The European Commission has funded the research to see what measures need to be taken to improve the eco-performanceof PVC, which has been targeted by Greenpeace and other environmental and consumer groups. The critics claim that it is unacceptably toxic at all stages of its life cycle.