It is apparent to everyone that the Copenhagen Accord is a travesty of what the world needs to avert climate change. Instead of an ambitious, effective, equitable and binding treaty with stringent emissions-cut targets for developed nations, we have a hollow Accord without legal status. The North has  offered a 16 per cent emissions-cut when 40-45 per cent is needed. Years of talks have been set at nought by a...

The current food inflation is a result of food output growth not keeping pace with population growth Few recall that, just last month, there was a food security summit in Rome. In sharp contrast to the almost overwhelming coverage of the Copenhagen climate summit, it attracted far lesser attention from the heads of governments, as also from the media. This is somewhat strange as a food (and water) crisis can hit...

Small and marginal farmers would be the worst sufferers of climate change, Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Sharad Pawar said here on Wednesday. “In the wake of water scarcity, erratic rainfall and changing temperature regimes, in addition to prevalent diseases and threat of new race of wheat stem rust Ug99, small and marginal farmers will be challenged. With the cost of cultivation already high, even a slight reduction in productivity...

यह बात अब आधिकारिक सूचना में आ चुकी है कि भारत में गरीबी पहले के अनुमानों से कहीं ज्यादा है। इस माह की 9 तारीख को सौंपी गई सुरेश तेंदुलकर समिति की रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि भारत में गरीबी 37 फीसदी(2004-05) है ना कि 28 फीसदी, जैसा कि पहले के आकलनों में माना जाता रहा है।यदि तेंदुलकर समिति के आकलन में खाद्य पदार्थों की कीमतों में हुई मौजूदा बढ़ोतरी को जोड़ दें...

India's Supreme Court has admitted a plea to end the life of a woman who has been in a vegetative state since 1973. Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse in Mumbai (Bombay), has been paralysed and considered "brain-dead" since she was attacked by a rapist in November 1973. The plea has been made by a journalist who has written a book on Ms Shanbaug. The court will examine if the plea is "akin...