Indian officials are unconcerned about loud complaints by the European Union and Western-backed nongovernmental organisations about the "weak text" of the final declaration of the Rio+20 summit.   India is satisfied, having already fended off earlier attempts to remove two key principles. The first is the concept of "common but differentiated responsibilities" - namely, that rich and Poor countries cannot be expected to equally bear the costs of green policies . The second...

Bengal is staring at the possibility of losing self-sufficiency in rice unless the state manages to reverse a declining trend and step up production by as much as 12 per cent over the next four years. Lack of self-sufficiency in grain production need not necessarily be an alarming factor for a modern economy. But such a status is looming over Bengal in spite of factories not mushrooming on farmland — the...

-The Times of India NAGPUR: While almost all private CBSE schools in the city reopened their admissions on Wednesday for 25% free seats as mandated under Right To Education Act, the older minority institutions of state board have decided to hold back. These schools claim 'unaided minority' status allows them to refrain from participating in the RTE admission exercise. However, these schools receive financial aid from Std V onwards, and the...

-The Hindu Commodification, commercialisation and financialisation of nature will produce a greedy, not green, economy Over 100 world leaders will meet in Rio de Janeiro this week for the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, popularly referred to as Rio+20 Global Earth Summit. It is being held amidst “‘a world running low on drinking water and productive land’ and set against the backdrop of accelerating global warming, climate change, chemical contamination of air, land...

-The Times of India Indian government is very actively working towards e-governance and the citizens with access to internet-enabled computers and smartphones too look forward to an easier life. After all, who doesn't like to use the online option provided by almost all the organizations and save time by avoiding the long queues at different utilities and departments.  However, the biggest irony is that many government or PSU websites that offer online...