-The Hindu Developed countries pledge no funds; EU feels it was a waste of time Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanti Natarajan smiles when she says India’s known stand on climate change mitigation has been accepted. But the smile is replaced by a frown when someone asks if the developed countries have pledged any money to help the developing countries. No, she says, adding valiantly that India does not want to commodify...

-The Economic Times Indian officials say the agreement that will be ratified by government leaders at the Rio 20+ conference on sustainable development on Friday addresses their major concerns even as NGOs stepped up their opposition to the final text, saying it contained no specific commitments and no timetables.  Government officials say the outcome document, called the "The Future We Want'', retains the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR), which creates...

-PTI Faced with acute shortage of storage capacity, the Centre today asked states to lift PDS foodgrains needed for at least six months and build intermediate godowns to ease pressure on Food Corporation of India godowns. "We have requested state governments to offtake at least six months of foodgrains needed for PDS. Our storage capacity of FCI is 64 million tonnes and our present stock is about 82-83 million tonnes," Minister of...

-The Hindu India has reason to come away feeling pleased with the outcome of the seventh G-20 summit, which concluded in Los Cabos on Tuesday. First, Prime Minister manmohan singh ticked the Europeans off for landing themselves and the world economy in such a big mess and then expecting handouts from even poor countries. Second, the Prime Minister’s consistent stand, that growth and austerity have to be combined, has also finally found...

Chinese officials have welcomed this week's scheduled meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and China in Rio de Janeiro as an opportunity to strike common ground with India, with both countries facing “similar pressure” on a host of contentious global issues. Prime Minister manmohan singh is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of Wednesday's Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, where India,...