-Outlook Hyderabad: In a unique initiative to recognise outstanding work in biodiversity conservation at the grass roots level, the Union Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have jointly presented awards to models of biodiversity governance from across the country. The awards were presented to the representatives of the winners at a ceremony held on the sidelines of the ongoing UN convention on biological diversity here last night. A press release from...

-The Indian Express Hyderabad: Abdul Razak alias Mansoor, who police say was a Lashkar-e-Toiba member, committed suicide last Wednesday. His family intends to approach the Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission, saying harassment by police drove Razak to kill himself. Razak was an accused in the November 2002 blast at Sai Baba temple in Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad that killed two persons and injured three. He was also named in the FIRs filed in...

-DNA Amid the controversy over allocation of resources for biodiversity by developed and developing nations, India has decided to allocate $50 million (about Rs 275 crore) towards biodiversity conservation. In addition, the country would also allocate similar amount to help other developing nations conserve biodiversity. Addressing the representatives of about 190 countries at the opening plenary of the high-level segment of the 11th Conference of Parties (COP-11) on the Convention on Biological...

-The Hindu While the whole nation is shocked by the news of 15 rape incidents in Haryana in the past one month, our own State, which outdoes it by many times, is basking in the shadow of relative anonymity. If one is to be outraged by numbers, there are more outrageous numbers here in the State, with incidents of rape committed against Dalits and Adivasis themselves amounting to 14 per month! According to...

-Outlook Hyderabad: India could win 105 claims on international patents due to its Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here today, opening the high-level segment meeting at the Conference of Parties to Convention on Biological Diversity. "We decided to build this knowledge database because of the patent on the use of neem extract in Europe and another patent on the use of turmeric as a healing agent. Since...