Climate change is springing an unpleasant surprise on agriculture in India, catching both farmers and governments unprepared. The erratic and deficit rainfall pattern and rise in temperature in recent years has even forced farmers to change cropping patterns and several areas have been declared drought-hit.Agricultural scientists acknowledge that even a mere one degree increase in average day temperature would adversely impact production of both wheat and rice crops (total annual...

MasterCard Worldwide, a leading global payments company, today said it has developed a payment solution for ‘Aadhaar’. ‘Aadhaar’ is a 12-digit Unique Identification Number (UID) that captures basic demographic and biometric information of Indian residents. The UID will make it possible for residents to establish their identity with financial institutions thereby providing them a gateway into the formal banking system. This payment solution will enable Aadhaar holders to perform payment...

Cracks have developed among India and three other developing countries on accepting legally binding emission cuts at the climate change summit here, with Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh saying there is concerted pressure on the country and China to accept such cuts.“There are differences within BASIC [Brazil, South Africa, India and China]. India and China are united on this issue. Brazil and South Africa are united,”...

In an effort to break a deadlock in negotiations to save the planet from overheating, Union Minister of State Jairam Ramesh discarded overnight India’s policy of two years on global climate change.It’s a move that will likely win India international acclaim, but Ramesh must now prepare for fierce domestic criticism of his new stand that the country is willing to accept legally binding commitments in place of its oft-repeated policy...

EU wants balancing package with adaptation, technology, finance, REDD plus and capacity-buildingAs the high-level segment of the U.N. climate change conference began here on Tuesday, the second period of commitment to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) has become a contentious issue. After Japan's statement on the opening day of the conference last week that it was not in favour of committing itself to a second phase, things had taken a downturn.The...