The lesson for India after Durban is that it needs to formulate an approach that combines attention to industrialised countries’ historical responsibility for the problem with an embrace of its own responsibility to explore low carbon development trajectories. This is both ethically defensible and strategically wise. Ironically, India’s own domestic national approach of actively exploring “co-benefits” – policies that promote development while also yielding climate gains – suggests that it...

-Live Mint The National Food Security Bill (NFSB) has finally been cleared by the cabinet. While this should have been seen as an important step forward towards the objective of food security for all, the Bill has come under severe criticism for being too ambitious and disastrous for the economy. While some of these fictitious numbers are expected from the media, concerns have also been raised by senior government functionaries, notably...

-PTI Daily food grains availability per person in India has dropped by nearly 7 grams in the last five years, Parliament was informed on Friday. Per capita availability of food grains stood at 438.6 grams per day in 2010 compared to 445.3 grams per day for a citizen in 2006, Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. It was 442.8 grams per day in...

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday deferred a decision on the draft National Food Security Bill that seeks to give legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to 46 per cent ‘priority' families of the 75 per cent rural population and 28 per cent ‘priority' households of the 50 per cent urban population. “The discussion on the Food Bill remained inconclusive. We are trying our best to introduce the Bill in this session,” Minister...

Lack of adequate credit - the lifeblood for any company is threatening to derail fledgling attempts by hundreds of dalit entrepreneurs to overcome deep socio-economic barriers and break into mainstream business.  Without credit, such entrepreneurs would also struggle to cash-in on the Rs 7,000-crore business opportunity opened up by the central government's new dalit-friendly sourcing plan, unveiled last month.  Credit disbursements to dalit entrepreneurs through 20-odd schemes run by the Ministry of...