-The Telegraph Nearly 200 countries this evening reached a climate accord that some analysts have called a "turning point" in human history designed to drive the world towards 100 per cent clean energy. "It's a compromise... but it is a historic accord for the world," said Laurent Fabius, the president of the Paris conference of parties and the French foreign minister. "Our responsibility to history is immense." But others have warned that the...

-The Indian Express The residents of Nimkheda, a small settlement of 1,674 people in Haryana’s Mewat district, are visibly unsettled and worried Nimkheda (Mewat, Haryana): Dressed in a white salwar-kameez, her dupatta wrapped as a headscarf, an upset Ashubi Khan (55) thumped her right palm with her fist as she spoke in Mewati. “My illiteracy is not my fault, but a reflection of the state’s failure to fulfil its responsibilities. Did our...

-The Hindu Global Nutrition Report says nation on course to meet only 2 of 8 targets. Chennai: Two reports released on Thursday, one at the global level and the other India-specific, say the country is on track to meet only two (under-five overweight and exclusive breastfeeding rates) of the eight global targets for reducing malnutrition by 2030. The latest data show that 39 per cent of children under five in India are short...

-The Indian Express Uttar Pradesh farmers have taken well to direct benefit transfers, though there are doubts if it can be extended to fertilisers. Akhilesh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh is turning out to be a pacesetter in implementation of direct benefit transfers (DBT) to farmers. Farmers in UP got Rs 28.60 per quintal from the state government for the sugarcane they supplied to mills during the 2014-15 crushing season. The payments, totalling...

-The Hindu Chennai: Official data from the Metro Water for the last 20 days suggest that the high precipitation and reservoir outflows on November 16 and December 1 respectively were primarily responsible for swelling the rivers. As the flood water recedes in Chennai, serious questions are being raised about reservoir management in the city. Much of the flooding and subsequent waterlogging was a consequence of the outflows from major reservoirs into swollen...