-The Hindu Ecosystem restoration and relationship between biodiversity and climate change to be discussed The difficult task of mobilising financial resources for achieving biodiversity targets expeditiously became the running theme at the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), represented by over 170 countries, which began here on Monday. Union Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, who assumed charge as president of COP-11 for...

-IANS Affordable access to energy is one of the main challenges which the world faces today, and India will ensure electricity to households in the next five years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday. "Our Goal is to provide electricity to all 600,000 villages of India. More than 100,000 villages were provided connections in recent years. Now, only few thousand households remain un-electrified," the Prime Minister said. "Our aim is to provide...

-The Business Standard Consumers should be free to choose their power distributor  Anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal’s recent campaign against power tariff increases by distribution companies in Delhi raises many valid issues, but the manner in which he has chosen to register his protests is unlikely to further that cause beyond a point. Instead, the campaign is likely to get embroiled in avoidable controversies, leading even to its derailment. In the first round...

-Outlook Arvind Kejriwal’s public rift with Anna must not distract us from the necessity of his political foray  Anna Hazare may not be part of the proposed political party that is yet to emerge from the womb of what was an unprecedented movement against corruption. The questions he has raised, however, must be answered. Not just because they are his questions; he being the symbol of probity in public life. They need...

-Reuters Supreme Court has suspended iron ore transportation in western Goa and asked for a report into illegal mining in the state in four weeks, Justice Aftab Alam said on Friday. Goa state had already suspended mining activities there in September. The top court has asked the Central Empowered Committee to submit a report on illegal mining in Goa in four weeks, the judge added. Goa is the country's second-biggest iron ore producing...