-The Economic Times   The sowing of rabi crops has picked up. According to information received from the Ministry of Agriculture, wheat has been shown in 171.2 lakh hectare against 169.47 lakh hectare last year on this date.  Area coverage of wheat compared to last year is higher by 1.73 lakh hectare. Higher coverage has been reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.  Rice transplanting is in progress in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha....

Industrialised countries are increasingly outsourcing part of their emissions of greenhouse gases to emerging economies such as China and India through global trade, a new study has revealed. The study by an international team of scientists has also shown that greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere have rocketed to unprecedented levels despite the global financial crisis (GFC) two years ago. Although the GFC did lead to a temporary dip in emissions from...

With climate change already claiming human victims, the world must get an agreement out of the UN conference in South Africa The United Nations' annual climate summit descended on Durban, South Africa, this week, but not in time to prevent the tragic death of Qodeni Ximba. The 17 year-old was one of 10 people killed in Durban Sunday, the night before the UN conference opened. Torrential rains pummelled the seaside city...

Like stags fighting, the first days of each annual UN climate summit start with delegations circling each other politically, looking for weaknesses, gauging strengths. The summit that began this week in Durban, South Africa, has been no different - and though it might seem that little has been accomplished so far, a number of blocs have at least made their positions clearer than ever before. And that's vital if effective negotiations are...

-The Telegraph   The cabinet today unlocked the retail market for foreign direct investment, braving the Trinamul Congress’s objections but assuring Mamata Banerjee earlier in the day that state governments would have enough leeway to protect the interests of farmers. The most significant of today’s decisions is the clearance to 51 per cent foreign investment in multi-brand retail, which will allow the entry of giants that are already household names in a country...