-Frontline Farmers protest against the Central clearance for coal bed methane exploration in Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, as they fear it will devastate agriculture in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts.  THE woes of the delta farmers of Tamil Nadu are far from over. While the Cauvery tangle continues unresolved, they fear the proposed multi-crore project for commercial exploration and exploitation of coal bed methane (CBM) in the Mannargudi block of Tiruvarur district will prove...

-The Business Standard Why the hue and cry over Walmart? Many of India Inc's big ones are no strangers to lobbying in the US  There is a very fine line that separates lobbying from bribery, and there are diverse opinions on what kind of influential pressure on lawmakers qualifies as acceptable, and what doesn't. Quite clearly, bribery is illegal and unacceptable, there is nothing wrong in lobbying per se -- at least...

-AP STOCKHOLM: A U.N. report on rising greenhouse gas emissions reminded world governments on Wednesday that their efforts to fight climate change are far from enough to meet their stated goal of limiting global warming to 2°C (3.6°F). The report by the U.N. Environment Programme, released just days ahead of a major climate conference, said the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is up about 20 per...

-The Business Standard Worryingly, investment in Clean Energy declines  Global investment in Clean Energy will decline perceptibly this year for the first time in eight years, signalling an unwarranted complacency in the fight against climate change. A report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance says funding for renewable energy generation in the first three quarters of this year was $164.2 billion, down from last year’s $196.4 billion. The downturn is the steepest at...

-Business World Wind, water and the sun can help India cut dependence on coal and gas For India, energy security has never seemed more real, more urgent than now. Forty per cent of the country’s 1.2-billion populace is yet to have access to electricity. Even those getting grid supply suffer poor quality of power. Towns see power cuts more than half the day. The country’s energy deficit, according to the Central Electricity...