Indian officials are unconcerned about loud complaints by the European Union and Western-backed nongovernmental organisations about the "weak text" of the final declaration of the Rio+20 summit. India is satisfied, having already fended off earlier attempts to remove two key principles. The first is the concept of "common but differentiated responsibilities" - namely, that rich and poor countries cannot be expected to equally bear the costs of green policies . The second...
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Rs 200 away from meals-Sumir Karmakar
The “committee” promised by the Goalpara administration to clear the paltry sum of Rs 200 to fund midday meals in Belpara primary school in the district has not materialised yet, leaving its 40 students in the lurch. The promise came on June 12, almost a month after the May 13 abduction of the school’s headmaster, Kameshwar Rabha, and another teacher by suspected GNLA militants while they duo were riding back home...
More »Pie in the sky: the Rio+ 20 story-Sunny Sebastian
-The Hindu Differences galore over the commitments made at the Earth Summit As the leaders met in a mountain-girdled Brazilian town for the crucial official round of discussions on the Rio+20 text, what was most noticeably missing was the kind of excitement that was witnessed two decades ago, when more than 172 governments, as many as 108 of them sending their heads of state, participated for the first-of-its-kind global awakening event. The...
More »India’s poverty removal pitch wins the day in Rio-Nitin Sethi
India won the day, with the 192 countries gathered at Rio de Janeiro agreeing that eradicating poverty should be given the highest priority, overriding all other concerns to achieve sustainable development. After a bitter fight with the developed countries, who wanted the objective of poverty eradication be made subservient to creating a 'green economy', India's demand to put the Goal of removing poverty above all other objectives in the final Rio+20...
More »Not just another summit
-The Business Standard At Rio, the stakes for India are high There will be some high-profile absentees, but 120 heads of government are still turning up at Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20. Their task is so daunting that they are practically set up to fail: to chalk out a strategy for earth-friendly economic development, focused at eradicating poverty and hunger and meeting basic needs...
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