India's key sectors like water, forest, health and agriculture will be affected in a major way due to the increase in net temperature by 1.7- 2.2 degree celsius in another 20 years in the four climate hotspots. The "Climate Change and India: a 4x4 assessment" report, which was released today providing an assessment of impact of climate change in 2030, also predicts an increase in precipitation (rain, snow and storm) in...

Even as the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment — dubbed “the Indian Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)” — released its first report on the impact of climate change in four regions of the country, it admitted that significant research gaps and lack of extensive databases were hampering Indian climate Science. Long-term localised data was not available on vegetation and forest cover, socio-economic trends, farm inputs, pests and crop diseases,...

A bill to put in place the proposed biotechnology regulator is likely to be taken up for consideration by the Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday. The proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) seeks to replace the existing multiple mechanisms that are operating under different administrative ministries. The proposed bill — initially prepared in 2008 — has been now revised substantially. The proposed authority will now deal only with safety...

Youth favour sex education in schools More than 20 per cent of girls in Karnataka get married before the age of 18, the minimum legal age for marriage. According to a district-level household and facility survey (DLHS-3, 2010), 11.1 per cent boys and 22.4 per cent girls get married before attaining the minimum legal age for marriage. The average age at marriage for boys in the State is 26.1 years, while for girls...

The Orissa High Court on Tuesday quashed all the land acquisition procedures for the Vedanta University that was proposed to be established on a sprawling 8,000 acres near the Konark-Puri marine drive. Terming the State government's notifications made to acquire and award the land in favour of the Anil Agarwal Foundation (AAF) for the proposed varsity as ‘illegal' and ‘bad in the eye of law,' a Division Bench of the court...