The government has approved Rs 350 crore scheme to study impact of climate change on agriculture and reduce production losses. Approved by the CABinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the main objective of new plan scheme ‘National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture’ is to assess impact of climate change on agriculture and allied sectors in the country and evolve cost-effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. The scheme will be implemented in the remaining part...

The Prime Minister’s Office has given direct orders to top officials of Sharad Pawar’s department to get cracking after the food minister said it would take “two to three weeks” for onion prices to stabilise. Sources said an annoyed Manmohan Singh has conveyed to Pawar that the time frame set by the minister is too long, especially since prices have skyrocketed within a week. Expressing deep concern over the “extraordinary price rise...

While children are dying of malnutrition, our leaders are busy comforting the corporate sector   This week’s show of ‘Walk the Talk’ by Shekhar Gupta was the third in a series of episodes that seemed to be dedicated to bringing forth the corporate viewpoint to counter the current environment of mistrust, post Radiagate. While the first two were with Ratan Tata and Deepak Parekh, obvious corporate representatives, it is telling that as...

Have the Cancun Agreements set Kyoto Protocol on a path to eventual death? No. Killing Kyoto would require a 2/3rd vote by the 180-plus member countries. There is too much guilt involved in that. But the Agreements have prepared the ground to render the Protocol hollow and meaningless - left to survive a vegetative, inconsequential life even as a new and unequal global regime takes ground. The Kyoto Protocol was...

The CABinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved a plan by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to prepare the nation’s crops, livestock and fisheries for rising temperatures and other impacts of climate change. The National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture will receive Rs 350 crore for multiple projects — from developing heat-tolerant rice and wheat to tracking the spawning behaviour of marine and freshwater fish amid rising temperatures. The programme will...