After pushing for financing adaptation at the just-concluded United Nations climate talks at Durban, India is hitting every button for aid in executing its low-carbon growth plans. This despite India (and China) refusing to sign new climate agreements at the U.N. Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s 17th conference of the parties (COP 17) in the South African city.  India, in fact, has a well-drawn out policy and action plan for climate...

The building collapse in Uttam Nagar that killed four people last week has again exposed how the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as well as the state government are mired in large-scale corruption. The major cause of the incident, in which four people were killed, was reportedly the flouting of construction norms by the builder. Officials from MCD told Tehelka on condition of anonymity that the number of illegal buildings goes...

At the president's informal stock taking plenary, held in the early hours of Sunday, Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan made a final attempt to ensure that India's redlines - legally binding deal and differentiation between developing and developed countries - were not crossed.  Making her case, Natarajan reminded that India was in Durban to "find a solution to the entire issue of climate change."  "India has shown more flexibility than any other party....

-IANS   An impassioned speech by Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan capped the finale of the UN climate summit that ended here early Sunday with a Durban Package, after she warned that India 'will never be intimidated by any threat or pressure'.   Natarajan's speech ensured that India's main concern - the inclusion of the concept of equity in the fight against climate change - became part of the package.   The package said all countries would...

-The Telegraph   The main points agreed upon in the Durban talks: Kyoto protocol extension After the failure of Copenhagen in 2009 to come up with a new, internationally-binding deal and only incremental progress a year later in Cancun, a partial legal vacuum had loomed as drafting a new UN treaty is extremely time-consuming. Sunday’s deal extends Kyoto, whose first phase of emissions cuts run from 2008 to the end of 2012. The second commitment...