Anti-nuclear campaigners in India see the earthquake that hit Japan last week, which threatens the meltdown of the Fukushima atomic power facility there, as a wakeup call for this country’s ambitious nuclear power programme. When India completed a nuclear power cooperation deal with the United States in October 2008, it threw open a 270 billion U.S. dollar market for nuclear reactors. Now members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers’ Group are queuing...

Forested areas in Europe, North America, the Caucasus and Central Asia have been increasing steadily, growing by 25 million hectares over the past two decades, the United Nations said today, citing diseases, insects and storms aggravated by climatic factors as the major threats to the ongoing health of woodlands. “In addition to forest area, the volume of wood in pan-European forests is growing by over 430 million cubic metres every year...

India has inked 20 MoUs in the field of agriculture with U.S., Russia, Italy and others in the last three years for cooperation in research and development and capacity building, Parliament was informed today. Besides fostering bilateral partnership, India also entered into agreement in the farm sector in multilateral format. Broad based and inclusive multilateral cooperation is pursued through international organisations such as Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP)...

Outcome of the Kolkata Group Workshop held on February 18 and 19, 2011 At the ninth Kolkata Group workshop, chaired by Professor Amartya Sen, 45 participants from different walks of life, including social scientists, policy makers and development experts, convened to assess the dimensions of social equity in India, especially as related to poverty, elementary education, and health. The participants assessed that the benefits of economic growth over the past two decades,...

Granting autonomy to tribals in the Northeast has removed their feeling of alienation to a great extent but still a lot needs to be done, Union home secretary Gopal K Pillai said today. Releasing a book - 'Tripura's Bravehearts', Pillai said setting up of autonomous district councils for tribal communities in the Northeast, particularly in Tripura, under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution helped solve many problems. "The feeling that their lands...