As pressure builds on China and India to accept greater obligations to cut down carbon emissions, both countries have asserted that measures to combat climate change need to factor in the principle of equitable access to development opportunities.Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said developing countries have to strike a balance between growth objectives and emission mitigation as experts reminded that developed nations have over-used their fair share.“I want to reiterate that...

Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, will make a decision in the next week that could define the future of the country: whether to approve a $12 billion South Korean-owned steel plant, the largest potential foreign direct investment ever on the subcontinent. The plant, proposed by South Korea's Posco, has been in the works for years. It already has been cleared by the environment ministry, which Mr. Ramesh runs, and endorsed by...

Despite objections from the coal ministry and concerns of the Planning Commission, a GoM under finance minister Pranab Mukherjee - discussing the new Mines and Mineral (regulation and development) Act 2010 - approved the proposal of sharing 26% net annual profits from the mining activity with displaced locals. The Bill replacing a 53-year-old law can be introduced in the ongoing session, minister for mines BK Handique said after the GoM meet...

A new food security report for Asia has been launched in Mumbai by The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Asia Society, calling for increased investment in rice research. The report, Never an empty bowl: sustaining food security in Asia, emphasizes the importance of rice as the primary staple food in Asia and a major source of income for Asian farmers. It also recommends more research on: climate change mitigation for...

The issues relating to the victims of endosulfan, sprayed in the plantations of Kasargod district in Kerala, have snowballed once again. “Earthworms emerged from the soil, and, subsequently, died. Then birds came to eat the earthworms and they died as well.”   “Some termites were killed in a cotton farm sprayed with endosulfan. A frog fed on the dead termites, and was immobilised a few minutes later. An owl which flew over...