Climate change negotiations are with us again, this time in Durban following the high-level meetings in Cancun (2010) and Copenhagen (2009). The aim is to agree on a regime to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (particularly CO2) post-2012, when the present commitments under the Kyoto Protocol run out. Climate change and global warming are important issues for India. Agriculture, which provides a livelihood for two-thirds of our population, is heavily dependent on...

-PTI The Orissa government today asked forest and revenue officials to drop encroachment cases against tribals to whom land titles have been given under the Forest Rights Act. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary B K Patnaik, official sources said. The meeting decided that there was no point in continuing encroachment cases against persons who had been alloted forest land under the Act. "The cases must...

-The Hindu   It is not a car factory where you can switch off the systems: NPCIL chairman The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) ran the risk of being seriously damaged with blockades creating a major impediment in ensuring that the plant systems functioned at a minimal level, scientists warned on Friday. “In a recent road blockade, work on the plant was halted. It is not a plant which can be just switched on...

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday dubbed as completely bogus Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's charge that his letter seeking her concurrence for a CBI probe into alleged embezzlement of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) funds was politically motivated. Reacting to Ms. Mayawati's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr. Ramesh denied her charge of taking up with her the FRAud committed in seven districts — siphoning...

The contentious issue of finance will be among the key items that will take centrestage at the UN-sponsored climate talks in Durban. Predictable and continuous funding to undertake steps to tackle climate change lies at the core of a balanced global deal. At the pre-conference meeting, South Africa said that the Durban meet should go beyond operationalising the Green Climate Fund agreed on at the Cancun meet. Pretoria indicated that...