-The United Nations   From farming to forestry and fisheries, agriculture greenhouse emissions have nearly doubled over the past 50 years and may increase by another 30 per cent by 2050, according to new estimates out today from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). "FAO's new data represent the most comprehensive source of information on agriculture's contribution to global warming made to date," said Francesco Tubiello of the agecny's Climate, Energy and...

-The Business Standard   International organisations recognise the impending shortage of potable water but their approach is entirely wrong During this year's gathering in Davos, the World Economic Forum released its ninth annual Global Risks report, which relies on a survey of more than 700 business leaders, government officials and non-profit actors to identify the world's most serious risks in the next decade. Perhaps most remarkably, four of the 10 threats listed this...

-The Economic Times In January 2012, PM Manmohan Singh declared half of India's children were malnourished and that was a national shame. Yet since then, not a single comprehensive national survey was conducted to determine the acuteness of the problem or measure progress, if any, of steps initiated to address malnutrition. Worse, the issue figures in a token manner in the election discourse of political parties and candidates. The 2005-06 National...

-The Hindustan Times Maharashtra: Vidarbha is an unforgiving place, parched, dry and restive. It is a place of waiting - for the rains, for dams, for a harvest that may never come. Lately, there's been a storm brewing in these 11 arid districts "All of Maharashtra is getting richer, but here in Vidarbha, everything is standing still," says Sachin Gawande, 30, a graduate and farmer from Risod town in Akola. "Ours remains...

-The Hindu A strong whistle-blower protection law in India would expose financial corruption in a way that reinforces ethical business practices In 2013, generic pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy pleaded guilty to seven criminal felonies for drug manufacturing fraud and agreed to cough up an unprecedented $500 million in fines. The case against Ranbaxy was significant not only for being a successful prosecution of a powerful India corporation. It also marked the triumph of Dinesh...