This paper presents a status report of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) on two crucial development parameters—inequality and poverty—that have a significant bearing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; especially SDG-1 and SDG-10). The paper tracks the origins and movements of absolute and relative poverty, …
The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today assured Russia that India would fulfill all its commitments on bilateral nuclear cooperation while according top priority to safety issues and concerns raised by people in Kundankulam. Before embarking on a visit to Moscow that comes amid anti-nuclear protests at the site of …
Toronto Canada pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, saying the accord won’t help solve the climate crisis. It dealt a blow to the anti-global warming treaty, which has not been formally renounced by any other country. Environment minister Peter Kent said Monday that Canada is invoking its …
Mumbai The state-owned General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) — the sole official reinsurer— has mobilised support of almost $78 million from local general insurers for the proposed nuclear pool, which will provide cover to the existing as well as new nuclear plants in the country. Considering that the …
Wary of sending out a wrong signal at a time when protests continue to hamper commissioning of nuclear reactors in Koodankulam, the government is set to back off from signing a new contract with Russia for the supply of two more reactors for the site. The signing of the contract …
KMSS, other organizations warn of vigorous anti-dam agitation DHEMAJI: National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) general manager Om Prakash on Wednesday categorically said that NHPC would go ahead with the Lower Subansiri project. Prakash was speaking to mediapersons at the dam construction site on Wednesday. His statement comes as a …
The United States is sceptical that China's comments it could support a legally binding deal to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions marked a breakthrough in troubled climate talks, an Obama administration official said in Durban Sunday. China gave U.N. climate talks a lift Friday by suggesting it may sign …
The U.N.'s climate chief said on Saturday she believes countries can snap the deadlock that has lasted for years and sign up to fresh and binding commitments to cut greenhouse gases, after a week of climate talks between nearly 200 countries. "Countries are now looking at how they might bring …
A flagship green climate fund aimed at channelling billions of dollars to help poor countries tackle global warming has been put on ice at the Durban climate summit as a growing number of countries bicker over how it should work. Wealthy countries have promised to mobilise up to $100bn a …
The crucial climate talks in Durban are set to witness a clash of titans. This will comprise the BASIC countries comprising India, Brazil, South Africa and China who will be pitted against the US, which now finds itself receiving support from Russia, Japan, Canada and Australia, none of whom want …
The world’s deforestation rate has accelerated to 6.4 million hectares a year, the UN said on Wednesday in its most comprehensive survey yet, but Asia showed net gains due to extensive planting in China. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation used satellite technology for the first time to map forests, …
With aviation falling under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme next year, European airlines are already hedging their exposure in the carbon markets. Vanya Dragomanovich looks at the potential impact on the emissions markets.
Almost two weeks after India announced its much-awaited rules for nuclear liability, France on Tuesday expressed satisfaction that the new rules put responsibility on all the stakeholders, foreign as well as domestic entities. This is the first response from the French government after the new rules were announced on November …
The European Union’s demand for a road map leading to the next legally-binding global warming treaty raises a hurdle that may snarl negotiations at the United Nations climate conference this week. The 27-nation bloc said it accounts for about 11% of global emissions and that it can’t act alone on …
From January 1 all airlines flying in and out of the European Union will need to meet a specific carbon emission requirement. Though protests have been voiced from various countries, the European Union is going ahead with the emission caps for the airlines. A senior oil industry official said, “We …
Experts are conflicted over the health hazards and the permissible limit of cell phone tower radiation, and the findings of a survey in Mumbai may only fuel the debate. Conducted jointly by Indian Institute of Technology-Madras and Thiagarajar College of Engineering in Madurai, the survey reveals that radiation from cell …
U.S. oil company Chevron promised to fully clean-up a spill off Brazil's coast, the CEO of the local subsidiary, George Buck, said on Sunday, taking responsibility for an accident that has become a major test for one of the world's fastest-growing oil frontiers. The leak from the undersea well, owned …
Some developing countries should contribute money to a $100 billion per year climate fund to help poor nations combat climate change, the lead U.S. climate negotiator said on Friday. Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy on climate change, told reporters although rich countries are expected to contribute to the Green …
National Aluminium Company (Nalco), the Orissa-headquartered and central government-owned company, has turned out to be the sole final bidder for Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation’s (GMDC) Rs 15,000-crore aluminium project in Kutch, Gujarat. V S Gadhvi, managing director of GMDC, which is owned by the government of Gujarat, told Business Standard, …
Any more fears not based on scientific principles, says member The reactors of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project having state-of-the-art safety features are the safest, the Central panel of experts has certified. Explaining the features of the KKNPP's 1,000 MWe VVER reactors, the panel's convener A. E. Muthunayagam, an oceanography …
The Obama administration plans to impose a new round of sanctions against Iran’s petrochemical industry, a Western official briefed on the plans said Friday, less than two weeks after a United Nations report published evidence that the Iranian government was working on a nuclear weapon. The sanctions, expected to be …
