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, …
China and Russia signed a string of agreements to boost their new energy partnership, although finalization of a long-awaited gas-supply pact remained out of reach. The agreements
The contracts for future wheat imports are currently on hold, as global prices have significantly increased following an export ban in Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. International prices of wheat are currently hovering around $370 per tonne
The Kyoto Protocol will have virtually no impact on slowing global warming unless it expands to take in the United States, China and more developing countries, Russia's chief climate negotiator said on Wednesday. Russia is the world's fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide and a key player in United Nations …
Steel will remain the dominant material in the manufacture of cars even as environmental pressures lead to greater use of lightweight aluminum. But aluminum is more expensive than steel and prices are considered more volatile. What's more, steel producers have not been sitting on their hands. They are developing lighter, …
U.S. regulators are likely to approve a higher blend of ethanol in U.S. gasoline shortly, an ethanol producers group and the top U.S. agriculture official each said on Friday, and the new fuel mix could be selling at the pump by next spring. Ethanol companies and corn traders are anxiously …
More than 500 years after Spanish priests brought wheat seeds to Mexico to make wafers for the Catholic Mass, those seeds may bring a new kind of salvation to farmers hit by global warming. Scientists working in the farming hills outside Mexico City found the ancient wheat varieties have particular …
Gargi Parsai NEW DELHI: The drought in Russia and the floods in Pakistan that have affected wheat production will impact food prices as in 2007-08, says a senior official of the World Food Programme. WFP Deputy Executive Director Ramiro Lopes da Silva says:
Nepal needs at least US$ 42.7 million from the international community and conservation partners to carry out conservation programmes to meet the global tiger recovery goal and double the wild population of tigers, a meeting was told here on Friday. As part of celebrations for the International Tiger Year 2010, …
Boeing Plans To Send Passengers Into Space Photo: Reuters/NASA/Handout Boeing Co plans to offer passengers the chance to fly into space on a craft it is developing for travel in low-Earth orbit, the aerospace company said on Wednesday. Boeing said it reached an agreement with Virginia-based Space Adventures to market …
A cloud burst over arid Himalayan town of Leh in Ladakh on August 6, pouring some 250 mm of rain in an hour. The sudden downpour triggered flash floods and mudslides, killing over 180 people and wiping out the old town of Leh and two villages. Weathermen say the high-altitude …
Cereal stocks are up, the harvest for wheat is the most plentiful in years, and fuel prices are low - yet food prices have been climbing. Although food prices are less than half of the historical peaks of 2007-2008, some governments and traders are leading the charge to hedge against …
Much has been done to try to save the world’s largest cat — threatened by hunting, habitat loss and the wildlife trade — but their numbers have continued to spiral downward for nearly two decades according to this study published in the latest issue of PLoS Biology journal. The Tiger …
New York City just had its hottest June-to-August stretch on record. Moscow, suffering from a once-in-a-millennium heat wave, tallied thousands of deaths, a toll that included hundreds of inebriated, overheated citizens who stumbled into rivers and lakes and didn
Slips to 51st position in the global business competitiveness index. Even as emerging markets in Asia showed impressive gains in global business competitiveness in 2010, India slipped two notches to the 51st position over the previous year due to poor health, education and infrastructure facilities. Among the BRIC nations
Yevgeniya Chirikova used to enjoy walking in the Khimki forest near Moscow's international airport. She recently noticed red tags on trees and discovered that 1,000 hectares of the forest were to be destroyed. Angered, she produced leaflets condemning the destruction. She now leads a group and has attracted media attention …
Into dust Residents of Kriusha village, in the western Russian region of Ryazan, search through the remains of their charred homes Five weeks after wildfires began spreading through forests in central and western parts of the country, Russia is still burning. The worst is over, but as firefighters continue to …
Russia's agriculture industry faces losses of over one billion dollars after a record drought destroyed over a quarter of its crops, an official said yesterday. "The losses amount to about 32.7 billion rubles (1.07 billion dollars)," Deputy Agriculture Minister Alexander Petrikov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. …
Rains and chilled weather have helped Russian firefighters to bring under control massive wildfires that were triggered by a record heatwave and drought.By August 23 the area of forest fires in Russia was reduced to 5,265 hectares, said the Emergency Situations Ministry on Monday. This is a small fraction of …
Vladimir RadyuhinWhile Russian officials have blamed the unprecedented wildfires on the hottest and driest summer in 1000 years, experts say the national disaster was man-made.Forests, Russia's greatest wealth after hydrocarbons, have turned into its curse this summer. The worst heat wave on record, aggravated by a severe drought, has triggered …
