If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
In what could come as a piece of good news, hunger in India - as measured by the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) - has come down from 16.6 per cent of the population in the 2020-2022 to 13.7 per cent in 2021-23, the latest report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2024) showed. This means that around 39.3 million people have come out of undernourishment between the two periods, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said on Tuesday.
India is likely to see above-normal rainfall in the four-month monsoon season (June to September) with cumulative rainfall rainfall estimated at 106 percent of the long-period average (87 cm), he said.
Embattled UN climate panel chief R K Pachauri found support on Friday from world leaders attending the climate change conference in New Delhi as they contended that some mistake in the IPCC report does not change the basic facts of global warming.
A 35-member team represents India at the world's biggest climate change conference at Copenhagen.
The prime minister's comments come close on heels of the developed countries threatening to cut vital aid to the developing nations if they do not back the deal agreed at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will fulfil all its responsibilities with regard to climate change.
The structure went green for the opening of the Paris climate conference, marking the launch of an art project that will see "virtual trees" grow on the landmark to support reforestation.
We are looking for an agreement that is fair and durable: US
The IMD said that rainfall over India in August and September would be around 106 percent of the long-period average of 422.8 mm.
Over the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, global temperatures have averaged 0.46 C (0.82 F) above the 1961-1990 average.
The 2C target was always somewhat arbitrary as a threshold for preventing the worst effects of global warming in the form of rising sea levels and more severe and frequent storms, floods and droughts.
2018: Everyone Is A Hero is India's official entry to the Academy Awards 2024.
Katrina attends the Red Sea Film Fest... Raai Laxmi enjoys a race... Amyra goes cycling...
The average global temperature between January and October has been 0.68 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th century's average global temperature of 14.1 degree C.
A report released at the Copenhagen climate change conference ) has listed ten species likely to suffer huge losses due to global warming.This makes climate change an "additional and major threat."
Sending encouraging signal to the rest of the world, a bipartisan group of powerful US Senators on Friday agreed on a framework for a climate change bill.
One looks upon the coming new year with foreboding as current wars in Ukraine and Gaza spill over and escalate and new ones erupt in incipient fault lines across the world, notes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The US President is scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen early Friday morning local time. Obama will attend the morning plenary session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference and is expected to deliver brief address on the issue.
Indians are born conspiracy theorists, okay? We live on conspiracy theories and we die as conspiracy theorists. Conspiring of theories is our karma! The fact of the matter is that climate change is an important issue with a larger development impact. It is also a strategic issue. For us, India's interest is paramount. Nothing else matters.
A landmark climate change deal was clinched on Saturday with the approval of India, China and the US, after days of tough negotiations in Paris.
We know the Pradhan Mantri is the nation's premier fashionista, so when he visited the land of Rob Roy, Mary Queen of Scots and J K Rowling, would he try out a kilt?
'The CM's credibility is on the line.'
Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday said the process of setting up a single planning authority for Mumbai is underway.
There is a need to mainstream green finance and devise ways for incorporating environment impact into commercial lending decisions, RBI Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao has said. Addressing climate risk in the financial sector should be the joint responsibility of stakeholders as it would affect the resilience of the financial system in the long run, he said. Rao made these comments while speaking at the CAFRAL Virtual Conference on Green and Sustainable Finance, recently.
India needs to recognise and address challenges posed by its dependence on China for critical minerals and examine the implications of phasing down coal on bank balance sheets as it accelerates its green transition, the government's Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday said. As part of its national plan to contribute to meeting the global goal of limiting the average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, India has committed to reducing emissions by 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, achieving 50 per cent cumulative electric installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources, and creating a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover.
Nothing is more promising than countries putting aside hubris and ideological differences to invest in our shared future, observes Durga Sreenivasan, a delegate at COP28.
The climate conference on Saturday came out with an ambitious final draft that will commit USD 100 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries.
'The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era,' he said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit via video, Xinhua reported.
After moving into 10 Downing Street a couple of weeks go, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is making his first outing on the world stage.
Jayanthi Natarajan's tough stand ensures recognition abroad, but red-tapism & bureaucracy continue to delay approvals in India.
Rather than talking endlessly about lost and marginal opportunities, India's climate envoys need to start thinking bigger, says Mihir S Sharma.
Designer Berluti reveals opening ceremony tuxedo for French athletes
Representing India at the 'High-Level Segment for Heads of States and Government' at the UN COP26 underway at Glasgow, UK, Prime Minister Modi said that India is working very hard on tackling climate change related issues.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said the progress at the climate conference here have been "insufficient", warning that the absence of a "breakthrough" would condemn the lives of billions of people "to smaller futures".
The effort is to make the PM's interaction with the diaspora at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Sports city stadium on February 13 the largest he has addressed.
"This is a momentous occasion," the secretary-general said after the deal was ratified by 72 countries accounting for more than 56 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh wrote a letter to Members of Parliament on the Cancun climate conference outcome, explaining how the Indian delegation pleaded with the international body and why it was not a 'sell out' as was alleged by the opposition political parties to describe his stance.
Even as world leaders continue to debate, climate change activists took to the streets of Glasgow for the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice march.
The CO2 emission figure is based on the calculations from the Poznan Conference in December last year and extrapolated for 15,000 participants, according to the website of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances