Earth Hour will be observed on March 31 this year and the city started the run-up to the event with an ‘Earth Hour 2012 Cyclothon’ on Saturday. Over 100 cyclists collected in the morning and cycled 8km from WWF-India along Lodhi Road. Several more participated in the event as volunteers who stood along the way holding placards announcing Earth Hour.

 

City gears up for Earth Hour with cycle rally 

Productivity of major food crops such as wheat, rice, maize and pulses in India is almost half of that in neighbouring China, according to a data. In fact, yield of staple grains like maize and pulses in India is even less than that of countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar, the data presented in Parliament by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar last week said.

The government has asserted that there is no change in India’s nuclear policy and protests against the Kudankulam power project are inspired by “national and international groups ideologically opposed to nuclear power” who exploited the post-Fukushima situation by spreading misinformation. 

Drought, floods and a lack of fresh water may cause significant global instability and conflict in the coming decades, as developing countries scramble to meet demand from exploding populations while dealing with the effects of climate change, U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report released Thursday.

India has the world’s largest water infrastructure, but the poorest water delivery system in the world. On World Water Day 2012, water experts are demanding a dramatic revamp of the present water management strategy . Unlike the US and Australia, which have built over 500 cubic meters of water storage per capita, India can store only 200 cubic meters per person. Even China has surged ahead and stores 1,000 cubic meters of water per capita.

Ushering us into his magnificent suite at the Taj Land’s Land Hotel, Rajendra Pachauri is a tad apologetic. “I’m not used to such luxury,” he says, as we sink into deep leather sofas while taking in the breathtaking view of the sun setting into the Arabian Sea. Pachauri is in Mumbai to do what he does best, accept an award.

 

Apa Sherpa, who has summited Everest 21 times, and a trekking team are currently walking the Great Himalaya Trail (GHT) to primarily highlight the impacts of climate change in the Himalayas and to promote GHT as the best tourism trail in the world. 

The publication of “Non-Alignment 2.0”, which seeks to promote an informed debate on evolving a new consensus on India’s foreign and security policies, has generated controversy. The authors stand accused of resurrecting the buried ghost of non-alignment, which allegedly served to limit rather than advance India’s interests.

India will urge its airlines to boycott the European Union’s carbon charge scheme, raising the prospect of a global trade war over a law requiring flights in and out of Europe to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions.

 

India to urge airlines to boycott EU carbon scheme 

Amid the backdoor deals and wrangling between bigger nations in ongoing climate change deliberations, the concerns of mountain countries, those having peaks with heights of over 4,000 metres above sea level, seem to have got buried.