New Delhi: The surge of poaching of rhinoceros in South Africa could lead to threats to the one-horned Indian rhino in Assam and West Bengal if the African country decides to go ahead and demand opening the international trade in rhino horns. Speaking at the first stock taking meeting of the World Bank-led Global Tiger Recovery Programme in Delhi, Keshav Varma, programme director of the Global Tiger Initiative, warned that South Africa, unable to contain poaching, was inclined towards opening the trade in rhino horns.

Scientists from 15 countries are calling for a better political response to the provision of water and energy to meet the challenge of feeding a world of 9 billion people within 30 years.

The joint statement by some of the world's leading science academies was issued on Thursday ahead of the G8 summit in the United States. It is part of the annual lobbying effort aimed at focusing the attention of world leaders on issues the scientific community regards as crucial.

Petty hunters, corrupt wildlife officials and Asian traffickers have all been snared in South Africa’s crackdown on rhino poaching as special prosecutors battle syndicates feeding the trade in horns.
More than 160 people are currently before the courts, exposing the complex supply chain stretching from South African parks to Southeast Asian consumers, said Joanie Spies, a prosecutor with the Rhino Project.
‘Slowly but surely we’re moving upwards and getting higher people who did not pull the trigger,’ Spies said.

Washington, 8 May: India’s population aged 50 and above is expected to double by 2050 when nearly one-third of its total population would fall in this age group, according to a US census. As per 2010 census, 19,18,53,000 people in India were of 50 years and above, which made about 16.4 per cent of the total population.

Rising carbon dioxide emissions will cause a global average temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius by 2052 and a 2.8 degree rise by 2080, as governments and markets are unlikely to do enough against climate change, the Club of Rome think tank said.

Failing to tackle climate change in the first half of this century will put the world on a dangerous track to warming in the second half, even though global population should peak in 2042 at 8.1 billion and economic growth will be much slower than expected in mature economies, the Switzerland-based body said in a report on Tuesday.

Washington India's population aged 50 and over is expected to double by 2050 when nearly one-third of its total population would fall in this age group, according to a US census.

As per 2010 census, 19,18,53,000 people in India were of 50 years and above, which made about 16.4 per cent of the total population. According to the US Census Bureau, this is projected to increase to 20 per cent (26,49,13,000) in 2020 and 24.3 per cent (35,55,96,000) in 2030; 28.5 per cent (44,82,23,000) in 2040 and 32.6 per cent (54,04,24,000) in 2050.