India today joined the rest of the world in observing World Earth Day that draws attention to the increasing environmental problems caused by humans and what countries can do to arrest the trend. On the eve of World Earth Day 2008, the Union minister of science and technology, Mr Kapil Sibal, launched an Earth Sciences Forum to create awareness among various stakeholders and jointly fight climate change. The forum launched in collaboration with the HSBC Bank will work with participation from industry, voluntary organisations, academia, the government and concerned citizens. "With the forum, we have created a platform where informed people from academia, industry and even the general public can put forth their views and help finds ways to mitigate the effects of climate change on all of us,' Mr Sibal said. "Global warming is particularly important for India as the country has a warm climate and has rainfall variability. India is likely to witness more unpredictable an extreme weather patterns because of global warming and CHG emissions,' he added Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, group general manager and country head, HSBC India, said, "HSBC is at the forefront, among global companies, in the study of the impact of climate change and has been working towards doing its bit as a concerned global citizen.' School children in Delhi today received a special gift from the chief minister, Mrs Sheila Dikshit. Maintained by the state environment department, the