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, …
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd has received the first consignment of uranium fuel from the Russia Federation for unit-1 of 1,000-MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, according to a release issued by the corporation. The project, located in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district, comprises two units of 1,000-MW each. It is …
The first consignment of enriched uranium fuel for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) arrived from the Russian Federation at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on Sunday night. S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), said on Monday that the first consignment formed part of the …
Russia, India, China and Brazil on Friday vowed to turn their four-way group into a powerful instrument for changing the world. At their first stand-alone meeting here, the Foreign Ministers institutionalised BRIC, agreeing to hold regular meetings at the level of Foreign Ministers. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee hailed BRIC …
Russia may decide to hold onto its greenhouse gas emissions rights under the Kyoto Protocol, at least until the details of a successor treaty are clearer, a Russian expert said. The United Nations' Kyoto Protocol allows industrialised countries to meet greenhouse gas targets by buying emissions rights from each other …
GM foods can save the day Soaring prices for staple foods are creating political tensions from North Africa to Southeast Asia, and the world is scrambling for solutions. Last week, wealthy countries pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in crops, seeds, vouchers and funds for "food security." That may help …
Crude oil prices could surge to $200 a barrel in the next two years, according to theGoldman Sachs analyst who three years ago correctly predicted a price "super-spike" above $100 a barrel. The warning by Arjun Murti came as oil prices hit a fresh record high above $122 a barrel, …
Russia on Tuesday signed off on a series of steep price rises for domestic gas, power and railway services for the next four years on the eve of Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration as the country's new president. Mr Medvedev, who will be sworn in as Russia's president on Wednesday, will inherit …
Russian and U.S. officials signed an important agreement on civilian nuclear power on Tuesday that will give the U.S. access to Russian technology and could hand Moscow lucrative deals for storing spent fuel. The deal, signed on the eve of Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration as President, signals a reversal in U.S. …
When Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, was asked to ponder the future of the world before an audience of powerful businessmen and politicians, at a meeting in Switzerland earlier this year, he could have chosen any topic he liked. What he focused on was both a hoary old favourite, and …
MOSCOW: Chinese engineers are coming to the rescue of the Russian electricity sector under a five-year expansion plan that will rival the efforts of Lenin and Stalin to electrify the Soviet Union. An estimated 41,000 megawatts of new generating capacity is expected by 2011, much of it powered by coal …
In what could open new doors towards development, Russia is keen to invest in areas like oil and gas, tourism, power and infrastructure development in Assam. Russian ambassador to India, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, disclosed this to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at a meeting attended by senior officials of the Government of …
Russia's opposition to new cuts in greenhouse gases means all of the world's top four emitters are against making quick reductions, complicating plans for a new UN climate treaty by the end of 2009. "The positions ... are just the tip of the iceberg of the problems ahead," said Bill …
Russia has suggested that Caspian nations impose a five-year ban on fishing for sturgeon, prized for caviar, to save the dwindling stocks from extinction. "We are ready to renounce sturgeon fishing, even for research purposes,' Andrei Krainy, head of the Russian State Fisheries said. The move comes after several international …
Russia will not accept binding caps on its greenhouse gas emissions under a new climate regime, currently being negotiated to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, top officials said on Monday. Kyoto puts a cap on the average, annual greenhouse gas emissions from 2008-12 for some 37 industrialised countries, including …
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda focused on a new global climate change initiative and a decades-old dispute over a group of Pacific islands when he met Russia's two leaders on Saturday. Japanese officials had said Fukuda would urge Russia to accelerate talks aimed at resolving the territorial row over the …
Opposition protesters marched through the capital of Belarus on Saturday to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and denounce plans to build an atomic power station in the ex-Soviet state. Belarus was the country most affected by the world's worst nuclear accident and the anniversary is traditionally …
The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated during last July's G-8 Summit in St Petersburg that he wanted to force the pace of Indo-Russian cooperation. The PM remarked that, "The economic pillar of our strategic relationship needs attention, as at present it is not as strong as it should be.' …
Russian oil output in 2003 was increasing at such a swift pace even Saudi Arabia worried about upstart energy companies - including Yukos and Sibneft - then posting production gains of more than 20 per cent. But from 2004 the Moscow government changed its tax regime and began to take …
Russia's Gazprom took further steps to strengthen its hold on natural gas supplies to Europe on Thursday, signing a joint venture with Libya and saying it was in preliminary talks on a multibillion dollar project to pipe Nigerian gas to Europe across the Sahara. News of the two projects came …
