Sustainability Outlook Headlines

India deregulates petrol prices

India's government decided to deregulate petrol prices Friday in a bold economic reform that risks a popular backlash as the country struggles with double-digit inflation .

G8 summit divided over climate ambition, papers show

The leaders of the world's eight most powerful developed economies are divided over how much ambition to show in pushing for a global deal on fighting climate change, draft papers for Friday's Group of Eight (G8) summit in Canada show.World leaders at a summit in Copenhagen in December failed to reach a breakthrough on the issue.

Aggressive action to reduce soot emissions needed to meet climate change goals

Without aggressive action to reduce soot emissions, the time table for carbon dioxide emission reductions may need to be significantly accelerated in order to achieve international climate policy goals such as those set forth in last December’s Copenhagen Accord.

Power of Ideas: EnNatura makes biodegradable ink using vegetable oils

Sometimes three men and an idea are all that it takes to come up with a world-saving business. In this case, a professor was of help too. IIT-Delhi’s Professor Ashok Bhaskarwar had worked on an offset printing ink using vegetable oils while on a sabbatical in the US. This ink, which is totally bio-degradable, lends itself well to recycling of paper. But the ink formulation needed additional research to make it printable. Sidhartha Kumar Bhimania, Krishna Gopal Singh and Sandeep Mourya, all his students, decided to take this forward.

Bhimania quit a PhD programme in the US to pursue... Read more..

Stress on local action to mitigate the effects of climate change

Climate change and the problems associated with it need to be tackled on a global scale but local actions to mitigate its effects are also required, speakers at a symposium said here on Thursday.

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, who chaired a panel discussion on the third day of the symposium organised by the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai, said though no one was satisfied with the Copenhagen summit, it had been useful. But, there were also concerns that the developed world was trying to dilute the content of the talks, both in Copenhagen and, later, in Bonn.

... Read more..

I-T department to monitor non-payment of tax on earnings from carbon credits

Corporate earnings from trading in certified emission reduction or carbon credits has caught the eyes of income-tax department. Tax authorities plan to closely look at companies found active in carbon trading after finding non-payment of taxes on such earnings.

The issue was flagged at the recent conference of the chief commissioners and director generals of income-tax, a department official said.

A scrutiny of data filed by a number of listed companies revealed that many of them were not including proceeds from the sale of carbon credits in their income while calculation... Read more..

Pioneer Signs Deal with Reliance

Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD - Analyst Report) signed a deal with India’s energy major Reliance Industries Ltd., under which the former agreed to sell a 45% interest in its Eagle Ford Shale assets for a total consideration of $1.15 billion.

India’s oil, gas and petrochemicals giant, Reliance, will buy a 45% stake in 212,000 acres of Pioneer’s Eagle Ford Shale properties and will pay $266 million at the time of closing in addition to providing $879 million for future drilling costs to Pioneer.

Reliance also entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with... Read more..

Power crisis in north as Himachal hydropower project shuts

Power supply to states of north India including Delhi was affected as the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydel power project in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district was temporarily shut down by the authorities Thursday after the level of silt rose in the Sutlej river.

"The silt content in the river suddenly rose more than the permissible limit of 7,500 ppm (parts per million). We have no other option but to suspend power generation," Vijay Verma, deputy general manager of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL), told IANS.

He said the sudden inflow of the silt was due to heavy... Read more..

Tussle over forests shows India's growth dilemma

India's maverick environment minister is resisting pressure from some cabinet colleagues to clear forests for mining and roads in a tussle that underlines the country's struggle for sustainable growth.

Jairam Ramesh wants to protect and expand India's remaining forest land as part of a strategy to fight climate change, but that could mean giving up mining about a quarter of the country's mineral reserves, needed to power Asia's third-largest economy.

He has scrapped or delayed clearance for some 100 mining projects, including those backed by India-focused miner Vedanta... Read more..

India, S. Korea Discuss Cooperation In Nuclear Energy, Space

India has agreed to begin talks with South Korea about a pact on nuclear energy cooperation, which might also facilitate Seoul’s export of a nuclear power plant.

In January Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak decided to upgrade mutual ties between the two countries to the level of a “strategic partnership.” Both the leaders also agreed to expand bilateral trade between them from $12.2 billion in 2009 to $30 billion by 2014. Around the same time, a free trade agreement between India and South Korea, signed in August 2009, came into force,... Read more..

India's National Fertilizers to build US$15.6 Million Wind Energy PJT

Indian state-owned National Fertilizers (BSE:523630) on Friday said it will invest Rs 72 crore (US$15.6 million) to develop a 14.7-MW wind energy project in Rajasthan for commercial use.

"We have awarded the project to Suzlon Energy (BSE:532667) to execute the project for a cost of Rs 72 crore. This will be completed by the end of September," National Fertilizers chairman and managing director V K Sharma said.

National Fertilizers, a Mini-Ratna company, was the second largest producer of nitrogenous fertilisers in the country with a 16.8 per cent share of domestic urea... Read more..

Farooq Abdullah calls for push to renewable energy projects

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah, called upon Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other multilateral agencies to considerably step up their support to renewable energy projects in developing countries. Speaking at the Asia Clean Energy Forum organized by the ADB at its headquarters in Manila, Dr. Abdullah highlighted that India today stands among the top five countries of the world in terms of renewable energy capacity with an installed base of over 15 GW, which is around nine per cent of India''s total power generation capacity.