India hopeful as G8 talks of green fund

September 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Executives from leading US clean energy and environmental companies will visit India next month to identify commercial opportunities for clean and green US technologies in India. The role of the upcoming mission and how the private sector can help India develop and deploy low-carbon technologies to combat climate change was discussed at a meeting with Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh.

September 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The foreign ministers of Pakistan and India will meet in New York for talks Sep 26-27, the Online news agency reported Friday. The foreign secretary-level talks will be held Sep 26, while the foreign ministers will meet a day later, a private news TV channel said quoting Pakistan foreign office sources.

September 14th, 2009 MULTAN - Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that he did not expect to achieve anything greater than "incremental progress" during his talks with his Indian counterpart SM Krishna in New York. Pakistan will adopt a clear stance on all outstanding issues, Qureshi told reporters on Sunday.

August 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India needs another Green Revolution to dramatically boost its agricultural production, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared Saturday. Speaking from the Red Fort on the country's independence day, the prime minister said the time had come for farmers and scientists to go for more modern methods of farming.

July 19th, 2009 GURGAON - An eco-friendly building near the Indian capital Sunday got a big thumbs-up from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who equated it with well-known monuments like the Taj Mahal and India Gate. We know that there are wonderful monuments throughout India from the India Gate to the Taj Mahal.

July 9th, 2009 L'AQUILA - The groups of rich and developing countries, including India, are likely to commit themselves to early conclusion of the Doha Development Round of multilateral trade talks under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) later Thursday. A statement in this regard to this effect is expected from the G8 and G5 countries, as well as Egypt, at the G8 Summit being held at this quake-hit Italian city, some 100 km northeast of Rome.

June 23rd, 2009 Mexico: 'Green fund' better than carbon creditsMEXICO CITY — Mexican President Felipe Calderon made a push Monday for his proposal for a $10 billion "green fund" as a more efficient way to fight climate change than carbon credits. Calderon spoke at the opening of the latest session of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which brings together representatives of 19 countries and the European Union that together account for 80 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

June 22nd, 2009 JIUTEPEC - Mexico's President Felipe Calderon has called on the world's leading nations to contribute $10 billion to endow a Global Green Fund charged with financing programmes to combat climate change. "We want it to become a financial mechanism that mobilises and brings together the different investment efforts dealing with climate change," Calderon said Monday in this central Mexican city of Jiutepec at the beginning of a two-day preparatory session for a forum next month on energy and climate.

June 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Asserting that New Delhi had never wanted the Doha Round of World Trade talks to collapse, India has expressed the hope that a common meeting ground would be found to provide a level playing field to the developing countries. The Doha round had a hit a logjam because of non-convergence on many issues, but now there is recognition of the sensitivities of the developing countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told a press conference here Thursday.

June 15th, 2009 YEKATERINBERG - India and China will hold the next round of talks on the boundary dispute Aug 7-8 in New Delhi, official sources said here Monday night ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Prime Minister Singh and President Hu will discuss a host of issues relating to bilateral relations, and the boundary dispute will also figure in the talks, highly placed sources said.

June 11th, 2009 BONN - India will not let the international community check on what it's doing to combat climate change unless industrialised countries provide adequate financing and transfer green technologies, say government delegates. The issue of how to treat intellectual property rights (IPR) of green technologies and who is going to pay the incremental cost of moving to them has been a bone of contention at climate treaty meets for years, and has reared its head again at the June 1-12 talks here that are a preparation to the climate summit in Copenhagen this December.

June 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Upbeat about the defence ties between India and the US, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns Thursday said Washington was hopeful of soon signing a contentious end-user verification agreement relating to military hardware. There is an enormous scope for expanding defence relationship.

May 22nd, 2009 LAHORE - In what may be seen a step towards de-escalation of heightened tension between India and Pakistan, both the countries, for the time after the Mumbai terror attack, have agreed to hold talks on water-related issues. The bilateral talks would be held from May 30 to June 3 in New Delhi, The Daily Times reports.

April 13th, 2009 CHENNAI - AIADMK boss J. Jayalalitha Monday ruled out the possibility of a post-poll alliance with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

January 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Friday deferred his maiden visit to India, scheduled for Jan 27, after it became clear Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not be able to hold talks with him due to a heart ailment. Manmohan Singh will undergo a coronary bypass surgery Saturday morning.