Joining the growing number of voices within the government that are uncomfortable with the decision to put the introduction of Bt brinjal on indefinite hold, Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said it was important to ensure that

Bt brinjal is on indefinite hold because the Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, has said there are many questions still to be answered. But the fact is there are many questions the minister needs to answer.

After days of consultations, India is learnt to be ready to send a formal communication to the UN climate convention over the weekend informing it about actions that New Delhi intends to take to curb the growth of its greenhouse gas emissions.

Having stitched together a climate deal at Copenhagen with a select group of countries, the government will have to do some explaining in Parliament on Tuesday on some provisions in the Copenhagen Accord, especially those relating to international verification of voluntary action taken by India on climate change.

Two years of preparations. Two weeks of hectic negotiations. Presence of more than 110 high-profile heads of states. Nothing helped. The deal to save the world from catastrophic effects of climate change remains as elusive as ever.

But no one, least of all host Denmark, wants to admit that the Copenhagen climate change conference has been a failure.

With barely 12 hours left to hammer out a consensus that has eluded the world for over two years now, the first signs of thaw were visible at the climate change conference late today.

Amidst frenetic activity to stitch up a face-saving deal in the final hours, the ubiquitous Danish draft made a reappearance at the climate change conference on Wednesday, inviting a fresh round of vociferous protests from the developing countries, with China describing it as an

Consensus at the climate change conference lying tattered, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads for Copenhagen on Thursday amid frenetic efforts to stitch together a face-saving deal.

As talks remained stalemated for a second straight day in Copenhagen, the climate change conference appeared to have hit a dead end, with little hope of the emergence of the comprehensive and equitable agreement that it was mandated to deliver.

Amidst talks of divisions in the G-77, the group of developing countries, over demands from the small island nations, India and China today closed ranks and held telephonic consultations with each other to press ahead with a joint strategy for a successful outcome from the Copenhagen climate change conference.