As Gujarat readies itself to hold an event to showcase its business-friendly environment, there is some good news for the state. A report released today shows it replaced Tamil Nadu in terms of freest state in 2011.

The report, co-published by the Cato Institute, Academic Foundation, Indicus Analytics and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, says on a scale of 0 to 1 points, Gujarat scored 0.64 points, followed by Tamil Nadu at 0.56. Tamil Nadu was the freest state in 2009.

Comparing the state-sponsored Global Trade Show 2013 which began on Tuesday as 'Kumbh Mela' of development, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi said that six-day mega-trade fare would benefit the future generation of entrepreneurs.

The trade show, which is part of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit (VGGIS) 2013, is spread across an area of more than 1, 00,000 square meters and has participation from more than 1000 companies from 16 countries and various Governments. More than 1.5 million people are expected to visit the Global Trade Show, which is double than its previous edition held in 2011.

The Central Government should act quickly to raise diesel rates to bring them in line with global prices in order to reduce its subsidy bill, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman C. Ranagarajan has said.

“I think we need to cut subsidies’ proportion of GDP... Therefore, there is an imperative need to reduce the diesel subsidies,” Dr. Rangarajan told PTI in an interview.

A leading environmental group working for conservation of flora and fauna has sought intervention of the External Affairs Ministry to put pressure on Pakistan to ban hunting of rare birds, Houbara bustards, which has drastically reduced India's share of their annual winter migration and affected the desert eco-system.

The hunting of Houbara bustards, taxonomically classified as Clamydotis undulata , through falconry in Pakistan has led to an alarming decline in their numbers. The poaching mainly in Sindh province along the international border is not only a cause of serious concern for India but also in violation of wildlife protection laws and international conventions.

London: Rise in sea levels in the future due to the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could be substantially larger than IPCC estimates, according to a new first-of-its-kind study. Researchers from the University of Bristol found that the future rise in sea levels predicted by the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) may be even greater.

The ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland contain about 99.5% of Earth’s glacial ice which would raise global sea level by some 63m if they were to melt completely.

Teeth-chattering cold winds from Siberia to intensify; farmers worried, but wheat crop safe

Icy Siberian winds have chilled northern India and will intensify in the days ahead, making the winter even more severe, and highlighting the uncanny rise in extreme weather patterns such as droughts, hot spells and torrential downpours like the one that swamped Mumbai in 2005. For companies selling beverages, winterwear and heaters, business is booming with sales rising up to 40% in one of the coldest Indian winters in decades, but farmers are getting anxious about the impact on vegetables, pulses and oilseeds although the wheat crop is secure. The weather office says there is no quick relief in the offing.

To align with global prices and curb energy subsidies

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday reiterated his position of “phased rationalisation of energy prices to bring them in line with global prices” for “meeting the target of rapid, inclusive and sustainable development” and curbing energy subsidies. Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of integrated refinery expansion project of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) here, Dr. Singh recalled his speech at the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi in which he hinted about the pricing of energy.

The world must go back to harnessing the powers of the sun as it was done at the beginning of human civilisation to deal with global environmental changes, Taiwanese Nobel laureate Yuan Tseh Lee said on Sunday.

“We must return to sunshine to develop a more harmonious role with nature,” he said. “Once in history we were the children of the sun and were dependent on it for our needs, but we shifted to fossil fuels. We must dissociate ourselves from them and turn back to the sun to deal with global environmental change,” Lee said at the centenary session of the Indian Science Congress here.