Running into six pages and 36 paragraphs, this declaration, accessed exclusively by SHUBHAJIT ROY , will be adopted by the SAARC heads on Thursday. The key points:

* The leaders noted Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday presented two innovative proposals to help the climate-victim countries in South Asia as the eight-nation Saarc Summit began in Thimpu with the theme

THIMPHU: With climate change being the central theme of the SAARC summit, India hoped the eight-nation bloc would hold the dialogue on the issue in a "meaningful manner" and backed its "fresh" position on global warming to be adopted at the Cancun meet later this year.

Washington: Global temperatures fueled by El Nino seasonal warming last month chalked up the hottest March on record, US weather monitors reported on Thursday.

Pune: There

Monsoon rains over South Asia will probably be near normal this season, the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum said on Thursday, easing concern about the return of drought conditions that parched crops last year.

Pune In a bid to address improvements needed in weather and climate forecasts with the help of South Asian countries, the South Asian Climate outlook Forum (SASCOF) commenced its first meeting on Tuesday at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology here.