21 NOVEMBER 2014: Cabinet clears 3 SAARC agreement ahead of Summit

Ø  Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal to attend the SAARC summit next week, the Union Cabinet cleared three key framework agreements with member-countries to enhance rail and road connectivity and to set up a regional power grid. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India and Nepal for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism was also given a green signal. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the meeting that the Cabinet approved signing of “SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation (Electricity)” among the member-states during the 18th SAARC summit scheduled to be held at Kathmandu on November 26 – 27.  The Cabinet also approved the signing and ratifying the SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement.

Ø  The world must cut CO2 emissions to zero by 2070 at the latest to keep global warming below dangerous levels and prevent a global catastrophe. By 2100, all greenhouse gas emissions — including methane, nitrous oxide and ozone, as well as CO2 — must fall to zero, the United Nationals Environment Programme (UNEP) report says , or the world will face what Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientists have described as “severe, widespread and irreversible” effects from climate change. The UNEP report published on Wednesday is based on the idea that the planet has a finite ‘carbon budget’. Since emissions surged in the late 19th century, some 1,900 Gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 and 1,000 Gt of other greenhouse gases have already been emitted, leaving less than 1,000 Gt of CO2 left to emit before locking the planet in to dangerous temperature rises of more than 2 degree C above pre-industrial levels. Jacqueline McGlade, UNEP’s chief scientist, told The Guardian that scientific uncertainties about the remaining carbon budget had diminished and the real uncertainty now was whether politicians had the will to act.

Ø  The Supreme Court Bench , while ordering CBI Director Ranjit Sinha to recuse himself from the 2G scam trial, recalled the September 15 order asking advocate Prashant Bhushan to disclose the identity of the anonymous source who had leaked documents which led to allegations levelled against Mr. Sinha.