NewsBytes

UN climate negotiations began on Monday at a meeting on the edge of the Brazilian Amazon, with leaders pushing for urgency, cooperation and acceleration after more than 30 years fighting to curb global warming by drastically reducing the carbon pollution that causes it.  Andre Correa do Lago, president of this year's conference, known as COP30, emphasised that negotiators engage in “mutirao,” a Brazilian word derived from an Indigenous word that refers to a group uniting to work on a shared task.  “Either we decide to change by choice, together, or we will be imposed change by tragedy,” Lago wrote in his letter to negotiators on Sunday. “We can change. But we must do it together.” Complicating the calls for togetherness is the United States. The Trump administration did not send high-level negotiators to the talks and is withdrawing for the second time from the 10-year-old Paris Agreement, which is being celebrated as a partial achievement here in Belem.  The United States has put more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas than any other country. China is the No. 1 carbon polluter now, but because carbon dioxide stays in the air for at least a century, more of it was made in the US. President Donald Trump's actions damage the fight against climate change, former US Special Envoy for Climate Todd Stern said.

With decks cleared to set up a Joint Committee of Parliament to examine Bills to remove prime minister, chief ministers and ministers under arrest for 30 days straight on serious charges, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Monday said he has been striving to ensure all parties are represented in the proposed panel. Addressing a press conference here, the Lok Sabha Speaker said parliamentary panels should not be viewed through the prism of politics, as these committees discuss issues rising above political lines. "We are making efforts to ensure all political parties are represented in the committee," Birla told reporters here. The panel is expected to be constituted soon. Several opposition parties, such as the Congress and Trinamool Congress, have decided not to be part of the Joint Committee of Parliament to examine the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill. BJD and BRS are unlikely to be part of the committee. This constitution amendment Bill and two other proposed legislations were introduced on the last day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on August 20. A motion was adopted by the Lok Sabha to refer the three bills to a joint committee of parliament.

The Union Health Ministry has done away with the mandatory requirement of an equipment in Corneal Transplantation centres thereby easing infrastructural challenges, particularly for smaller eye centers in rural and semi urban areas. This will enhance the overall availability and accessibility to the corneal transplantation services in the country. In alignment with the government's vision to promote equitable access to organ and tissue transplantation services, the Health ministry has notified the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Rules, 2025. The amended rules have been notified under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994 on November 6. This amendment which further strengthens the National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP), aims to streamline the functioning of corneal transplantation centres and facilitate wider accessibility to eye donation and transplantation services across the country, the ministry said.

Canada has lost its measles elimination status after nearly three decades due to its failure to curb a year-long outbreak, the country's public health agency said on Monday. Health experts last month predicted the Pan American Health Organization would strip Canada of the status. The country has recorded more than 5,000 measles cases in nine of its 10 provinces and one northern territory. "While transmission has slowed recently, the outbreak has persisted for over 12 months, primarily within under-vaccinated communities," the agency said in a statement. "The PAHO has notified the Public Health Agency of Canada that Canada no longer holds measles elimination status," it added, saying the agency would focus on improving vaccination coverage, strengthening data sharing, and enabling better overall surveillance efforts. Health experts say slipping vaccination rates in parts of the country are a harbinger of more vaccine-preventable illnesses resurgent in a population increasingly skeptical and mistrustful of vaccines since the COVID-19 pandemic. The office of federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel declined to comment.