UN chief urges India to cut fossil fuel use ›

Today is the time for bold leadership on clean energy and climate action... India can become a true global superpower in the fight against climate change if it speeds up its shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. ANTONIO GUTERRES , UN chief

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Friday called on India to be at the “helm” of an ambitious global leadership on clean energy and climate action, saying the country can become a “true global superpower” in the fight against climate change if it speeds up its shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

The Secretary-general said both the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis have raised fundamental questions about how to ensure the health and well-being of the world’s people and how nations must cooperate to advance the common good He said young people are particularly looking for bold steps towards sustainability, equality and social justice.

“Today is the time for bold leadership on clean energy and climate action. I call on India to be at the helm of the ambitious leadership we need,” Guterres said, virtually delivering the 19th Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Friday.

Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar presided over the event and delivered the Presidential Address. “At this pivotal moment, as the United Nations marks its 75th anniversary, India has a crucial role to play,” Guterres said.

In his remarks titled ‘The

Rise of Renewables: Shining a Light on a Sustainable Future’, Guterres said: “India can become a true global superpower in the fight against climate change if it speeds up its shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.” The UN chief said he was “inspired” to learn that during the pandemic, India’s proportion of renewable energy rose from 17% to 24% while coal-fired power declined from 76% to 66%.

“This is a promising trend that needs to continue. Renewable energy needs to grow. And coal use must be phased out.

That must be our story” of smarter, stronger, cleaner economies for the 21st century, creating more jobs, more justice and more prosperity, he said.

Guterres said he will continue to urge all countries, especially the G20 countries, to commit to carbon neutrality before 2050 and to submit, well before the November 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, more ambitious nationally determined contributions and longterm strategies that are aligned with the goal to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees.

“I call on Indian leaders to take the decisions, make the investments and adopt the policies necessary to continue this vital journey,” he said.

The annual lecture was initiated by New-delhi-based TERI in 2002 in memory of Seth, the institute’s founder.

DEHRADUN: The local police have arrested a man for allegedly murdering four of his in-laws a year ago and burying their bodies in an attempt to take over their property.

Kumaon inspector general Ajay Rautela said they received a tip-off that the accused Narendra Gangwar killed his father-in -law Heera Lal, mother-in-law Hemwati and two sister-in-laws a year ago and buried their bodies in their own house in the Transit Camp area of US Nagar district. The four deceased were missing from April 2019.

“After that, we nabbed Gangwar and questioned him on this during which he confessed to the crime. On Friday, we rushed to the spot to dig up the concrete floor [of the house] and exhumed the bodies,” he said.

The senior police officer said the accused killed his four in-laws as he wanted to take control of Lal’s property. “Gangwar was eyeing the property of Lal. He thought that since Lal doesn’t have a son, he will manage to take control of all of his father-in-law’s property after the deaths of his family members. He then hatched a plan to kill them with the help o f Lal’s tenant Vijay,” said Rautela.

“After killing them, the two accused who have been arrested, buried the four in a five-feet deep pit in the house and covered it with concrete. All the bodies which are now in skeleton form, have been exhumed. An investigation is on,” the police officer added.

POLICE OFFICIALS FAMILIAR WITH THE MATTER SAY THE ACCUSED HATCHED A PLAN TO KILL HIS IN-LAWS AS HE WANTED TO TAKE OVER THEIR PROPERTY