India claims UN Biodiversity Conference to be a “huge” achievement; Syrian president accepts ceasefire on the eve of Eid; FDI inflows into India fall by 8 per cent: UN report
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    • With the UN Biodiversity conference coming to an end, India claimed a “huge” achievement as the nations agreed to increase funding to stop rate of biodiversity loss. India also noted that the developed countries agreed to double funding to support efforts in developing states towards meeting the internationally-agreed Biodiversity Targets and the main goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. It was also for the first time that India and several African states pledged additional funds above and beyond their core funding towards the work of the Convention on Biodiversity.1

    In another development, the UN-Arab League mediator for the Syrian conflict, Lakhdar Brahimi told the UN Security Council that the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad had accepted a ceasefire beginning last Friday, on the eve of Eid. According to reports, the Syrian army announced that it would observe the ceasefire although it reserved the right to respond to any rebel attack or attempts to reinforce the armed opposition. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the reported announcements. 2

    In other developments, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Foreign Direct Investment inflows into India declined by 8 per cent in the first half of 2012. The decline was mainly due to the decline of $37 billion in inflows into the US and a $23 billion fall in inflows into BRIC countries. 3

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