U.S. scientists using satellite data have established a more accurate figure of the amount of annual sea level rise from melting glaciers and ice caps which should aid studies on how quickly coastal areas may flood as global warming gathers pace.

India’s economy is expected to grow by 6.9% in 2011-12, the slowest pace of expansion in three years, dragged down by sluggish industrial growth and a decline in the mining sector. Data released by the Central Statistics Office on Tuesday showed growth in 2011-12 is estimated to be a shade below the 7%-7.5% being projected by policymakers and well below the 9% estimated last year. This is the slowest pace of growth since the 2008-09 global financial crisis, which pushed down India’s gross domestic product growth to 6.7%.

Israel has approved the construction of the first rail link between its Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, offering a new Asia-Europe trade route to compete with the Suez Canal, a project in which India is also said to have evinced interest.

The so called proposal for Red-Med train link was unanimously approved by the Israeli cabinet and its construction is likely to take about five years from the time of start at a cost of approximately $ 2.3 billion.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is selling its second Water Bond to Japanese investors to help finance its work in the water sector.

The Water Bond, denominated in Turkish lira, will be issued in February. ADB will provide assistance in an amount at least equal to the net proceeds of the bond to water-related projects in the region, such as new water supply systems in urban areas, major rehabilitation of existing irrigation systems, and investment in wastewater management.

After the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Vietnam suspended its nuclear plans and waited for more than a decade before reviving them.

But Vietnam was undeterred by last year's Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan, the world's worst atomic accident since Chernobyl, and is racing ahead with plans to start construction of its first reactor in 2014, which should go online six years later.

It aims to follow that up with another 14 reactors by 2030.

Talk of a Middle Eastern green energy boom is likely to prove no more than a mirage with little hope of the region saving clean technology companies from the shrinking project pools of Europe.

Instead India, China and Latin America offer some hope for green energy companies struggling in a European market drowning in debt and a North American market awash with gas.