NIRD launches information kiosks
The National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) has launched a project called Public Information Kiosks to promote greater participation of people in developmental activities and to increase their decision-making abilities.Conceived by the Development Communication Group and Centre on Rural Development, the kiosks are to be set up in Tenali and …
Plan on Godavari waters for centre
The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, has said that the Government will shortly send proposals to the Centre for the optimum utilisation of the Godavari waters. He has said that he is grateful to the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, for taking the initiative in seeking proposals from the …
Habitat and World Bank join hands to reduce urban poverty
The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and the World Bank joined hands to launch the Cities Alliance, a bold new initiative designed to improve the efficiency and impact of urban development cooperation. Originally conceived by the Acting Executive Director of Habitat, Klaus Toepfer, the Alliance is a multi-donor …
National rural habitat mission proposed
The Government proposes to launch a National rural housing and habitat mission to bring in a new sense of seriousness with emphasis on fixed goals amid clear time frames.
8% growth can eradicate poverty by 2006
IMF: The International Monetary Fund(IMF) has said that a gross domestic product(GDP) growth of 8 per cent will give impetus to poverty eradication in India.
Think globally, UNDP warns govts
Governments were warned to rethink the way they deal with international issues to boost global benefits in areas such as disease control, pollution reduction and crisis prevention. A study for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said : "Global concerns are penetrating national agendas and national concerns are becoming the …
Africans off target in war on poverty
International goals to cut African poverty in half by 2015 are unlikely to be achieved, the UN's Economic Commission For Africa (ECA) has warned. According to the organisation's 1999 economic report, sub-Saharan Africa faces a financing gap of almost 14 per cent of gross domestic product to achieve annual growth …
Free trade in peril
It was already in a sorry state, but now the World Trade Organisation is leaderless too : a report.
3-day SAARC meet in Delhi
The Secretaries of the seven nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will hold a three-day meeting from May 10 here.
Down, but not out of hope
It has stopped getting better. In the past five years, economic and financial instability, low commodity prices, falling levels of aid, widespread civil wars and steady population growth have meant that more and more people are poor. This week, the World Bank published its annual report on the state of …
UNICEF librarian gets award
Ms. Rangashri Kishore, a librarian with the UNICEF Library and Documentation Centre here, has been selected for the 1999 Exceptional Service Award of the Association of Specialised and Cooperatives Libraries Agencies of the American Library Association.She is being given this award in recognition of her work for the cause of …
Effort to reduce poverty falters
Emerging market financial crisis, uncertain prospects for the former Soviet economies and the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa mean that progress towards human development is in danger of stalling after a generation of improvement, the World Bank warned. Publishing its annual compendium of World Development Indicators, the Bank predicted that …
Argentine Mummies in a cave
Argentine archaeologists have disvoered the mummy of a baby wrapped in leather and straw in a cave in the northwestern province of Catamarca, where the dry Andean mountain ari preserved it for 1,500 to 2,000 years.
NABARD sanctions Rs 121 cr for J&K
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned Rs 121 crore to J&K; during 1998-99 under the Rural Infrastructure Development fund (RIDF) . This includes Rs 59 crore for Jammu region, Rs 55 crore for Kashmir region and Rs 7 crore for Ladakh region. The NABARD has sanctioned …
Ex-Economist journalist is new UNDP chief
Mark Malloch-Brown, a vice-president of the World Bank, was chosen to lead the UN Development Programme, the largest UN agency, with a $1 billion annual budget. The decision was made by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
WTO rejects India's stand on QR
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has rejected India's stand justifying Quantitative Restrictions (QR) on imports on the grounds of balance of Payment (BOP) in its trade dispute with the US and has asked the two countries to negotiate a time frame to dismantle the curbs.
Village contact campaign begins in M.P.
For the third year in a row, the Madhya Pradesh Government machinery is going through the annual ritual of the Gram Sampark Abhiyan (village contact campaign).This campaign which began today, will be on till April 12.
Gujarat adopts bill replacing ULCRA
On the last day of the Budget session on Tuesday, the Gujarat Assembly unanimously adopted a bill replacing the Urban Land (Ceiling and regulation) Act 1976. The Revenue Minister, Mr Vajubhai Vala, and assured that a land bank and a 'shelter fund' for the urban poor would be set up …
Sanctions over child labour 'can backfire'
The use of trade sanctions against goods produced by child labour in the developing world could be counterproductive and actually increase the hours worked by children, according to new research. Dr Sonia Bhalotra, a economist at the University of Bristol, said her research suggested child labour was driven by poverty …
Madhya Pradesh plans district-level government
In a path-breaking move, the Madhya Pradesh government will soon give people of the state the right to recall elected panch and sarpanch after the person has completed two-and-a-half years of his five-year term. Mr. Digvijay Singh also announced that his government has decided to introduce a new concept of …
