Newsblog

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Health millennium goals neglected in Asia-Pacific region: UN report

Hunger, child mortality and maternal mortality remain high in the Asia-Pacific region, making it difficult for the countries in the region to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, says a UN report released on Friday in New Delhi. Read on

Ending world hunger is possible – so why hasn't it been done?

Some 850 million people go to bed hungry. If the right decisions are made now, we can feed the world and address inequality Read on

Put people at core of sustainable development: UN report

Social and environmental costs need to be integrated into measurement of economic activity, a new UN report said on Monday as it urged world leaders to focus on the long-term resilience of the planet and its people. Read on

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Watch the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) live online

Heads of State, Ministers and academics from across the world are arriving in New Delhi, India for the 2012 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), to be held 2-4 February. This year’s summit titled ‘Protecting the Global Commons: 20 years post Rio’ is a landmark event in the run-up to the Rio+20 Conference to be held in June later this year. Read on

Infographic report: In Focus: Future of Aid – Where is the Money?

AlertNet explores the future of humanitarian aid. Read on

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Indian villagers’ lives transformed by new energy delivery system

It’s late December and an icy fog cloaks the northeastern state of Uttar Pradesh. Here, far from the cities, smoke rises in dense, choking spirals from meagre wood fires and scantily-clad children shiver against the cold. These are largely farming families, and their mud huts fortified by the occasional brick wall are for the most part devoid of light, heat or clean water. Read on

Western aid workers kidnapped in Pakistan

Two western aid workers were kidnapped when three armed raiders entered their accommodation in the Punjabi city of Multan on Thursday, local police said.

"Three armed men entered the house and kidnapped two foreign nationals," Multan City police representative Amir Zulfiqar told reporters. One of them is an Italian national and the other we believe to be German." Read on

Data on Internet and social media usage

One of the interesting things about the Internet is actually how difficult it is to find out detailed and accurate information about its usage, especially with respect to social media. The International Telecommunications Union does, though, provide some useful high level data. Read on

The First Interview With Burma’s Reforming President

Thein Sein on the sweeping changes he has brought to Burma, including freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi. Read on

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Good governance + mass mobilisation = Social inclusion

Why is the health, education and nutritional status of SCs, STs and minorities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala so much better than their counterparts in states like UP and Bihar? The India Human Development Report 2011 suggests that this is the result of good governance and massive mobilisation of the lower castes in the southern states. Read on

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Urban Forms: Building the Transit Metropolis

As the most significant region yet to be urbanised, India presents a unique opportunity for capturing impacts of urbanisation on the spatial dimension, writes Madhav Pai. Read on

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Options for India’s Renewable Energy Future

Almost 400 million Indians—about a third of the subcontinent’s population—don’t have access to electricity. This power deficit, which includes about 100,000 un-electrified villages Read on

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India’s malnourishment crisis

A new survey conducted by civil society groups such as the Citizen’s Alliance against Malnutrition and the Nandi Foundation once again drives home the stark truth: Far too many Indian children suffer from the scourge of malnutrition. The new data paints a slightly better picture than what was provided by the third National Family Health Survey of 2006, but the numbers continue to be shocking. Read on

The communities taking renewable energy into their own hands

Despite the economy, people are investing in solar, wind and hydro power for their local communities Read on

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Food as people's right

India is on the threshold of a historic transition from a ship-to-mouth existence to implementing the world's largest social protection programme against hunger with home-grown food. Read on