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New York: The increasing demand for ecotourism can play a vital role in saving endangered forests, a United Nations-backed partnership said today, while also warning of the potential damaging effects if its expansion is not effectively managed.

New York: Conserving key forests in Indonesia could generate billions of dollars in revenue, up to three times more than felling them for palm oil plantations, under a United Nations carbon reduction plan that would also secure water supplies and protect critically endangered orangutan apes, according to a report issued today.

New York: The President of the Security Council today referred Palestine’s application to become a United Nations Member State to the committee that deals with the admission of new members.

New York: An independent United Nations human rights expert today urged the Cambodian Government to carefully review a draft law that may hamper the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the South-east Asian nation.

New Delhi: The community-wise physical targets (for fresh cases only) for Uttar Pradesh (where election is due within few months) under the Scheme of Pre-matric Scholarship for students belonging to the Minority communities for the current Financial Year 2011-12 have been revised and enhanced by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, government of India.

New Delhi: Pakistan will allow import of all petroleum products from India.

KOLKATA: A resounding victory in two State assembly by-elections and a first round success in the legal battle against the Tatas on the Singur case, made this Wednesday doubly memorable for Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Ms Mamata Banerjee.

Global economic crisis of 2011, arising out of fiscal stresses in USA and risks of sovereign debt defaults in Euro-zone, dominated the Fund-Bank annual meetings in Washington last week, which called for collective actions by these major economies to prevent another financial meltdown and recession, as in 2008. The world equity and currency markets are already going through a turbulent phase.

Shadow of domestic politics haunted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his four-day visit to New York where he addressed the UN General Assembly. Rarely domestic politics is discussed on foreign soil. But so urgent were issues at home that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had to rush to New York from Washington to discuss with the Prime Minister the 2G issue and the raging controversy over his alleged feud with Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Mukherjee had gone to Washington to attend World Bank-IMF meeting. After an hour-long meeting with the Prime Minister he described the Home Minister as “my valued colleague”.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The United Democratic Front (UDF) Government is not exactly back in the comfort zone. But it has certainly earned a temporary reprieve in the palmolein case.