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Making predictions about tricky and complex issues is a hazardous task. This is particularly so in the case of Jammu Kashmir whose post-Independence history has seen frequent turns and twists. The latest turn is represented by the more positive changes that have taken place in the state’s scenario in the past few months. Will these changes prove to be a fore-runner of a relatively lasting peace and normalcy in the state, an essential pre-requisite for finding a solution of the Kashmir tangle? To attempt an answer one needs to have a closer look at the happenings the trouble-torn state has witnessed during the past few months.

LUCKNOW: The massive response of the people in Uttar Pradesh to the campaign by the civil society group of Mr. Anna Hazare in various parts of the state, has made it apparent that the issue of corruption will figure prominently in the ensuing campaign for the assembly elections due in early 2012.

NEW DELHI: India’s insurance industry will outpace the economic growth of the country and is likely to reach US$350 billion to 400 billion in terms of premium income by 2020, making it among the top three life insurance markets, an industry report revealed. India will be the top 15 non-life insurance markets by 2020 also, according to an industry study conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the US based Boston Consulting Group.

KOLKATA: So far, the election campaign in West Bengal has resembled a dirty war minus the shooting. The mutual vituperation and abuse have been shocking, logic and argument largely absent, oratory virtually non existent, as decibels have won the day for both the Ruling Left and its resurgent opponents. The 2011 campaign will certainly go down as the dirtiest in recent memory.

New York: Mauritania needs to do much more to eliminate slave-like practices, the United Nations human rights chief said today as she also called on the West African country to take steps to improve the role of women and set up mechanisms to tackle human rights violations by previous regimes.

New York: Up to one billion people could die this century from smoking or being exposed to tobacco if current rates continue, a senior United Nations health official warned today, urging governments of low- and middle-income countries to adopt the same measures that many wealthier nations have already taken to deter people from smoking.

New York: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today announced plans to introduce emergency operations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to feed an estimated 3.5 million people in desperate need after crop losses and a particularly bitter winter.

New York: A new fund aimed at mobilizing resources to help developing countries mitigate the impact of global warming must encourage private sector financing in an effort to tackle its most devastating effects, the top United Nations climate change official said today.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the third review of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) economic performance under a three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. The Board's decision, which was taken on a lapse-of-time basis, enables the authorities to draw an additional SDR 49.493 million (about US$80.2 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to an amount equivalent to SDR 197.972 million (about US$320.6 million).

New York: Health ministers from around the world meeting under the auspices of the United Nations today adopted measures to strengthen the fight against the non-communicable diseases, including the promotion of healthy lifestyles and encouraging a multi-sectoral approach to prevention and treatment of the illnesses.