View Articles

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the allies pitching it too high, the Congress, which is leading the opposition United Democratic Front(UDF) in Kerala, is finding the going tough in the seat-sharing talks for the state assembly elections, scheduled to take place on April 13.

There are no clear pointers of the mood of the electorate, four weeks before voting takes place for the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, though overhanging the poll scene is the 2G spectrum scam with the DMK leader A Raja, former Telecommunications Minister, facing court proceedings for corruption charges. Other DMK notables are also under CBI scan including the DMK supreme leader Mr Karunanidhi’s daughter, Ms. Kanimozhi, MP (Rajya Sabha). Chief Minister Karunanidhi expects his welfare schemes alone would help his party to return to power on April 13.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The recovery in the global economy will help the Pacific economies improve in 2011. The strongest gains are expected in the resource-rich countries that are benefiting from both major new resource projects and better world commodity prices, says the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Pacific Economic Monitor.

In less than two months, a drafting group of negotiators has produced a complete text on the proposed multilateral register for geographical indications for wines and spirits. But because all the present divergent positions are included, the 9-page document — presented to a formal negotiation meeting on 3 March 2011 — contains around 208 pieces of rival text, marked by square brackets.

WTO ambassadors told an informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee on 8 March 2011 that they share Director General Pascal Lamy’s concern that recent progress on substance in the Doha Round is not fast enough to meet late April targets.

New York: Small-scale farmers can double food production in a decade by using simple ecological methods, according to the findings of a new United Nations study released today, which calls for a fundamental shift towards agroecology as a poverty alleviation measure.

New York: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and its Goodwill Ambassador, Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino, today launched a new fund that will support groups working on the frontlines to assist the victims of human trafficking.

New York: An estimated 20,000 people have fled the urban centre in the contested Sudanese territory of Abyei since fighting broke out in the area last week, the United Nations humanitarian office reported today, adding that aid workers are ready to start delivering relief supplies to those displaced.

New York: The 3,500-strong United Nations police force in Haiti is planning to reinforce its support of national police for the presidential run-off election on 20 March, although it does not expect trouble, according to the head of the contingent.

New York: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed war crimes charges against two rebel leaders accused in the September 2007 attack that resulted in the death of 12 peacekeepers in Darfur, and committed them to trial.