View Articles

Bengaluru: India said that the disturbed neighbourhood poses security challenges for it and the region. It would increase its defence budget over the next two decades.

What is ailing India, the world’s largest democracy? It is the saga of corruption going unabted – be it relating to the Commonwealth Games, allocation of 2-G Spectrum and S-band Spectrum, appointment of the CVC chairman, protecting market manipulators causing price rise or the disclosures in Nira Radia tapes.

BHOPAL: The three-day “Narmada Samajik Kumbh”, commencing at Mandla in Madhya Pradesh from Feb 10, it seems, will be an out and out anti-Christian gathering. Posters have already appeared in the tribal-dominated Mandla district, warning the Christian missionaries of the “dangerous consequences of Conversions”.

KOLKATA: As the run up to the State Assembly elections in Assam begins, the scenario is one of a weak, faction-ridden and divided Opposition unable to take advantage of the anti-incumbency factor working against the ruling Congress which is facing a number of corruption charges involving some of its senior ministers. The most serious is the Rs. 1000 crore misappropriation of funds from the North Cachar Hills Autonomous District Council. Some of the money siphoned off is believed to have been used for funding a militant group. Though seven ministers and party leaders are allegedly involved in the scam, the central leadership of the Congress has given Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi a clean chit.

WASHINGTON – A new World Bank report warns that South Asian countries are facing a health crisis with rising rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which disproportionately affect poor families, with possible side effects of disability and premature death, and worsening poverty as people pay for medical treatment out of their own pockets.

New York: Egypt under President Hosni Mubarak has played a key role in seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians and this role must be preserved in any transition stemming from the current mass protests, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

New York: Fresh floods have hit Sri Lanka just weeks after large swathes of the South Asian island nation were inundated by a deluge caused by torrential rainfall, the United Nations reported today, saying that over a million people already weakened by the initial flooding are affected.

New York: The United Nations is encouraging electoral authorities in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) to address alleged irregularities in last month’s presidential poll, which reportedly gave President Francois Bozize a second term but has left opposition candidates in an uproar over fraud.

New York: The United Nations refugee agency today highlighted the dangers facing those fleeing the Horn of Africa, noting the recent deaths of eight Ethiopian asylum-seekers who suffocated aboard a closed container truck in Mozambique en route to South Africa.

New York: Ten years after the Security Council called for greater involvement of women in peacebuilding, United Nations peacekeeping missions have a mixed record and need to deploy greater efforts to reach the goal, according to a study launched today.