View Articles

NEW DELHI: The National Convention of the workingclass held at Mavalankar Hall on September 7, 2011, has been a landmark in the country’s labour movement. This was due to the spirited unity displayed by the delegates and the unique “Declaration” unanimously adopted at the Convention.

The Indian landscape is commencing a new chapter of political one upmanship through fasts and yatras. While the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, has commenced a three-day fast – ostensibly for self-purification – the BJP leader of yester-years, L.K. Advani, is shortly to launch a ‘yatra’ running across several states.

NEW DELHI: At a time when India is working on ways to give a further push to the trade and investment ties with China, Beijing’s latest muscle flexing over ONGC’s talks with Vietnam for oil exploration blocks in South China Sea , has cast its shadow over the Russia-India-China trilateral conference on business cooperation. The two day meet scheduled on September 20 and 21 at Rostov-on-Don in Russia is supposed to impart a fresh dynamism to the investment cooperation between these three countries.

New York: With the number of people aged over 60 expected to reach 2 billion by 2050, or more than a fifth of the total global population, discrimination against old persons should rank among the most pressing policy issues for governments and societies, the United Nations human rights chief said today.

Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussed the use of the windfall profits from the Fund’s limited gold sale. They reaffirmed their support for the 2009 financing package for low-income countries (LICs), including a distribution to the Fund’s membership of up to SDR 0.7 billion (US$1.10 billion) of the windfall profits with the expectation that members would return broadly equivalent funds as PRGT subsidy contributions. Today’s discussion focused on options for using the remaining windfall profits of SDR 1.75 billion (US$2.76 billion), which have been placed to the general reserve. Directors stressed that any final proposals concerning the use of the windfall profits would need to take account of the Fund’s financial position.

New York: While three of the world’s most developed countries – United States, Japan and Slovenia – generally comply with the human right of providing their people with safe water and sanitation, they fall short when it comes to marginalized populations, a United Nations expert said today.

New York: The United Nations war crimes tribunal for the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia today convicted a man of contempt of court charges and sentenced him to two months in jail for refusing to answer questions on two occasions during trials related to Kosovo in 2007.

New York: Health and nutrition rates have deteriorated for famine-wracked Somalis displaced within their own country but improved for those who have fled to Ethiopia, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

New York: Ways to measure the economic value of volunteer work that amounts worldwide to hundreds of billions and possibly trillions of dollars, will take centre stage on the final day of a United Nations-backed conference in Budapest tomorrow.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Christopher Lane visited Liberia September 8–16, 2011 to conduct discussions for the seventh review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The mission met with: Minister of Finance, Augustine Ngafuan; Central Bank of Liberia Executive Governor, Joseph Mills Jones; other senior officials; representatives of the private sector, civil society organizations, and development partners. The mission also participated in a High Level National Economic Forum on exploring strategic options for inclusive growth and sustainable development.