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New York: A United Nations human rights expert today called for taxing unhealthy food, regulating harmful marketing practices and standing up to the food industry, urging world leaders not to miss the chance at a summit next week to end a state of affairs that kills nearly 3 million adults each year.

New York: Donors need to intensify their support to help countries achieve the globally agreed goals of slashing hunger, poverty, disease and a host of other social ills by the target date of 2015, says a new United Nations report released today.

Every year September 16th is celebrated as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. Since 1995, this date has been designated by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This commemoration around the world offers an opportunity to focus attention and action at the global, regional and national levels on the protection of the ozone layer. The theme for this year’s celebrations is “HCFC phase out- a unique opportunity.”

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the international community today not to replace ozone-depleting gases that are now being phased out with highly potent global warming substitutes.

Asserting its monetary judgment on a holistic view of both global and domestic economy with its twin objectives of growth and price stability, the Reserve Bank of India has effected one more rise by 25 basis points to take the key policy rate (repo) to 8.25 per cent, and has, at the same time, ruled out any “premature change” in the policy stance in the immediate future.

KOLKATA: As feared by observers, Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina Wazed is in deep trouble over the non-signing of the Teesta water sharing accord with India.

It would be highly unfair to expect the country’s Prime Minister and his over worked cabinet colleagues busy in macro-managing the nation to know the retail market prices of brinjal or varieties of gourd, parwal, lady’s finger, coriander leaves, green chilli etc. Most likely even their hi-profile housewives may not know the prices of these vegetables alongside those of mutton, beef, pork, chicken, fish and eggs.

New York: The United Nations is set to launch an all-out attack next week on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), bringing together dozens of heads of State to promote the lifestyle changes needed to curb the soaring toll of a scourge that already causes over 63 per cent of all the world’s deaths.

New York: The number of young children who die each day has plunged over the past two decades, new United Nations figures show, but the world is still lagging far behind in efforts to achieve its target for reducing child mortality.

New York: United Nations officials today stressed that the tourism industry must ensure it does business in an ethical manner, saying that irresponsible travel could harm societies and the environment despite its benefits to the global economy through job creation and community empowerment.