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As a nation we are now poised to take some historic steps, collectively, to empower our children and thereby, our entire nation. As the Human Resource Development Minister of the country, it is my duty and obligation to ensure that our children are placed at the centre of the ambitious education reforms programme embarked upon by my Ministry. My vision for the future is that of a wholly Child Centric Education system. We cannot afford to be the slaves of the past. We must keep ourselves in synch with the processes of change sweeping through the globe. We need to learn from the past, build on it and create opportunities for the future of our present children as well as the future of the unborn ones.

New Delhi: Inclusion of Hindi as an official language in the UN has several financial and procedural implications which require to be met before a formal proposal can be tabled in the UN. Procedurally, the UN General Assembly (the legislative body of the UN) would need to adopt a resolution by a majority of the 192 member states. After this stage, India, as the proposing country, would need to provide sufficient financial resources to the UN to cover the additional expenditure related to interpretation, translation, printing and duplication of documents and related infrastructural costs. This, according to conservative estimates, could cost in excess of US $ 14 million per year.

New Delhi: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) would provide Broadband connectivity to all the Panchayats at 256 kbps in the country by March 2012.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector contributes significantly to the manufacturing output, employment and exports. It is estimated that in terms of value, this sector accounts for about 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and 40 percent of the total exports of the country. As per the quick estimates of 4th All-India Census of MSMEs for reference year 2006-07, the number of enterprises is estimated to be about 26 million and these provide employment to an estimated 60 million persons. The labour to capital ratio and the overall growth in the MSME sector is much higher than in the large industries. The geographic distribution of the MSMEs is also more even. Thus, MSMEs are important for the national objectives of growth with equity and inclusion.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Leading government officials from South Asia and neighboring countries are meeting in Manila this week for a second round of high level talks on regional cooperation which will take stock of progress on work done to boost trade, and to develop cross-border road corridors and energy infrastructure.

On January 6, 2009, when Omar Abdullah took over as the youngest chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir after a well turned out Assembly polls, there was a sigh of relief all over with a ray of hope overtaking all other things. It was expected that the young and educated chief minister might bring peace and development in the valley. However, what happened is a disappointing tale with the state going back to the eighties with violence and disturbance.

New York: A camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur that has been the scene of recent tensions remains on edge and insecure, with reports of gunfire overnight, the United Nations has said.

New York: The global youth unemployment rate is at a record high and is expected to climb even higher as the year progresses, the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) has announced.

An IMF mission held policy discussions with the Honduran authorities during August 2-10, 2010, and made significant progress in reaching understandings on a macroeconomic framework and associated policies that could be supported by a financial arrangement with the IMF. The main goals of the Government's program are to restore macroeconomic stability, reestablish investor confidence, and improve the external position. The program is anchored on the authorities' effort to maintain control over the public finances and the fiscal deficit, and also contains a set of monetary, external, and financial sector policies.

New York: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun a major round of feeding for 670,000 children under the age of two and their families in drought-stricken Niger, where as many as eight million people need assistance.