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New York: A new biodiversity report released by two United Nations environmental bodies concluded that unless radical and creative action is taken quickly to conserve the variety of life on Earth, natural systems that support lives and livelihoods are at risk of collapsing.

Political parties often face piquant situations created by their misdirected and blatantly wrong actions.. Punjab's mainstream parties are also facing such a situation. The Akali-BJP coalition is confronted with the dilemma of how to contain the damage caused by the Supreme Court's unprecedented decision striking down the Punjab Assembly's September 10, 2008 decision to expel the former Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh from the House on the ground of breach of privilege.

JAIPUR : The Congress Government in Rajasthan has taken a bold decision to supply 25 kg wheat at Rs 2 a kg to the people living below poverty line in cities and villages. The scheme to be launched from May 15 is expected to benefit more than 36.57 lakh people having BPL cards. The state government is keen to make public distribution system for the scheme flawless, and has instructed the district collectors to ensure that the wheat stocks issued for the distribution among the poor at the subsidized rate reaches the deserved families.

New York: Human security is a pre-requisite for development, and its widespread absence in the occupied Palestinian territory has greatly impeded progress for the people living there, according to a new United Nations backed report.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a three-year SDR 26.4 billion (€30 billion) Stand-By Arrangement for Greece in support of the authorities' economic adjustment and transformation program. This front-loaded program makes SDR 4.8 billion (about €5.5 billion) immediately available to Greece from the IMF as part of joint financing with the European Union, for a combined €20.0 billion in immediate financial support. In 2010, total IMF financing will amount to about €10 billion and will be partnered with about €30.0 billion committed by the EU.

Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have noted that strong capital inflows prior to 2009 had supported rapid economic growth. However, the global crisis exposed the vulnerabilities that had built up, leading to a credit crunch and a sharp contraction in economic activity when those flows reversed. Given the limited policy flexibility, Directors emphasized the need to reduce the large fiscal and external imbalances and to strengthen competitiveness through structural reforms.

New York: The United Nations labour agency warned in a new study that efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour are waning and called for a 're-energized' global campaign to end the scourge.

Rapid urbanization and the increase in the population of cities are recognized as being among the major challenges of health development. Between 1990 and 2025, the total urban population in developing countries is projected to increase threefold to almost 61% of the population. It is associated with many health challenges related with water, environment, violence and injury, non-communicable diseases and their risk factors like tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and the risk associated with disease outbreaks.

The Western Ghats region runs to a length of 1600 kilometres starting from the river Tapti near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra to Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India in Tamil Nadu covering six states namely - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat (portions of Dang Forests). The region covers an area of about 1.60 lakh square kilometers.

Medical Council of India chairman arrested for taking Rs. 2 crore bribe * Multimillion IPL fraud involving the nation's high and mighty * Four ministers of UPA government in big-ticket scams * Multi-crore business lobby networks influence government's decisions, seek tax cuts and get undue favours * Air India flight to Coimbatore cancelled and passengers pushed around to charter the plane for the minister's daughter * Another IA flight to Mumbai diverted via Jaipur to carry the daughter's business friends * Senior political leaders' phones bugged for political espionage to help the ruling party * A joint secretary in Chidambaram's ministry was arrested for a Rs. 340 crore excise duty evasion scam * Another Home Ministry official held for fraud involving 20,000 bullet-proof waists for para-military forces * More details emerge on the Rs. 60,000 crore G2 spectrum as government watch helplessly * Indian diplomat posted in Pakistan held for espionage.