View Articles

New York: A United Nations human rights expert warned today that a newly passed Salvadorian law requiring the country’s Supreme Court decisions to be unanimous could undermine the independence of the judiciary.

New York: Ministers and senior government officials from 31 countries, meeting at a United Nations-supported conference in Bangkok, have agreed to work more closely together on disaster risk reduction and make it central to national development strategies, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) reported today.

New Delhi: Is drug addiction a disease or crime, asked NGOs in response to the Government’s call to “think health, not drugs” on June 26, International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Calling for a revision of laws on narcotic drugs, a group of experts asked that drug use be viewed as a health concern and not as criminal or moral wrongdoing.

The government has done it again and hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG which will have a cascading effect on the common man and also increase food inflation. The people are already facing spiraling price rise in essential commodities and consumer goods. In all probability the inflation will go on increasing till early September as the impact of the latest hike will take some time to percolate.

New York: An international committee has designated Bangkok as World Book Capital 2013, the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) reported today.

KOLKATA: It’s too early to comment on Ms Mamata Banerjee’s performance as the new Chief Minister of West Bengal, but there are disturbing signs that her populism will prevail over the requirements of a prudential economic policy.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Left Democratic Front (LDF)’s decision to launch a ‘strong’ agitation has ratcheted up political temperature in the state.

UPA-II has paid a heavy price – total loss of credibility – for its failures of governance on a wide front, political and economic, over the last two years. Indeed it has turned out to be an exceptional phase in post-independence history when large-scale corruption involving holders of public office has occurred while Government in pursuit of high growth virtually abdicated its responsibility to ensure even a modicum of price stability.

The roller-coaster ride of the government-civil society Joint Drafting Committee on the Lokpal (ombudsman) Bill has ended in a draw, but left both sides badly injured. Whether the tie will be broken when they present their separate recommendations to a proposed all-party committee in July remains an open question. Yet, this is a good time to draw up a balance-sheet of the government’s first-ever effort to take on board civil society concerns on fighting corruption.

In his latest blog, L.K. Advani has raked up the old Jana Sanghi charge about Jawaharlal Nehru having bartered away India’s claims on the whole of Kashmir.