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In view of the enormous potential for saving fossil fuels, specifically diesel, presently being used in rice mills for meeting their captive power requirements, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has recently launched new scheme for promoting rice husk based biomass gasifier systems.

Agriculture negotiations from 1 to 12 February 2010 saw some useful consultations on remaining issues, New Zealand Ambassador David Walker, who chairs the talks, reported to delegations at the end of the fortnight.

Will India's affluent professionals never stop fighting self-serving battles to defend their privileges even when doing so blatantly violates the public interest? Going by the reaction of the organised medical profession to the government's proposal to train a special category of rural doctors for a shorter duration than the MBBS course, that seems to be the case.

The forthcoming India-Pakistan talks are likely to take place in a listless atmosphere devoid of hope. The expectations of a forward movement which marked the previous dialogues are clearly absent this time. Instead, the feeling is that while India is holding the talks under pressure from America, Pakistan is unsure of the outcome. An indication of Islamabad's jittery reaction could be seen in foreign minister Mehmood Shah Qureshi's intemperate outburst about India having had no option but to bend in calling for the talks.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a review of its Public Communications Policy to ensure it is still effective, transparent and relevant, and to see what improvements can be made.

New York: Millions of Afghan and Pakistani children will receive polio vaccinations this week as part of a coordinated effort by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN political mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to tackle the spread of the deadly disease.

New York: Afro-Colombians continue to be displaced from their ancestral lands and face ongoing violence and deep poverty, a United Nations human rights expert has said, urging authorities in Colombia to do much more to protect the rights of minorities in the Andean country.

New York: Global demand for mobile telephones remains strong, despite the economic crisis, with the number of individual mobile cellular subscriptions likely to top 5 billion this year, the head of the United Nations telecoms agency said.

New York: More than 20 million Bangladeshi children will be vaccinated against measles over the next two weeks as part of a campaign backed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to try to eradicate the deadly disease in the South Asian nation.

New York: The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia expressed has grave concern at the latest spike in violence in the capital, Mogadishu, which has killed at least 80 civilians and forced more than 8,000 others to flee their homes since the start of the month.