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New York: Representatives from 182 governments have gathered in Bonn, Germany, for a fresh round of United Nations talks on climate change, aiming to pick up on issues left unresolved after December's gathering in Copenhagen.

The OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs has released a Report on “The Granting of Treaty Benefits with respect to the Income of Collective Investment Vehicles” which contains proposed changes to the Commentary on the OECD Model Tax Convention dealing with the question of the extent to which either collective investment vehicles (CIVs) or their investors are entitled to treaty benefits on income received by the CIVs. These changes are expected to be included in the 2010 Update to the Model Tax Convention (the draft contents of which were released on 21 May 2010) and the Report would then be included in volume II of the loose-leaf and electronic versions of the Model.

New York: More than one decade after the International Criminal Court (ICC) was set up, a new 'age of accountability' is replacing the 'old era of impunity,' UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has underlined.

New York: New nature reserves such as lakes and wetlands will be added to a United Nations network that was created in an attempt to halt the loss of biodiversity and promote sustainable development, during a meeting that began at the headquarters of the UN agency tasked with preserving the world's heritage.

New York: Describing tobacco as 'ugly and deadly,' UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged women around the world to refrain from the substance even as they were increasingly targeted by advertisers who used gimmicks to associate smoking with beauty and gender liberation.

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed his shock at the deadly raid on boats loaded with relief supplies headed for Gaza, calling on Israel to fully explain its actions.

Rabindranath Tagore attained early success in literature in his native Bengal. Though successful in all literary genres, he was first of all a great poet. With his translations of some of his poems he also became rapidly famous in the west. Among his fifty and odd popular volumes of poetry are the likes of Manasi (1890) [The Ideal One], Sonar Tari (1894) [The Golden Boat], and Gitanjali (1910), which fetched him the Nobel prize for literature in 1913.

Developments currently taking place on India-Pakistan relations and the Kashmir issues have the potential of changing the dynamics of the Kashmir problem. The developments include: proposed Foreign Ministerial-level talks between India and Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's readiness to hold dialogue with all groups in Jammu and Kashmir “which are outside the political mainstream, provided they shun the violence,” and the separatists response to the PM's talks offer.

The UPA Government will draw some comfort over the revised GDP estimate of 7.4 per cent in 2009-10 from the advance estimate of CSO of 7.2 per cent in February, with the fourth quarter performance rising to 8.6 per cent. The revision is attributed mainly to the rebound in manufacturing to 10.8 per cent and, to some extent, the latest projection of foodgrain production over the earlier forecast given by the Agriculture Ministry, to turn growth in this sector mildly positive at 0.2 per cent in 2009-10.

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the extension of the Constituent Assembly, which has been tasked with drafting the country's new constitution.