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India is the first country, which has made provisions for the protection and improvement of environment in its Constitution. In the 42nd amendment to the Constitution in 1976, provisions to this effect were incorporated in the Constitution of India with effect from 3rd Jan, 1977. In the Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter IV of the Constitution, Article 48-A was inserted which enjoins the State to make endeavour for protection and improvement of the environment and for safeguarding the forest and wild life of the country.

KOLKATA: In West Bengal, the ruling Left Front (LF) will need some time to present a detailed analysis of what went wrong at the recently concluded civic polls and explain the drubbing it received.

The CPI(M) is facing its worst crisis. The party, of course, has weathered other stormy periods. It split, for instance, within five years of its formation when the Naxalites left it in 1969. Three years later, it lost the West Bengal elections so heavily - because of rigging, according to it - that it decided to boycott the assembly for five years. In Kerala, too, it yielded ground to the CPI with Achutha Menon becoming the chief minister.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the first and second reviews under a three-year Extended Credit Facility arrangement with Tajikistan. The completion of the reviews enables the immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 26.12 million (about US$38.2 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to an amount equivalent to SDR 52.22 million (about US$76.3 million).

New York: Survivors of the brutal conflict that has wracked northern Uganda for two decades, most of them young people, must be helped back on their feet by supporting their efforts to acquire skills that will help them reintegrate into society, a United Nations envoy has said after spending a week in the country.

New York: The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has vaccinated more than 1.2 million children in Afghanistan against polio after an outbreak of the sometimes deadly disease in neighbouring Tajikistan, where it was thought to have been eradicated nearly one decade ago.

SHANGHAI -The World Bank has launched two new reports on wind power. The reports, titled “Regulatory Review of Offshore Wind in Five European Countries” and “Strategic Guidance,” present examples and options for consideration by China in meeting the challenges of offshore and large scale onshore wind power development.

New York: The head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that the potential military dimensions of Iran's nuclear programme make the country a “special case” for the agency as he called on Tehran to take action to ensure it fully implements its international obligations.

New York: The soccer World Cup, set to kick off in South Africa later this week, is a perfect opportunity to highlight the need to tackle racism and intolerance on and off the field, says the United Nations human rights chief.

New York: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is helping to find ways to ensure that children do not serve as soldiers in Central Africa, a region plagued by conflicts in which minors have been fighting on behalf of both militias and national armies.