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New York: A senior United Nations official has welcomed a recent landmark agreement with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to strengthen police units in peacekeeping missions around the world, and called on Member States to contribute more women officers to those operations.

New York: A Belgian human rights defender and a Pakistani philanthropist were awarded a prestigious United Nations prize that draws its inspiration from the life of Mahatma Gandhi for their work in promoting tolerance and non-violence.

Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) continue to pose a serious threat to the health, well being, economic productivity and advancement of several hundred million people worldwide. People living in iodine deficient environment suffer from reduced mental and physical abilities, cretinism, deaf-mutism, squint, still-birth, abortion, goitre of all ages, neuro-motor defects, etc. Even when born normal, young children whose diets are low in iodine have their lives trapped in mental dullness and apathy.

Two diametrically opposite developments are again shifting the focus on Jammu and Kashmir. One relates to the Centre's moves to revive the suspended peace process in the state. The other is Pakistan's stepped-up pressure on India for resuming composite dialogue including on the Kashmir issue between the two countries. India has resisted the pressure saying Pakistan should first fulfill its commitment on stopping the use of its territory for terror attacks on India and punish the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

India's strengthening of border defences must have told China that its pinpricks - incursions, claims on Arunachal Pradesh, stapling of visas of the Kashmiris, etc - have had the opposite effect of what it may have intended. Beijing was probably still guided by the memories of 1962 when India's diplomatic naivety and the consequent lack of military preparedness made it easy prey to China's Middle Kingdom aspirations.

New York: A person in a developed country is now 200 times more likely to be a broadband Internet user than someone living in a least developed country, putting the latter at a major competitive disadvantage in business and trade, according to a new United Nations report.

The G-7 led by USA has set up a novel combination of developed and what are called emerging countries in the world order to pull the global economy out of unprecedented recession. This move was initiated by former US President Bush and is now being completed by his successor, Barack Obama.

NEW DELHI: Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid seemed quite justified when he recently sought to urge the corporate sector to avoid payment of lavish pay packets to their chief executives and other members of the management. The corporate bosses were unnerved by this simple exhortation and mounted pressure on the Government to contain the Minister.

New York: A new United Nations report calls for a more sophisticated approach to developing biofuels as an energy option to ensure that it benefits society, the economy and the environment as a whole.