Firmly rejecting the contention that rising consumption in developing nations was responsible for the soaring food and fuel prices, India has blamed the policies of World Bank and IMF and 'excessive and unsustainable' demand in developed countries for the crisis.
Intervening in a Security Council debate on post-conflict peace-building, Indian Ambassador Nirupam Sen roundly criticised Bretton Woods institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, for non-involvement of such nations in the planning for development.
United States presidential hopeful and Democratic front runner Barack Obama is expected to further shore up his position by capturing a majority of the pledged delegates after primaries in Oregon and Kentucky on Tuesday. However, rival Hillary Clinton has refused to quit the White house race. Opinion polls show Obama leading in Oregon and Clinton way ahead in Kentucky. As many as 103 pledged delegates are up for grabs in the two states.
The former tax representative's stepping down comes in the wake of Democratic front-runner for presidential nomination Barack Obama vowing to work for ending the influence of lobbyists in Washington. Obama, analysts note, has not accepted money from the lobbyists, but the top corporate bosses have contributed to his campaign and his opponents point out that the bosses employ lobbyists.
The project also aims to promote equity by enabling hard-to-reach children to attend school, create better learning conditions for all children and provide capacity building and academic support to state and sub-state education structures. In the area of oversight, the project will help monitor learning outcomes and support research and evaluation of quality initiatives.
Warning that the world economy is now "teetering on the brink of a severe global downturn," the United Nations said it expects growth this year to be sharply lower at 1.8 per cent - nearly half of the 3.4 per cent growth estimated only three months ago.
In the US, for instance, as much as 30 per cent of food, worth $48.3 billion approximately, is thrown away each year, the report prepared by the Stockholm International Water Institute, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Water Management Institute estimates. And while it elaborates on the food wastage, the report goes on to stress that wasted food implies wasted water, another major concern.
Tagged with hefty sums, the paintings of a host of Indian artists would be auctioned in Hong Kong on May 24-25. Among others, top-tier works by Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat, Anju Dodiya, and Atul Dodiya will be up for grabs on the opening day. The auction would also feature a selection of significant works by many Pakistani artists besides the ones drawn by their counterparts from China, Japan and Korea.
More than a million people were left homeless and many more in need of humanitarian assistance, with the deadly cyclone devastating large areas of Myanmar and killing at least 22,000, the United Nations said on Thursday. Another 41,000 are still missing. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Myanmar government to respond to the outpouring of international support and solidarity, by facilitating the arrival of aid workers and the clearance for the relief supplies.
Internet's second most popular search engine Yahoo! has said it was open to selling itself to Microsoft, but the software giant's chief executive Steven A Ballmer and his deal makers were not keen to negotiate and ultimately withdrew their proposal. Microsoft had offered to buy Yahoo, second only to Google, for $31 a share, or $44.6 billion, in February, but the search engine felt it was worth more.
The UN secretary-general appealed to the member states to attend the Rome summit scheduled for early June at the highest level to work out the strategies to address and overcome the crisis caused by the fast rising prices of food. Ban Ki-moon, who is sending personal invitation to all heads of state and government, called on the world leaders to come with fresh ideas, stressing that it is time for "real commitment and real action."
United Nations and private aid agencies went into high gear to provide humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands victims of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar as the military government there gave green signal to the world body to send emergency aid. It was yet unclear how the aid would be sent and whether UN will also distribute assistance sent by Non Governmental Organisations in the country where large areas are without electricity, fuel, food and drinking water.
Software giant Microsoft has abandoned its three-month old bid to buy Yahoo after the two failed to agree on acceptable price and it concluded a hostile bid was "not sensible." Microsoft had earlier offered $47.5 billion which translated into $33 per share but Yahoo wanted $57 billion or $37 a share. Originally, the software giant had offered $44.6 billion or $31 a share but raised the offer as the negotiations progressed.
The United Nations food agency has sounded a fresh alarm that fast rising food prices across the globe are eroding its capacity to serve millions of people already dependent on it and the situation could worsen with millions being pushed into poverty forcing them to seek its help.
With six per cent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading over her fellow Democrat presidential contender Barack Obama by 53 to 47 per cent in the primary which would send 158 delegates to the party convention in August for choosing a nominee against presumptive Republican candidate John McCain.
Accusing the Indian government of 'abandoning' them to their fate, Indian dock workers from Mississippi who claim to be victims of modern day slavery have now sought the help of the United Nations. Saket Soni, who led the Indians, said Deputy Director of New York office of High Commissioner for Human Rights Craig G Mokhiber had agreed that their alleged ill-treatment constituted violation of international and humanitarian laws. 17 workers met the UN official in New York.
Mark Penn, the pollster and chief architect of Hillary Clinton's campaign, has been replaced after it was disclosed that he met with the Colombian officials to promote a free trade agreement, which Clinton strongly opposes. Penn was also being held responsible for the flawed strategy for the campaign which left Clinton trailing Barack Obama for the race to win Democratic nomination for the November Presidential elections.
United States Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill Clinton earned a combined $ 109 million in eight years, paid $ 33.8 million in taxes and gave away $ 10.2 million to charities, according to the tax returns released by them. This puts them among the top tier of tax payers in the United States.
The number of Americans who believe that the country is ready for a black president has risen to 76 per cent, up 14 percentage points since December last year. Obama, who is bidding to be the first African-American to be elected to the Oval Office, is leading against Clinton, who is also attempting to script history by becoming the first woman President. Optimism about the country's acceptance of a black president is higher among black men than among black women.
India has asked rich nations to end protectionism, which costs developing countries $ 700 billion a year in export income, if the world is to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), aimed at eliminating or sharply reducing several social and economic ills by 2015. India's UN Ambassador Nirupam Sen asserted that the problem is not lack of resources, but little stomach for structural changes. A separate action is required to attack poverty and hunger and promote progress.
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