-The United Nations Despite significant progress in meeting international development goals for women's empowerment, gaps in key areas remain, which require a renewed effort from all partners to better integrate gender issues into the overall quest for sustainable development, a United Nations gender equality official said today. "It is ... essential to harness the synergies between gender equality, women's rights and empowerment with sustainable development in its three dimensions - economic, social,...

-The United Nations Sustainable cities are an aspiration as the number of slum dwellers continues to rise and the rate of urbanization skyrockets, a senior United Nations official today said, ahead of an upcoming UN forum that will focus on creating cities and towns more economically, socially and politically accessible. "One of the main aspects in urbanization is to diminish the level of inequality because it presents a new set of social...

-The Business Standard NGOs have been asked to run MGNREGS in the country's 184 most backward blocks Will handing over the management of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) ensure the scheme works? The rural development ministry seems to think so, at least in Naxal-hit areas. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, NGOs are allowed to run the scheme, provided gram panchayats run...

-The Hindu The Chinese government is also likely to considering locations in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu for industrial parks Beijing: Haryana has made available thousands of acres of land for purchase by Chinese companies, State government officials told potential investors here on Wednesday, in an effort to court investment into newly planned industrial bases. Haryana officials told The Hindu that the China development Bank (CDB) - the powerful State-run bank that is...

-GlobalPost.com Opinion: The Obama administration's objection to India's newly approved Food Security Act is an act of hypocrisy. BALI, Indonesia - In the lead-up to this week's World Trade Organization negotiations, the Obama administration has tried to block the implementation of a new program approved by the Indian government that could help feed its 830 million hungry people in a cost-effective way. The Obama administration's objection to the program is a direct attack...