Last month, leaders from 185 countries met in New York to take stock of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — which include, among other things, eradicating poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health — that were set in 2000 by the United Nations. The aim was to achieve these goals by 2015. But 10 years down the line, the world is way behind targets in achieving...

As the 19th Commonwealth Games (CWG) ended here on Thursday, the Opposition parties on Friday raised the issue of “corruption” in organising the event and sought a thorough probe. They referred to the promises made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi that no one found involved in “corruption” would be spared after the Games were over. BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told journalists, “I think the public-jury is out.”...

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday said that the central government would soon bring forth a food security bill for the benefit of the poorest sections of society. Addressing a Congress workers' 'Sadbhavna Rally' at Sewagram in Wardha district, about 85 km from here, Gandhi pointed out that the government has already legislated the Right to Education to ensure education for all children, and the food security bill will be the...

Take a lesson from Commonwealth Games mascot Shera and “leap ahead” instead of whimpering like a “timorous puppy”, a food rights campaigner has said in a sharp attack on Sharad Pawar. The criticism in a Delhi newspaper has come from Belgium-born Jean Dreze, a prominent member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council. He is ostensibly riled by reports that Pawar’s food ministry has rejected two of the council’s key proposals...

In poll time, Money is the real honey. Political sources shrugged off the detention of Congress MP Rama Chandra Khuntia at Patna airport yesterday for carrying Rs 12.5 lakh cash. The sources said cash, as with most elections, has been flowing freely in spite of the strict norms of the Election Commission. The BJP, which has often been accused of using Money power to “influence” elections — Karnataka being a case in point...