-IANS   The government will lay emphasis on health in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) and funds will not be a constraint in the areas of education and health, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday. "I have often referred to the 11th Five Year Plan as an education plan.  We will lay the same emphasis on health in the 12th plan as we laid on education in the 11th plan. I will...

Pulls up DoT for not getting an assurance from Rural Development Ministry A Parliamentary committee has asked the Rural Development Ministry not to debar those having telephone connections from inclusion in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list as it could have negative impact on the growth of rural tele-density. It has criticised the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for not getting an assurance from the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) for non-inclusion...

-The Business Standard   Even as Posco India is yet to submit a written response on the draft prepared for renewal of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government, the company is understood to have raised certain reservations over the omission of the iron ore swapping clause in the revised pact. While Posco has verbally agreed not to export iron ore from Orissa, the steel maker has requested the state government to...

-The United Nations   The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today launched a web-based tool that gives governments and health-care providers access to clear guidance on how to scale up life-saving nutrition interventions to combat all forms of malnutrition. The WHO e-Library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA), launched at the beginning of a three-day Asian regional meeting on nutrition in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is designed to help governments overcome one...

-The United Nations   The prices of grain and milk in the drought-hit Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have risen to record highs, exacerbating hardship for the estimated 12.4 million people in the region who are facing severe food shortages and famine in some parts of Somalia, the United Nations reported today. According to the August food price monitor of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the high prices of cereals...