-Down to Earth MoEF’s draft policy aims to create the framework for transferring financial benefits from REDD+ to local communities involved in protecting and nurturing forests The Indian government is finally making official the mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, popularly known as REDD+. On April 28, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has made public its draft policy to implement the mechanism that aims to provide...

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is facilitating the visits of representatives from several developing countries to witness India's amazing election exercise under South-South cooperation. Representatives from Lesotho, Nigeria, Malaysia and Namibia are already in India and have visited polling booths and electoral offices in various states of India including West Bengal and Karnataka. For inquiries or interviews, please contact Ms. Nandita Surendran-UNDP, phone no. +919810084776, Email: nandita.surendran@undp.org. Journalists and media...

-The United Nations   Antibiotic resistance - when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections - is now a major threat to public health, says a new United Nations report released today. The study, produced by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), is the first to look at antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, globally, and provides the most comprehensive picture to date, incorporating data from...

-The United Nations   People with disabilities have the same rights as everyone to make decisions about their lives, including the right to take risks and make mistakes, a United Nations committee has stressed in new guidelines. "Respect for the freedom to make choices should be accorded to all persons with disabilities, no matter how much support they need," said Theresia Degener from the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). "People...

-The Hindu     Over 41 per cent of urban households and 60 per cent of rural households with access to safe water get contaminated water, a report published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, has said. Although 99.6 per cent of urban and over 97 per cent of rural households surveyed had access to safe water, as defined by the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target 7c indicator, water was contaminated...