-The Hindu “The purpose of a Budget – and the job of a Finance Minister,” P. Chidambaram declared in his speech, “is to create the economic space and find the resources to achieve the socio economic objectives.” Now that the presentation of and the spate of initial responses to the budget are behind us, it may be appropriate to ask how far the Minister went in accomplishing his self-defined task. Mr. Chidambaram...

-The United Nations There will soon be as many mobile cellular subscriptions as the 7 billion people inhabiting the planet, according to figures released today by the United Nations, which show that strong sustained demand for information and communication technology services is being encouraged by falling prices for broadband Internet. “The World in 2013: ICT Facts and Figures,” produced by the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), also shows that despite a positive...

-The United Nations Broadband connectivity has the potential to transform education by giving teachers and students access to learning resources and technologies that will allow them to improve their skills in the context of a globalized economy, according to a United Nations report released today. The report, Technology, Broadband and Education: Advancing the Education for All Agenda, argues that access to high-speed technologies over fixed and mobile platforms can help students acquire...

-The United Nations More than 360 million people have disabling hearing loss, according to new global estimates released by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), which adds that production of hearing aids is not keeping up with the urgent demand. “Current production of hearing aids meets less than 10 per cent of global need,” WHO’s Shelly Chadha of the Department of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness said in a news release...

-The Hindu By allowing futures trade in food and diversion of farm land for commercial purposes, the UPA government is fuelling the price rise International agencies are warning of high food prices on a global scale in 2013 if urgent action is not taken. But our government shows little concern. The President’s address to Parliament had only a cursory mention of inflation. “Inflation is easing gradually, but is still a problem,” he...