Trade unions and labour rights activists blame the high suicide rate in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, on the practices of the garment industry. TIRUPUR has carved out a niche for itself in the world of garments. Its phenomenal growth in the highly competitive global scenario, particularly in the past two decades, has been made possible by the entrepreneurial spirit of its manufacturers and exporters and the sweat and labour of thousands of...

India should be able to lift the ban on non-basmati rice imports this year as a bumper crop is expected due to a positive outlook on monsoon rain, traders said on Tuesday. India, the world’s second largest exporter of rice after Thailand banned exports of non-basmati rice in 2008, as high prices of the grain put pressure on domestic supply. “India should come online this year as the harvest is expected to...

Information and communication technology (ICT) projects are helping countries make significant progress towards the globally agreed anti-poverty targets world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015, according to a United Nations report released today. For the first time, the 2010 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Stocktaking report – now in its third edition – takes into account the use of social networking services. “This report charts significant progress...

James Hansen, world’s leading climate change expert, says summit talks are so flawed that a deal would be a disaster.  The scientist who convinced the world to take notice of the looming danger of global warming says it would be better for the planet and for future generations if next week’s Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse. In an interview with the Guardian, James Hansen, the world’s pre-eminent climate...

The three-day World Summit on Food Security (WSFS) that opened in Rome, Italy on 16 November, 2009 has ended with serious differences among participants. Among those expressing dissatisfaction with the final declaration was no less a person than Jacques Diouf, the head of UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Diouf criticised the declaration for not including exact targets to reduce hunger. There is no mention of a deadline for the...