-The United Nations More than a decade after it was classified as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans,’ the UN health agency today classified diesel engine exhaust as ‘carcinogenic to humans.’ The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), announced the re-classification today, after a week-long meeting of international experts, and based its decision on sufficient evidence that exposure is associated with an increased risk...
More »SEARCH RESULT
UNICEF report says diarrhoea and pneumonia are top killers of children by Bindu Shajan Perappadan
India is listed among the top five countries across the world which lose a majority of the two million children worldwide who die each year to easily preventable diseases -- pneumonia and diarrhoea – states the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report released on Friday. The report adds that nearly 90 per cent of all these deaths are due to unsafe water and poor hygiene. “Pneumonia and diarrhoea are among the...
More »Rio+20: What Is at Stake By: T Jayaraman, Divya Singh Kohli & Shruti Mittal
There are major issues at stake in the Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development to be held on 20-22 June. Yet governments of developing countries have not given adequate importance to the run-up to the conference. As has happened in the climate change negotiations, the outcome draft now under negotiation shows a concerted move to rewrite the terms of global environmental governance. There is an attempt to push through the decidedly...
More »Equity at top of India's Rio agenda; targets to be avoided by Priscilla Jebaraj
Union Cabinet approves negotiating brief India will head to the Rio+20 summit in Brazil with a negotiating brief focussed on defending the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility” (CBDR) and preventing any attempt to pin down specific goals or targets regarding sustainable development. On Thursday, the Union Cabinet approved the strategy to be followed by Indian negotiators at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, popularly known as Rio+20 due to the...
More »UN food price index registers sharp drop in prices during May
-The United Nations The United Nations today reported a sharp drop in global food prices during May owing to generally favourable supplies, growing global economic uncertainties and a strengthening of the United States dollar. The monthly food price index of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) averaged 204 points in May, down 9 points from April, the agency said in a news release. This was the lowest level since September 2011. The index...
More »