-IPS News UNITED NATIONS- When the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reach their deadline in 2015, there will still be a critical setback: millions of people in the developing world without full access to safe drinking water, proper sanitation and electricity in their homes. Conscious of this shortcoming, the 193-member General Assembly hosted a two-day high-level meeting, which concluded Wednesday, to address three thematic issues: water, sanitation and sustainable energy, specifically in...

-Down to Earth The National Agroforestry Policy 2014 can substantially reduce poverty in rural India AFTER becoming the first country in the world to frame an agroforestry policy, India has gone ahead and allocated Rs 444 crore to promote agroforestry in the country. The National Agroforestry Policy 2014, announced on February 10, has the potential to substantially reduce poverty in rural India and revive agroforestry industry. Agroforestry is a farming practice in which...

-Down to Earth Across the globe, unemployment is growing three times faster among youngsters than among those above 24 years of age The good news is that economies the world over are set to grow. The bad news is that the growth will not be able to check unemployment that has been rising steadily since the 2008 global financial crisis. Over 202 million people were jobless worldwide in 2013, which is 25...

-Sunday Pioneer A cluster of villages engaged in weaving the exquisite Benarasi sarees is in the midst of a serious health crisis. More than 1 lakh people from this once prosperous region have fallen prey to aggressive tuberculosis. Poor living conditions, working in dark rooms and constant inhalation of minute silk threads have weakened the lungs of these artisans. With an average monthly income of not more than Rs3,000, it is...

-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation) As per the poverty estimates released by the Planning Commission, the percentage of population below poverty line in urban areas has declined from 25.5% in 2004-05 to 13.7% in 2011-12. This was stated by Dr. (Ms.) Girija Vyas, Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. Dr Vyas stated that the...