-The United Nations Member States must ensure that the post-2015 development agenda addresses inequalities that prevent millions of people from getting access to basic Services, various United Nations entities today stressed. In a joint statement, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Friends of Water, and the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, urged countries to frame the...

-The Hindu New Delhi: Against the backdrop of increasing violence against women and children across the country, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development had launched the ‘Ahimsa Messenger' Programme in last August to address the critical issue at the grass roots level through creating numerous Ahimsa Messengers. The messengers would be generating awareness on basic legal rights, procedures and provisions amongst women and children; they would also serve as link...

-PTI BANGALORE: UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani expressed hope that the target of issuing 60 crore Aadhaar numbers would be met by 2014, saying so far 47 crore people have already received them. "We have issued 47 crore Aadhaar numbers till date and we will meet the target of 60 crore Aadhar enrolments by 2014," Nilekani told reporters here at an event organised by NASSCOM. Nilekani said currently the Unique Identification Authority of India...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Government agencies and departments, regarded as bywords for inefficiency and red tape, have recorded over a billion e-governance transactions so far this year, watershed for the world's largest democracy that is betting on technology to cure its ills. "It is an important milestone for India's e-governance initiative," said J Satyanarayana, secretary in the department of electronics and information technology. "With better accessibility and more projects getting completed,...

-Women's Feature Service The ‘gola' or grain basket, built on elevated ground in Goyadham village in Sunderban's South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, is central to the food security of several households here. As Sofia Bibi, 45, says, "The grain is protected from the recurrent flooding and storms and we are ensured of a regular supply when there is no agricultural work during the months of September to November and March to...