The United Nations has Mobilized the fashion and cosmetics industries in an “eco-fashion” battle to curb the unprecedented loss of the world’s biodiversity, from over-harvesting wild species for their skins or natural fibres to pollution caused by manufacturing processes. More than 500 prominent figures from government, international organizations and the above industries have been meeting in Geneva over the past two days at the UN Conference on Trade and Development...

The aftershock of the global financial crisis threatens to deprive millions of children in the world’s poorest countries of an education, the 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report warns. With 72 million children still out of school, a combination of slower economic growth, rising poverty and budget pressures could erode the gains of the past decade. “While rich countries nurture their economic recovery, many poor countries face the imminent prospect...

Central Industrial Security Force jawans today allegedly opened fire on villagers who stoned them when asked not to collect money from IISCO Steel Plant-bound trucks at Burnpur. Ramesh Bauri, 23, took a bullet in his stomach. At the Asansol Subdivisional Hospital, his condition was said to be critical. An officer of the force claimed that the jawans had fired in the air but police said Bauri was injured in the CISF firing. A...

Shetty Chauhan, 60, died on the night of 12 January near a busy traffic roundabout in central Delhi. He had been ill with a heavy cold for eight days. Sitting on rubble next to his body just hours after he died, his wife Kamla explained that he had stopped eating and drinking tea prior to his death. When an ambulance took Shetty away, he was dressed in a light sweater and...

Ahmedabad, Gujarat's largest city, has won the prestigious Sustainable Transport Award 2010. The city, with a present day population of about 5.2 million, was founded in 1411 by Sultan Ahmed Shah to serve as the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate. The award was handed over to the Ahmedabad city officials in the presence of Indian Urban Development Secretary M. Ramachandran at a function on the sidelines of the 89th annual meeting...