-SocialProgressImperative.org The 2014 Social Progress Index reveals striking differences across countries in their social performance, highlights the very different strengths and weaknesses of individual countries, and provides concrete guidance for national policy agendas. The Index is the sum of three dimensions: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. Each dimension is made up of four equally weighted individual components scored on an objective scale from 0-100. This scale is determined by...

-Deccan Herald India stares at an agriculture loss worth Rs 42,000 crore ($7 billion) by 2030, due to the dangerous consequences of climate change, says the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its latest report. The loss will mostly be on account of a sharp drop in wheat productivity because of the heat stress in the Indo-Gangetic plains, which produce almost 90 million tonnes of wheat annually. Ranging from Punjab and...

-The United Nations The effects of climate change are already occurring in all continents and across the oceans, and the world, for the most part, is ill-prepared for their risks, says a United Nations report issued today, which also warns that while action can be taken, managing the phenomenon's impacts will be difficult on a rapidly warming planet. The report, Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, from Working Group II of...

-The Business Standard Unfavourable weather conditions in US, Brazil; reduced supply on geopolitical tensions supported move, to ease soon Global food prices rose sharply to hit a 10-month high in March, following a 2.3 per cent rise in the prices of agricultural commodities brought on by unfavourable weather conditions in the United States and Brazil, coupled with geopolitical tensions in the Russian region. While the global commodity price rise opened an opportunity for...

-Down to Earth Kerala launches an on-line campaign on dalit and adivasi concerns On December 2, 2012, when Andhra Pradesh Assembly passed a legislation to give legal protection to the special funds meant for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) communities, it was described as historic. The Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources) Act of 2012, first of its kind...