-The United Nations   The global economy is expected to strengthen over the next two years, despite a downgrade of growth prospects for some developing countries and transition economies, and "stubbornly slow" job growth, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 mid-year update launched today in New York. "More than five years after the financial crisis, the world continues to struggle with getting the global economic engine back to...

-Reuters One hundred and thirty-four journalists and media support staff were killed while on reporting assignments last year, with India fourth on the list of countries with the most number of deaths, the London-based International News Safety Institute (INSI) said on Tuesday. Most of those killed were targeted deliberately. Of these, 65 died covering armed conflicts - primarily in Syria, where 20 were killed, and Iraq, where the death total was 16 -...

-The Hindu Even though fair elections are held at regular intervals for State Assemblies and Parliament, they do not reflect the true consent of the people because a large number of women are missing from the electorate On her arrival in India recently, the words of Gloria Steinem, American feminist and leader of the women's liberation movement, sounded like bells tolling for all women in today's modern Indian society. "I came [to...

-AFP Berlin: India has been ranked lower in corruption than neighbouring Pakistan but higher than China by graft watchdog Transparency International in a survey released on Tuesday. Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia have been ranked as the world's most corrupt countries while Denmark and New Zealand are nearly squeaky-clean. India ranked 94 on the index, above Pakistan at rank 127 but below China which took the 80th position. India was ranked at...

-The Hindu The issue of easing the costs of intellectual property resources on clean technologies takes centre stage For the developed countries it was a devil buried at the climate negotiations last year at Doha. At the Warsaw talks, the developing countries, including India, resuscitated the devil - easing the costs of intellectual property rights (IPR) on clean technologies - back to life, by demanding that a funding mechanism be set up...