-The United Nations Global and national efforts to end preventable deaths of children under-five years of age saved some 90 million lives in the past two decades, but at the current rate, a universal promise to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 will not be reached, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported today. "Yes, we should celebrate the progress," said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director. "But how can we celebrate...

-The Indian Express   The street vending bill goes a long way in securing the livelihood of the urban poor. The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, passed by Lok Sabha on September 6, 2013, is a landmark piece of legislation for the urban poor. It is the culmination of the efforts of organisations like the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) and the Self...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday came out all guns blazing against the National Green Tribunal, called the most important environment forum in history by the Supreme Court, and accused the tribunal of exceeding its BRIef and becoming a source of "embarrassment" for it in Parliament. "The NGT is not functioning as per the provisions of the NGT Act. This has been resulting in embarrassment to the government...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The UPA government is mulling an ordinance to undo the Supreme Court judgment striking down Section 8(4) of the Representation of People Act that has paved the way for immediate disqualification of an MP, MLA or MLC on being convicted for an offence leading to a sentence of two years or more in jail. With the government's review petition in the apex court being rejected, a...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Flagging the challenge of raising foodgrain production, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today promised all assistance to states for improving agricultural growth. "It's a challenging job to increase production of foodgrains and other crops for the growing population of the country, especially, because agriculture is still dependent on monsoon in large parts of the country," he said, addressing a gathering of farmers, who arrived here as part of a nationwide...