-The United Nations   As the world population approaches seven billion, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed that ending global poverty and inequality is the key to unleashing the great human potential for prosperity and peaceful coexistence, while protecting the planet and safeguarding the natural resources that sustain humanity. “Later this year, a seven-billionth baby will be born into our world of complexity and contradiction,” Mr. Ban said in a message to mark...

When Sujatha’s husband learned that she had conceived just five months after they got married, he became agitated over what he called her "ill-timed pregnancy". To worsen her husband’s anxiety, a test to determine the sex of the foetus showed she was carrying a girl. Sujatha, a public school teacher, and her husband, a civil engineer – who asked that their full names be withheld – are from well-off and educated...

Casual work, self-employment still rule Q&A Why are fewer women working? education schemes and higher wages of men are keeping them home for longer. Why is casual work growing? The biggest employment scheme, NREGA, employs casual workers. Why is self-employment down? The least-paying jobs in the self-employment sector are worse than NREGA entitlements. *** The latest official figures on employment say this: a typical Indian worker is male, starts working in his mid-20s, is presumably better educated than...

-The Times of India   The Central Board for Workers education (CBWE) will conduct a national seminar on implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( MGNREGA) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on July 15 and 16. CBWE director Arvind Kumar Drave said that the seminar would be attended by representatives from various parts of the country. He told newspersons that CBWE was involved in the programme in order...

The Centre has superseded the National Council for Teacher education (NCTE) for six months and its functions have been taken over by the Human Resource Development Ministry. A notification to this effect was issued by the Ministry on Thursday under sub-section (1) of Section 30 of the NCTE Act, 1993. The NCTE is a statutory body set up to regulate development of the teacher education system. Show-cause The supersession follows a June 2...