Bonn: More than 180 countries agreed on an agenda for work on a new climate treaty by 2015 at United Nations climate talks on Friday, breaking a deadlock over procedure, but mistrust remains that could threaten progress for the rest of the year. "(The workplan) was not an easy issue to agree (on)," UN climate chief Christiana Figueres told reporters after the negotiations held at Bonn in Germany. "All parties...
10:17 PM, May 25, 2012
India had proposed at the the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly that a 50-member United Nations Committee on Internet Related Policies (CIRP) be formed for government control over the Internet. India's stance on Internet regulation has triggered a debate. Here's the full text of India's statement at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly on October 26, 2011: STATEMENT BY MR. DUSHYANT SINGH, MEMBER OF...
02:21 PM, May 21, 2012
United Nations: Almost a year after key 26/11 suspect Ilyas Kashmiri was reported killed in a drone strike, the United Nations has updated his status as "reported dead" in a sanctions list of individuals and entities associated with al Qaeda. The UN Security Council al-Qaeda Sanctions committee amended on May 10 the information related to Kashmiri in its comprehensive 'Al Qaeda Sanctions List'. The updated information reads Kashmiri "reportedly deceased...
12:39 PM, May 20, 2012
Beirut: In his first interview since December, Syrian President Bashar al Assad insisted on Tuesday his regime is fighting back against foreign mercenaries who want to overthrow him, not innocent Syrians aspiring for democracy in a yearlong uprising. The interview with Russian TV showed Assad is still standing his ground, despite widespread international condemnation over his deadly crackdown on dissent. "There are foreign mercenaries, some of them still alive," Assad...
02:43 AM, May 17, 2012
London: Two years ago, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a petition to fight hunger with the slogan: "1,000,000,000 people live in chronic hunger and I'm mad as hell." Since then, more than 3.4 million people, including actors, pop stars and footballers, have added their voices to the online campaign calling on governments to make the elimination of hunger their top priority. But outrage over the "horrifying figure"...
10:57 PM, May 05, 2012
United Nations: Highlighting the need for reform of the UN Security Council, India has said it is important that the top body concentrate its time and efforts in dealing with issues of global peace and security rather than encroach upon the mandate of the General Assembly. Participating in the 8th round of Inter-governmental Negotiations on UNSC reform, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said the working methods...
04:24 PM, May 05, 2012
Mailan: World food prices are expected to ease in April after three months of rises due to falls in some grain prices, but inflation worries are still simmering as soybean and rice prices climb - fanning fears of hunger and social unrest in poor countries. Record high food prices in February 2011 contributed to protests connected to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa last year....
05:02 AM, May 03, 2012
Rome: Governments are failing to fund projects to improve access to toilets and other sanitation services in poor countries because the subject remains "taboo", a director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said on Monday. "Who wants to talk about shit?" asked Frank Rijsberman, Director of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at the $ 34 billion charitable foundation, during an interview with Reuters on Monday. "It's the last big taboo...
08:49 AM, May 01, 2012
New Delhi: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon who is on an India trip on Friday met Meira Kumar during which the Lok Sabha speaker asked him to involve developing countries in the consultation process with regard to the millennium development goals (MDG). "The developed countries should try to fulfill commitments towards developing countries, as stipulated under Goal 8 under the MDGs, so as to achieve the goals by 2015,"...
02:41 AM, Apr 28, 2012
London: UK Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday reiterated Britain's support for permanent seats for India and Japan in the United Nations Security Council, and said the council should be expanded. Delivering the International Institute for Strategic Studies-Fullerton Lecture in Singapore, Hague, who is currently on a visit to Asia, said across the board in international organisations Britain was championing change and values that matter to many Asian countries. "At...
01:59 AM, Apr 27, 2012
United Nations/Beirut: The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a Russia-European drafted resolution on Saturday that authorizes an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers to Syria for three months to monitor a fragile week-old ceasefire. The vote came hours after UN ceasefire monitors visited the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday after months of bombardment. Opposition activists in Homs, epicenter of the 13-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad,...
01:37 AM, Apr 22, 2012
New Delhi: The food and public distribution department has signed an agreement with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to scale up computerization of the targeted public distribution system (TPDS) in the country. "The WFP programme will assist the selected states to expedite their TPDS computerisation programmes and will complement the ongoing efforts being made for modernisation of TPDS by the government of India and state governments," the ministry...
08:17 PM, Apr 20, 2012
United Nations: The UN Security Council is calling on all countries to improve measures to detect, deter and disrupt illicit trafficking in nuclear materials. A presidential statement approved by all 15 council nations and read at a formal meeting on Thursday also encouraged countries to strengthen export controls in order to prevent the transfer of information and technology that could be used for weapons of mass destruction or the missiles...
01:53 AM, Apr 20, 2012
United Nations: Strongly condemning the attempted rocket launch by North Korea, the UN Security Council on Monday took steps to tighten sanctions against the country, ordering new "entities and items" to be added to the sanctions list. In a Presidential Statement, the 15-nation UNSC said it "deplores that such a launch has caused grave security concerns in the region." US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, president of the UNSC...
01:01 AM, Apr 17, 2012
Beirut: Syria promised to comply with a UN-brokered cease-fire beginning on Thursday but carved out an important condition - that the regime still has a right to defend itself against the terrorists that it says are behind the country's year-old uprising. The statement on Wednesday offered a glimmer of hope that a peace initiative by special envoy Kofi Annan could help calm the conflict, which has killed some 9,000 people....
08:32 AM, Apr 12, 2012
United Nations: India and China will witness the largest growth in their urban populations in the next four decades, posing new challenges of providing jobs, housing, energy and infrastructure to their people, the United Nations said. The UN's '2011 Revision of the World Urbanisation Prospects' said Africa and Asia will lead the global urban population growth in the next four decades with the largest increases expected in India, China, Nigeria,...
08:46 AM, Apr 07, 2012
New Delhi: People across the world observed Earth Hour by switching off lights on Saturday. Earth Hour is an initiative by the international wildlife and environmental body WWF where citizens and organisations around the globe show their support for action on climate change by turning off lights for one hour from 8:30 pm. Delhiites joined millions of people across the globe to observe the Earth Hour by switching off electrical...
09:59 PM, Mar 31, 2012
Ted Turner, the Founder of United Nations Foundation said he is trying to make the world a better place to live. ...
08:24 PM, Mar 31, 2012
United Nations: India has given over $ four million to the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF), bringing to nearly $ 30 million its total contribution to the entity launched in 2005 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then US President George Bush for promotion of democratic values. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri handed over a cheque for $ 4.17 million on Friday to UN Secretary General...
06:30 PM, Mar 31, 2012
