Global megatrends such as income inequality, climate change, demographic shifts, technological progress, and urbanisation are shaping the future of societies. Yet, their quantitative impacts on development are neither well understood nor established. This paper examines the individual and combined effects of these global forces on poverty, using both cross-section and …
The Philippine government is compelled to take major steps to ease poverty and unemployment in the drought-stricken Southeast Asian region. The farm sector, which analysts say has been neglected by administrators in the past, is reeling under drought conditions propelled by the El Nino phenomenon and is desperately in need …
Death and disease are closely linked to economic well-being. The greatest number of people in sub-Saharan Africa or India die due to communicable diseases, which have close associations with poverty and lack of health care. Communicable diseases do not kill so many in the developed parts of the world, such …
Millions of people in Sudan are facing starvation following an outbreak of famine in the country. Aid agencies had warned just four months back about the impending famine in southern Sudan. A United Nations (UN) projection showed that about 1.2 million people are in danger of death from hunger across …
India will get assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for conservation and sustainable management of the coral reef ecosystem off the coast of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In this regard, the department of economic affairs, the ministry of environment and forests and UNDP have recently entered into …
Serious diseases have been reported in remote villages of northern Afghanistan, which were severely damaged by a recent earthquake. The United Nations and Red Cross have evacuated 102 of the most seriously injured people from remote villages, and delivered food to 31 of the approximately 100 affected villages. An outbreak …
India, Pakistan and Nepal have called for regional cooperation to tackle environmental problems in South Asia. The subcontinent in South Asia is bestowed with immense natural resources, vast fertile plain land, thick forests and extended shoreline. Yet, water and air pollution, lack of proper and efficient management of resources, extending …
The Punjab government has ordered a probe into a series of suicides by small and marginal farmers and landless workers in Sangrur district of the state. This decision was taken by Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal after a Chandigarh-based human rights group, Movement Against State Repression (MASR), found that …
Pests have attacked the Irri-Boro fields in Thakurgaon, Bengal, thus affecting the possibility of a good crop. In the early stage of the crops, pests called majra attacked the leave of the plant thereby hampering the growth of the corn-stalk. Another pest, hispa, attacked paddy plants sucking the juice and …
compulsory acquisition of land by public and private sector companies often displaces people, forcing them to give up their homes, assets, means of livelihood and even vocation. More often than not, the affected families are driven towards poverty a state of relegation, loss of livelihood and destitution. The presumption that …
The World Bank on Tuesday resumed lending to Indonesia with a $225-million loan to reduce poverty, despite political and social uncertainties in Asia's hardest-hit crisis economy. The announcement was a boost for the country's new president, Jusuf Habibie, and his economic tea. It was also a tangible sign that the …
AP to file contempt of court case : The minister for major and Medium Irrigation, Mr. Tummala Nageswara Rao, has refuted APCC-I president Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara reddy's charge that the TDP Government has failed to protect the interests of the State in the dispute over the Alamatti project. Addressing a …
Brazil has planned to conserve 2.51 million hectares (ha) of Amazon rain forest. This shows the government's commitment to the faltering preservation of the endangered tropical wilderness. The country would take financial and technical assistance from the World Bank and a conservation group, wwf International. This step would put 10 …
for the second time, I would like to draw attention to Social Watch , the annual report on social development presented by an informal network of international non-governmental organisations ( ngo s). This "social watchdog' appears to be quite successful in tracing whether governments fulfill promises they so elegantly make …
in front of a poultry firm in district Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh ( mp ), a board catches the eye. With a furious looking photograph of a black chicken, it declares: "Kadaknath, pride of Madhya Pradesh.' It is, literally. Even the flesh, bone and skin of the species known as Kadaknath …
The brackish water nourishing Bangladesh's Sundarbans supports a refuge for rare species, but their drinking grounds are getting saline and the world's largest mangrove forest "Sunderbans' is facing serious damage, say experts. Royal Bengal tigers, spotted deer, wild boars, crocodiles and monkeys have been forced to move deep into the …
As the mid-day sun shines red through the smoke rising from dozens of forest fires, the Yanomami Indians say it is a sign of the apocalypse, and environmentalists fear that they may be right. The three-month-old fires have raged out of control, including the one just across the Mucajai river. …
World Bank report : The World Bank expects India to halve its poverty and achieve universal primary education by 2015, but gender equality will prove a tough challenge as will environmental conservation, according to John Williamson a senior World Bank official speaking in context of the latest World Development Indicators …
Despite their long history and their prominence in the local diet, potato yields of small Andean farmers are generally low. This is largely due to pest and disease-related losses. Intensified potato production, less reliance on local species and varieties, and the indiscriminate use of pesticides has resulted in a high …
The Nepal government and the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) have recently concluded an agreement for providing US $2,5 million for the implementation of the ambitious Micro Enterprises Development Programme (MEDEP). MEDEP is being implemented by the ministry of industry with support from several partner organisations and other government ministries. …
More than 35 senior officials from various leading insurance firms recently came together in Zurich, Switzerland, to found, in association with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the Insurance Industry Initiative. The lead comes from the realisation within the insurance industry that protecting human life and property, preventing catastrophic events …
