Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
Confidence has many faces. In Ambedkar Colony in Kanyakumari district, women have secured a pukka road, electricity, water and a cremation ground. Pushpa, the panchayat president, says her task has just begun. "I want to build an overhead tank, a library, get bus facility to my village,' she says determinedly. …
april 30, 2003: 158 gram panchayat (gp) presidents of Karur district in Tamil Nadu are up in arms over a district collector's order. It has taken away their right to administer the food for work scheme in the district. Worse still, it has conferred this right to the panchayat union …
The unique assemblages of flora and fauna in the Himalayan region make it one of the most important biodiversity hotspots on the Indian subcontinent. Seventy-five protected areas (PAs) encompassing 9.48% of the region have been created to conserve this biodiversity and the fragile Himalayan landscape. However, this has engendered conflicts …
The prevalence of gallbladder cancer, the commonest biliary malignancy, shows geographical and racial variations. It is reported to be rare in India. However, the incidence of gallbladder cancer in north and central India is very high—it is the commonest gastrointestinal cancer in women. Even Indian migrants to different countries have …
The 2003 monsoon could herald a great change in the socio-economic landscape of village Birora Kheth in the Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. Its 42-member fishery co-operative
The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), formulated from 2000 to 2003, was envisaged as a comprehensive action plan for conserving biodiversity in India, that would adequately reflect the aspirations of the hitherto marginalised peoples who have a direct stake in biodiversity conservation.
a common industrial chemical used by us -based DuPont to produce Teflon may be hazardous for the health of young girls and women of childbearing age, according to a us Environmental Protection Agency (epa) report obtained and released by an advocacy group. The Washington dc -based Environmental Working Group (ewg) …
Indoor air pollution is potentially a very serious environmental and public health problem in India. In poor communities, with the continuing trend in biofuel combustion coupled with deteriorating housing conditions, the problem will remain for some time to come. While to some extent the problem has been studied in rural …
The Afghanistan government and UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) will begin a new training programme for teachers before the new school year begins next month. Four million Afghan children are expected to return to school, many of them for the first time since the ouster of the Taliban regime. More …
The incidence of cervical cancer is on the rise in India. It afflicts as many as 25 women per 0.1 million, making it the commonest cancer in the country. The disease, which affects the female genital tract, is both preventable and curable if detected early. But almost 70 per cent …
In 1985, the Union ministry of non-conventional energy sources (mnes) introduced improved chulhas (fuelwood-based cooking stoves) to primarily conserve forests, reduce pressure on rural women who collect fuelwood and to protect their health against indoor air pollution. Called the National Programme on Improved Chulhas (npic), it formed a part of …
With a severe drought hitting the region, it seems residents of southern Australia are willing to go to any length for relief. Hundreds of women in Victoria state are planning to bare themselves to the heavens to ensure more rain in this drought-ravaged region. Taking their inspiration from a Nepalese …
• Inequality within and among nations contributes to political unrest, and drives migration in search of more favourable conditions • Economic growth alone will not end poverty. The gap between rich and poor has been growing • In 1960, the world’s wealthiest 20 per cent earned 30 times more than …
