Global News Post: Feature

Satyendranath Bose: Higgs-Boson’s Forgotten Hero

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Large Hadron Collider/ATLAS at CERN<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Photo © <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11304375@N07/2046228644/sizes/z/in/photostream/">flickr.com/Image Editor</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The world is celebrating the discovery of the sub-atomic particle at CERN, Geneva, which many believe could well be the long sought after Higgs-Boson. This particle is also called the ‘God Particle’ because its existence is fundamental to the creation of the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">School physics teaches us that everything is made up of atoms, and inside atoms are electrons, protons and neutrons. They, in turn, are made of quarks and other subatomic particles. Scientists have long puzzled over how these minute building blocks of the universe acquire mass. Without mass, particles wouldn't hold together and there would be no matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Higgs-Boson<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One theory proposed by British physicist Peter Higgs and teams in Belgium and the United States in the 1960s is that a new particle must be creating a "sticky" field that acts as a drag on other particles. The atom-smashing experiments at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, have now captured a glimpse of what appears to be just such a Higgs Boson like particle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">British Physicist Peter Higgs of the ‘Higgs-Boson’ is a familiar name in the world of science. However, it is not well known that the term Boson, owes its name to the pioneering work of the late Indian physicist, Satyendra Nath Bose. He is a forgotten hero, even in India, even though he won a world wide fame for his association with the great Albert Einstein in developing a theory of the particle-like qualities of light.  His pioneering work on the quantum theory of light provided the foundation for Bose-Einstein Condensates, a new state of matter in which thousands of atoms condense into a single giant atom that behaves like a wave. Particles that follow Bose’s statistics have been named bosons in his honour.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Who was Satyendranath Bose?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Satyendranath Bose was born on January 1, 1894 in Calcutta (now Kolkata). His father Surendranath Bose was employed in the Engineering Department of the East India Railway.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As a student of the Hindu High School, Bose once was awarded 110 marks out of 100 in mathematics because he had solved some problems in the exam paper by more than one method. He made a name for himself in school due to his love for science.Later he attended the Presidency College also in Calcutta, where another noted scientist Meghnad Saha was his fellow student.  Bose came in contact with teachers like Jagdish Chandra Bose and Prafulla Chandra Ray, who provided inspiration to aim high in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1924, while working as Reader in the Physics Department of University of Dacca, Bose wrote a paper on novel way of counting states with identical particles. This paper was seminal in creating the very important field of quantum statistics. His paper was not accepted for publication at once.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Not losing heart, Satyendranath Bose sent the article directly to Albert Einstein in Germany with a request to help it get published in the leading German language science journal Zeitschrift fur Physik. In his covering letter to Einstein, Bose wrote “though a complete stranger to you, I do not feel any hesitation in making such a request. Because we are all your pupils though profiting only by your teachings  through your writings.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Einstein, recognizing the importance of the paper, translated it into German and submitted it for publication on Bose’s behalf. The publication changed the life of Satyendra Nath Bose. The Dacca University now opened its eyes and agreed to fund his tour to Europe, even though he had only possessed a Master’s degree and no further qualifications.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bose first visited Paris in 1924, where he stayed for a year. He conducted research in the Madame Curie Laboratory, which had special facilities. The next year, he left Paris for Berlin to join Einstein and work with him. There he came into close contact with noted scientists like Schroedinger and Heisenberg. He participated in all the meetings and discussions held there.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">While Bose was in Berlin, the post of a Professor fell vacant in Dacca University. Bose’s friends persuaded him to apply but he was hesitant, as he had not got his doctorate yet. A recommendation by Einstein could have fixed the matter. With great hesitation, Bose approached Einstein for help. Einstein was surprised. He said “you are so proficient in your subject. Is their need for any other certificate?”  He wrote a letter to the authorities in the Dacca University, which had a desired effect. In 1926, Satyendranath Bose was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Physics. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bose served in Dacca University for nearly 25 years. As a teacher he was admired by his students who held him in high esteem. In 1944, when he was the Head of the Science Section in Dacca University, Bose was chosen as the General President of the 31st session of the Indian Science Congress.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bose, who worked with Albert Einstein to bring out the Bose-Einstein statistics and the theory of Bose-Einstein Condensate in the 1920s, was a natural candidate for a Nobel Prize which he never got.  Yet, at least ten scientists have been awarded the Nobel for their research in the field of particle physics based on concepts like the Bose-Einstein Condensate or the Boson.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">'Indians are incapable of achieving anything great in science. At best, they are experts in subjects like philosophy “was the view most held in the West during those years. Satyendranath Bose dispelled that impression and did yeoman service in the fields of science, with some pioneering contributions in the fields of quantum physics.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Satyendranath Bose was a self-taught scholar who had a wide range of interests in varied fields including physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, mineralogy, arts, literature and music.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Back home, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore dedicated his only book on science – Vishwa Parichay to him. The Government of India conferred the Padma Vibhushan award on Satyendranath Bose in 1954. At the age of 80, Bose suffered an unexpected and a severe heart attack and breathed his last on the 4th of February 1974. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The CERN experiment has once again brought focus on Satyendranath Bose. For India God Particle is as much Boson as Higgs.  (PIB Features.)<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Satyendranath Bose: Higgs-Boson’s Forgotten Hero

The Large Hadron Collider/ATLAS at CERN Photo © flickr.com/Image Editor The world is celebrating the discovery of the sub-atomic parti...

NEPAL: Protecting children from abuser-volunteers

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 7.0pt;">A lack of protection policies is putting <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nepal</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 7.0pt;">children at risk Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">KATHMANDU</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (IRIN) - Business is booming for volunteer placement organizations attracting adventurous do-gooders to public service throughout this poor, picturesque country. But aesthetics and needs aside, an almost complete lack of regulation has made <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nepal</st1:place></st1:country-region> particularly vulnerable to the pairing of philanthropy and travel, experts say. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“A lot of times we find that in Asian countries, child serving organizations lack child protection policies, and procedures hence do not have systems in place to protect themselves from potential abusers,” Junita Upadhyay, programme deputy director of ECPAT, an international organization campaigning for the protection of children, told IRIN from Bangkok. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Many organizations don’t require volunteers to have police checks, even when they have child protection policies… There is not enough dialogue in realizing the importance of such a policy, and the government regulations, if any, are weak.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Indeed, Anish Neupane with VolNepal, a Kathmandu-based organization which matches volunteers with local NGOs, said in accepting their ever-increasing international placement requests - this year it will reach about 200 - his company proceeds on the grounds of “trust and faith” that volunteers have the best of intentions when requesting to work with children. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Similarly, Volunteer Nepal, established by American Michael Hess to place visitors primarily in Nepali orphanages and schools, does not perform background checks. “We should, but we don’t,” Hess said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Hess added informal systems are in place in which volunteers are monitored with a sensitivity to any “red flags” that might arise.<o:p></o:p></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuDQDIpLXksYTdMsvG4w9RMuKy9y6EvrPTIXGwHUZ3TNDsgL3xCm0S3uV1CBEtkocPOlI4Vt2Pk2ttbrhqno0MStOJ3qJLxtw6KiLjGCAJsaFEHAms6DdnEiRqweMUAWLUma-6xfkXcc/s1600/ayoungboyreadinginnepal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuDQDIpLXksYTdMsvG4w9RMuKy9y6EvrPTIXGwHUZ3TNDsgL3xCm0S3uV1CBEtkocPOlI4Vt2Pk2ttbrhqno0MStOJ3qJLxtw6KiLjGCAJsaFEHAms6DdnEiRqweMUAWLUma-6xfkXcc/s1600/ayoungboyreadinginnepal.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 7pt;">A young boy reading in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nepal</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 7pt;">Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN</span></div></span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">While the vast majority of volunteers have the best of intentions, some do not, and child protection experts say unregulated volunteering is happening at the risk of everyone involved. Until the government implements regulations, the burden of protection falls on the organizations and the volunteers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“At the very least there should be vetting procedures in place,” Aarti Kapoor, child-safe tourism manager with World Vision in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bangkok</st1:place></st1:city>, told IRIN. “It can be relatively easier to start up a children’s organization in developing countries where the regulations aren’t yet fully developed.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Take the case of Jean Jacques Haye, for example, a French paedophile who set up an orphanage in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nepal</st1:place></st1:country-region> and sexually abused its inhabitants between 1985 and 2001. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He was extradited in 2010 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Variations of such abuses are sprinkled throughout other countries like <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Thailand</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but a lax or nonexistent legal framework make such successfully tried cases rare. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><b>Regulation </b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nepal</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s 602 child care homes housing 15,095 children, four are run by the government and nearly 60 percent are operating without evaluation. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A coalition of international organizations is working with the government towards a policy which incorporates best practices for any organization caring for children, but the trend of volunteers going into the child care homes continues mostly unnoticed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“We know that child care homes are not running properly,” said Raghu Adhikari, programme manager of the Child Welfare Board. He explained the board is awaiting the government's approval of a rights-based national child protection policy which will enhance <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nepal</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s Children's Act of 1992. But without even a national constitution, this could take years, experts say. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In the meantime, ECPAT conducts child protection policy training in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nepal</st1:place></st1:country-region>, emphasizing that an organization must protect itself just as much as the children it serves. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“When the government is not very good at regulating these institutions, the responsibility lies within the organization,” Upadhyay said. “It is fundamental to running a good institution that is serving children.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><b>Off the record </b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Though a walk down Thamel, Kathmandu’s backpacker area, yields relentless questioning from eager guesthouse owners as to whether or not a passerby is a volunteer, all non-tourist activity in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nepal</st1:place></st1:country-region> is unofficial. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Volunteers are lumped in with the more than half a million tourists entering the country every year, de-regulating the experience even further. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“When you don’t have a law then so many things can go wrong, but if we have a law then we can regulate - we could have codes of conduct for volunteers,” said Sumina Tuladhar, executive director of Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), a Kathmandu-based child advocacy organization. “But when you say volunteering is not legal, then you are not entitled to seek references, or check the background of volunteers coming to your organization. Then it becomes so much easier to come and go.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><b>Asking questions </b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">International organizations like World Vision, Save the Children and Plan International, all partner with local NGOs and require criminal record checks for potential employees and volunteers. They also cycle through fewer people than those whose primary focus is the placement of tourists in volunteer experiences. In the last year, Save the Children Nepal took on five volunteers, against Volunteer Nepal’s 150. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Experts say volunteers seeking placement should ask a few key questions, starting with: “Would this be allowed in my own country?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The more questions a volunteer asks, the more an organization will start to think about protecting the children involved, Upadhyay said.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

NEPAL: Protecting children from abuser-volunteers

A lack of protection policies is putting Nepal 's children at risk Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN KATHMANDU (IRIN) - Business is boom...

Zimbabwe’s orphans to benefit from UN-backed cash grant programme

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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Tens of thousands of Zimbabwean orphans and otherwise vulnerable children will benefit from cash transfers, educational aid and protection services under a new Government programme launched in partnership with the United Nations and international donors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Donors have mobilized $45 million of the $75 million needed for the Child Protection Fund for the next three years, but the gap needs to be filled to ensure full national coverage of the programme, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a news release.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Protecting children from poverty, harm and abuse begins with reducing their vulnerabilities; cash transfers are one of the critical components that will contribute to the realization of children’s rights,” UNICEF’s representative Peter Salama said of the initiative, which was launched yesterday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The national action plan, led by the Zimbabwean ministry of labour and social services, combines action to help families cope with risks and shocks through three main interventions: cash transfers to the poorest families; basic educational aid; and protection services for child survivors of abuse, violence and exploitation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It aims to reach more than 80,000 households. With the support from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), at least 25,000 children will benefit from access to quality child protection services.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Child-headed and grandparent-headed households, and those with large numbers of dependents and with chronically ill people or persons living with disabilities, will be cushioned with social cash transfers of up to $25 per month to enable families to meet immediate needs for food and health care. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">HIV is a significant contributor to household poverty and child vulnerability in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Zimbabwe</place></country-region>, resulting in youngsters lacking access to adequate basic social services and being increasingly exposed to violence, abuse and exploitation, UNICEF noted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">There are over a million orphans in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Zimbabwe</place></country-region> and only 527,000 of these currently have access to external support. Traditional family and community mechanisms to support orphans have been under considerable financial strain resulting in more children facing difficulties accessing health care, education and other basic amenities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The international donor community involved comprises the <country-region w:st="on">Netherlands</country-region>, <country-region w:st="on">Sweden</country-region>, the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">United Kingdom</place></country-region> and the European Commission. --- UN News</span></div>
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Zimbabwe’s orphans to benefit from UN-backed cash grant programme

Tens of thousands of Zimbabwean orphans and otherwise vulnerable children will benefit from cash transfers, educational aid and protecti...

UN political chief urges Israelis and Palestinians to give diplomacy a chance

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPq8XCxgnNfS_sN1qz3s5vxl0pRH3ugojU-x0V5fRvGc2QkgoVx2-szcgx2j0RK_J4aSEDWiIC7MMZgMEbg8oWlMqTyzsFAs1CM8QQ0ghzVuiin72pr33BlsE7tahkSI7toTxTGJNSyUM/s1600/481392-pascoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPq8XCxgnNfS_sN1qz3s5vxl0pRH3ugojU-x0V5fRvGc2QkgoVx2-szcgx2j0RK_J4aSEDWiIC7MMZgMEbg8oWlMqTyzsFAs1CM8QQ0ghzVuiin72pr33BlsE7tahkSI7toTxTGJNSyUM/s1600/481392-pascoe.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8pt;">Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">While the Security Council mulls over the Palestinian application to become a <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Member</placename> <placetype w:st="on">State</placetype></place>, the United Nations political chief today called on the Israelis and the Palestinians to return to negotiations to reach a comprehensive and lasting settlement. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Judged by the passions of last week, the parties remain far apart. No one can deny the depth of their dispute,” Under-Secretary-General B. Lynn Pascoe told the Security Council in his monthly update on the <place w:st="on">Middle East</place>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“But there are now some building blocks in place that could help make negotiations more effective than before – a clear timetable, expectations that the parties must come forward with proposals, and an active role of the Quartet,” he said, referring to the diplomatic group comprising the European Union, Russia, the UN and the United States.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“It will not be easy to chart a way forward, but now is the time for everyone to give diplomacy a chance,” he stated. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been stalled since late September last year after <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region>’s refusal to extend a 10-month freeze on settlement activity. The talks had only resumed a few weeks earlier after a two-year hiatus. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Last Friday the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, submitted an application to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for <city w:st="on">Palestine</city> – which is currently has observer status – to be a <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Member</placename> <placetype w:st="on">State</placetype></place> of the UN. Mr. Ban transmitted the application to the President of the Security Council, which is set to meet tomorrow to refer the application to the committee that deals with new members.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“As these deliberations continue, we must spare no effort to help the parties back to the negotiating table,” said Mr. Pascoe. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“The main obstacles to a <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Palestinian</placename> <placetype w:st="on">State</placetype></place> are not institutional, but political: the unresolved issues in the conflict between the parties, the continuing Israeli occupation, and the ongoing Palestinian divide,” he added. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mr. Pascoe recalled that the Quartet, which also met on Friday after the application was submitted, called for resumed negotiations and urged concrete proposals from the parties on territory and security within three months of talks resuming. It also urged them to avoid provocations on the ground.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In this connection, both Mr. Pascoe and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, spoke out against today’s decision by Israeli authorities to advance planning for a large number of new settlement units in East Jerusalem. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A statement issued by Mr. Serry’s office noted that the decision not only ignores the Quartet’s appeal to the parties to refrain from provocative actions, but also “sends the wrong signal at this sensitive time.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mr. Pascoe also noted that more Palestinian structures in Area C – over 60 per cent of the West Bank where <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region> retains control over security, planning and building – have been demolished to date in 2011 than in either of the past two years. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Today a group of UN human rights experts called for an immediate end to the demolitions of Palestinian-owned houses and other structures in the West Bank, including <place w:st="on">East Jerusalem</place>, and urged Israeli authorities to prevent attacks by settlers against Palestinians and their property.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“The impact and discriminatory nature of these demolitions and evictions is completely unacceptable. These actions by the Israeli authorities violate human rights and humanitarian law and must end immediately,” said the three independent experts who work on the rights to adequate housing, water and sanitation, and food.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Given the human cost of the ongoing conflict, Mr. Pascoe also said it is essential that all sides impress on their security forces and civilian population the need to act responsibly. “They must do their utmost to avoid escalation, and take early action to defuse possible tensions,” he said, adding that extremists on both sides must not be allowed to inflame the situation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Turning to <city w:st="on">Gaza</city>, he condemned the continued firing of rockets from the area into <country-region w:st="on">Israel</country-region>, while also calling on <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region> to show maximum restraint in their response. He also called for the further easing of Israeli closure measures on <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Gaza</place></city>, particularly in regard to imports of construction materials, exports, and freedom of movement of people.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In addition, Mr. Pascoe said there was no movement on Palestinian reconciliation, or progress regarding access to or the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who remains in the captivity of Hamas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Under-Secretary-General also commented briefly on developments in <country-region w:st="on">Lebanon</country-region>, where the overall situation remained calm, and in <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">Syria</country-region></place>, where “the polarization continues to deepen” between the regime of Bashar Al-Assad and the growing popular opposition. ---UN News</span></div></div>

UN political chief urges Israelis and Palestinians to give diplomacy a chance

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe While the Security Council mulls over the Palestinian...

Tourism an important force to reduce poverty and foster global solidarity – UN

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</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8pt;">This photograph, “East West Jubilation” by Rabin Chakrabarti, was a runner-up in UNWTO’s 2011 World Tourism Day photo contest</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Top United Nations officials stressed the importance of tourism in reducing poverty and linking countries through tolerance and solidarity as they marked World Tourism Day today. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“At a time of profound global economic uncertainty, tourism’s ability to generate socio-economic opportunities and help reduce the gap between rich and poor, is more important than ever,” Secretary Ban Ki-moon noted in his message for the Day. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“There is no better way to learn about a new culture than to experience it first-hand. Tourism offers a wonderful connecting thread between visitor and host community. It promotes dialogue and interaction. Such contact between people of different backgrounds is the very foundation for tolerance. In a world struggling for peaceful coexistence, tourism can build bridges and contribute to peace,” he said. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mr. Ban called for the incorporation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, a set of principles adopted by the UN to guide tourism stakeholders into sustainable and responsible tourism development. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General, Taleb Rifai, also stressed the importance of the code in his message saying that tourism growth brings serious responsibilities to minimize any potentially negative impacts on the cultural assets and heritage of mankind. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“With 940 million tourists crossing international borders in 2010, never have the world’s peoples and cultures been drawn together as now. Through tourism, millions of people are brought closer every day,” he said, noting this year’s theme for the Day: “Tourism – linking cultures.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Experiencing different ways of life, discovering new food and customs and visiting cultural sites have become leading motivations for travel, and as a result, a crucial source of revenue and job creation, particularly for developing countries. Income from tourism is often redirected towards the safeguarding of these sites and even the revitalization of cultures,” he added. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Celebrated annually on 27 September, World Tourism Day serves to raise awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and the contributions it can make in the economic, political and social sectors, and how it can help towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This year’s main celebrations are being held in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Aswan</city>, <country-region w:st="on">Egypt</country-region></place>, with many other events taking place around the world. As part of the celebrations, industry leaders, academics and the media will take part in a think-tank discussion that will address the role of tourism in building understanding and tolerance worldwide. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">UNWTO also launched a photo competition offering a trip to <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">Egypt</country-region></place> as its prize and its first-ever Twitter competition, asking people to tweet on how tourism can help link cultures. ---UN News</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS51HEG0eWpjbUf4qHZtaU-D7jYiSo51RddmB2LX0kAOjqtBmqPmc5gc0FvveECr-hpSgSBXIn3WYZFxwAcFJY-L2pnFyW0BxXCugi1DlR0-vecJNQ0UnXrghtjE1I6hJjdttXlo3L0lg/s1600/eastwestjubilation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS51HEG0eWpjbUf4qHZtaU-D7jYiSo51RddmB2LX0kAOjqtBmqPmc5gc0FvveECr-hpSgSBXIn3WYZFxwAcFJY-L2pnFyW0BxXCugi1DlR0-vecJNQ0UnXrghtjE1I6hJjdttXlo3L0lg/s1600/eastwestjubilation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS51HEG0eWpjbUf4qHZtaU-D7jYiSo51RddmB2LX0kAOjqtBmqPmc5gc0FvveECr-hpSgSBXIn3WYZFxwAcFJY-L2pnFyW0BxXCugi1DlR0-vecJNQ0UnXrghtjE1I6hJjdttXlo3L0lg/s1600/eastwestjubilation.jpg" /></a></div></div>

Tourism an important force to reduce poverty and foster global solidarity – UN

This photograph, “East West Jubilation” by Rabin Chakrabarti, was a runner-up in UNWTO’s 2011 World Tourism Day photo contest Top United N...

UN Security Council to Discuss Palestinian Bid

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (left) submits </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">application for UN membership to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Photo: UN News</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8pt;"></span></i></div></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The U.N. Security Council is set to discuss the Palestinian bid for statehood Monday, as Israeli leaders continue to call for a return to peace talks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application for full recognition of a Palestinian state Friday, and received a hero's welcome Sunday as he returned to the <place w:st="on">West Bank</place>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He told thousands of supporters in Ramallah they are part of a "Palestinian Spring," and that he would resume peace talks only if <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region> stopped building settlements in occupied territory.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.S.-mediated peace talks between <country-region w:st="on">Israel</country-region> and the Palestinians stalled a year ago after an Israeli moratorium on <place w:st="on">West Bank</place> settlement construction expired. Palestinians oppose construction on land they want as part of a future state.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday the U.N. bid is wrong and should not succeed because Palestinians want a state without first committing to security guarantees for <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region>. He repeated his call for the Palestinians to resume immediate peace talks without preconditions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A top Palestinian aide said <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region> has placed unacceptable preconditions on peace negotiations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Hanan Ashrawi said <country-region w:st="on">Israel</country-region> "wants to annex <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Jerusalem</place></city>" and "remove [Palestinian] refugees from the agenda."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>She said <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region> "wants everything, and then says, 'Let's talk.'"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Middle East Quartet - the <country-region w:st="on">U.S.</country-region>, U.N., European Union and <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Russia</place></country-region> - has called on Israelis and Palestinians to resume pace talks within a month and reach an agreement by next year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Israel</span></place></country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">'s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday he favors the Quartet plan and called on Palestinians not to look for excuses to stay away from the negotiating table.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki has said the new initiative calling for the resumption of peace talks is not sufficient because it does not call for an Israeli settlement construction freeze. Malki said the Quartet's plan also fails to require an Israeli withdrawal to the borders in place before <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region> took control of the Palestinian territories in 1967.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">U.S. President Barack Obama said recently that <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Washington</place></state> would use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block any resolution recognizing the Palestinians. In his U.N. address, Obama said the only solution is direct talks between the two sides. ---VOA News</span></div></div>

UN Security Council to Discuss Palestinian Bid

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (left) submits application for UN membership to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Photo:...

UN pays tribute to late environmentalist and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Wangari Maathai</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The United Nations today paid tribute to Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of <place w:st="on">Africa</place>’s foremost environmental campaigners, who died on Sunday.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Her passing is a loss for the people of <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kenya</place></country-region> and the world,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement, adding that Ms. Maathai was known throughout the development and human rights community not just for her “inspirational eloquence, but for her human warmth.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mr. Ban called her a “globally recognized champion for human rights and women’s empowerment” and a “pioneer in articulating the links between human rights, poverty, environmental protection and security.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Ms. Maathai, 71, was the founder of the Green Belt Movement that encouraged women in rural <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kenya</place></country-region> to plant trees to improve their livelihoods through better access to clean water, firewood for cooking and other resources. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Since then, the movement has planted an estimated 45 million trees in <place w:st="on">Africa</place> and assisted nearly 900,000 women to establish tree nurseries and plant trees to reverse the effects of deforestation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">She was also a patron of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the inspiration behind the agency’s Billion Tree Campaign that encourages people across the world to plant trees for the benefit of their communities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“Wangari Maathai was a force of nature,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said in a news release. “While others deployed their power and life force to damage, degrade and extract short term profit from the environment, she used hers to stand in their way, mobilize communities and to argue for conservation and sustainable development over destruction. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“She was, like the acacias and the Prunus Africana trees Wangari fought so nobly and assiduously to conserve, strong in character and able to survive sometimes the harshest of conditions,” he added.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Born near Nyeri in <country-region w:st="on">Kenya</country-region>’s Central Highlands in 1940, Wangari Maathai received her education in <country-region w:st="on">Kenya</country-region> and the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">United States</place></country-region>. She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, obtaining it from the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">University</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Nairobi</placename></place> in 1971. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">She was elected to <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Kenya</place></country-region>’s Parliament in 2002 and appointed assistant minister for environment and natural resources. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Ms. Maathai was recognized for her lifelong commitment to environmental sustainability and the empowerment of women with the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, the first African women and first environmentalist to receive the prestigious honour.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">More recently, she served as a UN Messenger of Peace as well as a member of the MDG Advocacy Group, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set up last year to advance progress on the Millennium Development Goals – the globally agreed targets for slashing hunger, poverty, disease and lack of access to education, all by 2015. ---UN News</span></div></div>

UN pays tribute to late environmentalist and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai The United Nations today paid tribute to Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and on...

Rescuers Struggle to Reach Earthquake Victims in India's Northeast

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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Anjana
Pasricha | New Delhi</b></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Casualties including lying patients being evacuated from different places of North Sikkim. Photo: PIB</i></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
India’s northeastern Sikkim state, the death toll from Sunday’s strong
earthquake has risen to 80 as rescue operations in the remote mountainous
continue to pose serious challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">At
daybreak Tuesday in Sikkim, there was some good news for the Himalayan mountain
region jolted by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake two days ago, as national help
arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Air
force helicopters flew rescue and medical teams to one of the worst affected
districts, Mangan.<span>  </span>Soldiers used earth
movers to open some mountain passes blocked by landslides.<span>  </span>Monsoon rains, which had been hampering
rescue operations, stopped briefly.<span>       
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But
the scale of the devastation is still not clear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Remote
villages closest to the epicenter of the quake had not been accessed by Tuesday
afternoon and hundreds of rescue workers sent from the capital New Delhi are
still waiting to reach these areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
region is ringed by high mountain peaks and many of the roads have been blocked
by fallen trees, boulders and other debris.<span>         </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Home
Secretary R.K. Singh says the death toll could rise, as rescue teams gain
access to remote villages. He says helicopters are being used to survey the
damage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Aerial
surveillance has started with one chopper this morning," said Singh.
"Food packets are being air-dropped in the northern areas. The state
government has informed that they have opened relief camps in each
district.”<span>    </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
quake has put the spotlight on the need to improve disaster preparedness in the
remote state.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A
rescue management specialist in New Delhi, Angeli Quatra, says rescue and
relief have been delayed because local authorities were unprepared to cope with
a natural disaster of this scale. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“There
should be facilities in the local areas so that immediate relief can be
provided," Quatra said. "There should be air ambulances within the
state.<span>  </span>All these states they need to
have local helicopters, because at this time the scenario is that that is the
only viable mode of providing relief.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Quatra
points out that nearly two days after the quake hit, there is still no accurate
assessment of the number of casualties or those injured.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Most
of the deaths caused by Sunday’s earthquake have occurred in Sikkim, which bore
the brunt of the disaster. But casualties have also been reported in the
neighboring Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal, as well as in Nepal and
Tibet.---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rescuers Struggle to Reach Earthquake Victims in India's Northeast

Anjana Pasricha | New Delhi Casualties including lying patients being evacuated from different places of North Sikkim. Photo: PIB ...

INDIA: QUAKE TOLL CLIMBS TO 66, RESCUE WORK HAMPERED BY LANDSLIDES

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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">An injured man being treated in a Hospital, after an earthquake, in Gangtok on September 19, 2011.(Photo:PIB)</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">NEW DELHI (NNN-IANS) -- Landslides and inclement weather on Monday hampered rescue operations in quake-hit Sikkim as the death toll in the 6.8 magnitude temblor mounted to 66, including 39 in the Himalayan state.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The earthquake, which struck Sunday evening, left a trail of devastation damaging roads, buildings and other structures, uprooting mobile phone towers and snapping communication and power lines. After shocks made people panic in several areas forcing them to spend the night outdoors.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">West and South districts in Sikkim remained inaccessible to the Army due to landslides and inclement weather and rescuers were facing an uphill task to reach these areas, Major General S L Narasimhan, GOC 17 Mountain Division told reporters here.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sikkim accounted for 39 deaths alone, with most casualties taking place in the North District and in towns and villages like Rangpo, Dikchu, Singtam and Chungthang located along the course of Teesta river, officials in the district control room said.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Eight persons travelling in a bus of Teesta Urja Limited in North District are presumed dead as their vehicle got stuck under debris caused by a landslide, Narasimhan said. This, however, has not been incorporated in the official figure of those killed.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The overnight toll climbed to 66 which included six deaths in West Bengal and seven each in Bihar, Nepal and Tibet, official reports said. Over a hundred people have been injured.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Narasimhan said army has launched 'Operation Madad' in Gangtok and other areas by deploying over 2,500 troops."We are also sending teams to Darjeeling and Kalimpong (in West Bengal)," he said. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A group of 14 tourists were rescued by the army from north Sikkim last night, Narasimhan said.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced Rs two lakh as ex-gratia to next of kin of those killed in the earthquake and Rs one lakh each for those seriously injured. -- NNN-IANS</span></div></div>

INDIA: QUAKE TOLL CLIMBS TO 66, RESCUE WORK HAMPERED BY LANDSLIDES

An injured man being treated in a Hospital, after an earthquake, in Gangtok on September 19, 2011.(Photo:PIB) NEW DELHI (NNN-IANS) ...

India Announces Another Interest Rate Hike

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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">By Anjana Pasricha from New Delhi</span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_SuGRwzH5dUiGp4AKl7WKZ-G1YNScLD7mVC2LoDnKWXzAmkiCJGZ2oFN-MaGtmCIxpqJEpbFMI4a1B9efo9Ft-SOBLpHSA-dpWhXH1FCawVFqUjc5n3hry8bqRDcgjPt3Rj4i9NrKAQ/s1600/pmukherjee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_SuGRwzH5dUiGp4AKl7WKZ-G1YNScLD7mVC2LoDnKWXzAmkiCJGZ2oFN-MaGtmCIxpqJEpbFMI4a1B9efo9Ft-SOBLpHSA-dpWhXH1FCawVFqUjc5n3hry8bqRDcgjPt3Rj4i9NrKAQ/s1600/pmukherjee.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">India's FM Mukherjee (file photo- Photo: PIB)</span></td></tr>
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</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">India's Reserve Bank has raised interest rates in a continuing struggle to control inflation.  The rate hike, which was announced Friday, is the 12th increase in the last year-and-a-half.  But there are fears that this could further slow down an economy that has begun losing some momentum.     </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Reserve Bank's 0.25 percentage point increase to 8.25 percent was widely anticipated. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The bank's move is an effort to control inflation, which continues to remain high despite the steady rise in the cost of borrowing money over the last 18 months.   </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Inflation was about 9.75 percent in August, the highest in the last 13 months.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Economic slowdown</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, while prices continue to rise, the economy has begun to slow down.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, hopes the economic momentum will revive.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"There are also signs of growth being affected by the monetary tightening," he said. "I hope the measures taken will get us back to a more comfortable inflation situation earlier rather than later while having scope for growth to pick up in the second half of the year."  </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Economic growth in India came down to 7.7 percent in the second quarter - the slowest in the last 18 months.   </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Cause for concern</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That is causing some worries, and several economists have begun to question the measures being taken by the Reserve Bank to fight inflation.     </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Among them is economist D.H. Pai Panandiker at the RPG Goenka Foundation in New Delhi.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Apparently this was done to check inflation, but all it has done is check growth. If for one year they have been unable to do it, they must rethink about that policy," he said.   </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The interest rate hike came a day after oil companies raised the price of gasoline by five percent to compensate for the higher cost of buying crude oil. India imports most of its crude requirements.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Impact on consumer </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Both political allies of the Congress led government and opposition parties have slammed the latest hike in gasoline prices and demanded a rollback.  </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rajnath Singh, the leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, says rising oil prices and interest rates are hurting common people.   </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Singh adds that government appears to have lost its grip on the economy and is directionless in handling the situation.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, officials say gasoline prices are rising because the government no longer controls the prices but has allowed oil companies to link them to market rates.     </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Finance Secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia says efforts have to be made to control inflation.  But he says this cannot be done by holding down energy prices.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Frankly, internationally and globally people believe that countries that can absorb energy prices that exist globally are much more likely to grow rapidly than countries that suppress it," said Ahluwalia.  </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However the persistently high inflation is causing widespread public anger and leading to loss of popular support for the government. (VOA News)</span></div></div>

India Announces Another Interest Rate Hike

By Anjana Pasricha from New Delhi India's FM Mukherjee (file photo- Photo: PIB) India's Reserve Bank has raised interest rates...

Foodgrain Production Reaches Record 241.6 Million Tonnes

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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Food grain Production Reaches Record 241.6 Million Tonnes </i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Target for 2011-12 Set at 245 Million Tonnes; </i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Agriculture Minister Confident of Surpassing IT </i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>2-Day National Conference for Rabi Campaign begins</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/History-World-Agriculture-Neolithic-Current/dp/1583671218?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="A History of World Agriculture: From the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1583671218&tag=glob036-20" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1583671218" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />Agriculture Minister Shri Sharad Pawar today announced that, as per the latest crop estimates, the foodgrain production in 2010-11 reached a record level of 241.6 million tonnes. Among crops, record production was achieved in the case of wheat, pulses, oil seeds and cotton. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Elaborating the farm growth further, the Minister stated that during the quarter ending March 31 this year, farm output achieved an impressive growth rate of 7.5 per cent. On a yearly basis, Agriculture and Allied Sector grew at 6.6% in the last fiscal. The minister expressed the hope that the country would be able to achieve targeted 4% growth in agriculture. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Addressing senior officers from the centre and all the states who have gathered here to chalk out a strategy for the ensuing rabi cropping season, Shri Pawar said that “the monsoon this year has been very encouraging so far, with timely and widespread rain all over the country. Good rainfall is resulting in increased soil moisture which together with adequate water availability in reservoirs across the country is definitely going to provide necessary impetus for substantial expansion in area and enhancing production during ensuing Rabi season.” </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Stressing the need for constantly improving farm productivity , the Minister informed that the production target of foodgrains for year 2011-12 has been fixed at 245 million tonnes. He also expressed the hope that, looking at the performance in the recent past, the target would be surpassed. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On the need to face the challenges before Indian agriculture with concerted efforts, the Minister said: “There will be more competitive demand on land and water, progressive fragmentation of land holdings, degrading natural resource base and emerging concerns of climate change. We also have to look for sustaining agricultural growth against the backdrop of limited availability of natural resources especially cultivable land. Thus, increase in agricultural production would have to emanate only by enhancement in farm productivity from existing cultivated area. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Low productivity still remains a major concern for Indian agriculture. While our yields compare poorly to global average, we also have significant yield gap between the ‘optimal’ yield and actual field productivity. There is also large difference in crop yields across states and regions. Low farm productivity often results in cascading effect on the farmers both in terms of increasing cost of production and less farm remuneration. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Enhancement of agricultural productivity can come from deploying location-specific high yielding crop varieties, balanced fertiliser doses, effective transfer of technology, increasing water use efficiency, timely supply of quality inputs, and capacity building through extensive agricultural extension. Towards this direction, this Ministry is implementing various developmental schemes to cater to the needs of farming community. Flagship schemes like Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), National Horticulture Mission (NHM) etc. have already been instrumental in enhancing farm productivity and increasing crop production. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Seed is critical input for long-term sustained growth of agriculture. In India, more than four-fifths of farmers rely on farm-saved seeds, resulting in low production and seed replacement rate and Government is seized of this issue and addressing the same, through various programmes/schemes. The focus has to be on increasing the Seed Replacement Rate, introducing better high yielding varieties, strengthening of infrastructure facilities for production and distribution of quality seeds and taking up more and more villages under the Seed Villages Programme. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“We have also launched several new initiatives in recent years to realign our effort in this direction. While ‘Bringing green Revolution to the eastern region’ scheme aims at improving productivity of rice based cropping system in selected states, ‘Integrated development of 60,000 pulse villages in rainfed areas’ is focussing at attaining self sufficiency in production of pulses. Five more initiatives have been launched pursuant to Union Budget-2011-12 for enhancing availability of fodder, vegetables, nutria-cereals, oil palm and protein supplements. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“However, we have to be more vigilant in ensuring that advantages gained so far are sustained in future too. During this kharif season, although higher area coverage is being witnessed in Rice, Oilseeds and Cotton crops, there is a decreasing trend in both Pulses and Coarse Cereals. I would like to urge upon the States to take a note of this situation. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Soil health is crucial for ensuring farm productivity. However, over the years marginal productivity of soil has been witnessing a declining trend. Thus, high priority needs to be accorded to soil health and nutrient management. While nutrient management primarily focus on bringing back soil fertility, ecological sustainability and overall cost effectiveness also needs equal attention. Adoption of multi-nutrient carriers that are soil and crops specific and customised on the basis of soil testing is emerging as a viable alternative to conventional approach. Besides, organic nutrient sources like farm yard manure, crop residue, vermi compost, bio fertilisers, green manure etc. can also play a key role in adopting eco-friendly agriculture. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Minimum Support Prices (MSP) is an effective instrument for ensuring remunerative prices to farmers. Besides, to protect growers from distress sale in event of bumper crop of agricultural and horticultural commodities, which are generally perishable, Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) is also being implemented in some States. However, I am finding that in many States, MSP and MIS are not implemented to their optimal level. I would urge upon the States and Union Territories to take full benefit of MSP and MIS so that farmers are not deprived of remunerative prices. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“This Ministry has been emphasising on sustaining agricultural growth through mobilization of higher investment in agriculture, augmenting and bridging yield gaps, enhancing farm income, ensuring livelihoods and providing safety net to the farmers. However, one size fits all policy may not be of much help. Thus, I would again urge upon the States to launch special initiatives for boosting development of agriculture and allied sector taking into account their respective agro-climatic conditions. Finally, we have to ensure that agriculture emerges and remains as a remunerative profession on a sustainable basis to rural communities.” </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Agriculture Minister also reiterated the government’s resolve to bring down prices of food commodities. “We must, therefore, ensure that efforts to increase production and productivity is a continuum and not a one-time exercise. India as a nation cannot afford to rest till we have successfully bridged the productivity gap between us and the rest of the world,” the Minister said. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The minister also released the first advance estimates of crop production for 2011-12. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The two-day National Conference for Rabi Campaign 2011 will come out with a detailed crop and area specific strategy for the rabi season after deliberation among officials from all states and the Centre and experts from ICAR and various research institutions. Besides Agriculture Minister, MOS Shri Harish Rawat and Secretary (Agriculture and Cooperation), Shri P.K. Basu also addressed the Conference.(PIB)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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Foodgrain Production Reaches Record 241.6 Million Tonnes

Food grain Production Reaches Record 241.6 Million Tonnes Target for 2011-12 Set at 245 Million Tonnes; Agriculture Minister Confident of...