News headlines

Water and Sanitation Challenges Amidst Social Inequality in Urban Areas in India

Monday, March 21, 2016

NEW DELHI, Mar 21 (IPS) - During the month of March 2016 and ironically very close to the World Water Day, the Supreme Court of India had to step in to resolve a water sharing dispute between three contiguous states including the National Capital Region. That, this was not the first time that the Supreme Court had to intervene is a stark indicator of the extent of the water crisis that is confronting India, a country that aspires to be a global power. Earlier Supreme Court had to step in to resolve a bitter dispute on water sharing between two Southern states of India – Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Reaping the Gender Dividend

Monday, March 21, 2016

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Mar 21 (IPS) - For the first time, an all-female flight crew recently operated a Royal Brunei Airlines jet from Brunei to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Such a feat certainly appears noteworthy in a country where gender segregation is pervasive. When women are still not permitted to drive a car; where there are separate entrances for men and women in banks, is there a possibility of an all-female crew operating a Saudi Airlines plane from Jeddah to Brunei? Not immediately, as there are disturbing signs that the limited gains on the gender front might face reversals.

Corruption Threat to Pacific Island Forests

Monday, March 21, 2016

CANBERRA, Australia, Mar 21 (IPS) - The vast rainforests of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean are crucial for environmental sustainability, survival of indigenous peoples and the wider goal of containing climate change. But forest degradation, driven primarily by excessive commercial logging, most of which is illegal, is a perpetual threat.

How to Be Happy… By Decree!

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Cairo, Mar 20 (IPS) - When the United Nations was still getting ready to mark this year's International Day of Happiness on 20 March, the rulers of an Arab State could have well said: "but we are ahead and have already created a Ministry for Happiness and appointed a young lady to be in charge of it!"

The Pursuit of Global National Happiness

Sunday, March 20, 2016

ROME, Mar 20 (IPS) - Should a country's development be measured in smiles instead of dollars? Increasingly, governments and organizations are measuring social progress through happiness. This is in marked contrast to the long-accepted practice of using Gross Domestic Product to measure development, built upon the premise that a country's success can largely be quantified by its economic activity. Though only recently gaining international attention, the push to pursue "gross national happiness" as a policy goal originated over 40 years ago in the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

UN Laboriously Strives for its First Female Secretary-General

Saturday, March 19, 2016

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19 (IPS) - When the only female candidate failed in her attempt to become UN Secretary-General back in late 2006, an Asian diplomat weighed in with an upgraded Biblical quote: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle", he said, "than for a woman to become the Secretary-General of the United Nations."

Argentina’s ‘Shale Capital’ Suffers from Slowdown

Saturday, March 19, 2016

AÑELO, Argentina, Mar 19 (IPS) - The dizzying growth of Añelo, a town in southwest Argentina, driven by the production of shale oil and gas in the Vaca Muerta geological reserve, has slowed down due to the plunge in global oil prices, which has put a curb on local development and is threatening investment and employment.

Food Insecurity in the Far North

Friday, March 18, 2016

YAOUNDE, Cameroon, Mar 18 (IPS) - "They have reduced the quantity of food they used to give us and we still do not know why. But we are managing. We are refugees and we have no choice. All they give us is rice and some soya beans" John Guige, a Nigerian resident and primary school teacher in the Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon's Far North region, told IPS.

Not Enough Women At the Peace Table, Say Arab Activists

Thursday, March 17, 2016

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 17 (IPS) - "When it comes to peace talks, women have a special stake," said Gloria Steinem while discussing current peace talks in the Middle East.

Steinem, a prominent activist, joined the 60th annual session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as part of Donor Direct Action, an NGO connecting women's rights activists to donors.

Germany: Reaping What You Sow

Thursday, March 17, 2016

ROME, Mar 17 (IPS) - The recent German elections went as predicted.. A new right wing, xenophobe party, Alternative for Germany, AFD, has emerged with force, and will bein national Parliament in 2017.This development is unprecedented in German politics since the end of the second world war, and it is widely viewedas part of a general trend - the rise of populist and xenophobe forces all over Europe.

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