Myanmar military authorities have released 42 more child soldiers from the armed forces. The Ministry of Social Welfare said, the children who are from across the country's regions and states, were handed over to their parents respectively. The move came after an agreement was signed between Myanmar government and the United Nations in late June on prevention of further recruitment and use of children under age in the armed forces. The Myanmar Defence Ministry said that from 2004 to July 2012, 600 child soldiers have been released from the army and reintegrated with their families.

 UN chief Ban Ki-moon today asked Iran to build "international confidence" in its nuclear programme by fully complying with the global obligations under NPT and cooperating with IAEA, shortly after Tehran slammed the UNSC for being "unjust and completely undemocratic".

Addressing the leaders and delegates gathered in Tehran for the 16th NAM Summit, Ban also urged the sanctions-hit country to engage constructively in P5 plus 1 (US, UK, Russia, France and China plus Germany) talks while pursuing its nuclear programme. The UN chief also said Tehran, during its chairmanship of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement, could demonstrate that it can play a moderate and constructive role. 

Ban also stressed that all leaders should ensure that the world should be free of nuclear weapons and work together to check illicit arms trade.

he Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the government needs more time to win the battle against terrorists. In an interview with pro-government al-Dunya TV, Mr Assad also dismissed as unrealistic the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones within Syria. He said the Syrian government was fighting a battle both regionally and internationally. Mr Assad said the situation on the ground is better now, but the conclusion is not there yet. President also addressed the proposal by Turkish Foreign Minister to set up a United Nations-sanctioned buffer zone inside Syria to shelter refugees and help distribute humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, opposition activists say the army has launched offensives across the country to regain control of rebel-held areas. Heavy shelling was reported on Tuesday in the capital, Damascus, Aleppo, and the north-western province of Idlib.

 he UN has said that the world urgently needs to adopt drought-management policies as farmers from Africa to India struggle with lack of rainfall. The UN weather agency said, the US drought and its ripple effects on global food markets show the need for policies with more water conservation and less consumption. It is summoning ministers and other high-level officials to a March meeting in Geneva where it will call for systematic measures toward less water consumption and more conservation. The report said, climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of droughts, with impacts on many sectors, in particular food, water, health and energy.

India has called on all parties within and outside Syria to fully cooperate with international envoy Kofi Annan to bring an end to the crisis.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, addressing a Security Council open debate on the situation in the Middle East, said India does not see an alternative to the full implementation of UN resolutions 2042 and 2043 for a political resolution of the crisis without any further bloodshed.

UN resolution 2042, unanimously adopted in April this year, had authorised an advance team of up to 30 unarmed
military observers to monitor the ceasefire in Syria, while calling again on the Syrian government to begin a pull-back of military forces from population centres and cease the use of
heavy weaponry in those areas.

A week later in April, the Council had adopted resolution 2043 which established, for an initial 90-day period, a UN supervision mission in Syria comprising an initial deployment
of up to 300 unarmed military observers to monitor a cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties as well as the full implementation of the United Nations Joint Special Envoy's six-point proposal to end the conflict.

Puri said a right step" would be for all sides to implement resolution 2059 adopted unanimously by the Council
last week which extended the mandate of the UN observer mission in Syria for a final period of 30 days.
The crisis in Syria has continued unabated since the uprising against President Bashar Al Assad began 16 months ago.

The UN estimates that more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria and tens of thousands
displaced.

The UNSC had last week failed to adopt a resolution that would have threatened Assad's regime with sanctions after
Russia and China vetoed the resolution.

The World Energy Forum will hold its first conference outside its UN headquarters in Dubai during October 22-24 this year.

The event will be attended by the policy makers, energy ministers , public and private sector experts, academicians and over 2500 delegates to discuss sustainable energy policies and solutions for the world.

At a press conference in Dubai, the Chairman of the forum, Prof. Harold Hyun Suk-Oh said the conference will highlight the energy and water issues related to sustainable development so as to have a cleaner, safer and sustainable energy system benefitting all. The focus will be on green economy for sustainable development.

The Executive Director of the WEF, Dinesh Kumar told that one of the key issues at the WEF meet would be the ways to enhance public private partnership and the investments in the energy sector.

He said that the conference aims to set tangible goals for the transfer of clean and green technology from the developed nations to the developing world.

The former President Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam has been invited as one of the Speakers at the Conference. The theme of the conference this year is World Energy Forum 2012-A forum for World Leaders.

The conference assumes significance in the wake of the fact that United Nations has designated 2012 as the year of sustainable development.

To reduce morbidity and mortality due to road accidents, the World Health Organisation sponsored Road Safety has started giving positive results in Jalandhar City of Punjab. Jalandhar is among the two cities in the country where this project is presently running as a pliot project for the last two years. The other city is Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

Jalandhar Police says that there is tremendous decrease in the deaths due to accidents. AIR Correspondent reports there were 290 deaths in 258 fatal accidents in the year 2009. With the implementation of the project the number of deaths has decreased to 80 in 2011.

Besides saving human lives, the project has also generated huge revenue of over 2 crore 56 lakh rupees for the city police by fining more than 2 lakh 22 thousand traffic rule offenders. 

This project has been initiated by United Nations in collaboration with several international agencies and is being implemented in 10 different countries including India.

Data reveales that in the year 2009, there were 290 deaths in 258 fatal accidents and about the same numbers of people were injured in more than 150 non-fatal accidents in the city. That means on an average basis 24 human beings were killed in road accidents every month. Whereas, after the implementation of the project in 2010, the number of deaths has come down to 185 and further decreased to 80 in 2011 and about 45 till date in this year. Besides saving human lives, the project has also generated huge revenue of more than rupees 2 crore 56 lakh for the city police by challaning more than 2 lakh 22 thousand traffic offenders. State Nodal Officer of the Project, Dr Ashok Nayyar said that the project is moving in the right direction

he World Population Day is being observed today across the globe. The theme for this year is ‘Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services’. Various activities including seminars, discussions and educational information sessions are being organized across the country to mark the day. Addressing a function in New Delhi, Planning Commission Member Syeda Hameed stressed the need to build consensus around population stabilization to meet the development goals of the country. Around 2000 children from various schools, participated in a Walkathon organized by "Jansankhya Sthirta Kosh" in the early hours at India Gate.
The UN Secretaty General Ban Ki Moon in his message on the day, called for urgent concerted action by member states to bridge the gap between demand and supply for reproductive health care.
AIR Correspondent reports, India being the second most populated country of the world, faces certain challenges related to health, family and nutrition.

India has made a significant progress in enrolling children in schools but drop out rates continue to be the highest in the developing countries. Releasing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, MDGs report, 2012 in New Delhi today, noted economist Ms Jayati Ghosh said, a lot needs to be done to improve sanitation, health services, employment, maternal health and child care services in the country. She said, pro-active steps need to be taken to prevent the present economic crisis from affecting employment opportunities of the population, especially the vulnerable sections of the society.
The main highlights the MDG report this year are that for the first time, since poverty trends began to be monitored, both the number of people living in extreme poverty and the poverty rates have fallen in every developing region, including sub-Saharan Africa, where rates are highest. Preliminary estimates indicate that in 2010, the share of people living on less than 1.25 Dollars a day dropped to less than half of its 1990 value. This means that the MDG first target of cutting extreme poverty rate to half its 1990 level has been achieved at the global level, well ahead of 2015. The report notes that urban residents in the developing world living in slums has declined to 33 per cent this year from 39 per cent in 2000. The report also points out that a milestone has been achieved through parity in primary education between girls and boys. It says, there were 97 girls enrolled per 100 boys in 2010 compared to 91 girls per 100 boys in 1999.
The report states that persisting inequalities are detracting from the gains as the achievements were unequally distributed across and within regions and countries. Nearly half of the population in developing nations still lacks sanitation facilities. In 11 countries, including India, a majority of population still practices open defection. Nearly 60 per cent of those practicing open defection live in India.

World Refugee Day is being observed today across the globe. The day honors courage and strength of men, women and children who are forced to flee their homelands under threat of persecution, conflict and violence. This year the theme is “Refugees have no choice. You do”. In his message, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban ki Moon has urged the global community to work together to mobilize the political will and leadership to prevent and end the conflicts that trigger refugee flows. AIR correspondent reports, several functions are being organized across the country to mark the day.

The Head of the UN Observers Mission in Syria says the escalating violence there is limiting the Mission's ability to operate. But General Robert Mood said the UN-backed peace plan could still help find a peaceful solution.

According to a report, Major General Mood said that the UN Observers Mission felt frustrated but it had not yet given up hope. He admitted that the upsurge in violence over the past ten days had limited the 300 or so Monitors' ability to observe, verify and report on what was going on and to help foster a dialogue and stability. 

General Mood did not blame either side specifically for the escalation but he said there was a lack of will to seek a peaceful transition and instead a push towards seeking military gains with civilians trapped and suffering as a consequence.

The United Nations has decided to temporarily relocate non-essential staff in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where tension remains high amid unrest that has killed seven.

A UN statement said it has decided to temporarily relocate, on a voluntary basis, non-essential international and national UN staff, affiliated organisations and their families.

It said serious disturbances and the imposition of a state of emergency prompted the move, which is being implemented on a voluntary basis.

Violence flared in Rakhine state after the murder of a Buddhist woman last month, followed by an attack on a bus carrying Muslims.

Rakhine state is named after the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist majority, but also has a sizeable Muslim population, including the Rohingya minority.

The United Nations has said that Indian economy will grow at a slower pace of 6.7 per cent in 2012 instead of a previous 7.7 per cent forecast. In its World Economic Situation and Prospects mid-year update, the UN warned that the euro area debt crisis will remain the biggest threat to world economy this year. It said, the global economic situation continues to be challenging and global growth will likely remain tepid in 2012 following a marked slowdown in 2011. The report said, the global economy is projected to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2012 and 3.1 per cent in 2013, following a growth of 2.7 per cent in 2011, a slight downward revision from previous forecasts. It said, an escalation of the euro area debt crisis could result in severe turmoil in financial markets and a sharp rise in global risk aversion, leading to a further weakening of global growth. The UN report said, most regions of the world will also be expanding at a pace below potential. Economic growth in South Asia is projected to moderate to 5.6 per cent in 2012, down from 6.1 per cent in 2011 as the region continues to face significant regional and global headwinds. Weak demand in developed countries and a slowing Chinese economy are likely to weigh on economic growth in East Asia. Average regional growth is projected to slow from 7.1 per cent in 2011 to 6.5 per cent in 2012. Growth in China is forecast to slow from 9.2 per cent in 2011 to 8.3 per cent in 2012.

The tranquil stretches of emerald green backwaters in Mumbai and Kerala are among several locales in the western and eastern coasts facing threat from the rising sea level due to climate change.

According to a Government report, deltas of the Ganga, Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery and Mahanadi on the east coast may also be threatened along with irrigated land and adjoining settlements.

The report submitted to the UN, was prepared by multi-disciplinary teams and other stakeholders comprising more than 220 scientists belonging to over 120 institutions.

The experts who prepared the report visited some vulnerable areas, including the 2004 tsunami-hit Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, backwaters surrounding Kochi in Kerala and Paradip in Odisha, in order to make a detailed impact study of the rise in sea level.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today urged Somalia to end the transitional period by the end of August this year, pledging full UN support to the war-torn country. He made the statement at the two-day Somalia Conference in Istanbul with the theme "Preparing Somalia's Future - Goals for 2015." Representatives from 54 countries have attended the conference. 

The UN secretary general also called on Somalian leaders to take steps to improve security, advance political process and boost recovery, construction and development.

The United Nations has confirmed that the Sudanese troops have completed their withdrawal from the disputed region of Abyei which is also claimed by South Sudan.

Sudanese forces the seized the oil-rich region a year ago forcing one hundred thousand civilians to flee. 

The dispute brought the two countries to the brink of a war last month.

The country will add another 497 million to its urban population by 2050. According to a report released by the United Nations today, the largest increases in urban population are expected in countries like India, China, Nigeria, US and Indonesia.

The report titled ''2011 Revision of the World Urbanization Prospects' says, urban population in Africa will increase from 414 million to over 1.2 billion by 2050 while that of Asia will soar from 1.9 billion to 3.3 billion. It says, the projected increase in urban population in India and Nigeria between 2010 and 2050 will be higher than that of the past 40 years.

The unprecedented increase will provide new opportunities to improve education and public services in Africa and Asia, as more concentrated populations become easier to reach. However, this will also pose new challenges of providing urban jobs, housing, energy and infra­structure to mitigate urban poverty, expansion of slums and deterioration of the urban environment.

While commending India's generally high level of commitment to human rights, a United Nations expert today urged the Government to continue to fight impunity for extrajudicial executions, and communal and traditional killings.