‘Large-scale migration cause of social tensions in India’

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A senior government official Monday suggested that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) include additional parameters to prepare data relating to migration for its Human Development Index. "Some of India's data seem to show a small percent of population as migration," said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia here while releasing a UNDP report, Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development.

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A senior government official Monday questioned the veracity of the latest United Nations' Human Development Index, where India has been ranked 134. I would suggest the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) to also look at how the report is perceived around the world.

October 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Climate change poses fundamental threats to Asia's food and energy security which, if left unchecked, will result in an upsurge of migration into already overburdened mega cities, according to three major new studies funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). "The food and energy security of every Asian is threatened by climate change, but it's the poor -- and especially poor women -- who are most vulnerable and most likely to migrate as a consequence," said ADB Vice-President Ursula Schaefer-Preuss as the studies were released Friday.

September 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Wednesday entered into a Social Security Agreement with Luxembourg to provide benefits to Indian nationals working in the European country. The agreement, signed by Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, who is on a tour to Luxembourg, and Mars di Bartolomeo, Luxembourg's minister for social security, comes after negotiations held here last year.

September 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Denmark Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Labour Mobility Partnership to promote orderly migration of Indian workers to meet the growing demand of workforce in the Danish economy. Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, who is currently on a tour to Denmark, signed the MoU with Danish Minister of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs Birther Ronn Hornbech at Copenhagen.

September 28th, 2009 MARRAKECH - The 26th International Population Congress has opened here to discuss population related problems, migration and the economic crisis, among others. Over 2,000 demographers from 114 countries attended the five-day meeting that started Sunday to discuss more than 200 topics, including population and global climate change, migration, economic crisis, the imbalance of fertility rate and social security system.

September 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Switzerland Thursday signed a social security agreement to encourage the movement of professionals between the two countries. The social security agreement was signed in the presence of Doris Leuthard, the visiting vice president of the Swiss Confederation who is also minister of economic affairs.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India, China and Mexico retain their positions as the top recipients of migrant remittances among developing countries, said the World Bank Tuesday. As per official estimates, India has the largest diaspora of 25 million spread over 136 countries.

July 14th, 2009 PANAJI - Equating the flow of migrants into Goa with Punjab, which attracts hordes of farm labourers from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, a member of the Commission on Centre-State Relations Tuesday said that migration was a "cross" which the rich states had to bear. Speaking to reporters following the conclusion of a two-day workshop of Western region states, former home secretary and commission member Virendra Singh, however, said that issue of migration of blue collar workers into Goa was still at a "manageable stage".

July 14th, 2009 PANAJI - Social tensions arising due to large scale migration from less developed to better developed regions rank high on the list of concerns of the commission on centre-state relations, says commission chairman and former chief justice of India Madan Mohan Punchhi. Punchhi is chairing the western region's two-day consultation that began here Monday.

June 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama would like India and Pakistan to have a dialogue to resolve their differences, but the US cannot dictate how they should go about it or mediate in the process. "I believe that there are opportunities, maybe not starting with Kashmir but starting with other issues, that Pakistan and India can be in a dialogue together and over time to try to reduce tensions and find areas of common interest," Obama told Pakistan's Dawn group in an interview published Sunday.

April 29th, 2009 PATNA - Three bearded Muslim candidates are vying for Hindu votes in Bihar's Kishanganj constituency where Muslims make up 66.7 percent of the voters. It is a triangular contest between Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate and sitting MP Mohammad Taslimuddin, Janata Dal-United's (JD-U) Syed Mahmud Ashraf and Congress nominee Maulana Ishrarul Haque.

February 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - You may have to wait a little more longer than expected before you start paying less to access the Internet through a high speed broadband network, as the telecom watchdog is yet to come out with the guidelines on the next generation network (NGN) that will enable telecom operators to offer better services at lower rates. Telecom operators have been asked to submit their comments on NGN by March 10, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said here Wednesday.

January 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Tuesday issued a consultation paper on next generation networks (NGN), seeking the views of the industry stakeholders on migrating to the new platform. NGN enables telecom operators to offer a range of new services from lower tariffs to high-speed broadband and intensive services including, internet protocol television (IPTV), high definition television (HDTV), videoconferencing, voice over internet protocol (VoIP), instant messaging and e-mail.

January 9th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has 'given its feedback' to India about the Mumbai attacks, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Friday, media reports said. Gilani's remarks came shortly before US vice-president-elect Joe Biden arrived here for talks with the Pakistani leadership on the tensions with India in the wake of the carnage in Mumbai, reported Aaj TV.