‘Large scale migration in India a cause for concern’

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 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 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 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.

July 28th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has said the government "won't tolerate" any education and migration scam affecting foreign students, after such a scam was exposed by an undercover Indian reporter who was assaulted over the weekend. Speaking from Singapore on the ABC's Australia Network, Smith said: "Of course it's very concerning...

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

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 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run steelmaker Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) Thursday announced its SAIL HR Excellence Awards for seven Indian manufacturing firms including Tata Motors and Jindal Steel. The SAIL has instituted the award to commemorate its 50th year of production.

May 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US and Cuba are to hold discussions on migration and other issues for the first time since such talks were broken off six years ago, the US State Department announced Sunday. US State Department officials said the talks, agreed to by Cuba Saturday, would also cover mail services between the two countries.

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 14th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - More than 200 battery manufacturers from 13 countries, including the US, Britain, Australia and Hong Kong, will take part in a three-day global industry trade fair in Chandigarh from Friday. 'This trade fair is aimed at providing technical knowledge to the small scale battery manufacturers of north India,' Yashpal Kanotra, president of Federation of Indian Small-Scale Battery associations told media here Thursday.