un

IRAQ------UN OIL FOR FOOD PROGRAMME LATER BECAME CONTROVERSIAL


Recently, the United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in East Timor after
13 years and the country's struggle for stability after independence in 2002. In 2002,
East Timor got its independence from _________.
[A]United States
[B]Portugal
[C]Australia
[D]Indonesia
Indonesia
The United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste after 13 years
and the country's struggle for stability after independence in 2002. Timor-Leste
declared independence after its colonial ruler Portugal pulled out in 1975 but was
invaded by Indonesia which laid claim to the territory and made it a province in 1976.
A 25-year struggle ensued, driven mostly by the left-leaning Revolutionary Front for
an Independent East Timor -- Fretlin -- which went on to win parliamentary elections.
A U.N.-sponsored referendum in 1999 led to independence in 2002, along with a
succession of U.N. peacekeeping forces to maintain stability.








INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF ALL PERSONS FORM ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES WHICH CAME INTO FORCE IN DECEMBER 2010 ----58 COUNTRIES SIGNED IT

“Ocean-grabbing” a danger to world’s fisheries: UN

November 1st, 2012

As per a UN expert on right to food, ‘Ocean-grabbing’ is as serious a threat as ‘land-grabbing’. 

What is “Ocean-grabbing”?

• An aggressive industrial fishing by foreign fleets.

How and to whom is it threatening?

• Ocean grabbing is mainly concerned with the interest of smaller fishermen, local communities and sustainable fishing.
• It is a threat to food security in developing nations
• Excessive and aggressive fishing threatens the fish ecosystem and makes this practice unsustainable.
• It depletes the fishing zones at a faster rate.

What is “land-grabbing”?

• Land grabbing is the contentious issue of large-scale land acquisitions: the buying or leasing of large pieces of land in developing countries, by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals.
• Countries such as China and Saudi Arabia have bought up agricultural land in poorer countries such as Ethiopia and Ghana.

What is “water-grabbing”?

• Water grabbing involves the diversion of water resources and watersheds by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals, which deprives local communities who depend on the water and ecosystems for their livelihoods.
• The ability to take over water is usually associated with processes of commoditization and privatization of water that transform water from a public good to a private commodity, with access often controlled by ability to pay.

What are the suggestions made by UN to contain “Ocean grabbing”?

• Create exclusive artisanal fishing zones for small-scale fishers and clamp down on incursions by industrial fleets
• Support small-scale fishers’ cooperatives and help them rise up the value chain
• Put co-management schemes in place to manage fishing resources locally
• Refrain from undertaking large-scale development projects, e.g. sand extraction, that adversely affect the livelihoods of small-scale fishers
• Make fisheries and small-scale fishers an integral part of national right to food strategies.

UN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT---VIENNA
FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION----ROME
WHO---GENEVA
UN EDUCATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISATION------PARIS





the international atomic energy agency----vienna
international telecommunication union---geneva
headquarters of council of european union---brussels\
organisation for economic cooperation and development---paris



FIRST REGULAR SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UN WAS HELD AT LONDON

THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF UN IS ARABIC




HEADQUARTERS OF UNHCR-----GENEVA


UNHRC ADOPTED ON 1948





191 ST MEMBER OF UNO-------EAST TIMOR

United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Geneva based human rights wing of UN, on 5 July 2012, adopted a first ever resolution to protect the online human rights of global citizens. The resolution adopted by consensus, stated that citizens of the world are as much entitled to the human rights online as they are offline.

The resolution noted that there can be no double standard with regard to people’s right of fundamental freedom and since internet makes a major part of present world’s communication process, all governments must endeavour to protect the online rights of its citizens.

The landmark resolution was sponsored by Sweden and co-sponsored by over 80 countries, that includes United States, Brazil, Turkey, Nigeria, and Tunisia.

Hague based International Criminal Court (ICC) awarded Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese warlord, 14-year imprisonment on 10 July 2012. Judges at the ICC found Thomas Lubanga guilty of recruiting and using children in his Union of Congolese Patriots militia. The court, however, has arrangements with seven countries to jail the war criminals which includes; Denmark, Serbia, Mali, Austria, Finland, Britain and Belgium.

Lubanga, who had used children as the soldiers during the violent struggle in Congo's eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003 was convicted for war crime. He is the first person to be convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it was established in 2002. He was arrested by UN peacekeepers, in March 2005.

Lubanga had led the Union of Congolese Patriots, an ethnic militia in the violent struggle in the Ituri region and its main town of Bunia. The conflict, which began in 1999, claimed the life of about 60000 people in the country

the following organizations has recently released the report titled
"Inclusive Wealth Report 2012"? [A]World Bank [B]United Nations [C]World
Economic Forum [D]World Trade Organization
United Nations India ranks fifth in the report as a country with highest annual
inclusive wealth growth.

Un

Year

Un international women’s year -1975

Year of forests-2011

Year of chemistry-2012

Un accepted human rights declaration on dec10,1948.

UN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION---HQ. VIENNA

Imf

- hq- Washington d. c

The members of the IMF are 188 members of the UN and the Republic of Kosovo . All members of the IMF are also International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) members and vice versa. Former members are Cuba (which left in 1964) and the Republic of China, which was ejected from the UN in 1980 after losing the support of then U.S. President Jimmy Carter and was replaced by the People's Republic of China. However, "Taiwan Province of China" is still listed in the official IMF indices. 

Apart from Cuba, the other states that do not belong to the IMF are North Korea, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Nauru, Cook Islands, Niue, Vatican City, and the states with limited recognition (other than Kosovo).

SDR IS THE INTERNATIONAL ASSETS CREATED IN 1970

Membership of the IMF  (Date of entry into force: December 27, 1945) Chronological List (188 Member Countries)
Member	Effective Date of Membership
Belgium1	December 27, 1945
Bolivia1	December 27, 1945
Canada1	December 27, 1945
China1	December 27, 1945
Colombia1	December 27, 1945
(Czechoslovakia)1,2,3	(December 27, 1945)
Egypt1	December 27, 1945
Ethiopia1	December 27, 1945
France1	December 27, 1945
Greece1	December 27, 1945
Honduras1	December 27, 1945
Iceland1	December 27, 1945
India1	December 27, 1945
Iraq1	December 27, 1945
Luxembourg1	December 27, 1945
Netherlands1	December 27, 1945
Norway1	December 27, 1945
Philippines1	December 27, 1945
South Africa1	December 27, 1945
United Kingdom1	December 27, 1945
United States1	December 27, 1945
(Yugoslavia)1,4,5	(December 27, 1945)
Dominican Republic1	December 28, 1945
Ecuador1	December 28, 1945
Guatemala1	December 28, 1945
Paraguay1	December 28, 1945
Iran, Islamic Republic of (Iran)1	December 29, 1945
Chile1	December 31, 1945
Mexico1	December 31, 1945
Peru1	December 31, 1945
Costa Rica1	January 8, 1946
(Poland)1, 6	(January 10, 1946)
Brazil1	January 14, 1946
Uruguay1	March 11, 1946
(Cuba)1, 7	(March 14, 1946)
El Salvador8	March 14, 1946
Nicaragua8	March 14, 1946
Panama8	March 14, 1946
Denmark8	March 30, 1946
Venezuela, República Bolivariana de8	December 30, 1946
Turkey	March 11, 1947
Italy	March 27, 1947
Syrian Arab Republic (Syria)	April 10, 1947
Lebanon	April 14, 1947
Australia	August 5, 1947
Finland	January 14, 1948
Austria	August 27, 1948
Thailand (Siam)	May 3, 1949
Pakistan	July 11, 1950
Sri Lanka (Ceylon)	August 29, 1950
Sweden	August 31, 1951
Myanmar (Burma)	January 3, 1952
Japan	August 13, 1952
Germany	August 14, 1952
Jordan	August 29, 1952
Haiti	September 8, 1953
(Indonesia)9	(April 15, 1954)
Israel	July 12, 1954
Afghanistan, Islamic Rep. of (Afghanistan)	July 14, 1955
Korea	August 26, 1955
Argentina	September 20, 1956
Vietnam (Viet Nam)	September 21, 1956
Ireland	August 8, 1957
Saudi Arabia	August 26, 1957
Sudan	September 5, 1957
Ghana	September 20, 1957
Malaysia (Malaya)	March 7, 1958
Tunisia	April 14, 1958
Morocco	April 25, 1958
Spain	September 15, 1958
Libya	September 17, 1958
Portugal	March 29, 1961
Nigeria	March 30, 1961
Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos)	July 5, 1961
New Zealand	August 31, 1961
Nepal	September 6, 1961
Cyprus	December 21, 1961
Liberia	March 28, 1962
Togo	August 1, 1962
Senegal	August 31, 1962
Somalia	August 31, 1962
Sierra Leone	September 10, 1962
Tanzania (Tanganyika)	September 10, 1962
Kuwait	September 13, 1962
Jamaica	February 21, 1963
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	March 11, 1963
Niger	April 24, 1963
Burkina Faso (Upper Volta)	May 2, 1963
Cameroon	July 10, 1963
Central African Republic	July 10, 1963
Chad	July 10, 1963
Congo, Republic of	July 10, 1963
Benin (Dahomey)	July 10, 1963
Gabon	September 10, 1963
Mauritania	September 10, 1963
Trinidad and Tobago	September 16, 1963
Madagascar (Malagasy Republic)	September 25, 1963
Algeria	September 26, 1963
Mali	September 27, 1963
Uganda	September 27, 1963
Burundi	September 28, 1963
Congo, Democratic Republic of the (Zaïre)	September 28, 1963
Guinea	September 28, 1963
Rwanda	September 30, 1963
Kenya	February 3, 1964
Malawi	July 19, 1965
Zambia	September 23, 1965
Singapore	August 3, 1966
Guyana	September 26, 1966
Indonesia9	February 21, 1967
Gambia, The	September 21, 1967
Botswana	July 24, 1968
Lesotho	July 25, 1968
Malta	September 11, 1968
Mauritius	September 23, 1968
Swaziland	September 22, 1969
(Yemen, People's Democratic
Republic of (Southern Yemen))10	(September 29, 1969)
Equatorial Guinea	December 22, 1969
Cambodia	December 31, 1969
(Yemen Arab Republic)10	(May 22, 1970)
Barbados	December 29, 1970
Fiji	May 28, 1971
Oman	December 23, 1971
Samoa (Western Samoa)	December 28, 1971
Bangladesh	August 17, 1972
Bahrain	September 7, 1972
Qatar	September 8, 1972
United Arab Emirates	September 22, 1972
Romania	December 15, 1972
Bahamas, The	August 21, 1973
Grenada	August 27, 1975
Papua New Guinea	October 9, 1975
Comoros	September 21, 1976
Guinea-Bissau	March 24, 1977
Seychelles	June 30, 1977
São Tomé and Príncipe	September 30, 1977
Maldives	January 13, 1978
Suriname	April 27, 1978
Solomon Islands	September 22, 1978
Cape Verde	November 20, 1978
Dominica	December 12, 1978
Djibouti	December 29, 1978
St. Lucia	November 15, 1979
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	December 28, 1979
Zimbabwe	September 29, 1980
Bhutan	September 28, 1981
Vanuatu	September 28, 1981
Antigua and Barbuda	February 25, 1982
Belize	March 16, 1982
Hungary	May 6, 1982
St. Kitts and Nevis	August 15, 1984
Mozambique	September 24, 1984
Tonga	September 13, 1985
Kiribati	June 3, 1986
Poland1,6	June 12, 1986
Angola	September 19, 1989
Yemen, Republic of10	May 22, 1990 7
(Czechoslovakia)1,2,3	(September 20, 1990)
Bulgaria	September 25, 1990
Namibia	September 25, 1990
Mongolia	February 14, 1991
Albania	October 15, 1991
Lithuania	April 29, 1992
Georgia	May 5, 1992
Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan)	May 8, 1992
Latvia	May 19, 1992
Marshall Islands	May 21, 1992
Estonia	May 26, 1992
Armenia	May 28, 1992
Switzerland	May 29, 1992
Russian Federation	June 1, 1992
Belarus	July 10, 1992
Kazakhstan	July 15, 1992
Moldova	August 12, 1992
Ukraine	September 3, 1992
Azerbaijan	September 18, 1992
Uzbekistan	September 21, 1992
Turkmenistan	September 22, 1992
San Marino	September 23, 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina5	December 14, 1992
Croatia5	December 14, 1992
Macedonia, former Yugoslav Republic of5	December 14, 1992
Slovenia5	December 14, 1992
Serbia5	December 14, 1992
Czech Republic3	January 1, 1993
Slovak Republic3	January 1, 1993
Tajikistan	April 27, 1993
Micronesia, Federated States of	June 24, 1993
Eritrea	July 6, 1994
Brunei Darussalam	October 10, 1995
Palau	December 16, 1997
Timor-Leste (East Timor)	July 23, 2002
Montenegro5	January 18, 2007
Kosovo	June 29, 2009
Tuvalu(187th)	June 24, 2010
South sudan(188)	April,2012

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released United Nations Millenium Development Goal 2012. Report on 2 July 2012. The report noted that three important targets on poverty, slums and water have already been met three years ahead of 2015, the target year.

On the front of poverty, the report stated 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 regionincluding sub‐Saharan Africa, where rates are highest. Preliminary estimates indicate that in 2010, the share of people living on less than a 1.25 dollar a day dropped to less than half of its 1990 value.

The target of providing clean drinking water to a substantial population of the world also saw a considerable achievement as the proportion of people using improved water sources rose from 76 per cent in 1990 to 89 per cent in 2010, which means more than two billion people across the world today have the access to sources of clean drinking water.

In developing world the share of urban population living in slums came down to 33 per cent in 2000 from 39 per cent in 2000.

The millennium development goal asserted that the developing countries have also marked considerable achievements in education as many more of the world’s children are enrolled in school at the primary level, especially since 2000. Girls have benefited the most.

On the front of AIDS control, the developing countries have achieved tremendous fate as at the end of 2012 nearly 6.5 million people in the developing countries were receiving the antiretroviral therapy for HIV AIDS.

What is UN Millenium Development Goal?
The UN Millenium Development Goal Report presents the most comprehensive global assessment of progress to date, based on data provided by a large number of international organizations within and outside the United Nations system. The aggregate figures in the report provide an overview of regional progress under the eight goals and are a convenient way to track advances over time. The report is coordinated and published by the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The Millenium Development Goal has its origin in the Millennium Declaration produced by the United Nations following the Millennium Summit in 2000. The Declaration asserts that every individual has the right to dignity, freedom, equality, a basic standard of living that includes freedom from hunger and violence, and encourages tolerance and solidarity. In order to achieve its target of providing every individual a basic standard of living along with freedom, equality, the member nations had adopted the Eight goals which has to be achieved by 2015. The eight areas which comprises the UN Millenium Development Goal are as follows:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

UN CHARTER WAS ADOPTED  AT SAN FRANCISCO IN JUNE 1945
INDIA WAS ADMITTED TO THE UNO IN  1945
THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL OF UNO WAS ESTABLISHED TO MANAGE THE AFFAIRS OF TERRITORIES DETACHED FROM JAPAN ITALY AFTER SECOND WORLD WAR OR SUCH TERRITORIES NOT UNDER THE CONTROL OF A COUNTRY AT THAT TIME











As per the recently released World Investment Report 2012, by
UNCTAD, India is ______most attractive investment destination of the world.
Choose the correct option to fill the blank space. [A]First [B]Second [C]Third [D]Fifth
Third As per the World Investment Report 2012 by United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development, India has emerged as the third most attractive investment
destination after China and the US for global companies

 The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is an alliance driven by the vision of a world without malnutrition. Created in 2002 at a Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Children, 

GAIN receives funding from a number of organizations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), The Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).GAIN is a Swiss foundation headquartered in Geneva with a special international status granted by the Swiss government. Its worldwide presence includes an office in Washington D.C. as well as regional and country representatives in Johannesburg, New Delhi, Cairo, Nairobi, Kabul and Shanghai to support its activities.

The Bretton Woods system, introduced in 1945, eventually
broke down in 1971




United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, a national of Brazil, as Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) data for 150 countries over 40 years showed that India and China are the only two countries in the world where female infant mortality is higher than male infant mortality in the 2000s.
India was found to be the most dangerous place in the world to be a baby girl. The data revealed that an Indian girl child aged 1-5 years is 75% more likely to die than an Indian boy, making this the worst gender differential in child mortality for any country in the world.

Infant (0-1 years) and child (1-5 years) mortality were noticed to be declining in India and across the world. It was observed that most of the world was experiencing a faster fall in female infant and child mortality than in male, on account of well established biological factors which make girls better survivors of early infancy given equal access to resources. India and China were exceptions in this regard.

As per the report there are 76 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths in China compared with 122 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths in the developing world as a whole.

India was observed to have a better infant mortality sex ratio than China, with 97 male infant deaths for every 100 female. However the figure was still not in tune with the global trend, or with its neighbours Sri Lanka (125) or Pakistan (120).

India is the worst performer when it comes to child mortality sex ratio. In the 2000s, there were 56 male child deaths for every 100 female, compared with 111 in the developing world. This ratio got progressively worse since the 1970s in India, even as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Iraq improved.

The UN report

The report explained high girl child mortality by socio-cultural values. According to the report, so strong is the biological advantage for girls in early childhood that higher mortality among girls ought to be seen as powerful warning that differential treatment or access to resources is putting girls at a disadvantage.

Higher female mortality from age 1 onwards indicated sustained discrimination. Neglect and discrimination was found to be in three areas: food and nutrition, healthcare and emotional wellbeing. Of these, neglect of the healthcare of the girl child wasobserved to be the most direct determinant of mortality.

Earlier studies had shown that health-related neglect may involve waiting longer before taking a sick girl to a doctor than a sick boy, and is also reflected in lower rates of immunization for girls than boys.

the UN data on child mortality indicated that a campaign against female foeticide alone is not a complete solution. The report highlighted that pre-natal and post-natal discrimination were complementarily contributing to gender imbalance. As per the UN study, while pre-natal discrimination in the form of sexselective abortions is more common among better educated upper income households, post-natal discrimination or neglect is more common among poorer, less educated rural households.

U.N. to India: ‘Repeal AFSPA’
The United Nations has called for a repeal of the Indian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, holding that
it has no role to play in a democracy.
Christof Heyns, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions held that
‘the AFSPA in effect allows the state to override rights in the disturbed areas in a much intrusive way
than would be the case under a state of emergency, since the right to life is in effect suspended, and this
is done without the safeguards applicable to states of emergency"
UN held that the repeal of AFSPA will not only bring domestic law more in line with international standards, but also
send out a powerful message that in place of a military approach the Government of India is devoted to value for the
right to life of all people of the country.
AFSPA is in force since 1957 in the North-East and since 1990 in Jammu and Kashmir.








India stands ground on UN resolution
India made clear to Sri Lanka that it will go by domestic opinion in voting at the UN Human
Rights Council on the US-initiated resolution. Sri Lanka held that India should not vote in
favour of the resolution because of its cordial and strong relations with Colombo. Sri Lanka
pointed out that it was facing a tough situation because of the resolution and that any
decision by India to vote against it would prove divisive.
India asked his Sri Lanka to look into the recommendations made by the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on
“Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation”. The resolution against Sri Lanka at the Council seeks implementation of the
report. Sri Lanka raised its concern over the PM Dr. Manmohan Singh’s statement in Parliament a few days back in
which he held that India was inclined to vote for the resolution if it helped give the Tamils in Sri Lanka equality,
justice and self-respect.






India gives over US $4 million to UNDEF
Over US $4 million contributes by India to the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF). Thus, India’s
total contribution to UNDEF is now $30 million since the Fund was launched in 2005.
UNDEF was launched in 2005 by Indian PM Manmohan Singh, the then US President George Bush and former UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York in for furtherance of democratic values. India is the second largest
contributor to the UNDEF. At the origin of the fund, India had contributed US$10 million followed by contributions of
US$ five million each in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Objective: UNDEF supports projects that reinforce the voice of civil society, encourage human rights and promote
contribution of all groups in democratic processes. Since its foundation, UNDEF has funded about 400 projects in over
100 countries, bringing total disbursal to about US $ 110 mn.







Myanmar: UN to assist in Population Census
UN to assist Myanmar in its process to conduct population census
The United Nations will assist Myanmar in conducting its population census by 2014, the first population census in 30 years. The population ministry of Myanmar has essayed an advice from the UN Fund for Population Activities for
holding the census. Deputy Minister Mr.U.K.K. Win has been named as chairman of the central census committee.
Myanmar’s population grew by 2.02% b/w 1998-2006. As per the Official figures, in October 2011, its population stood
at 60.38 million. Before this the last census of Mynmar was conducted in 1983 when the population of Myanmar was
34.12 million.










UN Human Rights Council approves for an investigation into Houla
Killings in Syria
The UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) approved an investigation into the mass killing of civilians at Houla,
Syria. UNHRC also objurgated Syria for the mass murder of about 100 civilians. UNHRC, the 47-nation body sanctioned
the resolution with 41 votes in favour and 3 against it. This was the fourth emergency session meeting called by
UNHRC in order to discuss the situation Syria.
The UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) approved an investigation into the mass killing of civilians at Houla,
Syria. UNHRC also objurgated Syria for the mass murder of about 100 civilians. UNHRC, the 47-nation body sanctioned
the resolution with 41 votes in favour and 3 against it. This was the fourth emergency session meeting called by
UNHRC in order to discuss the situation Syria.
Houla: Located in the north of the city Homs in Syria.
What was the stance of various nations on this resolution by UNHRC (including India)?
 Russia, China and Cuba voted against the U.S.-backed resolution.
 2 countries abstained and one member did not vote.
 India voted in favour of the UNHRC resolution.









Kofi Annan resigns as the UN special envoy to Syria
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan quit as the UN special envoy to Syria. He was appointed to the position to
explore for the peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis and secure a peaceful transition of the rule. He failed to
accomplish his task. Besides, he also failed to bring all the super powers on one platform as Russia and China vetoed
the western plan of peace in Syria.
Kofi Annan had suggested a 6-point peace plan to halt violence in the Syria. The 6 points :
· Collaboration with international envoy to secure peaceful political change in the country by taking into account of the
legitimate aspirations and concerns of Syrian people.
· End to violence by all sides; army troops to stop using heavy weapons and withdraw to barracks.
· Permission for humanitarian assistance particularly for the areas worst hit by violence
· Release of detainees who were detained arbitrarily by the present government
· Ensuring freedom of movement for journalists
· Permission to the citizens for peaceful demonstrations








Indian GDP to crawl at 6.7% in 2012: UN
The UN hewed down its growth predictions for India for the year 2012 by predicting a 6.7% growth rate rather than a
7.7% rise estimated earlier. UN declared Eurozone Debt Crisis as the biggest threat to the world economy. As per UN:-
 Global economy to grow by 2.5% in 2012 and 3.1% in 2013. It registered growth of 2.7% in 2011
Current Affairs Published on www.gktoday.in from January 1, 2012 to
September 10, 2012
 Most of the world economies are likely to expand at a rate below potential
 South Asian economy to perform moderately with 5.6% growth in 2012, sliding down from 6.1% in 2011
 Indian economy is predicted to expand by 6.7% in 2012, after expanding by 7.1% in 2011
 Debilitating demand in developed countries and a slowing Chinese economy may impact economic growth in
East Asia.
 Average regional growth is likely to slow from 7.1% in 2011 to 6.5% in 2012.
 China’s growth to decline from 9.2% in 2011 to 8.3% in 2012







Lakhdar Brahimi: New joint special representative of UN and Arab
League for Syria
Former Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has been appointed as the new joint special representative of the UN and
the League of Arab States. Brahimi will replace Kofi Annan, who had resigned from the position.





UN appreciates India for being on track to reduce poverty
United Nations highly praised India for being on path to lessen its poverty by half in four years from
now.
As per the latest UN report on Millennium Development Goals (MDG) India's poverty rate is
projected to fall to 22% by 2015 from 51% in 1990








UN Women unveiled South Asia's first virtual
knowledge hub in India
2012-10-06 03:10:26 Puneet
UN Women unveiled South Asia's 1st virtual knowledge hub in India.
What is UN Women?
UN Women is a UN organization established in 2010 with the aim to
promote for gender parity and women empowerment.
What are the goals of UN Women?
Major objectives of UN women are:
§ To help inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of
Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
§ To assist UN member states implement the required standards, provide suitable
technical and financial help to those countries that request it and to build effective
partnerships with civil society.
§ To facilitate member states to hold the UN system accountable for its own
commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide
progress.
What will the Virtual Centre for Women do?
The Virtual center for women will work online that will provide a common platform to
the women representatives living in rural areas to share their problems and
experiences. It will be first of its kind in the world which will function in 9 different
languages and empower women through audio visual applications. It will boost up
their leadership quality. The centre will also have Interactive mobile technology and
community radio.





Shahid Afridi appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador against drug abuse
 Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi has been appointed United Nations Goodwill Ambassador on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) for a two-year period.
 Shahid Afridi will speak out against drug abuse and promote healthy living through sports in his new role as
National Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.





UN appeals for $1.28 bn to fund its 2012 humanitarian operations
 United Nations makes an appeal for 1.28 billion dollars to fund its 2012 humanitarian operations in more than 25
countries.
 One third of this total amount is needed for crisis in Somalia and across the Horn of Africa.