United Nations

UNICEF India head Cynthia McCaffery has stressed on developing cities that are safe, accessible and friendly for children and youth.
Clean air, green spaces and a safe environment benefit not only children but the entire community, McCaffrey said.
She participated in the Urban 20 (U20) Mayoral Summit held in Gujarat's Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad cities on July 7 and 8, as part of India's G20 presidency, where discussions were held on the future of cities of the world.
"More than 56 per cent of the population currently lives in urban areas. Estimates suggest that 70 per cent of the global population will live in cities by 2050, adding an additional 2.5 billion people to the urban population mostly in Asia and Africa. This means that there will be more than 1.6 billion children living in urban areas by 2050, McCaffery said.
Every week, around 1.4 million people move to urban areas worldwide and many of the people will find themselves living in temporary and informal settlements, she ..

UNICEF India's chief of health Luigi d'Aquino

India has identified digital health as one of its top priorities and has gained excellent expertise in developing and implementing digital health programmes, said UNICEF India's chief of health Luigi d'Aquino on Tuesday.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the world realise the potential of digital services in improving the availability, accessibility and efficiency of many health programmes, through various applications and initiatives, d'Aquino, who is attending the second G20 Health Working Group meeting, told PTI.
According to him, while considerable progress has been made, the digital health space is evolving fast and many challenges and opportunities need to be explored and addressed. Nevertheless, the evolving tools, vision, and strategies have made it easier for citizens to access digital health services, he said.
"For instance, the CoWin app has enabled millions of people to access COVID-19 vaccines while telemedicine has provided essential care to many citizens when access to .

child marriage

The West Bengal government in collaboration with UNICEF will form child-friendly sanghas' (clusters), comprising members of self-help groups, to curb child marriage and teenage pregnancy in the state, which is the highest in the country.
To stop these twin menaces, the state government and UNICEF have planned, as a pilot project, to form 110 child-friendly sanghas' in the next six months in 87 blocks in all 23 districts of the state, a UNICEF release said here.
"This initiative is aimed at addressing the issues that affect the lives of SHG members and their family members," Vibhu Goel, State Mission Director and CEO of West Bengal State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM), said at the end of a validation workshop held here on Friday.
West Bengal is at the top in cases of child marriage and teenage pregnancy, according to a National Family Health Survey report.
As per the data available, after the National Family Health Survey-5 was conducted in 2019-20, a total 41.6 per cent of women a

Ashwin Yardi, CEO, Capgemini India

The YuWaah board would now function as a decision-making body and support the YuWaah Secretariat for funding and functional expertise, a statement by UNICEF said

schools, children

It unveiled a symbolic 'Pandemic Classroom' installation in New Delhi

Image via Shutterstock

More than 371,500 babies were born worldwide on New Year's Day and India is estimated to have recorded the highest number of births at around 60,000, according to the UN's children's agency

Unicef India expresses concern over changes made in child labour law

The UN body says, it could lead to more children working in unregulated conditions

Stocks to watch on Thursday, September 28 2023: Telecom stocks too may see some action after Trai data for July showed considerable new subscriber additions for Jio and Airtel; and loss of market shar

BSE, stock market, sensex

Closing Bell on September 28, 2023: 
Tech M, which sank 4 per cent, was the top laggard on the benchmarks after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to 'underweight'

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Vedanta Ltd.'s parent, Vedanta Resources, will remain the holding company, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing and no final decisions on the structure or timing of the de-merger have been made

Vedanta refinery

As markets anticipate inclusion of the debt in other indexes, including the Bloomberg Global Aggregate, the flows could rise to $50 billion by the end of next year

ICICI Bank

RBI says widening due to higher trade deficit, lower surplus in net services and decline in private transfer receipts

current account deficit

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Trade talks

According to Ravi Nathani, an independent technical analyst, one should adopt a 'Buy on Dips' strategy for Nifty Private Bank index, while a 'Sell on Rise' strategy in case of the PSU Bank index.

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Former bureaucrat Amit Khare was on Monday given extension as advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Personnel Ministry order said.
He was appointed to the post for two years in October 2021.
Khare, a 1985-batch (retired) Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Jharkhand cadre, had superannuated on September 30, 2021. He last served as the higher education secretary.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the extension in Khare's tenure, on contract basis on the usual terms and conditions as are applicable in the case of re-employed officers of secretary-level in the government of India, beyond October 12, 2023 for a period "co-terminus with the term of Prime Minister", the order said.
In another order, the ACC has approved the extension in tenure of Rajesh S Gokhale as secretary, Department of Biotechnology, for a period of two years -- with effect from November 1, 2023.

Amit Khare

NGOs registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA) will now have to provide details of moveable and immovable assets created by them using foreign funds.
The need for mandatory declaration of assets by the NGOs by the end of every financial year (March 31) came after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday issued a gazette notification modifying the rules that govern the NGOs which receive foreign funding.
According to the law, all NGOs receiving foreign contributions have to be registered under the FCRA.
The MHA made the changes in the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules, 2010, by inserting two clauses -- (ba) details of movable assets created out of foreign contribution (as on March 31 of financial year) and (bb) details of immovable assets created out of foreign contribution (as on March 31 of financial year) -- in Form FC-4.
Form FC-4 is filled by NGOs and associations granted FCRA licences for filing their annual returns.
The MHA also decided to exte

Foreign funds

The Biden administration announced Monday that it is offering a $2 billion loan to Poland, which has been a hub for weapons going into Ukraine, to support the ally's defense modernisation.
The State Department said in a statement that Poland is a stalwart ally of the U.S. whose security is vital to the collective defense of NATO 's eastern flank, and that such funding is reserved for Washington's most important security partners.
The U.S. government is also providing Warsaw up to $60 million for the cost of the loan in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) which would support urgent procurements of defense articles and services from the United States, the State Department said. The $60 million is a loan subsidy meant to ensure that Warsaw can secure favourable terms for the loan.
Poland has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of the country, handing over large numbers of its own tanks, fighter jets and other equipment. It has also been a hub for most of

poland flag

International credit agency Moody's Investors Service has made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar without citing any evidence, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said on Monday.
The UIDAI issued a strong rebuttal to Moody's Investors Service which claimed that the Aadhaar system often results in service denials and the reliability of biometric technologies, especially for manual labourers, in hot and humid climates is questionable.
"A certain investor service has, without citing any evidence or basis, made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar, the most trusted digital ID in the world. Over the last decade, over a billion Indians have expressed their trust in Aadhaar by using it to authenticate themselves over 100 billion times," the UIDAI said in a statement.
The unique id Aadhaar's custodian said that the report in question does not cite either primary or secondary data or research in support of the opinions presented in it.
"The investor service did not make any

Adhaar, UIDAI

Is inflation hurting FMCG companies' pockets? Can Indian e-gaming survive the tax demand? Is it time to book profit in real estate stocks? Why has the Cauvery dispute flared up again? Answers here

A (then) pan-masala chomping man notorious for putting down management theories, strategic thinking, and all the stuff that agencies thought was going to save them

Piyush Pandey

Tata Steel on Thursday said it has signed an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation Limited and its business associate to further reduce carbon footprint at its Ferro Alloys plant.
The agreement encompasses LPG supply, installation of LPG facilities, and the operation and maintenance of the same at the company's Ferro Alloys Plants in Gopalpur of Ganjam and Athagarh of Cuttack districts in Odisha, the steel major said in a statement.
Tata Steel has decided to transition from Furnace Oil and High-Speed Diesel to a more sustainable fuel option - Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) in response to the pressing environmental concerns and the global imperative to reduce carbon emissions.
This eco-friendly move is expected to bring about a considerable reduction in carbon emissions, it said.
Tata Steel's Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division Executive-In-Charge Pankaj Satija said, "The agreement, which is a part of our sustainability initiatives, will help us in reducing the carbon footprint at our

tata steelwork, tata, tata group

Normal life is likely to be affected, especially in the southern part of the state, with pro-Kannada and farmers' organisations calling for Karnataka Bandh' on Friday to protest the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Kannada Okkuta', an umbrella organisation for Kannada outfits including factions of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Kannada Chalavali (Vatal Paksha) and various farmers' bodies have given a call for the statewide dawn-to-dusk shutdown.
There will be a massive protest procession from Town Hall to Freedom Park in the city, in which people from all walks of life are likely to participate, the organisers said.
They have said that the bandh is for the entire Karnataka and that they will try to shut highways, toll gates, rail services, and also airports.
The opposition BJP and JD(S) too have extended their support to the bandh, as also hotels, autorickshaws and hail riders associations in Karnataka.
"Autorickshaw Drivers' Union and Ola Uber Drivers and Owners' Association .

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India's top 75 brands have a combined brand value of $379 billion, a decline of 4 per cent from 2022

Indian Army's Regiment of Artillery is looking to use the expertise of Indian Industry to produce 155 mm/52 calibre Towed Gun System

UNICEF India

UNICEF India head Cynthia McCaffery bats for child-friendly, safe cities

India identified digital health as top priority, gained expertise: UNICEF

WB govt, UNICEF rope in SHGs to stop child marriage, teenage pregnancy

Capgemini CEO Ashwin Yardi appointed UNICEF's YuWaah board co-chair

UNICEF India calls for urgent action for safe reopening of schools

India records highest number of babies born on New Year's Day: UNICEF

Unicef India expresses concern over changes made in child labour law