A drive to create a common set of standards and a certification scheme for humanitarian organisations has received a mixed welcome.

ICT has a major role in women’s empowerment, but issues such as the rural-urban divide need attention, an international meet heard.

GM crops in the Philippines have had a setback as a court rules out more fieldwork on pest-resistant Bt eggplant.

Lower birth rates are driven by economic development and factors such as education for women and a diversified workforce, says a study.

Through a new US$100 million research fund, Japan will help finance the search for drugs to target the world's deadliest diseases.

South Asia could retrofit its existing brick kilns as a first step to modernising a sooty, coal-burning industry.

Controversy dogs India's planned neutrino lab in the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot with known seismicity.

Researchers are calling for regulation of groundwater use in Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula to prevent a future crisis.

A dispute over a fresh deal to allow the least developed nations to bypass intellectual property rights could hit development efforts.

Better data and governance of global water resources are called for in a bid to get water security into the post-2015 development goals.

A study reveals a link between urbanisation and malaria, raising hope that cities sprouting in developing nations will help reduce malaria.

Development experts from the world's least developed countries have launched an independent group to bring local concerns to the UN debating table.

Nepal sees waste-to-energy projects as a way to meet energy demand and also manage waste.

A new entity of the Mexican Presidency will seek to ensure increased budget for science, technology and innovation.

A conference fails to address the use of chemicals to disable civilians, as indications of chemical weapons' use in Syria emerge.

Female researchers in Arab nations are being hampered by a lack of support from research bodies and male scientists, a conference has heard.

A game and two other mobile apps that help citizens tackle local sanitation problems have won a World Bank-funded technology competition.

The economic value of drylands from such things as farming and tourism is far greater in developing than developed nations, a study reveals.

India hopes to boost biotech research in health, nutrition and agriculture through official awards.