States and territories

The 28 states and 7 union territories of India

States:

8. Haryana
1. Andhra Pradesh 9. Himachal 22. Rajasthan
15. Maharashtra
2. Arunachal Pradesh 23. Sikkim
16. Manipur
Pradesh 10. Jammu and 24. Tamil Nadu
17. Meghalaya
3. Assam Kashmir 25. Tripura
18. Mizoram
4. Bihar 11. Jharkhand 26. Uttar
19. Nagaland
5. Chhattisgarh 12. Karnataka Pradesh
20. Orissa
6. Goa 13. Kerala 27. Uttarakhand
21. Punjab
7. Gujarat 14. Madhya 28. West Bengal
Pradesh

Union Territories:

A. Andaman and Nicobar Islands

B. Chandigarh
C. Dadra and Nagar Haveli
D. Daman and Diu
E. Lakshadweep
F. National Capital Territory of Delhi

G. Puducherry
 Year of
State or UT Administrative Legislative Judiciary Former
establishment
capital capital capital capital
Andaman
and Nicobar Port Blair — Kolkata 1956 —
Islands
Hyderaba
d
(Hyderaba
Andhra Hyderaba
Hyderabad Hyderabad 1956 d State),
Pradesh d
Kurnool
(Andhra
State)[1]
Arunachal
Itanagar Itanagar Guwahati 1972 —
Pradesh
Shillong[2]
Assam Dispur Guwahati Guwahati 1975 (1874-
1972)
Bihar Patna Patna Patna 1912 —
Chandigar
Chandigarh Chandigarh[3] — 1966 —
h
Chattisgarh Raipur Raipur Bilaspur 2000 —
Dadra and
Nagar Silvassa — Mumbai 1941 —
Haveli
Daman and
Daman — Mumbai 1987 —
Diu
National
Capital
Delhi Delhi Delhi 1952 —
Territory of
Delhi
Goa Panaji[4] Porvorim Mumbai 1961 —
Ahmedaba (1960-
Gujarat Gandhinagar Gandhinagar 1970
d 1970)
Chandigar
Haryana Chandigarh Chandigarh 1966 —
h
Himachal
Shimla Shimla Shimla 1948 —
Pradesh
• Srinagar (S) • Srinagar (S)
Jammu and
Srinagar 1948 —
Kashmir
• Jammu (W) • Jammu (W)
Jharkhand Ranchi Ranchi Ranchi 2000 —
Karnataka Bengaluru Bengaluru Bengaluru 1956 Mysore
Kerala Thiruvananthapur Thiruvananthapur Ernakula 1956 —
 am am m
Lakshadwe Ernakula
Kavaratti — 1956 —
ep m
Nagpur[5]
Madhya
Bhopal Bhopal Jabalpur 1956 (1861-
Pradesh
1956)
Mumbai[6] • Mumbai (S+B)
Maharashtr 1818
Mumbai —
a 1960
• Nagpur (W/2nd)[7] • Nagpur (W)[8]
Manipur Imphal Imphal Guwahati 1947 —
Meghalaya Shillong Shillong Guwahati 1970 —
Mizoram Aizawl Aizawl Guwahati 1972 —
Nagaland Kohima Kohima Guwahati 1963 —
Cuttack
Orissa Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar Cuttack 1948 (1936-
1948)
Puducherry Puducherry Puducherry Chennai 1954 —
• Lahore[9]
(1936-
1947)
Chandigar
Punjab Chandigarh Chandigarh 1966
h
• Shimla
(1947-
1966)
Rajasthan Jaipur Jaipur Jodhpur 1948 —
Sikkim Gangtok[10] Gangtok Gangtok 1975 —
Tamil Nadu Chennai[11] Chennai Chennai 1956 —
Tripura Agartala Agartala Guwahati 1956 —
Uttar
Lucknow Lucknow Allahabad 1937 —
Pradesh
Uttarakhan
Dehradun[12] Dehradun Nainital 2000 —
d
West
Kolkata Kolkata Kolkata 1947 —
Bengal

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is an apex

development bank in India based in Mumbai, Maharashtra.[3] It has been accredited with
"matters concerning policy, planning and operations in the field of credit for agriculture
and other economic activities in rural areas in India".

Contents
[hide]
 1 History
 2 Role
 3 Rural Innovation
 4 References

 5 External links

[edit] History
NABARD was established on the recommendations of Shivaraman Committee, by an act
of Parliament on 12 July 1982 to implement the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development Act 1981. It replaced the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural
Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and Agricultural Refinance
and Development Corporation (ARDC). It is one of the premiere agencies to provide
credit in rural areas.

[edit] Role
NABARD:

1. serves as an apex financing agency for the institutions providing investment and
production credit for promoting the various developmental activities in rural areas
2. takes measures towards institution building for improving absorptive capacity of
the credit delivery system, including monitoring, formulation of rehabilitation
schemes, restructuring of credit institutions, training of personnel, etc.
3. co-ordinates the rural financing activities of all institutions engaged in
developmental work at the field level and maintains liaison with Government of
India, State Governments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other national level
institutions concerned with policy formulation
4. undertakes monitoring and evaluation of projects refinanced by it.

NABARD's refinance is available to State Co-operative Agriculture and Rural

Development Banks (SCARDBs), State Co-operative Banks (SCBs), Regional Rural
Banks (RRBs), Commercial Banks (CBs) and other financial institutions approved by
RBI. While the ultimate beneficiaries of investment credit can be individuals, partnership
concerns, companies, State-owned corporations or co-operative societies, production
credit is generally given to individuals.

NABARD has its head office at Mumbai, India

NABARD operates throughout the country through its 28 Regional Offices and one Sub-
office, located in the capitals of all the states/union territories.Each Regional Office[RO]
has a Chief General Manager [CGMs] as its head, and the Head office has several Top
executives like the Executive Directors[ED], Managing Directors[MD], and the
Chairperson.It has 336 District Offices across the country, one Sub-office at Port Blair
and one special cell at Srinagar. It also has 6 training establishments.

NABARD is also known for its 'SHG Bank Linkage Programme' which encourages
India's banks to lend to self-help groups (SHGs). Because SHGs are composed mainly of
poor women, this has evolved into an important Indian tool for microfinance. As of
March 2006 2.2 million SHGs representing 33 million members had to been linked to
credit through this programme..[4]

[edit] Rural Innovation

NABARD's role in rural development in India is phenomenal.[5] National Bank For
Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) is set up as an apex Development Bank
by the Government of India with a mandate for facilitating credit flow for promotion and
development of agriculture, cottage and village industries. The credit flow to agriculture
activities sanctioned by NABARD reached Rs 1,574,800 million in 2005-2006. The
overall GDP is estimated to grow at 8.4 per cent. The Indian economy as a whole is
poised for higher growth in the coming years. Role of NABARD in overall development
of India in general and rural & agricultural in specific is highly pivotal.

Through assistance of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, NABARD set up
the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund. Under the RIDF scheme Rs. 512830 million
have been sanctioned for 2,44,651 projects covering irrigation, rural roads and bridges,
healthy and education, soil conservation, water schemes etc. Rural Innovation Fund is a
fund designed to support innovative, risk friendly, unconventional experiments in these
sectors that would have the potential to promote livelihood opportunities and
employment in rural areas.[6] The assistance is extended to Individuals, NGOs,
Cooperatives, Self Help Group, and Panchayati Raj Institutions who have the expertise
and willingness to implement innovative ideas for improving the quality of life in rural
areas. Through member base of 250 million, 600000 cooperatives are working in India at
grass root level in almost every sector of economy. There are linkages between SHG and
other type institutes with that of cooperatives.

The very purpose of RIDF is to promote innovation in rural & agricultural sector through
viable means. Effectiveness of the program depends upon many factors, but the type of
organization to which the assistance is extended is crucial one in generating, executing
ideas in optimum commercial way. Cooperative is member driven formal organization
for socio-economic purpose, while SHG is informal one. NGO have more of social color
while that of PRI is political one. Does the legal status of an institute influences
effectiveness of the program? How & to what an extent? Cooperative type of
organization is better (Financial efficiency & effectiveness) in functioning (agriculture &
rural sector) compared to NGO, SHG & PRIs.[7]

Recently in 2007-08, NABARD has started a new direct lending facility under 'Umbrella
Programme for Natural Resource Management' (UPNRM). Under this facility financial
support for natural resource management activities can be provided as a loan at
reasonable rate of interest. Already 35 projects have been sanctioned involving loan
amount of about Rs 1000 million. The sanctioned projects include honey collection by
tribals in Maharashtra, tussar value chain by a women producer company ('MASUTA'),
eco-tourism in Karnataka[8] etc. [9]

Securities and Exchange Board of India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Securities and Exchange Board of India
SEBI

SEBI Bhavan, Mumbai headquarters

Agency overview
Formed April 12, 1992
Jurisdiction Government of India
Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra
Employees 525 (2009)[1]
Agency executive C B Bhave, Chairman
Website
www.sebi.gov.in

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (frequently abbreviated SEBI) is the
regulator for the securities market in India. It was formed officially by the Government of
India in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being passed by the Indian Parliament. Chaired by C B
Bhave, SEBI is headquartered in the popular business district of Bandra-Kurla complex
in Mumbai, and has Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western regional offices in New
Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Contents
[hide]
 1 Organization structure
 2 Functions and responsibilities
 3 Notes
 4 See also

 5 External links

[edit] Organization structure

Chandrasekhar Bhaskar Bhave is the sixth chairman of the Securities Market Regulator.
Prior to taking charge as Chairman SEBI, he had been the chairman of NSDL (National
Securities Depository Limited) ushering in paperless securities. Prior to his stint at
NSDL, he had served SEBI as a Senior Executive Director. He is a former Indian
Administrative Service officer of the 1975 batch.

The Board comprises[2]

Name Designation As per

CHAIRMAN (S.4(1)(a) of the SEBI
CB Bhave Chairman SEBI
Act, 1992)
Joint Secretary, Ministry of Member (S.4(1)(b) of the SEBI Act,
KP Krishnan
Finance 1992)
Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Member (S.4(1)(b) of the SEBI Act,
Anurag Goel
Affairs 1992)
Dr G Mohan Director, National Judicial Member (S.4(1)(d) of the SEBI Act,
Gopal Academy, Bhopal 1992)
Member (S.4(1)(d) of the SEBI Act,
MS Sahoo Whole Time Member, SEBI
1992)
Dr KM Member (S.4(1)(d) of the SEBI Act,
Whole Time Member, SEBI
Abraham 1992)
Member (S.4(1)(d) of the SEBI Act,
Mohandas Pai Director, Infosys
1992)
Member (S.4(1)(d) of the SEBI Act,
Prashant Saran Whole Time Member, SEBI
1992)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI, Hindi: भारतीय रिज़र्व बैंक) is the central banking
system of India and controls the monetary policy of the rupee as well as US$287.37
billion (2009) of currency reserves. The institution was established on 1 April 1935
during the British-Raj in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India
Act, 1934 [1] and plays an important part in the development strategy of the government.
It is a member bank of the Asian Clearing Union.

Contents
[hide]
 1 History
o 1.1 1935 - 1950
o 1.2 1950 - 1960
o 1.3 1960 - 1969
o 1.4 1969–1985
o 1.5 1985–1991
o 1.6 1991–2000
o 1.7 since 2000
 2 Structure
o 2.1 Central Board of Directors
o 2.2 Governors
o 2.3 Supportive bodies
o 2.4 Offices and branches
 3 Main Functions
o 3.1 Monetary Authority
o 3.2 Manager of exchange control
o 3.3 Issuer of currency
o 3.4 Developmental role
o 3.5 Related functions
 4 Further reading
 5 External links

 6 References

[edit] History
[edit] 1935 - 1950

The central bank was founded in 1935 to respond to economic troubles after the first
world war.[2] The Reserve Bank of India was set up on the recommendations of the
Hilton Young Commission. The commission submitted its report in the year 1926,
though the bank was not set up for another nine years. The Preamble of the Reserve Bank
of India describes the basic functions of the Reserve Bank as to regulate the issue of bank
notes, to keep reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally
to operate the currency and credit system in the best interests of the country. The Central
Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Kolkata, Bengal, but was
permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The Reserve Bank continued to act as the central
bank for Myanmar till Japanese occupation of Burma and later up to April 1947, though
Burma seceded from the Indian Union in 1937. After partition, the Reserve Bank served
as the central bank for Pakistan until June 1948 when the State Bank of Pakistan
commenced operations. Though originally set up as a shareholders’ bank, the RBI has
been fully owned by the government of India since its nationalization in 1949.[3]

[edit] 1950 - 1960

Between 1950 and 1960, the Indian government developed a centrally planned economic
policy and focused on the agricultural sector. The administration nationalized commercial
banks[4] and established, based on the Banking Companies Act, 1949 (later called Banking
Regulation Act) a central bank regulation as part of the RBI. Furthermore, the central
bank was ordered to support the economic plan with loans.[5]

[edit] 1960 - 1969

As a result of bank crashes, the reserve bank was requested to establish and monitor a
deposit insurance system. It should restore the trust in the national bank system and was
initialized on 7 December 1961. The Indian government founded funds to promote the
economy and used the slogan Developing Banking. The Gandhi administration and their
successors restructured the national bank market and nationalized a lot of institutes.[6] As
a result, the RBI had to play the central part of control and support of this public banking
sector.[7]---rp

[edit] 1969–1985

Between 1969 and 1980 the Indian government nationalized 20 banks. The regulation of
the economy and especially the financial sector was reinforced by the Gandhi
administration and their successors in the 1970s and 1980s.[6] The central bank became
the central player and increased its policies for a lot of tasks like interests, reserve ratio
and visible deposits.[7] The measures aimed at better economic development and had a
huge effect on the company policy of the institutes. The banks lent money in selected
sectors, like agri-business and small trade companies.[8]

The branch was forced to establish two new offices in the country for every newly
established office in a town.[9] The oil crises in 1973 resulted in increasing inflation, and
the RBI restricted monetary policy to reduce the effects.[10]

[edit] 1985–1991

A lot of committees analysed the Indian economy between 1985 and 1991. Their results
had an effect on the RBI. The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, the
Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research and the Security & Exchange Board of
India investigated the national economy as a whole, and the security and exchange board
proposed better methods for more effective markets and the protection of investor
interests. The Indian financial market was a leading example for so-called "financial
repression" (Mackinnon uand Shaw).[11] The Discount and Finance House of India began
its operations on the monetary market in April 1988; the National Housing Bank, founded
in July 1988, was forced to invest in the propoerty market and a new financial law
improved the versatility of direct deposit by more secirity measures and liberalisation.[12]

[edit] 1991–2000

The national economy came down in July 1991 and the Indian rupee was devalued.[13]
The currency lost 18% relative to the US dollar, and the Narsimahmam Committee
advised restructuring the financial sector by a temporal reduced reserve ratio as well as
the statutory liquidity ratio. New guidelines were published in 1993 to establish a private
banking sector. This turning point should reinforce the market and was often called neo-
liberal[14] The central bank deregulated bank interests and some sectors of the financial
market like the trust and property markets.[15] This first phase was a success and the
central government forced a diversity liberalisation to diversify owner structures in 1998.
[16]

The National Stock Exchange of India took the trade on in June 1994 and the RBI
allowed nationalized banks in July to interact with the capital market to reinforce their
capital base. The central bank founded a subsidiary company—the Bharatiya Reserve
Bank Note Mudran Limited—in February 1995 to produce banknotes.[17]

[edit] since 2000

The Foreign Exchange Management Act from 1999 came into force in June 2000. It
should improve the foreign exchange market, international investments in India and
transactions. The RBI promoted the development of the financial market in the last years,
allowed online banking in 2001 and established a new payment system in 2004 - 2005
(National Electronic Fund Transfer).[18] The Security Printing & Minting Corporation of
India Ltd., a merger of nine institutions, was founded in 2006 and produces banknotes
and coins.[19]

The national economy's growth rate came down to 5,8% in the last quarter of 2008 -
2009[20] and the central bank promotes the economic development.[21]

[edit] Structure
[edit] Central Board of Directors

The Central Board of Directors is the main committee of the central bank and has not
more than 20 members. The government of the republic appoints the directors for a four
year term.
Central Board of Directors
 Name Position
Duvvuri Subbarao Governor
Shyamala Gopinath Deputy Governor
Usha Thorat Deputy Governor
K. C. Chakrabarty Deputy Governor
Subir Gokarn Deputy Governor
Y. H. Malegam Regional of the West
Suresh D. Tendulkar Regional of the East
U. R. Rao Regional of the North
Lakshmi Chand Regional of the South
H. P. Ranina Lawyer Supreme Court of India
Chairman Firstsource Solutions
Ashok S. Ganguly
Limited
Azim Premji Chairman WIPRO Limited
Chairman Aditya Birla Group of
Kumar Mangalam Birla
Companies
Shashi Rajagopalan Advisor
Suresh Neotia former Chairman Ambuja Cement Co.
A. Vaidyanathan Economist, Professor Madras Inst.
Chemist, Professor Mumbai
Man Mohan Sharma
University
Chairman Lakshmi Machine Works
D. Jayavarthanavelu
Limited
Sanjay Labroo CEO Asahi India Glass Ltd.
Sunanda padmanabhan Government representative
Ashok Chawla Government representative

[edit] Governors

The central bank had 22 governors since 04.01.1935. The regular term of office is a four
years period, appointed by the national administration.

[edit] Supportive bodies

The Reserve Bank of India has four regional represantations: North in New Delhi, South
in Chennai, East in Kolkata and West in Mumbai. The representations are formed by five
members, appointed for four years by the central government and serve - beside the
advice of the Central Board of Directors - as forum for regional banks and to deal with
delegated tasks from the central board.[22] The institution has 22 regional offices.

The Board of Financial Supervision (BFS), formed in November 1994, serves as a

CCBD committee to control the financial institutions. It has four members, appointed for
two years, and takes measures to strength the role of statutory auditors in the financial
sector, external monitoring and internal controlling systems.
The Tarapore committee was setup by the Reserve Bank of India under the chairmanship
of former RBI deputy governor S S Tarapore to "lay the road map" to capital account
convertibility. The five-member committee recommended a three-year timeframe for
complete convertibility by 1999-2000.

On 1 July 2006, in an attempt to enhance the quality of customer service and strengthen
the grievance redressal mechanism, the Reserve Bank of India constituted a new
department — Customer Service Department (CSD).

[edit] Offices and branches

The Reserve Bank of India has branch offices at most state capitals and at a few major
cities in India[total of 18 places] - viz. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar,
Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata,
Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram. Besides it has sub-offices
at Dehradun, Gangtok, Kochi, Panaji, Raipur, Ranchi, Shimla and Srinagar.

The Bank has also two training colleges for its officers, viz. Reserve Bank Staff College
at Chennai and College of Agricultural Banking at Pune. There are also four Zonal
Training Centres at Belapur, Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi.

[edit] Main Functions

Reserve Bank of India regional office, Delhi entrance with the Yakshini sculpture
depicting "Prosperity through agriculture".[23]
The RBI Regional Office in Delhi.

The RBI Regional Office in Kolkata.

[edit] Monetary Authority

The Reserve Bank of India is the main monetary authority of the country and beside that
the central bank acts as the bank of the national and state governments. It formulates,
implements and monitors the monetary policy as well as it has to ensure an adequate flow
of credit to productive sectors. Objectives are maintaining price stability and ensuring
adequate flow of credit to productive sectors. The national economy depends on the
public sector and the central bank promotes an expensive monetary policy to push the
private sector since the financial market reforms of the 1990s.[24]

The institution is also the regulator and supervisor of the financial system and prescribes
broad parameters of banking operations within which the country's banking and financial
system functions. Objectives are to maintain public confidence in the system, protect
depositors' interest and provide cost-effective banking services to the public. The
Banking Ombudsman Scheme has been formulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
for effective redressal of complaints by bank customers. The RBI controls the monetary
supply, monitors economic indicators like the gross domestic product and has Sexto
decide the design of the rupee banknotes as well as coins.[25] Aoustin
[edit] Manager of exchange control

The central bank manages to reach the goals of the Foreign Exchange Management Act,
1999. Objective: to facilitate external trade and payment and promote orderly
development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.

[edit] Issuer of currency

The bank issues and exchanges or destroys currency and coins not fit for circulation.The
Objectives are giving the public adequate supply of currency of good quality and to
provide loans to commercial banks to maintain or improve the GDP. The basic objectives
of RBI are to issue bank notes, to maintain the currency and credit system of the country
to utilize it in its best advantage, and to maintain the reserves. RBI maintains the
economic structure of the country so that it can achieve the objective of price stability as
well as economic development, because both objectives are diverse in themselves.

[edit] Developmental role

The central bank has to perform a wide range of promotional functions to support
national objectives and industries.[5] The RBI faces a lot of inter-sectoral and local
inflation-related problems. Some of this problems are results of the dominant part of the
public sector.[26]

[edit] Related functions

The RBI is also a banker to the Government and performs merchant banking function for
the central and the state governments. It also acts as their banker. The National Housing
Bank (NHB) was established in 1988 to promote private real estate acquisition.[27] The
institution maintains banking accounts of all scheduled banks, too.

There is now an international consensus about the need to focus the tasks of a central
bank upon central banking. RBI is far out of touch with such a principle, owing to the
sprawling mandate described above. The recent financial turmoil world-over, has
however, vindicated the Reserve Bank's role in maintaining financial stability in India.

Jump to: navigation, search

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) is a

government-owned corporation in India. One of the public sector undertakings, it is
wholly owned by the Union Government and is under the administrative control of the
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. It is charged with building
affordable housing and carrying out urban development. HUDCO describes its mission
as:
  To provide long term finance for construction of houses for residential purposes
or finance or undertake housing and urban development programmes in the
country;
 to finance or undertake, wholly or partly, the setting up of new or satellite towns;
 to subscribe to the debentures and bonds to be issued by the State Housing (and/or
Urban Development) Boards, Improvement Trusts, Development Authorities etc.;
specifically for the purpose of financing housing and urban development
programmes;
 to finance or undertake the setting up of industrial enterprises of building
material;
 to administer the moneys received, from time to time, from the Government of
India and other sources as grants or otherwise for the purposes of financing or
undertaking housing and urban development programmes in the country and;
 to promote, establish, assist, collaborate and provide consultancy services for the
projects of designing and planning of works relating to Housing and Urban
Development programmes in India and abroad.[1]

HUDCO was incorporated on April 25, 1970.[1] In 1972, HUDCO catalyzed innovative
housing schemes with well-known architects such as B. V. Doshi, Charles Correa, and
Christopher Charles Benninger. More recently, the HUDCO has focused on the creation
of urban infrastructure.

"WHO" redirects here. For other uses, see Who (disambiguation).

World Health Organization

5‫( منظمة الصحة العالمية‬Arabic)
世界卫生组织 (Chinese)
Organisation mondiale de la Santé (French)
Всемирная организация здравоохранения
(Russian)
Organización Mundial de la Salud (Spanish)
Organização Mundial de Saúde (Portuguese)
 Flag of the World Health Organization
Org type Specialized agency of the United Nations
Acronyms WHO
Head Dr. Margaret Chan
Status active
Established 7 April 1948
Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland
Website www.who.int
Parent org ECOSOC
United Nations portal

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations
(UN) that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on
April 7, 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the
mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an
agency of the League of Nations.

Contents
[hide]
 1 Background
 2 Constitution and history
 3 Activities
o 3.1 Publishing
o 3.2 Programmes and projects
o 3.3 Conventions
o 3.4 Research policy documents
o 3.5 Private sector partnerships
 4 Structure
o 4.1 Regional offices
o 4.2 WHO liaison and other offices
o 4.3 Country offices
 5 People
o 5.1 Other
o 5.2 Staffing
 6 Controversies
o 6.1 Condoms and the Roman Catholic Church
o 6.2 Intermittent Preventive Therapy
 7 See also
 8 References
  9 External links

[edit] Background
The notion of establishing an international authority to overlook issues of public health
began with the formulation of rules of international law during late 19th and early 20th
century. Already on December 9, 1907, a convention was concluded in Rome for the
establishment of an International Office of Public Health by the governments of the
United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, Spain, the United States of America, France, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and Egypt.[1] This organization consisted of
representatives of the signatory parties.

[edit] Constitution and history

The WHO's constitution states that its objective "is the attainment by all people of the
highest possible level of health ."[2] Its major task is to combat disease, especially key
infectious diseases, and to promote the general health of the people of the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of the original agencies of the United
Nations, its constitution formally coming into force on the first World Health Day, (April
7, 1948), when it was ratified by the 26th member state. Jawarharlal Nehru, a major
freedom fighter of India had given an opinion to start WHO.[3] Prior to this its operations,
as well as the remaining activities of the League of Nations Health Organization, were
under the control of an Interim Commission following an International Health
Conference in the summer of 1946.[4] The transfer was authorized by a Resolution of the
General Assembly.[5] The epidemiological service of the French Office International
d'Hygiène Publique was incorporated into the Interim Commission of the World Health
Organization on January 1, 1947.[6]

[edit] Activities
Apart from coordinating international efforts to control outbreaks of infectious diseases,
such as SARS, malaria, Tuberculosis, swine flu, and AIDS the WHO also sponsors
programmes to prevent and treat such diseases. The WHO supports the development[7][8]
and distribution of safe and effective vaccines, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and drugs.
After over two decades of fighting smallpox, the WHO declared in 1980 that the disease
had been eradicated – the first disease in history to be eliminated by human effort.

The WHO aims to eradicate polio within the next few years. The organization has already
endorsed the world's first official HIV/AIDS Toolkit for Zimbabwe (from 3 October
2006), making it an international standard.[9]
In addition to its work in eradicating disease, the WHO also carries out various health-
related campaigns — for example, to boost the consumption of fruits and vegetables
worldwide and to discourage tobacco use. Experts met at the WHO headquarters in
Geneva in February, 2007, and reported that their work on pandemic influenza vaccine
development had achieved encouraging progress. More than 40 clinical trials have been
completed or are ongoing. Most have focused on healthy adults. Some companies, after
completing safety analysis in adults, have initiated clinical trials in the elderly and in
children. All vaccines so far appear to be safe and well-tolerated in all age groups tested.
[10]

The WHO also promotes the development of capacities in Member States to use and
produce research that addresses national needs, by bolstering national health research
systems and promoting knowledge translation platforms such as the Evidence Informed
Policy Network -EVIPNet. WHO and its regional offices are working to develop regional
policies on research for health -the first one being the Regional Office for the Americas
PAHO/AMRO that had its Policy on Research for Health approved in September 2009 by
its 49th Directing Council Document CD 49.10.

WHO also conducts health research in communicable diseases, non-communicable

conditions and injuries; for example, longitudinal studies on aging to determine if the
additional years we live are in good or poor health, and, whether the electromagnetic field
surrounding cell phones has an impact on health. Some of this work can be controversial,
as illustrated by the April, 2003, joint WHO/FAO report, which recommended that sugar
should form no more than 10% of a healthy diet. This report led to lobbying by the sugar
industry against the recommendation[11], to which the WHO/FAO responded by including
in the report the statement "The Consultation recognized that a population goal for free
sugars of less than 10% of total energy is controversial", but also stood by its
recommendation based upon its own analysis of scientific studies.[12]

The World Health Organization's suite of health studies is working to provide the needed
health and well-being evidence through a variety of data collection platforms, including
the World Health Survey covering 308,000 respondents aged 18+ years and 81,000 aged
50+ years from 70 countries and the Study on Global Aging and Adult Health (SAGE)
covering over 50,000 persons aged 50+ across almost 23 countries. The World Mental
Health Surveys, WHO Quality of Life Instrument, WHO Disability Assessment Scales
provide guidance for data collection in other health and health-related areas.
Collaborative efforts between WHO and other agencies, such as the Health Metrics
Network and the International Household Surveys Network, serve the normative
functions of setting high research standards.

[edit] Publishing
 International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a widely followed publication.
The tenth revision of the ICD, also known as ICD-10, was released in 1992 and a
searchable version is available online on the WHO website. Later revisions are
indexed and available in hard-copy versions. The WHO does not permit
simultaneous classification in two separate areas.
  The annual World Health Report, first published in 1995, is the WHO's leading
publication. Each year the report combines an expert assessment of global health,
including statistics relating to all countries, with a focus on a specific subject. The
World Health Report 2007 – A safer future: global public health security in the
21st century was published on August 23, 2006.
 Bulletin of the World Health Organization[13] A Monthly journal published by
WHO since 1947.
 A model list of essential medicines that all countries' health-care systems should
make available and affordable to the general population.
 Global plan of action on workers' health is a draft to protect and promote health in
the workplace, to improve the performance of and access to occupational health
services, and to incorporate workers' health into other policies. The WHO has
emphasized the effort because, despite the availability of effective interventions to
prevent occupational hazards, large gaps exist between and within countries with
regard to the health status of workers and their exposure to occupational risks.
According to the WHO, only a small minority of the global workforce has access
to occupational health services. The action plan deals with aspects of workers'
health, including primary prevention of occupational hazards, protection and
promotion of health at work, employment conditions, and a better response from
health systems to workers' health.[14]
 Health Sciences Online is a non-profit online health information resource from
the World Health Organization.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

The WHO website A guide to statistical information at WHO has an online version of the
most recent WHO health statistics.
According to The WHO Programme on Health Statistics:

The production and dissemination of health statistics for health action at country, regional
and global levels is a core WHO activity mandated to WHO by its Member States in its
Constitution. WHO produced figures carry great weight in national and international
resource allocation, policy making and programming, based on its reputation as
"unbiased" (impartial and fair), global (not belonging to any camp), and technically
competent (consulting leading research and policy institutions and individuals).

[edit] Programmes and projects

 African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC)
 Yellow Card or Carte Jaune, is an international certificate of vaccination (ICV)
issued by the WHO. It is recognised internationally and may be required for
entering certain countries where there are more health risks for travellers. The
Yellow Card should be kept in the holder's passport as it is a medical passport of
sorts.
 Collaborating centres are institutions designated by the director-general that work
to support WHO programmes.[15]
 Global Burden of Disease project (GBD)
  Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care
 Global Malaria Programme (GMP)
 Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS)
 Prequalification of Medicines Programme (PMP page)
 International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), with ILO and UNEP
 International Radon Project
 World Health Day is celebrated every year on 7 April.

[edit] Conventions
 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
 Convention on Psychotropic Substances
 World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Research policy documents

 PAHO Policy on Research for Health
 Report of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation
and Intellectual Property. Document WHA 61/9. 2008
 World Health Organization’s roles and responsibilities in health research.
Document WHA 60/23. 2007
 World Health Organization. World Health Assembly, Resolution WHA 58.34
Geneva: WHO; 2005
 Ministerial Summit on Health Research. The Mexico Statement on Health
Research. Knowledge for better health: strengthening health systems. Mexico
City, 16–20 November 2004

[edit] Private sector partnerships

 Aeras: Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation
 DNDi: Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative
 FIND: Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics
 IASP: International Association for Suicide Prevention
 IAVI: International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
 IDRI: Infectious Disease Research Institute
 IOWH: Institute for Oe World Health
 IPM: International Partnership for Microbicides
 MMV: Medicines for Malaria Venture
 MVI: Malaria Vaccine Initiative
 PATH: Program for Appropriate Technology in Health
 PDVI: Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative
 TB Alliance: Global Alliance for TB Drug Development
 GAVI Alliance: Global alliance for vaccines

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Structure

WHO Headquarters in Geneva

The WHO has 193 Member States, including all UN Member States except
Liechtenstein, and two non-UN members, Niue and the Cook Islands. Territories that are
not UN Member States may join as Associate Members (with full information but limited
participation and voting rights) if approved by an Assembly vote: Puerto Rico and
Tokelau are Associate Members. Entities may also be granted observer status: examples
include Palestine (a UN observer), Vatican City (a UN non-member observer state) and
Chinese Taipei (an invited delegation).

WHO Member States appoint delegations to the World Health Assembly, WHO's
supreme decision-making body. All UN member states are eligible for WHO
membership, and, according to the WHO web site, “Other countries may be admitted as
members when their application has been approved by a simple majority vote of the
World Health Assembly.”

The WHO Assembly generally meets in May each year. In addition to appointing the
Director-General every five years, the Assembly considers the financial policies of the
Organization and reviews and approves the proposed programme budget. The Assembly
elects 34 members, technically qualified in the field of health, to the Executive Board for
three-year terms. The main functions of the Board are to carry out the decisions and
policies of the Assembly, to advise it and to facilitate its work in general.

The WHO is financed by contributions from member states and from donors. In recent
years, the WHO's work has involved increasing collaboration with external bodies; there
are currently around 80 partnerships with NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry, as well
as with foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller
Foundation. Voluntary contributions to the WHO from national and local governments,
foundations and NGOs, other UN organizations, and the private sector, now exceed that
of assessed contributions (dues) from the 193 member nations.[16]PDF (30.1 KB)
[edit] Regional offices

Regional offices and regions of the WHO:      Africa; HQ: Brazzaville, Congo      Americas;
HQ: Washington, D.C., USA      Eastern Med.; HQ: Cairo, Egypt      Europe; HQ: Copenhagen,
Denmark      South East Asia; HQ: New Delhi, India      Western Pacific; HQ: Manila,
Philippines

Uncharacteristically for a UN Agency, the six Regional Offices of the WHO enjoy
remarkable autonomy. Each Regional Office is headed by a Regional Director (RD), who
is elected by the Regional Committee for a once-renewable five-year term. The name of
the RD-elect is transmitted to the WHO Executive Board in Geneva, which proceeds to
confirm the appointment. It is rare that an elected Regional Director is not confirmed.

Each Regional Committee of the WHO consists of all the Health Department heads, in all
the governments of the countries that constitute the Region. Aside from electing the
Regional Director, the Regional Committee is also in charge of setting the guidelines for
the implementation, within the region, of the Health and other policies adopted by the
World Health Assembly. The Regional Committee also serves as a progress review board
for the actions of the WHO within the Region.

The Regional Director is effectively the head of the WHO for his or her Region. The RD
manages and/or supervises a staff of health and other experts at the regional headquarters
and in specialized centers. The RD is also the direct supervising authority—
concomitantly with the WHO Director General—of all the heads of WHO country
offices, known as WHO Representatives, within the Region.

The Regional Offices are:

 Regional Office for Africa (AFRO)I, with headquarters in Brazzaville, Republic

of Congo. AFRO includes most of Africa, with the exception of Egypt, Sudan,
Tunisia, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and Morocco which belong to EMRO.
Somalia is also not counted as it does not have an official government, though it is
in the process of getting one.
 Regional Office for Europe (EURO), with headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.
 Regional Office for South East Asia (SEARO), with headquarters in New Delhi,
India. North Korea is served by SEARO.
 Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), with headquarters in
Cairo, Egypt. EMRO includes the countries of Africa, and particularly in the
Maghreb, that are not included in AFRO, as well as the countries of the Middle
East, except for Israel. Pakistan is served by EMRO.
  Regional Office for Western Pacific (WPRO), with headquarters in Manila,
Philippines. WPRO covers all the Asian countries not served by SEARO and
EMRO, and all the countries in Oceania. South Korea is served by WPRO.
 Regional Office for the Americas (AMRO), with headquarters in Washington,
D.C., USA. It is better known as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Since it predates the establishment of WHO, PAHO is by far the most
autonomous of the 6 regional offices.

[edit] WHO liaison and other offices

WHO has a number of specialist offices/agencies, as well as liaison offices at the most
important international institutions.[17]

 IARC, International Agency for Research on Cancer (Lyon, France)

 WHO Centre for Health Development – WHO Kobe Center (Kobe, Japan)
 WHO Lyon Office for National Epidemic Preparedness and Response (LYO)
(Lyon, France)
 WHO Mediterranean Centre for Vulnerability Reduction (Tunisia)
 WHO Office at the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa
(Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
 WHO Liaison Office in Washington (USA)
 WHO Office at the European Union (Brussels, Belgium)
 WHO Office at the United Nations (New York, USA)
 WHO Office at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(Washington, USA)

[edit] Country offices

The World Health Organization operates 147 country and liaison offices in all its regions.
The presence of a country office is generally motivated by a need, stated by the member
country. There will generally be one WHO country office in the capital, occasionally
accompanied by satellite-offices in the provinces or sub-regions of the country in
question.

The country office is headed by a WHO Representative (WR), who is a trained physician,
not a national of that country, who holds diplomatic rank and is due privileges and
immunities similar to those of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. In most
countries, the WR (like Representatives of other UN agencies) is de facto and/or de jure
treated like an Ambassador – the distinction here being that instead of being an
Ambassador of one sovereign country to another, the WR is a senior UN civil servant,
who serves as the "Ambassador" of the WHO to the country to which he or she is
accredited. Hence, the title of Resident Represaentative, or simply Representative. The
WR is member of the UN system country Team which is coordinated by the UN system
resident Coordinator.
The country office consists of the WR, and several health and other experts, both foreign
and local, as well as the necessary support staff. The main functions of WHO country
offices include being the primary adviser of that country's government in matters of
health and pharmaceutical policies.

International liaison offices serve largely the same purpose as country offices, but
generally on a smaller scale. These are often found in countries that want WHO presence
and cooperation, but do not have the major health system flaws that require the presence
of a full-blown country office. Liaison offices are headed by a liaison officer, who is a
national from that particular country, without diplomatic immunity.

[edit] People
[edit] Other

Nancy Brinker was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control by Director-
General Margaret Chan on May 26, 2009.

[edit] Staffing

The World Health Organization is an agency of the United Nations and as such shares a
core of common personnel policy with other agencies.

The World Health Organization has recently banned the recruitment of cigarette smokers,
to promote the principle of a tobacco-free work environment.The World Health
Organization(WHO) successfully rallied 168 countries to sign the Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003.[18] The Convention is designed to push for
effective legislation and its enforcement in all countries to reduce the harmful effects of
tobacco. On August 28, 2005, the National People’s Congress of China signed the
Convention.

[edit] Controversies

Demonstration on Chernobyl disaster day near WHO in Geneva

[edit] Condoms and the Roman Catholic Church
Main article: Roman Catholic Church and AIDS

In 2003, the WHO denounced statements by the Roman Curia's health department,
saying: "These incorrect statements about condoms and HIV are dangerous when we are
facing a global pandemic which has already killed more than 20 million people, and
currently affects at least 42 million." [19]

[edit] Intermittent Preventive Therapy

The aggressive support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for intermittent
preventive therapy which included the commissioning a report from the Institute of
Medicine triggered a memo from the former WHO malaria chief Dr. Akira Kochi [20]. Dr.
Kochi wrote, “although it was less and less straightforward that the health agency should
recommend IPTi, the agency’s objections were met with intense and aggressive
opposition from Gates-backed scientists and the foundation”.