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MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Board of Directors today approved a Microfinance Risk Participation Program, marking ADB's first large scale private sector microfinance initiative.

Haryana politics is again astir. Now that the rabi sowing season is over and farmers are relatively less occupied, the political parties have resumed holding public rallies.

KOLKATA: Going by the level of popular response so far, it may be safely said that the agitation against the Rajarhat township launched by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has not turned out to be as politically productive as hoped for by its sponsors. There are several reasons for this.

WTO agriculture negotiators will embark on the talks’ end-game from 17 January 2011, with the aim of producing a near-final revised draft of “modalities” by the end of March and concluding the Doha Round as a whole by the end of the year. That is the plan outlined by Chairperson David Walker in agriculture negotiations meetings on 6 and 10 December, and supported by negotiators.

The program for the consolidation of the Greek economy is at a crucial crossroads as a series of fundamental structural changes have to be implemented in the following few months, said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Khan in an interview with Kathimerini.

New York: The United Nations climate change talks in Cancún have concluded with a package of decisions to help countries advance towards a low-emissions future, delivering what the world body's top officials have hailed as a victory in the battle against one of today's biggest challenges.

The income-tax (I-T) department has finally woken up to notice a possible mega-scale money laundering by the estranged Mittal brothers and founders of the India-based Rs. 10,000-crore-plus Ispat group – Pramod and Vinod – over a period of 20 years. The Ispat group is a rival of Ispat International built by their more illustrious elder, Lakshmi Niwas. The real architect of both the groups is their father, M L Mittal, who made a humble start from Kolkata in the 1950s with an electric arc furnace at Dankuni , the setting up of Andhra Steel Corporation, Nippon Denro, PT Ispat Indo, a wire rod mill at Surabaya in Indonesia, and the take-over of Gontermann-Peipers India. Rivalry among the sons led to an early retirement of the father.

Astrologers call it a jinx. As per their view, July, 2005, when the Prime Minister Manmohan signed the first agreement on nuclear deal with the US, was an inauspicious moment. After this, things have never been smooth for our nuclear dreams. India on its part has done every thing but it encounters new forms of arms twisting. Will we ever be able to sit at the promised nuclear high table?

New York: Despite Government efforts against human rights abuses in eastern Chad over the past two years, problems persist, including sexual and gender-based violence, recruitment of children by armed groups and jail conditions, according to a United Nations report released today.

Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have commended the Liberian authorities for their continued satisfactory implementation of the Fund-supported program. Directors noted that the authorities’ prudent macroeconomic policies, strengthened institutions, and debt relief had contributed to macroeconomic stability and laid the basis for faster economic growth. They stressed that, while the medium-term prospects are generally favorable, reflecting the expected boost in mineral exports, significant challenges stemming from volatile commodity prices and large development needs will need to be tackled to put the economy on a sustainable, high growth path.