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Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have noted that a sharp contraction in domestic activity amidst the global downturn has weakened the fiscal position and banks’ balance sheets. Prudent macroeconomic policies have now laid the foundations of a recovery, but the outlook remains exposed to downside risks. In order to boost economic prospects, Directors encouraged the authorities to build adequate buffers against external shocks and address vulnerabilities in the fiscal domain and in the financial sector.

New York: The number of people in Latin America and the Caribbean affected by extreme weather events, including high temperatures, forest fires, droughts, storms and floods grew from 5 million in the 1970s to more than 40 million between 2000 and 2009, the United Nations said today in a report that graphically details the effects of climate change in those regions.

New York: The next two months will be crucial for Myanmar, potentially determining its political future and its place in the international community, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today, citing the unsatisfactory nature of recent elections and the need to include those who were excluded.

New York: Despite the fact that over 350 million rural people have escaped poverty over the past ten years, the bulk of the world’s poor are still found in rural areas, says a new United Nations report, which calls for greater investment in agriculture and efforts to boost livelihoods.

New York: Violence and discrimination against women and girls remains pervasive and is often overlooked, a United Nations independent human rights expert said today, adding that efforts to achieve the global anti-poverty goals should include closer attention to the protection of women’s rights.

The WTO Secretariat reported that during the period 1 January — 30 June 2010, the number of initiations of new anti-dumping investigations showed a 29% decrease compared with the corresponding period of 2009. The number of new measures applied also decreased during the first semester of 2010 when compared with the first half of 2009.

New York: Burkina Faso today became the first country to begin a nationwide campaign to introduce a new vaccine that promises to rid the entire region of the primary cause of epidemic meningitis, the United Nations health agency announced.

New Delhi: Prof. K.V. Thomas, Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha that Futures trading does not impact the price or availability of any commodity in the short-term. But in the medium or long-term price discovery process facilitates strategic action by various stake holders including policy planners in government to augment production and imports in shortage situation and export and MSP operations during surplus situation, thereby helping the consumers and producers respectively as well as stabilize the prices. Thus, futures market helps the players in the real economy to plan their economic activities better and balance the demand-supply equation.

New York: Burundi has made significant progress over the past year in moving away from its violent past towards a future of peace, stability and development but security, food, human rights and sexual violence remain matters of concern, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a new report.

The cooperation in nuclear energy sector between India and France reached a news peak today with the signing of five related agreements. In the security and defence sector discussions concerning the upgrading of Mirage 2000 aircraft are expected to be finalised soon. A MoU was signed between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Centre National D’etudes Spatiales (CNEc) for cooperation in earth science systems and climate study.