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NEW DELHI: It was a role with a difference for the jawans of the Indian Army showing the humane side of the men whose valour on the battle field is well known showing that they too are playing a critical role in wildlife conservation when they saved the lives of two abandoned leopard cubs.

When Israel launched a commando attack on the Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip, its leaders could scarcely have imagined that they would have to beat a retreat on the Gaza blockade issue in less than three weeks. Yet, such was the global public revulsion at the murderous assault on the Mavi Marmara in international waters—even among Israel's allies and supporters—that Israel had to relax the blockade. The blockade banned more than 2,000 items, including cement, glass, paper, iron, pencils, cancer medicines, toys, chocolate, fabrics and fruit juice.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Many countries in Asia and the Pacific are well-suited to solar power initiatives, and incentives and low-cost financing mechanisms should be made available to help the region make the transition possible, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda said yesterday.

The old anti-Congress tactic which guided the opposition parties for decades after 1947 is back. Although the Left tried to pretend that it was a mere coincidence that its bandh against the fuel price hike was on the same day as the one called by the BJP, the fact that both were on the same side of the fence could not be hidden.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Closer cooperation on monetary and financial issues would enable Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Viet Nam to effectively address challenges arising from the use of multiple currencies in their respective economies, says a new book from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Despite a series of jolts for its cohesion, UPA-II had singularly failed over months to act effectively to reverse the historically high food prices millions have had to pay for more than a year and a half, already translated into generalised all-commodity inflation (WPI) since February last. Raging inflation, exacerbated by the first steps in deregulation of oil pricing, has forced vacillating RBI to effect a quarter percentage point increase in its key policy rates (repo and reverse repo), ahead of its first quarter review due on July 27. These rates now stand at 5.5 and 4 per cent respectively.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Rising inequalities in income and access to employment and social services in Asia are casting a shadow over its unprecedented economic boom, and governments and the private sector need to work together to make the benefits of growth more inclusive, says a new book from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), gathered with Caribbean leaders in Montego Bay, Jamaica, for the 31st Regular Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). “Caribbean countries have an opportunity to put an end to the negative cycles of high debt and low growth that have been affecting their economies, and set forth towards a path of long-term, sustainable growth”, Mr. Strauss-Kahn said.

New Delhi: Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has now prepared the provisional Country-wise distribution of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) for 2009. Though the overall FTAs declined by 3.3% in 2009 over 2008, FTAs from some regions of world observed positive growth; Africa (17%), Central and South America (9.6%) and South East Asia (4.7%).

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Hundreds of policymakers, development experts and representatives from the public and private sectors will meet in the Philippines this week to explore new opportunities to boost investment in Asia and the Pacific's agriculture sector.