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MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The global economic crisis highlights the urgent need for stronger social protection programs in Asia and the Pacific, and policy makers must use the current rebound as an opportunity to make the region's future growth more inclusive, according to a book launched here Thursday.

Is there any difference between the Bhopal gas leak of 1984 and the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010? The most glaring difference is the way the two are being handled and the double standard adopted by the western world.

The Boards of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved, on Wednesday 16 June, 2010, a revised version of the Operating Rules and Procedures of its Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) which has been operational since 2006.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for a total amount equivalent to SDR 46.154 million (about US$67.7 million) for Burkina Faso. The approval will enable the first disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR7.454 million (about US$10.9 million).

KOLKATA: In some ways, the recent outcome of the civic polls in West Bengal, registering an expected rout for the ruling Left Front, may have thrown up more questions than providing answers for common citizens.

KOLKATA: When Naga rebel leader Thuingaleng Muivah yielded to Centre's persuasion and decided not to cross into Manipur to visit his native village after forty years, but to go back to his camp near Dimapur, ending what seemed to be an imminent confrontation between the police forces of Manipur and Nagaland, the people of both the States heaved a sigh of relief. Little did the Manipuris know that the ending of one crisis was the beginning of another crisis and a longer one at that. This was in early May.

New York: Global prices of food could climb by as much as 40 per cent in the coming decade, as the global population continues to surge, a new United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report says.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, headed by Poul Thomsen, visited Russia during June 2-15, to hold discussions for the 2010 Article IV Consultation. The discussions focused on the lessons from the global economic crisis for Russia, and on economic policy priorities as Russia is moving from crisis management to policies for sustained economic growth. The mission met with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kudrin, Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Governor Ignatiev, other senior officials, and representatives of financial institutions, corporations, and think tanks.

The victims of the world's worst chemical disaster abandoned hope of securing real justice a long time ago. As someone who covered the gas leak at Union Carbide Corporation's pesticides plant in Bhopal from an early stage and has probably written more on the issue than any other journalist, I would put the date at February 1989, when the Indian government reached an atrociously inadequate out-of-court settlement with Carbide for $470 million, totalling no more than UCC's insurance cover plus interest. The Supreme Court put its imprimatur on the deal and extinguished Carbide's liability, civil and criminal, thus shattering the victims' hopes of getting enough compensation to pay even for their medical treatment, leave alone damages for prolonged suffering.

Nitish Kumar may well be the third major regional leader, after Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee, to leave the BJP. The signs of the rupture were there even at the time of last year's general election when the Bihar Chief Minister spoke philosophically about his continuance in the NDA. Now, he has been somewhat more categorical as was evident from his cancellation of the dinner meant for the BJP leaders, who were in Patna for their national executive meeting.