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MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Local currency bond markets in emerging East Asia had grown by an annual 18.8% as of the end of June, with $4.8 trillion in paper outstanding, according to the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) latest quarterly Asia Bond Monitor.

New York: The main United Nations body dealing with human rights has affirmed that the right to water and sanitation is contained in existing human rights treaties, and that States have the primary responsibility to ensure the full realisation of this and all other basic human rights.

New York: Consumers will now benefit from standardized seafood labels, thanks to the first-ever global guidelines for aquaculture certification having been adopted at a United Nations-backed meeting, it was announced today.

Developing countries on robust growth path are becoming the new engine of world economy, contributing half of global output, and their combined size could overtake that of developed nations, mired presently in post-crisis slowdown, by 2015, according to the World Bank.

An unnecessary debate is on in India over US president Barack Obama's public statement announcing tax disincentive to those American companies which outsource jobs. The Obama administration is also raising the entry bar to jobseekers from outside by raising visa fees and quota restrictions. Both the measures are intended to protect jobs for locals in the face of a high unemployment rate in the United States at 9.7 per cent. The latest 'household survey data' has put the number of unemployed Americans at 14.9 million. There is nothing wrong if Obama tries to call all stops to protect jobs for locals in his country, which he promised before he was elected to take over America's topmost job himself. Obama has not succeeded in keeping his promise so far.

The much-awaited verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ayodhya dispute has come after a wait for 21 years and the good thing is that the country has taken it in its stride. Although it is a please all verdict, the issue remains unresolved, as both the Hindu and Muslim petitioners are planning to knock at the doors of Supreme Court.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission visited Senegal during September 15-29, 2010 to conduct the sixth review under the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) and discussions on the authorities' economic program that could be supported under a successor three-year PSI. The mission met with the Prime Minister and the ministers in charge of economy and finance, international cooperation and infrastructure, energy, the budget, and other government officials. The mission also met representatives of the private sector and development partners. The current Policy Support Instrument (PSI) for Senegal will end this year.

Twenty-four developing-country officials took part on 21—24 September 2010 in the sixth workshop designed to help their countries make use of flexibilities in the WTO intellectual property agreement in the area of pharmaceuticals.

The tenth review of the trade policies and practices of the United States of America took place on 29 September and 1 October 2010. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of the United States of America.

New Delhi: A meeting was held recently between Ministry of Mines and Secretaries from State Governments to review steps taken to curb illegal mining.