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New York: The world continues to make advances towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), despite the global economic downturn, but the rate of improvement remains too slow and countries must step up their efforts if the MDGs are to be achieved by their target date of 2015, a new United Nations report says.

New Delhi: Today, 42% of our [Indian] children below 5 years are under weight and 69.5% children are anemic. 22% of babies are born with low birth weight. 35.6% women aged 15 - 49 years have low body mass index and 55% are anemic. Though there has been improvement in underweight children from 42.7% in 1988-99 (NFHS-II) to 40.4% in 2005-06 (NFHS-III). Further, in respect of anemia, there has been an increase from 74.3% (NFHS-II) to 78.9% (NFHS-III) in children below 3 years and from 51.8 % to 56.2% in women aged 15-49 years.

Tuvalu became the 187th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 24th of June 2010 when the IMF's Articles of Agreement were signed in Washington, D.C. by Mr. Lotoala Metia, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning of Tuvalu.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Paulo Drummond visited Guinea-Bissau from June 17-25, 2010. The mission met with President Malam Bacaí Sanhá, Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, Minister of Finance José Mario Vaz, and Minister of Economy Helena Embaló. The mission also held discussions with representatives of the private sector, civil society, and the donor community.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today concluded the first review of Jamaica's economic performance under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Completion of the review enables the immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 63.7 million (about US$93.9 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 478 million (about US$704.6 million).

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission has said that Irish policymakers have through assertive steps have gained significant credibility. Measures to stabilize the banking sector and achieve substantial fiscal consolidation have demonstrated the authorities' resolve to alleviate short-term risks while beginning to tackle their considerable long-term challenges. These actions have reassured the global policy community and international financial markets. Over the past months, Irish sovereign bond spreads have tended to rise significantly on the days of intensely adverse international market sentiment but otherwise Ireland has been accorded the space to pursue its planned policy trajectory.

New Delhi: MTNL and Jawahar Lal Nehru University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which MTNL will be a preferred Telecom Service Provider to JNU. The MOU was signed here today in the presence of Minister of state for Communications and Information Technology Shri Pilot and Prof. B.B. Bhattacharya, Vice-Chancellor, JNU. At the initiative of Shri Sachin Pilot, considering that JNU is a premier institute in the country, MTNL has offered to facilitate the students of the University to access the Local Area Network (LAN) of JNU using MTNL 3G network.

New York: Nearly two billion additional mobile telephone connections were recorded across the world between 2006 and last year, the vast majority of them in developing countries, the United Nations Telecommunications Union (ITU) said in figures, which also show that fixed telephone lines in decline.

WASHINGTON — The World Bank has approved three projects worth US$327 million: the Chittagong Water Supply Improvement and Sanitation Project, second phase of Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement “Nuton Jibon” Project, and the additional financing for the Municipal Services Project. These projects are aimed at empowering the poor, improving service delivery and enhancing development outcomes in Bangladesh. With the approval of these projects, the World Bank's total concessionary lending to Bangladesh reaches to US$830 million in FY 10.

WASHINGTON - The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors have approved a US$ 10 million grant as additional financing for the Ferghana Valley Water Resource Management Project in Tajikistan. The main objective of the additional financing is to increase the coverage of the drained and irrigated areas in Bobojon Gafurov and Kannibodom districts, strengthen the early warning system of the Kayrakkum dam, and assess geotechnical risks associated with the dam.