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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a welcome display of pragmatism, Kerala has averted a confrontation with the Centre on National Highway development by reversing the decision taken by an all-party meeting on the issue a few months ago.

History, it is said, repeats itself. But not always in its entirety. The two terms - first 2005-2009 and the second beginning in 2009 — of Haryana's Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government are the latest example. Its first term was marked by abundance of positives. Although the first term's many positives find repetition in the second term, the government is being increasingly haunted by negatives.

KOLKATA: To impose an economic blockade on a sovereign country, the sanction of the United Nations is mandatory. But to impose an indefinite economic blockade of a State of the Indian Union, nobody's permission is required. A handful of people can do it and get away with it with perfect impunity.

Recent bid by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) inviting expressions of interests from event management companies with annual turnover of minimum Rs.50 lakhs from across the country for media outreach programme of Public Information Campaign of the flagship development programmes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and a cluster of welfare measures like National Rural Health Mission, welfare of farmers, impetus to agriculture sector, employment measures and poverty alleviation in both urban and rural India, housing for the poor, infrastructural development of rural roads, rural electrification etc. under Bharat Nirman is flawed, to say the least. It is not only ill advised and ill conceived but going to be counter productive.

The Reserve Bank of India's annual report for the year ending June 2010 has brought into sharper focus the double-digit inflation it has been countering with a calibrated tightening of monetary policy for over three quarters now, with several underlying messages for Government involving both fiscal and other structural reform measures, to ensure a high growth-low inflation trajectory over the medium term. It also underlines limited effectiveness of monetary policy when inflation is driven by supply constraints.

By now, the UPA government has perfected a familiar pattern of crisis management in Parliament. Began with the bitter confrontation in July, 2008, and repeated during the cut motion this year, the model was found fairly successful. It was tried this month again with adequate care in the case of the nuclear liability bill. Why was it proved third time a bit unlucky? To understand this, one must go into the survival strategy developed by the UPA government over the past two years.

An IMF team visited Kingston during August 18-27 to conduct the second review of the economic program under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) approved by the Fund's Executive Board on February 4, 2010. The focus of the mission was to assess the quantitative performance at end-June 2010 under the SBA and review the ongoing macroeconomic and structural policies. The structural reforms aim at strengthening fiscal management and the financial regulatory and supervisory frameworks. The team met with the Prime Minister Hon. Bruce Golding, the Minister of Finance Hon. Audley Shaw, Bank of Jamaica Governor Brian Wynter, and senior officials.

Botswana's economy is rebounding after a significant setback following the global financial crisis, say the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The economy entered the crisis from a position of considerable strength because of past prudent macroeconomic management. This facilitated a timely easing of fiscal and monetary policies, which helped cushion the impact on growth of the crisis and the subsequent collapse in demand for diamonds. The economy is likely to see some rebalancing beginning this year, as lower government spending dampens growth in the nonmining sector while recovery of the diamond sector accelerates.

Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have noted that the Gambian economy has performed well through the global crisis with relatively strong growth and low inflation, despite a sharp drop in tourism and remittance receipts. Directors observed that the outlook for the economy is generally positive provided a sound macroeconomic policy framework is maintained. They also stressed the importance of continued progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and targets on poverty reducing expenditures.

A staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Guatemala during August 17-26, 2010 to conduct the fourth and final review of the Stand-By Arrangement approved in April 2009.