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The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the first review of Latvia's performance under an economic program supported by a 27-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The completion of the review enables the immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 178.4 million (about €195.2 million or US$278.5 million), bringing total disbursements under the SBA to SDR 713.8 million (about € 780.7 or US$1.14 billion).

New York: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today that the detection of the H1N1 flu in turkeys in Chile does raise concerns about the spread of the virus in other poultry farms, but added that it does not pose any immediate threat to human health.

New York: Despite strides in improving the situation of indigenous people in Australia, an independent United Nations expert today called on the country to build on that momentum to close the gap of “indigenous disadvantage.”

India, with a view to arrest the declining trend in its exports caused due to global financial crisis and accompanying recession, has planned to look for 26 new markets, including 16 in Latin America and 10 in Asia-Oceania. Indian exporters would also concentrate in African and CIS markets.

India has planned to increase its area under certified organic farming to 2,000,000 hectare and sale of organic products to one billion US dollars by 2012. A special agency under the Union agriculture ministry - National Centre for Organic Farming - has taken up the task of achieving this target. The global market for organic products is estimated at over $40 billion.

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for moving a Constitutional Amendment Bill for enhancing reservation for women in Panchayats at all tiers from one third to at least 50%. This provision will apply to the total number of seats filled by direct election, offices of chairpersons and seats and offices of chairpersons reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

For a government, which has completed a five-year term, hundred days of a second innings is not a landmark. However, it is the Congress party, which came up with a list of things it proposed to do in the first 100 days if it was elected to power. The 100 days of the UPA-2 will end on August 30, and so may its honeymoon period.

New York: With the onset of climate change, relying on history is no longer an accurate way of predicting weather patterns, the head of the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said.

New York: The fund administering proceeds from export sales of petroleum from Iraq has received an influx of nearly $180 billion through the end of last year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says, acknowledging that an Iraqi-run committee is ready to assume responsibility for the scheme.

An Internation Monetary Fund (IMF) study (working paper) prepared by Valerie Cerra, Ugo Panizza, and Sweta C. Saxena has found some fresh evidence regarding world economic and financial crisis that suggest 'recovery from recession'.