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The decline in the political fortunes of the two Yadav chieftains of the Hindi heartland -Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh - is more than just an indication of the diminishing clout of two politicians. Instead, it shows that the pro-OBC wave started by V.P. Singh with the implementation of the Mandal report on backward class reservations in 1990 is petering out.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Board of Directors today approved a $500 million short-term fiscal stimulus loan for the Philippines - the first loan approval for ADB's Countercyclical Support Facility (CSF).

NEW DELHI: A novel variety of tripartism has been set in motion at the national level to evolve the collective response of all the stakeholders to the economic crisis and massive unemployment afflicting the country.

Electoral history is repeating itself in Haryana. With the dissolution of the State Assembly advancing the elections by six months, the first chapter of what happened 37 years ago has been rewritten. Will the second chapter also be rewritten the way it was in 1972 when after the dissolution of the Assembly the Bansi Lal government won the mid-term poll hands down? A brief narration of what happened in 1971-72 and a comparison between the situations prevailing then and now may provide an answer.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Saturday hailed India's initiative to host the two-day Mini-Ministerial meeting in Delhi, which would be preceded by a senior official level meeting on September 2. Apart from the chairs of agriculture, NAMA and services negotiating committees, the mini-ministerial is expected to be attended by the representatives from G-20, Cairns group, NAMA-11, Cotton-4 group of African countries, European Union Trade Commissioner, Africa group and the ACP countries. The meeting would also provides a window of opportunity for negotiating bilateral agreements.

The ongoing corporate war between the two Ambani brothers has one salutary effect. It should alert the UPA government about the need for putting its own house in order. Petroleum Ministry may have the privilege of presiding over the biggest-till date scam in the country in terms of sheer volume. But the UPA2 is sitting over the volcano of half a dozen other scandals, big and small. This is not an overstatement. One only has to look at what has so far been put out in print with clearly actionable evidence.

The UPA, which came back to power with élan in May 2009 with abundant confidence to steer the nation through the global economic crisis, revive high growth momentum and accelerate inclusive development, has had a rough ride in its first 100 days. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with reinforced determination, had set the economic and political directions for the country over the next five years. These were ebulliently set out by the President Mrs. Pratibha Patil in her comprehensive address to the new Parliament on June 3.

New York: Two senior United Nations officials are currently in Uganda to review the country's progress in controlling malaria, which every year kills an estimated 1 million people, most of them children in Africa.

New York: Fresh attacks carried out by a notorious Ugandan rebel group have uprooted thousands of people and spreading panic in southern Sudan, forcing the United Nations to suspend its humanitarian work in the area, the world body's refugee arm said today.

New York: The conditions that led to the worst cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe's history last year, including poor water and sanitation infrastructure, remain and the disease could return this year, an official with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today.