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New Delhi: The Department of Drinking Water Supply under the Ministry of Rural Development has constituted two Working Groups one each on Drinking Water and Sanitation to develop the strategic plan of the Department for the remaining two years of the current five year plan and also for next two plan periods. The issues to be taken up include defining the aspiration, assessment of situation, developing the strategy and plan implementation, steering mechanism and the monthly meeting for the same.

Shri Murli Deora, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas along with Shri S.Sundareshan, Secretary Petroleum; Chairman Indian Oil Corporation Limited; Chairman, Oil India Limited; Managing Director, ONGC Videsh Limited and other senior officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas participated in the signing ceremony presided by the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Mr. Hugo Chavez Frias for signing a joint venture agreement with the Corporación Venezolana del Petróleo S.A. (CVP) for the development and production from Carabobo-1 Project, in Orinoco Region of Venezuela. The signing took place in Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, late yesterday night (India time). The new joint venture is PetroCarabobo S.A. Alongwith OVL, IOC and OIL, the other two partners of the consortium i.e,Spanish Major Repsol and Malaysian Petronas also signed the joint venture agreement.

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on May 3rd, congratulated the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat for signing two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) providing for two river-linking projects in the two States saying that the development of water resources in an integrated manner and adoption of various short term and long term measures were the need of the hour.

Why did the Congress agree for a caste- based census in principle when the party is divided on this issue? Those, who are against, have not recovered form the shock. Some suspect a deal between the Congress and the Yadav trio - Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav in return for their support to the nuclear liability bill which was introduced on the last day of the budget session of Parliament. It is interesting to see that the Congress party whose leaders like Nehru and Patel had dreamt of a casteless society, has taken a step to perpetuate it.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the seventh review of Uganda's economic performance under the Policy Support Instrument. At the request of the authorities, the Executive Board cancelled the current PSI and approved a new three-year program. Uganda's previous PSI was approved on December 15, 2006.

New York: Armed violence remains one of the main obstacles to the achievement the social development and poverty alleviation targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the United Nations development chief said at a conference to address the problem.

Over 2006-08, Moldova saw strong growth accompanied by rising macroeconomic vulnerabilities, and hesitant progress in its transition to a market economy. Buoyant domestic demand, financed by booming remittances, credit, and FDI, resulted in an average growth of over 5 percent but also widened the current account deficit and generated inflation pressures. The real effective exchange rate (REER) appreciated substantially and, together with exogenous shocks, dampened export growth. Despite some progress in structural reforms, the economy remained overregulated and hampered by relative price distortions. High barriers to entry and low competition in telecommunications, trade, and food processing kept domestic prices significantly above international prices of many consumer products. In contrast, utility tariffs generally remained well below cost-recovery levels, leading to substantial arrears and underinvestment.

New York: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) expressed its deep concern about reports that rebel occupation is preventing children in the northern Yemeni governorate of Saada from attending classes in a country that already has the lowest school enrolment rates in the region.

New York: Information and communication technology (ICT) projects are helping countries make significant progress towards the globally agreed anti-poverty targets world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015, according to a United Nations report.

New York: Human rights defenders in Mexico are under increasing threat, a group of independent United Nations experts cautioned, speaking out against the recent killings of two defenders in the country's southeast.