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At its meeting on 20 April 2010, the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) agreed to refer the US complaint on Philippine taxes on spirits to the panel which is examining a similar complaint by the EU. Separate panel requests to examine EU measures on Chinese footwear, US measures on Vietnamese shrimps and US measures on Korean products were blocked.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Board of Directors has approved a $50 million loan and a $600,000 grant to help three Uzbekistan banks expand finance to small and micro businesses.

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved a proposal to provide capital funds to the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) during the years 2010-11 and 2011-12 so that they maintain a minimum 8% Tier I Capital to meet the credit requirement of the economy.

New Delhi: Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan have signed Common Transport Agreement for unrestricted and seamless movement of traffic in NCR region. The agreement was signed here yesterday evening in the presence of Secretary of Union Urban Development Ministry, Dr. M.Ramchandran. Representatives of the Uttar Pradesh could not be turn up to sign the agreement because of some technical problem due to transfer of concerned official. The State assured that the agreement will be signed within a week by its representative.

By avoiding an aggressive hike in policy rates and at the same time going in for a modest hike, the Reserve Bank of India has given a clear signal that it is focused on taming inflation, without affecting economic growth. What has been worrying the authorities is a steep hike in inflation in recent months which is nearing the double- digit figure, highest in 17 months, with food inflation as high as about 17.8 percent.

The market regulator, Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), is going through tough times. Its authority has been openly challenged by another regulator, Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDA). Much worse still, the government plans to set up another power centre to be christened as Financial Stability & Development Council (FSDC), which, under the tutelage of the union finance ministry, is being designed as an apex regulatory body with multi-agency coordination and decision making function “for fast track response during financial crisis.”

KOLKATA: Be it law and order or power, health or education, West Bengal's administrative performance remains dismal as ever. Senior scribes who had seen better days in the state, have often said that its incumbent bureaucracy is the worst in the country.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Board of Directors of ADB yesterday approved the appointment of Lakshmi Venkatachalam from India as Vice-President (Private Sector and Cofinancing Operations) for a term of three years.

Ministers of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development held their eighty-third meeting in Washington, D.C. on April 22, 2010. Mr. Guido Mantega, Minister of Finance of Brazil was in the Chair, with Mr. Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Finance of South Africa as First Vice-Chairman, and Mr. Arvind Virmani, IMF Executive Director for India as Second Vice-Chairman.

New York: A United Nations-backed group supporting peace and reconciliation in Somalia has welcomed efforts by the country's transitional Government to reach out to opposition groups willing to join the peace process.