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Economic activity in Chad remained sluggish in 2009, but inflation increased further, owing to food prices. Low rainfall, and therefore agricultural output, plus the trend decline in oil production led to a contraction in real GDP of about 2 percent. The bad harvest could imply food shortage for up to 2 million people (18 percent of the population). The need for additional food is estimated at between 80,000 to 100,000 metric tons, for which the government has requested external assistance.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a 36-month, SDR 513.9 million (about US$790 million) Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for El Salvador to help the country mitigate the adverse effects of the global crisis. The new arrangement, which the authorities intend to treat as precautionary, will succeed the 15-month SBA approved on January 16, 2009.

New York: The Security Council should urge Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to initiate an independent investigation into the food distribution programme in Somalia, a United Nations group of experts recommends in a new report which claims that humanitarian officials divert food aid for military use.

New York: The long-awaited and much-delayed presidential elections as well as reunification are the key issues for Côte d'Ivoire, the top United Nations envoy there said today, lamenting what he described as a “serious weakening” of the momentum toward holding polls.

New York: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it has contracted eight mills in Pakistan's conflict-affected Swat Valley to produce fortified wheat flour in a bid to boost the local economy and make food more easily accessible to families in the area.

New York: The United Nations Representative in Côte d'Ivoire met today with the new President of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in a bid to reenergize a stalled electoral process further delayed by last month's dissolution of the Government and deadly street protests.

New York: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is working to ensure that some 145,000 children affected by conflict in the Central African Republic have literature, mathematics and science books.

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for a rejection of extremism, underscoring that the international grouping of over 100 countries known as the Non-Aligned Movement, or NAM, has an invaluable role to play in promoting greater understanding.

The fiasco over the nuclear liability bill is the latest incident of the Manmohan Singh government appearing unsteady on its feet as it approaches the first anniversary of its present stint. In addition, any satisfaction it felt over the passage of the women's reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha must have been dissipated by the subsequent developments, which showed that the objections of the Mandal group to the proposed law can no longer be ignored. Hence, Pranab Mukherjee's acceptance of the earlier plea of the Yadav troika - Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh and Sharad - for an all-party meeting on the subject.

NEW DELHI: The two-day visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the second week of this month to New Delhi has helped in sorting out some of the major irritants in the traditional defence collaboration between the two countries. However, talks by the official delegations have not led to any real breakthrough in pushing India-Russia trade and investment relations to a new high.