View Articles

The Maldives is a physically and economically small, vulnerable developing country, heavily dependant for its prosperity on international trade. Real GDP growth averaged 7,4% between 2003 and 2008, driven mainly by the tourism sector. However growth is expected to contract by 1,3% in 2009 due to a decline in tourism activity, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of the Maldives.

NEW DELHI: The Rural Development Ministry of the UPA Government has worked out an ambitious, albeit enigmatic, programme of ensuring livelihood to all BPL households in the countryside. However, no time schedule has been indicated to achieve the target.

Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who has returned to power, faces new challenges both in the political and administrative arenas during his second term. The biggest challenge will be to ensure political stability which he and the ruling Congress enjoyed in the first term because of the party's overwhelming majority in the Assembly, a weakened opposition and absence of active dissenters in the ruling party. These factors no longer exist.

HUA HIN, THAILAND - Leaders of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines (BIMP) have agreed to start carrying out 12 priority infrastructure projects over the next two years under the BIMP East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) subregional cooperation program.

With the success of amending the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act during the Winter Session of Parliament in 2008 and setting up of National Security Guard base in the four Metros during the first half of 2009 as a quick response measure to tackle terrorism, militancy, subversion and naxalism on a war footing throughout the nation, the Union Minister of Home Affairs P.Chidambaram has set in motion an ambitious plan to fast track investigation of crime and detection of criminals.

New York: The top United Nations official in Asia and the Pacific has highlighted the opportunities to promote trade and investment among countries in the region, while presenting a new development plan less dependent on exports to the West.

During the cold war days, it was customary for us to lampoon the Soviet economy as one of distributing shortages and poverty. Shortages of certain goods were perennial, and there had been big scramble for them. Now 18 years of globalisation has placed the world system on the opposite pole. Instead of sharing poverty, globalisation and competitive consumerism have forced the world to wrangle over sharing the perils of plundering the planet.

LUCKNOW: The poor performance of the BSP in the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections has shattered the dream of Chief Minister Mayawati to expand her base in other parts of the country.

CHANDIGARH: Congress with the incumbent Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as its leader seems set to return to power in Haryana. But it has been mauled by the October 13 Assembly elections, the outcome of which has given it a big shock.

New Delhi: Interim audit report on preliminary inspection of the books of accounts of the Press Club of India for the year ended 31st Marth 2006 to 2009 has found books of accounts of the club unclean while the very low level of politics has been undermining the very prestige of this body for a long time. The audit report found that the Club had been violating many laws of the land, some of them are criminal in nature.