Trade is vital for food security, Pascal Lamy tells agricultural economists
WTO News, 30 August, 2011
The world still lacks coherent international and domestic agricultural policies to deal with food security and the double-edged sword of higher prices, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told a congress of agricultural economists in Zurich on 30 August 2011.
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ADB to Help Boost Affordable, Accessible ICT Services in Tonga
Asian Development Bank News Release, 24 August, 2011
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is assisting the people of the Kingdom of Tonga to gain high-speed internet access by financing the development of a submarine cable system.
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Ghana and South Africa Affirm Tenets of Democracy for Good Governance
The Ghanaian Times, 24 August, 2011
President John Evans Atta Mills and his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, have affirmed that democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and economic empowerment are the ingredients that can bring the needed improvement into the lives of Africans.
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Libya: UN chief stresses unity and national reconciliation during transition
UN News Centre, 23 August, 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need for maintaining national unity and fostering reconciliation in Libya when he spoke with the leader of the North African country’s National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil.
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When donors delay in the face of crisis, there is a heavy price to be paid
The Guardian, 22 August, 2011, Jo Khinmaung
Aid agencies warned of the escalating situation in the Horn of Africa long before famine developed. This time last year, I was lobbying donor governments to provide humanitarian aid to 10 million people affected by a food crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa. Shockingly, here I am again, seeing the same story unfold in the Horn of Africa, where there has been another late response.
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ADB loan to help Bangladesh cut energy shortage, poverty
Business Recorder, 11 August, 2011
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending a $300 million energy infrastructure loan to help Bangladesh address critical power shortages, which are affecting the economy severely and slowing poverty reduction efforts.
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No conflict between growth and environment, says Jayanthi Natarajan
The Economic Times, 11 August, 2011
Priorities of environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan could help the ministry steer away from its confrontational position vis-a-vis growth proponents. Her priorities include greater convergence between forestry and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme, bringing in an environmental component in ministries like rural development, health, water resources and agriculture and creating a bio-diversity index that would form the basis of afforestation efforts.
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Civil society should take part in policymaking to fight corruption: Prashanth Bhushan
The Hindu, 08 August, 2011
Eminent lawyer Prashanth Bhushan on Sunday called for a constitutional amendment to institutionalise reforms for people’s participation in the policymaking process and fighting corruption.
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UAE’s unequal development a challenge: UNDP
Trade Arabia, 05 August, 2011
Economic disparities between the seven-member UAE are slowing the development of the country, said the UN Development Program (UNDP).
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Protest against draft land acquisition Bill
India Today, 05 August, 2011
India’s largest activist-farmer coalition opposing the government’s land acquisition policy has lambasted a recent draft Bill on the subject. The Union rural development ministry had put up the draft National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 in the public domain for consultations.
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Rise of Asia plausible, not preordained, warns Asian Development Bank
Business Standard, 04 August, 2011
Sustaining growth is not the only challenge that emerging Asian economies will face in the coming four decades, as the region grows to comprise about half of the global gross domestic product (GDP), revealed ‘Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century’, a study by the ADB.
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Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council report slips on microeconomic counts
The Economic Times, 04 August, 2011
The latest report of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, dated July 2011, seems to suggest that when it comes to the underlying dynamics of growth, the Indian economy essentially remains a ‘riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma’.
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Low-carbon economy is the way to future
The Oman Tribune, 01 August, 2011
The world needs to wake up to the looming catastrophe of climate change and must focus on a low-carbon economy, renowned economist Jeffrey D. Sachs said while delivering a lecture on ‘Challenges Facing the World Economy in the Coming Decade: Sustainable Development and Eradication of Poverty,’ organised by BankMuscat.
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