Asian Development Outlook- April 2025
<p>Weak consumption in the People’s Republic of China will partly offset robust domestic demand in South Asia. Disinflation is expected to continue, driven by lower food and energy prices, along
China
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Disasters killed 20,000 in 2007: study
Natural and man-made disasters killed 20,000 people in 2007 and cost the world economy more than 70 billion dollars (45 billion euros), reinsurer Swiss Re said Tuesday.
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Inflation globalised
The provisional Wholesale Price Index numbers for the week ending February 23 exceeded 5%, confirming what millions of households across India already knew
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Ecologists report huge storm losses in China's forests
From delicate orchids and magnolias to rare Chinese yews and Kwangtung pines, the flora of Guangdong Nanling National Nature Reserve is considered so precious that ecologists call the reserve "a treasure trove of species." But winter storms have reduced the biological hot spot to a splintered ruin.
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Personal Thought: Govt must go ahead on nuclear deal
The Indo-US nuclear deal is in focus these days. The Government must call Left's bluff and the Right's circumlocution. The Left is more worried about China's interests than that of India and the Right is opposing the deal for the sake of opposition. In fact the Right when in power carried out protracted negotiations with the US State Department to hammer out an agreement but now it is opposing the Deal because it sits in the opposition. Issues of national interest must be backed by bipartisan consensus. If the Left and the Right have their own agendas, let them pursue them but the Government must not let this opportunity pass even if it risks early elections. India is not a small country that will be gobbled by the US. India merits attention on its own. Welcome to Indian films in Pakistan According to a report, Pakistan is planning to lift 1965 ban on Bollywood films. This will gladden the hearts of the Pakistanis as the Bollywood movies and stars are extremely popular in Pakistan and come what may, beg, borrow or steal, Pakistanis must see the Indian movies. Pirated copies of the latest Bollywood movies reach Pakistan via Dubai days before they are released in India. While the Pakistani picture halls comply with the government ban and refrain from screening of the Bollywood movies, come evening, every home in Pakistan turns into a picture hall amidst much merrymaking and feasting. In the days Indian television was telecasting the Ramayana and Mahabharta on the TV, the Government of Pakistan was alarmed by the fact that the people from far-flung areas were flying to Lahore to watch the episodes because the TV antennas in those days did not carry the signals to their respective cities. In Lahore, life used to come to a standstill when the episodes were broadcast. The Pakistani ban on Bollywood films didn't work as far as the people of Pakistan were concerned. If the ban on the showing of Bollywood movies in Pakistan goes as proposed, it will help better understanding between the people of two countries united by racial, linguistic and cultural bonds. It will be the harbinger of a new era of relationship between the erstwhile hostile neighbours. I'm sure both the people of India and Pakistan will welcome the policy change. RJ Khurana
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Green technology: Makers hedge bets on alternative vehicles
As improved hybrid, clean-diesel, electric and other green powertrain technologies proliferate, manufacturers are investing in the next-generation cars we will drive in five, 10 or 15 years' time.
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Tackling climate change
A 50% rise in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, higher temperatures, with more droughts and storms harming people, crops and buildings; more animal and plant species becoming extinct under expanding farmland and urban sprawl; dwindling natural resources; a billion more people living in water-stressed areas by 2030, with more pollution, disease and premature deaths ahead.
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The Bali road map - A first step on the difficult journey to a post-Kyoto Protocol Agreement
The Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol met in Bali in December 2007. 1 After some high-stakes poker about emission reduction frameworks and the role of emerging economies, participants settled on a road map for negotiating a new climate agreement by the end of 2009. The Bali meeting also managed to achieve progress on a number of important issues relating to the Adaptation Fund, avoidance of deforestation through REDD, technology transfer, and CDM.
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Waste management in developing Asia
The problems relating to mounting solid waste are fast acquiring gigantic proportions in the developing countries of Asia. Most of the countries, nevertheless, continue to primarily focus on achieving high economic growth and pay scant attention to waste management. This article takes a detailed look at the inadequacies of waste management in Asia and underscores the need for greater international engagement in tackling the menace.
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Effects of simumlated acid rain on disturbed, rehabilitated and mature forest soil of lower subtropic China
An evaluation of response of one disturbed, one rehabilitated and one mature forest soil in lower subtropic China to simulated acid rain (SAR) were studied using a controlled laboratory leaching experiment. Land use change is one of the important factors in controlling soil response to acid deposition.