Already the poorest country in Asia, Afghanistan’s economic base has long been too small to support its population of 40 million. Annual per capita income had declined from US$650 in 2012 to US$508 in 2020 and is expected to drop precipitously to US$350 next year. The report indicates that the …
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said the country will take at least 10 years to achieve the Nirmal Bharath status, when all the 2.4 lakh grama panchayats in the nation could be declared free of open defecation under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA). Addressing a review meeting of …
The recent act of Taliban blocking polio vaccination drive in Waziristan has had the health authorities in India worried. While India has not reported any polio case for over a year now, the cross border polio importation threatens India’s success over crippling polio virus. Given the incredible success, recently, the …
Less than four months ago the world was cheered to learn that India had gone a full year with no new cases of polio - a landmark that left only Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria on the World Health Organization's list of countries where the disease is endemic. But the battle …
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Washington’s chairmanship of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) would give a “final impetus” to New Delhi’s membership, sources have told The Indian Express. Krishna welcomed the “tangible progress” in civil nuclear energy cooperation with the …
More than 70 people, most women and children, are feared dead after a landslide triggered by a double earthquake engulfed their Afghan village, officials said on Tuesday. Two shallow quakes less than half an hour apart shook the mountainous Hindu Kush region Monday, starting a slide of earth and rock …
In a bid to further consolidate India’s growing economic interests in Afghanistan, coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal is all set to lead a high-level delegation to Kabul over the next fortnight to ink a pact with the Afghan mines ministry. The pact will pave way for Coal India Ltd and Singareni …
Using nationally-representative household survey data and confidential geo-coded data on violence, we examine the linkages between conflict, food insecurity, and food price shocks in Afghanistan. Spatial mappings of the raw data reveal large variations in levels of food insecurity and conflict across the country; surprisingly, food insecurity is not higher …
A nine-member Pakistani delegation has arrived in India to learn from its experience of polio eradication. Pakistan saw a manifold rise in polio cases this year, and is one of the three countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the infectious viral disease is still prevalent. India became polio-free in …
Tackling polio has entered "emergency mode" according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative after "explosive" outbreaks in countries previously free of the disease. It has launched a plan to boost vaccination in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the only countries where the disease is still endemic. Experts fear the disease could …
The last three countries where polio is still paralysing children -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria -- said on Thursday that they have enlisted Muslim women and religious leaders to allay fears of vaccination and wipe out the disease. Polio cases are at an all-time low worldwide, following its eradication in …
India on Wednesday signed the gas sale purchase agreement (GSPA) for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) gas pipeline, which upon completion would diversify its gas basket. With domestic gas output stagnating, the $7.6-billion Tapi gas project provides a ray of hope. In five years, the country would have access to imported natural …
New Delhi: Kicking-off work on the long discussed US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, India and its new energy partners on Wednesday signed agreements that will pave way for laying of the 1,680-km line. Turkmenistan — which holds more than 4% of the world’s natural gas reserves signed agreements to sell gas …
The World Health Organization is expected to declare polio a global emergency after outbreaks in countries previously free of the disease. The WHO wants to boost programmes in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the only countries where the disease is still endemic. It says tackling polio is "at a tipping point …
With rupee depreciation leading to jump in oil import bill, petroleum minister S. Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday said there is an immediate need to raise fuel prices, but refused to say when the hike will actually take place. “It (price increase) is very essential but (before hiking rates) we have …
Turkmenistan on Wednesday signed agreements with India and Pakistan to deliver gas through a new pipeline that will transit Afghanistan, the first contracts in the ambitious project. The 1,700-kilometre (1,050-mile) TAPI pipeline aims to transport more than 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually from Turkmenistan to energy-hungry consumers in …
New Delhi: Steel major SAIL on Monday got a dressing down from the government over “unsatisfactory” performance and poor progress in expansion and modernization programmes, leading to cost escalations. While SAIL chairman C S Verma termed the Maharatna’s performance as satisfactory, steel minister Beni Prasad Verma came down heavily on …
Flood waters ravaged a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 19 people and destroying hundreds of homes, officials said Sunday. About 60 other people were missing and rescuers were looking for them across Sar-e-Pul, the capital of a province with the same name, said Sayed Faizullah Sadat, the …
Pakistan will finally ink the gas deal with Turkmenistan in Ashgabad on May 23-24 under which it would start importing in 2016 the gas of 1.365 bcf per day under $ 7.6 billion TAPI gas line project at a cost of 70 per cent parity of crude oil at Multan …
Cutting cross party lines, Congress, SAD and BJP MPs have welcomed the TAPI project that will provide a major boost to power plants and other gas-based ancillary units in the state. Minister Petroleum S Jaipal Reddy is slated to visit Turkmenistan next week to sign a sale and purchase agreement. …
New Delhi The Cabinet on Thursday approved the purchase of natural gas from Turkmenistan through a 1700 km cross-border pipeline passing through Afghanistan and Pakistan. Petroleum and natural gas minister S Jaipal Reddy would be visiting Turkmenistan on May 23-24 to sign the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA). While …
