State may not get new WB soft loans for infrastructure
The recent visit by the state government delegation led by Gujarat industries minister Suresh Mehta to the United States has made it abundantly clear the the World Bank would not give any new cheaper loans to the state for major infrastructure projects. The $381 million roads project, currently held up …
Farmers to draw water on Nov 15
More than one lakh farmers from Gujarat, Maharashtra and all over the country will gather at the Sardar Sarovar Dam site near Kevadia colony on November 15, draw water from the reservoir and release it into the canal, protesting against the "hurdles" that can prevent dam construction while expressing solidarity …
G-15 meting in Bangalore on August 17-18
Commerce and trade ministers of the G-15 group of developing nations will be meeting here on August 17-18 to discuss WTO-related issues.The meeting will be a follow-up to the summit of the heads of Government which was held in February in Jamaica, sources confirmed.
2-day meet on national HDR report
The Planning Commission will organise a two-day workshop to identify core contents and indicators for the inclusion in the national human development report(HDR) being prepared on the lines of United Nation's Development Programme(UNDP).The workshop beginning here on Friday, would also assist States in preparing HDR reports at the State level, …
WB, IDA lending to India declines
Under pressure from the US and its allies ovoer the Pokhran nuclear tests, World Bank lending to India registered a massive decline from $1.068 million in 1998 to $400million for the fiscal 1999, latest bank figures show.
Work on Chamera project begins
The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation announced at New Delhi today that active construction work on the 300 mw Chamera stage-II project in Himachal Pradesh has commenced following an agreement with the Indo-Canadian hydro consortium this month.
India to be second fastest growing nation
After China, India would be the fastest growing country in the world during 2000, the last year of the millennium, says Merrill Lynch. The July issue of its monthly publication Global Economic Trends forecasts tha the real growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) during the year 2000 would be …
Costly fudge at the WTO
The most that can be said of the agreement to split the leadership of the World Trade Organisation between the two candidates is that it ends long, damaging and unseemly dispute that should never have happened. That is also what makes the compromise so regrettable. Born solely of WTO members …
India to present views at WTO body
A team led by the Additional Solicitor-General of India, Mr. Kirit N. Raval, has left for Geneva to present India's arguments before the appellate body of the World Trade Organisation(WTO) in the WTO dispute with the US concerning the import restrictions maintained by India on agricultural, industrial and textile products.
Free trade agenda may aggravate poverty
The globalisation of economy embarked upon in India may aggravate poverty and increase the supply of child labour in the market, if it affects the income distribution in an adverse fashion. This trade-labour link needs to be established as one of the multifarious effects of global competition on the domestic …
ADB agrees to grant $ 50 m to state
The Asian Development Bank has agreed to disburse a $50 million transche assistance to Gujarat following excellence performance shown by the state with regard to public sector reforms. The assistance sanctioned by the ADB is part of $250 million promised to Gujarat.
India down in WEF ranking
India's position has gone down by two notches in the ranking of world competitiveness, according to the Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF). The country stood at the 52nd position this year against 50th position a year before, according to the 1999 global competitiveness report, an annual economic survey of close …
Stark disparities in wealth
The world's 200 riches people have doubled their wealth in just four years, and the assets of the three richest families now exceed the combined gross national products of all the least-developed countries, according to a UN report. "Global inequalities in income and living standards have reached grostesque proportions," according …
Province to act if water fears valid
If concerns that commercial bottlers are using up too much fresh water prove valid, the province will take action, Canada's Environment Minister Tony Clement says. 'I am concerned about making sure our aquifers are replenished,'' he said yesterday. 'We are human beings so we are going to extract from our …
UNDP calls for a rewriting of the rules of globalisation
Globalisaton is more than the flow of money and commodities, it is the growing interdependence of the world's people through "shrinking space, shrinking time and disappearing borders," states the Human Development Report, 1999.The report makes a powerful plea for rewriting the rule of globalisation to make it work for the …
World Bank lifts India loan ban
India today secured a $386- million World Bank loan, its first since economic sanctions were imposed after the Pokhran tests in May last year. Agreements were signed today for a $300 million loan for an integrated women and child development project covering five states and another $86 million for a …
Rajasthan forms panel of Sarpanches
To ensure attendance of officials in rural areas and streamline the administration to make it more responsive at the village level, the Rajasthan Government has constituted standing committees headed by the village Sarpanches across the State.
Women become main workers in rural, urban Karnataka
Report: More women are becoming main workers in rural as well as urban areas of Karnataka. However their domain is restricted to only marginal work in both these places says the first report on Human Development Report(HDR) in Karnataka released recently by the State Government.Marginal work is growing in rural …
India to sustain growth in 1999, says UN report
India's strong economic growth is expected to continue, while that of Pakistan and China to decelerate in the current year, a United Nations report has forecasted. India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at six per cent in 1999, up from 5.6 per cent last year and 5.1 …
