Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
There is a great push to make panchayats the fulcrum of rural development in India. But 16 years after the third tier of government was created, it has not got its due. RAMESH Singh Yadav is much sought after. Especially among creditors and moneylenders, to whom he owes a total …
the 94th edition of the Indian Science Congress, held January 2-7, 2007 at Annamalai University in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, sought to be different. Revolving around the theme of "Planet Earth', it sought to "address vital issues related to our natural habitat'. The areas of deliberation included energy security, earth-ocean-atmosphere interactions, …
GUARANTEES for social services have been kicking in of late. After guarantees for rural employment and education, people will find it easier to get an anganwadi on demand. On December 13, 2006, the Supreme Court has ordered the government to set up 8 lakh more anganwadi centres in the next …
only a few weeks are left for scientists to meet at the annual Indian Science Congress and the organisers are still looking out for funds. The meet will be held from January 3-7, 2007, at the Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu. "Target budget for the meet is Rs 6 crore, …
Very few water experts are aware that water resources and water services can be subject to the terms of investment and trade agreements. In fact, free trade agreements can blur the boundaries of national jurisdiction and the control of water resources and public utilities, often producing negative social and economic …
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is a ground-breaking study on how humans have altered ecosystems, and how changes in ecosystem services affect human well-being, both now and in the future. Integrating findings at the local, regional, global scales and from alternative intellectual traditions, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment presents a stark …
This book identifies how climate change policy uncertainty may affect investment behaviour in the power sector. For power companies, where capital stock is intensive and long-lived, those risks rank among the biggest and can create an incentive to delay investment. The analysis results show that the risk premiums of climate …
public sector banks have long been chastised as the black sheep of the financial sector. But while a lot of experts might deride these institutions for their non-performing assets and lower productivity, at the end of the day, public sector banks have far happier customers compared to their counterparts in …
In 1995, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) instituted the banking ombudsman: a quasi judicial authority to address banking complaints. Dissatisfied bank customers have the option of approaching this authority when all else fails. Says P Shimrah, secretary to the Banking Ombudsman, "We encourage complainants to approach their respective banks …
In 1995, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) instituted the banking ombudsman: a quasi judicial authority to address banking complaints. Dissatisfied bank customers have the option of approaching this authority when all else fails. Says P Shimrah, secretary to the Banking Ombudsman, "We encourage complainants to approach their respective banks …
The Union government is about to substantially cut down the number of poverty alleviation programmes it runs. Known as the centrally-sponsored schemes (csss), these projects have long been criticised for being out-of-sync with local governments. So, a high powered committee constituted by the Planning Commission has recommended that panchayati raj …
Little headway was made at the un climate change conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, from November 6 to 17, 2006. The most important issue, mandating commitments to cutting carbon emissions, was stonewalled, with the us refusing to budge from its stated positions, as expected, and the European Union pushing for …
Foreigners file 75 per cent of patent applications in India. Indian scientists and research organisations are also increasingly filing for patents, though mostly in the us. On the one hand, the preponderance of foreign patent applications in India, commentators say, could lead to increased dominance of foreign companies in Indian …
IN this past month, farmer associations in Haryana and Tamil Nadu have located and burnt field trials for genetically modified Bt rice. In Chhattisgarh the state government has stopped similar trials happening under its nose. It is all too easy to deride these actions as the handiwork of some misinformed …
china has promised massive financial aid to Africa. At a two-day meet in Beijing, attended by 35 of the 53 African nations, Chinese president Hu Jintao pledged to double China's aid to Africa from its 2006 level by 2009. Speaking at the conference's opening on November 4, he promised us …
Environmental court: Pakistan's Sindh High Court has recently directed the ministry of environment to establish environment tribunals, as required by the Pakistan Environment Protection Act, 1997, within two months so that environment issues can be decided expeditiously. The direction was in response to a petition filed by an NGO that …
Ministers from southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei) recently met in Indonesia's Sumatra island to discuss plans to tackle Indonesian forest fires. The countries told the Indonesian government to formally ratify an Association of South East Asian Nations haze treaty before expecting major funding from it. Indonesia …
• International finacial institutions (IFIs) are powerful. IFIs get into contractual agreements with borrowing governments and, in turn, the citizens of these countries are bound by the terms of these agreements. But citizens have virtually no say in the negotiations
