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 …
the forest managers of Tripura might not have done anything to settle the rights of tribals dispalced from their land, but they've started paying their casual labourers better. About 30 years after its creation, the Tripura Forest Development and Plantation Corporation (tfdpc) earned its highest-ever profit in 2005 (see graph …
The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Bill 2005 was introduced in Parliament in December 2005. If passed, Indian farmers could just become more bankable and financially secure. There are factors however, that threaten the gains. The bill recommends that warehouse receipts given to farmers while storing their agricultural produce be treated …
finance Minister P Chidambaram's budget gave eight flagship programmes 43 per cent more allocation (at Rs 50,015 crore) in the 2006-07 Union budget. Chidambaram took note of the National Commission for Farmers report and reduced the interest rate on short-term credit to farmers to seven per cent for an upper-limit …
In 2003, 10 of the largest commercial banks in the world agreed to the so-called Equator Principles: a set of policies for financial institutions to determine, assess and manage environmental and social risks in project finance. By 2005 end, 37 of the world's largest private financial institutions signed it. The …
For more than a decade, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has provided critical support to developing countries for fighting global environmental problems such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity. But recent developments do not bode well for the ability of the GEF to continue playing its pivotal role …
On December 3, 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (jnnurm). The ambitious mission, worth Rs 100,000 crore, promises to reform and rebuild 63 Indian cities, which will be identified subject to the willingness of the state governments to
The International Monetary Fund (imf) will write off the us $3.3 billion owed to it by all but one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. The write-off, slated to come into effect from early 2006, was agreed upon in a g 8 countries meet in July, 2005. Mauritania …
Irrigation water security is vital both for livelihood and food security. While the country has made large investments in the augmentation of water supply, there have been no commensurate efforts in the management of demand and in the promotion of efficient and economic water use. This report draws attention to …
Oil-rich Angola is ready to enter into a programme with the International Monetary Fund (imf), but it only wants help in restructuring its debt, not new loans, the country's finance minister has said. The reason years of talks between Angola and the imf had so far failed to bear fruit …
An effort to regulate drug prices, through measures "other than price control', has been wasted. A task force (tf) set up as per Supreme Court (sc) recommendations to find ways to reduce prices of life-saving drugs, could not come up with many viable solutions. The tf had representatives from the …
a report by an appraisal committee identifies lack of autonomy as a major reason for poor performance of Indian Council of Medical Research (icmr), the premier government body in charge of medical research in the country. The committee suggests the organisation would be better equipped to address new health threats …
the European Investment Bank (eib) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ebrd), announced on October 6, 2005, that they would take into account the international standard for dam-building set by the World Commission on Dams (wcd). The eib told International Rivers Network (irn), a us -based ngo, it …
after activists and scientists, now insurance companies have joined the debate on climate change, with this year's storm damage already hitting insurers' bottomlines. The world's two largest re-insurers, Swiss Re and Munich Re AG, are leading a drive to encourage companies to look at the impact of climate change on …
Maharashtra's push comes from a March 2005 press note issued by the Union ministry of commerce and industry, allowing 100 per cent fdi in "township, housing, built
the recently concluded annual meeting of the World Bank (wb) and the International Monetary Fund (imf) in Washington agreed to implement the debt cancellation proposals of the g8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland. The agreement to write off us$57.5 billion debt to ease the burden on impoverished nations will benefit 18 …
The Union cabinet will soon revamp the existing Northeastern Industrial Development Policy (neip). But the revision is very likely to be based on a flawed review of the existing policy. The original neip was initiated by the Union ministry of commerce and industry's department of industrial policy and promotion (dipp) …
On June 11, 2005 finance ministers of g 8 nations (excluding Russia) promised loftily to cancel 100 per cent debts, amounting to us $40 billion, owed by the world's 18 poorest countries to the World Bank (wb), the International Monetary Fund (imf) and the African Development Bank. The countries will …
Notwithstanding the legislative provisions to safeguard their landed interests, tribals are getting driven to circumstances in which retaining hold over the land under their possession is becoming difficult. The quality of land held by them is so poor that, in its present form, it cannot promise them any reasonable returns. …
Punjab peasantry is in the clutches of severe indebtedness. To overcome the problem of debt trap, effective measures should be taken by the government, social organisations and farming community. The government should exercise a strong check on the activities on non-institutional credit agencies and provide institutional credit facilities to the …
