Bill Gates foundation announces $9.7 mn aid for Indian farmers

October 7th, 2009 Congress to consider water bill for Calif. farmersWASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers from California have introduced legislation intended to increase the flow of water to the state's parched San Joaquin Valley, where farmers have idled thousands of acres.

September 9th, 2009 LUCKNOW - A bank manager was held captive for nearly 12 hours in his office by farmers in an Uttar Pradesh village for allegedly demanding a bribe to issue their Kisan Credit Card (KCC), police said Wednesday. Angry farmers in Barsera village in Bareilly district Tuesday barged inside the office of a Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch manager.

July 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Sunday said farmers need financial security to prevent them committing suicide as has been happening in India, and stop them from drifting away from agriculture, like in the US. "Yeah, it (farmers' suicides) is a great concern.

July 3rd, 2009 Warren Buffett makes gifts to charity worth $1.43BSEATTLE — Billionaire Warren Buffett has donated $1.25 billion in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

July 3rd, 2009 Warren Buffett makes gifts to charity worth $1.53BSEATTLE — Billionaire Warren Buffett has donated $1.25 billion in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

June 25th, 2009 Charitable foundations see endowments dropSEATTLE — U.S. foundations saw their investments drop by an average of 26 percent in 2008 amid the economic downturn and stock market collapse, but that hasn't slowed their charitable giving, a new survey has found.

June 24th, 2009 Key farm-state lawmaker supports climate billWASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee says farmers can support a proposed Democratic bill to limit greenhouse gases and combat global warming. Democratic Rep.

June 24th, 2009 White House threatens defense spending bill vetoWASHINGTON — Preparing for a possible showdown with Congress, the White House has threatened to veto a $680 billion military spending bill if it contains money for jet fighters the Pentagon doesn't want. In a statement of administration policy, President Barack Obama's Office of Management and Budget said the $369 million a House committee added to the bill for 12 additional F-22 fighters runs counter to the "collective judgment" of the military's top leaders.

June 10th, 2009 NOIDA - A foundation backed by former US president Bill Clinton is in talks with the Gujarat and Rajasthan governments to build two 3,000 MW solar power plants, New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah said here Wednesday. "We are looking at several initiatives to increase generation from renewable sources.

June 9th, 2009 Economic downturn hits world's richest foundationSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may be the world's richest charitable foundation, but that hardly shields them from the economic downturn. Between January 2008 and April 2009, the foundation saw its assets drop from $39 billion to $27.5 billion.

June 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With a $20 million Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contribution, the World Bank will establish an Agriculture Finance Support Facility to support the expansion of rural finance in the developing world including India. In a time of tight credit, the Facility will support grants to bank and non-bank institutions for activities to increase access to financial services, such as savings, credit, payments and insurance, in rural areas in developing countries as profitable business lines, the bank announced Monday.

April 23rd, 2009 Colbert: Does Bill Gates ever talk about me?SEATTLE — Stephen Colbert had an important question for an official with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: "Does Bill Gates ever talk about me?" The host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" helped announce a $4.1 million donation from the foundation to donorschoose.org at a New York City high school Tuesday. Colbert is a board member of donorschoose, a Web site where teachers seek money for student projects and donors choose which projects they want to support.

April 23rd, 2009 Gates Found. pledges $57M to overseas librariesSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $57 million to improve Internet access at public libraries in Poland, Romania and Vietnam.

February 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Concerned over the low sugarcane output expected this year, the government is likely to raise prices, which would mean sugar mill owners would have to pay more for their produce. 'Sugarcane farmers have to get a competitive price, which in turn would encourage them to produce more.

January 19th, 2009 MOHALI - Ukraine is all set to woo experienced farmers and potential investors from Punjab, who are ready to make investments in the agri-business in that country, by offering them lucrative offers and proposals. 'We have come to India to study the agriculture potential of this country and to invite farmers and investors who are interested to pursue agriculture on the fertile soil of Ukraine,' Anatoily Pylypko, managing director of Vedi Chna, a private company that facilitates foreign investment in Ukraine, told reporters here Tuesday.