Orissa aims for higher economic growth, poverty reduction

October 7th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Orissa Wednesday constituted a task force consisting eminent academicians to prepare a prospective plan document for higher education, officials said. The task force will be led by Trilochan Pradhan, a former director of the Institute of Physics and former vice-chancellor of the state's Utkal University, according a government notification.

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's infrastructure sector has the potential to attract investments worth $1.5 trillion (Rs.75 lakh crore) over the coming decade, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said here Monday. The 11th Five-Year Plan envisages an outlay of over $500 billion of investment for infrastructure.

September 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The World Bank Friday approved two projects totaling $300 million to help Pakistan strengthen its social safety nets and improve higher education. Of the total, $200 million has been allocated for the Pakistan social safety nets development policy credit that is designed to establish an institutional and operational framework for an efficient national safety net system, Online news agency reported.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India managed a reasonable economic growth of 6.1 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal despite the global financial crisis impacting manufacturing and services sectors. Country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate during April-June 2009 at 6.1 percent was higher than 5.8 percent in the previous quarter.

June 22nd, 2009 SINGAPORE - The president of the Asian Development Bank warned Monday that the global economic downturn might lead to a significant increase of poverty in Asia. "Instead of breaking out from poverty, we expect that more than 60 million people in developing Asia...

June 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Warning that the world is entering an era of slower growth, the World Bank Monday said that without India and China, the developing countries' output would shrink 1.6 percent. But with the two Asian engines of growth included, developing countries are expected to grow by only 1.2 percent this year, after 8.1 percent growth in 2007 and 5.9 percent growth in 2008.

June 22nd, 2009 World Bank cuts 2009 global growth forecastBEIJING — The World Bank has cut its 2009 global growth forecast, saying the world economy will shrink by 2.9 percent and warning that a drop in investment in developing countries will increase poverty. "The global recession has deepened," the Washington-based multilateral lender said in a report.

April 30th, 2009 ADB triples capital to $165B to respond to crisisMANILA, Philippines — The Asian Development Bank said Thursday it is tripling its capital to $165 billion to provide the resources needed to respond to the global economic crisis and push its long-term goal of cutting poverty in the region. The Manila-based bank's board of governors said an overwhelming majority of the ADB's 67 member countries voted to endorse the 200 percent increase to ADB's current $55 billion of capital.

April 25th, 2009 World Bank to aid poor countries with public worksWASHINGTON — The World Bank said Saturday it would provide poor countries with more than $55 billion for public work projects left in limbo when the recession dried up capital investment. The goal is to create jobs and lay the foundation for future economic growth and poverty reduction.

April 15th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Wednesday blamed the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's government for the communal violence in Orissa last year. 'Clashes took place in the name of religion in Kandhamal and elsewhere and the state government was responsible for spreading disharmony and hatred,' Gandhi told an election rally in Kendrapada town, about 100 km from here.

April 8th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The Nationalist Congress Party alliance with the Left parties and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Orissa is 'only Orissa-specific', NCP chief Sharad Pawar said here Wednesday. 'Our arrangement is only Orissa-specific,' Pawar told a press conference, addressed jointly with Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik.

March 31st, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Tuesday launched his party's poll campaign in Orissa by attacking the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on issues like inflation and farmer suicides.

March 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With the economic growth rate for the third quarter falling to 5.3 percent - the lowest since 2003 - the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Wednesday evening announced monetary stimulus in the form of reductions in the repo rate and the reverse repo rate by 50 basis points each. The repo rate (rate at which banks borrow money from RBI), which was last revised Jan 2, will now come down to 5 percent, while the reverse repo rate (rate at which RBI borrows from the banks) has come down to 3.5 percent.

February 17th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The Orissa government has sought Rs.15 billion (Rs.1,500 crore) from the central government to tackle the economic slowdown, the government said Wednesday. Orissa Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadei placed the demand with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the national capital Tuesday.

January 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The World Bank Tuesday announced $444 million aid to Orissa for infrastructure development and rural livelihood projects. The bank has signed an agreement in this regard with the state government.