The Climate Change Action Plan 2021–2025 aims to advance the climate change aspects of the WBG’s Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach, which pursues poverty eradication and shared
Calcutta is to have a "detailed, scientific plan' to combat the effects of climate changes, courtesy a World Bank initiative. A three-member team from the bank was in town recently to kick off the project, which will use a simulated model to predict Calcutta's vulnerability to climate changes till 2050 and prepare a survival roadmap. "Calcutta is among the 10 cities in the world that are most vulnerable to climate changes. The Bengal government has okayed a World Bank proposal to launch an initiative to predict the changes,' said state environment secretary K.L. Meena.
World Bank (WB) has signed a loan agreement with Karnataka government for Rs 259 crore under the Project for Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of water bodies. World Bank (WB) has signed a loan agreement with Karnataka government for Rs 259 crore under the Project for Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of water bodies. An official release here on Wednesday said that the RRR projected was being expanded throughout the country with external assistance. The World Bank loan agreement has also been signed with Tamil Nadu for Rs 2182 crore to restore 5763 water bodies having a cultivable command area (CCA) of four lakh hectare, Andhra Pradesh for Rs. 835 crore for restoration of 3000 water bodies with a CCA of 2.5 lakh hectare. The
Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao has said the State has sought $200 million more assistance from the World Bank for the Karnataka-State Highway Improvement Project (K-SHIP II). Rao told reporters here on Monday that the Department of Economic Affairs has already given its nod for getting a loan of $200 million from the WB for K-SHIP II. "In addition to this we have sought $200 million more assistance', he added. The Centre has also given its approval for getting a loan of $300 million from the Asian Development Project (ADB) for the same project ie K-SHIP II.
The World Bank has expressed concerns over the slow progress in the development of transgenic food staples and called for the removal of related constraints. It said that the transgenics or the genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have considerable potential for improving the productivity of smallholder farming systems and providing more nutritious foods to poor consumers in developing countries. "The environmental, food safety, and social risks of transgenics are controversial and therefore transparent and cost-effective regulatory systems that inspire public confidence are needed to evaluate risks and benefits case by case,' it admitted. In its World Development Report-2008, it noted, "While Bt cotton has been rapidly and successfully adopted in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, farmers in Andhra Pradesh initially experienced a loss, largely because of the use of poorly adapted varieties (hybrids).' In general, the report said that Indian farmers growing Bt cotton used less insecticides and gained significant yield increases. The report, with its theme - Agriculture for Development - made a strong plea for commercial cultivation of Golden Rice. It said that in India alone, 0.2 to 1.4 million life-years could be saved annually through widespread consumption of Golden Rice and this would be more cost-effective than the current supplementary programme for vitamin A. The World Bank said that while developing transgenics pro-poor traits and orphan crops have been neglected. Investments in R&D on transgenics are concentrated largely in the private sector, driven by commercial interests in industrial countries. The public sector spending on R&D is much lower than the $1.5 billion spent each year by the four largest private Companies. The report also noted the complexities of trade in transgenics. Exporters fear the loss of overseas Markets and of a "GMO-free' brand. It called for competence in managing and release and use of transgenics with open information disclosures, labelling (wherever feasible), and a consultative process, critical for harnessing public support.
President Bush handed out hugs and bed nets in Tanzania's rural north on Monday, saying the United States is part of an international effort to provide enough netting to protect every child under five in the east African nation. ''The suffering caused by malaria is needless and every death caused by malaria is unacceptable,'' Bush said in an open air pavilion at Meru District Hospital. ''It is unacceptable to people in the United States who believe every human life has value, and that the power to save lives comes with the moral obligation to use it.'' Bush is on six-day trek through five African nations. The public mission of his travels is to improve health on an impoverished continent. The underlying one is to preserve his initiatives beyond his presidency and cement humanitarianism as a key part of his legacy. The president launched a plan in 2005 to dramatically reduce malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, the worst affected region in the world. More than 80 percent of malaria cases happen here; the disease kills at least 1 million infants and children under five every year. Congress so far has put $425 million toward Bush's $1.2 billion, five-year program, which has helped more than 25 million people. In Tanzania alone, malaria kills roughly 100,000 people a year. Bush said the tremendous loss will not be tolerated. ''It is unacceptable to people here in Africa, who see their families devastated and their economies crippled,'' he said in the northern highlands of Arusha, an area known as a cradle of African safari adventure. Bush announced that the U.S. and Tanzania, in partnership with the World Bank and the Global Fund, plan to distribute 5.2 million free bed nets in Tanzania in six months. That's enough, he said, to provide a net for every child between ages one and five in Tanzania. Bush landed here, in sight of the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, and was greeted by Maasai women dancers who wore purple robes and white discs around their necks. The president joined their line and enjoyed himself, but held off on dancing. As Bush's motorcade made the long drive from the airport to the hospital, it passed through several villages where hundreds of locals lined the road. At one point, flowers had been strewn in the street before the car of the president, who is popular here for the help his administration is providing to battle disease. In every part of the hospital he toured, women spontaneously hugged the president. He visited with pregnant women receiving vouchers for bed nets and children waiting to be diagnosed and treated for malaria. He shook hands as mothers quieted fussy children. After his remarks, the president and his wife, first lady Laura Bush, distributed several U.S.-funded bed nets treated with insecticide to women waiting quietly on benches. While Bush was visiting the hospital, a textile factory where the bed nets are made and a girls school, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was headed north from Tanzania into Kenya to try to help push forward deadlocked peace talks. A disputed presidential election there led to a wave of violence just ahead of Bush's trip. Tanzania is one of 15 countries that benefit through the distribution of live-saving medicines, insecticide spraying and bed nets that keep mosquitoes away at night. Those bed nets, which cost about $10, have long-lasting insecticide. The Bushes are touring a plant where nets are woven, hung on hooks for inspection and bagged for shipment. The U.S. drive to spend money on the health of Africans, including a much larger effort on HIV/AIDS, is appreciated here. In a recent Pew Research Center report, African countries held more favorable views of the U.S. than any others in the world. And Bush, the face of the U.S. superpower, is showered with praise wherever he goes. It seems a world away from the sentiment at home, where his public approval is at 30 percent. ------ Associated Press Writer Ben Feller reported from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
india is set to make another round of changes in procurement norms for health schemes funded by World Bank loans. This follows the bank's review of Indian projects running on its loans, highlighting
some of India's critical public health schemes have a long track record of corruption. The World Bank has a long record of hiring expensive consultants to tell us so. In this cynical theatre arrives
Global carbon trading has gained momentum. The Worldwatch Institute, drawing from various studies, places the total value of the trade in 2007 at $59.2 billion, an 80 per cent increase over 2006. As the 2012 deadline for reducing emission levels approaches, the volume of carbon trading will be enormous. Asian countries are the biggest sellers and western countries the biggest buyers. A World Bank report on the 2007 carbon market shows that China has a market share of 61 pe r cent and India 12 per cent.
Jadavpur University (JU) has once again topped among 11 private and state engineering institutions of Bengal in implementing projects under the World Bank-sponsored Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (Tequip). JU's engineering and technology faculty, following an appraisal of the performance of the 11 institutes, has scored 916 out of 950. Phase I of Tequip ends in March. "For the second phase, JU is likely to get the highest funding, thanks to the assessment report,' said an official in the state higher education department.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which has been under criticism for delay in executing various development projects, has however received praise from the World Bank for its rehabilitation of the project affected people (PAP). Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi had recently made a presentation of the PMC initiative at a meeting of all the municipal commissioners of the selected cities under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) with the World Bank officers.
