All posts tagged: World Bank

World Bank’s Indian-origin chief Ajay Banga is in Pakistan, and it’s personal this time| India News

World Bank’s Indian-origin chief Ajay Banga is in Pakistan, and it’s personal this time| India News

Published by Parlour News

World Bank president Ajay Banga, a US citizen with Indian origins, on Tuesday visited his ancestral home in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Banga was born in Maharashtra in 1959 but traces his ancestry to this part of pre-1947 undivided India. World Bank President Ajay Banga, in blue turban, with his wife and others during a visit to his ancestral home in Khushab district of Punjab province of Pakistan on Tuesday, February 3, 2026. (PTI Photo) He is on a four-day high-level visit to Pakistan, which will conclude on Wednesday, comprised of professional and personal engagements. Walls of his ancestral village were filled with his posters, and locals gathered to watch “a son returning home”. On Monday, Banga, among the most Sikh faces globally, also visited Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, where he offered prayers. This shrine, associated with the first Sikh master Guru Nanak, is among the prominent ones that ended up in Pakistan even as most Sikhs migrated to India during Partition. Banga and his wife were accompanied by Pakistan’s federal …

AI mania masks economic fissures and rising uncertainty

AI mania masks economic fissures and rising uncertainty

Published by Parlour News

November 8, 2025 07:09 AM IST First published on: Nov 8, 2025 at 07:09 AM IST The tone and tenor in Washington, DC on the sidelines of the recent IMF-World Bank meetings revealed how divided and uncertain the policy, investor and analyst community remains. One would have presumed economic uncertainty would have peaked during the spring meetings in April, a few weeks after “Liberation Day”. The uncertainty then was deep, but narrow, concentrated on the scale and scope of the Trump tariffs. Now it has broadened ominously. Is the US economy on the verge of a recession or has it bucked one? Are the Trump tariffs even legal? Will the breathless AI build-out become progressively unviable? Are we playing with fiscal fire globally? Is the cherished independence of some central banks under existential threat? Start with US economic performance. The Atlanta Fed Nowcaster suggests US growth last quarter was tracking an eye-popping 3.9 per cent. Far from a tariff-induced recession, US growth is accelerating! Tempting as it may be, it’s too early to claim victory. …

Ready to work with U.P. govt to create jobs, alleviate poverty: World Bank president

Ready to work with U.P. govt to create jobs, alleviate poverty: World Bank president

Published by Parlour News

Lauding the Uttar Pradesh government for creating a “correct” environment with focus on delivery, World Bank (WB) president Ajay Banga said on Friday that they were ready to work with it to create jobs and alleviate poverty. World Bank president Ajay Banga. (HT file) Banga, who arrived on a one-day visit to the state capital, spoke with chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a high-level meeting and praised him for his achievements. “A ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India) cannot happen without ‘Viksit U.P.’ and what the state has achieved begins with the determination to create correct environment in terms of law and order and business regulations. It requires, determination, it requires energy, it requires constant follow-up,” he said. “A single important thing we can all do together is create jobs. Creation of jobs is the best way to destroy the illness of poverty. Poverty is not only about the money, but the poverty of mind that comes from not having hope and not having optimism, not having the future you deserve,” Banga said. He said the best …

Pakistan’s 4-Point Plan Over Indus Waters Treaty, And Why It Won’t Work

Pakistan’s 4-Point Plan Over Indus Waters Treaty, And Why It Won’t Work

Published by Webster

Quick Take Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Pakistan plans to take India to international court over water treaty. India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty after recent terror attacks. ICJ and World Bank lack jurisdiction to resolve treaty disputes effectively. New Delhi: Pakistan, thirsty for some legal action over New Delhi’s move to place the Indus Waters Treaty in “abeyance”, is planning to take India to international court in a desperate attempt to find some reprieve. The agreement between the two neighbouring countries, signed in 1960, had lived to see the day through three wars fought in 1965, 1971, and 1999. But outraged over the most-recent terror attack in which dozens of civilian tourists were killed by Pakistan-linked terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, New Delhi swiftly acted by taking stern diplomatic measures to place the water treaty on hold till such time that “Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.” Pakistan, stumped by the move, said that “any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan will …

Maharashtra launches emergency operation centre for effective use of tech during disasters | Mumbai News

Maharashtra launches emergency operation centre for effective use of tech during disasters | Mumbai News

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday inaugurated the state-of-the-art State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) which aims to use new technology effectively for disaster management. “Due to climate change, the nature, intensity and frequency of disasters are changing. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasise on ‘mitigation’ and immediate response after incidents. It is important to have a strong ‘command and communication system’ for disaster management, and this center will be useful for taking decisions quickly and providing quick response,” said Fadnavis. The new SEOC includes bezel-free video wall, high capacity audio visual conferencing, data servers, high-speed computers, satellite phone, ham radios, LED video walls  and wireless sets, which can be used for timely response and coordination among all the systems during a disaster. Story continues below this ad Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (Geo-DSS) is also implementing a “change detection” process based on AI and machine learning. This process is based on satellite imagery and will make it easier to understand the situation at the disaster site in near real time, assess the damage and …

February 25, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Cuts To Aid

February 25, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Cuts To Aid

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Feb 25, 2025 07:01 IST First published on: Feb 25, 2025 at 07:01 IST Share The World Bank is likely to slash its aid to India just a few years hence, possibly to half its current level. The Bank is believed to be of the view that its loans to any country should not exceed 10 per cent of its outstanding loans. In recent years, India has been getting a much bigger percentage of the Bank’s sanctions. Gujarat Quota

As flooding becomes a yearly disaster in South Sudan, thousands survive on the edge of a canal | News Today News

As flooding becomes a yearly disaster in South Sudan, thousands survive on the edge of a canal | News Today News

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Long-horned cattle wade through flooded lands and climb a slope along a canal that has become a refuge for displaced families in South Sudan. Smoke from burning dung rises near homes of mud and grass where thousands of people now live after floods swept away their village. “Too much suffering,” said Bichiok Hoth Chuiny, a woman in her 70s. She supported herself with a stick as she walked in the newly established community of Pajiek in Jonglei state north of the capital, Juba. For the first time in decades, the flooding had forced her to flee. Her efforts to protect her home by building dykes failed. Her former village of Gorwai is now a swamp.“I had to be dragged in a canoe up to here,” Chuiny said. An AP journalist was the first to visit the community. Such flooding is becoming a yearly disaster in South Sudan, which the World Bank has described as “the world’s most vulnerable country to climate change and also the one most lacking in coping capacity.” People gather along a …

World Bank approves billion package for Ukraine with US loan backing | World News

World Bank approves $2 billion package for Ukraine with US loan backing | World News

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The World Bank said on Wednesday its executive board approved $2.05 billion in Development Policy Operation funding for Ukraine that includes the first grant from a new $20 billion U.S. loan fund for Kyiv that is backed by income from frozen Russian sovereign assets. A logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund – World Bank Annual Meeting 2018.(REUTERS file) The new package aimed at boosting Ukraine’s financial and economic stability also includes World Bank financing of $1.05 billion that is enhanced with loan guarantees from a trust fund supported by Japan and Britain, the World Bank said in a statement. The U.S. Treasury last week transferred the $20 billion in loan funds to a new World Bank financial intermediary fund for Ukraine, part of some $50 billion in financing for Ukraine backed by the Russian assets that have been frozen since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The $1 billion grant from the fund marks the first resources flowing to Ukraine from the G7 loan plan, which was agreed by G7 allies Japan, …

World Bank to fund conservation of ancestral homes of Bollywood icons Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor: Pak authorities | Bollywood

World Bank to fund conservation of ancestral homes of Bollywood icons Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor: Pak authorities | Bollywood

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Peshawar, Pakistani authorities on Friday said the World Bank will provide funding for the conservation of the ancestral houses of Bollywood legends Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, located in the heart of this city and designated as national heritage sites. World Bank to fund conservation of ancestral homes of Bollywood icons Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor: Pak authorities “The physical work on the project is set to begin in four months with an initial budget allocation of ₹200 million,” Dr Abdus Samad, Director of Archaeology, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told PTI. “The funding will come from the World Bank’s ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development Project’,” he said. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government project funded by the global lender is designed to enhance tourism infrastructure, promote cultural heritage, and support economic development in the province, officials said. The conservation work will focus on restoring the historical sites to their original form and establishing state-of-the-art museums in both houses located in the historic Qissa Khwani bazaar. These museums will be open to the public to raise awareness of the contributions made …

Should all schoolchildren be given skill education?

Should all schoolchildren be given skill education?

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Why should schools impart skill education? India is home to a fifth of the global youth population and to leverage the demographic dividend, it is important for the country to prepare the youth for the jobs that are available in the market. This is not easy as the work landscape is rapidly shifting. New global trends have emerged such as automation, climate change and digitalization. Offering skill education early on and as part of the school curriculum will help, says the World Bank study. Globally, skill education is core to a successful school system. This is particularly true in countries such as the United States and South Korea. What are the benefits of skill education? A well-integrated skill education in the mainstream school curriculum offers many socio-economic benefits. It creates awareness of the careers that are available and consequently, reduces drop-outs. Most students, the report says, drop out of school as they do not perceive regular academic subjects as valuable to their career. Skill education also enhances the relevance of secondary education apart from boosting …