ADB Is Planning To Invest Rs 13.71 Billion - March 2, 2009

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning to invest Rs 13.71 billion for developing urban facilities and solid waste management in the capitals of five under-developed states, officials said on Sunday.

The ADB-assisted North Eastern Region Urban Development Programme will be executed over six years and will cover Agartala (Tripura), Shillong (Meghalaya), Aizawl in Mizoram, Kohima (Nagaland) and Gangtok (Sikkim). "The central government has approved the ADB-assisted programme," said Tripura Urban Development Minister Manik Dey.

"The ADB''s technical and programme appraisal teams had visited the five capitals a number of times to finalise the scheme, which is scheduled to be completed by 2015," the minister told.

FDI Flow Reduced To Trickle - Feb 9, 2009

The foreign direct investment in India was just $1 bn in November. During April-November the FDI inflows of $19.7 bn have made it amply clear that the current year''s target is far too ambitious to be achieved, given the recession in US and several other developed economies.

The FDI in October slipped to $1.4 bn after maintaining robust inflows till September - with a monthly range of $2.5-3 bn and further it slipped to $1.08 in November, according to official figures. The total FDI inflow last year was $24.5 bn. However, no such thing seems likely this year because of the difficult global economic environment. The Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath seeing the straw in the winds, had himself scaled down the $35 bn target last month.

Indian Rupee Firmed Up - Jan 15, 2009

The Indian rupee On Wednesday firmed up on the back of hopes for fresh Capital inflows after the Indian stock market surged by breaking its past four day losing trend. The rupee closed at 48.85/86 per dollar stronger than its previous close of 49.11/12.