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Countries and Oil Companies Agree to End Routine Gas Flaring
Endorsements of initiative so far represent more than 40% of global gas flaring. Chief executives from major oil companies joined together today with senior government officials from several oil-producing countries to commit, for the first time, to ending the practice
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Mario Draghi: Bond Buying a Success but Deflation Threat Remains
According to European Central Bank (ECB) president, Mario Draghi (speaking at a news conference on Wednesday 15th April) the Euros 1.1 trillion bond buying plan executed by the Bank has been effective. He commented that the buying of bonds had
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Africa: End of the Commodity Super-Cycle Weighs on Growth
Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth will slow in 2015 to 4.0 percent from 4.5 percent in 2014, according to World Bank projections released today. This downturn largely reflects the fall in the prices of oil and other commodities, notes Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly
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World Bank Group Increased Support for Reforms to Accelerate Economic Growth
Annette Dixon, new Vice President of World Bank Group’s South Asia Region made an introductory visit to Pakistan from April 1 to 4, 2015. She called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and met with the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and
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Marina Silva: Insistence That May Yet Pay Off
Brazil may not yet be ready for her, but Marina Silva is the name to watch. The former senator for Acre, a small state in the western part of the Amazonian rainforest, and presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, Marina
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Government of India and World Bank Sign $500 Million Agreement to Improve Access to Finance for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
The Government of India and the World Bank today signed a $500 million loan agreement for the MSME Growth Innovation and Inclusive Finance Project to improve access to finance for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) working in the manufacturing
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UN Trade Report Calls on Governments to Improve Environment for E-Commerce
The scope for developing countries to participate in and benefit from e-commerce is expanding, according to a new United Nations report released today, with improved connectivity, new e-commerce applications, platforms and payment solutions, and the emergence of local e-commerce companies
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Peter Carington: The Sole Survivor of a Bygone Era
The first casualty of the 1982 Falklands War, and one of the last scions of the empire-building Eton / Sandhurst generation, Lord Peter Carrington played a major – if not always visible – role in British conservative politics between 1946
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UN Spotlights Key Role of Evaluation in New Development Agenda
Evaluation will become more necessary for the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, a United Nations body said today, as it launched a new publication highlighting the critical role of assessment in enhancing the UN’s effectiveness, cultivating change and empowering nations. “We
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Seven Days of Mourning for Lee Kuan Yew, Architect of Modern Singapore
Singapore is now mourning its founding father, Lee Kuan Yew who died from pneumonia on March 23rd, aged 91 years. This towering giant of the region ruled his country for three decades overseeing the country’s independence from Britain (1963), its
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