World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, says a Financial Times report, had ordered the Bank's HR chief to give Shaha Riza, a lady official of the bank with whom Wolfowitz was romantically linked, a huge pay hike and promotion.
"GDP growth in India eased to a still strong 8.7 per cent in 2007, from 9.7 per cent in 2006, and is projected to slow further to 7 per cent in 2008," said the World Bank report on Global Development Finance released on Tuesday. World Bank attributed the moderation in GDP to 'monetary tightening in 2007 (that) led to softening in domestic demand'.
The World Bank has approved a $348 million loan to help improve the quality, capacity and safety of the road network in Tamil Nadu.
This will be Jim Young Kim's first visit to India after taking over as President of the World Bank Group last July.
Appreciating India's initiatives in containing spread of AIDS, vice president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the World Bank is working closely with New Delhi to further improve the health scenario in the country.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank heads want their shareholders' consensus before working to rebuild Iraq, but some countries worry the United States is trying to use the multilateral lenders to cut out the United Nations.
Notwithstanding US reservations over the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, the World Bank has described it as a win-win deal and expressed readiness to fund the $7 billion project.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, who is on a three-day visit to India, said a projected five per cent GDP growth in the current financial year was disappointing, but future prospects for the country were good.
In a time of tight credit, the facility will support grants to bank and non-bank institutions for activities to increase access to financial services, such as savings, credit, payments and insurance, in rural areas in developing countries as profitable business lines, the World Bank said.
Rejecting World Bank's warning of growth and fiscal slippages, the government said on Monday that the banks prediction that India needs major reforms thrust to achieve eight per cent growth was indeed unfortunate.
In the first two years, we spent Rs 15,000 crore, which was more than our target, says S K Chaturvedi, CMD, Power Grid Corp.
World Bank on Tuesday resumed lending to three health projects in India amounting to $662 million (about Rs 2,9.79 billion), which were discontinued for more than a year.
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Reforms can be the game changer for poor and help economy goes back on growth trajectory.
The World Bank on Monday said hardening interest rates and a surge in oil prices worldwide will have only a marginal impact on India's economy and the country would continue to witness high GDP growth.
The World Bank and The International Monetary Fund concluded their annual spring meeting here by increasing the voting rights of India, China and Brazil, among others, thus giving them more say in the institutions' functioning.
Ruhl, a Dutch national, was previously the Director for Operations Services and Quality in the South Asia Region of the World Bank, the multi-lateral funding agency said in a statement on Monday.
India is on track to register its entire 1.25 billion population using its Aadhaar digital ID.
The World Bank has expressed concern over rising healthcare costs world wide while countries are struggling to cope with HIV/AIDS crisis and bird flu pandemic.
The World Bank on Wednesday lowered its economic growth forecast for China this year to 6.5 per cent, down from 7.5 per cent at the end of last November, after huge falls in exports and shrinking private sector investment.
The World Bank has sounded a note of caution on the global economy, which it says has reached a turning point with a slowdown that has already begun.
Global warming can cause extreme floods and droughts and can mean snowfall is replaced by rain, with higher evaporation rates.
Contradicting the International Monetary Fund, which does not want India and other countries to use any of its foreign exchange reserves for building infrastructure
World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Friday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed funding for the changing needs of the country.
In its latest report, the Bank has lowered its forecasts for developing countries, now eying growth at 4.8 per cent this year, down from its January estimate of 5.3 per cent.
India's Railways has struggled to expand to keep up with demand
Three years after India declared its goal to become a net-zero economy by 2070, the policy design for achieving the target has begun, with the NITI Aayog forming dedicated multi-sectoral committees to prepare a transition plan. In 2021, India joined a select group of nations that set a target year for becoming net-zero carbon economy. At COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined a five-pronged 'Panchamitra' climate action target for India and committed to a net-zero target by 2070, joining nations like the US, the UK, and China.
The finance minister continues to be backed by the same policy team in charting out the broad strategy as in the few earlier Budgets.
Current President Robert Zoellick, who took office in July 2007, is schedule to retire in June.
New norms to keep Raghuram Rajan out of the race.
Investors believe Indian is a tough place to do business with.
Kim, 52, will take over at the beginning of July, after the current president, Robert B Zoellick, steps down at the end of his five-year term.
"We have sought assistance from World Bank for 37,000 km of roads as we plan to take up work on these projects soon," Road Minister C P Joshi told reporters after a meeting with a World Bank delegation, headed by its South Asia Region Vice President Isabel Guerrero.
The road transport ministry has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to ascertain the findings of a report by the World Bank's Institutional Integrity Unit. According to the report, contractors paid bribes and gifts to influence the actions of NHAI officials and consultants.
At a seminar on 'Corporate Governance: Trends in India', the World Bank Country Director, Michael Carter said that despite putting in place a series of legal and regulatory reforms, implementation was an area of concern.\n\n\n\n
Figures of people living below the poverty line in India was being fudged by international agencies like the World Bank to paint a grim picture of the Indian economy, Planning Commission Member N K Singh said on Monday.
