Developed nations should stop paying agricultural subsidies to encourage biofuel production because the payments are making staple foods more expensive, the Asian Development Bank said Monday. Biofuels should also be re-examined by governments around the world as it is increasingly unclear how environmentally friendly they are, said ADB managing director general Rajat Nag in an interview with The Associated Press in Singapore. The production of biofuel leads to forests being destroyed and reduced land area for growing crops for food, he said.

A water supply programme to provide fresh drinking water for residents in Batticaloa district has been expedited. Under this programme, the Unnichchai drinking water programme has been given priority, Water Supply and Drainage Board, Batticaloa Engineer D.A. Pragash said. This programme is implemented under the patronage of the Asian Development Bank.

Developed nations should stop paying agricultural subsidies to encourage biofuel production because the payments are making staple foods more expensive, the Asian Development Bank said Monday. Biofuels should also be re-examined by governments around the world as it is increasingly unclear how environmentally friendly they are, ADB managing director general Rajat Nag said in an interview with The Associated Press. The production of biofuel leads to forests being destroyed and reduced land area for growing crops for food, he said.

Soaring food prices have hampered Asia's fight against poverty and some countries may need foreign aid to feed their hungry millions, the Asian Development Bank president said Friday. "The current food price inflation has already affected the pace of poverty reduction in some countries," Haruhiko Kuroda said. "Poverty reduction has been very rapid in many Asian economies but the current high food price inflation has really affected poor people in the region, particularly in low income countries like Bangladesh."

Soaring food prices have hampered Asia's fight against poverty and some countries may need foreign aid to feed their hungry millions, the Asian Development Bank president said on Friday.

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) will seek non-sovereign loans of around Rs. 1,600 crore each from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to fianance the expansion and modernisation programme, company Chairman and Managing Director R. P. Singh said here on Thursday. Addressing press persons, Mr. Singh said the company had drawn up plans to invest Rs. 55,000 crore to set up transmission lines during the XI Plan.

Watershed management is critical to sustain the benefits from the development of small water storages or small dams in Barani Areas, said Asian Development Bank's experts. In a project review report on "Watershed Management Constraints in Barani Areas", Sedimentation Surveys of sample dams in the Pothowar region reveal that loss in water storage capacity can be as high as 4.2 percent per year, which could lead to full siltation of the dam's dead storage after 24 years.

The Barani Integrated Water Resources Sector Project will be launched next fiscal year from July 2008, and it will be completed during 2014 by the Punjab Irrigation and Power Department (PIPD) with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to update project investment plan, PIPD sources said the investment cost of the project is estimated at $104.5 million equivalent, including taxes and duties of $14.4 million equivalent. Financial charges during implementation (comprising interest during implementation and commitment charges) are estimated at $7.5 million.

ADB yet to notify Asia Energy Staff Correspondent Global Coal Management, owning company of Asia Energy, has yet to be notified of any decision by Asian Development Bank which was undertaking due diligence for possible investment in the project, said a press release on Tuesday. The lending agency's private sector operations department was expected to participate with a loan of $100 million and a political risk guarantee of $200 million for an open pit mine at Phulbari in Dinajpur proposed by Asia Energy, a subsidiary of the UK-based Global Coal Management.

ADB pulls out of Phulbari open pit mine project Tanim Ahmed The Asian Development Bank has decided to pull out of Asia Energy's proposed open pit coal mine project at Phulbari in Dinajpur. According to an email from Robert Bestani, director general of the ADB Private Sector Operations Department, the agency has decided to