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The judgment one reaches on what the current year's Budget will do for farmers will vary depending on whether its provisions are seen as a sui generis exercise or are viewed within a longer term per

Addressing climate change and the economic damage it will likely bring presents policymakers with a dilemma. The benefits of policy action are uncertain and would accrue largely to future generations, whereas the costs of policies run the risk of being more immediate and extensive. At the same time, the costs of inaction are irreversible, potentially catastrophic, and likely to hit poorer countries harder than developed ones.

To avoid burdening consumers, the Sri Lankan government has turned down a request by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urging the government to suspend its fuel subsidy. IMF suggested that the

afghan debt relief

>> Bolivian President Evo Morales recently announced that credits from the International Monetary Fund would be refused if they were accompanied with stiff conditions.

>> 10 per cent of the Yellow River, China's second longest river, is made up of untreated sewage from factory discharges and urban centres, according to a recent report by Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, an NGO based in Beijing.

The author brings us face to face with the consequences of decisions taken by those far removed from the stench and struggle of slum reality.

• International finacial institutions (IFIs) are powerful. IFIs get into contractual agreements with borrowing governments and, in turn, the citizens of these countries are bound by the terms of

Interview with Anil Naidoo, Director of the Blue Planet Project, which is fighting against the commercialisation of water.

• A report found that 12 months after a ban on smoking in bars in New Zealand, there were no downturn in bar sales, tourism or employment, contrary to predictions of serious economic consequences to the hospital industry following the ban.

How can the developing world bank on him?

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