India will play host to the Asian Development Bank (adb) at its 39th annual governors' meeting scheduled for May 3-6 in Hyderabad. Over 3,000 people will participate in official events and thousands more will protest what they see as flawed advice and harmful projects peddled by this public institution. Since adb will soon change the way it deals with the environmental and social dimensions of its projects, this meeting becomes even more important.

An annual meeting is an opportunity for member governments to take stock of adb and see whether its funds are used for intended purposes. It is also a time when adb's