Thursday, September 24, 2009 WASHINGTON: The World Bank today approved four loans worth $4.3 billion to help India finance its infrastructure programmes and further strengthen the capital base of state-run banks. The approved loan includes a budgetary support of $2 billion for capital infusion in select public sector banks to help them maintain credit growth.The approval also includes a $1.2-billion lending for the government-run India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) that will provide long-term funds to public-private partnership (PPP) projects in road, port and power sector.The Indian government has estimated that public sector banks will require at least $4.8 billion during 2009-11 to maintain credit growth over the medium term. For the infrastructure sector, the Indian Planning Commission has estimated that an investment of $500 billion is required during the Eleventh five-year plan (2007-12).The World Bank loan also includes $1 billion loan for Power Grid and $150 million for improving water supply and sanitation project in 2,600 villages of Andhra Pradesh.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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