World Bank president Wolfensohn in India
New Delhi: Mr. James D Wolfensohn, the president of the World Bank is on a nine-day whistle stop tour of this country.

Besides meeting with the prime minister and the finance minister, he will hear a joint presentation on the progress of poverty reduction programmes and the project-wise status of the bank’s portfolio in India by the department of economic affairs and the Planning Commission.

His visit seeks to focus on the bank’s programmes on education and poverty while steering clear of the controversial power sector programmes in the five major states it will cover.

The bank recently cleared loans for the last of the projects that were hit by US sanctions. India has already asked for an enhanced pledge of $4 billion from the bank for the next year against its pledge of a little under $3 billion.
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Gates to sell Microsoft stock
Washington: In a recent filing with the SEC, Microsoft chairman, and the world’s richest individual, Bill Gates, is to sell 2 million shares of the company, valued at $135.4 million, as part of his portfolio diversification.

The last time Gates sold Microsoft stock was on September 8, when he sold one million shares for $69.7 million. Cumulatively, in the past three months, Gates has sold 10 million shares for $702.4 million. A foundation named after Gates and his wife, Melinda, has sold 22.865 million shares for $1.6 billion.
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Postal staff to strike work from Dec 5
New Delhi: Accusing the government of not implementing their agreement, three major unions of the country’s postal service have called for a total strike from December 5.

Over six lakh employees attached to these federations will join in on the agitation.
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