Exports slow down; trade deficit rises
New Delhi: Rising rupee value has impacted India's exports growth which slowed down to 18.07 per cent in May this year at 11.86 billion dollars.

Imports rose by 26.36 per cent to $18.07 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $6.21 billion, according to official data released here today.

The exports growth in May this year was lower than the April figure of 23.06 per cent.
Significantly, oil imports dropped 2.99 per cent to $4.74 billion in May this fiscal from $4.88 billion in the same month of the previous year.

Fuelled by fast economic growth, non-oil imports went up by a robust 41.58 per cent to $13.33 billion against $9.42 billion in May, 2006-07.
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Inequality on rise despite drop in poverty in Asia: UN
Bangkok: Even though millions in Asia have come out of extreme poverty due to economic growth, there has also been a dramatic rise in income inequality, the United Nations said in a report on Monday.

The UN report was released to mark the midway point of a 15-year global development plan - dubbed Millennium Development Goals - that targets improvements in various social and economic indicators.

The report said the greatest progress was made in East Asia, including China and South Korea, where the proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell to 9.9 per cent in 2004 from 33 per cent in 1990, in part because of rapid economic growth.

In Southeast Asia, the ratio of people living in extreme poverty dropped to 6.8 per cent in 2004 from 20.8 per cent in 1990, according to the new statistics. Extreme poverty is defined as an income the equivalent of $1 (euro0.74) a day, or less.

UN officials said Asia was on target to meet the goal of cutting extreme poverty by half by 2015.

However, they added that there was a worrying trend in rising income inequality within and among countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The share of income of the poorest 25 per cent of the population in the region declined to 4.5 per cent in 2004 from 7.3 per cent in 1990, contrasting with sub-Saharan Africa, where the share of income of the bottom 25 per cent remained the same at 3.4 per cent.

Overall success in achieving the millennium goals is also being hindered by a number of challenges such as slow progress in improving child nutrition, gender inequality and unplanned urbanization, said the report.

The report said South and Southeast Asia are still among regions with the highest percentage of children under five suffering from malnutrition.
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India close to bottom in prosperity: survey
Mumbai: Despite a 9 per cent plus economic growth rising affluence among the Indian middle class, India along with Pakistan and Egypt figures near the bottom of the table of nations in terms of prosperity according to a survey undertaken by Legatum, a privately owned Dubai-based international investment firm through its Legatum Prosperity Index. The three countries are better than only Zimbabwe.

According to the survey, there is a three-way tie between Norway, Sweden and the United States for the title of the most prosperous nation.

"India's low position may seem puzzling, given the country's achievement of democracy and Indians' oft-noted spiritual strength," says Legatum, in a press release. But these strengths, it seems, cannot make up for an extreme deficiency in health. "Health is the second-strongest determinant of life satisfaction, trailing only freedom of choice, and India has one of the three lowest values in our study," it explains.

The first annual edition of the Legatum Prosperity Index, covering 50 countries, is the result of an investigation into the various factors that drive prosperity in different countries. Legatum has defined national prosperity as a combination of material wealth and life satisfaction of people in countries worldwide.

While no country has poor scores in every category, Zimbabwe is closest.
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Trade Unions in IT not desirable: Infosys CEO
Thiruvananthapuram: Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO & MD, Infosys Technologies, said perception and image of the IT sector was a vital factor for its growth, and said trade unions were not desirable in the IT sector at this point of time.

Justifying his stand, Gopalakrishnan said the IT sector was a well-paid industry and employees were happy.

The IT sector employs 10 lakh people now and is growing fast, generating 2 to 3 lakh jobs every year...IT jobs are well-paid and very attractive.

Welcoming the central government's move to abolish tax holidays in the IT sector, he said all companines have to pay tax.
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