BANGALORE: Property has always been a major investment avenue of the rich. Now, some of the people one would expect to focus on enterprising ventures are also looking at rent-yielding property. Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy’s family office has bought high-end luxury apartments in Bangalore and Mumbai, said sources familiar with the development. Catamaran Ventures, which manages part of Murthy’s wealth, has previously invested in e-commerce, FMCG and education ventures. Another source said that Premji Invest, the family office of Wipro chairman Azim Premji, is also scouting for real estate assets in metros. A couple of years ago, Premji, in his personal capacity, had picked up a few properties in […]

Tunisia said it inspected a Turkish plane headed for Libya with medical aid that landed at an airport near the border.

Afghanistan has recovered 18 bodies of migrants who were allegedly beaten and tortured before being forced into a river by Iranian border guards last week, a senior Afghan official said Friday.

Hackers linked to Iran have targeted staff at U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc in recent weeks, according to publicly-available web archives reviewed by Reuters and three cybersecurity researchers, as the company races to deploy a treatment for the COVID-19 virus.

Palestinian leaders vowed Friday to defy a new Israeli military order which they fear could lead to the confiscation of money destined for prisoners, their relatives and the families of those killed in unrest.

An earthquake struck early Friday near Iran's highest peak and jolted Tehran, killing at least one person and injuring more than 20 as people ran for their lives.

Iran warned Saturday that coronavirus infections were rising in the southwest despite falls in other regions, as it announced more than 1,500 new confirmed cases.

The north–south railway line comprised two parts: the northern section, from Uzen (Kazakhstan) to Bereket (Turkmenistan), is 596 km long; and the southern section, from Bereket to Gorgan (Iran) is 338.5 km long. The government requested ADB to finance only the design and installation of the power supply, signal systems, and telecommunication systems for 311 km of the northern section, from Bereket to Hazar. The project’s expected impact was increased trade between Turkmenistan and other countries in the region.

The government of Indonesia wanted to improve land and water management in the Citarum River Basin, and requested assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to develop a long-term integrated water resources management (IWRM) investment program as part of its strategic road map. In December 2008, ADB approved a multitranche financing facility (MFF) for the Integrated Citarum Water Resources Management Investment Program to support the implementation of the IWRM road map in the basin. A periodic financing request was formulated to implement priority activities from the road map.

The Public-Private Infrastructure Development Facility (the facility) directly supported the government of Banglahdesh infrastructure development agenda providing the much-needed long-term funds for infrastructure financing.These funds, at commercial terms with more than 20 years of maturity for infrastructure subprojects, filled a gap in the market at that time. The facility complemented the ongoing financial sector reforms and public-private partnerships (PPPs), all of which were intended to create an enabling environment for long-term infrastructure financing.

In December 2006, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $900.0 million equivalent multitranche financing facility (MFF) for the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Investment Program (PIAIP) to finance improvements to Punjab’s irrigation sector. At the same time, two loans for tranche 1 totaling $227.8 million equivalent were approved using the MFF for $217.8 million equivalent from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and $10.0 million equivalent from ADB’s Asian Development Fund (ADF).

The government requested financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support the National Highway Authority (NHA) in constructing new roads and improving existing ones along the backbone from Peshawar to Karachi, to Gwadar Port in Baluchistan, as well as connections between Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China. Following the completion of loan preparatory activities in May 2007 and loan negotiations in October 2007, the ADB Board in December 2007 approved a multitranche financing facility (MFF) for $900 million to support the NTCIP–Tranche 1.

The project aimed to improve the transport conditions and services in Longnan municipality in the People's Republic of China. The targeted outcomes were the provision of efficient, safe and reliable road transport in the project area; and improved access to markets, income generating opportunities, education and health services and social activities for rural people. Key to this was a targeted reduction in travel times of between 5 and 7 hours, with 90% of the villages being served by an all-weather road.

The Highlands Region Road Improvement Investment Program, a multitranche financing facility (MFF), aimed to ensure the maintenance of the Highlands Core Road Network, comprising 2,500 kilometers (km) of major national and provincial roads. The MFF is funded through three tranches. The first tranche (Project 1) had six components. The physical component was improvements to 211 km of national roads. Two components supported the Department of Works (DOW) and the National Roads Authority (NRA) in project implementation.

The project aimed to improve access of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to commercial financing and market opportunities, thereby fostering growth, competitiveness, and employment creation in India. There were three targeted outputs. First was enhance credit delivery through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and participating financial institutions in the MSME subsector. Second was increased SME productive and managerial capacity and related new jobs created for new markets.

ONGOING EVALUATION. : This evaluation will assess the performance of the Regional Cooperation and Integration Fund (RCIF) against its establishment objectives and provide recommendations for its future directions.

ONGOING EVALUATION. This evaluation will assess whether the Climate Change Fund (CCF) has been successful in facilitating greater investments in member countries to address climate change and provide recommendations for future directions of the fund. 

This guideline specifies framework for validating technical assistance completion reports (TCRs) to capture lessons learned from completed technical assistance (TA) operations and to improve accountability for achieving results, the quality of completion reports, and the independence of project ratings.

This report evaluates the performance of three technical assistance (TA) projects in Viet Nam for the resilience of rural development and climate change, approved by the Asian Development Bank over 2009–2013: (i) TA 7377: Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Study in the Mekong Delta; (ii) TA 8102: Promoting Climate Resilient Rural Infrastructure in the Northern Mountain Provinces; and (iii) TA 8592: Improving Payment for Forest Ecosystem Service Implementation.

Transport systems provide arteries for efficient movement of people and goods in a well-functioning economy. The Asia and Pacific region has witnessed brisk economic growth and social development leading to increased mobility and urbanization. Rapid growth and urbanization creates pressure on transport system and services, which need to keep up not only to sustain the economic growth, but also to ensure much needed equitable access and quality services for all sections of the society.

ADB's support to Asia and the Pacific’s transport sector has helped improve domestic connectivity and economic efficiency in the region, says a report released by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department.

The project aimed to construct the Fiu River hydropower plant and extend the distribution grid to peri-urban households in the main provincial center of Auki in Solomon Islands. Hydropower generation was to benefit the economy by reducing fossil fuel imports and lowering the cost of power generation. Likewise, it was intended to improve energy security and minimize tariff volatility. The use of renewable energy was also aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This report validates the completion report's assessment of the project. IED overall assessment: Unsuccessful. 

The Annual Evaluation Review (AER) is the flagship report of the Independent Evaluation Department (IED) on the operational performance and results of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This is an important year for the AER as it marks the first full year of Strategy 2030’s implementation. The AER provides a synthesis of the evaluations prepared by IED in the preceding year, updates performance trends, and draws lessons and offers recommendations to guide ongoing and future operations.

ADB needs to address issues causing weak sustainability of its projects to improve performance, says the 2020 Annual Evaluation Review (AER) conducted by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department.

The world is experiencing what some may think is a “typical” black swan event: rare, extremely impactful, and only retrospectively predictable. 

In 2005, the energy sector emitted 88% of Uzbekistan’s 200 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. With the high solar irradiance and abundant land for solar development of Uzbekistan, solar energy was deemed as the most suitable resource that could quickly bridge the energy supply–demand gap, diversify the generation mix, and reduce emissions.

The project’s key objective was to demonstrate an innovative integrated ecosystem and water resources management that will improve the environmental conditions in the Baiyangdian Basin in Hebei province, southwest of Beijing. It focused on the need to conserve Baiyangdian Lake—one of the most important and vulnerable ecosystems in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It would also contribute to achieving the goals of the Baoding municipality’s Eleventh Five-Year Environmental Protection Plan.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Intern - Urban Development and Water Division, SERD - 2008 in the Southeast Asia Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 15 September 2019.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior Administration and Communications Assistant in the Strategy, Policy and Partnerships Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 31 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior Social Development Specialist (Gender and Development) in the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 9 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Associate Project Analyst in the South Asia Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 11 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior Operations Assistant in the Pacific Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 25 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior Project Assistant in the South Asia Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 14 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Public Management Officer (Governance) in the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 18 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior Operations Assistant in the South Asia Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 19 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Associate Financial Control Officer in the Controller's Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 19 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Social Development Specialist (Gender and Development) in the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 20 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior Operations Assistant in the Pacific Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 21 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior IT Officer (Project Management) (3 Vacancies) in the Information Technology Department . The deadline for submitting applications is on 22 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Senior Operations Assistant in the Central and West Asia Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 22 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Procurement and Contracts Officer in the Office of Administrative Services. The deadline for submitting applications is on 22 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Associate Facilities Planning and Management Officer (Project Management) in the Office of Administrative Services. The deadline for submitting applications is on 22 May 2020.

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Budget and Management Services Analyst in the Budget, Personnel, and Management Systems Department. The deadline for submitting applications is on 22 May 2020.

Bu nəşrdə Azərbaycanda şaxələndirilmiş, inklyuziv və dayanıqlı artım naminə Asiya İnkişaf Bankı (AİB) və Azərbaycan Hökuməti arasında əməkdaşlığın və birgə səylərin xülasəsi təqdim edilir.

Nepal has 2.7% of the earth’s freshwater, yet the people of Kathmandu, Nepal’s most developed region, struggle with scarce water supply.

The Roundtable on Financing Water, to be held on 26–28 November 2019 in Manila, Philippines, is jointly organized by OECD and ADB. This is the fifth meeting of the roundtable series and focuses on the Asia and Pacific region.

ADB today approved a $200 million loan to pilot an integrated approach to river restoration in one of the tributaries of the Yangtze River Basin in the PRC. The project in...

This report presents nine case studies on poverty reduction projects financed by ADB in Mongolia, Nepal, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam.

ADB, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is providing more sanitary water-tight pit latrines for 330 homes in Mongolia's Arvaikheer city.

As Asia rapidly urbanizes, providing water and sanitation services has become problematic.