"A week back, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised the world by buying 200 tons of gold for $6.7 billion from the IMF. This is half the total quantity of 400 tons that the IMF had decided to sell to raise resources for lending to poorer countries. This marks a remarkable turnaround from 1991, when the RBI had to pledge gold with the Bank of England to get funds to tide over India's balance of payments problems.

The wheel has now come full circle. In the 18 years since the pledging of gold in 1991, India has moved sufficiently ahead as to be able to buy a substantial sum of gold from the very same institution. The gold purchase is justified as a means of diversification of foreign exchange reserves, which stands at $285 billion, largely in the form of investments in dollar-denominated debt paper. Investing a relatively small part of the reserves in gold is a worthwhile risk mitigation exercise."

"In Asia, the poverty elasticity of growth, a measure of how much poverty is negatively correlated with economic growth, stands at -2%, better than the -1.6% global average. However, the poverty elasticity of growth in the Philippines is around +0.3. The -2% average for Asia means that, for every 1% increase in Asian economies, there is a 2% reduction in the number of poor people. On the other hand, the +0.3 percent for the Philippines indicates that a 1% increase in economic growth in the country may be accompanied by a 0.3% increase in the number of poor Filipinos.

The number of poor Filipinos has reached 35 percent this year, making it impossible for the country to attain the Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty by half in 2015. Economic growth has not trickled down to the poor because this is largely centered in Metro Manila and outlying provinces, which account for 65 percent of the country's gross domestic product."

"More than 45 percent of Indonesia's population of 230 million people are employed in the agricultural sector, be they farmers or people employed by businesses that rely on the sector. Ironically, at present, like in many developing countries, the position of agricultural education is under threat. Nowadays, people in Indonesia underestimate the potentials and prospects of agriculture.

The wane in interest in agriculture in younger generations is most noticeable in the number of youths wanting to continue their study in agriculture at universities in Indonesia over the last five years. Forty agriculture schools have been closed due to lack of applicants. Young people from rural areas leave their villages and move to big cities taking with them agricultural know-how and experience that is wasted in urban areas."

"Asia's urban poor are worst-hit by spiking food prices, according to a new report. Impoverished families in the region's teeming cities are more vulnerable than rural folk to swings in food costs. Although prices have fallen significantly since their peaks a couple of years ago, wheat and maize prices are rising and rice export prices are still way above pre-crisis levels.

Real agricultural prices increased in the 2000s, as they became more closely linked to non-agricultural commodity and energy prices. Some of these price increases -- such as fertilizer and transportation costs -- changed the cost structure of agriculture. Protectionist policies by major agricultural producers coupled with 'the psychology of scarcity and propensity to hoard' are other factors behind volatility."

"The Cook Islands representative at an e-Government study tour last month says there a number of challenges faced by the country in this area. A decreasing population and little public pressure to improve ICT infrastructure has also slowed the progress of ICT in the Cooks. A lack of general understanding, awareness and appreciation of e-Government and ICT in society has resulted in several problems, including politicians having a lack of vision.

Korea is ranked number one globally in e-Government. It is hoped that more Pacific countries can be inspired by Korea's leading role in ICT and begin supporting the technologies which can improve many facets of society. The imminent introduction of m-banking facilities (the use of mobile phones to conduct financial transactions), for example, would allow seamless payments for services provided by the government to the general public."

"Like the rest of the world, Pakistan will observe Universal Children's Day on Nov 20. Sadly, it will have little to show for any progress on the state of the country's children. For those who take solace in comparisons, it is true that other countries in the region are equally culpable of meting out shabby treatment to their child populations. Along with Pakistan, China, India and Bangladesh are among the six nations in Asia and 10 countries around the world that contribute the most to what a new Unicef report calls the global burden of stunted growth in children due to malnutrition.

Some 200 million children in the developing world suffer from chronic malnutrition, and 80 percent of them are concentrated in only 24 countries. Factors such as poverty, child labor, illiteracy and poor awareness among mothers are blamed -- which is, no doubt, partly the case. However, those who claim they treat all children as their own can only be believed when they come up with a comprehensive policy to tackle the issue of proper healthcare for the young population."

"Remoteness and lack of infrastructure are proving challenges as Laos works to have all government officials' salaries paid by bank transfer by 2011. So far the system has largely been implemented in urban areas, as some rural districts lack electricity, and communication by road or telephone is difficult.

The system is expected to be about 96 percent complete nationwide by 2011. Local banks and post offices are cooperating to introduce the new method of payment. Once bank transfer payments are taking place nationwide, it will help the government to know the exact numbers of officials and help them to budget for salaries."

"Sustainable urban development requires providing a healthy and sustainable living environment with basic services for all. A healthy and multifunctional urban green structure is one of the basic services to provide. Urban and peri-urban forestry, focusing on the tree-dominated part of urban and periurban green space, is a strategic, integrative, interdisciplinary, and participatory approach. Its goal is to sustainably develop the multiple benefits of forests and trees in urban environments.

Experiences and research during recent years have shown that urban green structures are more than just 'icing on the cake.' Well-planned and well-managed green areas are essential for environmental and high quality of life for Dhaka city dwellers. In Dhaka studies show that suspended particulate matter and ambient sulphur dioxide levels of air pollution are about 4 times and 5 times higher than the levels prescribed in the Bangladesh Air Quality Standard."

"Indonesia has a well-developed and well-regulated banking sector that accounts for about 80% of the financial industry's assets. However, its lending capability is constrained by the short-term maturities of its assets, and the nonbank sector, including equity and debt markets, remains relatively small and illiquid. In response, a new program is supporting wide-ranging policy reforms designed to improve information disclosure and surveillance, strengthen governance and investor protection, boost financial intermediation, and diversify financial products, in order to create more resilient and efficient capital markets.

Under the second phase of the program, actions have been taken to increase the range of treasury bill maturities on offer, to establish a taskforce to examine options for an integrated regulator for the financial sector, to initiate the development of a Capital Market Master Plan for 2010-2014, to establish an investor protection fund, to introduce hedging instruments such as stock options and index-based futures, and to set up an ASEAN equities trading board with five other participating countries."

"Economic indicators point to improving conditions in Sri Lanka. Inflation has dropped from a six-year high of 28.2 percent in June 2008 to a record low of 0.7 percent in September. The Sri Lankan rupee has strengthened and foreign reserves have doubled to $5 billion. Credit agencies have upgraded Sri Lanka's debt rating outlook and a $500 million sovereign dollar bond issued by the government last month was 13 times subscribed by international investors.

Infrastructure is being built. Colombo's port, strategically placed on shipping lanes between Europe and China, plans to expand capacity to 16 million 20ft equivalent units a year over the next decade and focus on trans-shipment of goods to and from India and Pakistan. By that measure of container cargo capacity, this would become south Asia's biggest port. The European Union is poised to remove tariff privileges, known as GSP Plus, that favor Sri Lanka's garment industry, which, as the island's biggest export earner, brought in $3.47 billion last year."

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