UN Seeks $750 bn for Global Green New Deal 
The world's 20 most advanced economies should consider investing one percent of the global gross domestic product - about $750 billion - in five sectors to build an environmentally sustainable global economy, the UNEP said Thursday. Such an amount could finance a "Global Green New Deal", drawing on the idea of the New Deal launched by former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt to help put an end to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Read On

• US Stocks Fall
  On Concern About Central Bank's Actions 

US House backs 90% Tax on Bail-out Bonuses
Spurred on by public ire over bonuses paid at firms that received government bail-outs, the US House of Representatives gave strong backing to a 90% tax on retention bonus payments by companies receiving more than $5 billion in federal funds. Read On

Sharif Could Return,
Parliament to be Supreme: Gilani 
In the strongest assertion of his authority yet, Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said opposition leader Nawaz Sharif could rejoin his government, which will endeavour to return to parliament the powers that had been taken away by former military strongman Pervez Musharraf. Read On
► Sleepless Nights for Zardari, Musharraf

Indian, US Businessmen Join Hands
Against Protectionism by Arun Kumar
Captains of Indian and American industries have vowed to work together for the revival of the global economy while fighting growing calls for protectionism in either country. The calls for India and the US to further strengthen economic ties amid the global economic crisis came at a panel discussion in Washington Wednesday on "India and the US: Partners in the Global Economic Recovery". Read On

• US Move to Cut Back Foreign Student Hires
  to Hurt Economy: Study 

AIG, Obama Under Fire
as Congress, Public Take Aim
The US Congress tapped into growing public ire over bailed-out insurance giant AIG's payment of bonuses as legislators Wednesday explored ways to reclaim the $165 million. At the centre of the storm was American International Group (AIG), the world's largest insurance firm whose near failure in September 2008 over insuring questionable financial instruments helped push a teetering US financial system into rapid descent. Read On
► AIG Not the Only Company
    to Pay Bail-Out Bonuses 

Fed Buys $1 trillion of Treasury, Mortgage Assets
The US Federal Reserve, in a drastic new effort to keep the US financial sector afloat, said Wednesday it would buy up more than $1 trillion in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. Surprising many analysts, the US central bank's actions dramatically expand the Federal Reserve's balance sheet to nearly $3 trillion and mark one of its most aggressive efforts yet to revive bank lending and end the world's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Read On
► US Stocks Surge
    on Central Bank's Bold Actions 

US Congress Wants AIG Bonuses Back 
The US Congress Wednesday tapped into growing public ire over bailed-out insurance giant AIG's payment of bonuses as legislators explored ways to reclaim $165 million from the company and its employees. "There's a tidal wave of rage ... across America," said Representative Gary Ackerman at a hearing. Read On
► Obama Vows End to Corporate Greed Culture  

World Economy Set to Contract,
Upturn Next Year: IMF by Arun Kumar
Despite major stimulus packages announced by advanced economies and several emerging markets, including India, the world economy is set to contract for the first time in 60 years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday. Trade volumes have shrunk rapidly, while production and employment data suggesting that global activity continues to contract in the first quarter of 2009, the IMF said in a new assessment of the global economy.  Read On

Varun has Cooked Up Stories of Rape:
Police Official by Sharat Pradhan
Varun Gandhi has cooked up stories of Hindu girls being raped in Pilibhit, a police official, who held charge of the district, has said. Local politicians added that the place was not "violence-prone" as claimed by the rookie Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. Read On
► PM will Campaign,
     says Varun Gandhi's Remarks 'Unfortunate'  

• Amid Volatile Trading
  Indian Equities End Marginally Up 

India's Inflation Dips Sharply to Historic Low
of 0.44 Percent
India's annual rate of inflation fell by as much as 200 basis points to a historic low of 0.44% for the week ended March 7 against 2.43% for the week before. Economists explain that low inflation rate does not necessarily mean that prices have fallen. Lower inflation rate only means the rate of rise in prices has come down, not the actual prices. Read On

No Uranium sales unless India Signs NPT: Australia
Despite the NSG nod for the historic India-US nuclear deal, Australia, one of the world's largest producers of uranium, is unwilling to export it to India unless New Delhi signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the country's envoy says. Read On

• India 278/4 at Stumps
  on Second Day of Hamilton Test 

Commonwealth Games Threaten
Siri Fort Sports Complex, Members Peeved
Around 8,000 people use the Siri Fort Sports Complex everyday for recreation and training but they are now being forced to stay away with the Delhi Development Authority deciding to close facilities for renovation ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games - a move that the members say is "unnecessary". Read On

Third Front Constituents
Will Go Back to BJP: Vayalar Ravi
by T.G. Biju
The "so-called secular forces" associated with the Left parties in the name of Third Front will "definitely go back" to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) group after the Lok Sabha polls, warned senior Congress leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi. Read On

Be Careful During Campaigning,
Chidambaram Urges Political Leaders 
Intelligence reports have indicated that political leaders could face "heightened threats" from Pakistan based-terrorist groups in the run-up to and during the April-May general elections with Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday urging them to exercise "prudence" and "restraint" during campaigning. In the light of intelligence warnings important leaders would require security clearances before hitting the campaign trail, said home ministry officials. Read On
► Be On 'High Alert' in Kashmir: Home Minister
► Security Beefed Up at Bhakra Dam
    after LeT Threat 

EC Orders Video Tracking of Varun Gandhi,
Serves Notice on him, BJP
The Election Commission Wednesday directed that all rallies of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi be video tracked and also served notices on him and the BJP over the alleged hate speeches made by the Gandhi scion. Read On