The auction of commercial properties held by the Chandigarh Housing Board flopped with just two booths finding any takers on Wednesday. A total of 145 booths, bay shops and a restaurant site were to go under the hammer. The two properties that were auctioned fetched a little over the reserve price. The CHB auction of booths held in 2009 had also flopped with no property being auctioned. Among the booths that were auctioned was one in Sector 38 (West). This fetched Rs 61.13 lakh, just Rs 25,000 more than the reserve price. Another booth in Manimajra fetched Rs 60.25 lakh, which was Rs 27,000 more than the reserve price. The […]

NEW DELHI: Is India’s real estate bubble finally bursting? The International Monetary Fund’s recently-launched data series on global housing prices hints at that. Among 52 major markets for which IMF has collated house price data, India has witnessed the steepest fall. IMF’s calculation on the annual percentage change in property prices shows that prices in India fell by 9.1 per cent, the highest among major real estate markets. The fall is even worse than in countries struggling with the ongoing European Union’s financial crisis. Property prices in Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Spain and Portugal have all come down, but at a much slower rate. Ireland, on the other hand, registered a […]

"I felt that they listened to what I was trying to say, and it shows that they do value democracy here in Taiwan."

Colorado Republican Party Chair Ken Buck, a U.S. representative from Windsor, pressured a local party official to submit incorrect election results to set the primary ballot for a state Senate seat, according to an audio recording of a conference call obtained by The Denver Post.

A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the convictions of two political insiders involved in the “Bridgegate” scandal that ultimately derailed the 2016 presidential bid of then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The justices found evidence of deception, corruption and abuse of power in the scheme, but said “not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime.”

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Bangladesh Finance Minister and ADB Governor A H M Mustafa Kamal today discussed ADB’s support to Bangladesh in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved $1.5 billion in financing to support the Government of Indonesia’s efforts to alleviate the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on public health, livelihoods, and the economy.

ADB today announced the release of a $3 million grant and a $3 million concessional loan from its Pacific Disaster Resilience Program (Phase 2) to help finance the Government of Solomon Islands’ response to the COVID-19...

ADB has approved a $1.5 billion loan to help the Philippine government fund its novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response program and strengthen the country’s health care system in its fight against the pandemic.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and ADB Governor Makhdoom Khusro Bukhtiar today discussed how ADB can scale up its support for the government’s response to the COVID-19...

ADB has approved a $177 million loan to India to upgrade 450 kilometers (km) of state highways and major district roads in Maharashtra State.

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.

ADB today approved a $200 million loan to support the Philippine government’s effort to provide emergency cash subsidies to vulnerable households amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved a $1.5 billion loan to the Government of India to help fund its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including support for immediate priorities such as disease containment and prevention, as well as social...

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and AFD Chief Executive Officer Rémy Rioux held discussions today on strengthening the partnership between ADB and AFD to respond to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today announced a $400,000 grant to the Government of Fiji to help fund priority recovery activities following Tropical Cyclone Harold, which hit Fiji's western, central, and eastern divisions on 8 and 9 April.

ADB has approved a $346 million loan to India to help provide efficient and reliable power connection to rural agriculture customers in the state of Maharashtra.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Nepal Finance Minister and ADB Governor Yuba Raj Khatiwada today discussed ADB’s support to Nepal in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved a $100 million loan to support the Government of Bangladesh in its efforts to address the immediate public health requirements of combatting the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved a $200,000 (460,000 pa’anga) grant to the Government of Tonga to help restore life-sustaining services following the damage from Tropical Cyclone Harold.

ADB today approved a $20 million loan to support Bhutan’s efforts to stimulate the economy, protect public health, and mitigate the effects of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on its people.

ADB and the Government of Mongolia today signed $40 million in loans and a $2 million Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction grant to support the modernization of government-owned irrigation networks and vegetable production in Mongolia.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a guarantee for a $25 million trade loan to the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC) to purchase medical supplies as part of the country’s response to the novel ....

ADB today approved an additional $500 million loan to bolster the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh to manage the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the country’s economy and the public health.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Bhutan Finance Minister and ADB Governor Namgay Tshering today discussed ADB’s support to the country in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB has approved $30 million in extra financing for a health sector project in Mongolia to strengthen the country’s preparedness and response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

CHENNAI: As if land grab bids and ‘double documents’ are not menace enough for property owners/buyers, the state registration department shocked the Madras high court on Monday, saying it is difficult to issue encumbrance certificates without any fault. An encumbrance certificate (EC) is the basic document which reveals the current status of an immovable property. It is supposed to contain correct ownership details of a piece of property and inform the applicant whether it is encumbered or mortgaged in favour of a bank or any individual. However, responding to an anticipatory bail petition of a landowner who ended up purchasing another person’s property as the EC did not reflect latest […]

CHENNAI: The Kotturpuram branch of Indian Bank has invited tenders for auction of a property belonging to film producer and director Gautham Vasudev Menon in Adyar. As per details on Tenders India (a government tender information system), the auction process for the property located on First Main Road in Indira Nagar, has begun with the tender value being quoted at 12.26 crore. The winning bidder, expected to put up 50 lakh as a deposit. The property is 7,091 sqft, and the market price of each ground (2,400 sqft) in the area is 4.5 crore to 5 crore. “This particular account has been a non-performing asset (NPA) for some time and […]

Mumbai: During 1Q 2014, the Mumbai office markets witnessed a further decline in office space absorption indicating cautious occupier sentiment. This lack of demand can be attributed to a low level of IT/ITeS sector participation in the overall absorption, which is currently the primary demand generating sector across the cities. This quarter only about 0.42 million sq ft of Grade A office space was leased with a few mid-sized deals concluded in Central and Western Suburbs, and Navi Mumbai. Construction activities remained slow. No projects / phases of projects were completed this quarter. Developers also refrained from launching new projects due to low demand. More than 7.5 million sq ft […]

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 […]

BANGALORE: Online real estate portal CommonFloor has raised $30 million (over Rs180 crore) in its fifth round from existing investor Tiger Global. In January, the Bangalore-based company had raised about Rs 65 crore from Tiger Global and Accel Partners. Sumit Jain, cofounder and chief executive officer of CommonFloor, confirmed the investment. “We will invest in technology, product development, hiring and expanding to at least 22 new cities in the next one year,” he said. While the company did not disclose the valuation it received, Jain said that Common Floor expects to earn a revenue of $25 million in the next one year. “We have grown 100% in terms of revenue […]

Alastair Hughes, CEO (Asia Pacific) of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), who was in Bangalore to hold a board meeting of the Asia Pacific region comprising China, Japan, Australia, South East Asia and India, spoke to BusinessLine to share the real estate market sentiment and key issues on corporate leasing. How is the realty market in India as compared to other countries in Asia Pacific ? India has seen a dramatic recovery. The hangover did not last very long as it had in 2010-2011. The market is very dynamic here right now. While Asia-Pacific began to recover in 2012-2013, India went through a lull, largely due to lack of business confidence, […]

The United States has approved a $2.3 billion deal on attack helicopters for Egypt, but an official insisted Friday that Washington was still pressing on human rights concerns.

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.

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.

The project’s targeted outcome was improved access to social and economic facilities in the project areas, particularly in education and health services, and transport hubs in Timor-Leste. These were to (i) rehabilitate 232 kilometers (km) of priority roads; (ii) develop and implement a new road maintenance program; (iii) improve border post facilities; and (iv) provide consulting services and technical assistance (TA) in all aspects of project development and implementation.

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 program aimed to increase the role of women entrepreneurs in economic development and address constraints they and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) faced. The program had two components—a policy-based loan (PBL) and a financial intermediation loan (FIL) — each at $20.0 million. The program was supported by a technical assistance (TA) capacity building component of $0.6 million.

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.

The Bishkek–Torugart road serves several important functions. It is part of the CAREC Corridor 1(c) extending from Troitsk in the Russian Federation to Kashi in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the PRC, and is the shortest route from Bishkek to Kashi. It is the only north–south trunk road in the central Kyrgyz Republic connecting Naryn oblast, the poorest of the Kyrgyz Republic’s seven oblasts, and the city of Naryn to the rest of the country. It is the only road providing direct access to Issyk Kul Lake region, which is one of Central Asia’s well-known tourist destinations.

The State Government of Madhya Pradesh requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to finance the rehabilitation and upgrade of 1,080 km of state highways in Madhya Pradesh under the state road rehabilitation program. The project was to upgrade existing roads to two or intermediate lanes (two-lane standard), strengthen existing pavement, strengthen culverts and bridges, and construct new bridges and cross-draining structures. The project roads were mostly in poor areas of the state in the eastern and west central areas of Madhya Pradesh.

This paper documents the Chair's Summary of the Development Effectiveness Committee (DEC) discussion held on 14 April 2020. The commitee discussed the 2019 Development Effectiveness Review (DEfR), and the 2019 Annual Portfolio Performance Report (APPR).

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 Madhya Pradesh Power Sector Investment Program in India was a multitranche financing facility (MFF) designed to support Madhya Pradesh state’s sustainable economic growth and social development by investing in the statewide power transmission and distribution networks. The MFF supported the state government in expanding its power transmission, distribution, and management infrastructure and capacity.

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.