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Daily Nation: The Aga Khan Development Network has been praised in London for its 'outstanding work' in Kenya. In a debate in the House of Lords on Monday night, which discussed a whole range of development issues across East Africa, Baroness Rawlings said the Network was one of the 'finest organisations' in the field of development assistance. 'The AKDN comprises private development agencies to improve living conditions and opportunities in East Africa and other specific regions of the developing world,' Baroness Rawlings said.

His Highness the Aga Khan today launched a landmark cultural centre in Dushanbe, Tajikistan marking a milestone in the 1300 year history of the Ismaili Muslim community in Central Asia.

BISHKEK. The Kyrgyz government will transfer several loss making enterprises to the Prince Aga Khan Fund for rehabilitation under an agreement signed last year that Kyrgyzstan's lower house of parliament has ratified. First Deputy Finance Minister Emirlan Toromyrzayev told Interfax this would include enterprises in the mining, textile, pharmaceutical and other manufacturing industries that has received loans under government guarantees and are having financial problems.

The King and the Aga Khan discussed the Ismaili leader's network of services in the education, health, construction, cultural and financial sectors.

As an overcast sky over Chitral clears up early morning, HH Prince Karim Aga Khan is to depart for Chitral from Islamabad to reach here at 0945 Hrs. From the Airport he would fly in a Helicopter to Garam Chashma where he would address a large gathering of his followers.

On 13th December, the Aga Khan will be present at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Dubai which, when completed, will be comparable in scope and standing to existing major centres in London, Vancouver and Lisbon, the one underway in Dushanbe, and the one in an advanced planning stage in Toronto.

KARACHI: At least two knowledgeable ruling politicians and a few senior Pakistani officials are crediting intense background efforts of spiritual leader of the Ismaili community, Prince Karim Aga Khan, for diplomatic breakthrough between Islamabad and New Delhi that in the past few days again ignited hope of a durable peace.

Aga Khan arrives in Islamabad (Chitral 03 Dec 03) Prince Karim Aga Khan arrived in Islamabad Tuesday evening. Chitral is teeming with Ismailis from all over not only Pakistan but from Iran, Afghanistan Turkmenistan, South Africa etc.

The Aga Khan Hospital has been awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification - During the award ceremony at a Nairobi hotel, Aga khan chief Executive Officer, Ian Cripwell said the institution has invested in state of the art equipment to meet international standards. The hospital was awarded the certification 'for conforming to the internationally accepted quality assurance standards for all clinical, diagnostic, administration and support services'.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan [Heritage News] - H.H. The Aga Khan, arrived at 5:00 PM at the Dushanbe Airport on August 29 where a large crowd was waiting to welcome him.

The Aga Khan hospital in Dar es Salaam has redesigned its outpatient services to improve patient flow, improve quality and reduce waiting time according to a press release. The hospital, the release elaborated, has been using techniques developed in the U.S to improve the quality of healthcare services whereby each stage of treatment is examined.

Zahid Sardar, Chronicle Design Editor - As the nation's attention focuses on war with Iraq, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (the triennial equivalent of the Pritzker Prize) helps to build a deeper appreciation of large and small structures from the Islamic world. The award, now in its ninth cycle, was begun in 1977 by the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of a small sect of Muslims, and is now run under the aegis of his Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva.

Nairobi, Kenya: The Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa has become the first health institution in the Aga Khan network in East Africa to perform open heart surgery. A 43-year-old woman and a 20 year-old man underwent the operation free of charge on Saturday. The development follows the acquisition of a Sh60 million heart - lung machine which was unveiled at the hospital yesterday. The machine was donated by the Medical and Educational Aid to Kenya Foundation.

Kampala, Uganda. Learning never ends. Those Universal Primary Education (UPE) teachers who thought they had reached that stage where nobody will ever instruct them in class again must now be cursing their days. According to Dr. Stephen Anderson, UPE's destiny depends on the teachers' ability to acquire new skills. The academic who is an education consultant with the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) says the teachers need to continue learning and improving.

KABUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhuanet) -: The First Micro Finance Bank of Afghanistan, one of the first commercial banks in the post-conflict country, has decided to help would-be entrepreneurs startsmall business, a bank official announced on Tuesday. 'The loans we will provide to individuals or small groups rangefrom 100 to 5,000 US dollars,' said bank representative Olivier Massarat.

The Nation (Nairobi) - By Njuguna Mutonya: President Moi yesterday made a pitch to local businessmen to lead the way in investment, saying they had to show their confidence in the economy first before foreigners did so. The President, accompanied by Prince Rahim Aga Khan, was officially inaugurating the Sh6.8 billion Kipevu II power generation plant in Mombasa. He said donors and equity holders in the project had shown confidence in the government's policies. 'I do not believe that Kenya is a high risk investment area like some people try to make it,' he said.

Afghanistan seeks telecom investors, namely TDCA which is owned by an international consortium in which the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development holds 51 per cent.

BBC Monitoring Service - The US embassy in Tajikistan and the regional mission of the USAID presented a new three-year development programme via public cooperation in Central Asia in Dushanbe on 23 July. The programme is aimed at stepping up the participation of members of the community in planning and adopting decisions as well as at increasingemployment opportunities for women and young people. The programme will be carried out in Tajikistan by the Mercy Corps, the UNDP and the Aga Khan Foundation.

On 1 November, after two years of support, the ICRC handed over the surgical wing of Bamyan Hospital to the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of development agencies working in health, education, culture and rural economic development, primarily in Asia and Africa.

Washington, 8 October: The World Bank has decided to support the development of power engineering in one of the world's regions most difficult of access, Tajikistan's Mountainous Badakhshon Autonomous Region. The World Bank daughter organization, International Financial Corporation, and the Aga Khan Foundation have agreed to invest about 8m dollars each in the new Pamir Energy Company, which will control the power stations and distribution networks that exist in the region.