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NEW DELHI : As part of its plan to reorient its business, Development Credit Bank Ltd (DCB) is considering hiking the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the bank to 49 per cent from the present 37.5 per cent held by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). The Aga Khan Foundation of France, supports economic development in developing countries. 'With the FDI norms having been relaxed we are considering a possible hike in the overseas holding to 49 per cent,' Mr Sandeep Mookerjee, Head, Personal Finance Services, DCB, told Business Line.

Times Online - The re-creation of a Moghul park in Kabul is seen as a potent symbol of regeneration: A GARDEN for courting couples from 500 years ago is to be re-created in Kabul as a potent symbol of the end of Taleban

Daily Nation (Nairobi) - The Tsavo project was the single largest foreign direct investment in the country in the recent past and was completed ahead of schedule. It was the first open bid project-financed Independent Power Producer (IPP). Industrial Promotion Services (Kenya) Ltd (IPS), an affiliate of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and Cinergy Global Power Inc of US are the largest investors through a joint venture in the Tsavo Power Company at 49.9 per cent.

Asia Intelligence Wire -The Asian Development Bank has reached an agreement with the government of Tajikistan on the ADB's providing a grant worth 2.9m dollars for a poverty reduction project in rural areas of Tajikistan. The grant will be financed by Japan's poverty reduction fund. A letter of understanding on the project was also signed.

Lisbon, Portugal: Discussions on Afghanistan and development potential in Angola. Her Highness Begum Inaara Aga Khan, Honorary President of Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS), an international emergency relief agency yesterday evening met with Portugal

Bishkek, Kirgystan. The meeting of Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev with Prince Aga Khan was held in the Government House. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture launched the Music Initiative in Central Asia. Inauguration of the Aga Khan School was held in southern capital of Kyrgyzstan. H.H. The Aga Khan said that Kyrgyzstan might be unique in the sphere of tourism in Central Asia. According to Prince Aga Khan, his organization intends to start implementation of a programme in Alai and Chon-Alai regions of Osh province.

Kampala - The Nation (Nairobi) -. Training for health workers in the East African region got a major boost with the commissioning of the first international campus of the Aga Khan University (AKU) in Kampala last week. The Advanced Nursing Studies Programme of Aga Khan University (East Africa), developed in response to requests from governments and nursing leaders of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, is fully accredited in Uganda and underway in a newly-equipped campus in Kampala. Preparations for implementation of the programmes in Kenya and Tanzania are in advanced stages.

Gulf News - The European Commission has approved a grant of Rs1.1 billion (Euro 25.5 million) to the Aga Khan Foundation in India to support community based rural development. The grant will contribute towards a long-term programme to enhance and protect livelihoods of disadvantaged rural populations in resource-poor areas of central-west India, where nearly 100 million people depend on a rapidly degrading natural resource base for their livelihoods.

The Globe and Mail. The wealthy Muslim leader and philanthropist was in Ottawa this week to discover the secret of the nation's multicultural success. But he was critical of the U.S. for its simplistic views of good and evil. 'I will not stigmatize a whole population as being evil, whether they are Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu. I can't do that,' he told JOHN STACKHOUSE and PATRICK MARTIN.

OTTAWA - CNW: Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien and His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims today together called for an increased commitment to fostering pluralism in societies across both the developing and developed worlds. The Aga Khan was concluding a two day official visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada.

The Globe and Mail - Thousands to join 10-city walk on Sunday to further Aga Khan Foundation's work. Karim Mamdani remembers well the smiling face of a woman he met cooking food on her new chula in a village in India. 'I wondered how come she had a big smile on her face. She just got her appliance,' said Mr. Mamdani, the Toronto-area convener for this Sunday's annual World Partnership Walk, organized to raise money for the Aga Khan Foundation Canada.

The Moscow Times - In Central Asia, where authoritarian leaders thwart democracy and Islamic militancy is a threat, a group of international scholars are creating a regional university to bring secular education to people in some of the remotest, most forbidding and poverty-stricken regions. 'We want to give them the opportunity to be modern and remain where their forefathers have lived,' said S.

: Aga Khan Foundation extended its work in neighbouring Tajikistan by starting a new initiative for raising domestic food production. Through its Mountain Societies Development Support Programme, the foundation will develop local farms and bring more farmland under cultivation. At least 80 percent of the population of seven million in Tajikistan lives in poverty, and a third of the children are malnourished.

Dawn - Peshawar. NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Tuesday welcomed a change in the behaviour of people who are demanding education for their daughters. 'The story in the NWFP is similar to that of the other provinces where social taboos confined women to their traditional roles. We are enlightened people, but how many of us allow our womenfolk to participate in decision-making other than bringing up children. Now, the winds of change are blowing across the NWFP, people are demanding education for their children,' he said at a reception.

Chitral -The district government has constituted a coordination committee to monitor the development activities of the NGOs aimed at arresting the mounting sectarian tension in the area. The committee, to be headed by the district Nazim, comprises the district heads of all the political parties. Also, two representatives of the Ismaili community have been included in the committee. Shuaib Sultan, chairman of the National Rural Support Programme (SRSP), and Walji, chairman of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, had come to Chitral to attend the meeting.

The Daily Nation (Nairobi). Thirteen selected projects in Mombasa yesterday benefited from a Sh4 million community relations programme launched by the Tsavo Power Company. Beneficiaries included the Bombolulu Centre for the Physically Handicapped, which received Sh488,000, Ziwani School for the Deaf and the Likoni School for the Blind (Sh468,000 each).

Since the mid-1980s, the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) had steadily expanded its development projects in the region, winning strong grassroots support. But over the last three years, the group has often been on the defensive. After several bomb threats and acts of sabotage, a powerful explosion in late 2000 prompted the AKRSP to shutter its offices here. The closing was only temporary, but it came as a blow to aid workers who thought they had made progress in overcoming years of sectarian strife.

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - President Pervez Musharraf on Friday promulgated Aga Khan University Examination Board Ordinance 2002 to establish an examination board under government's policy to encourage public-private partnership... The ordinance said that it was desirable in the national interest to aspire to standards of excellence in the field of education, and the government considers important to offer the people of Pakistan more educational options and to improve school examinations.

Coastweek: The Aga Khan Junior Academy and The Aga Khan Kenya Secondary School had a very busy Open Day recently. The students and teachers had worked very hard to produce some truly amazing and beautiful projects and displays related to the academic work that goes on at the school. There were projects on a wide range of subjects such as Science, Literature, Geography, History, Art and French.