The Year of Scams

The Year of Scams

By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta | Feb 19, 2011

The problems of the Manmohan Singh government can be summarized in two words: 
corruption and inflation. The biggest strength of the second UPA coalition is the weakness of the Opposition, both on the Right as well as the Left. The incumbent regime hopes that it will be able to neutralize the attacks on it by waiting for the outcome of the state legislative assembly elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam.

Thereafter, the Congress and the UPA expect to get a new lease of life (as the Communists are certain to perform poorly in their two bastions in the south and the east). But those in power at present will be guilty of complacency if they believe they can continue to tackle inflation and corruption in the half-hearted manner they have done so far.

Food Crisis Continuation

Project Status: Global Food Crisis Response Program

Project Status: Externally Funded Trust Funds

As of January 2011, GFRP has approved $1,443.6 million. To date, $1,077.8 million out of the $1,443.6 million in total approved funding has been disbursed (75% of approved funds).

Total Bank-funded, Board-approved GFRP projects amount to $1,238.2 million, of which $202.4 million is from the Food Price Crisis Response (FPCR) Trust Fund for 27 countries, 17 of which are in Africa; $835.8 million is from IDA for 13 countries; and $200 million is from IBRD for a project in the Philippines. 80 percent of Bank-sourced Boardapproved funds have been disbursed).

Food Crisis

Food Crisis Facts & Figures

1.1 billion People were living on less than $1 a day and 923 million were undernourished, even before the food, fuel and financial crises.

Food prices remain volatile. Local food prices in many countries haven’t come down, although international food prices have fallen.

What the World Bank Is Doing(Updated January 13, 2011)



In response to the severity of the food crisis and the need for prompt action, the World Bank Group set up the Global Food Crisis Response Program (GFRP) in May 2008 to provide immediate relief to countries hard hit by food high prices. The Bank response has been articulated in coordination with the United Nations’ High-Level Task Force on food security.