1 Global economy ‘too slow, brittle and lopsided’
(Khaleej Times) The global recovery is “too slow, too brittle and too
lopsided”, the head of the International Monetary Fund said in India,
describing Asia’s third-largest economy as a rare bright spot on a cloudy
global horizon.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that
monetary policy in the world’s leading economies was out of step and, even if
well managed, could cause “excessive volatility” in international financial
markets. “Looking ahead, something better may yet come on the back of low oil
prices and interest rates,” she said. “Still, there are significant risks to
this fragile global recovery.”
The first of those was what Lagarde called
“asynchronous monetary policy” in advanced economies, with the US and Britain
normalising their stances while the euro area and Japan increase their monetary
stimulus. More than six years after the global financial crisis, the world will
grow by a sub-par 3.5 per cent this year and 3.7 per cent in 2016, Lagarde
said, reiterating recent IMF forecasts.
The euro area and Japan were at risk of remaining
stuck with low growth and low inflation, she said making it difficult to reduce
unemployment and debts, and raising the risk of recession and deflationary
pressures. Emerging markets, meanwhile, could face a “triple hit” of a stronger
US dollar, higher global interest rates and more volatile capital flows,
Lagarde said.
India’s economy is doing better than its peers, with
recent policy reforms and improved business confidence set to boost growth to
7.5 per cent in the fiscal year that starts on April 1. But to anchor long-term
growth and employ a workforce that will become the world’s largest by 2030,
India needs to open up its labour market to women, boost financial inclusion
and invest even more in infrastructure, she said.
Lagarde cited a new IMF working paper which found
that only 33 per cent of women in India worked — below the global average of 50
per cent and a comparable level in East Asia of 63 per cent.
2 Cement majors’ merger in doubt (BBC) A deal to create
the world's largest cement maker is in jeopardy after Swiss firm Holcim said
its merger with French rival Lafarge could not go ahead "in its present
form".
The two firms agreed to merge in April, with Lafarge
shareholders receiving one Holcim share for each Lafarge share. But since then,
Holcim's shares have outperformed those of Lafarge. If a merger were to go
ahead the combined company would have sales of about €32bn (£22.8bn; $33.8bn).
"The Holcim Board of Directors has concluded
that the combination agreement can no longer be pursued in its present form,
and has proposed to enter into negotiations in good faith around the exchange
ratio and governance issues," it said in a statement. In response, Lafarge
said it remains committed to the tie-up and was willing to explore "the
possibility of a revision of the parity, in line with recent market
conditions".
3 India’s glaucoma menace (Odisha Samaya) Glaucoma
will cause 5.8 percent of total blindness across India. Glaucoma is the third
chief reason behind irreversible blindness in the country. Periodic eye exam
are crucial to check glaucoma for everyone. According to health experts,
regular eye check-ups are vital for early detection of ophthalmic condition of
glaucoma.
Several eye hospitals have been conducting screening
camps to create awareness about the need for early detection of glaucoma, which
is called as the ‘sneak thief of sight.’ The services of the OPD clinics were
available to all sections of the general population and for patients with
symptoms and signs indicating glaucoma, further evaluation and essential
management modalities were initiated free of cost.
According to a study, many people get to know about
their condition and problem so late that by then their vision in one eye would
already have been deteriorated or lost along with a considerable fall of vision
in the other eye. The best way to protect against glaucoma is to go for
periodic eye evaluation, especially for people who are above 35 years of age.
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