The Central Bank is certain that the foreign exchange reserves of the country at the end of 2008 are quite adequate. The gross official reserves of US$ 1,753 million by end December 2008 it states are equivalent to 1.5 months of imports on the basis of the previous 12 month average imports.
What is particularly worrying about the prevalent environment surrounding arrests and detentions ostensibly on national security grounds is its shadowy nature. This is exemplified in this week's arrest of Sudar Oli editor N. Vidyadaran who was allegedly manhandled when being arrested by a group consisting of not only police officers but also men in civilian clothes while attending a relative's funeral.
Stephen Lewis, a former deputy executive director of the UN children's agency UNICEF, is one of the strongest advocates of gender-empowerment. He continues to pursue his cause relentlessly.
Addressing a meeting in New York last week, the outspoken Canadian said with a degree of exaggerated sarcasm that the United Nations, after more than 60 years in existence, has only now discovered that there are two genders in the world: male and female.
