The Australian government has given USD10 million in aid to four Indian states to help them prevent the occurrence and spread of HIV/AIDS in the region. “I was impressed by the work of the National AIDS Control Organisation,” said the Australian government?s AIDS ambassador, Murray Proctor. The anti-AIDS program, which has also gained support from the central government and the United Nations, has benefited Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. Australia has already worked in the prevention and “harm reduction” initiatives against the disease in western China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Papua New Guinea, among others.
Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank has announced that it will start funding projects in the country this year, especially those involving climate change and energy. “We hope very much that this year we will have a great deal of operations in India,” said EIB Director General Jean-Louis Biancarelli. “The idea is to design a package of line of credit to mobilize promoters in India in order to develop projects in the two sectors,” he added. (Sources: USD10m Aussie help to prevent AIDS/Telegraph India; EU?s financing bank to fund projects in India/Thaindian)
