Pollutants in boys’ blood tied to lower growth

Boys exposed to unusually high levels of environmental pollutants are smaller than their peers, a new study reports. After following nearly 500 boys for three years, an international group of researchers found that those with the highest levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in their blood were nearly three centimeters (more than an inch) shorter than boys from the same region with the lowest amount of PCBs in their bodies.

Boys with the highest exposures also averaged two points lower in body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height. The authors found a similar pattern in boys with the highest exposure to the pollutant dioxin. “You’re always a little surprised to see such a dramatic effect,” study author Jane Burns of the Harvard School of Public Health told Reuters Health, but the findings are “consistent” with some other research about the effect of these chemicals.

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Posted in: birth,cancer,effect,growth,health,higher,highest,lower,rates,reports,that

Rising oil price adds to Asia inflation headaches

Rising oil prices present a new inflationary headache for Asia and further complicate the task of policymakers grappling with broader price pressures, an uneven growth outlook and surging dollar inflows. Central bankers in Asia are reluctant to stifle growth by raising rates and are wary of exacerbating yield differentials with western economies and Japan that would further attract potentially destabilising capital flows.

At the same time, rising prices are politically fraught in countries such as India and Indonesia, which must decide between taking the fiscal hit of offsetting fuel price increases through subsidies or pass costs onto inflation-wary consumers.
Inflation is also a big worry for global economic powerhouse China, whose leadership perceives rising costs of living as a threat to social peace and stability.
Beijing’s Christmas day rate rise — its second in two months — underscored how its focus has shifted from nurturing growth to getting prices under control and India is expected to follow, resuming a tightening cycle that has brought six rate increases since March.

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Posted in: Asia,China,demand,food,growth,India,inflation,price,prices,that

Hina underlines fiscal discipline

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar Tuesday called for maintaining fiscal discipline in the utilisation of resources at all levels for the welfare of the people and socioeconomic development of the country. She stated this while presiding over the session of the 26th annual general meeting and conference of Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) here.

The three-day conference has been organised by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics in collaboration with Forum of Federation Center for Civic Education, Higher Education Commission, CIDA, USAID and FES.
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr Nadeem-ul Haq inaugurated the conference while Vice Chancellor of the PIDE Dr Rashid Amjad and Anwar Shah also spoke on the occasion.
The purpose of the annual meeting and conference was to provide a forum where leading professional economists, other social scientists and policy makers could exchange ideas of the vital economic and social issues facing Pakistan.
With the passage of the 18th constitutional amendment, Pakistan has taken a major step towards fiscal decentralisation that involves a fundamental shift in the division of powers between provinces and the center. During the conference the 7th NFC award  and the economic implications of the 18th Amendment, reformed GST , challenges and opportunities would also be discussed by the eminent economists and policy makers and suggest measures for a sustainable economic growth for the benefit of the country. Hina Rabbani Khar in her remarks on the topic “Empowering states and provinces or unshackling local governments :does it matter for peace, order, good governance and growth” presented by Anwar Shah Director center for public economics Chengdu, China and World Bank Institute, said that after 18th Amendment and 7th NFC award the federal government has empowered fiscally to the provinces.-Online

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Posted in: Commission,conference,country,economic,fiscal,growth,Hina,Institute,Khar,NFC,Pakistan