Japan, together with the World Bank, the U.S. and the U.K. plans to raise a US$5.5 billion fund to help poor nations develop clean technology. Finding ways to convince developing countries to agree to emissions targets is likely to be a focus of the Group of Eight industrialized nations summit in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido next week.

“We have to focus on major developing countries, and as a financier we are going to put more and more money into private- sector investment in these countries, not only by lending but also by equity financing,” Takashi Hongo, director-general of environment finance at JBIC, said in Tokyo. Hongo declined to say how much money the bank has set aside for the projects.

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Exerpts from a Reuters report say - In Asia, governments are struggling to prevent rising prices making the burden on the public so heavy that it threatens political stability.

South Korea’s cabinet offered to resign in the face of huge street protests on Tuesday about the policies of its unpopular President Lee Myung-bak.

He said Asia’s fourth-largest economy could be heading into crisis because of surging resource prices and slowing growth. Producer price inflation in the world’s fifth-largest crude oil importer was near a 10-year high last month.

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“The friendship between China and India is beneficial to both countries and Asia and the world at large” Pilot said. He added that India was ready to work with China to take advantage of parliamentary, political party and non-government exchanges to expand and promote the cooperation in such fields as energy, poverty alleviation, agriculture and infrastructure construction. He told Xinhua he believed the Beijing Olympic Games would be a great success.

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“The rising population of upper-middle-income urban elites is likely to boost the online shopping markets in China and India significantly. Domestic consumer spending in the two countries is poised to pick up strongly, underpinned by the rapid pace of urbanization, robust economic expansion and rising spending powe,” the China Daily quoted the survey, as saying.

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A recent editorial in the Peoples daily, ran a piece on the Chinese view of India-Pakistan relations, something it hasn’t done too often. At a time, when China’s soft power in the region is being questioned, the editorial seeks to comment on the people’s view of India-Pakistan anti-terrorism efforts, saying that although the talks didn’t really show results, they are “important steps towards mutual political trust”.The editorial concludes with ‘The efforts for peace once again prove that dialogue is the sole path to resolving differences between counties. India and Pakistan’ steps on this road are not big yet; but they are moving, in a positive direction.’

Is this a precursor to China’s bid to dominate the region, and usurp America’s role as Asia’s policeman?

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American in theme, Sex and the City has been devoured by Asian women who all secretly desire to be like Carrie Bradshaw and her entourage. Living vicariously, single in a cosmopolitan city, Manolo heeled and smart-talking, the girls are envied by Asian women who have watched the episodes endlessly and see a glimmer of themselves in at least one character.

“I was surprised to find that Carrie and I shared so many problems as career women in big cities. I also met my Mr Right, but love and marriage don’t seem to be as easy as they were for my parents generation,” a Shanghai woman in her thirties told the Shanghai Star.

But can Asian women live the same lives? “Compared with women in New York, I think love affairs in Shanghai are more complicated. Unlike Carrie many local women take whether a man has an apartment, job or good education into consideration when they pick boy friends. I think in Shanghai few female lawyers would date a bartender like Miranda did in the show,” she added.

Across the Himalayas, society is no different. Although many Indian women claim they live life on their own terms, 30-to-40 year-old, successful, smart, sexy equivalents in India live a different reality.

Mumbai and Shanghai may be like Manhattan when it comes to the real estate index, but look at the relationship index, and what goes on here might make Miranda go on a stiletto-stabbing spree - Times of India.

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The report which highlights the rising clout of emerging market countries on the global financial stage, attributed the increase in such areas to gains in commodity exports, “paired with growing international acceptance of emerging financial centers as significant global players”, AFP reported.

Emerging markets also figured prominently in initial public offerings last year, during which more than 1,300 IPOs raised about 300 billion dollars. Emerging markets captured seven of the top 10 issues, the study said.

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Continuing on yesterday’s theme of Asian fashion fetishes and luxury brand indulgences here’s a look into how the biggest brand in tennis - Wimbledon is cashing in on Asia’s nouveau riche, and how China and India, with their fast-growing economies, have provided a fertile ground for Wimbledon in an ambitious bid to export its distinctive brand right around the globe.

“Europe is a very mature market and it is very difficult to introduce the Wimbledon brand in depth there. Asia is a land of opportunity,” McCowen told Reuters.

“This is the fastest expanding market in the world for merchandising. Asia is booming,” said Wimbledon marketing director Robert McCowen.

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But that only represents Asia’s fashion elite, when it comes to more accessible designer brands, consumers may be less prejudiced than some producers think. They might even by willing to indulge in fakes - for you never know where the fakes come from.

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