New Delhi / Agencies India’s government pledged billions of dollars to help struggling farmers and boost the rural economy as it unveiled its annual budget on Monday, with an eye on kickstarting growth and boosting its flagging popularity. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely proposed spending nearly $13 billion on rural development, promising higher incomes for farmers who form the majority of …

Seoul / AFP South Korean firms which once operated factories in a now-shuttered joint economic zone in North Korea pleaded on Monday for urgent help from Seoul, saying they had lost more than $663 million. The South on February 10 announced the pullout from the Seoul-funded Kaesong industrial complex in protest at North Korea’s latest nuclear and long-range missile tests. …

BEIJING / AP China’s premier told visiting U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Monday his government is pressing ahead with painful reforms to shrink bloated coal and steel industries that are a drag on its slowing economy and ruled out devaluing its currency as a short-cut to boosting exports. Premier Li Keqiang’s comments to Lew on Monday were in line …