Photo: Sun Pictures / Lakshman (flickr)

Ever heard of a 13-year-old bank manager?

It’s not an uncommon sight at the Children’s Development Bank (CDB), a unique initiative by the Delhi-based NGO Butterflies that helps street children help themselves. CDB, founded in Delhi in 2001, offers street and working children the opportunity to invest in a different lifestyle.

Fear of theft and lack of future planning have often led working children to spend what little they earn on short-term pleasures, such as cigarettes or cinema tickets. By providing a safe place to hold money, however, CDB encourages them to start a savings habit.

CDB is particularly innovative in the way it is run. It works as a cooperative, in which children are both the owners and decision makers. Rules, membership standards and loan criteria are set by members who are all between the ages of eight and 18. The idea is for kids to "put money aside for themselves without worry that it will be lost or stolen, save for things that they need or want, such as clothes, (and) plan to improve themselves, by saving for education and training."

CDB now boasts more than 8,250 members and operates in 12 locations, including branches in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Fuel prices have risen 40 percent since the start of the year.

Skyrocketing fuel prices make people angry. How angry you ask?

• Truck drivers in Spain started an indefinite strike on Monday, threatening to bring the entire country to a standstill. A growing number of gas stations have reported to have run out of fuel as a result, and supplies of fresh food are running low.
• From Portugal to Italy, commercial fishermen have protested rising fuel prices by blockading ports and refineries
• Last Thursday, more than 500 motorcyclists staged a “go-slow” demonstration outside Manchester, UK.
• Over in Asia, angry Indian consumers burned tires and blocked traffic after the government raised fuel prices. The protests shut down schools and businesses in West Bengal State.
• In Hong Kong, 500 buses and trucks colluded to bring traffic to a standstill in the central city.
• Enraged by the government’s recent 41-percent fuel price hike, Malaysians have planned a nationwide strike and a major demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on July 12.
• Truck drivers in Thailand are threatening to wreak traffic-havoc next week by clogging the roads with 400,000 trucks.
• In South Korea, truck drivers threatened to strike on Monday, ignoring the $10.2 billion government aid package designed to cushion the impact of soaring fuel prices.

What other angry reactions have you heard about?