About ADB

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was founded in 1966 with the primary mission of fostering growth and cooperation among countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.
• It is headquartered in Manila, Philippines. 
• At present, ADB comprises 68 members (including India)- of which 49 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.
• The ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions.
• The two largest shareholders of the ADB are the US and Japan. 
• ADB is an official United Nations Observer.

Objectives

• ADB envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region. Despite the region’s many successes, it remains home to a large share of the world’s poor: 263 million living on less than $1.90 a day and 1.1 billion on less than $3.20 a day.
• ADB assists its members, and partners, by providing loans, technical assistance, grants, and equity investments to promote social and economic development.

Why in News?

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India has signed a $96.3-million loan agreement to provide safe drinking water and improve water supply and sanitation services in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
• The project is aligned with the objectives of the Government of India’s Jal Jeevan Mission which aims to provide piped water to all rural households by 2024 and it will upgrade water supply infrastructure and strengthen institutional capacity to ensure safe, sustainable, and inclusive rural water supply and sanitation services.

Reference

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1853605