Estimating black money has been a long time preoccupation of economists and tax collectors in India. Several books have been written and several government reports prepared. It is possible to suggest that the policy disincentives that may have contributed to black money generation, like high tax rates, have been moderated, if not eliminated, and that the incentive to declare income has gone up since the beginning of tax and policy...

Despite a sharp rebound in economic growth for many countries, global unemployment in 2011 is likely to continue at the record highs of the past three years, highlighting the need for long-term policies that prioritize quality job creation, according to the United Nations labour agency. Moreover, a narrow focus in developed economies on reducing fiscal deficits without addressing the challenge of job creation will further weaken employment prospects in 2011, the...

More private practitioners being roped in for universal access Programme achieved success rate of over 87 per cent in 2010 India accounts for one-fifth of all global TB cases After achieving global benchmarks in case-detection and treatment success rate for the last three years, the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) is being expanded by roping in more private practitioners for providing universal access to quality care. Disclosing this at a press conference here...

I remember being disturbed enough to stop watching the 2003 Hindi movie Matrubhumi(motherland). Set in the future, it depicted an Indian village populated only by men. It gets that way after a man, yearning for a boy, publicly drowns his newborn girl in a vat of milk, sparking a custom that wipes out women. So the men watch porn, fornicate with farm animals. A father marries his five sons to...

A 'savage preference for males' leads to the killing of 7 lakh girls by their parents in the mother's womb each year in India, according to a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member. NHRC member Satyabrata Pal also said that 25 percent of the children who see the light of day are underweight at birth, and 1.72 million children die before they turn one. 'The UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) fears 2,000...