-The Business Standard   The new grain pricing policy for 2012-13 rabi marketing season seems a half-hearted attempt to make farmers grow more oilseeds and pulses, which are in short supply. This is apparent from a hefty hike of Rs 650 to Rs 700 a quintal, or around 35 per cent, in the minimum support prices (MSPs) of oilseeds and pulses and a relatively modest increase of Rs 115, or 10 per...

-The Telegraph   Mamata Banerjee today sprayed a cocktail of petrol price and other grievances on the Centre, warning that the Trinamul Congress could pull out of the UPA government if it “did not think about the masses” and listen to her party. Oil firms said they had little option but to roll back the price increase if the Centre issued such a directive. However, till late this evening, the Prime Minister appeared...

-The Hindu   It will have welfare measures and institutional framework A new National Policy on Older Persons, incorporating a range of welfare measures and an institutional framework for effective implementation, is expected to be unveiled soon. The policy will be based mostly on the Draft National Policy on Senior Citizens, 2011 headed by V. Mohini Giri, Union Minister for Social Justice & Social Welfare Mukul Wasnik said on Wednesday. He was presiding over...

The United Nations unveiled its 22nd annual Human Development Report on Wednesday, with grave warnings that unless countries take action against climate change and implement sustainable solutions, progress in human development will be in serious jeopardy. Trends over the past 40 years indicate extraordinary progress in health and education in some of the world's poorest countries, and if those trends continue, by 2050, most countries will have achieved or surpassed standards...

Why is it that the Anna Hazare-led movement against corruption does not seek to have the Lokpal cover NGOs, corporate houses and the corporate media? Gautam Navlakha (gnavlakha@gmail.com) is a member of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi.   It would be churlish to dismiss “Team Anna’s” mass mobilisation which is an assertion of our collective right to protest. This is especially so in view of the fact that after having waited...