-The Hindu   It is creditable that Narendra Modi seeks inspiration for his growth model from China and Japan rather than the U.S., which is a high-cost, specialist-driven model The old adage ‘health is wealth' was given legitimacy by no less a personage than Professor Jeffrey Sachs, who in 2000, chaired the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH). The CMH report brought forth indisputable evidence of the link between health,...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: An expert group of Planning Commission has pitched for major investments to reduce country's carbon footprint, saying India needs to invest $834 billion in nearly two decades to be firmly on low carbon and environment-friendly growth trajectory. It also stressed on use of renewable energy resources in big way, saying at least one third of power generation by 2030 must be fossil-fuel free. The group,...

-The Business Standard   A seven-point agenda to fix India's public services, and overcome poorly designed systems India's Achilles Heel remains its inability to deliver public services. India's aspiration to be a global economic power will be unrealised if this remains unsolved. Why is this problem so particularly acute? Is it political interference and corruption, poorly designed programmes and weak administration? Or a much deeper cultural problem of aversion to collective action, often...

-The Business Standard   Or, why our subsidy and tax policies have been almost exactly wrong Thomas Piketty's seminal book on inequality, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, comes at a fortuitous time. Although inequality has been a well-discussed issue in India for some time now, the success of the book contributes by sharpening the debate. It complements the McKinsey Global Institute's (MGI) report titled "From poverty to empowerment: India's imperative for jobs, growth,...

-The United Nations   Road traffic injuries, HIV/AIDS and suicide are the top killers of adolescents globally, while depression is the predominant cause of illness and disability, the United Nations reported today, urging a stronger focus on the health of boys and girls in their pre- and teen years. "We hope this report will focus high-level attention on the health needs of 10 to 19-year-olds and serve as a springboard for accelerated action...