-IANS A small sugarcane farmer in western Maharashtra, Bhau Kadam (name changed) and his family, own about three hectares of land. He has two sons who are both graduates and work in Pune. When I asked him why he did not make his sons farmers, he says that farming is hard work, is non-remunerative and it is difficult to get labour. Besides he also thinks that farming is not glamorous, a farmer's...

-Outlook Bhubaneswar: A World Bank team has offered to provide technical assistance, global expertise and logistic support to Odisha and its mining sector, official sources said today. This was conveyed by the five-member World Bank Team led by Vikram Menon, State Programme Coordinator, to the state government while wrapping up its visit here yesterday. "The team expressed its willingness to provide and utilise non-lending technical assistance and world-class expertise in the state mining...

-The Economic Times When the voting stops on August 19, the scorecard, which is currently 9-0, may well read 12-0. An emphatic and embarrassing rejection of state and corporate plans to mine bauxite atop the Niyam Dongar hilltop in the Kalahandi district of Odisha. Twelve tribal villages that call this mountain range home have, in all likelihood, secured their religious rights over the hill and its natural resources, including 72 million...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With an unregulated surrogacy industry thriving in India, rich couples are preying on domestic helps and housemaids coercing them to step up to the task. There is little or no protection for the surrogate mother controlled in the most part by a web of middle-men with medical practitioners choosing to turn a blind eye to this controversial transaction. These are part of the conclusions drawn...

-Stanford Social Innovation Review Looked at from the perspective of the political right, and the left, and the center, the proposed law making CSR mandatory is a really bad idea. Companies all over the world are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that they are responsible citizens, with about 70 percent of large companies in Europe and the Americas reporting on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Despite this, the very concept...