-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Petrol could become costlier by about 4 a litre if the government compels oil firms to sell 5% ethanol-blended petrol across the country by next month as these companies would be forced to import huge quantities of the biofuel at exorbitant rates. But, the Cabinet, which will meet soon to discuss the issue, may relax compulsory doping as it would want petrol prices to rise sharply, months...

-The Business Standard How to fix the agricultural pricing mess The government's move to get the mandate of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) reviewed afresh by an expert panel needs to be viewed in a broader perspective - one that weighs political populism against economic logic. It has been argued that minimum support prices (MSPs) have been raised often - and supposedly partly for political reasons - during the...

-The Guardian GDP may be an inaccurate indicator in sub-Saharan Africa, which is a concern for those who want to use statistics to help the world's poorest people Even in good financial times, development aid budgets are hardly overflowing. Government leaders and donors must make hard decisions about where to focus their limited resources. How do you decide which countries should get low-cost loans or cheaper vaccines, and which can afford to...

-Outlook Labour is bought cheap, treated cheap-in India's garment factories as at Bangladeshi ones Even as the world remains morbidly fixated on the tragedy in Rana Plaza on the outskirts of Dhaka-the collapse of the textiles sweatshop three weeks ago buried 1,127 workers and sparked off a global outrage-it is business as usual at India's textile hubs. And you don't have to travel far from the city centre to...

-The Hindu   The educational and economic development of Dalits is seen by the backward castes as a challenge to the social order, as recent incidents in Tamil Nadu show On the evening of November 7, 2012, a crowd numbering over 1000 people burst into three Dalit settlements in Dharmapuri, north-western Tamil Nadu, and laid them waste. Over a period of several hours, they looted, smashed and burned. Trees had been felled on...