-The Hindu Business Line   The general tendency among Indian policy makers currently is to blame international price movements for the rise in prices of essential food items in India. The extent to which this claim is valid is assessed by examining the specific case of wheat. It is no secret that Indian food prices are increasingly affected by international prices. Ever since 2002, when all quantitative restrictions on Indian imports of agricultural...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With 9,787 regular and 4,447 contract drivers on its payroll, Delhi Transport Corporation has one of the largest resource pools in the city. Unfortunately, these drivers are calling attention to the corporation for all the wrong reasons. Since 2011, the number of accidents involving DTC buses has steadily gone up with a corresponding increase in fatalities. Complaints of rash driving have been pouring in, prompting frequent...

-The Business Standard The Novartis verdict by the Supreme Court emphasised the importance of flexibilities in drug patent laws, in contrast to Western countries which are seeking TRIPS-plus hardening through free-trade agreements As curtains on the six-year-long legal tussle with Swiss drug giant Novartis AG finally came down earlier this month, the Indian government did not Waste a second in hailing the Indian patent law which it said was in "full...

-The United Nations The Asia-Pacific region, which has overtaken the rest of the world in consumption of raw materials as affluence and manufacturing increase, must boost its resource efficiency or risk losing ground in lifestyle, economic growth and environmental sustainability, according to a UN report released today. From 1970-2008, consumption of construction minerals increased 13.4 times, metal ores and industrial minerals consumption 8.6, fossil fuels 5.4, and biomass 2.7 times, according to...

-The United Nations The United Nations today launched the Zero Hunger Challenge in Asia and the Pacific, calling on governments, farmers, scientists, business, civil society and consumers to work together to end hunger in the region where the majority of the world's undernourished people live. "Sustainable development and inclusive growth will not happen on empty stomachs," said Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the...