-The Business Standard Oil minister says Parikh report sound but government has to take realities into account; to proceed with Direct Benefits Transfer in 291 districts from January despite SC order Union petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily said there'd be no raising of the present cap on the number of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) cylinders a household was entitled to in a year. In the wake of severe electoral reverses for the ruling...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Indian economy, Asia's third-largest, faces a difficult situation where growth has slowed to a decade low but price pressures have remained stubborn. It has one of the highest inflation rates in the world, and the highest in Asia. Weak growth and high inflation also complicated the policy choice for the central bank. Separate data released by the Central Statistics Office showed industrial output slumped 1.8%...

-Frontline In a situation of increasing life expectancy and crumbling traditional support structures, a universal social pension scheme that does not rely on contribution by a person or an employer can help the elderly. INDIA prides itself on being a "young" society, likely to benefit from a demographic dividend as children and young people move into working age groups over the next decade. This optimistic view assumes that society will be able...

-The Hindu India has the largest programme, catering to over 114 million children A global report by the World Food Project (WFP) for 2013 on 169 countries has said that India has the largest school feeding programme in the world, catering to over 114 million children, but stands 12thamong 35 lower-middle-income countries covering 79 per cent of its total number of school-going children. The report titled "State of School Feeding Worldwide, 2013" draws...

The Pension Parishad is holding a dharna in Delhi for the rights of elderly since 26 November. It has demanded that a Universal and Non Contributory Old Age Pension System should be established with a minimum dignified amount of monthly pension not less than 50% of minimum wage or Rs 2000/- per month, whichever is higher. Despite several rounds of talk held between the campaign leaders and the Government in...