The United Nations began laying the groundwork today for a global “social protection floor” that would guarantee food security, health services for all and old-age pensions, with a senior official stressing that all that is lacking is the political will for an initiative needing minimum investment. “Social security is a human right. We’ve forgotten that for a very long time, but roughly only 20 per cent of the global population has...

Just over a year since it was crippled by a drought, India’s agriculture sector is firing on all cylinders again, a much-needed turnaround that could keep overall growth high and make fighting inflation easier. The country looks set to reap its second-highest harvest of foodgrains in 2010-11, which includes an estimated 81.47 million tonnes of wheat alone, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday. Apart from cereals, record output in pulses...

At present, the government spending on education is about 3.4 percent of GDP ‘It is imperative that the government increase outlays in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan' A delegation of the People's Budget Initiative met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here on Saturday to demand enhanced resources for the social sector which was crucial for the development of human resource and the nation. Formed in 2006, People's Budget Initiative is a coalition comprising representatives from people's...

The Centre today promised a “comprehensive study” to gauge black money but told the Supreme Court it couldn’t reveal information on such cash stashed abroad because of “confidentiality” clauses in overseas pacts. The government explained its stand in an affidavit in the Supreme Court, which had earlier rapped it for not doing enough to deal with the menace. The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, the National Institute of Financial Management...

India’s microfinance institutions (MFIs), under pressure because of stricter rules in their largest market Andhra Pradesh and the consequent slump in repayments there, may get a boost from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ADB is constituting a $250 million (around Rs1,135 crore) facility to offer guarantees against loans to MFIs extended by banks in the Asia-Pacific region where it operates, including India. The move is aimed at encouraging banks to lend...