Two ways to advertise your modernity in India today: first is to carry an iPad, second is to declare that you are firmly on the side of 'reforms' There are two quick ways to advertise your modernity in India today. The first is to carry an iPad when you go for meetings, even if all you do with it is read email; and the second is to declare that you are...

RIO DE JANEIRO: Making a strong pitch for removing poverty in India and reminding the developed world of its commitment to sustainable development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday called for setting up a global system that allows each country to develop according to its own priorities. "For developing countries, inclusive growth and a rapid increase in per capita income levels are development imperatives," the Prime Minister said in his...

-PTI India on Thursday said it is disappointed with the “weak” political will in developed countries to provide developing nations enhanced means of implementation of objectives of Green Economy, which will also be a “green-wash” if the process is not democratised. As around 100 world leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the Rio+20 Summit, India also firmly rejected unilateral measures and trade barriers under the guise...

-The Economic Times Indian officials say the agreement that will be ratified by government leaders at the Rio 20+ conference on sustainable development on Friday addresses their major concerns even as NGOs stepped up their opposition to the final text, saying it contained no specific commitments and no timetables.  Government officials say the outcome document, called the "The Future We Want'', retains the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR), which creates...

If proof is needed of a policy paralysis, a recent official admission that poverty cannot be eradicated by 2020 cannot be dismissed out of hand. That this follows the Planning Commission's estimate of a rapid decline in poverty over the period 2004-05 and 2009-10 is not just intriguing but arguably schizophrenic. The former is utterly pessimistic while the latter is optimistic notwithstanding dubious price adjustments designed to deliver a favourable...