The World Bank has agreed to provide USD 900 million financial aid to Pakistan which has been hit by devastating floods affecting 14 million people and leading to crop loss estimated at USD 1 billion. "The Government of Pakistan has requested around USD 900 million of financial support from the World Bank, which we have committed to provide," the World Bank said in statement. The current floods have claimed over 1700 lives...

In its action plan on water security, the Planning Commission will likely recommend a cess on the use of groundwater. The quantum of cess will be state-specific and will depend on the volume of water used by farmers. Mihir Shah, Member, Planning Commission, told The Indian Express that the proposed action plan would encompass creating a new legal and institutional framework with a clear focus on sustainability and equity. “It will...

The NAC suggests steps to ensure food security, but its recommendation for ‘selective universalisation' of the PDS is criticised. INDIA is home to some 230 million undernourished people – that is, 27 per cent of all undernourished people in the world. Worse still, more than half of all child deaths in India are because of malnutrition, and over 1.5 million children in the country are at the risk of being malnourished...

The Indian government has approved the inclusion of information on caste in the ongoing population census. The controversial decision was taken by a group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Caste-based parties say the information will help the government target affirmative action benefits better. But critics say caste is the most regressive feature of Indian society; that it is repressive, reinforces hierarchy and breeds inequity. India has been conducting the national census...

Their ongoing negotiations remain shrouded in secrecy, but there are already reports that India and the European Union (EU) will have a free-trade agreement ready by the end of August, and that they will be putting signatures to it before the end of 2010. Yet it is a potential development that is causing more nervous chatter than joyous jitters here in India, where drug manufacturers in particular have raised concerns over...