China's population grew to 1.34 billion by 2010, according to census data, which showed an ageing and more urban population that experts say is likely to spur calls for the "one-child" policy to be relaxed. The census released on Thursday showed the population in China, the world's second biggest economy, grew by 5.84 percent from the 1.27 billion in the last census in 2000 and to a level that was smaller...

Resurgent food prices, which rose by 10% on average in many regional economies in Asia this year, can push an additional 64 million people into extreme poverty, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report says. The study, titled, 'Global Food Price Inflation and Developing Asia', by the multilateral lending agency, finds that a 10% rise in domestic food prices could push an additional 64 million people, out of 3.3 billion people living...

The government may approve acquisitions of local drugmakers by global firms on a case-by-case basis on certain conditions to ensure availability of medicines at affordable prices, despite calls for restrictions on such deals in the wake of a spate of takeovers in the last three years. Multinationals may have to move buyout proposals through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), allowing the government to understand the firm's rationale for buying a...

According to the third advance estimate, India’s foodgrain production in the current farm year (to end in June 2011) will be a record 235.88 million tonnes, including an all-time high wheat output of 84.27 million tonnes against 81.47 million tonnes projected earlier. Ahead of the wheat harvest, the country had buffer foodgrain stock of 47 million tonnes at the start of 2011 in the central pool. A buffer close to double...

The case of each areca grower who has taken loans from cooperative societies or banks will be studied individually to determine whether the farmer is genuinely unable to repay the loan. This decision was taken at a meeting of areca growers with Deputy Commissioner Subodh Yadav and officials of various departments on Thursday. Mr. Yadav made the suggestion after listening to a delegation of farmers, most of them members of the Karnataka...