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...

-Economic and Political Weekly Despite being the third largest economy in the world by purchasing power party, the living standards of India's underprivileged citizens are probably among the worst in the world. Even its much poorer neighbours, such as Nepal and Bangladesh, have fared better in areas of health and social development. Please click here to download the article. ...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: World Bank has released a new report -- On Thin Ice: How Cutting Pollution can Slow Warming and Save Lives. The report that talks about ways to mitigate the effects of climate change says fast action to cut common pollutants like soot (also known as black carbon) and methane will not only slow global warming, but save millions of lives. Reductions of these so-called short-lived climate pollutants...

-The Hindu Chennai: Tenzin, 10, and Norubu Sherpa, 7, are not wandering monks, but they are newly-inducted monks indeed, and have wandered far from their home in West Bengal. These children were found roaming around in the Chennai Central railway station before Deepavali, and volunteers of Karunalaya, an organisation working in the area of child rights, took them to their shelter in Royapuram. "The Railway police told us to provide them a home...

-The Hindustan Times Now that India's "polio-free" status is less than three months away -- the nation's last polio case of a two-year-old girl in the Panchla block of Howrah, West Bengal, was reported on January 13, 2011 -- the Centre is going the extra mile to stop re-infection. This year, 296 polio cases were reported till October 16. In 2012, there were 171 in the same period and 223 till December...