-The Times of India There was some grumbling when Indian taxpayers were told in 2004 that they would have to begin paying an education cess of 2%. But the move also inspired a lot of positivity, because of a widely-shared belief that upgrading education is the most effective thing our government can do to lift Indians into affluence. Although it took the Parliament another half decade to enact the Right to...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Saradha group's collapse has possibly bankrupted lakhs of small investors robbing them of their life svaings, and has rendered thousands of its agents jobless. The scam highlights the failure of the government and its regulatory agencies to reign in the mushrooming chit fund companies in West Bengal. It also brings under the scanner the Trinamool Congress' proximity with the tainted group. In the wake of the...

-The Business Standard The Novartis verdict by the Supreme Court emphasised the importance of flexibilities in drug patent laws, in contrast to Western countries which are seeking TRIPS-plus hardening through free-trade agreements As curtains on the six-year-long legal tussle with Swiss drug giant Novartis AG finally came down earlier this month, the Indian government did not waste a second in hailing the Indian patent law which it said was in "full...

-The United Nations The Asia-Pacific region, which has overtaken the rest of the world in consumption of raw materials as affluence and manufacturing increase, must boost its resource efficiency or risk losing ground in lifestyle, economic growth and environmental sustainability, according to a UN report released today. From 1970-2008, consumption of construction minerals increased 13.4 times, metal ores and industrial minerals consumption 8.6, fossil fuels 5.4, and biomass 2.7 times, according to...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Milk will be costlier in Delhi- NCR market with leading supplier Amul deciding to increase the rates by Rs 2 per litre effective from Tuesday. "We have decided to raise the milk price in Delhi-NCR region by Rs 2 per litre. The prices have been hiked after 13 months as input cost have increased," R S Sodhi, the Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which...