-The Hindu Ecosystem restoration and relationship between biodiversity and climate change to be discussed The difficult task of mobilising financial resources for achieving biodiversity targets expeditiously became the running theme at the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), represented by over 170 countries, which began here on Monday. Union Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, who assumed charge as president of COP-11 for...

-Mainstream Weekly Intense and motivated propaganda, powerful national and international diplomatic pressure, verging on pure and simple arms-twisting of the kind the Third World has been facing for decades by means of the active role of the econo-mic hit-men in the policy establishments, huge cash-back lobbying, both in India and abroad, blunt attempts to bamboozle the persons holding key positions in India’s policy establishment through a combination of hissing and kissing...

-The Hindustan Times The industries opened up to foreign investment in the past 20 days produce less than a tenth of India's national income. On the face of it, this number is too small to justify the opposition to foreign direct investment (FDI) in supermarkets, airlines, insurance and pensions. Or the government's resolve to open these businesses to foreigners with or without majority control. The picture changes when you see how fast...

-The Times of India In a major move aimed at checking unnecessary medical tests and procedures, the health ministry on Sunday said it was working on a plan to make it mandatory for all private hospitals to declare and display the treatment costs of different diseases. Jagdish Prasad, director general of health services (DGHS), told TOI that the ministry's plan would check overbilling and bring in transparency in the healthcare sector. "Our aim...

-The Hindu Property empire was built on soft loans handed out in unusual circumstances, documents show In February, as rumours of the ambitions of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law swirled amidst the heat and dust of the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, her daughter Priyanka moved to scotch speculation about Robert Vadra’s possible political future. “He’s a successful businessman,” the younger Ms. Gandhi said of her husband, “who is not interested in changing...