-Hindustan Times They are called cafeteria sessions. At lunch time, Greenpeace fund-raisers wander among hundreds, sometimes thousands, of young men and women packing the cafeterias of Indian companies. It’s not a good idea to name these companies. Greenpeace’s activities include forest preservation, renewable-energy promotion and fighting on behalf of local communities. These appear to be popular causes among young professionals. Donations of Rs 300 to Rs 500 constitute about 80% of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: As different governmental and non-governmental agencies prepare to move from rescue to rehabilitation phase in quake-struck Nepal, the father of India's green revolution M S Swaminathan on Tuesday called for adopting the Kutch model to mitigate the suffering of those affected in both countries. Referring to "habitation-cum-rehabilitation programme" of Kutch in Gujarat that was ravaged by a powerful earthquake in 2001, Swaminathan said the model involved...

-Thomson Reuters Foundation NEW DELHI - A shortage of specialised legal care and protection means that victims of trafficking and bonded labour in India fail to get justice and perpetrators continue to buy and sell people with impunity, a report said on Monday. The study by the Freedom Fund and Thomson Reuters Foundation said charities on the frontline of anti-trafficking efforts were unable to support victims to pursue their cases in...

-Business Standard Even as country stares at a possible drought, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has hit a new low At a time when rural India is in distress, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which could have provided some relief, is itself facing its worst period ever. The number of people working under the scheme and the amount of work provided is dwindling, and the trend...

-Livemint.com The RBI norms towards targeted marginal lending for the small farmer is a structural solution to aid them—unlike bailout packages, which provide only short-term relief In its latest overhaul of priority sector lending rules, the central bank has stipulated that lenders should funnel at least 8% of their credit to small and marginal farmers. While the overall agriculture loan growth has galloped over the past decade, the chart shows why...