The nearly 10 crore farmers who hold kisan credit cards (KCC) will soon be able to use their card as a deposit account and a debit card.  This will help the government scale up its financial inclusion plan quickly without relying on bank accounts alone.  KCC, which has been instrumental in faster delivery of credit to farmers, is like an overdraft account with a bank that has to be operated through a...

-Righttoinformation.info   The NCPRI, in collaboration with Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), JOSH, Pardarshita and National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW)organised camps for public consultations and registering grievances in Delhi. Two days camps on the 15th and 16th of December were held in Malviya Nagar, Trilokpuri, Nandnagri and Takiyan Kalekhan. The camps concluded in an Open Forum with representatives from political parties and citizen groups to discuss the essential features of a Grievance...

The Durban conference in December 2011 marked a breakthrough in international efforts to combat cLIMate change. The EU and India played a key role in final negotiations that unlocked the pact on the last morning of the conference. Together, we found the compromise that provided the basis to launch negotiations on a new global legal framework for cLIMate action that the world so badly needs.  It is no secret that the...

-The Business Standard Recent reports of the acquisition of a foreign rock phosphate mine by an Indian fertiliser manufacturer through a joint venture with a Japanese firm — in order to secure the raw material supply to its domestic phosphatic plant — should be viewed as part of a trend that needs to be sustained. India is critically dependent on fertiliser imports, since the availability of raw material for indigenous production...

One of the great achievements of India is our free and vibrant press. This is an accomplishment of direct relevance to the working of democracy. Authoritarianism flourishes not only by stifling opposition, but also by systematically suppressing information. The survival and flowering of Indian democracy owes a great deal to the freedom and vigour of our press. There are so many occasions when, sitting even in Europe or in America,...