-The Indian Express Cash in the hands of the poor can transform their lives. With bank accounts and an Aadhaar card for all becoming a reality, it is possible to transfer money directly to the poor and check middlemen who siphon away funds. Cash transfers (CTs) come in many forms. They may be conditional or unconditional, selective or non-selective, targeted or universal. Some types of CT are as susceptible to misuse as...

-FAO Spotlight turns to humanity's silent ally and the risks it faces Rome: Healthy soils are critical for global food production, but we are not paying enough attention to this important "silent ally," FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said on the eve of World Soil Day, to be celebrated on 5 December. Healthy soils not only are the foundation for food, fuel, fibre and medical products, but also are essential to...

-The Indian Express How many jobs must be created to realise our demographic dividend (or avoid a nightmare)? Half of India's population is below 25. The worst-case scenario is that enough jobs are not created for the millions entering the labour force each year, and that this semi-educated mass becomes a force driving social conflict. The reason that East Asian countries (especially China) rode the wave of the demographic dividend and dramatically...

-DNA It's a misconception that high economic growth translates into employment A recent report prepared by the consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) harps on the usual premise of boosting economic growth as the basis for job creation. Accordingly, it will still take 20 years to remove unemployment even if India grows at an annual growth rate of 9 per cent. This is exactly what we were...

-The Times of India India's intellectual property (IP) law has been hailed as one of the most progressive for safeguarding public interest, and several nations like Argentina, the Philippines and Brazil are looking to learn from it. Senior advocate and former UN special rapporteur on the right to health Anand Grover talks to Rema Nagarajan about the pressure the country is facing to change its IP laws, primarily from the US. *...