Microcredit lifted 10 million Bangladeshis out of poverty between 1990 and 2008, according to a report. The work of Grameen Bank and others helped many families to raise their income above $1.25 a day, said the US-based Microcredit Summit Campaign. The study follows recent criticism of microfinance, which works by providing small loans to people to invest in generating their own incomes. Some experts argue the report may have missed the bigger picture. They...

The heat generated by the high food inflation may force the government to go slow, or even drop, some of its key proposals to open up the country's food and fertiliser sectors, experts say. Decontrolling sugar and urea and freeing up some farm exports are some of the proposals the government may not touch in the coming days, they say. The proposal on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail may also...

In the middle of a debate about corruption in high places, the curse struck in a macabre manner from the base of the pyramid on the eve of the celebration of the republic. An additional collector was burnt alive in daylight by a gang that sprinkled kerosene on him after the 44-year-old officer caught their aides pilfering fuel from a tanker in Maharashtra’s Nashik today. The prime suspect, who has a history...

Ilina Sen, wife of activist Dr Binayak Sen, was on Monday booked by Wardha police for not informing them about the participation of foreign nationals in 13 th National conference for the Indian Association of Women's Studies (IAWS) organized under her supervision at Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University. The four-day conference concluded on Monday. The cops have also booked the in-charge of the accommodation committee of the conference. The offences against...

India, Switzerland had signed a protocol to amend the DTA last year It is expected to help India get details about illicit wealth India may have to wait till at least next year for information from Switzerland on the possible black money trail to Swiss banks, as a treaty for the same might come into force only by the end of 2011. The treaty needs to be ratified by various authorities in India...