The audience, organisers, and fightersknow that sham wrestling is not to betaken seriously. But the World Economic Forum takes itself seriously. The comforting thing about the sham wrestling ‘championships' on television is that everybody knows they are a farce. Steroid-stuffed Cro-Magnons stomp the living daylights out of painkiller-primed Neanderthals. Good, unclean fun. The results are safely predictable. You should expect the 600-pound gorilla to overwhelm the 900-pound one in a staggering...

Finance secretary R S Gujral on Tuesday said the income tax department has started prosecution proceedings against all those found guilty of stashing black money abroad, including the Indians found having accounts in HSBC, Geneva.  Gujral said it was an entirely wrong notion that people found accused in black money cases would be left without prosecution. "We have started prosecution process and we are bound by no agreement not to do...

While higher income levels mean countries have more money to improve women's health, ultimately it comes down to how governments decide to spend the money We know that economic growth and human development do not always go hand in hand, as evidenced by the very different position of countries in per capita GDP rankings compared with human development rankings. But the link between health conditions and economic growth is usually thought...

Recent events in south Asia have led to an unexpected reversal in the narrative of microfinance, long presented as a development success. Despite charges of poor treatment of clients, exaggeration of the impact on the poorest as well as the risks of credit bubbles, the sector can play a non-negligible role in reaching financial services to low-income households. In regulating the sector, there is need for caution in setting interest...

-The United Nations   Global efforts to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS are showing optimistic results, but transformative efforts are needed to accelerate progress, according to the latest report released today by the United Nations agency leading the fight against the disease.   The Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2011, produced by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), shows there has been a significant decrease in infection rates and HIV-related deaths, as well...