-The Business Standard     Foreign direct investment in the NGO sector is, in fact, no different from the cross-holdings and the FDI web of the corporate world  ClimateWorks, one of the two international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) recently restricted by the National Democratic Alliance government from funding Greenpeace India Society in India, also funds another NGO, Global International, which, till recently, was headed in India by Union Environment and Forests minister Prakash Javadekar. When...

-The Business Standard   Assessment note says panel acts as control commission, especially in fund allocations to states An assessment of the Planning Commission by the Independent Evaluation Office has found the panel exceeds the scope of its authority by acting as a "control commission", particularly with regard to the allocation of funds to state governments. This is despite the fact that the commission was set up as a recommending body, through a...

-The Business Standard   Regulator studying pricing models in various nations; draft legislation likely by end of March Pharmaceutical companies might be up for stricter price regulations. The government is planning to bring in a legislation that would take into consideration pricing models across the US, European Union (EU), China and 14 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which regulates prices of medicines in the market,...

-The Telegraph Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav has wrapped up his free laptop scheme and instead pledged funds for building toilets and upgrading the police force in the state budget unveiled today. "We have kept our poll promise and distributed laptops in the first phase of our programme. The stress in this budget is infrastructure and rural development," said the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, under pressure after his party slipped from 21 seats in...

-Down to Earth   District known for farmers' suicides has shallow soil depth which has very little capacity to retain water; report recommends switch to traditional millets, oilseeds Around half of the soil in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, known both for suicides and for Bt cotton, is unsuitable for cotton cultivation, says a recent report from the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS & LUP) at Nagpur. The report,...