-PTI Five American trade bodies, including USIBC, have joined hands to oppose efforts of the Indian government to further Restrict participation of foreign companies in India's tobacco market. According to reports, the India's Commerce Ministry, on the request of Health Ministry, has proposed to put a complete FDI ban in the sector. Currently, foreign direct investment (FDI) is completely prohibited in manufacturing of tobacco and its substitutes, while such investments are allowed up...

We need a properly defined strategy to integrate poorer children into schools For millions of children, it is a struggle to get to school, to stay in school and to make sense of what is happening in the classroom. After visiting many homes in rural and urban India, I have realised that learning to read without decent instruction, without enough nutrition, without electricity and water, without a place to keep your...

-The Economist For the first time ever, the number of poor people is declining everywhere THE past four years have seen the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and the biggest food-price increases since the 1970s. That must surely have swollen the ranks of the poor. Wrong. The best estimates for global poverty come from the World Bank’s Development Research Group, which has just updated from 2005 its figures for those living in...

The new IT rules violate the right to freedom of speech and expression New media has come to play a major role in the process of opinion making, as was evident in the recent Arab uprisings and the campaign against corruption in India. It is a means of propaganda and a tool for mobilising the masses. The strength of new media lies in the opportunity for creative participation that it offers...

Difficult times call for difficult measures. Pushed into a corner by an unsustainable fiscal deficit and various sectors and programs (including the proposed food security legislation) screaming for a greater share of the budget pie, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in India has been forced to do what it might not have otherwise—reduce its marquee job guarantee scheme’s allocation in a big way for the first time.  In one...