-The Business Standard NAC shouldn't have seen growth as the enemy of welfare For the nine years of the United Progressive Alliance government, the National Advisory Council led by Sonia Gandhi and including many well-known people from the corporate and non-governmental organisation world - mostly those with a left-of-centre perspective - has been the focus of much attention. The conventional narrative is that the NAC represented Sonia Gandhi's socialist instincts, and regularly...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: You may end up saving more in the months ahead with the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) readying to re-notify a new definition of "compensation" that will include all your allowances, amid intense lobbying against the move by industry bodies. Currently, employers get away by contributing only 12% of the basic salary and dearness allowance, which is not paid by most companies, towards their share of "matching"...

-The Hindu   As TRAI prepares to regulate ownership of news organisations to ensure pluralism, big media houses fear shrinking profits and state control by proxy Rahul Khullar, the straight-talking chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), listened attentively to the senior management executive of Bennett Coleman and Co. Limited, one of India's largest media conglomerates. The latter disagreed with the premise of the discussion - that there was a "problem,"...

-The Telegraph A physicians-led health group has expressed fears that the Centre is straying from plans to provide free essential medicines at public hospitals and to introduce universal healthcare services through tax revenues. The non-government Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) has said the plans for free essential medicines and an expansion and strengthening of public health services in rural areas appear to be in jeopardy because of inadequate health budget allocations. In a letter...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Whistleblowers, victims, experts and witnesses testifying against or reporting private sector corruption have no cover under Indian laws, a United Nations' report on the country's compliance with the UN Convention Against Corruption has found. India had ratified the pact in May 2011. UN's Office on Drugs and Crime reviewed India's compliance with the aspects of the UNCAC that deal with curbing corruption in the private sector....