-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre may make it mandatory that 10% of 'corporate social responsibility' funds are spent on the welfare of elderly persons and effect a ten-fold hike in the old-age pension, in what is likely to be a new focus on senior citizens in view of their rapidly growing numbers and challenging living conditions. According to the 'national policy on older persons' to be unveiled soon, the...

-The Hindu The Bali ministerial conference in December presents a crucial opportunity to bring about changes in WTO rules Ending hunger and poverty requires major national policy initiatives in developing countries. The United Nations Secretary-General has articulated a broad zero hunger vision, endorsed and embraced as a priority by national leaders in many developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Production of food by small cultivators in developing countries has a...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: CBI director Ranjit Sinha has said infrastructure building through the public-private partnership model could lead to a spike in corruption cases as the potentially lucrative contracts may encourage collusion between big firms and state officials. "This route is full of pitfalls and it has opportunities for corrupt activities with big scope for collusion among promoters of consortiums to whom such projects are awarded and corrupt public servants...

-The Hindu     The practices concerned are most widespread in South Asia and in South Asian diasporas. The European Parliament's recent resolution circumvents India's contention that caste oppression does not constitute racial discrimination. On October 10, the 766 members of the European Parliament, who represent just over half-a-billion people in 28-member-states, passed a historic resolution recognising caste-based discrimination and discrimination based on work and descent as a violation of human rights and an...

-The Indian Express Internal migration has risen, and for good reason. Policy must shift to support internal mobility, not control it. As India undergoes the transition from a predominantly rural society to one that is urbanising rapidly, there are inevitable flows of people from rural to urban areas. One set of perspectives tells us that this increase in mobility should not be unexpected; after all, classical modernisation and economic development theories do...