Should CSR spends be counted as ‘overhead’ costs?

May 9, 2011

A recently released paper, Conceptual Issues Faced in Development of Cost Accounting Standards, released by Institute of Cost of Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) questions if expenses made towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) be included in the total costs of the company. The

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Heritage in our minds

May 9, 2011

  I felt mixed thoughts as I read the news that the Delhi government was looking to submit a ‘tentative document'”whatever ‘tentative’ implies in this case”to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to be sent to the UNESCO so that Delhi city could

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Rise in trust in NGOs; businesses now distinguishing between charity and CSR

Apr 30, 2011

‘One of the most important findings for India is the real gap in trust in businesses – which is quite high – and trust in government – which is quite low. The big change is the rise in trust in non-governmental organizations (NGOs),

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WHO’s new mathematical model says malaria killed more than estimated earlier

Apr 26, 2011

India recorded 25 million cases of malaria and 30,000 deaths in the year 2009, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). That’s one-tenth the number of cases worldwide. It should be noted that earlier on, under the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme

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To avail of holidays, docs do “mass caesareans”

Apr 23, 2011

After the “uterus removal for money scandal” of Rajasthan, another shameful incident involving gynaecologists has come to light from Kerala. An enquiry has confirmed that to facilitate holiday plans of gynaecologists at a state-run hospital in Alappuzha, Kerala, 21 caesarean sections were performed

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Supreme Court sounds the bugle on starvation in India

Apr 21, 2011

‘You cannot have two Indias. What is this stark contradiction in our whole approach in eradication of malnutrition? You say you are a powerful country but at the same time, starvation deaths are taking place in various parts of the country.’ That was

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About 40 child labourers rescued; 11 factories sealed

Apr 20, 2011

Child rights NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan, with assistance from police and labour departments, rescued 36 children who were being forced to do labour in Delhi. About half-a-dozen factories were raided and sealed in New Seelampur in northeast Delhi and the Khureji Khas area

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Higher enrolment ratio in universities will help generate real wealth, says HRD minister Sibal

Apr 20, 2011

Setting the foundation stone of the campus of IIT Patna at Bihta, on April 19, Union Minister for Human Resources Development Kapil Sibal said political parties, civil society and media must reach a consensus for formulation of policies to take forward higher education

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Hospitals removed uteruses of 226 women for money

Apr 17, 2011

In a shocking revelation through a Right to Information (RTI) application, it is found that three private nursing homes in Rajastan’s Dasua district removed uterus of 226 women out of 385 women patients between March and September last year. All these hospitals were

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Sen is a sympathiser. Nothing beyond that: SC

Apr 16, 2011

Sen is a sympathiser. Nothing beyond that,observed the Supreme Court (SC) today while granting bail to rights activist Dr Binayak Sen. The SC order reversed the decision of Chhattisgarh High Court that had convicted Sen for sedition and sentenced him to life imprisonment. A

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