-The Indian Express   The government today claimed there has been an "impressive improvement" in the performance of the targeted public distribution system (TPDS), with leakage reduced to about 10-15 per cent on average now from 40 per cent earlier. "The leakage, on an average, is nearly 10-15 per cent," said Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution KV Thomas said in a reply during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha. The...

-AP   A UN climate conference reached a hard-fought agreement Sunday on a complex and far-reaching programme meant to set a new course for the global fight against climate change for the coming decades. The 194-party conference agreed to start negotiations on a new accord that would put all countries under the same legal regime enforcing commitments to control greenhouse gases. It would take effect by 2020 at the latest. The deal also set...

Protestors AND supporters of a range of issues find a chance to voice their opinions at Jantar Mantar, reports Priyanka Jantar Mantar is busy readying itself for Sunday, when activist Anna Hazare will go on a token one-day fast to protest against the government's version of the Lokpal Bill. The day before, the venue is already packed with a few hundred people, with not one but four protests going on simultaneously over...

Here's the wonderful thing about the FDI-in-retail debate: never have struggling Indian farmers found so many champions. They've been crawling out of the woodwork. Foreign direct investment in retail may be on hold, but Hillary Clinton can stop worrying about Anand Sharma and Pranab Mukherjee. “How does (Commerce Minister) Sharma view India's current Foreign Direct Investment guidelines? Which sectors does he plan to open further? Why is he reluctant to open multi-brand...

The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed that no further action be taken towards granting environmental clearance to a coal mine operated by DB Power Ltd, a subsidiary of DB Corp, one of India's largest media corporations. The respondents have been given three weeks to reply. A writ petition filed in the court accuses the company of adopting “deliberate, illegal and manipulative” measures to influence the outcome of a public hearing held...