-The Times of India The government's probe against Walmart over its lobbying-related disclosure is expected to include identification of alleged beneficiaries of the payments, a move that is aimed at blunting any opposition to foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail. Sources familiar with the development told TOI that the basic mandate given to the retired judge, who will investigate the issue is to ascertain if any portion of the lobbying expenses have...

-The Hindu The credibility that Narendra Modi has acquired among many Hindu voters over the years is for what his government oversaw in 2002; not for engineering a spectacular model of economic development There is little doubt that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be back in power in Gujarat in the next fortnight. A vote in favour of the Congress, the only longstanding rival to the BJP in the State, would...

—AP Envoys from nearly 90 nations signed on Friday the first new U.N. telecommunications treaty since the Internet age, but the U.S. and other Western nations refused to join after claiming it endorses greater government control over cyberspace. The head of the U.N. telecoms group pushed back against U.S. assertions, defending the accord as necessary to help expand online services to poorer nations and add more voices to shape the direction of...

-The Hindu The World Conference on International Telecommunication showed that countries are not yet ready to arrive at a consensus on regulation and control of the Internet The World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) that concluded on December 14 saw much heated debate. Some countries wanted to use the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to gain intergovernmental control of the World Wide Web. Some saw it as an opportunity to democratise the Internet,...

-Frontline Farmers protest against the Central clearance for coal bed methane exploration in Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, as they fear it will devastate agriculture in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts.  THE woes of the delta farmers of Tamil Nadu are far from over. While the Cauvery tangle continues unresolved, they fear the proposed multi-crore project for commercial exploration and exploitation of coal bed methane (CBM) in the Mannargudi block of Tiruvarur district will prove...