-The Hindu The Land Acquisition Bill, which strengthens landowners’ rights during acquisition for development, has finally received the nod of the Union Cabinet, and is likely to be introduced in Parliament during the final week of the winter session. The final version of the bill was approved by the Cabinet on Thursday, more than a year after Parliament sent the earlier avatar to a Standing Committee. In the months since, the bill...

-PTI Bharti Walmart, the Indian arm of the US retail giant Walmart, on Wednesday said the allegation that routine US lobbying disclosures reflects improper conduct on its part in India are false. "This disclosure has nothing to do with political or governmental contacts with Indian Government officials," a Bharti Walmart Spokesperson said in a statement. The disclosures to US regulators showed that company's business interests in India was discussed with American officials along...

-PTI Delhi may soon become the first city in the country to have global retail chains like Walmart and Tesco, with the city government all set bring a bill in the Winter session of assembly beginning on Tuesday to remove hurdles in ensuring "effective" implementation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The city government will bring an amendment to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act for facilitating direct purchase...

-Outlook Its ploy of Aadhar-hinged cash transfer may have won the Congress political points, but will it really be a game-changer?   State-Wise     40% of the 22 crore Aadhar numbers are in Andhra Pradesh (4.7 crore) and Maharashtra (4 crore)     20% is what the two politically sensitive, Congress-ruled states account for of the 51 districts where DCT will be rolled out     55 lakh Aadhar numbers in TMC-run West Bengal. BJP-ruled Gujarat (57...

-Outlook Don’t blame globalization for inequality – but rather policies hijacked by a few Economic globalization in the sense of expansion of foreign trade and investment is, of course, somewhat anaemic, reflecting the impact of global recession, although still vigorous in the sense of continuous international transmission of technology, information, ideas and social media. But in the world of politics and policymaking a cold wind is blowing, dimming earlier enthusiasm for global...