-Outlook The government today expanded the ambit of Competition Commission of India (CCI), with an amendment to the Competition Act, following which all sectors would fall under the purview of the fair trade regulator. Approving a proposal by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in this regard, the Union Cabinet this evening decided to amend the Competition Act, 2002 with a view to fine tune the regulations to bring it at par with...

Remember Arjun Sengupta Committee Report? It’s the same report which put paid to government’s shifting poverty estimates by asserting that almost 80% Indian survive on less than Rs 20 per day. Known as the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), the report has gone missing from the public domain. The official website of NCEUS is no more working: http://nceus.gov.in, raising doubts regarding someone, somewhere trying to hide...

-PTI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Trading activities came to a virtual halt across Kerala on Wednesday as shop owners downed shutters to protest against the policies of the Central and state governments, including the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail. Early reports from different centres said the response to the shut-down call given by traders' unions like Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Samiti (KVVES) has been total, especially in urban areas. Majority of hoteliers also joined the...

-Outlook Amid furore over FDI in multi-brand retail, the politicians and farmers in the leading agrarian state of Punjab are speaking in different voices over the issue. While Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the concept may be successful in developed countries like USA, he feared that it may not work in this country. "If the FDI comes, big players will eat into the share of small traders and that will be against...

-The Times of India PANAJI: Following the adverse report by the Shah commission on illegal mining in Goa, the Union environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Wednesday announced the suspension of environment clearances given to all 93 functional mining leases in the state. The orders came a day after TOI's story on how the central government had given illegal clearances to Goa's iron ore mines even under PM Manmohan Singh's watch...