If the combined Opposition had sat down for weeks so as to find an issue to embarrass the UPA Government and make it a laughing stock before the whole country, they could not have thought of a better issue than the free gift presented to it by the UPA Government by initially insisting that it had irrevocably decided to allow the entry of multi-brand retail leader superstores like Walmart, USA...

If the malnourished in India formed a country, it would be the world's fifth largest — almost the size of Indonesia. According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 237.7 million Indians are currently undernourished (up from 224.6 million in 2008). And it is far worse if we use the minimal calorie intake norms accepted officially in India. By those counts (2200 rural/2100 urban), the number of Indians who cannot afford...

-Express News Service   Concerned over the increasing instances of senior civil and police officers resigning at the last minute to contest polls, the Election Commission of India has asked the government to bring in a “cooling off period” clause for government officers who contest elections. According to sources, many senior officials were found to misuse their positions to nurture their prospective constituencies before finally quitting their jobs to contest elections. In a letter...

-The Times of India Out of the candidates contesting in the first phase of state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, at least 38 percent have criminal cases registered against them, 51 percent are millionaires and only seven percent are women. Almost all major political parties have fielded candidates who have criminal cases registered against them. Samajwadi Party has 28 out of 55 (51 %), Bahujan Samaj Party 24 out of 55 (44...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand—all sugarcane-growing regions—are in the middle of an election campaign. The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of...