-PTI Soaring inflation, high fuel cost, rising cost of education and health insurance premiums have eroded the real incomes of middle-class Indian families, with household savings rates dropping by a staggering 40 per cent in the last three years, says an Assocham survey. "Poor households are unable to maintain the consumption levels at current prices while middle income families find their purchasing power erode fast, thus having far less surplus money," Assocham...

-The Telegraph Thiruvananthapuram: The Centre's move to implement an ecology panel's report on conservation of the Western Ghats has provoked a call for a 48-hour civil disobedience agitation by the Catholic Church in Kerala, starting Sunday midnight. The Church claims the K. Kasturirangan report, notified on Wednesday, will hit the livelihoods of farmers living in the "high ranges" - foothill areas bordering the forests - and force them to relocate. Green activists deny...

-The Business Standard Open market price cools down as chief minister orders cold storages to empty stock by December 15 Kolkata: The first big task in hand at the new address is a success. Sitting in the plush office at the 14th floor of the newly-inaugurated secretariat, by default facing one of the infrastructure marvels created in the predecessor regime, the Vivekananda Setu, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has finally reined in the intractable...

-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: With general elections due next year, the UPA has drawn up plans to project itself as a business-friendly regime, as investors are side-stepping India following criticism that the government has been unable to push through enough reforms to revive a stalling economy. A white paper on economic reforms, under preparation, lists out moves such as allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. Last week, global ratings agency Standard & Poor's...

-The Hindustan Times The UPA government will be giving a final push for minority appeasement before the 2014 general elections with the Cabinet on Thursday approving a proposal to spend additional Rs. 100 crore for scholarships to minority children. This would be complimented with a new campaign to reach out to the minority community and tell them about the difference the UPA government policies have made in their lives. Minority, especially Muslims,...