Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday denied that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sought his explanations on the rising prices of onions and other agricultural commodities. In a brief chat with the media persons on the sidelines of the two-day “Coop Core – 2010,” heralding the nationwide launch of the core Banking solutions (CBS) for the urban cooperative banks, which began here on Saturday, Mr. Pawar said he too had...

No celebrity visits or satellite Banking system? Never mind, bring on ‘suppat’. Unlike Doba, three other villages of Lohardaga district may not have been lucky enough to get Reserve Bank of India’s smart card based satellite-Banking system. But they have a ‘suppat’ surprise up their sleeves. ‘Suppat’ or ‘super’ in tribal dialect, is also the name of a rural chain of mom-and-pop stores initiated by a private party, Dynamic Tarang Pvt Ltd,...

IT WAS a windfall five years ago that taught Panchali Satyavva the power of a lie. It happened one Monday afternoon in Someshwar village of Nizamabad district in Andhra Pradesh. It was raining in sheets and she had just placed a bucket under the steady trickle of water from the roof of her hut. Two men were at her door, holding umbrellas and offering her an unsolicited Rs. 5,000. They...

Retail giants pushing the European Union-India free trade deal promise consumers a "new and dynamic retail experience" but ignore the fate of India’s "mom-and-pop" stores and some 40 million people they employ. Four years in the making, the EU-India Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement made serious headway during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Brussels Dec. 10 and is due to be signed and sealed early 2011. But the negotiations have...

Indian Centre for Islamic Finance delegation makes presentation at Yojana Bhavan The Indian Centre for Islamic Finance (ICIF) has made out a strong case before Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council member V. S. Vyas for introducing interest-free Banking in the country at the earliest to ensure “inclusive growth with innovation” in accordance with the recommendations of the Planning Commission's Raghuram Rajan Committee. An ICIF delegation from New Delhi, led by its general...