-Live Mint Lack of decentralization means municipalities lack power, resources to meet rising aspirations of ‘middle' India Othakadai, Madurai (Tamil Nadu)/Hubli (Karnataka): S. Paramasivam , president of the Othakadai panchayat, has big plans for his area. "Rainwater harvesting, removal of encroachments on roads, waste recycling, covered drainage, bigger primary health care centres and community parks," lists the 58-year-old, who has spent 30 years in the stainless steel business that dominates industry...

-The Indian Express Kolkata: When the Saradha Group's Bengali daily Sakalbela began publication, Mamata Banerjee sent her best wishes. It was more than a customary greeting. It was an impassioned message that seemed to have come from the chief minister's heart. "We will have to pass the dark night to begin our journey in the light of dawn," she said. "An alert conscience, right direction, truth and fearless news is what people...

-The Economic Times The BT cotton revolution, which swept India's countryside, is now doubling up as the source of the country's cheapest cooking oil. And in Narendra Modi's motherland, the Jasubens are loving it. Cottonseed or 'kapasiya' oil is ruling in the kitchens of Gujarat, the largest cotton-growing state. One out of every two bottles of oil consumed in Gujarat contains cottonseed oil. "Earlier, we used around three litres of cottonseed oil...

-The Economic Times WASHINGTON: Big Pharma found little support from the small guy on the street as the Indian Supreme Court's decision to reject patent claims of the drug maker Novartis for its celebrated cancer medicine Glivec reverberated across the world. The pharma lobby railed against the decision but the overwhelming sentiment, from physicians to politicians, from academia to media, particularly in a country groaning from the high cost of health care,...

-The Times of India Undeterred by stiff opposition from private developers and builders, the housing ministry is pushing hard to bring the real estate regulator bill, aiming to protect home buyers, in the current session of Parliament. Housing minister Ajay Maken on Sunday said the bill was expected to be brought up for consideration of the Cabinet soon before being introduced in Parliament. The government is looking to set up a tough regulator...