-IPS News UXBRIDGE, Canada- Growing water shortages in many countries are a major threat to global security and development and should be a top priority at the U.N. Security Council, a panel of experts said in a new report. However, that report ignores the biggest threat to water security: neoliberal policies of the free market economic system laying waste to the natural world and turning water into a commodity, activists counter. China...

-IANS PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said he was not in favour of allowing FDI in his state and added that farmers would not benefit at all from the UPA government's decision to open up the multi-brand retail market to FDI. Addressing a press conference here, the Bihar chief minister also said he had voiced his apprehension to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in New Delhi about allowing...

-Reuters India opened its supermarket sector to foreign chains on Friday after months of dithering, pushing ahead with the boldest reforms yet in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government as it tries to revive the country's tottering economic growth. The government has decided to allow foreign airlines to buy stakes of up to 49 per cent in local carriers, heavy industries minister Praful Patel said on Friday, in a much-awaited policy move that...

-The Times of India The inter-ministerial group (IMG) reviewing coal block allocations that have been questioned by the federal auditor for being allotted arbitrarily could not complete its proceedings and is expected to meet again on Friday. The IMG meeting could not complete its case-by-case assessment of 29 blocks allotted to private firms with the response of the private players being considered against the terms they are alleged to have violated. Sources said...

-The Hindu The draft law on acquisition strikes a balance between development and justice for those who will be displaced in the process India is a rapidly industrialising economy and society with intense demands for better infrastructure from its people. The last 20 years have seen a great acceleration in this process, with India becoming one of the world’s fastest growing economies. However, for those whose lands were acquired for these purposes...