-The Telegraph The four Left parties today iterated the need for a debate and vote in Parliament on FDI in multi-brand retail, but suggested they might not press beyond a point if the government refused a vote, stressing that Parliament needs to function. “A decision of this nature is the right of the Executive. But any major decision affecting a vast number of people must reflect the opinion of Parliament. If not,...

-The Business Standard Deconstructing the numbers shows companies have bid smartly to get the best deals The recently concluded sale of 1,800-MHz spectrum through auction to telecom service operators, or telcos, has been declared a damp squib for two reasons: One, only five telcos participated in the auction; and two, the bids added up to Rs 9,407 crore, which was less than a third of the Rs 30,000 crore the government had...

-The Times of India The government may not agree to a resolution on FDI in multi-brand retail under the voting clause, reasoning that there was no precedent to put on vote an Executive decision that did not involve any legislation. The UPA allies got together on Friday at a dinner hosted by the PM to discuss the strategy for the Parliament session in which the opposition has threatened to seek a division...

-The Hindu The trials and tribulations of Ashok Khemka and Sanjiv Chaturvedi expose Haryana’s intolerance of upright bureaucrats When Haryana’s top land registration official, Ashok Khemka, decided to probe Robert Vadra’s land deals in the State, he perhaps never anticipated the kind of animosity that his actions against Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law would generate within the government. Or, maybe he did, but went ahead nevertheless, hoping that a proactive media would...

-The Indian Express Ahead of the Winter Session, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said the government is reaching out to political parties to seek their support for passage of important economic bills. "The Parliament session has a very heavy legislative agenda. We are reaching out to the various political parties to carry through these agenda in the four weeks that we have for the session", he said addressing a press conference...