-The Economic Times When the country was growing at more than 8 per cent for about a decade, services and manufacturing were the darlings of policy-makers, investors and talking heads. Agriculture, a segment that employs nearly half the hundred crore population of the country, was hardly mentioned even in passing. This year, thanks to a poor monsoon, suddenly the farmers are the centre of India's growth story, or the lack of...

-The Economic Times How right was the government when it stated that the under-recoveries posed a threat to 'our national economy'? Or when the government says that it gave more to the sector in the form of subsidies than it earned as fuel taxes? The government would also like you to believe that the under-recoveries, dependent as they are on the price of crude in the international market, and the exchange...

-Frontline Members of denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, treated as criminal tribes by the colonial rulers, have no place to call their own and no land, no rights, and no support from the government.  Emaciated, eyes sunken deep into sockets, skin hanging loose, almost gasping for breath, Indro Devi and Sarvnath, a couple in their eighties, lie on polythene sheets in an 8×10 square-foot tent made of rags, by a stinking nullah...

-The Telegraph   Wal-Mart Stores Inc — the $446 billion retail behemoth — will be able to open stores in 22 cities across the country after the government notified a press note tonight permitting foreign direct investment up to 51 per cent in multi-brand retailing operations. The press note — which contained clauses that were not spelt out in the controversial press release issued last Friday after the cabinet formally cleared the proposal...

-The Hindustan Times Indian households, already paying more for food, could see prices remain high because of a likely fall in farm output, despite an abating drought. Although the monsoon has improved to be only 8% below average until September 12, production of pulses, cereals and sugar is likely to decline from last year's levels, when India posted a record harvest. "Although stocks are plentiful now, prices remain a real cause of concern...