International fund floodgates that stayed locked during the Left front regime are now opening up for Mamata Benerjee. Latest in the "parivartan" syndrome is the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has given the green signal to go along with one of the state's most ambitious roadway projects - the 271 km express corridor connecting North and South Bengal. It is a Rs2,270 crore project, which World Bank had refused to fund in...

An innovative mechanism to save farmers from exploiting traders, which India implemented as a national model in the 70s, is now being blamed for rising vegetable prices.     Agricultural produce marketing committees (APMCs) have become archaic and vegetables and fruits need to be taken out of these local market hubs, analysts say. “They have turned into platform for hoarders, rather than a buyer-seller platform,” farm expert Sompal, who was formerly union agriculture...

The government has begun discussions with Dalit entrepreneurs on what can be done to promote business ventures set up by members of their community. As a part of its discussions with various groups before it finalizes the 12th Plan for 2012-17, the Planning Commission has sought suggestions from the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dicci), a business group, on what can be done to spur Dalit capitalism, how these...

Unfazed by the criticism from some of his ministerial colleagues for delaying the green nod for projects in ecologically sensitive areas, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said the "single biggest threat" to the forests in the country is the "developmental threat". "They (forests) not only face the existential threat from encroachments...but they also face what is increasingly becoming perhaps the single biggest threat to Indian forests, which I call...

A day after stating that lobbying and public relations were part of a democratic set-up, corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid said the government might explore whether corporate lobbying could be included under the Right to Information (RTI) Act or a similar law. “It is a democratic right of people, but there should be a legitimate limit on this. No one said that lobbying is illegal, but it should not go beyond...