-The Telegraph   The Trinamul Congress will oppose foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail and pension funds as well as changes in rules that will allow foreign airlines to invest in Indian carriers. Mamata Banerjee has instructed her sole member of the cabinet — railway minister Dinesh Trivedi — to oppose the retail proposal at tomorrow’s cabinet meeting, the minister confirmed today. The Trinamul roadblock is being seen as an attempt to reaffirm its...

The all-crucial Below the Poverty Line (BPL) survey will not be completed ahead of the start of the 12th Five-Year Plan and consequently the execution of the promised food security entitlement, for which the government intends passing legislation in the coming Parliament session, will suffer. Following a review meeting with officials of all States here on Friday, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh admitted that the deadline for conducting the Socio Economic...

-The Deccan Herald   The Kerala High Court in Kochi on Friday observed that frequent hikes in the prices of petroleum implemented by oil companies in the country amount to slow poisoning of the public. The court expressed its sympathy for the plight of the common man. The common man is at the mercy of oil companies, observed a division bench headed by acting chief justice of Kerala High Court C N Ramachandran...

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are among the Indian states that have failed to name an ombudsman to handle grievances and prevent graft related to the central government’s flagship rural jobs programme, even two years after they were directed to do so. Only 15 of the nation’s 28 states have appointed the ombudsmen, according to the ministry of rural development. Assam, Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu also haven’t appointed the watchdog. Setting up...

Anna Hazare's so-called "second freedom struggle" raises questions, one, about how long the protests can be sustained, and, two, on the merits of the protesters' demands and methods. But before that, Team Anna should be given credit for reviving long-somnolent mass politics in this country, something beyond the Opposition that has been reduced to activism on the idiot box. It shows how much anti-government political space had been abandoned by the...