-The Economic Times   Stepping up Kerala's demand for a new dam at Mullaperiyar, chief minister Oommen Chandy said he will meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Thursday, even as the opposition leader VS Achuthanandan decided to go on a fast on December 7 on the issue.  In an attempt to find a solution to the vexing issue, Chandy would write to his counter part in Tamil Nadu about...

Yerra Srilakshmi was an IAS topper but has added another feather to her cap, although a dubious one. She is the first woman IAS officer to be arrested for alleged corruption. The 1988-batch officer, held yesterday in connection with the mining case involving the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), owned by arrested former Karnataka minister and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy, was today remanded in CBI custody for three days by a local...

-The Telegraph   Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa today joined the chorus against the entry of foreign capital in multi-brand retail, saying the Centre’s decision that smacked of “overweening arrogance” would affect the livelihood of millions of small-time traders. In Delhi, the under-fire UPA brought out a full-page ad in newspapers that said the move would “generate 10 million new jobs” contrary to the “mistaken belief” that it would result in widespread unemployment. The...

Indian athletes are threatening to boycott next summer's London Olympics in an extraordinary stand-off with the head of the 2012 Games, Lord Coe, over his controversial sponsorship deal with a chemical company. Lord Coe is under personal attack for signing the deal with Dow Chemical – under fire in India for its ownership of Union Carbide, whose Indian subsidiary was responsible for the Bhopal industrial disaster, one of the world's worst,...

-The Telegraph   The cabinet today unlocked the retail market for foreign direct investment, braving the Trinamul Congress’s objections but assuring Mamata Banerjee earlier in the day that state governments would have enough leeway to protect the interests of farmers. The most significant of today’s decisions is the clearance to 51 per cent foreign investment in multi-brand retail, which will allow the entry of giants that are already household names in a country...