-People's Democracy IT seems the Sheila Dixit government of Delhi, backed by powerful elements in the UPA-2 central government, will let nothing stand in the way of water privatisation in the capital. Several earlier attempts going back many years to fully or partially privatise distribution of water, especially the big loan application to the World Bank in 2005, were foiled by vigilant community organisations, public interest groups, trade unions and political...

-The Economic Times New discoveries of natural resources in several African countries - including Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, and Mozambique - raise an important question: will these windfalls be a blessing that brings prosperity and hope, or a political and economic curse, as has been the case in so many countries? On average, resource-rich countries have done even more poorly than countries without resources. They have grown more slowly, and with greater inequality...

-The Hindu National Committee in Solidarity with Jaitapur Struggle writes to PM The National Committee in Solidarity with Jaitapur Struggle — a group of like minded political people opposed to setting up nuclear power projects in the country — has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to cancel the proposed nuclear plant at Jaitapur. Citing concerns over the safety of the proposed nuclear reactors at Jaitapur and the financial credentials of the French company...

-The Hindu Batting for about 30 lakh sugarcane farmers of Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has expressed his reservation over the Central Government’s proposal to de-regulate the sugar and cane sectors, which would effectively signal an end to the State’s control over reserving the cane area of the sugar mills and fixing the procurement price for the growers. At his meeting with the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council,...

-Live Mint Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, the world’s biggest tractor maker by volume, cut its forecast for sales growth of the farm equipment in India as the worst rainfall in three years delays crop sowing. Mahindra estimates industry sales to expand as little as 2% in the year ending 31 March, Pawan Goenka, president of the automotive and farm equipment division at the Mumbai-based company, said in an email response on Thursday. Goenka...