-The Hindustan Times The industries opened up to foreign investment in the past 20 days produce less than a tenth of India's national income. On the face of it, this number is too small to justify the opposition to foreign direct investment (FDI) in supermarkets, airlines, insurance and pensions. Or the government's resolve to open these businesses to foreigners with or without majority control. The picture changes when you see how fast...

-The Hindu In its attempt to demonstrate to foreign capital that it is committed to reform, UPA II has launched on what many consider a liberalisation blitz. A principal feature of the new measures is the greater space and influence being afforded to foreign investors in sectors varying from retail and civil aviation to insurance and pensions. Multiple arguments have been put out by official spokespersons to justify the new measures:...

-Business Today "I want it back," says Sharada Begum. The 67-year-old woman is a member of one of the 100 households of Raghubir Nagar, a resettlement colony in west Delhi, chosen to participate in a pilot scheme that aimed to turn the public distribution system (PDS) on its head. Through all of 2011, these households had Rs 1,000 transferred every month to a woman member's bank account in lieu of rice, wheat,...

-The Economic Times The World Bank has urged India to make provident fund membership compulsory for all formal sector staff and urgently raise the 6,500 wage ceiling for mandatory PF contributions - which at present is even lower than the minimum wages in most states. The Bank has also advised to reduce the threshold for bringing firms under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) net from 20 staff to 10, dismissing finance ministry...

By stopping social security pensions, the Karnataka government has put the lives of over 10 lakh poor in peril. Naveen Basavaraj Kuntoji is nine years old and suffers from cerebral palsy. His movements are greatly restricted, and it looks like he is in great pain every time he valiantly wills his body to do something. When he is hungry, he slowly lifts his hand and points to his mouth. When this...