-Mainstream Weekly Intense and motivated propaganda, powerful national and international diplomatic pressure, verging on pure and simple arms-twisting of the kind the Third World has been facing for decades by means of the active role of the econo-mic hit-men in the policy establishments, huge cash-back lobbying, both in India and abroad, blunt attempts to bamboozle the persons holding key positions in India’s policy establishment through a combination of hissing and kissing...

-The Economic Times A new book by Bibek Debroy on Gujarat looks at how this much-talked about state has performed in economic terms. The author argues history, luck and administrative clarity have been the determining factors. There has been a discernible pickup in Gujarat's growth performance since the 10th Plan (2002-07), the five-year Plans being natural periods for breaking up the timeline. It's tempting to argue that there is nothing exceptional in...

-The Hindu Seeks A-G’s assistance in clarifying issues raised by PIL The Supreme Court will examine the validity of the notification the Centre issued on September 20 of its decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. On Friday, a Bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and Anil R. Dave, without issuing notice, sought Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati’s assistance in clarifying certain issues, and directed advocate M.L. Sharma, who has challenged the...

-Live Mint The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, in an interview, spoke about the challenges of pushing public health reforms India is likely to finalize a draft Plan document next week to introduce universal health coverage in India. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, spoke in an interview about the challenges of pushing public health reforms with limited resources at hand.  Edited excerpts: * Will the government be able to...

-PTI In a move aimed at increasing transparency, the Centre on Tuesday asked all its ministries to make public details of official foreign and domestic tours undertaken by ministers and senior officers. The details will include nature of the official tour, places visited, the period, number of people included in the official delegation and total cost of such travel undertaken by a minister or senior officers. The "suo motu" decision was taken after...