Indian suppliers must be units with investment up to Rs 1.25 cr, says draft before cabinet. Multinational Retailers such as Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour looking to open stores in the country may have to source almost a third of their merchandise from small Indian manufacturers as the government tries to make the opening of multi-brand Retail to foreign players more politically palatable. The draft cabinet note for permitting 51 per cent foreign...

-The Economic Times   The cabinet will shortly consider a proposal to allow 51% foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand Retail, as the government finally musters the will to implement the controversial policy measure that has been stalled for years. The commerce and industry ministry has prepared a note for the cabinet to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand Retail and increase the limit on single-brand Retail to 100% from the current 51%....

-The Times of India The Centre on Thursday responded to the Supreme Court's concern over spiralling prices of essential medicines and promised to make all-out efforts to put under strict price control regime all the 348 drugs included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011. A bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya had, in the last hearing, expressed concern over the shrinking list of medicines under...

'Food subsidy is a massive burden…if so much is spent on subsidies, what is left for development?' agriculture minister Sharad Pawar recently asked. It is a legitimate question that is on the minds of many but seldom gets asked for fear of appearing callous. Are we prematurely trying to be a welfare State? In the developed world, safety nets like food stamps are regarded as humanitarian obligations toward the poor....

Justice Markandey Katju has done his own mission, supervising the responsible functioning of the media, a disservice. By criticising the media through sweeping generalisations and with extreme naïvete, he has got its back up, provoking a sharp reaction from the Editors Guild instead of a willingness to talk and sort things out. A lifetime spent in issuing obiter dicta has ill-equipped Justice Katju in the communication skills needed to carry...