Global business abhors uncertainty. The ministerial-level corruption in UPA-II has slowed FDI and FII inflows. The stock market, despite double-digit corporate profit and 8.6% GDP growth, reflects the anxiety of Indian and foreign investors. To take India's growth story forward in the 20th year of economic reforms, political reforms must catch up. Misgovernance won't do in a globalised, interconnected world. Two kinds of political corruption blight India: episodical and ongoing. Episodical...

It is time for the National Advisory Council (NAC) to introspect whether its pious thoughts on food security square up to an economic reality check. There are three likely scenarios: (1) universal coverage at 35 kg/per month per family; (2) universal coverage with 25 kg per family per month; and (3) partial coverage (say, to 11 crore families) with 35 kg per family per month. In each case, the implications...

Giving a new dimension to poor farmers whose land is acquired for public purpose, the Supreme Court has held that right to possess a land being a right to property cannot be taken away without conducting an enquiry under the Land Acquisition Act (LAA). Giving this ruling a Bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly said: “Admittedly the LAA, a pre-Constitutional legislation of colonial vintage is a drastic law,...

Promises action “to allay fears and insecurity Christians are experiencing” Chief Ministers will be asked to deal firmly with anti-Christian violence Promises to act on the Saldanha report on violence against minorities in Karnataka Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured a Christian delegation on Saturday that he was trying to evolve a consensus on granting Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims. He also said he would ask Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram...

The State Assembly passes a Bill to set up a tribunal to recover compensation from Coca-Cola's bottling unit in Plachimada. THE road ahead seems to be a difficult one for the Bill passed recently by the Kerala Assembly for the establishment of a special tribunal to “make the polluter pay” and recover compensation for the people affected by the activities of Coca-Cola's controversial bottling unit at Plachimada in Palakkad district....