-The Hindustan Times With UPA 2 having carried the day on the motions disapproving foreign direct investment (FDI) in India’s multi-brand retail trade sector, the crescendo for a fresh round of GenNext reforms has reached a higher pitch. The editorial in this newspaper titled The slog overs have begun (Our Take, December 10) states, “Now that FDI in retail is through, the UPA must push ahead with other reforms.” The Congress-led coalitions...

-The Hindustan Times Arvind Kejriwal has resorted to publicly naming and shaming everyone from politicians to corporates, Anna Hazare has reignited the Jan Lokpal debates and scandals are being exposed with increasing frequency. The anti-corruption movement has gathered momentum in the last twelve months, and presumably, corrupt officials are running for shelter. Yet, according to a Hindustan Times survey, 41.2% of respondents feel that government officials are more prone to take a...

-Outlook Out in our streets, disabled people feel the pain everyday The Gaping Holes     India yet to get a cohesive, standardised sign language     Barrier-free infrastructure yet to be implemented in public areas like bus stations, railway stations, schools, cinema halls     Lack of basic, inclusive civic facilities: no audio-enabled traffic signals, pavements with ramps, few disability-friendly toilets, negligible penalties     Poor functional entertainment accessibility, like no subtitling on local language TV channels     Reservation...

-Outlook Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz is one of the world’s leading economists. A former chief economist at the World Bank and currently University Professor at the Columbia Business School, he was recently in India to attend an international conference on development and to promote his new book, The Price of Inequality. He spoke to Pranay Sharma about growing inequality in the world and the challenges facing India. Excerpts: * Your coinage,...

-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...