Reservation for Muslims in jobs and education — feverishly anticipated over the past two years and expected to be announced ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections — might turn out to be a headache the Congress unthinkingly bought itself. As Muslim groups have been arguing, the route under the United Progressive Alliance government's consideration — a 6 per cent Muslim sub-quota within the 27 per cent OBC quota — would...

-The Hindu   A host of political and religious leaders shared the dais at a public meeting organised by the Popular Front of India at the Ramlila Maidan here on Sunday. They demanded greater representation for Muslims in Parliament and Assemblies, besides reservation in government and private sector jobs. They wanted Muslims and other downtrodden sections of society to join hands in fighting social inequality and injustice. The meeting was organised to mark...

-The Hindu   In a show of audacity, the United Progressive Alliance government has decided to further open up the retail trade sector to foreign investment. Foreign investors will be permitted to enter the hitherto prohibited multi-brand retail segment and hold equity of up to 51 per cent in the units established. That there is widespread political opposition to this change in policy was known for long. Hence, the move is nothing...

-The Hindu   This is a major step towards providing liberation to farmers, says Sharma Ridiculing claims that opening of foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail will lead to displacement and unemployment, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Friday asserted that this bold move would lead to creation of 10 million jobs and billions of dollars in investments during the next three years. Brushing aside the criticism by the Opposition parties,...

-Reuters   Commerce minister Anand Sharma said on Friday that the government's new policy to allow foreign supermarkets into the country would create 10 million jobs over three years, while not affecting smaller, domestic retailers. The government on Thursday approved 51 percent foreign direct investment in the supermarket sector, paving the entry of firms such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour into one of the world's largest untapped markets. The government will have the first...