-The Hindu In an attempt to pressurise the Union Government to roll back the decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, an “anti-FDI” protest march was organised by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) at Jantar Mantar here on Wednesday. The protesters charged the Union Government with ignoring the interests of the working class and protecting the interests of the multi-national retail giants. NASVI president Arbind...

-The Hindu The government’s ill-conceived urban development schemes are threatening the future of Delhi The Delhi Urban Arts Commission was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1972 with the sole intention of acting as a supra urban body to guide the future development of Delhi. After 40 years of its existence, chaired by a galaxy of bureaucrats and, more recently, famous architects, it is still difficult to evaluate whether it has...

-The Hindustan Times More than 50 of the 60 coal blocks being reviewed by an inter-ministerial group (IMG) for inordinate delays face the risk of de-allocation if the projects are unlikely to kick off before 2013. This includes the possible cancellation of mining rights of seven captive coal blocks given to private companies during the BJP-led NDA’s rule between 1999 and 2004, top sources told HT. The IMG, headed by additional secretary...

-The Times of India The government may be standing firm against scrapping coal block allotments to private companies but a high-level official panel for monitoring progress in these mines is pitching for largescale de-allocation to "defuse the current crisis" over Coalgate. "Out of the 90 coal blocks allocated to private players since 1993, 60 coal blocks with 6.7 billion tonnes (estimated reserves) valued at nearly Rs 2 lakh crore can be cancelled...

-The Times of India The threat of cancellation looms large over Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone's 1,840-hectare enclave in Gujarat for alleged violation of Centre's norms, including unauthorized construction over a plot that was not vacant. While a show-cause notice was issued a couple of months ago, and permission "suspended", the commerce and industry department is expected to issue the final orders over the next few days. Sources said commerce secretary...