-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: With general elections due next year, the UPA has drawn up plans to project itself as a business-friendly regime, as investors are side-stepping India following criticism that the government has been unable to push through enough reforms to revive a stalling economy. A white paper on economic reforms, under preparation, lists out moves such as allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. Last week, global ratings agency Standard & Poor's...

-The Hindustan Times The UPA government will be giving a final push for minority appeasement before the 2014 general elections with the Cabinet on Thursday approving a proposal to spend additional Rs. 100 crore for scholarships to minority children. This would be complimented with a new campaign to reach out to the minority community and tell them about the difference the UPA government policies have made in their lives. Minority, especially Muslims,...

-The Hindustan Times I remember her face but not her name. She was one of the 30 people I met one winter afternoon in 2009 at Basaguda village in Chhattisgarh's Maoist-hit Bijapur district. A thin, tall woman, she stood at the edge of the group, listening attentively to her neighbour who was narrating an incident of an armed attack on the village that had left them homeless for months. When my...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Maharashtra has the highest per capita income, but when it comes to prosperity, Punjab tops the chart while Madhya Pradesh is at the very bottom. In terms of equity, Kerala pips Punjab to the top slot, while Andhra Pradesh has the highest levels of disparity, says a new study that ranks states based on pattern of ownership of consumer durables. The soon-to-be released report by ratings and...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The Bengal government-designed potato shortage has prompted vegetable sellers in Odisha to plan a retaliation. The traders' associations in Balasore have threatened to detain trucks carrying essential commodities and fish from Andhra Pradesh and other states to Bengal on the national highway passing through this district in retaliation to the Bengal government's decision. Despite chief minister Naveen Patnaik requesting his counterpart in Bengal, the largest supplier of potato to Odisha,...