Has India done a China to its trade partners? Against huge opposition and popular discontent over the years, the CABinet last week cleared 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and allowed 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail. The move appears crafty in that it tries to change the perception of a reform impasse in the government while simultaneously aiding India’s negotiators to meet their peers...

The union CABinet is expected to decide on India's stance at the UN climate conference in Durban with environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan suggesting to adopt a hardline approach and shun flexi-approach of her predecessor Jairam Ramesh. In a CABinet note circulated, the environment ministry has sought reiteration of India's stance in 2010 that says no to a legally-binding climate treaty, demands a second commitment period of Kyoto Protocol, ensures climate...

Farmers, a holy-cow constituency considered more valuable than small traders to the political class, have begun to ask uncomfortable questions to those opposing foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail. Several farmer groups, some of them led by politicians with ties to the Congress, have asked why some parties are standing in the way of a measure that is expected to reduce the clout of middlemen and increase farm earnings. Although Prime Minister...

Chief minister Nitish Kumar’s ambitious new effort on land survey and consolidation could become another perilous flirtation with the hornet’s nest. Days after its unveiling at the presentation of the first annual report card of Nitish’s second term, a top minister in his CABinet sounded both alarm and caution on the land survey proposal. “Land, as the chief minister himself knows, is an extremely sensitive and volatile issue,” he told The...

-The Hindu   In a bid to break the impasse over foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, the government made a vain attempt on Wednesday night to persuade the Opposition to tone down the wording of its motion. But it was told in categorical terms that the demand for a rollback of the decision was non-negotiable. The Opposition stance was conveyed by the Working President of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and...