-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 Hindustan Times   Five of the six civil society members appointed by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to bring the rebels to the dialogue table withdrew themselves from the job on Monday, citing unfavourable conditions in Jangalmahal. This has come four days after CPI(Maoist) central committee member Kishenji was killed by the security forces on Thursday. "We have expressed our helplessness and inability to the chief minister," said a statement signed...

The anti-corruption movement has enabled the Indian middle class to feel smug about itself. Its members have gone through a vast range of emotions during the last two decades, from self-hatred to self-righteousness. Liberalisation of the economy has created for this class an excitement of many kinds. It has meant the freedom to pursue the quest for wealth without guilt and, at the same time, it has meant feeling set...

-The Sentinel Assam   Cluster of villages across Barak Valley have been threatened by Erosions of various rivers crisscrossing the zone. A good number of villages have been completely or partially wiped out by the swirling and surging waters of Barak, in particular, during heavy floods. Reports about the fate of such villages have appeared in the media time to time and continue to hit the headlines. The state government and its...

-The Hindu   The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over fake encounters by the police and said “tolerance of police atrocities would amount to acceptance of systemic subversion and Erosion of the rule of law”. Upholding the life sentence awarded to four Punjab Police officers who were responsible for kidnap and killing of a human rights activist, a Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan said: “Police atrocities are always violative...