-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...

The audience, organisers, and fightersknow that sham wrestling is not to betaken seriously. But the World Economic Forum takes itself seriously. The comforting thing about the sham wrestling ‘championships' on television is that everybody knows they are a farce. Steroid-stuffed Cro-Magnons stomp the living daylights out of painkiller-primed Neanderthals. Good, unclean fun. The results are safely predictable. You should expect the 600-pound gorilla to overwhelm the 900-pound one in a staggering...

-IBNS   A group of about 35 women economists from different countries of Europe, UK, US, Australia and India, have written an open letter to Prime Ministers and Presidents of South Asian nations, including India, which are facing acute sanitation crisis. From India, Jayati Ghosh, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Bina Agarwal, Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University and Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson Board of Governors, Indian...

-The Economic Times   Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, D Subbarao said on Tuesday that India's food inflation was fanned by change in dietary habits. Commenting on high inflation, Subbarao said that underlying drivers of inflation have changed.  "India needs to address challenge of food inflation. Food inflation has substantially come down but over the last 3.5 years since 2008-2009, average food inflation has shot up higher than the past 6...

Recent events in south Asia have led to an unexpected reversal in the narrative of microfinance, long presented as a development success. Despite charges of poor treatment of clients, exaggeration of the impact on the poorest as well as the risks of credit bubbles, the sector can play a non-negligible role in reaching financial services to low-income households. In regulating the sector, there is need for caution in setting interest...