-The Guardian Allowing foreign chains such as Tesco to open in India will drive up unemployment and exploit small producers India's ruling coalition has been rocked after its second-largest partner withdrew this week. The latest round of political instability comes about because prime minister Manmohan Singh announced a number of economic measures without consulting his allies. The announcements – that diesel prices were to be raised, and that India's retail and domestic...

-The Hindu Unemployment dole, introduced in Kerala in 1982, the first State to do so, could soon be a thing of past if Labour Minister Shibu Baby John has his way. “We need to rethink on the unemployment dole as it does not serve any purpose now,” Mr. John toldThe Hindu . The government spends Rs.50 crore a year on the unemployment assistance scheme and there are roughly 3.5 lakh people getting...

-Live Mint There is no dearth of advisors for a government considered to be in the grip of a policy paralysis and whose prime minister is dubbed an “underachiever”. In this season of India-bashing, US President Barack Obama spared some time from his election campaign and offered some pearly words of wisdom on the Indian economy. This came at a time when in his own backyard, thousands of people marched in...

-The Hindustan Times Dalits of Maha Singh Wala village in Moonak subdivision of Sangrur district have been rendered jobless due to their social boycott by upper-caste landlords. Following a dispute over daily wages, a kangaroo court of village landlords had issued the diktat a month ago. All Dalits working as farm labourers or domestic help have been sacked. The supply of milk and other essential commodities has been disrupted, forcing them to...

-The Hindu Unsustainable import competition and the end of the investment subsidy that the sale of under-priced resources provided to Indian companies are the main reasons why the economy has slowed down What has been called the ‘golden age’ of India’s economic growth was underpinned by global integration, high rates of investment and savings growth and low current account deficits. The slowdown is characterised by a sharp deceleration in investment growth on...