-Live Mint   FDI in retail and modernization of agriculture are two faces of the same coin In the season of elections animal spirits rule. India's equity markets have been ebullient for some time now. Spurred by a robust inflow of foreign investment capital, markets have reacted favourably. A lot now depends on the ability of the next government to enact meaningful structural reforms, especially in a sector such as agriculture that requires...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: CBI director Ranjit Sinha has said infrastructure building through the public-private partnership model could lead to a spike in corruption cases as the potentially lucrative contracts may encourage collusion between big firms and state officials. "This route is full of pitfalls and it has opportunities for corrupt activities with big scope for collusion among promoters of consortiums to whom such projects are awarded and corrupt public servants...

-Deccan Herald The very first announcement made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on taking charge as the new CM is that the unit system under the Public Distribution System (PDS) would be scrapped and 30kg of rice at Re 1/kg would be given to each Below Poverty Line (BPL) household, irrespective of the size of the family. This is estimated to cost Rs 2,373 crore a year, almost double the estimated Rs 1,200...

-Live Mint Government rejects coal price pooling, moves closer to allowing projects assured fuel linkages by CIL to import coal The government rejected a proposal to pool coal prices and instead moved a step closer to allowing power projects that had been awarded through competitive bidding and assured fuel linkages by state-owned miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) to import the fuel and pass on the incremental costs as higher electricity tariffs. Price pooling...

-The Hindu   High Court has been hearing a petition by non-government organisation After years of harassment from the police and municipal authorities, there is finally some good news for the rickshaw pullers and owners. In compliance with the directions of the Delhi High Court, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on Wednesday announced a special drive for registration of cycle-rickshaws and rickshaw pullers through their Citizen Service Bureaus (CSB). Likewise, the North...