-Frontline The Congress-led UPA seems to be betting heavily on the cash transfer scheme as a means to return to power in the next general elections. DECEMBER 2012 may go down in history as the month when the Congress party created its own “India Shining” moment: the moment when it started believing its own hype, and even deluded itself into thinking that its perception was so widely shared that it could provide...

-The Hindu The view that it will deter rape is misplaced and based on a narrow, sexual intercourse-definition of the crime There is a fascinating urban legend that Apple’s logo is dedicated to Alan Turing, who committed suicide by biting into a cyanide injected apple. A few years after he was instrumental in breaking the German Enigma code in World War II, Alan Turing was convicted in 1952 for homosexual acts in...

-PTI The retail sector, where the government permitted foreign direct investment in multi-brand, courted controversies during the year with several opposition parties making it a political issue in Parliament. Even before its entry into multi-brand retail, the global chain Wal-Mart was grappling with various issues, including spending money in the US on lobbying for entry into India. Adding action to the drama was Swedish furniture chain IKEA's hectic bargaining with the government over...

-The Business Standard Since cities have little money to cover operational costs of running buses, they do not invest in new buses or modern infra Liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother – both died recently in a fratricide – had another business that is not widely known. They had acquired the concession to run public transport buses in Delhi — three clusters with a combined fleet of 600-odd vehicles. Even before...

-PTI Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday asked banks to gear up for implementation of the ambitious cash transfer scheme, which seeks to transfer money directly into beneficiary accounts in 51 districts from January 1. "There is lot of work to be done from January 1. There are huge burden, huge responsibility going to fall on your shoulders. It is banks that have to make cash transfer scheme successful. I know you...