-The Business Standard Why the hue and cry over Walmart? Many of India Inc's big ones are no strangers to lobbying in the US  There is a very fine line that separates lobbying from bribery, and there are diverse opinions on what kind of influential pressure on lawmakers qualifies as acceptable, and what doesn't. Quite clearly, bribery is illegal and unacceptable, there is nothing wrong in lobbying per se -- at least...

-Live Mint High growth hasn’t led to more jobs  The years between 2004-05 and 2009-10 saw some of the highest rates of gross domestic product (GDP) growth for India. The problem, however, is that this high growth hasn’t led to more jobs. Employment elasticity—which is a measure of how employment varies with economic output—has come down dramatically. The Planning Commission says that employment elasticity has come down “from 0.44 in the first half...

-The Hindustan Times In an reply to a query under the Right to Information Act , the Union ministry of commerce and industry has admitted that it has no "specific information to furnish" regarding the Union government's claim in a newspaper advertisement that foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail would create over one crore jobs and that 50% of the total foreign investment would be in villages. A Bhopal-based advocate, NK Jain,...

-The Economic Times DOHA: At a time when the reticence of industrialised countries to providing climate finance and reducing emissions is hampering an outcome at Doha , UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon unambiguously called on the industrialised countries to do more. At the same time, the UN top boss made it clear that all countries need to make an effort according to their level ofeconomic development to tackle climate change.  Negotiators from...

-The Economic Times A couple of months ago, the UPA government cleared Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail. It is a politically risky step. But for once, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh showed both spine and spunk biting the bullet. Since then, both Left parties and the BJP have expressed serious reservations over the decision. The general view is that it will affect the lakhs of small, indigenous kirana stores spread across...