-The Economic Times   The Centre came down heavily on states that are opposing foreign investment in multibrand retail for not making their point when the policy was being formulated and said those opposed had the powers to stop companies from opening stores in their boundaries.  Some state governments, including Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, have opposed the government's proposal to allow 51% foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and blasted the Centre...

The prevalence is 18 per cent in South India, says UNAIDS report India houses half of Asia's HIV patients and is way ahead of China in disease burden. It also finds a place in the list of 22 countries prioritised for preventing mother to child transmission infection, according to the latest UNAIDS report, drafted jointly with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). About 48 lakh people...

-Express News Service   The Sonia Gandhi-chaired National Advisory Council (NAC) on Tuesday asked a working group under it to work out implementation mechanisms and financial implications of a comprehensive social security package to make the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 more inclusive. The direction came during a meeting where a working group on ‘Social Security for Unorganized Workers’ presented its draft suggestions for a “comprehensive social security package, that includes Health...

Manmohan Singh today refused to yield to pressure on the question of allowing foreign direct investment in retail and appeared ready for a protracted battle, including the risk of a vote in Parliament despite his government’s fragile majority. Somewhat reminiscent of his nuclear deal stand, the Prime Minister confronted those who had accused the government of taking a hasty decision on retail. “We have not taken this decision in haste, but after...

-IANS   Shops and commercial establishments were closed in Himachal Pradesh's major towns Thursday as Workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) as well as traders protested the decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail.  However, there was no report of traffic being held up due to the strike. There was also no report of violence anywhere, an official at the police headquarters here...