-Tehelka Edited Excerpts From An Interview NOTED ECONOMIST and Columbia University Professor Jagdish Bhagwati’s pro-free trade stance is well-known. A friend of the prime minister and his batch mate from Cambridge University, Professor Bhagwati feels the UPA’s departure from the stagnation of the past few years is a welcome change, and lauds the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail. In an interview to TEHELKA Business Editor Shaili Chopra, Bhagwati says more...

-The Hindu Only 75% of MGNREGS workers have been enrolLED; many without Aadhaar number denied access to benefits GOLLAPROLU (EAST GODAVARI, AP): The popular tagline for the Aadhaar-linked Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) is Aam aadmi ka paisa, aam aadmi ke haath (People’s money in their own hands). The DBT pilot project was launched in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh earlier this month, with Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh hailing the scheme...

-Frontine Walmart’s disclosure that it spent huge amounts of money on lobbying in India and the allegation that it entered the retail sector through indirect means highlight the power of global capital in dictating the country’s policies. The world’s largest multi-brand retailer Walmart’s disclosure to the United States Senate that it had spent $25 million (Rs.135 crore) since 2008 on its various lobbying activities, which include enhancing access to the Indian...

-The United Nations While the number of measles deaths around the world has significantly decreased over the past decade, large outbreaks in certain regions are jeopardizing progress, the United Nations health agency said today, adding that improved vaccination rates are critical to eliminate the disease. Between 2000 and 2011, measles deaths dropped from 542,000 to 158,000 globally, representing a 71 per cent decrease. New cases also dropped during the same period by...

-Outlook A parliamentary panel, probing road safety issues in the aftermath of the Delhi gangrape case, has expressed serious concern over cases of a large number of buses and autorickshaws in Delhi being registered under fake addresses. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, headed by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, felt that criminals got away easily taking advantage of the duality and multiplicity of the policing and security system in the national capital. It...