The central government claims that allowing foreign direct investment into India’s retail sector will benefit small farmers, expand employment and lower food inflation. What has been the experience in India with organised retail so far and what has been the global experience with FDI? Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iegindia.org) is currently at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. After being under relentless attack for a week, the United Progressiv Alliance government was forced to...

Notwithstanding Rahul Gandhi's reported assurances to the AIMPLB to keep madrassasoutside the purview of the RTE Act, there is an urgent need to formalise madrassa education. Almost 90% of underprivileged Muslim children attend madrassas. However, devoid of a modern curriculum, madrassas are unable to equip these students for the contemporary job market. This in turn limits their economic opportunities. By bringing madrassas under the provisions of the RTE Act, the Islamic seminaries...

Foreign retailers may have to reserve at least half of their jobs in superstores for rural youth and source more than the mandated 30% from micro and small industries as the government tries to salvage the big ticket but controversial economic reform.  An official said the government is likely to have a relook at a proposal that seeks to reserve at least 50% of jobs in foreign-owned superstores for those who...

-The Economic Times   Rapid urbanisation of villages and expansion of urban areas pose a more pressing challenge to Indian policymakers and administrators than migration of people from rural areas to the cities, a new report has said.  "A commonly held perception is that explosive rural to urban migration is the primary cause for the state of India's cities. This is not borne out by evidence," says 'Urban India 2011- Evidence', released by...

Markandey Katju's forthright comments on the state of the Indian news media and the intellectual competence of many journalists have certainly raised many hackles. One does not have to agree with everything the chairman of the Press Council of India diagnoses or prescribes to see that his observations have hit home. Nor are his concerns confined to how and in what respects journalism and many journalists go astray and let...