-The Times of India Promotion of organized retail and contract farming to improve farm production and modernize the agriculture supply chain as well as direct marketing initiatives are among the highlights of the report on consumer affairs prepared by a group of chief ministers chaired by Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.  In a report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March, the committee headed by Modi prioritized reducing farm gate to retail...

-The Business Standard   The to-do over retail FDI signals that the political class is anti-reform The political drama over the opening up of the Retail Sector to foreign investment is significant, not on account of whatever might happen to the immediate issue, but for what it says about the prospects of any kind of economic reform. In and of itself, the opening up of the Retail Sector is not hugely important, except...

-The Times of India Several Bharti-Walmart stores will remain closed on Thursday as a precautionary measure due to the bandh called by traders across the country, sources said. World's second largest retailer Carrefour, which is present in the wholesale segment in the country, also beefed up security at its stores in Delhi and Jaipur. Private security guards patrolled the Carrefour store in the crowded Shahdra area in east Delhi and vigorously checked...

-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...

-The Times of India   Given the debate that's raging over opening the Retail Sector to foreign direct investment, we bring you the government's view, the opposition's objections and TOI's take on the issue. Government argument * Huge investments in the Retail Sector will see gainful employment opportunities in agro-processing, sorting, marketing, logistics management and front-end retail. * At least 10 million jobs will be created in the next three years in the Retail Sector. *...