-PTI   The United Nations has warned that the world is on the brink of another recession, projecting that global economic growth will slow down further in 2012 and even emerging powerhouses like India and China, which led the recovery last time, will get bogged down.  The UN 'World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012' report has cut the global growth forecast for next year to 2.6 per cent from 4 per cent in...

The Congress today appears besieged and beleaguered with key allies and even members from its own ranks lining up behind the combined Opposition in vehemently opposing the Manmohan Singh government’s decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail. But, paradoxically, this state of siege — reflected by the prolonged deadlock in Parliament with a quasi no-confidence motion hanging over it — also gives the Grand Old Party a great opportunity not just...

Usha Thiruvengadam, a trained Carnatic vocalist and violin player, has been searching for a job in government-run schools as a music teacher for the past five years. Her struggle for a job despite her disability has earned her a great deal of respect from many of her friends. They also note: “Her husband did not marry her for the assistance. He takes her everywhere.” For many other visually challenged women, trusting...

-The Economic Times   India's food inflation eased to a four-month low in the week to 19 November as vegetables, cereals and eggs Turned cheaper. The decline in the reading for the fourth consecutive week came as a respite to the government struggling to recover from a string of recent bad tidings.  Data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Thursday showed the wholesale price index for food articles rose 8% year-on-year,...

-EPW   Will the blatant discrimination against Muslims in the administration of justice ever end? The word secular was inserted into the Preamble of the Indian Constitution by the 42nd amendment in 1976; later on, the Supreme Court, in S R Bommai vs Union of India, held (in 1994) that secularism was an integral part of the basic strucTure of the Constitution. And yet, it has been a long time coming – Indian...