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Thanks to the two political parties of Uttar Pradesh, the ruling SP and the opposition BSP, Congress led UPA could defeat the opposition BJP's motion against FDI in multi-brand retail in India. At the time when FDI in retail is a certainty, the country must think about protecting itself and its people, the concern that has been raised by almost all, except those politicians and business people who expect huge profit from allowing such ventures in the sector that is expected to reach business to the tune of about Rs 49500 billion by 2014 as per a petition filed in the Supreme Court of India.

KOLKATA: Myanmar can emerge as a possible competitor for Bangladesh in the near future, according to Japanese development experts.

A particularly painful moment in the Lok Sabha FDI debate saw ‘Netaji’ Mulayam Singh Yadav take the name of Ram Manohar Lohia. He talked about Lohia and Gandhi. Even as he made tired statements to the effect that he opposed FDI in multi-brand retail in principle, it was getting ample clear to everyone that he and his party would walk out when the moment of truth would come in the form of voting. Paralysis and hypocrisy are two conditions where one’s action is not in line with publicly expressed wish.

Politics brings together strange bedfellows and this was amply seen in the debate on FDI in both houses of Parliament. Arch rivals — the Left parties and the BJP — joined hands to frustrate government’s move to bring FDI in multi-brand retail. Mamata Banerjee tried to woo her foe number one — the Marxists. On the other hand, sworn enemies — Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav — came on one platform to bail out the government in voting in Parliament and, thereby, defeated the opposition-sponsored resolution comfortably.

NEW DELHI: Keeping a worker in bondage in rural or urban area, in agrarian sector, in a factory or even at homes is a shameful practice. However, the bonded labour system continues in India even after 65 years of Independence and 35 years after the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (BLSA) was adopted in 1976.

If statistics were more real than mere numbers then India may make do without new roads for a while. While the government website tom-toms that the country has 4.2 million kms of road network, the second largest in the world after the USA, the truth pretty much is this: in good part, they are roads to nowhere.

KOLKATA: Even as Myanmar authorities launched a survey among Rohingiya Muslims in the Rakhine province to check their citizenship, Bangladesh Human Rights organisations blame the international community for its failure to resolve the deadlock over their status.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The surging economies of Southeast Asia have been a bright spot in developing Asia’s otherwise subdued 2012 growth performance, but the broader region should still pick up steam in 2013, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.