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The passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, 14 years after it was first tabled, calls for celebration. But one's joy must be tempered by the extremely fractious and divisive voting process, which witnessed sharp polarisation between the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left, on the one hand, and the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and a section of the Janata Dal (United) on the other.

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has said that the Women's Reservation Bill in its present form would damage the country's parliamentary system.

New Delhi: With a view to resolve the procedural impediments, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has modified some of the norms in model documents for Build-Operate-Transfer-(BOT) projects i.e. Request for Qualification and Request for Proposal (RFQ/RFP). This has been done consequent to acceptance of the recommendations of the Chaturvedi Committee's first report by the government.

New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in terms of instructions contained in the guidelines on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, have advised the banks that before opening any new account it should be ensured that the identity of the customer does not match with any person with known criminal background or with banned entities such as individual terrorist or terrorist organisation etc. Banks are stipulated to file suspicious transaction reports pertaining to remittances/withdrawals from bank accounts and in respect of account holder.

Due to globalization and opening of Indian markets to foreign players Indian consumers today have an access to innumerable brands. In every industry whether it is fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) or durable goods or service industry there are more than twenty brands at national level catering to the needs of the consumers. This situation of plenty is giving the consumer an opportunity to choose goods and services from a wide spectrum. But is the consumer getting value for money? why is consumer protection becoming more important in today's scenario? and is the concept 'let the buyer beware' still exists? or are we moving towards consumer sovereignty?

The Gabonese economy went through a difficult year in 2009 due to the unusual domestic environment because of painful social developments and the preparation of the presidential elections on the one hand and to the unfavorable international economic situation on the other.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a three-year arrangement totaling SDR 77.28 million (about US$118.1 million) for the Islamic Republic of Mauritania under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The approval makes an amount equivalent to SDR 11.04 million (about US$16.9 million) immediately available, with the remainder available in installments subject to semiannual reviews.

Poland is the only EU economy to have escaped a recession in 2009. Its large domestic market and attendant limited reliance on exports, coupled with a well-capitalized and profitable banking system, limited the negative spill-over from the global crisis through both real and financial channels. Moreover, policy makers took advantage of the room for maneuver afforded by limited pre-crisis imbalances and the flexible exchange rate policy to provide significant monetary and fiscal stimulus.

Although the economic recession in Belgium was less severe than the euro area average, the recovery is expected to be gradual and fragile, with unusually high uncertainty. The near term outlook is clouded by a sluggish rebound in both domestic and external demand, rising unemployment, and growing public debt. Early action is crucial to restore fiscal sustainability, further reinforce financial stability, and intensify labor and product market reforms to boost competitiveness and growth prospects.

The foregoing fortnight has witnessed three important developments which will have implications for Kashmir, terrorism and India-Pakistan relations. First is Pakistan's belligerent attitude towards India using Kashmir as its main plank. Second is the use of double standards by Pakistani rulers in the fight against terrorism. Third is the now not too invisible mediator's role the Obama Administration has increasingly started playing making Kashmir problem's solution a pre-requisite for normalizing relations between India and Pakistan.