

1. FDI In E-Commerce?
It’s certain that the NDA government will put the brakes on the UPA’s decision to open up multi-brand retail to foreign investment. But for now there’s growing buzz on whether FDI will be allowed in e-commerce. Over the past months, global retail giants have been engaging with the government to push for opening up e-commerce to FDI. That’s why Amazon is pushing its marketplace model (which is allowed) and Walmart, which separated from Bharti retail last year, made a cyber entry through a B2B platform. And even though a big Indian e-retailer has been lobbying against it, the government, it is learnt, isn’t averse to foreign investment. The big announcement was expected in the budget but the Amazons, it seems, have to fight on.
2. The importance Of Onions
The onion’s importance in the North Indian diet cannot be underestimated. There is a huge negative impact when its prices spike —as the NDA government has seen in the past few weeks. Efforts are now on to encourage the farmer-producer companies (which have been set up over the last two years to help farmers get better price for their produce through direct marketing) to better manage supplies to consumers. The 80-odd such groups in the three major onion states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are being encouraged to open retail outlets. Will it work? Experts are hoping for an early response to the annual onion price crisis from these farmer-cum-traders. The proof will be in the pyaaz.


3. Anil Bhai’s Assignment
When an Ambani comes calling, chief ministers get that fuzzy, warm feeling. So, when the chairman of the Reliance ADA group, Anil Ambani, called on Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhara Rao, the leaders had wishlists ready. Ambani represented the Association of Power Producers, which wanted to sort out gas shortage in power plants. The association met Naidu and sought release of gas to power projects lying idle. Ironically, brother Mukesh’s Reliance is blamed for the state’s gas shortage because of falling production in the KG basin field.
Math
738 Number of budget proposals made by UPA finance ministers over the past 10 years; less than 50% were realised.
Source: ET
Airport Inflation
A new report says costs of airport revamp projects are being inflated


956 Employment exchanges still operational in India, says the government
Diminishing IPOs


2,999 Number of Americans who renounced citizenship in 2013, the highest since a new law, FATCA, targeted non tax compliance overseas
Mojo
When does the lower crust have its day, every day?


Prabhakar Bakery in Mumbai’s Warden Road sells a culinary oddity that it calls the ‘Ulta Pizza’ (upside down pizza). The vegetarian 12-inch pizza costs `140.


Mind
This week we learnt…Right to be forgotten
Thanks to a landmark European Court of Justice ruling, under the “right to be forgotten”, individuals have the right to have links to information about them deleted from Internet searches—if that information or data is outdated, inaccurate, inadequate or no longer relevant. Google is reported to have received 70,000 requests for removal of search results till the end of May. In India too, some internet sites have started getting requests for removal of old information. The only problem—India does not have a similar law allowing individuals to complain and take such content off the internet.