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Ashok Kokane sits amid his strawberries at Mumbai’s Crawford Market, a handwritten ledger across his knees and a fan of dirty 10 rupee notes at his hand. The lazy, dust-encrusted ceiling fans above are far past cleaning.

There is a sense of timelessness here, in the lurking cats, the shiny shrine to the fearsome Hindu goddess Durga and the cry “Porter? Porter?” sent up by skinny boys with frayed baskets on their heads. It is a tableau many fear will disappear after the government’s decision last week to give foreign big box retailers like Wal-Mart greater access to India’s huge market.

“When big man comes, small man goes,” Kokane said.

The arrival of modern retailing would hasten a cultural transformation in the way Indians shop and work. The debate now raging _ which has shut down Parliament _ hinges on competing visions of what foreign retailers will mean to agriculture and retail, India’s two largest sources of jobs.

The government argues organized retail will make food cheaper, liberate millions from medieval working conditions and put more money into the hands of desperate farmers. Others say it will deepen the inequities of Indian society and wipe out a merchant class whose values and skills have been passed from father to son for generations.

The existing retail landscape is an intricate tangle of shops and bazaars, forged by ideas that date back to India’s earliest religious texts. But, even without Wal-Mart, small, family run shops are already under threat. With the fraying of caste ties, which often determine a family’s profession, and the growing dreams of India’s youth for better paid, more prestigious jobs, retailers are finding it hard to keep the next generation in the family business.

“You have different sets of people who, because of the caste system, have been involved in the same business for many generations,” said Arvind Singhal, founder of Technopak Advisors, a New Delhi based consulting company. These days, he said, “A shopkeeper’s son may not be a shopkeeper.”

Today, organized retail accounts for just 5.5 percent of India’s $470 billion retail market, according to Technopak. Food accounts for about 70 percent of the retail market, which Technopak expects will hit $675 billion by 2016.

Existing domestic supermarkets, like Reliance’s Fresh, Godrej’s Nature’s Basket and Tata’s Westside, have struggled to succeed.

Some sell, at exorbitant prices, rotten dairy goods, pasta infested with bugs and icy $12 pints of Haagen Dazs, repeatedly thawed and refrozen.

Stocking irregularities mean those last cans of Italian plum tomatoes might not be replaced for a month. Shoppers sometimes put back items because the clerk can’t figure out how to get his computer to register the bar code.

“The traditional retailer in India can offer better value than some of the large, organized players,” Singhal said.

The best local shops are marvels of service and quality, bundled with a nice human touch. If you’re short money, you can pay next time. If you want a fistful of flat-leafed parsley or a special pan, they can get it in a day or two. Every organized urban household has a raft of phone numbers for home delivery of cat food, toilet paper, chickens and pretty much anything else.

Yet there are severe drawbacks to the system cash advance today.

India’s market and roadside stalls employ, at backbreaking rates, armies of slim men pedaling rusted bicycles stacked improbably high with eggs for delivery. They run up dark staircases offering fresh rolls wrapped in newspaper and carry cases of bottled water on their heads two and three at a time.

“No one benefits from this kind of employment,” Singhal said. “People are hardly getting money for those jobs.” Far better _ and cheaper for the retailer, he argues _ to hire one well-trained, decently paid person than five low paid workers and spur a virtuous cycle of rising productivity and increased consumption.

Many argue that retailing in India is not yet a zero-sum game: Demand is growing fast enough that big and small players can thrive side by side. The Ministry of Commerce noted that in China, more than 600 hypermarkets opened between 1996 and 2001 but the number of small stores grew too: from 1.9 million to over 2.5 million.

The ministry predicts modernization will create some 10 million new jobs in areas like food processing and transport, as well as in the new retail outlets. They say the more open policy will drive down skyrocketing food prices and help millions of farmers get more money for their crops by eliminating waste and middlemen.

Others say the changes will hurt small farmers at the backbone of India’s rural economy, pushing more of them off the land with few tools to forge a better life elsewhere.

P. Sainath, who has been writing about rural India for 18 years, believes big retail won’t heal the inequities of rural India which have driven over 250,000 farmers to kill themselves since 1995. If anything, he said, it will make them worse.

“One to 2 percent of farmers _ some possibly members of Parliament _ will make a killing. They are the giant farmers,” he said.

Big companies tend to build on existing chains of exploitation, using wholesale agents who extract low prices from unorganized, indebted farmers, whose pricing power will erode further with multinationals, he said. Many of the demonized middlemen, he added, are actually poor women, unlikely to survive the arrival of foreign retail.

“You have no idea of the chaos you are unleashing,” he said.

Reza Meghani, who runs Metro Dry Fruits _ a small stall that has been selling some of the Mumbai’s best dried fruit and nuts for 22 years _ remains confident.

Mumbai’s existing supermarkets haven’t hurt him: They have higher overhead, compromise on quality and charge too much, he said. They can’t compete with the tenderness with which he discusses the eight varieties of almonds he imports from America and Iran.

“We can compete. We will have to compromise on our margins,” said Meghani, 56, who is grooming his son to take over.

Neha Sheikh, 23, says her family has been shopping at his stall for a decade. “The salesperson is really good,” she said. “He’s going to help you out in every little thing.” She doesn’t buy nuts from supermarkets because they’re too expensive.

But if they were cheaper? “Yeah,” she said. “Why not?”

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A French official says France may propose joint bonds among the eurozone’s strongest economies as part of a package of measures to save the shared currency, despite German resistance.

The official said Tuesday that discussions over joint bonds by top-rated triple A eurozone economies is under discussion as the French government prepares for an EU summit next week.

Proponents say the proceeds of the so-called elite bonds could be used to help the eurozone’s weaker countries deal with their debts, in return for strict conditions being imposed on their budgets.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the sensitive, closed-door talks are still under way.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble dismissed reports of joint bonds Monday, saying they were “completely made up.”

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A coalition of retail groups sued the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, claiming the regulator ignored the law by setting too high a cap on the fees that banks can charge merchants for handling debit card purchases.

The National Retail Federation and other groups claimed in U.S. District Court in Washington that the Fed buckled under pressure from bank lobbyists when it set the cap at an average of about 24 cents per transaction in late June. The previously unregulated fees used to average around 44 cents.

The cap, which took effect Oct. 1, was initially proposed at 12 cents.

American Bankers Association CEO Frank Keating accused retailers of ’seeking more profits from government price controls” by filing the suit, and maintained that retailers have not passed on the savings that resulted from the cap to their customers.

The merchant groups, which included National Association of Convenience Stores and the Food Marketing Institute, said that in raising the cap, the Fed considered expenses that the law did not allow.

Their lawsuit maintains that the board dropped its earlier view that the only costs that should be considered in the fee were those involving the authorization, clearing and settlement of a transaction. Instead, the retailers claim, the Fed added costs, such as fraud losses, associated with a bank’s debit card operations that were not included in the law faxless payday loans.

The suit maintains the cap is an “unreasonable interpretation” that exceeds the authority delegated to the Fed under the law. And it complains the Fed wrongly interpreted another provision of the law that requires merchants have a choice of which network handles their transaction.

The law, commonly known as the Durbin Amendment for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who championed it, is part of the financial regulatory reform passed in July 2010.

Banks lobbied hard against the fee cap. They maintain it will cost them about $7 billion in annual revenue.

Attempts to compensate for the loss to this and other regulations by charging customers monthly fees for using debit cards sparked a nationwide furor in recent months, leading the banks to drop their plans.

Minnesota-based TCF Bank dropped an earlier lawsuit challenging the legality of the Durbin Amendment a day after the Fed set the cap above its original proposal.

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Greece’s political leaders struggled Sunday to find common ground on forming an interim government amid a political crisis that threatened the country’s ability to avoid a catastrophic bankruptcy and to retain its cherished eurozone membership.

The country’s president, Karolos Papoulias, was to convene a meeting between Prime Minister George Papandreou and the head of the main opposition conservatives, Antonis Samaras, Sunday night to try to hammer out a solution.

Faced with mounting pressure from both the opposition and his Papandreou, who survived a confidence vote in his government Saturday, has said he will step aside if agreement can be reached on the formation of an interim government that will secure a new European debt deal for Greece and the disbursement of a vital bailout loan installment without which the country will default within weeks.

“I’ve said many times, and I insist on this for the umpteenth time, that I am not interested in staying on in this new government as prime minister,” Papandreou told his ministers during an emergency Cabinet meeting Sunday. “I couldn’t have been clearer. I don’t play games and neither do I gamble the country’s fortunes.”

Samaras, who has been pressing for snap elections, has set Papandreou’s resignation as a condition for participating in any talks, saying earlier Sunday he considered the prime minister to be “dangerous” for the country.

The crisis was sparked after Papandreou’s shock announcement Monday night that he wanted to put a new European debt deal aimed at rescuing his country’s economy to a referendum. That plan caused an uproar in Europe, with the leaders of France and Germany saying any popular vote in Greece would decide whether the country would remain in the euro. European officials also said the country would not receive the vital euro8 billion euro installment of its existing euro110 billion bailout until the uncertainty in Athens was over.

Papandreou’s announcement also spooked international markets, leading stock markets to tumble and led to calls in Greece for Papandreou’s resignation _ even from among his own Socialist lawmakers and ministers _ with many saying he had endangered Greece’s bailout.

The prime minister withdrew the referendum plan on Thursday, after Samaras indicated his party would back the new debt deal, which was agreed upon after marathon negotiations in Europe on Oct. 27.

Greek officials were hoping to have a deal on a new interim government by Monday, when the country has to attend a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels instant credit reports.

“Forming a new government is not just to a question of having someone representing the country. There are very specific things to be done and we must show responsibility and send a strong message to our partners abroad that we, as a country, are ready not only to vote the agreement, but also to implement it,” Papandreou said during the Cabinet meeting, according to a transcript of his statements released by his office.

Greece has been surviving since May 2010 on its initial bailout. But its financial crisis was so severe that a second rescue was needed as the country remained locked out of international bond markets by sky-high interest rates and facing an unsustainable national debt increase.

The new European deal, agreed on by the 27-nation bloc on Oct. 27 after marathon negotiations, would give Greece an additional euro130 billion ($179 billion) in rescue loans and bank support. It would also see banks write off 50 percent of Greek debt, worth some euro100 billion ($138 billion). The goal is to reduce Greece’s debts to the point where the country is able to handle its finances without relying on constant bailouts.

Greece’s lawmakers must now approve the new rescue deal, putting intense pressure on the country’s leaders to swiftly end the political crisis so parliament can convene and put the debt agreement to a vote.

“We know that there can be no elections now,” Papandreou said during the Cabinet meeting, noting that snap polls would delay the approval of the new debt deal. “This cooperation, however, is necessary and will be beneficial for the climate in our country and internationally.”

He said the new government would focus on passing the new debt deal and ensuring the disbursement of the bailout tranche.

“In these critical moments, the two (main) parties are merely wasting time,” said lawmaker Giorgos Kontoyannis, a former New Democracy legislator who has joined splinter group Democratic Alliance. “I want to say to my former New Democracy colleagues that our responsibility to our country is individual and not bound by party allegiance.”

In return for bailout money, Greece was forced to embark on a punishing program of tax hikes and cuts in pensions and salaries that sent Papandreou’s popularity plummeting and his majority in parliament whittled down from a comfortable 10 seats to just three.

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Stocks stumbled Wednesday as a rare earnings miss by Apple pulled down technology stocks. Indexes turned lower in late afternoon trading on reports of an impasse in talks aimed at resolving the European debt crisis.

The leaders of Germany, France, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank met Wednesday to prepare for a European summit this weekend to find a solution to the region’s debt troubles. Rising and falling expectations for the meeting have rattled markets every day this week.

“The big theme this week is what’s going to happen in Europe over the weekend,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. “If a Greece or another country defaults, it could do real damage to Europe. If that pushes Europe into a recession, it will further clip the pace of global growth.”

Apple Inc. slumped 5 percent after the company’s income and revenue fell short of forecasts. It was a rare miss for the company, which had jumped 31 percent this year through Tuesday. Apple blamed the shortfall on a later-than-usual release of its newest iPhone.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 99 points, or 0.9 percent, 11,478 at 3:05 p.m. Eastern. The Dow had spent much of the day edging higher, led by Travelers Cos., a major insurer. Travelers jumped 5.8 percent after reporting revenue that beat analysts’ expectations.

The Dow’s second-best stock was Intel, which rose 3.2 percent. Intel Corp. said its net income rose 17 percent last quarter, beating Wall Street’s target.

Other technology stocks were lower. The Nasdaq composite slid 52, or 2 percent, to 2,604. The S&P 500 fell 16, or 1.3 percent, to 1,208.

Worries that Europe’s troubles could get worse have driven many of the market’s big swings lately. The Greek government is widely expected to go through some kind of default or restructuring of its debt. If that process becomes messy, European banks that hold Greek government bonds may find it difficult to raise money from other banks. That, in turn, could trigger a freeze in credit markets and deliver a blow to an already weak European economy.

Investors had plenty of corporate news to digest on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories announced plans to spin off its drug business. Abbott’s stock rose 1 percent.

Large banks that were trading higher dropped in the late afternoon. Morgan Stanley fell less than 1 percent. The bank said a jump in investment banking revenue helped it earn $1.15 a share, well above analyst expectations of 30 cents per share.

Citigroup slipped 1.7 percent. The bank agreed to pay $285 million to settle civil fraud charges that it misled buyers of complex mortgage investments just as the housing market was starting to collapse.

BlackRock Inc. dropped 4.2 percent after the money management giant said its assets under management fell 3 percent.

Airlines fell. AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, slid 5 percent after reporting a loss that was worse than Wall Street analysts predicted. The company said its fuel spending jumped 40 percent, wiping out revenue gains from higher fares and fees. JetBlue Airways Corp. dropped 6.2 percent after the company said its chief financial officer has resigned.

American Express and eBay will report their results from the last quarter after the market closes.

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Libyan bulldozers began knocking down the green walls surrounding Moammar Gadhafi’s main Tripoli compound known as Bab al-Aziziya on Sunday, as the new leaders said it was time “to tear down this symbol of tyranny.”

The sprawling, fortress-like compound has long been hated by Libyans who feared to even walk nearby during Gadhafi’s more than four decades in power and its capture was seen as a turning point in the civil war as revolutionaries overran the capital in late August.

Ahmad Ghargory, commander of a revolutionary brigade, said the area will be turned into a public park.

“It’s the revolutionary decision to tear down this symbol of tyranny,” Ghargory said. “We were busy with the war, but now we have the space to do this.”

Already, Libyans have turned the courtyard in front of Gadhafi’s former house, which he used for many fiery speeches trying to rally supporters during the uprising, into a weekly pet market. Tripoli residents roam the premises as if at a museum, with vendors selling revolutionary flags and other souvenirs.

The Bab al-Aziziya compound had been a mystery to most Libyans. Though it is one of the city’s largest landmarks, no streets signs indicate where it is. Few ever entered, and many Tripoli residents said they wouldn’t even walk nearby, fearing security guards on the compound’s high green walls would get suspicious and arrest or shoot them.

“I was never able to enter this building or even pass by these walls before. We won’t have any more walls in our lives,” Ghargory said.

The compound was one of the main targets for NATO airstrikes during the months leading to Gadhafi’s ouster in late August.

Libyan fighters overran the area on Aug. 23 during fierce fighting for the capital, jubilantly rampaging through the remnants of barracks, personal living quarters and offices seen as the most defining symbol of Gadhafi’s nearly 42-year rule.

Gadhafi’s residence, now gutted and covered with graffiti, was also targeted in a U.S. bombing raid in April 1986, after Washington held Libya responsible for a blast at a Berlin disco that killed two U.S. servicemen. A sculpture of a clenched fist crushing a U.S. fighter jet that had been erected after the strike has been removed.

Gadhafi entertained guests in a Bedouin-style tent pitched near two tennis courts about 200 yards (meters) from the family home.

“All the bad things that happened, happened inside these walls. And he kept his mercenaries and tortured people inside these walls,” said Tarek Saleh, a 25-year-old revolutionary. “Before we were never able to enter this site, and we’re tearing these walls down so we don’t have to remember those dark days.”

Libyans are eager to move on after decades of repression, even though fighting continues on two fronts and tensions between supporters of the former regime and revolutionary forces remain high _ even in Tripoli.

Revolutionary forces have squeezed Gadhafi loyalists into one main district in his hometown of Sirte after weeks of fighting, but some said fears of friendly fire as well as a lack of coordination and communications were slowing their advance. Fighters from the eastern city of Benghazi and Misrata to the west were trying to reorganize themselves to solve that problem.

“We have them cornered in a 900 by 700 meter area, but the fighting is difficult because we are worried about firing on our own forces, they are mixed together,” Benghazi field commander Khaled al-Magrabi said Sunday.

Commanders said they have agreed to divide the remaining loyalist area between them to prevent confusion.

Libyan fighters also faced discord over the looting of buildings, including the airport and houses in Sirte, on the coast 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli.

Associated Press Television News reporters saw trucks carting off tractors, industrial generators and heavy machinery on the road from Sirte to nearby Misrata, which was under siege by Gadhafi forces for months and saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

Trucks also carried off equipment from Sirte’s airport, including red-carpeted mobile staircases, baggage carts, airplane towing vehicles and security screening equipment, all apparently meant for Misrata’s badly damaged airport.

Smaller pickups were loaded with rugs, freezers, refrigerators, furniture and other household goods, apparently taken by civilians and fighters to be used in their homes or resold.

The looting was an indication that reconciliation and unity may be difficult to achieve in post-Gadhafi Libya.

Commanders tried to rein in looting by ordering fighters to refrain from entering private homes and to detain anybody not authorized to be in the area. Benghazi fighters arrested three men for looting on Saturday.

Revolutionary forces also distributed fliers at checkpoints leading into the city that read, “Dear Muslims, avoid God’s wrath. Do not steal from people’s homes, their cars, or take their personal possessions.”

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Just 18 months after taking the top job, Charter Communications CEO Michael J. Lovett plans to quit.

Lovett, 50, said he will resign on April 30 or earlier if the board of directors names his successor.

“With Charter on strong footing, I believe this is the right time for me to move on to the next chapter of my career,” he said in a company press release.

The decision to leave was Lovett’s, said Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont.

Charter emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, lost $237 million last year and $217 million loss in the first half of this year.

The company still faces a tough road ahead in a consolidating business, said analyst Juli Niemann of Smith Moore & Co. The company announced an emphasis on improving customer service, but still hasn’t won over customers.

“I have not seen any meaningful changes,” she said.

Charter, based in Town and Country, is the fourth-largest cable company in the U.S. and the dominant cable provider in St Payday Loan for Bad Credit. Louis.

Lovett last year replaced former CEO Neil Smit, who left to oversee Comcast Corp.’s cable distribution operation.

Lovett is a 31-year veteran of the cable business. He joined Charter in 2003 as vice president of operations, and became chief operating officer in 2005.

Eric L. Zinterhofer, Charter’s chairman, praised Lovett for setting a “solid foundation for growth” and his willingness to help in an “orderly transition.” Lovett will remain in his post while the board seeks a successor, Zinterhofer said.

Charter sought bankruptcy after being overwhelmed by more than $21 billion in debt. The company eliminated $8 billion of debt in its Chapter 11 reorganization. Former chairman and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen retained a 35 percent voting stake in the company.

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