India Retains Its Position As The Shoplifting Nation of the World

• House Rules. It is now believed that the reason why industrialist Mukesh Ambani has yet to move into his 27-storey Altamount Road home Antilia is because the building does not conform to the norms of the Indian architectural doctrine of vastu shastra. Though Ambani has never officially discussed the matter, vastu shastra expert Basannt R. Rasiwasia has speculated that Antilia does not meet one of the doctrine’s key principles of having enough windows on its eastern side to let in sufficient morning light. [The New York Times]

• Shoplifting Central. For the fifth year in a row, Indian retailers have reported the highest loss of stock on account of thefts by customers, employees and suppliers. According to the 2011 Global Retail Theft Barometer, a shoplifting study conducted across 43 countries by the Centre for Retail Research in Nottingham, UK, between July 2010 and June 2011, shops in India lose 2.38 per cent of their sales, worth Rs3,470 crore, on account of theft, with customers accounting for 47.6 per cent of the total. [Mint]

• Malaria Menace. Even though approximately one-third of the world’s malaria-affected countries are expected to eliminate the disease in the next ten years, eight countries in South Asia and South-East Asia continue to face high outbreaks. According to the World Health Organisation’s latest Roll Back Malaria Report, the number of cases in India, Indonesia, Myanmar and five other countries in these regions has remained the same over the past decade. “There were 52 lakh probable and confirmed cases of malaria reported in 2000 as against 50 lakhs in 2010,” said the report. [The Times of India]