-The Times of India NEW DELHI/AMRITSAR: Vegetable prices have begun to hurt again, ahead of elections in the capital. The reasons attributed for the spike in prices this time are reduced supplies due to unseasonal rainfall and exports to Pakistan. Retailers in the capital say vegetable prices started rising around 10 days ago. On Monday, tomatoes were selling for Rs 40-50 per kg, around 10-20% higher than just two weeks ago. "Production this...

-The Hindu Business Line Bearish price trends in the global market, poor rainfall took toll on farmers in 2014 Farmers in the country were hit by a double whammy in 2014. Even as poor monsoon affected kharif output, lower commodity prices, largely influenced by a bearish trend in the global market, aggravated the agrarian crisis this year. In addition, the uncertainty over the vagaries of nature, largely through frequent unseasonal rains, compounded...

-The Hindu Business Line   The CAG report details how these have neither helped industrial development nor boosted the economy Nearly a decade after the Special Economic Zones Act was brought into force, it is evident that the move has not helped industrial development. After examining SEZs in terms of background and objectives, fiscal incentives and facilities, approval process and administration, as well as life cycle, State-wise distribution and overall performance, parts of a...

-The Hindu The findings from the latest International Labour Organisation report on real wages point to a mix of proactive initiatives and policy paralysis in different contexts. The study notes that continuing deceleration in the growth of global real wages and discriminatory pay gaps based on gender and nationality could sharpen household income inequalities. A most striking finding is that labour productivity growth outstripped increases in real wage between 1999 and...

-Business Standard Domestic regulators need to be stricter about quality violations to protect both Indian pharma exports as well as the country's image Even as major Indian drug companies continue to make news for impurities in the medicines they make and faulty - or if the USFDA is to be believed, falsified - data that many generate after testing of samples show quality problem, it seems strange that domestic authorities are silent...