A fall in the rate of inflation (on point to point basis) in Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) from 8.35 percent in July to 5.91 percent in August this year is indicative of the positive developments that has taken place during recent months in the agricultural sector, which is expected to further cool off food prices in the near future. A document from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare...

-TheWire.in Finding a time period – keeping in mind exam schedules, agricultural cycles, festivals and public holidays – when elections can be held throughout the country may prove to be difficult. In a television interview recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed that holding elections simultaneously for the parliament and the state assemblies needs to be seriously considered. It would save the country from the permanent electoral cycle, party politics and polarising issues...

-Hindustan Times Chandigarh: Thanks mainly to the largesse of 10,000 tubewells and mass switch from whitefly-shadowed cotton, Punjab’s paddy yield is going to be an all-time high of 186-lakh tonnes. What could be worse. The experts are worried that this non-native crop may bring “momentary respite” to farmers but “spell doom for Punjab”. Paddy — never grown over 30-lakh hectares or 94-lakh acres before — has eaten into the area of other...

-The Hindu Business Line Good rain, increased acreage and hike in minimum support prices likely to cool prices The Modi government has been struggling over the last two years to contain the unprecedented rise in the prices of pulses, the second-most important food item after cereals. In the interim, prices of tur have more than doubled, and near-doubled in the case of urad and chana. WPI prices for pulses increased 35.76 per...

-The Hindu Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh announces it will not take part in the strike. The Left affiliated central trade unions will go ahead with a nationwide strike on Friday, even as the Centre on Tuesday announced sops in a bid to placate them. The peace offering includes a hike in the minimum wage for unskilled non-agricultural workers in central public sector units from Rs. 246 to Rs. 350 a day and formation of...