India, the world’s biggest producer and consumer of pulses, has extended ban on pulses exports until further orders, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday, as it battles to rein in high food prices. The government had in June 2006 banned exports of pulses, which has a weight of 0.72 per cent in the wholesale price index. India’s Food Price Index rose 12.13 per cent in the year to December 11, government...
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Plan to link NREGA wages to inflation hits CP Joshi wall by Priyadarshi Siddhanta
Rural Development Minister CP Joshi has refused to move on a proposal by the Planning Commission to link wages under the national job guarantee scheme to the consumer price index. In fact, the Plan panel’s proposal was echoed by the National Advisory Council chaired by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.In a presentation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently, the Planning Commission made a strong case for aligning the wage levels to...
More »The political price of onions
The spectre of rising onion prices is haunting Indian politics again. As prices trebled over a period of three weeks, touching Rs.90 a kg in some parts of the country, the liliaceous plant, whose bulb is the mainstay of many Indian staple recipes, became a topic of debate and discussion not only for ordinary consumers, but for economists and policymakers as well. India is the world's second largest producer of...
More »Inflation declines sharply on easing food prices
Continuing with its trend towards moderation, inflation declined to 7.48 per cent in November, mainly boosted by lowering of pressure on certain food items.Inflation had stood at 8.58 per cent in October. It was 4.50 per cent in November 2009. For September this year, the inflation figure has been revised upwards to 8.93 per cent from the provisional number of 8.62 per cent.This is the fourth consecutive month when the...
More »Rural Poverty Report 2011
South Asia in general and India in particular have the dubious distinction of standing out for wrong reasons every time a new global poverty report is released. We not only have the largest number of underweight children, a very high maternal mortality rate and the world’s highest number of out of school children but we also top the global malnutrition chart. (See links below for more details) However the 2011 United...
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