-The Hindu Business Line   As the Food Security Bill awaits Parliament clearance, India fears that implementation of obligations under the Bill may lead to breach of farm subsidy limits fixed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and attract penalties if some global rules are not amended. New Delhi is, therefore, scouting for support at the WTO in seeking an amendment to the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) to remove limits on public stockholding...

-The Indian Express The Congress's bill could end up sponsoring the NDA's campaigns A good thing about the logjam in Parliament, it has to be said, is that it has prevented the ill-advised food security bill from being passed. It would, though, be naive on our part to presume the BJP stalled Parliament - the Congress's blatant abuse of the CBI process was a big reason for this - only because it...

-The Hindu Business Line   The general tendency among Indian policy makers currently is to blame international price movements for the rise in prices of essential food items in India. The extent to which this claim is valid is assessed by examining the specific case of wheat. It is no secret that Indian food prices are increasingly affected by international prices. Ever since 2002, when all quantitative restrictions on Indian imports of agricultural...

-Outlook New Delhi: Around one lakh poor families have been given free LPG cylinders and gas stoves under an ambitious scheme launched by the Delhi Government to end use of kerosene which often does not reach the intended beneficiaries. "More than one lakh people have been provided LPG connection with cylinder and gas stoves so far under the Kerosene Free Delhi Scheme," Food and Supplies Minister Harun Yusuf told reporters. The scheme...

-The Economic Times Successful implementation of the Food Security Bill will leave more savings in the hands of rural and urban below poverty line (BPL) households, enabling them to spend on health, education and nutritious food, a study said on Monday. The implementation of the Food Security Bill could also generate additional savings of around Rs 4,400 this year for every beneficiary household in some states, the report said. The savings would arise...