-Live Mint FDI or not, there are problems that plague Indian agriculture and will need to be fixed first  With the parliamentary vote on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail out of the way, the government will proceed with the liberalization of this sector as it thinks it will improve the prospects of agriculture.   Should we be worried about our small neighbourhood stores shutting down? The fears are overblown. Organized large-format retail...

-Tehelka The cash transfer debate has turned political with BJP complaining to the Election Commission about the timing of the announcement. It claims the scheme was declared with Gujarat polls in mind. However the Congress-led Central government rubbished the allegation and said the announcement happened in March. Even the political slugfest continues, the debate among experts and activists hasn’t died down. Akshai Jain spoke to a few experts about the various...

-The Hindu India’s drug price control order, which is vital to the availability of affordable essential medicines, has been whittled down to the point of becoming insignificant. While the number of price-controlled medicines has dwindled over the past three decades, from 347 to 74, the pharmaceutical industry has been pursuing super profits. The High Level Expert Group of the Planning Commission on Universal Health Coverage noted in its report that price...

-MoneyControl.com The benefits of the cash transfer scheme to be rolled-out from January 1 in 51 districts will reach the intended beneficiary only by February-March, said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahlwualia. The benefits of the cash transfer scheme to be rolled-out from January 1 in 51 districts will reach the intended beneficiary only by February-March, said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahlwualia.   In an interview to Karan Thapar for CNN-IBN...

-The Economic Times Cash transfers will become a reality soon, and one area that the government is going to align with this mechanism is the Public Distribution System (PDS). While, prima facie, it appears to be a good idea, given that it removes quite a bit of inefficiency in the present system, there are certain issues that have to be addressed before we go in for the same as they could become...