-The Economic Times Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao has said the proposed elimination of fuel subsidy can lead to a massive 2.6% spike in inflation, an assessment that makes it even more difficult for the government to bite the bullet. While a hike in diesel and cooking gas prices may be long overdue, the government is hard-pressed to contain inflation ahead of crucial assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh...

-The Economic Times Decks have been cleared for reintroduction of the Companies Bill, 2011, in the monsoon session. If the bill is passed after endorsing all the suggestions made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, corporate social responsibility (CSR) would, for the first time in the world, become mandatory.  The report recommends that companies with net worth above Rs 500 crore, or an annual turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore, earmark...

-The Times of India It was meant to showcase the government's new-found resolve to push the reforms agenda in order to stanch the declining growth rate and to repulse the perception of governance freeze. Instead, it ended up publicizing yet again the government's vulnerability as well as its reluctance to speed up decision making at the cost of angering allies on the eve of presidential poll.  The UPA on Thursday withdrew its...

What stops the government from using good harvests to reduce, if not eliminate, hunger? For ordinary folk, a 3 per cent increase in food grain production over that of last year, combined with strong procurement operations and good buffer stocks of rice and wheat would be a cause for some celebration. It would be seen as an opportunity to tackle the widespread food insecurity that exists in India today. Instead, we...

-The Economic Times A parliamentary standing committee has taken a grim view of constant pruning of budget of agriculture ministry. It has asked the Centre to adopt a fresh outlook towards allocation of finances to the sector as it sustains economically weak farming community.  The parliamentary panel examining the demands for grants of agriculture ministry found that in the Eleventh Plan there was a wide difference between proposed budget estimate (BE) of...