So what if it was the largest-ever FDI in India? The law finally caught up with it on 30 March 2012, when the National Green Tribunal suspended POSCO’s environmental clearance and ordered a fresh review. We can celebrate the outcome in this day and cynical age: It is still possible, though not easy, to get environmental justice in this country. Since June 2005, when the agreement between the Government of Orissa...

Non-urea fertilizer prices were freed in April 2010, but GSFCL, DFPCL, RCF still got gas at regulated prices The fertilizer ministry is considering asking three non-urea fertilizer makers to return part of the gains they have made since April 2010 on account of gas supplied to them at regulated prices while they were allowed to sell their products at market prices. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF), Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals...

An unnecessary controversy has been started by the release of the poverty estimates of 2009-10 by the planning commission. The controversy, which was entirely avoidable, was allowed to go on because of the poor handling of the issue by the planning commission. It is unfortunate that the planning commission was less than willing to own the Tendulkar committee report which was submitted in December 2009 and accepted by the commission...

-The Economic Times   Decontrol of urea is likely to affect agricultural production adversely for several reasons. First, it will immediately push up prices of all nitrogenous fertilisers and reduce their usage, thereby lowering crop yields.  Second, it may also lead to increase in the prices of DAP and other mixed fertilisers due to shift in demand in their favour. Urea decontrol may not result in more balanced use of N, P and...

-The Wall Street Journal These days, Indian policymakers are debating how to create a vast new food entitlement program. There is talk of poor households struggling to cope with high food prices and malnourishment among their children. What you don’t hear much about, however, is the most tragic and outrageous consequence of India’s failure to feed its people adequately: starvation deaths. India is a nation that prides itself on having been self-sufficient in...