-The Business Standard Slew of monetary allocations show no clear shift in strategy Finance Minister Arun Jaitley peppered his long speech with announcements of 28 schemes and projects of Rs 100 crore each. This suggests the National Democratic Alliance had grafted a social and agriculture agenda different from the United Progressive Alliance's.   However, it was a relatively low-cost trick to dazzle and distract in a year when fiscal constraints remain as worrisome. The...

-The Business Standard   Food Corporation to restrict procurement of foodgrain from states announcing additional Sops In a crackdown on the practice of states announcing bonuses on the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat and rice, the Centre has said Food Corporation of India (FCI) will restrict procurement of foodgrain from such states. This will be effective from the coming rice procurement (October 2014-September 2015) and wheat procurement (April 2015-March 2016) seasons. If states...

-The Hindu Business Line   Tells US, others there must be progress in agriculture, industrial goods and services pacts   NEW DELHI: India has said that negotiations on tightening fishery subsidies at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) pushed by the European Union, New Zealand and Chile should take place only after there is substantial progress in the areas of agriculture, industrial goods and services.   Warning against ‘cherry-picking' of issues, the Centre said that the proposal...

-The Telegraph The Centre today approved changes in a scheme for the disabled that will help more of them buy aids cheaper and get higher cash assistance for surgeries. A key change in the scheme, last reviewed nine years ago, opens it to those with incomes higher than current limits, effectively widening it. Under the revised guidelines of the Scheme of Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase, Fitting of Aids/Appliances (Adip Scheme), 100...

-Down to Earth UPA gives Sops under MGNREGS to attract rural voters ahead of elections WITH most of its recent schemes struggling, a desperate UPA government is pinning its hopes on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to win votes in 2014 elections. The government is overhauling the employment scheme that helped it return to power in 2009 for a reason. It touches the lives of over 55 per cent...