-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a remark which may cheer agriculture scientists and farmers across the country and signal a change in stance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the government should not succumb to "unscientific prejudices" against genetically modified (GM) crops. Responding to anti-GM activists who have been opposed to even scientific field trials of genetically engineered crops, Singh said his government remained committed "to promoting the use...

-The Business Standard The challenge to anti-inflation policy lies in better institutions and better evidence-based policy Our failure to rein in inflation has been costly. Economically, it has hurt growth. Poor and urban middle-class households have been affected the most. A combination of slowing growth and high inflation has weakened our macro-fundamentals: households fled financial savings, domestic and foreign investors lost confidence, and the rupee plunged. Politically, it has been a disaster. For...

-The Financial Express Unless we get it right on the markets front, including opening up of exports, farmers cannot get their full due One of the key objectives of agricultural price policy in India is to ensure that agriculture remains a remunerative occupation so that farmers are incentivised to adopt modern technologies that help raise productivity and overall production of various crops in the country broadly in line with the emerging demand...

-Press Information Bureau The official Wholesale Price Index for ‘All Commodities' (Base: 2004-05 = 100) for the month of December, 2013 declined by 1.3 percent to 179.2 (provisional) from 181.5 (provisional) for the previous month. INFLATION The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 6.16% (provisional) for the month of December, 2013 (over December, 2012) as compared to 7.52% (provisional) for the previous month and 7.31% during the corresponding month...

-The Hindu     Production is likely to be 207.29-lakh tonnes against the target of 224.96-lakh tonnes Hyderabad: Foodgrains production in the State is likely to fall short of the target by about 18-lakh tonnes in 2013-14. The shortfall is being attributed to damage of standing crops due to cyclones in the coastal districts and because of excessive rains in other areas. The shortfall is mainly contributed by drop in the production of paddy (rice)...