Food price inflation, and inflation in general, has become less of an issue. But it isn’t an issue that will go away. Give it till June and inflation is likely to inch up again. Competition is a good antidote against price increases. It ensures efficiency and reduces price volatility. Logically, food price inflation should trigger and stimulate agricultural reform, so there is competition and supply-side changes can occur. But in...
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Water crisis looms over India by Chetan Chauhan
Major metros like Delhi and Mumbai face huge water and environmental crises as infrastructure tries to keep pace with the increasing population, says a new study of 71 Indian cities. The report, Excreta Matter, prepared by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), comes at a time when India is urbanising at the highest rate in the world and half of all Indians are expected to be living in cities by...
More »Food authority crackdown on ad claims by Abantika Ghosh
Multigrain noodles that claim to be healthier than the regular variety, digestive biscuits that help weight loss and drinks that make champions out of little children — cracking down on such advertisements, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sent notices to the manufacturers asking them to justify the claims with appropriate evidence or face action for violating the advertising code for food items and supplements. Among those...
More »Distress and death by Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay
West Bengal: An agrarian crisis looms over the State as farmers commit suicide in spite of a bumper crop. THE topic of suicide figured repeatedly in Safar Molla's conversations with his neighbours a few days before his death. The 18-year-old marginal farmer from Kaltikuri village in Bardhaman district's Bhatar block talked about it quite casually, in fact even jocularly. Everybody in the village knew he was up to his neck in...
More »FSSAI rejects Ministry’s bid to back import of ‘sub-standard’ food grains by Archana Jyoti
If the Consumer Affairs Ministry had its say, imported food grains and pulses containing hazardous foreign matter would have made its way on to the Indian platter. In fact, import of damaged grains too would have been a possibility - on the pretext of the country witnessing inadequate food grains’ production. The Ministry, besides a number of importers, had called for a relaxation in the existing set norms for the import...
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