The low rate of inflation of 3.88 percent in Consumer Food Price Index during September, 2015 actually hides the high prices at which various pulses (dal) are available in kirana / retail shops across India. In terms of Consumer Price Index (combined), monthly rate of inflation in pulses and products during September 2015 (over September last year) stood at 29.76 percent as compared to the overall monthly retail inflation of...

-Livemint.com Cabinet reviews anti-hoarding measures taken by states, discusses ways to improve supplies and control spurt in prices New Delhi: With retail prices of pulses showing no signs of a climbdown, the Union cabinet on Wednesday reviewed anti-hoarding measures taken by states and discussed ways to improve supplies and control the spurt in prices. Later, finance minister Arun Jaitley chaired an inter-ministerial group meeting and said that at the centre’s insistence, states...

-Livemint.com As long as farmers with access to irrigated land aren’t interested in growing pulses, supply and price shocks will keep haunting consumers and governments New Delhi: The centre’s efforts to contain prices of pulses during the festive season is showing few results on the ground. On Monday, retail prices of tur dal (arhar or pigeon pea) climbed to Rs.205 per kg in Mysore in Karnataka and Rs.210 per kg in Puducherry,...

-The Indian Express Delhi lost the window of opportunity to avoid an outbreak because of a governance deficit; first because the state was in election mode and then because of the AAP’s internal squabbles. The past few weeks have witnessed substantial media coverage on the dengue outbreak in Delhi. Heartrending stories of clearly avoidable deaths gave the crisis a human face. Focusing on Delhi, most sought to expose the lack of...

-The Indian Express Government’s actions on the commodity reveals it is ignorant of how a market economy is run With each passing day this year, agriculture seems to be sagging and so is the Indian farmer. Deficit monsoon rains appear to be the trigger. Although rains offered some respite to Marathwada, the situation in India’s largest agri-state, Uttar Pradesh, has gone from bad to worse. Last year’s drought, with monsoon rains falling...