By all indications, FDI in multi-brand retail is a fait accompli. Or so we have been told time and again by everyone, the PM downward. The “question is at what point of time it should be done”. This remark from Pranab Mukherjee in a post-budget TV interview may have revealed that the debate has moved beyond whether to permit FDI in multi-brand retailing—the lifeline of small- and medium-sized neighbourhood stores....

World Bank president Robert Zoellick recently listed nine measures that the G20 should adopt under its current French presidency. These range from improving information about grain stocks and developing better weather-forecasting methods to strengthening social safety nets for the poor and helping small farmers benefit from tenders from humanitarian purchasers such as the World Food Programme . These measures tackle only the symptoms of the global food system's weaknesses, leaving the...

Punjab and Haryana have asked the government to declare a minimum farmgate price for the Pusa 1121 variety of basmati in order to protect farmers from price fluctuations. This is the first time that such a demand has been raised for basmati. The proposed farmgate price is similar to the government support price declared for key crops to protect interests of growers. The request that the government declare a minimum...

President Pratibha Patil today reaffirmed the government’s resolve “to maintain the momentum for reforms on a wide front”, prompting policymakers to outline the possible economic agenda ahead of the budget just a week away. Top officials offered their take on the phrase, mentioned in Patil’s speech to Parliament at the start of the budget session. According to the them, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee are looking to...

Surinder Mahato is a worried man. A small farmer on the outskirts of Bihar's capital Patna, he laboured throughout last year's drought to ensure that his farm's output of rice was not affected. But he now stares in distress at the stacks of paddy lying in his hut. 'I am waiting to sell my crop, but due to the government negligence, I am forced to sell at throwaway prices to local...