-Business Standard This policy involves providing products and services such as electricity and fertilisers at below-market prices New Delhi: While much of public discourse in India has tended to focus on expanding the current subsidy regime to help the poor, Vijay Joshi, economist at Oxford University, advocates shifting to a universal basic income, replacing all government subsidies with a single cash transfer to all citizens, providing them with a basic income guarantee. At...

-The Hindu The Maharashtra government’s decision to promulgate an ordinance this week to exempt farmers from having to mandatorily sell their fruit and vegetable crop at mandis governed by a 1963 law on marketing farm produce, is a bold and laudable step. That Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stood his ground against the powerful lobby of middlemen, who shut shop in protest, is even more commendable. The problem with the present...

-PTI NEW DELHI: With pulses still ruling as high as Rs 200 per kg, the government today said it is taking several measures to boost domestic output and imports, besides taking action against hoarders to control rates. "The central government is taking several measures to control the price rise of pulses," Agriculture Ministry said in a statement. "On one hand, the government is trying to give relief to citizens by importing pulses from...

-The Financial Express Just implement the CACP report on this Given how the prices of pulses have been in the Rs 150-200 per kg range in the last year, it is not surprising the government is trying to augment production—the measures include more imports and relooking the minimum support price (MSP) and assured procurement. What makes little sense, though, is setting up of another committee under Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian to...

-The Hindu Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on Wednesday, held an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss the spiralling prices of food and carve out a strategy to cool inflation. Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu attended the meeting. Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian was also present. During the meeting, discussions were held to devise ways to meet the gap between demand...