-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Apprehending further increase in onion prices from next month due to short supply, the government appears set to import the key kitchen ingredient to cool down domestic prices. While a formal decision is expected next week, sources said public sector companies have been asked to look at the possibility of shipping onion from Pakistan, China, Malaysia and Iran. Officials said there are indications of wholesale prices...

-The Indian Express The budget will reveal whether the BJP is committed to this transformative programme. Mohandas Pai, currently an advisor to the BJP government in Rajasthan, was asked on television how the government could "control" social sector expenditure, more specifically on the MGNREGA. He answered that the NDA should simply learn from and follow former Union minister P. Chidambaram's policy of "benign neglect". Clarifying further, he explained how the UPA...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Finance The Economic Survey 2013-14 released in New Delhi today has highlighted several challenges and reforms required in the agriculture sector. The Economic Survey states that as a concomitant of growth, the share of agriculture and allied sector in gross domestic product (GDP) declined to 15.2% during the Eleventh Plan and further to 13.9% in 2013-14 (provisional estimates-PE). While it still accounts for about 54.6% of...

-The Hindu Business Line Below normal rainfall will result in agricultural production declining India, predominantly an agriculture-based economy, is largely dependent on the monsoon. The agriculture sector is the backbone of the Indian economy and thus, monsoon should be considered as the backbone of agriculture. The four-month South-West monsoon season, accounts for nearly 75 per cent of the country's total rainfall and plays a crucial rule as about 55-60 per cent of...

-PTI The state government would take urgent measures against hoarding of essential commodities, said the CM Jaipur: To check inflation and rise in prices of essential commodities, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has asked the food and civil supply department to come out with a plan to sell onion, potato and pulses through Public Distribution System (PDS) at low price in the state. The state government would take urgent measures against hoarding of...