-Down to Earth CAG audit may be sought if states fail to disclose correct information, says secretary for drinking water and sanitation The secretary of Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) has set up a high-level committee to look into the huge discrepancy between its data on toilets built under its sanitation programme and what exists on ground. The discrepancy came to light following the 2011 Census findings that...

-The Times of India   BALI: After four days of intense negotiations, World Trade Organization members are set to accept the government's demand on food security that will protect India and other developing countries from penalties for breaching the domestic support cap of 10% of value of production. In return, the government agreed to a new agreement on trade facilitation, the first since WTO was set up nearly two decades ago, that...

-The Indian Express Bali: In a landmark attempt to take forward the stalled Doha Round of global trade talks, the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday evening issued a revised draft of the Bali package that would address India's concerns on food security and take through the trade facilitation agreement. The draft has proposed an interim solution with a peace clause of four years during which a permanent mechanism will have to...

-The Indian Express Bali: A consensus still eludes the 159 member nations of the WTO on issues of trade facilitation and food subsidy on the final day of the ninth ministerial talks of the group. After hectic parleys with India and the US that lasted till early Friday morning, another informal meeting by WTO director general Roberto Azevedo with all members also failed to yield results. Indications are that a final declaration from...

-The Hindustan Times One man's fixation with rules can be another man's lifeline. Many international trade negotiators argue in favour of shooting down subsidies because it ‘distorts' trade. But the simple fact is that in a more-than-a-billion strong nation, in which nearly one in every three lives at subsistence level, one needs an effective and efficient method through which privileged tax payers can support the poor. India has rejected a proposal at the...