Members of Parliament, cutting across party lines, have demanded an increase in the wages and workdays of the beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, one of the flagship programmes of the UPA government, so as to insulate them from the galloping inflation. The demands were made by the members, including those of the ruling Congress-led ruling coalition, at a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee on the...

Union Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s made a last-ditch effort to win support for his controversial Seed Bill, 2010 by calling an all-party meeting in Parliament earlier this week. He was candid about the fact that this legislation tops his “must do” list. But the Opposition — supported by a section of the Congress—weren’t having any of it. “The proposed bill is not only anti-farmer but also brazenly favours multinationals in the...

-The Business Standard   Amid the ongoing debate in Parliament on inflation and the government’s inability to tame it, food inflation, which had seen a dip in the past two weeks, increased to 8.04 per cent for the week ended July 23. In the previous week, food inflation had fallen to a 29-month low at 7.33 per cent. All major items in the food basket recorded a rise in prices, from vegetables...

-The Telegraph   The government may introduce dual rates for diesel — with the price of the fuel higher in cars and commercial power compared with the price for truckers and farmers — to prevent its misuse. During a parliamentary debate on the price rise, Opposition leaders asked finance minister Pranab Mukherjee if the government would withdraw subsidy benefits on diesel used by premium cars and commercial users such as telecom tower...

-The Telegraph   Smaller parties today accused the government and the Opposition BJP of striking a face-saver deal on price rise, overshadowing the debate on the crucial issue in the Lok Sabha. Led by the Left, parties like the BSP and the RJD lashed out at the alleged pact the government was said to have struck with the BJP for drafting the language of the motion in such a way that the...