-Outlook A surge in food prices ripped common man's pockets as the UPA government paid for its failure in the assembly polls in four states and may feel the heat in next year's general elections as well if it is not controlled. Prices of kitchen essentials such as onions spiked to a record Rs 100 per kg and tomatoes touched Rs 80 in some states during the year, pushing the food inflation...

-Economic and Political Weekly Punjab's new agriculture policy based on a report prepared by the Committee for Formulation of Agriculture Policy for Punjab focuses on Yield enhancement and market orientation instead of demand-driven agriculture. While the report talks about the need for diversification, it does not bother to analyse the failure of earlier policies. The report is on the whole short on analysis and long on recommendations. Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iimahd.ernet.in) is with...

-Frontline Childhood TB has been neglected for decades, but in the past few years the WHO has begun to realise its real impact in terms of incidence, prevalence and mortality. THE number of annual new tuberculosis (TB) cases in India has been nearly 2.2 million for the past couple of years. Many of these infected people would have been in contact with children aged under five years before being diagnosed and,...

-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...

-Down to Earth India faces a surplus of foodgrains. Is exporting a good option? With India's grain mountain set to implode, the government is desperate to push the exports of rice and wheat. However, a global glut and the resulting depression of prices are dimming the prospects of foodgrain exports. According to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for grain trade in the country, India is sitting on 34 million...