-The Business Standard   A totally novel method needed to procure and disburse food Unbundling the Food Corporation of India (FCI) by hiving it into three separate entities for procurement, storage and distribution of foodgrain seems prima facie an unsound proposition. It would lead to a multiplicity of food handling agencies; the proliferation of bureaucracy would cause procedural delays and poor coordination. Administrative expenses, which are already high and bloating the food subsidy...

-The Telegraph   The European Union has banned the import of Indian mangoes as they failed to pass its stringent biosecurity regulations. Does India too need tougher biosecurity laws to protect its crops from pests and diseases? When a few pesky fruit flies tried to migrate from India, they ended up sparking a debate on the effectiveness of India's agricultural biosecurity laws and regulations. While some agriculture experts believe the laws are...

-The Hindu   The Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, recently said he "supports" higher taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. But even if he were to substantially increase the tax rates, will it make cigarettes and other tobacco products very expensive and hence reduce consumption? In the case of India, as per the current taxation practices, increasing the tax component is quite unlikely to reduce consumption drastically. This is unlike the...

-The Hindu   That over 27 per cent of tobacco consumers in India fall in the 15-24 year age bracket amply demonstrates how successful the tobacco companies have been in continually enticing the vulnerable sections of the population into the suicidal practice. The addition of new customers every year even as thousands of patrons die annually ensures that the tobacco companies' customer base remains wide and tall. If the global tobacco-related mortality...

-The Times of India   AHMEDABAD: consumers are having a grand time gobbling up succulent mangoes. Not just because of the fall in wholesale market price, but also because now some enterprising farmers in Saurashtra are bypassing market yards and taking their produce directly to the consumer by selling them at the roadside. Farmers say that not only do they get low prices in the market yard, but are also forced to pay...