-The Economic Times KOLKATA: There is some good news for the UPA government, which is trying hard to tackle the rising import bill. Japan has shown interest in buying rice bran oil from India - a country that depends on import of edible oil for meeting nearly 60 per cent of its domestic consumption. Export of rice bran oil will help India earn foreign exchange, thus reducing the rising import bill...

Union Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sharad Pawar on Friday said retail prices of some food items like pulses, edible oil, milk and vegetables have been rising in the last six months. “There are few items (essential commodities) where there is no improvement in prices…retail prices of pulses such as urad dal and moong dal, edible oils like groundnut oil and Vanaspati, milk and potato have shown...

Only a process of reverse migration based on the Gandhian model can save India’s cities, and also rural India.  A report prepared by the United Nations Development Programme reveals that in India’s big cities more than 40 per cent of the people live in slums. Some of them have reasonable levels of income, but cannot afford other housing. For many reasons including the population load, slums are unhygienic. It is...