-The Times of India Spiralling prices of vegetables, Oils and fats, milk and milk products pushed consumer price inflation to double digits in April in yet another hurdle to the Reserve Bank of India's efforts to ease interest rates. The double digit retail inflation rate also poses fresh challenges for the UPA government which has been on the back foot for its handling of the economy. Data released by the Central Statistics Office...

-The Business Standard The Odisha government expects to send the comprehensive document for the 12th Plan (2012-17) to the Centre by the end of June this year. Ahead of submission of the document to the Centre, the department of planning & coordination has urged all administrative departments to submit their respective reports for compilation of the 12th Plan, listing their priorities and thrust areas, by May 31. “We will be submitting the 12th...

-The Economic Times Open-ended consumption subsidies on petroleum products have wrought havoc on government finances. Reportedly, the trio of public sector Oil marketing companies have of late blocked some 3.8 million parallel household connections of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), in a bid to rationalise the subsidy outgo. The move to weed out multiple LPG connections does make sense. But we need to keep the big picture in mind and overhaul the pricing and...

-PTI Retail inflation shot up to the double digit mark at 10.32 per cent in April on account of substantial increase in vegetable, edible Oils and milk prices. Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the inflation for March was revised to 9.38 per cent from the provisional estimate of 9.47 per cent, as per the government data release here on Friday. Vegetable prices recorded the maximum of 24.55 per cent, followed by...

A parliamentary panel has sought to put strict safeguards on the government’s powers to acquire land and recommended that no plot under cultivation be taken away unless as a last resort. The recommendation — one of many on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 — seeks to give a leg-up to food security, but if accepted, could pose a challenge to the expansion of industries. “The concept of food security...