A good wheat crop this season is likely to ease the near double digit inflation in the next 2-3 months, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said today. "This season very good harvest (wheat) is coming in. There is ample stock of foodgrain in the country. So the inflation psychology would be broken," Ahluwalia told reporters here. The wholesale price index (WPI) is currently nearing the double-digit mark, with the March-end...

Communist and opposition parties in India are holding nationwide protests against rising food and fuel prices. The Communist-governed states of West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala are likely to be worst hit by the 12-hour strike called by the parties. Air and train services have been disrupted in West Bengal, and attendance in offices across the states is reported to be patchy. Food prices in India have risen by as much as...

The growth rate of agriculture was three per cent and that of manufacturing was 4.5 per cent during the first three decades after independence. The growth rate for agriculture has slipped to 2.8 per cent while that for manufacturing has increased to 6.4 per cent during the last 15 years. Farmers continue to commit suicides across the country. The groundwater level is declining. The country has to import wheat, edible...

PUDUCHERRY: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has agreed to extend loan to the territorial administration for constructing additional classrooms and laboratories in government schools. In the near future, 559 classrooms would be constructed in the Union Territory, Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam told the Assembly on Thursday. Replying to the debate on the demands for grants to School Education, the Chief Minister said the bank had consented to extend a...

At a time when granaries are overflowing, and stockpiles of food are rotting in the open, India is preparing to bring in a National Food Security Act. Saddled with the world’s largest population of hungry and malnourished, the draft bill certainly provides a ray of hope for the hungry millions. If enacted properly, it can turn appalling hunger into history. But if the intention is to only repackage old wine in...