-The Economic Times Repressed, unrevised retail prices by fiat have led to rising diesel consumption nationwide, thoroughly misallocating resources and recklessly fretting away scarce budgetary funds in the bargain. The government needs to promptly decontrol diesel prices and put paid to open-ended Oil consumption subsidies, as it has rightly proposed to in the Union Budget.  Further dither and non-decision would wreak havoc in government finances and hook the fiscal deficit figure over...

-The Economic Times   What's common between foggy movements of two army battalions, the government auditor's assessments of large notional losses to the exchequer and a letter from the army chief to the PM on his unit's preparedness for war?  The information in each of these instances in the past six months was marked 'secret' in official files, but screamed its way to the public, forcing the government into damage-control mode.  Information leaks in...

-PTI World food prices remained almost same in March from their levels in February due to stable prices in most commodities and decline in dairy prices, United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation said.  "World food prices in March remained virtually unchanged from their February levels," Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a statement.  Amongst various commodity groups, only Oil prices showed strength, compensating for falling dairy quotations, while the indices of cereals,...

-Reuters Global food prices rose in March for a third successive month, driven by gains in grains and vegetable Oils, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Thursday, putting food inflation firmly back on the economic agenda. Food prices hit record highs in February 2011 and stoked protests connected to the Arab Spring wave of civil unrest in some north African and middle eastern countries. They then receded but started...

-The Telegraph The state food and civil supplies department has during an internal audit detected a Rs 35-crore “scam” involving advance paid to 17 companies by the West Bengal Essential Commodities Supply Corporation Limited. State food and civil supplies minister Jyotipriya Mullick today handed over the audit report for the 2004-05 accounts to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. “An internal audit carried out by the department has revealed that Rs 35.86 crore was paid...