-The Telegraph New Delhi: The UPA has hiked wages for national job scheme workers by 4-18 per cent in what appears to be a "parting gift" before the elections, but failed to match "arbitrary" revisions in minimum wages for agricultural labourers in 12 states, including Bengal. According to the new wage rates under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act, an MGNREGA labourer in Haryana will get Rs 236 a day, the...

-The Business Standard The challenge to anti-inflation policy lies in better institutions and better evidence-based policy Our failure to rein in inflation has been costly. Economically, it has hurt growth. Poor and urban middle-class households have been affected the most. A combination of slowing growth and high inflation has weakened our macro-fundamentals: households fled financial savings, domestic and foreign investors lost confidence, and the rupee plunged. Politically, it has been a disaster. For...

-Outlook Some moderation in vegetable and fruit prices eased December retail inflation to three-month low of 9.87 per cent, giving the Reserve Bank of India more leeway to manage interest rates. Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November has been revised marginally downwards to 11.16 per cent from preliminary estimate of 11.24 per cent. Vegetable prices on annual basis rose 38.76 per cent in December, a slower pace than...

-The Business Standard Food prices rise 19.93% year-on-year in November The wholesale price inflation continued to show an uptick in November as it casts a shadow over possibility of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India in its upcoming monetary policy review. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI), a measure of inflation at wholesaler's level, rose to 7.52% in November from 7% a month ago mainly due to continued rise in vegetable...

-The Business Standard Inflationary figures could also desist RBI from easing its monetary stance to perk up economic growth The retail price index-based inflation jumped to an all-time high of 11.24%, driven by high vegetable prices, official data showed today. The inflation stood at 10.09% in October, entering double digits for the first time in six months. The surging prices of essential commodities were an important issue in the...