-TheWire.in If Trump carries out his threat of pulling the US out of the deal and re-imposes sanctions on the Persian Gulf country, oil prices could start soaring, hitting India and other major crude importers hard. New Delhi: The global oil market is waiting with bated breath for US President Donald Trump’s next move on the Iran nuclear deal, expected to be announced on Tuesday, four days ahead of the May 12...

-The Indian Express Another demand is that all Dalit activists arrested during the Bharat Bandh should be released immediately and action should be taken against those who opened fire at the protesters. New Delhi: In a demonstration expected to be bigger, and more organised, than the Bharat bandh held on April 2, Dalit and Adivasi organisations from across the country plan to take to the streets on May 1 against the Supreme...

-Financial Express If the government implements the assured minimum support price at one and a half times the production cost, as promised, it would jack up consumer prices of jowar and distort the market dynamics of the “poor man’s cereal”. Besides, the measure would also dampen exports, analysts warn. At 150% of the cost (A2+FL), the MSP for jowar for the next season could be at least 37% higher than the...

-The Indian Express Raising agricultural exports requires the government to unburden policy of consumer bias. A balance should be struck between meeting the needs of food-insecure consumers and income-insecure farmers. The Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh, recently tweeted about the government’s resolve to increase the value of the country’s agricultural exports to $100 billion by 2022-23. The Dalwai Committee Report on doubling farmers’ incomes also talked of a similar target. It said,...

-Livemint.com Linking MSPs to a multiple of costs and ignoring other dynamics, such as demand and global prices, risks creating distortions and disincentivizing productivity Government policymaking seems to be making a volte-face from supporting consumers (by keeping food inflation low), to supporting producers (by raising food prices). In the 2018-19 Union budget, the government “decided to keep minimum support prices (MSP) for all unannounced crops of kharif at least at one-and-a-half times of...