-The Times of India NEW DELHI: India's domestic compulsions and the danger of breaching the subsidy cap for wheat and rice forced the government to thwart attempts by other World Trade Organization members to push through a new set of customs rules without addressing its concerns. The subsidy data, due to be released by the government over the next few weeks, will reveal that the subsidy on rice was over 9% of...
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Was India truly the party pooper at WTO? -Aruna P Sharma
-Down to Earth Last year, when commerce minister of UPA government had agreed to the trade facilitation pact pushed by developed countries, it was perceived as compromising the interests of poor nations that need to stockpile foodgrains for public food programmes After weeks of speculation on whether India would sign on the dotted line, the new World Trade Organisation agreement to ease worldwide customs rules collapsed late Thursday night in Geneva. Many (including...
More »Rural votes, old traumas drive India's WTO brinkmanship
-Reuters NEW DELHI: With grain silos spilling over, exports on the rise and an avowed market champion for prime minister, India's threat to trash a global trade deal in the name of food security appears puzzling. But government officials say Prime Minister Narendra Modi is prepared to brazen out global outrage to seize a historic chance to build a rural power base with his defence of farm subsidies and to banish memories...
More »Controlling farmers' suicide: Toughest challenge for Telangana, Andhra governments -Manish
-The Times of India VISAKHAPATNAM: Among the many challenges before them, bringing down the number of farmer suicides might prove to be one of the toughest for the new governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. As per the national crime records bureau ( NCRB) data, unified Andhra Pradesh was only second to Maharashtra in terms of suicides by self-employed persons in agriculture. While Maharashtra had witnessed around 3,146 deaths in 2013, it...
More »WTO standoff: India may lose 'Peace Clause' if Bali pack fails -Nayanima Basu
-The Business Standard In its effort to safeguard the rights of its poor by blocking the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) trade facilitation agreement (TFA), India might lose out on securing a deal on food security, including the much-needed 'Peace Clause' agreed on during WTO's Ninth Ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia. WTO members have threatened that if the so-called Bali package gets derailed, every single issue that was negotiated and on which a...
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