Differences within the ruling government alliance over food management came to the fore on Tuesday with home minister P Chidambaram questioning agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's pitch for resuming export of sugar. A meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss measures to calm soaring food prices saw sugar become a key focus area with Pawar plumping for freeing its export, citing an expected bumper crop this year. As soon...

Nashik onion traders on Monday decided not to purchase onions for two days from the Agricultural Produce Market Committees, following the nationwide I-T raids on onion traders. Traders are protesting against the Maharashtra government's directive of selling onions at not more than Rs 40 per kg. The decision was taken by Nashik District Onion Traders Association at a meeting. Farmers, meanwhile are angry with the traders' decision. The Maharashtra State Government has...

Twenty years ago, a Maruti 800, with an air-conditioner fitted, cost a little less than Rs 2 lakh. Today it costs about Rs 2.5 lakh. Twenty years ago, a branded 1.5 tonne window air-conditioner cost about Rs 30,000; today, you can get a split AC unit for that price. Then, Videocon was offering large refrigerators for more than Rs 30,000; you can get better units today for much less. TV...

The Union government recently indexed the wages of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to the consumer price index for agricultural labour (CPI-AL). The step, aimed at boosting the purchasing power of workers, came in the midst of a controversy over the government not linking wages under MGNREGS to the minimum wage under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The wage hike, ranging from 17-30%, is likely...

In a move that brings relief to the rural workforce, but risks creating an inflation spiral, the government on Thursday revised the minimum wages paid for its flagship job guarantee scheme by linking them to the Consumer Price Index for agricultural labour (CPI-AL) for each individual state. Such a price spiral, in case it actually emerges, could roil the electoral prospects of the Congress in the key contests to the state...