-PTI India’s monsoon, vital for Asia’s third-largest economy, has been 22% deficient till June 26, official data showed, adding to the government’s worries and prompting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consult key aides on measures to tone up the economy on Wednesday. In a revised forecast, the Met department predicted the rains would be 96% of the long-term average, lower than its April forecast of 99%. Rainfall is considered normal if...

Indian officials are unconcerned about loud complaints by the European Union and Western-backed nongovernmental organisations about the "weak text" of the final declaration of the Rio+20 summit.   India is satisfied, having already fended off earlier attempts to remove two key principles. The first is the concept of "common but differentiated responsibilities" - namely, that rich and poor countries cannot be expected to equally bear the costs of green policies . The second...

-PTI Retail inflation moved up marginally to 10.36 per cent in May on account of increase in prices of vegetables, edible oils and milk. Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the inflation for April was revised to 10.26 per cent from the provisional estimate of 10.32 per cent, according to the government data release here on Monday. Vegetable prices recorded the maximum spurt in prices, up 26.59 per cent, followed by edible...

-The Economic Times The government has increased the minimum support price (MSP) for the kharif season in a range of 16% to 53% to motivate farmers and compensate for higher input costs but the higher purchase prices could stoke food inflation further.  The Committee on Economic Affairs ( CCEA) on Thursday raised the MSP of paddy by Rs 170 per quintal and those of oilseeds like groundnut, sunflower seed and niger seed...

-Reuters Inflation may have accelerated at its fastest pace this year in May, driven by higher food and fuel prices, impeding chances of a rate cut by the central bank at its review next week, a Reuters poll showed. The wholesale price index, India's main inflation gauge, is expected to rise 7.60 percent in May versus a year ago, compared with April's 7.23 percent, the poll of 31 analysts showed. Forecasts ranged from...