The spectre of inflation has returned to haunt India. It is not even six months since the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government returned to power but its inability to control food prices is arguably its single biggest failure till now. The inflation rate will eventually come down sometime in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future and the government will surely take credit for bringing prices down as and when that happens. But...
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Skyrocketing prices may be bad news but the worst is yet to come!
Between 2005 and 2007, the world saw doubling of the prices of wheat, coarse grains, rice and Oilseed crops and they continued rising in early 2008. It has been predicted by an OECD study (2008) that on average over the coming ten-year-period, prices in real terms of cereals, rice and Oilseeds are projected to be 10% to 35% higher than in the past decade. This means more trouble for the...
More »Milk dairies oppose import of skimmed powder, butter Oil by Manas Dasgupta
To help farmers reeling under drought conditions AHMEDABAD: Cooperative milk dairies in Gujarat have submitted a joint memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him to take immediate steps to discourage import of skimmed milk powder and butter Oil and prevent export of ingredients used for manufacturing cattle feed. Among measures they have suggested to achieve the same, are restoration of customs duty on import of milk powder to the...
More »Exclusive cereal-dependence by Veena Shatrugna
Government nutrition scheme has no place for necessary animal protein The ICDS programme launched in the 1970s was based on the results of extensive surveys which identified rampant child under-nutrition in India. Using the weight-for-age and height-for-age criteria, only 10 per cent children under five could be classified normal. And 15-20 per cent were underweight even when they were short. The situation has not improved in the past 35 years...
More »Kerala fights clock in ASEAN free-trade deal by Ranjit Devraj
Southern Kerala state is known for the lush expanses of cardamom, pepper, tea and rubber that grow on its misty hills, and the bountiful catches of fish on a coastline punctuated by lagoons and backwaters. But a cloud in the form of a a free trade deal with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc hovers over this picture of plenty. With the Indo-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) now...
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