-PTI India’s index of industrial production contracted by 0.7 per cent in August, the second month in a row that it has remained in negative territory, following a slump in manufacturing, mining and capitals goods segments. Factory output as measured by movement in the IIP had slipped to an eight-month low of (-)2.49 (revised) in July on account of declining output in manufacturing and capital goods sectors. The IIP slump in August is...

-The Hindu Without doubt, India needs to go forward with bio-safe agricultural practices, but the farmers need to be helped to make them sustainable Reshma religiously mixes cow dung and manure in the soil in her farm, hoping for a better yield at least this time around. Reshma is a 22-year old smallholder farmer in a village outside Hyderabad. She is a part of the growing army of farmers in India who...

-The Hindu Business Line NEW DELHI: The Centre will meet representatives of the Indian Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) every month to take stock of retail prices of pulses that still rule high, as well as supply issues. This was decided at a meeting between Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and IGPA members here on Thursday evening. The meeting comes soon after the Centre’s decision to enhance the buffer stock limit of...

Rising prices of dal: How to deal with it? The 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses. In India, however, ordinary citizens are under enormous duress due to the skyrocketing prices of dal/ lentils since the last one year. The website of Price Monitoring Cell of the Department of Consumer Affairs shows that dal prices varied across places. For example, the...

-The Indian Express The incentive structure, currently skewed in favour of rice and wheat, needs to become crop-neutral High prices of pulses are upsetting the food budget of many poor families. Soaring retail prices of dals — urad at Rs. 170/kg, tur/arhar at Rs160/kg, gram/chickpea at Rs 127/kg, moong at Rs 111/kg and masoor at Rs 100/kg — have made dal a luxury for the dal-bhaat and dal-roti eating population. But not...