Continuing with its trend towards moderation, inflation declined to 7.48 per cent in November, mainly boosted by lowering of pressure on certain food items.Inflation had stood at 8.58 per cent in October. It was 4.50 per cent in November 2009. For September this year, the inflation figure has been revised upwards to 8.93 per cent from the provisional number of 8.62 per cent.This is the fourth consecutive month when the...
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Differences remain over cash for grain by Liz Mathew
Differences between the National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, and the government over the food security Bill have begun to narrow, but a suggestion by the agriculture ministry to offer cash to poor consumers in case sufficient foodgrain isn’t available remains a contentious issue.“We do not have any serious objections to the recommendations of the NAC. But the ministry wants to have the provision for...
More »Soaring vegetable prices to make undhiyu less palatable by Ankita Pathak
Planning to call over friends and relatives this Uttarayan for the undhiyu treat? Then, watch out, for, your budget may go haywire if you have not factored in the price rise.Onion prices aren't the only one making Amdavadis cry. Vegetable prices in general seem to make the Amdavadi very emotional as he watches his wallet being ripped apart.The soaring vegetable prices have sent household budgets haywire.Undhiyu, one of the popular...
More »An income commission for farmers by Sreelatha Menon
When little children in cities have a Happy Meal burger at McDonalds and get a Batman car or Ben 10 toy free, they are getting much more for free — all gift-wrapped by wheat and potato farmers in some far-off village. They are not paying for the labour put in by the farmer, the profits forgone by him, and the higher cost of living that he did not bill on...
More »A yawning gap by Sanjeeb Mukherjee
From the time a farmer in India harvests his produce to the time it lands on your plate, farm products go through several layers of middlemen, wholesalers, cold chains and other intermediaries, which push its price up by many notches. The end result: growers get paid less and consumers pay more. The stranglehold that the government has over agriculture produce marketing in India has given rise to abject inefficiencies, lack...
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