-IPS News Bhubaneswar: More than a month after Cyclone Phailin battered Orissa, tribes in the eastern Indian coastal state are still feeling its wrath. Besides the damage to their homes and hearths, it has also meant a loss of their traditional food. "Calamities like Cyclone Phailin affect all equally, but the tribes are far more vulnerable to the impact of calamities because of lesser resilience," Special Relief Commissioner P.K. Mahapatra tells IPS. This...

-The Indian Express Bali: A consensus still eludes the 159 member nations of the WTO on issues of trade facilitation and food subsidy on the final day of the ninth ministerial talks of the group. After hectic parleys with India and the US that lasted till early Friday morning, another informal meeting by WTO director general Roberto Azevedo with all members also failed to yield results. Indications are that a final declaration from...

-The Times of India BALI: The World Trade Organization (WTO) is making a fresh bid to break the deadlock with the multilateral body set to propose its own package to trade ministers from 159 countries amid clear signs that the meeting will go beyond its scheduled close. WTO director general Roberto Azevedo spent the night holding consultations with commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma and US trade representative Michael Froman stretching until...

-The Hindustan Times One man's fixation with rules can be another man's lifeline. Many international trade negotiators argue in favour of shooting down subsidies because it ‘distorts' trade. But the simple fact is that in a more-than-a-billion strong nation, in which nearly one in every three lives at subsistence level, one needs an effective and efficient method through which privileged tax payers can support the poor. India has rejected a proposal at the...

-The Business Standard India remained firm on its stance as World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations reached the third day in Bali. As Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma ruled out any possibility of a compromise, whispers were already being heard of a possible collapse of the talks. Edited excerpts from the minister's press conference, which invited admiration as well as sharp criticism: * India has exceeded the de minimis requirements of the...