-The Business Standard Balancing duty to the poor while mitigating 'policy externalities' arising out of the food bill is India's latest challenge The government has fought all odds to get the food security bill - an entitlement programme that covers 67% of India's 1.2 billion large population under a subsidised grain regime, passed in the Parliament. But the battle now shifts to the global stage with India having to convince negotiators, particularly...

-Al Jazeera   The reforms promoted by Prime Minister Singh do not go far enough to help food production and the hungry. The debate on the Food Security Act is based on myths on both sides. The government is propagating the myth that it is the largest anti-poverty and anti-hunger programme ever introduced anywhere in the world. The programme is being heralded as Sonia Gandhi's dream project, and billed as a miracle solution...

-Outlook Onion prices, which have again gone up to Rs 70 per kg in retail markets, are expected to soften by early next month with supplies from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka improving, Food Minister K V Thomas said today. He also said the Centre has asked producing states like Maharashtra to crack down on hoarders of onion, a politically sensitive commodity. Normally, onion prices rise during the lean period of June-August. But prices...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The rate of inflation accelerated to a six-month high in August on the back of spiralling onion prices, posing yet another challenge for RBI ahead of the monetary policy review as it struggles to tame volatility in the foreign exchange market. Data released on Monday showed the wholesale price index (WPI) rose an annual 6.1% in August, higher than previous month's 5.79%. The inflation rate...

-The Business Standard Central bank chief Raghuram Rajan likely to retain stance later this week, say economists Inflation in onions skyrocketed to 244.62% in August against already high 119.4% in the previous month, jacking up the the rate of wholesale price rise to a six-month high of 6.10% from 5.8% in July, official data showed today. Ironically, onion prices can't be brought down by interest rate policy, but it is all set to...