He dreamt of becoming a successful lawyer. Hailing from Jalgoan, it isn't surprising that his career was destined to be elsewhere. Today, 40-year old Hemchandra Dagaji Patil has no regrets. "The black coat beckoned me. I used to imagine myself in court rooms but finally my father persuaded me to stay back in the village as there was a drop in crop yield and there was no one to look after the...

Food inflation, hovering in the double digits, may play spoilsport to India’s ability to continue its rapid economic growth. It is truly troubling that food still consumes half of the expenditure of the average Indian household. No wonder a sharp spike in onion prices has the potential to upset the political calculus of social stability. India’s biggest challenge still remains ensuring food and nutritional security to its masses. Notwithstanding the nation’s...

In a major relief to farmers and exporters, the Centre on Wednesday slashed the minimum export price (MEP) for onions by 25 per cent to $450 a tonne from $600. “Minimum Export Price of onions other than Bangalore Rose onions and Krishnapuram will be $450 per tonne freight on board,” Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Last month, the government had lifted a ban on onion exports after...

Pranab Mukherjee, India’s finance minister, put the rural economy at the heart of a national budget on Monday, saying ridding the farm sector of crippling supply bottlenecks would be his “focus” in the coming fiscal year.A market-neutral budget supporting agriculture, welfare schemes and the extension of banking services to more people was designed to dispel any sense that the Congress party-led government was in drift after a series of high...

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Budget 2011-12 in Parliament on Monday promising to stimulate growth and bring down inflation. Admitting that food inflation remains a matter of concern, Pranab said that the economy could have performed better. He said that the development needs to be more inclusive while announcing increased outlay on social sector schemes. "Total food inflation is down from 20.2 per cent last year to 9.3 per cent...