-Business Standard Plans to enhance buffer stock to 500,000 tonnes; Gujarat exempts importers from stock limit Even as retail prices of pulses continued to exceed Rs 200 a kg in some cities, the Centre stepped up its countrywide crackdown on hoarders and black marketers. The central government claims to have seized around 50,000 tonnes of pulses so far from 10 states, about 15,000 tonnes in the last few days alone. Officials say the...

-The Indian Express The current crackdown on the pulses trade may do more harm than good in the long run. The government has reasons to be concerned over spiralling dal prices — even more so when arhar at Rs 200 per kg has become a major campaign theme in the ongoing Bihar assembly elections. But that does not justify the kind of desperate measures it has resorted to. Not only have...

-Business Standard Chandigarh: The rising cost of fodder ingredients in the past few days has pushed the poultry industry into doldrums. An increase of the price of soya meal, a key ingredient, by almost Rs 1,000 per quintal, has left many small players worried. Against the cost of Rs 3 an egg, the farm gate price is between Rs 2.65 and Rs 2.70. P Tamil Arsan, vice-president of National Egg Co-ordination Committee...

-The Indian Express Scapegoating ‘hoarders’ and ‘speculators’ for the spike in dal prices might have been effective in the 1960s. But today, it is only evidence of a rather sloppy conceptual policy framework. The pulse rate of a normal and healthy human body hovers between 60 and 100 beats per minute. There can be problems if it goes any higher — and a serious threat to life over 200 beats per...

-Livemint.com Cabinet reviews anti-hoarding measures taken by states, discusses ways to improve supplies and control spurt in prices New Delhi: With retail prices of pulses showing no signs of a climbdown, the Union cabinet on Wednesday reviewed anti-hoarding measures taken by states and discussed ways to improve supplies and control the spurt in prices. Later, finance minister Arun Jaitley chaired an inter-ministerial group meeting and said that at the centre’s insistence, states...