-The Hindu Retail prices of pulses skyrocket; raids unearth 50,000 tonnes. Even as the government intensified its crackdown on hoarders to rein in the prices of pulses in the retail market, importers on Friday urged the government to exempt them from stockholding limits. With their request came the offer that they would supply 100 tonnes of imported dal at Rs.135 per kg every day to hold the price line. Imposing stock limits...

-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 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...

-Hindustan Times The alleged lynching of a truck driver who was ferrying pulses by a mob recently in UP is a sad commentary about India’s inadequate price management systems. Wholesale prices, which plunged for the 11th straight month in September, could be masking a worrisome rise in food prices, leaving consumers to wonder why — even with declining inflation — their household budgets are spinning out of control. After onion, the prices...

-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...