-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In its bid to push farming of pulses, the government is likely to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of the key kitchen item substantially. Sources said the MSP would be raised by Rs 200-300 per quintal in the case of gram or chickpea and lentil, which will be reaching the market from next month onwards. The sources said the assured price to farmers would also...

The low rate of inflation of 3.88 percent in Consumer Food Price Index during September, 2015 actually hides the high prices at which various pulses (dal) are available in kirana / retail shops across India. In terms of Consumer Price Index (combined), monthly rate of inflation in pulses and products during September 2015 (over September last year) stood at 29.76 percent as compared to the overall monthly retail inflation of...

-The Hindu Business Line NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday said that 6,077 de-hoarding raids had been carried out across India in an effort to rein in the prices of pulses. About 75,000 tonnes of pulses — a key source of protein for many Indians — have been recovered from hoarders so far, said an official statement, and States had been asked to meet with millers, wholesalers and retailers to make pulses...

-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...

-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...