-Down to Earth At the upcoming WTO meet, India has to negotiate a better deal to ease restrictions on giving food subsidies When the World Trade Organization (WTO) meets in Buenos Aires in Argentina next month, India would be arguing for something of immense importance for the country’s agrarian economy. At the Eleventh Session of the Ministerial Conference of WTO from December 10 to 13, India will try to prevent restrictions on...

-The Indian Express Union government must address structural issues in agricultural policy, allow states greater autonomy. Farmers from across the country are out on Delhi’s streets agitating just as the deliberations for the 2018 budget are beginning and it’s time to seek solutions to the structural issues that plague the system. The “one-size-fits-all” policy created for the farm sector is self-destructive in design and programmes meant to double farmer incomes are collapsing. The...

-The Financial Express Every year, the onset of winter in Delhi unfailingly brings to the fore the burning of paddy residue in Punjab and Haryana, given the practice contributes significantly to the national capital’s air pollution woes, with severe consequences for public health. According to an IIT study, 17% of the PM 10 load and 26% of the PM 2.5 load in October-November in Delhi can be attributed to post-monsoon crop...

-The Hindu We need to revisit the credit policy with a focus on the outreach of banks and financial inclusion Since Independence, one of the primary objectives of India’s agricultural policy has been to improve farmers’ access to institutional credit and reduce their dependence on informal credit. As informal sources of credit are mostly usurious, the government has improved the flow of adequate credit through the nationalisation of commercial banks, and the...

-PTI WPI-based inflation in September had been the highest since April's 3.85% New Delhi: Inflation at the wholesale level rose to six-month high of 3.59 per cent in October as the prices of food articles, led by onions and vegetables, rose sharply. Inflation, based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), was 2.60 per cent in September. In October last year, it was 1.27 per cent. Last month's inflation was the highest since April, when it...